Chapter 17: Suspicions of Infiltration

Black Flood Dragon?

Lu Mingyi’s breath caught. She recalled that before she had left, Taiqing Abyss had been perfectly calm, showing no signs of trouble. How could it have suddenly gone berserk?

Moreover, she had kicked Wang Ting and her two lackeys straight into Taiqing Abyss at the time.

The Black Flood Dragon was an exceedingly rare spirit beast. A Millennium Black Flood Dragon had cultivation nearly equivalent to a Cavern Void Realm cultivator, and before taming, it possessed an extremely violent temperament. If Wang Ting and the others had truly encountered it, it would have been an absolute disaster.

Lu Mingyi’s heart leaped into her throat.

However, there hadn’t been any major disturbances in the sect yet. The Enforcement Hall had only sent her a message, which suggested no disciples had been injured or killed.

Right after that, she thought of the spirit beasts controlled by Beast Peak—none of them lacked a Millennium Black Flood Dragon of that level. Logically speaking, Beast Peak’s restraints and formations were extremely secure. How could such a massive problem have arisen so suddenly?

In an instant, Lu Mingyi realized this was another ploy by the Demon Sect.

She had just skimmed through Ji Xuyun’s records in the Book Collection Pavilion earlier, and they matched what Ji Xuyun herself had said.

But this was an even more terrifying conclusion.

If the records were accurate, then the person capable of breaking Beast Peak’s restraints to release the Black Flood Dragon must have extraordinarily profound cultivation—scarcely any elders in the entire Taiqing Sect reached that level. If the records were wrong, first, Ji Xuyun’s strength alone was shocking; second, the ability to alter Taiqing Sect’s records without detection for decades meant that person’s status within the sect was extremely high.

Considering it this way, there were scarcely any suspects in the entire Taiqing Sect.

“Miss Lu.”

Shu Yi’s emotionless voice pulled Lu Mingyi back from her thoughts. She said, “You’ve already seen the message the Young Miss sent you. I’ll escort you to Jin Que Pavilion now.”

“What? No, please wait a moment! I need to go to Lingxiao Pavilion first!”

Lu Mingyi’s brows furrowed tightly. Her pale, delicate face flushed slightly with urgency, which actually made her look a bit healthier: “Please, I have something extremely important right now—I must see my master!”

Right now, nothing was more important than uncovering the Demon Sect infiltrator.

They had released the Black Flood Dragon at this moment—who knew what they might do next?

Moreover, she needed to head to the Enforcement Hall first to find out what had happened to Wang Ting and her group.

But Shu Yi remained utterly unmoved. She directly changed course and said flatly, “Apologies, Miss Lu. I am a Shen Family guard. The Young Miss ordered me to take you to Jin Que Pavilion. Everything takes priority according to the Shen Family’s needs.”

Lu Mingyi’s words caught in her throat.

Several methods to make Shu Yi “change her mind” flashed through her mind, but she abandoned them one by one.

Never mind that Shu Yi was truly the Shen Family’s guard assigned to her—she had no right to command her in the first place. Just looking at Shu Yi’s Soul Transformation Stage cultivation, what could a wounded Qi Refining Stage cultivator like her possibly do?

Thus, she could only try to persuade her: “This matter concerns the Demon Sect—it’s of utmost urgency!”

Yet Shu Yi remained unmoved: “Once the Young Miss’s matters are finished, I will escort Miss Lu to Lingxiao Pavilion.”

Lu Mingyi: “……”

Though she knew that as a guard, loyalty to the family came first and foremost, Lu Mingyi truly hadn’t expected it to reach this extent.

Even though Shu Yi had indeed accelerated her sword flight and Jin Que Pavilion was already right below them, Lu Mingyi still felt deeply frustrated.

Why was Taiqing Sect so vast? If it were even a little smaller, she could grit her teeth and run there on her own two legs to handle everything!

But frustration was frustration. When they landed from the sword, Lu Mingyi still gave Shu Yi a courteous bow of thanks.

Shu Yi returned the gesture, then her figure flickered and she vanished into hiding once more.

Gazing at Jin Que Pavilion, which gleamed even more resplendently in the night, Lu Mingyi’s emotions were complicated.

She didn’t want to see Shen Mingzheng right now.

This complexity turned into more obvious irritation when she checked her Identity Token and saw that Jiang Liuzhao still hadn’t replied.

With the Black Flood Dragon incident, any news about the Demon Sect should be of utmost urgency. She just wanted to meet Jiang Liuzhao and report the situation.

Why was something so simple so difficult in practice?

If it weren’t for the Demon Sect matter, Lu Mingyi wouldn’t want to deal with anyone at this moment.

This one day since leaving Contemplation Cliff had been full of ups and downs—both her mind and body were at their limits. She’d held on this long purely through sheer willpower.

Lu Mingyi was certain that if she stood in front of a mirror right now, she’d see a face as white as if she were attending a funeral.

Rubbing her face, Lu Mingyi forced herself to perk up and pushed open the door to Jin Que Pavilion.

Shen Mingzheng’s Jin Que Pavilion was filled with countless heavenly treasures and earthly riches. Even at night, the hall blazed as bright as day.

The scene inside the hall hadn’t changed much from daytime. Shen Pianchen still sat in the central main seat, while Xia Huan flipped through books at her side.

The only difference was the mansion’s owner.

Unlike during the day, when Shen Mingzheng had rushed forward anxiously upon Lu Mingyi’s arrival, tonight she wasn’t even in the main hall.

Lu Mingyi’s taut nerves relaxed somewhat.

Truth be told, she still didn’t know what mindset to adopt when facing Shen Mingzheng.

“Little Yi is here.” Shen Pianchen looked up from her book and gave Lu Mingyi a gentle smile, but she soon frowned, paused, and said, “Come closer so I can take a look. Why is your face so pale? Could it be that you were injured at Taiqing Abyss this afternoon…”

Lu Mingyi was somewhat surprised that Shen Pianchen had learned of the Taiqing Abyss incident so quickly, but considering the massive impact of the Black Flood Dragon’s rampage, the news had likely spread far and wide: “Aunt Shen, I’m fine. I just ran around everywhere today and got a bit tired.”

Concern deepened on Shen Pianchen’s face. She said, “We’ve already heard about the Black Flood Dragon. It’s most likely the work of Demonic Cultivators. I wonder which Demon Sect elder it was—able to infiltrate Taiqing Sect so stealthily without a trace.”

Lu Mingyi didn’t chime in upon hearing this, merely listening silently.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan, but aristocratic families and sects cooperated while maintaining clear boundaries. Neither liked the other meddling too deeply in their affairs.

This was also why Lu Mingyi had always planned to report Ji Xuyun’s status as an infiltrator only to Jiang Liuzhao.

Shen Pianchen continued, “Little Yi, these are turbulent times. After discussing it with your Aunt Xia, we’ve decided it’s too worrying for you and A’Zheng to stay in Taiqing Sect. Why not return to the Shen Family together for now? At least under our watch, until the storm passes and you can come back. A’Zheng has already gone to the inner hall to pack.”

Lu Mingyi was taken aback, but she quickly understood Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan’s reasoning.

Sixty years ago, the Demon Sect had caused havoc.

At that time, she and Shen Mingzheng had been full of youthful vigor, participating in the encirclement of the Demon Sect Saintess as Taiqing Sect disciples.

But no one had expected the Demon Sect Saintess to already possess Golden Core Stage Great Perfection cultivation, with her Demonic Cultivators nearly all at Golden Core or above. They suffered heavy losses right from the start, and several were even captured—including Shen Mingzheng.

Though Lu Mingyi had successfully rescued her later, it had truly frightened Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan badly. From then on, Shen Mingzheng was never without at least four guards.

With so many incidents in Taiqing Sect now, Shen Pianchen naturally feared another accident befalling Shen Mingzheng.

But should she return to the Shen Family?

Lu Mingyi pondered for a moment before saying respectfully, “Thank you for your kind intentions, Aunt Shen and Aunt Xia. But with the Demon Sect invading now, I cannot simply leave.”

Leaving aside her tangled history of enmity with the Demon Sect, just considering the current situation: first, Ji Xuyun was a Demon Sect member who had been close to her these past years and had been the one spreading word of her as the Child of Prophecy—perhaps the Demon Sect truly intended to target her, and returning to the Shen Family now would only bring risk to them; second, she still needed to uncover the source of those voices.

Families valued blood ties; sects valued connections. She could gather more information in Taiqing Sect than in the Shen Family.

Hearing her words, Xia Huan’s sword-like brows furrowed slightly: “In your current state, Taiqing Sect surely won’t let you go to the front lines anyway.”

The moment Lu Mingyi entered Jin Que Pavilion, they had noticed her cultivation had dropped again—from Foundation Establishment Third Layer straight to Qi Refining Stage.

Sending a Qi Refining Stage cultivator against the Demon Sect was a bit too inhumane.

Lu Mingyi caught the implication and was about to add more reasons for staying when Shen Pianchen sighed and asked, “Little Yi, have you truly made up your mind to remain in Taiqing Sect at this critical juncture and face the Demon Sect head-on?”

Xia Huan looked at her wife upon hearing this, surprise mingled with subtle disapproval.

“Yes.” Lu Mingyi cupped her fists and raised her gaze, meeting Shen Pianchen’s eyes with firm resolve.

As she answered, she faintly heard a few crackling sounds, like heavy objects crashing to the ground.

The hall fell silent for a moment, but Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan’s expressions didn’t change.

Shen Pianchen nodded lightly and continued, “I thought as much. With your temperament, you could never sit idly by while the Demon Sect invades.” She took out a Storage Ring. “Then take this with you. It contains some magic tools and talismans for your self-defense.”

“Thank you, Aunt Shen.” Lu Mingyi accepted it without hesitation.

“It’s already the hour of Hai—you should rest in Jin Que Pavilion tonight,” Shen Pianchen urged.

Lu Mingyi had stayed over in Jin Que Pavilion many times before, so it was routine. But with the situation so urgent, she naturally refused and wanted to hurry to Lingxiao Pavilion to find Jiang Liuzhao.

After voicing her polite refusal, she heard another muffled crashing sound.

Xia Huan cleared her throat lightly: “Ahem, alright then. Since you have urgent business, go quickly. Shu Yi, escort her.”

With the family head’s wife speaking personally, it carried far more weight than Lu Mingyi’s own request. Shu Yi had already summoned her sword.

Lu Mingyi was still puzzling over the two muffled sounds that had suddenly appeared in Jin Que Pavilion, but in the end, the Demon Sect matter was more pressing, so she set it aside for now.

However, before she could step onto Shu Yi’s immortal sword, a knock came from outside Jin Que Pavilion, accompanied by a solemn spiritual transmission:

“Is Sword Peak’s Lu Mingyi here? Main Peak Enforcement Hall has come to take her into custody—do not resist futilely!”