Chapter 1073: Night Meeting (III)

Niu Youdao asked, "Can you get to Zhuge Chi before the Nine Saints do?"

Sha Rulai said, "Are you joking? Can my people openly go searching everywhere for Zhuge Chi? I've already told you: people like us are watched closely by the Nine Saints and can barely move. If it were convenient for me to act, I wouldn't need to help you from the shadows. The slightest sign that my people are involving themselves in something like this would be noticed immediately."

"Then I'll have to do it."

Sha Rulai's voice sank. "Are you tired of living?"

"Keep watching for news about Zhuge Chi. The moment you discover any trace of him, notify me immediately. I'll arrange the manpower."

"Did you not understand a word I just said?"

"If you know this much, then you clearly have channels for information. All you need to do is pass the news to me in time. I'll handle everything else. Don't worry. I won't go looking for death. I won't mobilize my own forces. I'll arrange for another group to intervene."

"What other people could you possibly have?"

"It's not convenient to tell you yet."

"If you won't tell me, how am I supposed to trust you? If you secretly interfere and expose yourself, I'll be dragged down with you. How can you expect me to agree?"

Niu Youdao fell silent briefly. Staring into Sha Rulai's eyes, he slowly reminded him, "The Demonic Sect."

"The Demonic Sect?" Sha Rulai froze, then hesitated. "You mean Zhao Xiongge's side?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "If Zhuge Chi truly is a Nascent Soul Realm expert, then he has no road back. The Nine Saints won't let him live. So long as we're willing to lend a hand, persuading them to cooperate with us won't take much effort."

He paused, then continued, "Didn't you just ask about Duyun Mountain? Then I'll tell you. Misty Pavilion wasn't wrong to keep an eye on Duyun Mountain. Yun Ji has been concealing her strength all along. Her cultivation has already broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm!"

Regardless of whether Sha Rulai's earlier words had been sincere, regardless of whether he truly dared oppose the Nine Saints, Niu Youdao now wanted Sha Rulai to understand that he had already accumulated a certain amount of real strength capable of resisting them.

He had taken the risk of abducting Sha Huanli precisely to bring Sha Rulai firmly onto his side. In his present situation, he needed someone like Sha Rulai to assist him. Otherwise, surviving long enough to leave Sacred Realm would be exceedingly difficult.

Of course, he could choose to hide inside Sacred Realm and never leave. But Sacred Realm did not provide him with any cultivation resources at all. If he hid here and tried to improve his cultivation, who knew how many years he would have to grind away?

Sha Rulai was shocked. Truly shocked.

There was actually a Nascent Soul Realm expert hidden among Niu Youdao's people.

"How is that possible?"

Niu Youdao said, "Why wouldn't it be possible? Weren't you the one who just said that the world is vast and nothing is too strange to occur? Mr. Sha, do you think I'd have any reason to lie about something like this? Even spreading such a lie could get people killed. I couldn't bear the consequences."

"But if the physical body isn't strong enough, it simply can't bear that level of cultivation. Where did she get a Wuliang Fruit to remake her body?"

"Do you know Yun Ji's origins?"

Sha Rulai looked uncertain. "Isn't she a demon cultivator from Duyun Mountain?"

"It seems Misty Pavilion doesn't know what she was before she appeared at Duyun Mountain either. I thought Misty Pavilion knew everything."

"All matters under Heaven are carried out by people, and the human heart is difficult to fathom. How could Misty Pavilion possibly know everything? If it did, how could your secrets and mine have remained hidden? Why would Zhuge Chi only now have drawn suspicion? The world is vast. There are too many places beyond human reach." Sha Rulai studied him. "From the sound of it, that snake demon had some special origin before Duyun Mountain?"

"Yun Ji was originally the spirit pet of Zhu Chicheng, Sect Leader of Myriad Beasts Sect two generations earlier. And a secret concerning the Myriad Beasts Spirit Pearl, the sect's supreme treasure, had been handed down through successive generations."

Niu Youdao continued, "The reason the Myriad Beasts Spirit Pearl can command birds and beasts is that it contains the legendary Phoenix Blood. For demon cultivators, it can produce a miraculous effect comparable to the Wuliang Fruit. Zhu Chicheng died too suddenly for the secret to be passed down in time. Or rather, the secret was intercepted by Zhu Chicheng's spirit pet—Yun Ji."

"The genuine Myriad Beasts Spirit Pearl that disappeared together with Zhu Chicheng was later found by Yun Ji. I think I've made things clear enough."

For now, he had no intention of telling Sha Rulai what had actually happened inside the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm.

Sha Rulai said in astonishment, "So that's how it was. The world truly is vast, and nothing is too strange to occur." In the end, he nodded. "Fine. I'll do my utmost regarding Zhuge Chi. But only under circumstances where it can be done safely. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to inform you before the Nine Saints discover his trail and move against him."

"Doing your best is enough. If it can't be done safely, then forcing it would only be courting death and would accomplish nothing."

Sha Rulai suddenly asked, "That's right. Does anyone else around you know about Yun Ji?"

"The true secret of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Pearl was told to me privately by Yun Ji alone. And until now, only I knew she had secretly broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Of course, now there's also you. Mr. Sha, that should be enough sincerity from me, shouldn't it?"

Sha Rulai waved a hand, not questioning his sincerity. "I'm trying to warn you. According to a secret report from our spy inside Zijin Cave, you seem fairly close to Zhong Guzi. Let me tell you something: under no circumstances can you let your master Zhong Guzi learn about this. He's one of Misty Pavilion's people."

"What?" Niu Youdao was genuinely startled.

This was far beyond his expectations. A man whose life was nearly over—how could he be one of Misty Pavilion's people?

He asked again, "Are you certain?"

Sha Rulai nodded. "There is no mistake. Because I was paying attention to you, I carefully reviewed Zijin Cave's old records and looked through the lists of every hidden line Misty Pavilion had planted there over the years. That was when I saw Zhong Guzi's name. I was surprised too."

"Only after reading the details did I learn that not long after Zhong Guzi first joined Zijin Cave, Misty Pavilion noticed his potential and recruited him. Afterward, Misty Pavilion secretly gave him a certain amount of support, helping him perform Zijin Cave's various assignments exceptionally well. His later rise to the position of Zijin Cave Elder owed no small part to Misty Pavilion working behind the scenes."

"However, after he withdrew from worldly affairs, and with the end of his lifespan approaching, Misty Pavilion basically gave up on him and let him live freely. When the Goldenwing that connected him to Misty Pavilion died of old age, the Pavilion didn't replace it. You could say they intended to let him reach a peaceful end."

"Unless absolutely necessary, they probably won't activate him again. Even so, this is something you still have to guard against. You've offended Ding Wei too deeply and cost him too much face. No one can say whether Ding Wei might reactivate Zhong Guzi in order to deal with you."

"Misty Pavilion holds Zhong Guzi's lifetime reputation in its hands. If Ding Wei activates him, he will have no choice but to obey. So you absolutely cannot let him know about Yun Ji."

For one fleeting moment, Niu Youdao felt strangely hollow inside.

He knew Sha Rulai was probably not lying. There was no reason to deceive him about something like this. This was a genuine warning.

Yet he truly had never imagined that Zhong Guzi, who ignored worldly affairs and lingered out his final years inside Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion, was actually a mole buried inside Zijin Cave.

Without Sha Rulai's warning, Niu Youdao would never have suspected him.

There had simply been no sign worth suspecting. Zhong Guzi hid inside Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion and had almost no dealings with the outside world. He even tried his utmost to avoid interfering with internal sect affairs and forbade the people beneath him from taking part in the sect's struggles for power. There was no apparent reason for anyone to suspect him.

The discovery was a lesson worth remembering, and it put Niu Youdao on the highest alert.

He immediately demanded, "I want the names of every Misty Pavilion informant around me. No—not only around me. Give me the entire list of agents Misty Pavilion has planted outside. Since you've had this intention for so long, I assume you made copies of the names of Misty Pavilion's secret personnel."

Sha Rulai shook his head. "You're imagining too much. The place where the Pavilion's classified records are stored is jointly guarded by trusted confidants sent by all Nine Saints. That place is one of the keys to controlling all beneath Heaven. Its security is no less stringent than Wuliang Garden."

"Anything classified can only be sent inside. Not even a scrap of paper may be taken out. Secret records can only be consulted inside the classified archive, and someone watches you while you read them. No one has any way to carry anything away."

"And there are far too many people involved in those records. My memory isn't good enough to memorize every name. I could only look through certain things I found interesting and remember a limited number."

So that was how it worked?

Niu Youdao frowned for a while, then asked, "Since you took an interest in me before, you must remember at least some of the people planted around me."

Sha Rulai nodded. "Correct. Once I chose you, I began preparing for exactly that possibility. I thought that if you ever became useful, this information might help you. Over time, I memorized the names of the relevant agents around you and, when no one was present, wrote them into a prepared list."

Niu Youdao relaxed slightly. "Then I'll trouble Mr. Sha to give me that list."

"Once I've confirmed my daughter is safe, naturally I'll give it to you. Besides, something like that has to be kept secret. I don't carry it on me, so I couldn't give it to you right now anyway."

"What I want to know now is whether anyone who frequently comes into contact with me belongs to Misty Pavilion."

Sha Rulai shook his head. "I paid attention to that. Other than Gongsun Bu, there should be no one. As for whether Ding Wei made new arrangements after taking over, I don't know. I've already handed over authority over Misty Pavilion. I no longer have the qualifications to enter the classified archive and inspect those records."

"What about the people from Guan Fangyi's Fufang Garden?"

"You can rest easy about that. The people around her are very clean. None of them are Misty Pavilion's." Sha Rulai shook his head, then suddenly looked curious. "You suspect her?"

"As far as I know, she's one of your most diehard confidantes, and even the relationship between the two of you as man and woman has always been rather unclear. Why would you suspect her? Have you noticed something?"

"I'm not suspicious of her. She's been with me this long. If there were a problem, I couldn't possibly have noticed nothing."

Niu Youdao continued, "It's simply that her reputation back then was too great. You just said Misty Pavilion keeps an eye on anyone with influence. Did Misty Pavilion really never interfere with Fufang Garden? The people who served her then now serve me. I have to guard against the possibility. Since you're here, naturally I should take the opportunity to ask."

Sha Rulai nodded. "Your suspicion isn't baseless. Because I was paying attention to you, when I reviewed the situation around you, I specifically investigated Fufang Garden as well."

"The old records showed that after Guan Fangyi's fame spread, she did attract Misty Pavilion's attention. The Pavilion truly did arrange for people to infiltrate Fufang Garden. But every person planted there met with an accident one after another. Either they vanished without a sound, or someone killed them."

Niu Youdao stared at him in surprise. "Those probably weren't accidents, were they?"

[End of Chapter 1073]