Eastern Divine Continent, Wandering Cloud Bay.
Inside a dilapidated old house by the shore, a graceful woman gently parted the dusty curtain and gazed out the window.
Right now, dense fine rain was falling—not hard, but very close. There was little wind, yet you could still hear the steady sound of rain hitting the ground.
Perhaps this kind of weather wasn't so bad. The woman spoke in a light tone:
"You've received the news, I assume."
Though her face wasn't turned toward the interior, the words were directed at the people inside the room.
In the ramshackle house, besides the woman, there was a solemn young man and a prematurely mature youth.
A moment of silence passed before the young man spoke.
"Is Your Honor referring to the newly emerged evil cultivator who's been slaughtering other evil cultivators and delaying our progress?"
A flicker of disgust crossed the woman's eyes, and her voice turned cold:
"Or was it your gluttony that made a whole group of people clean up your mess?"
"What, you didn't eat your fill last time? Want to work up an appetite again this time?"
The young man's body trembled slightly, and he immediately dropped to his knees. "This subordinate..."
"Shut up. I never want to hear words of apology." The woman's gaze swept back, her eyes glinting with killing intent.
If capable operatives weren't so painfully scarce, this kind of trash would have been recycled into fertilizer long ago.
The youth looked ordinary and dressed plainly—the sort who would vanish into any crowd.
But his eyes were always calm, a calmness belonging more to an old man, though without the cloudiness of age.
He interjected, "There's no need to rehash the past. We need to prioritize handling the matter at hand."
The woman scoffed. "Always the peacemaker."
"If cursing me could get the job done, I'd sit here and let you curse me all day." The youth met the woman's gaze directly.
"The mission progress assigned from above was already delayed because of the Heavenly Derivation Sect's pursuit."
"Time was already tight. The higher-ups don't have the patience to listen to our excuses."
The woman withdrew her gaze, tapping her right fingers against her left arm:
"So what's your idea?"
A faint smile appeared on the youth's face.
"A capable person has finally emerged. It'd be a shame to kill them."
"Naturally, we should recruit if recruitment is possible."
"If we can successfully bring them in, it might save us quite a bit of time. We should give those above some good news for once."
The woman frowned. "Don't you think this evil cultivator appeared suspiciously?"
"Never before, never after, but precisely when we've hidden ourselves beyond their reach? And they only kill evil cultivators, not common folk."
"The bait's barely in the water and you're already rushing to your death?"
"Accomplishing anything worthwhile requires taking some risks." The youth's smile faded, his tone turning serious.
"Before coming here, I visited three sites where this evil cultivator struck."
"The intelligence is correct. The newly emerged evil cultivator wields the most sinister blood-aura cultivation."
"I confirmed the blood-aura spiritual energy on-site. It's not an illusion."
"And it's not merely blood-aura spiritual energy—I also detected a top-tier divine ability intertwined with the blood aura!"
"A Nascent Soul realm cultivator, with solid foundations, possessing a divine ability, and a blood-aura evil cultivator to boot."
"All these conditions combined leave no doubt—the recently surfaced evil cultivator must have a stable blood-aura lineage with genuine heritage."
"For a blood-aura evil cultivator with a proper lineage to reach the Golden Core realm, how many deaths would it take to cultivate that?"
"And what if we factor in their master's teachings?"
"Among the Eighteen Immortal Sects, only the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect and the Heavenly Derivation Sect are investigating aggressively. The other sects clearly have far less intensity."
"But neither the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect nor the Heavenly Derivation Sect would spend such enormous cost investigating such tenuous leads at a time like this."
"It's not just about giving others leverage. By all reason, this evil cultivator cannot be from the Eighteen Immortal Sects."
"As for your question—blood-aura evil cultivators naturally find faster cultivation among other evil cultivators."
The woman listened quietly to the youth's deductions, then shifted her gaze away, her voice still calm:
"Is conventional wisdom always right? In my eyes, a matter settling safely—even if slowly—is what's truly correct."
The youth raised an eyebrow.
"And killing them is right? If it's a trap as you say, we'd still have to go deal with it."
"A Nascent Soul cultivator with a divine ability? Without a Soul Formation realm cultivator, I doubt we could take them down."
At this, the youth's tone shifted, carrying a note of challenge:
"Or do you think ignoring it is better? Wait for the righteous path to wipe out this evil cultivator, then we continue?"
"We can wait. Can the higher-ups wait?"
The woman frowned slightly, pondering for a moment before speaking. "I still think it's suspicious."
"Then report it back." The youth leaned back slightly.
"You're the one leading this operation anyway. The choice is yours."
"And you have ways of getting the higher-ups to agree."
The woman glared at the youth, pure killing intent rising in her eyes.
Unfortunately, the youth sat there utterly at ease, completely unbothered by her man-eating gaze.
Silence fell once more. The atmosphere congealed.
The young man didn't even dare to breathe, remaining frozen in his kneeling position.
"I'll go see for myself." The woman finally yielded, though the killing intent in her eyes hadn't diminished one bit.
"You prepare the contingency. Whether we kill or keep them, we must be ready."
"If this mission fails, I'll have you personally report to the higher-ups."
The youth slowly rose to his feet at these words.
"Everyone here is here to get things done. If the mission fails, none of us walk away."
"If it's done well, it benefits everyone. You can trust me on that."
"Since you're suspicious, I'll explain one more thing—if you weren't competent, the higher-ups wouldn't have given you this kind of mission."
"If I can't trust you, I can at least trust the higher-ups. If you think the evil cultivator can be recruited, then recruit them."
"If you think they should be killed, then kill them. If you truly choose to leave them alone, you have your reasons."
"The only thing I'll remind you of is this—time is running out."
The woman closed her eyes and waved her hand, offering no response to the youth's words.
The youth's expression remained calm. He simply turned and pushed open the door, walking out into the fine rain.
In moments, that small figure vanished between heaven and earth.
The young man remained kneeling, pressing his forehead to the ground, not daring to utter a single word.
The woman spoke with her eyes still closed.
"Stop polluting the air in here. Get out and prepare."
"The usual approach."
"Yes!" The young man responded swiftly, his movements quick but nearly soundless.
Without hesitation, he turned and walked out into the heavy rain.
The room fell quiet once more.
After a moment, the woman opened her eyes and gazed at the fine rain drifting beyond the doorway.
The rain was rain. She, too, was rain.
Rain hitting the ground makes a sound. But when she passed away, it might be utterly silent.
Everything was too suspicious and too full of wrongness, like a glaring trap right before her eyes.
She rose and walked outside as well. Whether it was an ambush or a scheme, she would have to investigate it in the end.
"Wind and rain, swaying..." the woman murmured as she stepped into the rain.
"It is the path... and also the fate."
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