◎Part Two – The Fastest Route, Straight to the Thieves’ Lair◎
The window lattice creaked open, and a shadow flowed silently into Cave Dwelling No. 1700 like water.
The kitchen boys of the Inner Sect usually possessed only Qi Refining cultivation.
That made it difficult for them to evade the senses of Core Condensation cultivators.
But this one was different—utterly silent, and already standing beside their bed.
Even a fully vigilant Core Condensation cultivator hadn’t sensed his arrival.
[Xiao Ai Unit 1 (Lin)]: He’s using some kind of breath-concealing artifact or is well-versed in Turtle Breath Technique.
Huangfu Yuan lay still, eyes closed, lashes quivering faintly.
The Turtle Breath Technique.
Back in the Zhenchuan Trial Grounds, the puppets from the Wang family in the Li Village layer—three generations of grandfather and grandson—were all stealth cultivators skilled in this technique.
In the Sea of Books layer, there had been a blood array to trap a Nine-Tailed Fox.
And now, in Li Village again, a thief using the same stealth technique broke in.
Coincidence?
There was definitely something wrong with the Clearwater Sect’s Zhenchuan system…
Huangfu Yuan frowned slightly just as the shadow hovered over his pale, moonlit face.
The figure loomed lower, stopping at the thick golden chain on his chest.
[Xiao Ai Unit 2 (Huangfu)]: Confirmed—Turtle Breath Technique. But… Junior Sister, could you please let go of my… blanket?
Huangfu Yuan sighed in quiet exasperation.
The shadow paused, hand hovering above the gold chain.
Before the intruder entered, Lin Shuang had tried to hide behind the stacked blankets on the inner side of the bed.
But in turning over, her jade hairpin had gotten caught in his thick, soft fur wrap.
She was equally speechless about it.
In fact, borderline despairing—she had slapped on a Turtle Breath Talisman for herself.
And not only that, she’d even thrown a one-way vision charm onto the thief.
Fortunately, the thief was just in Qi Refining, utterly unaware.
The one-way mirror charm was one of her personal treasures—normally used for zoning out or laser focus.
Once attached, the surrounding view would turn into a black screen.
Nothing could be seen—unless a scenic wallpaper had been added.
This particular charm? She hadn’t loaded an image yet.
So now, the thief’s entire vision… was pitch black.
[Xiao Ai Unit 1 (Lin)]: Senior Brother Huangfu, in a situation like this, can’t you just give me the whole blanket?
Huangfu Yuan said nothing.
[Xiao Ai Unit 1 (Lin)]: Moving from light into darkness, the eyes should adjust within seconds. If we wait too long, he’ll notice something’s off.
[Xiao Ai Unit 1 (Lin)]: If I don’t remove the one-way mirror charm soon, he’ll start probing with his spiritual sense…
Huangfu Yuan exhaled quietly, his gaze landing on the now-motionless ‘black-clad intruder,’ clearly startled by the sudden blindness.
Casting a silence spell, he reached out from under the covers toward the bright-eyed woman beside him.
His hand brushed against something silky smooth.
Startled, his palm slid downward slightly.
Her hair—sleek as flowing water. Smoother than his fox-fur blanket?
That couldn’t be right.
[Xiao Ai Unit 1 (Lin)]: ??? Senior Brother, that’s my hair. Not your fur blanket.
Huangfu Yuan was momentarily dazed. Was the Outer Sect’s spirit spring actually better for hair care?
So that’s why Clearwater and Mountain and Sea Sect disciples fought over it every year?
His fingers reluctantly moved upward and gently removed the jade hairpin entangled in his wrap.
Just as the intruder rubbed his eyes, he gave her a light push, sending her into the shadows behind the blanket stack.
Lin Shuang was finally freed from the entangled fur, curling quietly into the corner.
But she winced.
Another push to the back? She could still feel the burning heat of that palm.
Was tonight cursed? First the dog, now this guy—everyone just wanted to push her around.
Fine. Special circumstances. She’d allow it—for now.
She clenched her teeth.
Suddenly, the one-way mirror charm fell from the intruder’s shoulder as he rubbed his eyes.
It was about to hit the ground with a rustling sound when Huangfu Yuan sent out a breeze with his fingertips, catching it mid-air and letting it gently drift down without a sound.
The black-clad man’s vision cleared—and he began to move again.
He reached out and deftly swept across Huangfu Yuan’s neck. The gold chain snapped, and the jewel-encrusted storage pouch fell into his hand.
Like flowing water, he turned and slipped back out the window without making a sound.
Lin Shuang slowly lifted her head.
Huangfu Yuan opened his eyes.
“Why didn’t you act, Senior Brother?”
“Why didn’t you act, Junior Sister?”
Their gazes flickered with shared wariness and reluctant understanding.
Neither of them had chosen to stop the Qi Refining kitchen boy.
They had let the tiger return to the mountain—because they wanted to catch the entire den.
How many times now?
Since entering Zhenchuan, they kept arriving at the same conclusions.
Once was coincidence. Twice or more? Deeply troubling.
They both lowered their eyes at the same time.
—Again, he thought the same thing as me. If Rong Bao Pavilion is an enemy, then in the future, he’ll anticipate my every move. My efficiency will plummet. I need to deal with this—fast.
—She’s far too clever—much more than Meng Zi. If we keep working together, my identity might be exposed. I need to find a way to hide… or have her exit early.
“Where did you buy that blanket, Senior Brother? It’s so soft.”
“What spirit spring do you use to wash your hair, Junior Sister?”
They spoke in unison, trying to cover the flicker of tension in their expressions.
And then promptly glared at each other.
Damn it, they’re deflecting too!
“Say what you will—Lin Shuang’s a bit nuts, and her cultivation’s all over the place, but the stuff she makes is really useful.”
Meng Zi, bored from waiting, strode into Bai Yu’s room with hands on his hips.
Xiao Ai Unit 3 currently displayed the “surveillance” feeds from the dining hall, Cave 730, and Cave 1700, as well as the main path between them.
He was just about to chat when he suddenly stood bolt upright.
A dark figure had just darted past the main path leading to Cave 730.
Had he not been constantly sneaking around patrolling squads and Annihilation Pavilion assassins, he might not have noticed it at all.
“Bai! Someone’s here! Hurry!”
Bai Yu stared at Xiao Ai Unit 4, eyes complicated.
A sparrow had just flown past his window.
—Target approaching. Please remain alert, Bai.
The demon tribe’s warning had arrived at the exact same moment as Xiao Ai’s detection—both pinpointing the thief.
Bai Yu shook his head and resumed meditation, feigning fatigue.
Moments later, the door slid open silently.
The intruder was the same kitchen boy who’d been serving their meals.
“Gotcha—!” Meng Zi pounced, grabbing his shoulder.
Both Bai Yu and the thief froze.
Bai Yu’s expression changed drastically—Damn! He forgot to warn Meng not to act rashly!
Within two or three seconds, Meng Zi stumbled backward repeatedly.
Before him, the Qi Refining disciple melted into water, disappearing like a puddle into the floor.
“Shit! Meng! He had a teleportation talisman!”
“He was spooked too early—he escaped!”
Meng Zi cursed aloud and dashed out the cave.
[Xiao Ai Unit 4 (Bai)]: The thief used a teleportation talisman and escaped.
Back at Cave 1700, Lin Shuang froze mid-page, fingers pressed to her temple under candlelight.
Across from her, Huangfu Yuan, sipping tea, frowned with sudden insight.
Escape didn’t matter—demon scouts surrounded the entire area.
Teleportation talismans disrupted spiritual energy. Anywhere he passed, they’d detect it.
But then, Huangfu raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lin Shuang’s suddenly stricken face. Her inky black hair—smooth and sleek—began fading to near transparency from the roots.
“?”
“Senior Brother… bad news. I left a wisp of divine sense on that black-clad intruder.”
“If it’s drawn into the teleportation… I’m getting sent along too—”
Huangfu Yuan’s phoenix eyes froze.
The demon tribe came of age at a hundred, lived a thousand years, and passed on knowledge for ten thousand.
“Junior Sister… did you inherit the spider demon’s divine thread technique?”
Your spiritual tether stretched from Cave 1700 to Cave 730 and it still held?!
He’d only seen that with spider demons in his childhood.
“……”
Lin Shuang had no time to explain her daily mental resilience training.
She wiped her hands and instinctively grabbed his wide sleeve.
With a breath, her body turned transparent—like water—and vanished on the spot.
Along with her went Huangfu Yuan, still seated and mid-sip of spirit tea…
To a mountain range, hundreds of miles away.
The black-clad man disguised as a kitchen boy emerged from the ground like bubbling water, rolling upward and slowly taking form.
As soon as he surfaced, he pulled down the black cloth covering his face, revealing the harmless, spotless face of the dining hall’s servant disciple.
But in his clear eyes, a flash of ruthlessness darted by.
“That was close!”
He had barely muttered the words when a figure approached swiftly from the distance—dressed in deep purple robes.
“You came today? It’s not delivery day.”
The kitchen boy quickly bowed with deference, his expression uneasy. “Honored One, I was discovered while infiltrating a room tonight. I had to teleport away and only managed to retrieve a single treasure.”
“I await your punishment!”
Surprisingly, the robed cultivator didn’t get angry. Instead, he chuckled, eyes flashing with covetous desire.
“Good, good. A clean escape. Which disciple spotted you—”
But before he could finish, the earth beneath them began to ripple, as if a fountain were surging upward.
In a blink, a tea table and two chairs appeared before them.
On the grand chair sat a striking woman in green robes and a red ribbon, smiling faintly as she held a storybook titled She Was the Mother of Four Founders.
Across from her sat a man of sickly elegance, eyebrow raised in amusement as he held a tea cup. Veins bulged at his temple as he looked their way.
The kitchen boy: “?”
The purple-robed man: “???”
He stared at the foolish boy beneath him, aghast.
Hell—this was your idea of teleporting to escape?
You brought them with you!?
“Hi.” Lin Shuang raised her book and gave them a cheerful wave.
“!”
“!!”
She leisurely closed the book, smile slowly fading as her voice dropped in pitch.
“So it was you—who interrupted my schedule and teleported me out here in the dead of night?”
“I had only 64 breaths left before finishing that chapter.”
Purple-robed cultivator: “???”
Kitchen boy: “…” Then why don’t you leave already?!
“Senior Brother,” Lin Shuang turned toward Huangfu Yuan, “Which one do you want? You’re not in great health—I’ll let you pick first.”
Huangfu Yuan chuckled. “Such generosity, Junior Sister.”
Even as they spoke, the purple-robed man launched an angry palm strike their way.
Huangfu Yuan’s eyes widened for a breath, allowing the force of the blow to propel him ten paces back toward an old, ruined temple.
“One incense stick later—I’ll come find you,” he called.
The purple-robed cultivator, seeing him retreat, flew into a rage and threw a pill toward the kitchen boy before chasing after Huangfu Yuan.
“Swallow this. You’ll reach Core Condensation for half an hour. Kill that woman!”
The boy was thrilled.
But in the blink of an eye, just as he grabbed the blood-red pill—Lin Shuang smacked him across the entire clearing with her book.
The pill arced through the air.
The boy: “!”
“You wasted my whole night, and now you want to juice up for two minutes to rampage for half an hour…”
Lin Shuang raised her hand, catching the pill with pinpoint accuracy, as if pre-calculated.
She raised an eyebrow, staring down into the pit where the kitchen boy now lay sprawled.
“What gave you that dream?”
He choked. “…!”
She sniffed the pill at her nose, immediately frowning.
It reeked of blood.
Stepping over the dazed boy, she pocketed the pill, muting the high-octane background music from her headset. The 97 spiritual cores that had erupted within her moments ago now quietly receded into dormancy.
The boy stared, stunned and terrified. “Who… what are you? You’re not just an Outer Sect disciple…”
But Lin Shuang simply pressed her fingers to her forehead and ignored him.
She paced back and forth, visibly distressed.
“He said he’d find me after one incense stick.”
“But now I’ve got nothing to do. What do I do?”
“Take a nap here? But this is the middle of nowhere—and I didn’t plan to sleep out tonight.”
One incense stick meant half an hour.
Free time this early? Unacceptable.
The boy: “……”
Meanwhile, the purple-robed cultivator had caught up to Huangfu Yuan, his Core Condensation at the seventh stage now surging to its peak.
He slashed with his blade at Huangfu Yuan’s back as the other stepped leisurely into the ruined temple.
But before the sword could even touch him—it shattered with a crisp snap as Huangfu Yuan coughed softly.
It hadn’t even grazed him.
The purple-robed man staggered, vomiting blood on the spot.
Just as the blood was about to stain Huangfu Yuan’s fur cloak, the droplets froze midair—then fell to the ground, solid and still.
His dagger hilt trembled in his hand.
Eyes wide with disbelief, he snarled:
“You… Refining Spirit… You’re a Refining Spirit cultivator?!”
A nearly inaudible laugh rumbled from Huangfu Yuan’s chest.
Only now did he lift his gaze from a hidden brick inside the temple.
Reaching out, he pulled a precious mirror from the wall and turned it over in his hand.
“Oh, so this is where the stolen item ended up—at the other end of the teleportation.”
Smiling faintly, he turned toward the stunned man.
The purple-robed cultivator turned pale, reaching for his transmission stone—only to freeze.
His throat had been pierced clean through by five sharp fingers.
Eyes bulging, he let out a choked hiss as he stared at Huangfu Yuan, who was now leaning toward him, smiling.
His pale face glowed with otherworldly light, eyes gleaming with crimson.
“You… You’re a demon…”
“Shh. I’m in a bad mood. Don’t look at me like that.”
Huangfu Yuan leaned close, whispering by his ear.
“I’ve been keeping secrets for so long… not allowed to strike. Always holding back. It’s been suffocating.”
“If she arrives within an incense stick’s time, then I suppose… I’ll have to talk to you instead.”
“But truth be told—” Huangfu Yuan murmured, “—I’ve always preferred this way of killing to using a sword.”
The purple-robed venerable’s pupils dilated in terror. He struggled frantically. “No, no… please no…”
His dark hair draped down his back, slowly fading into snow-tinged gold, the ends dyed in blood-red.
“Piercing through the bones, tearing the muscles apart… listening to the sound of blood dripping to the floor…”
“What do you think? Do you prefer the elegant swordplay of human cultivators, or… my way?”
The man’s pupils shook violently, body struggling for life. He was at Core Condensation Stage Seven—close to Refining Spirit. If his primordial soul survived, there was still hope—
“Ah,” Huangfu Yuan tilted his head, laughing softly, “Why am I the only one talking?”
“Got any secrets of your own, hmm?”
His porcelain skin shone like moonlight, his crimson lips even more striking under his snowy hair tinged with silver and blood-red at the ends.
“Are you a demonic cultivator? Or part of the Heavenly Secrets Society?”
“Or both?”
The man’s eyes went wide.
“So I guessed right.”
A flick of Huangfu Yuan’s lashes.
The smile on his lips instantly twisted into something wild—unhinged.
“Perfect. Here’s your reward.”
His long, pale fingers crushed the man’s skull in one swift motion—shattering the soul within.
Blood splashed across his cold, expressionless face.
He slowly rose to his feet, dragging the corpse behind him as he turned.
His phoenix eyes, crimson and gleaming, locked onto the temple’s entrance—
And met Lin Shuang’s gaze just as she stepped over the threshold.
Author’s Note:
From “Zhao the Sect Master’s Notes, Entry 37”
“It’s said that Senior Sister and he once had a massive falling-out. The kind you don’t recover from.”
— A hundred years later, Lin Shuang wrote in the margins:
“Correct. Back then, he wanted to kill me. In the middle of nowhere, he finally got his chance.”
— A hundred years later, Huangfu Yuan wrote:
“…I didn’t intend to kill her. But during that mission to recover stolen goods, she touched my tail several times. She’s too clever. If I let her continue, she’ll uncover everything. It was fate—we ended up alone in that temple. And besides… her hands were quite nice.” (crossed out: all of the above—“hands were nice.”)
— Zhao Keran, a hundred years later:
“??? Only Senior Sister could take arguing to this level.”
— Bai Yu, a hundred years later:
“Before her, anyone who touched Master’s real fur died. This was his helpless test. If she’d just obeyed and waited an incense stick’s time, Master wouldn’t have had to kill her. He only eliminates those with potential threats. The average mediocre sort—he can’t be bothered.”
— Meng Zi, a hundred years later:
“??? Huh? No one told me this happened?! I wasn’t even there!”
— Zhou Xuanwu, a hundred years later:
(no comment)
See you tomorrow.