Wei Yunxi glanced at the visiting card, lifted a brow, and said,"Invite him in."
"Yes, Zhēnjūn."
A disciple went to the sect gate to receive the guest. Wei Yunxi studied the visiting card again, noting the emblem of the Tianlin Flying Boat Firm, and her eyes flickered.
Tianlin Flying Boat Firm had long been on her radar. Every time something happened, the firm's shadow seemed to be somewhere nearby. They never did anything openly, yet their unintentional practices created opportunities for evil cultivators to act.
She had brought this up with her master before. During the five years she sat in the Hive, she had assigned disciples to investigate the Feilin firm. They did uncover a few suspicious individuals, but no proof of collusion with evil cultivators.
So the matter had been shelved. Even so, both she and Yu Ling Zūnzhě had people watching the firm from the shadows and reporting any movement back to the sect. She was curious what purpose this visit served.
A quarter of an hour later, a Golden Core cultivator in gray robes stepped into Wei Yunxi's courtyard with a Lingxue Peak disciple.
"Zhēnjūn, I have brought him."
The disciple bowed and withdrew.
The Golden Core man bowed respectfully. "I am Yu Jiang, ship guard of Tianlin Flying Boat Firm. I come on the commission of Ye Yirui Zhēnjūn of Medicine King Valley in the Central Region, to deliver you a letter."
He drew a jade slip from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.
Wei Yunxi did not take it directly. With a sweep of her sleeve, she drew the jade slip to herself. "Did Ye Yirui leave any message to pass on to me?"
Yu Jiang shook his head. "No. Ye Zhēnjūn said that once you read the jade slip, you would understand."
Wei Yunxi asked again, "Your flying boat firm takes on letter deliveries as well?"
Yu Jiang nodded. "Our flying boats travel among the five regions. We take on courier and freight tasks to earn extra spirit stones.
Please be assured, Zhēnjūn, our reputation is sound. If we fail to complete a commission, we refund the spirit stones in full and pay an additional indemnity."
Wei Yunxi nodded. The master behind Tianlin clearly understood profit maximization.
"Who is the owner of Tianlin Flying Boat Firm?"
Yu Jiang blinked, then bowed. "Our owner is Bai Yue Zūnzhě, though he rarely manages firm affairs. Day-to-day operations are handled by his deputy, Bo Xiang Zhēnjūn."
Wei Yunxi had read Bai Yue's file. The man was mysterious, a Divine Transformation cultivator who revealed the head of the dragon but not the tail, his whereabouts unknown. She suspected Bai Yue was a figurehead. The true owner was likely someone else.
Bo Xiang, on the other hand, handled business conscientiously. His temperament was a bit stiff, but his work was orderly and showed nothing out of place.
Which was why earlier investigations had stalled. Since someone had delivered themselves to her door today, she would make use of the chance. She tossed Yu Jiang a storage pouch. "You have worked hard. I have received the letter. Inform Ye Zhēnjūn that it was delivered."
"Yes, Yu Jiang understands."
He accepted the reward and took his leave in proper form.
As Yu Jiang stepped out of the courtyard, Wei Yunxi flicked her fingers. A bead of air silently struck the back of his neck and sank in.
Yu Jiang instinctively touched the spot but felt nothing amiss, then continued toward the mountain foot.
Just as he was about to leave Lingxue Peak, a small gray snake the same color as his sleeve slipped soundlessly from his cuff into a clump of low-grade snow-ling blossoms. Yu Jiang seemed not to notice and kept walking.
Wei Yunxi tapped her chin and said to Dian Dian, "Dian Dian, I will release Li Li in a moment. Take him to catch that little gray snake."
"Yes, Master."
Dian Dian rubbed its paws together in excitement. Snakes were its natural nemesis, but with the fourth-tier red panda Li Li helping, catching a little gray snake would be easy.
Li Li had settled into Wei Yunxi's inner space. Life there was better than he had imagined. He also knew he could not cultivate or ascend within it, so he spent his days roaming. Barring restricted areas, he had explored almost every corner.
Just as Li Li was feeling bored, he was ejected from the space.
Seeing Wei Yunxi, Li Li's eyes went wide. His tone was incredulous. "Human cultivator, your cultivation rose again. It has not been long. How do you cultivate?"
Wei Yunxi arched a brow. "I had good fortune. I drank the bamboo resin Zhu Sheng left me. My cultivation rose."
Li Li's thick reddish-brown tail swished. "That little bamboo? He is only second grade. How could that be?"
"Do not worry about that. First help me catch a little gray snake that smuggled itself onto Lingxue Peak. It may be linked to the evil cultivators who destroyed your home."
Li Li nodded at once. He would take this task. He led Dian Dian out of the courtyard.
As soon as Yu Jiang left, Wei Yunxi activated Lingxue Peak's formations. She would not allow the gray snake to leave the peak.
That night, a fierce battle erupted on Lingxue Peak. The combatants were the little gray snake and the red panda Li Li. Wei Yunxi watched from the side.
Dian Dian had already scampered onto Wei Yunxi's shoulder, hopping with excitement and cheering Li Li on. "Boss Li Li, squash it. Do not let it run."
Wei Yunxi asked with a smile, "Dian Dian, since when did Li Li become your boss?"
Dian Dian answered as if it were obvious. "Just earlier. Dian Dian cannot beat him, so I recognized him as boss."
Among demon cultivators, strength was the ultimate truth.
Li Li's sharp claws had already pierced the snake's tail. The gray snake coiled up his forelimb and struck with open jaws.
Li Li slashed with one paw and severed the tail, then swept the snake into the air with the other paw. In the next instant he appeared where it would fall and launched a new round of attacks.
The gray snake was small yet capable. It avoided a strike on its seven-inch vital spot every time. Trading blows with Li Li, it was driven toward the peak-guarding grand formation.
At the instant Li Li darted in to capture it alive, the snake spat a mouthful of venom at the barrier. Corrosion opened a gap in a blink, and the snake slipped through.
Wei Yunxi flashed to the spot where the barrier had already restored itself, her brows knit tight. She spread her divine sense wide to track the snake, but the little gray serpent had vanished as if it had evaporated, leaving not a trace.
—
In a cave dwelling within Wangyou Mountain, a man in black finally opened his eyes. The vertical pupils of a serpent in his eyes faded after a breath and returned to human.
He smashed a piece of stone wall in anger and hissed in a low voice, "What an advantage, to have a strange beast at her side. No wonder she is so arrogant. If not for the Heavenly Dao's suppression keeping me here, I would have killed that woman myself."
Wei Yunxi, meanwhile, was listening to Li Li's explanation. "Zhēnjūn, that snake was wrong. It was only a puppet with a wisp of a human cultivator's soul attached."
Wei Yunxi rubbed her fingers. "Li Li, you are certain?"
"Certain. The soul wisp was dark gray. I would not mistake it."