After saying all that, Ah Ming’s tone changed. "Bai Ye, I need you to help me out with Master. Tell him he must give me a little more time. I’ll come back as soon as I’m finished."
Bai Ye sounded somewhat resigned. "Young Master, you’ve always been so set in your ways... Don’t worry. Although the Sect Master is concerned for your safety, I don’t think he’ll be too forceful."
"It’s just... there’s someone in that group whose power I can’t discern. I fear he’s at the Divinity Transformation Stage at the very least. Young Master, you must be extremely careful while you’re with them."
Ah Ming lowered his gaze slightly, Xie Ningyuan’s face appearing in his mind.
"That man’s strength is indeed terrifying, but he’s very obedient to Ms. Ajiu. As long as Ms. Ajiu means me no harm, I don’t think he’ll do anything to me."
After a pause, he added, "But to avoid being discovered, you shouldn’t follow me anymore."
Bai Ye immediately objected. "Absolutely not! That’s too dangerous!"
"You said it yourself—Xie Ningyuan is stronger than you. I’m with him. If something happens that even he can’t handle, then you following me would be useless."
"But..."
"No buts, Bai Ye. Do as I say."
Seeing Ah Ming’s insistence, Bai Ye could only agree with resignation.
Ah Ming then asked, "Have you finished the task I gave you?"
Bai Ye took out a Jade Scroll and handed it over. "This is everything we’ve managed to find out in the Western Demon Realm so far. For now, we can only confirm that someone from the Cold Crow Sect might be involved, but it’s proven very difficult to investigate any further."
The Cold Crow Sect was more powerful than their Divine Tomb Sect, so it was extremely difficult for their people to infiltrate any deeper. This was as far as they could get.
Ah Ming knew this, so he didn’t press the matter. He just nodded and said, "This is good enough. You should head back. If I have any news, I’ll contact you with a Communication Talisman."
He paused, then added one more instruction. "Be careful on your way back. Don’t let those stinking monks spot you."
Bai Ye agreed. After a moment’s thought, he gave Ah Ming a good number of Demon Essence Stones for his needs, then bowed and vanished into the darkness.
After Bai Ye left, Ah Ming looked around. Once he was certain no one was nearby, he carefully erased the residual traces of Demonic Qi before using the Earth Escape Skill to return to the inn.
But after Ah Ming’s figure vanished, a voice suddenly spoke in the quiet alley.
"Tsk. I could tell the kid was hiding something, but I never expected it was this much."
Lu Sangjiu was sitting on the roof of a nearby house, her aura perfectly concealed by the Thousand Faces of Life.
Xie Ningyuan sat beside her, relying on his own cultivation to evade Bai Ye’s Divine Sense.
He chuckled softly. "He played the naive innocent quite well. He almost had me fooled. I didn’t expect him to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing... The kid is quite the schemer. He’s got some tricks up his sleeve."
Lu Sangjiu nodded in complete agreement. "If I hadn’t smelled the Demon-Attracting Incense, I might never have found out."
She had smelled the Demon-Attracting Incense right after they entered the city, but since Ah Ming showed no reaction at all, Lu Sangjiu didn’t mention it.
Once they got to the inn, she deliberately tested him by suggesting Xie Ningyuan share his room, and just as she’d expected, he refused.
That’s when Lu Sangjiu realized the Demon-Attracting Incense was likely a signal meant for him.
That night, she used the Thousand Faces of Life and dragged Xie Ningyuan along to lie in wait. Sure enough, they saw Ah Ming sneak out.
Now, after hearing their conversation, Lu Sangjiu was able to piece together what had happened.
’Bai Ye must have found Ah Ming and realized he was with our group. Wary of Xie Ningyuan, he didn’t dare use a Communication Talisman or voice transmission, so he resorted to using Demon-Attracting Incense to send a signal.’
’Using Demon-Attracting Incense in the presence of Immortal Cultivators should have been foolproof. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t account for an anomaly like me.’
"I had a feeling Ah Ming might be Fa Shan’s disciple. I can’t believe it’s actually true."
"That Fa Shan fellow is a bit of a simpleton. I never thought he’d raise such a cunning disciple."
Xie Ningyuan nodded. "Cunning, yes, but with a strong sense of justice."
’From their conversation, it wasn’t hard to guess that Ah Ming had likely gotten himself captured on purpose and taken from the Western Demon Realm, all to find out who was behind the Demon Cultivator trafficking ring.’
’But something must have gone wrong along the way, causing Ah Ming to get into a fight before he could uncover their true identities.’
’He probably knew that the City Lord of Yuelin City was also connected to this affair, which is why he was lying low here, continuing his investigation.’
’Perhaps because the City Lord’s influence was too great, Ah Ming wasn’t able to get what he wanted from him.’
’So, upon discovering the City Lord was the mastermind behind the abduction of the Female Cultivator, he deliberately stole the woman’s corpse from the City Lord Mansion to escalate the situation and create chaos he could take advantage of.’
’He had planned everything perfectly. The only thing he didn’t count on was that Lu Sangjiu could resist the Ghost Demon Fragrance, allowing her to catch him red-handed.’
’In his panic, he’d deliberately feigned weakness, and his performance had been perfect.’
’The only flaw in his act was that he hadn’t expected Lu Sangjiu to know the origin of the Ghost Demon Fragrance, which allowed her to deduce that he must have close ties to Fa Shan.’
’Fa Shan was the current Sect Master of the Divine Tomb Sect in the Western Demon Realm. Would someone with such close ties to him really be so easily abducted?’
It was this point that had made Lu Sangjiu suspicious, giving her the vague feeling that Ah Ming was hiding something.
But even though Ah Ming had stirred up trouble, he hadn’t used the Ghost Demon Fragrance to wantonly kill innocents. So, despite her suspicions, Lu Sangjiu didn’t think he was a bad person and had still chosen to help him.
Now that the puzzle was solved, Lu Sangjiu found she wasn’t angry, despite having been deceived.
’A little cunning wasn’t a bad thing,’ she thought. ’It helps you protect yourself.’
Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan chatted on the roof for a while longer, then came to a silent agreement not to expose Ah Ming’s little secret.
The main reason was that if Ah Ming were just an ordinary Demon Cultivator, it would be fine. But if Yan Zui found out he was the Young Master of the Divine Tomb Sect, it was hard to say whether he would still cooperate with them.
「The next morning」
Feng Lin and Li Qiancheng arrived in Yuelin City one after another via the Teleportation Array, meeting up with the rest of the group.
Lu Sangjiu explained the general situation to the two of them, and both took the news surprisingly well.
Li Qiancheng, just like Luo Linlang and Shen Yuzhao, was willing to hunt for the mastermind because of Lu Sangjiu.
As for Feng Lin, he explained, "What Mr. Xie said last time gave me a lot to think about. I think... perhaps not all Demon Cultivators are evil. We just stand on different sides."
"But now that there’s a truce between Immortals and Demons, it’s wrong for someone to be secretly running such a heinous business. I’m willing to help you find the person behind all this."
Lu Sangjiu was delighted. It seemed Xie Ningyuan’s story hadn’t been for nothing; at the very least, Feng Lin’s perspective had truly shifted a little.
Once everyone was gathered, Lu Sangjiu shared all the information she had.
"Our only clue right now is that the culprits need to pass through Yuelin City, so they must have struck some kind of deal with the former City Lord."
"Now that City Lord is dead and inspections in Yuelin City have become even stricter, if they want to continue their business, they’ll inevitably have to approach the new City Lord. We can start our investigation with him."
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