Outside Qu Lin city, in an exceedingly ordinary farmhouse, the green wheat sprouts already showed faint golden flecks of light.
The young man had dragged over a chair and sat quietly before the wheat field, gazing up at the moon hanging high in the sky, listening to the soft rustling of insects.
All was silent.
A sudden thought crossed the young man's mind—if it could just stay like this... it wouldn't be half bad.
But only for a moment, the thought was cast aside.
The young man slowly reached out as if to grasp the moon, to grasp this world.
After being a rat for so long, how could he suppress this burning anger? He'd worked so hard—for nothing less than turning heaven and earth upside down!
"Watermelon, I'm back." The farmer called out from afar.
The young man lowered his hand, turning his gaze over. "What's the background of that group?"
"Evil Spirit Sect." The farmer strode over and stood before the young man. "That person may only be at Qi Condensation, but he's sharp."
"He figured out I was the same kind the moment we met, and immediately used blood-qi to prove his identity."
"Is that so..." The young man narrowed his eyes like an old man, his tone turning somewhat melancholy.
"And their purpose? Don't tell me the Evil Spirit Sect has turned over a new leaf and wants to atone for their past deeds?"
The farmer didn't hold back. "They said they'd use gold and silver first to gain trust, so that later when they need people for living sacrifices and such, they won't have to kidnap anyone by force."
The young man laughed softly, looking at the farmer. "Do you think that's true?"
"Not true." The farmer shook his head.
"They're just mortals—kidnapping by force would be trivial. The Evil Spirit Sect doesn't operate this way."
"But... that blood-qi couldn't be faked."
The young man tapped the chair lightly, then spoke after a moment:
"Bring them here so I can ask myself. Winter Melon is already out there risking his life. If this operation fails again, these old bones of mine will probably be taken apart."
"Today, or tomorrow?" the farmer pressed.
The young man leaned back lazily in his chair.
"Tomorrow... let me have one more peaceful night."
The farmer nodded gently—but before the nod was complete, he heard the young man continue:
"If I don't come back tomorrow, consider me dead. Don't look for me and don't keep investigating. Pull everyone out of Qu Lin city and never come back."
"Your full effort goes to supporting Winter Melon as I've arranged."
"If I do come back, but give you other orders, ignore those too. Keep supporting Winter Melon behind my back. Your first priority from tomorrow onward is supporting Winter Melon."
The farmer fell silent, gazing at the young man lying with closed eyes in the chair.
Listening to words that sounded like a dying man's final instructions.
"Mm." The farmer acknowledged.
——————
In Qu Lin city, within a small courtyard.
Half of Xie Lingyu's face was bathed in moonlight, her slender hand propping up her right cheek—something she'd picked up from Chu Xingchen. She used to think it unseemly, but now she did it more naturally than he ever had.
She asked curiously, "You sent me away today—did you notice something? That farmer?"
"Mm..." Chu Xingchen shifted his gaze, looking at Xie Lingyu framed in the moonlight.
Noting her curious eyes, he asked with a smile: "Don't you want to ask why I sent you away?"
Xie Lingyu looked puzzled. "Why would I ask?"
"Don't you feel like it's me not trusting you or something?"
"I'm not Qing He—asking about every little thing. I'll think it through myself, and if there's something I truly don't understand, I'll ask you then."
"Wow, Lady Lingyu truly is the most reliable."
"Naturally. Back when you were begging me for help, your smile was far better looking than it is now."
Chu Xingchen's face broke into a delighted grin at those words, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Is that so? Lady Lingyu?"
Xie Lingyu also laughed softly. "More or less."
The moonlight was calm, reflecting the smiles of two people.
Suddenly it felt as though the vast stretch of time was but a day gone by.
Xie Lingyu looked into Chu Xingchen's eyes, but couldn't hold the gaze for long before turning to look at the bright moon instead:
"Since we finally found them, how do you have the leisure to call me out to admire the moon? I thought you'd track them all night and catch them off guard."
Chu Xingchen also looked up at the moon, his tone languid: "Because the moonlight is truly beautiful tonight."
"Mm..." Xie Lingyu gazed at the bright moon.
"Then it can wait until tomorrow."
——————
Yaoguang Immortal City, Yaoguang Immortal Pavilion.
Within the splendor that even tonight's brilliant moonlight could not penetrate, stacks of intelligence reports flew past Yuyang Daozi.
Those requiring urgent processing were placed at his side. Those not urgent were tossed directly to Chu Xingchen's subordinates to handle on their own.
Even so, a great deal of intelligence still had to pass through his eyes, and this was already the filtered selection.
More intelligence arrived as emergency dispatches—every single one of which Yuyang Daozi had to review personally.
After scanning each report with his divine sense, Yuyang Daozi would think for a moment, then inscribe his orders into a talisman.
But no matter how much work there was, it would eventually come to an end.
He was a Soul Formation cultivator, after all. With his divine sense fully deployed, he could process everything eventually.
It wasn't exactly tiring, but spending most of every day handling these matters truly gave Yuyang a sense of mental fatigue.
Yuyang Daozi finished issuing his final command, then looked up:
"Are all of today's intelligence reports finished? Any emergency correspondence, or emergency task reserve teams?"
"None. The recent messages haven't been particularly numerous," someone replied.
Yuyang Daozi nodded gently and slowly rose to his feet.
The top-floor premium rooms of Yaoguang Immortal Pavilion were illuminated by spirit stones, and the windows—though not covered with black cloth—could block out all external light.
Back when Xie Lingyu was still working alongside him, Yuyang Daozi hadn't been this busy. He'd even had time to sit down for a cup of tea.
Ever since Chu Xingchen took Xie Lingyu away, the word "leisure" had truly lost all meaning for him.
But Yuyang Daozi had no complaints. As long as the job got done, that was what mattered.
After all, Chu Xingchen had shown his sincerity, so it was only natural that Yuyang should shoulder more of the burden. Besides, Chu Xingchen was personally out investigating leads too.
Yuyang Daozi walked toward the window. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there—he didn't even know if it was day or night outside.
He pushed the window open gently, and moonlight filtered softly into the room.
"It's night already..." Yuyang Daozi murmured with a soft sigh.
"Time to rest—"
"Urgent message!"
An urgent voice rang out first, followed by knocking.
Yuyang Daozi swallowed the second half of his sentence. He gazed silently at tonight's unusually gentle moon for a moment, then closed the window again.
"Come in." Yuyang Daozi walked back toward his desk.
The work always had to be done.
The door was pushed open.
Zuo Wen and Yu Jing strode in quickly. Without waiting for Yuyang Daozi to ask, they retrieved a stiff, rigid young woman from their spatial pouch and laid her on the floor.
Yuyang Daozi stared in silence at the young woman lying board-stiff on the floor below, the hilt of a dagger still protruding from her lower abdomen.
Zuo Wen caught Yuyang Daozi's expression and quickly explained: "She's not dead."
"I know she's not dead." Yuyang Daozi rubbed his forehead for the first time, asking:
"What's the situation with this person? Is she someone sent here to be saved?"
Zuo Wen hesitated slightly before replying:
"Uh... the Cult Master said he was sending her for his Master to interrogate."
Yuyang Daozi sighed softly. He'd thought he would feel confused and bewildered by Zuo Wen's words, but instead, his heart was remarkably calm.
Perhaps Chu Xingchen had raised his threshold for absurdity so high that he now had a natural tolerance for whatever his disciple did as well.
Sending a girl who was nearly lying on a plank to be interrogated—that barely even registered as an issue anymore.
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