“So the problem now is finding the person who first spread the legend. Since he survived an encounter with the Unlaughing, he must know more,” Lu Sheng said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“On that matter, Tea Sect can offer some assistance.” Dong Qi stepped forward at once.
“Indeed,” Li Qiong added. “Tea Sect’s roots run deep here. Their network and intelligence channels are far stronger than ours. With Sect Master Dong Qi involved, it shouldn’t take long to locate that person.”
“Then we’ll leave it to you. Let’s rest for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll see for ourselves what this so-called Unlaughing Master truly is,” Lu Sheng said in an easy tone.
“Yes, sir,” everyone responded.
Under Tea Sect’s arrangements, the group was shown to their quarters to rest. Dong Qi also prepared an exceptionally lavish banquet, its dishes themed around tea in countless forms and flavors. The members of Crimson Whale Sect ate with hearty enthusiasm.
Lu Sheng and the little umbrella girl, however, showed little interest in the feast and returned to their room early.
Inside the finely furnished bedroom, Lu Sheng reclined halfway on the bed, idly turning a jagged, fist-sized piece of metal in his hand. It appeared to have broken off from a larger object, its surface etched with faint patterns and motifs.
The fragment spun between his fingers, releasing a pale red sheen.
‘Unlike the previous piece, this Scarlet Dragon Tribulation shard carries no Yin Qi…’ Lu Sheng frowned inwardly.
Without Yin Qi, it was little more than scrap metal to him.
As he rolled the shard in his palm, his thoughts drifted to the terrifying burst of power Hongfang Bai had once unleashed. Holding the shard felt oddly like gripping a lump of flesh. From within, a vague and malicious chant seemed to seep out, brushing against his ears. The sound lingered, elusive and indistinct, demanding great effort to even catch a trace of it.
After some time passed without further discovery, Lu Sheng tied the shard with a string once more and hung it back around his neck.
He had already tried every method he could think of to awaken the shard’s power, from channeling inner Qi into it to subjecting it to searing heat and biting frost. None of it produced the slightest reaction.
It felt like an ordinary stone, yet to the touch, it was unmistakably metal.
A silent night slipped by.
Early the next morning, the company of Crimson Whale Sect disciples set out for the mountains that Chen Zongtao and Elder Xu had previously entered, with Lu Sheng at their center.
The mountain paths were rugged and uneven. Before long, the group was forced to abandon their carriages and proceed on foot, with only the sedan continuing where possible. Lu Sheng left the little umbrella girl behind in Tea Sect, entering the depths of the mountains alongside Xu Chui and the others, following Chen Zongtao’s lead.
After leaving Tea Town, they soon arrived at the desolate mountain where Chen Zongtao and Elder Xu had last halted.
Pale sunlight filtered through the trembling branches overhead.
The Crimson Whale Sect party quickly climbed up to a plateau overgrown with wild grass.
“This is the spot!!” one of Chen Zongtao’s subordinates shouted, panting. “We even carved marks into the tree bark so we wouldn’t lose our way at night!”
He jogged to a towering tree and tore away a section of bark. Beneath it was a fish-shaped carving, the emblem of Crimson Whale Sect.
Crack.
The sharp snap of a twig nearby shattered the stillness.
“Someone’s there!” a disciple growled.
“Who’s there!?” another shouted from sentry duty.
Xu Chui and Ning San moved instinctively, taking positions to the left and right of the sedan. At the sound, their gazes locked onto the same stretch of woodland.
More than ten disciples spread out at once, fanning into the surroundings to search.
Crack!
One disciple slashed a bush apart with his saber, instantly revealing a figure crouched behind it.
“Don’t! Don’t get nervous… we’re just passing by, just passing by!” A fairly presentable Taoist with a long beard hurriedly leapt out from the brush.
Behind him, a man and a woman dressed in Taoist robes emerged more slowly.
The man was handsome and well-groomed, his bearing upright and suffused with an air of unblemished righteousness. It was Yan Kai, newly arrived.
The woman was slender and pretty. Naturally, she was Duan Rongrong, who never strayed far from his side.
Yan Kai’s gaze flicked to the Crimson Whale Sect emblem beneath the stripped bark, then swept across the ring of disciples encircling them.
The two men guarding the sedan radiated a presence that made the hair on his neck prickle. They were unquestionably not people to trifle with.
Inwardly, Yan Kai could not help but exclaim, ‘They truly live up to their reputation as the number one sect in the Northern Lands. Just any two among them make me feel this wary.’
Composing himself, he stepped forward and clasped his fists.
“This humble one is Yan Kai. I am an old acquaintance of Sect Master Lu and seek an audience with him regarding a special matter. May I trouble you to pass on my message.”
The trio halted where they stood. Several disciples exchanged glances before silently spreading out, surrounding them. One of the disciples then turned and headed toward the sedan.
Yan Kai watched as the disciple leaned in and whispered to one of the two men guarding the sedan. The guard pondered briefly, then stepped up to the window and spoke in a low voice through it.
Moments later, he straightened, having received his instructions, and relayed them back.
“Come over.”
A narrow path slowly opened through the encirclement.
As the three advanced, they took in their surroundings. Every Crimson Whale Sect disciple stood solemn and upright, their posture sharp, their presence brimming with strength and vigor. At a glance, Yan Kai knew that any one of them could easily contend with more than ten members of an ordinary sect.
As they passed, the disciples’ gazes burned into them like needles, silent and warning.
‘An army of tigers’, Yan Kai assessed in alarm.
Soon, he found himself standing before the sedan.
The veil was gently drawn aside, revealing a familiar young man who seemed little changed. It was the eldest young master of the Lu Family, Lu Sheng.
Lu Sheng sat within the sedan like an ordinary noble youth, his complexion slightly pale, his skin clearly unweathered by the sun. Loose black robes draped over his frame, a soaring golden crane embroidered across his chest.
“So it’s Mister Yan Kai!” Lu Sheng smiled at the three of them. “When we parted back then, I never expected we’d meet again here. What a coincidence.”
Yan Kai narrowed his eyes at Lu Sheng, who stood before him like an ordinary mortal. Just as during their first meeting, Lu Sheng gave off the impression of having no power at all, no different from that frail young master once plagued by ghosts.
Yet for reasons he could not explain, Yan Kai’s heart lurched the instant their gazes met. A piercing chill pressed against his chest.
On the surface, he sensed not the slightest trace of power from Lu Sheng. And yet, an overwhelming gravity bore down on him. The pressure was suffocating, seeping into his limbs and leaving his body faintly numb.
He caught the sound of Duan Rongrong’s hurried breathing beside him. Her sensitivity to danger far surpassed his own. Without question, she was bearing that oppressive presence several times more intensely than he was.
The crushing, indescribable pressure rendered the three of them silent. Simply standing before Lu Sheng demanded all their resolve.
“What powerful senses,” Lu Sheng remarked in mild surprise, just as sweat began to bead on their foreheads and their heartbeats quickened.
A moment later, the weight of his aura lifted.
“Phew!!”
Duan Rongrong’s knees gave way at once, nearly collapsing her to the ground. Only Yan Kai’s quick grip kept her upright.
The three exchanged glances, relief flooding through them. They had come to the right person.
Ever since learning that his senior apprentice brother, Wan Hezi, had accepted the Dugu Family’s bounty, Yan Kai had been racking his mind for a way out of the predicament.
The Dugu Family was not a force to be taken lightly. Compared to them, Yan Kai’s branch of exorcists was so feeble that they could be eradicated by the hundreds with ease.
In other words, now that his senior apprentice brother had taken on the task, there was no room to back out. The investigation had to be carried through to the end.
The offer itself contained only a single condition: to investigate the true agenda of Chao Long, the Deputy Society Leader of the Wandering Heart Society.
The Dugu Family and the Wandering Heart Society were rival factions. An offer of reward aimed at Chao Long was therefore both natural and expected. At first, Wan Hezi believed the task lay well within his abilities. With his bloodline talent, he could secretly tail Chao Long and, when the chance arose, catch a glimpse of what he was plotting.
Yan Kai rejected the idea at once. The Dugu Family would never put forward such a generous reward for a task that simple.
He pressed Wan Hezi to recount the terms of the deal in full. Just as Yan Kai had suspected, they were not merely required to uncover Chao Long’s intentions. They also had to determine the composition of his entourage, his current condition, and the specific arrangements he had made to carry out his plans.
With those added requirements, the difficulty of the mission shot straight into “insane” territory. If they attempted to cut corners or deceive the Dugu Family, the only fate awaiting his senior apprentice brother would be to become fuel for their furnace.
After exhausting every line of thought, Yan Kai found only a single path that could meaningfully raise their chances of success.
Borrow the strength of others.
At present, the only faction in Tea Town capable of contending with Chao Long was the Crimson Whale Sect.
Unlike Chao Long’s covert infiltration, Crimson Whale Sect had arrived openly, with great fanfare. Wan Hezi had tailed Chao Long all the way into town and discovered nothing, save for the fact that his arrival was tied to the legend of the Unlaughing Master.
At the same time, experts from the Crimson Whale Sect had also gone missing because of that very legend. The overlap between the two sides created an opening Yan Kai could exploit.
“I wonder what brings Mister Yan Kai to these desolate mountains?” Lu Sheng asked, his gaze appraising Yan Kai and Duan Rongrong.
Compared to their first meeting in Nine Links City, the two of them looked much the same, though a clear air of maturity now clung to them. As for the third person traveling with them, Lu Sheng dismissed him without a second glance.
“The reason Young Master Sheng has come is the same reason we’re here,” Yan Kai said evenly. “We simply arrived a little earlier.” He deliberately retained the old form of address he had once used, subtly closing the distance between them. After all, he had rendered Lu Sheng considerable help in the past. Without Yan Kai’s involvement back then, Lu Sheng’s sister, Lu Qingqing, might never have been found.
“Oh?” Lu Sheng’s brows lifted slightly. “Could it be that Mister Yan Kai has other leads? Would you be willing to share them with me? Whether it’s money or something else, Mister need only name it.”
Yan Kai shook his head and glanced at Duan Rongrong and Wan Hezi. Duan Rongrong was half-hidden behind him, her overly keen senses leaving her visibly unsettled, while Wan Hezi trembled outright, his fear plain to see. Neither of them could be relied upon at the moment. He would have to shoulder this himself.
Yet seeing that Lu Sheng remained amicable and still remembered the favor from the past, Yan Kai felt a glimmer of hope take root.
“To be honest, Young Master Sheng, we’re here in pursuit of a dangerous individual who came from another region,” Yan Kai said frankly. “My senior apprentice brother, Wan Hezi, accepted a commission to investigate this person and has followed him all the way from the East. We never expected that you would also come to this small town because of the legend of the Unlaughing.”
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