The Saintess Zhilan was truly leaving this time.
As a spoil of war, that jade flower was given to Du Yueyao.
Du Yueyao did not want it, but both Saintess Zhilan and Lu Zheng pressed it upon her.
If she refused, Saintess Zhilan would certainly be too embarrassed to take it, and now that Du Yueyao was at least nominally part of the Yuan Saint Sect, Lu Zheng could not rightly claim it either.
It could only go to Du Yueyao.
Thus, Du Yueyao now possessed the dharma treasures of two saintesses from the Yuan Saint Sect, and overnight she had become quite wealthy.
“Cultivate well. Your senior sister is leaving,” Saintess Zhilan said. “Now that Mingyi is dead, I fear the New Sect branch may make moves. I must return to help Eldest Sister stabilise the situation. Next year… well, we shall see about the timing, and next time I come, I absolutely will not bring a tail along.”
The last remark was directed at Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng nodded. He was about to see her off when he suddenly remembered something and, almost on impulse, asked a question.
“By the way, how far are you from the Huajian Caiyun Sect?”
Though he knew both the Yuan Saint Sect and the Huajian Caiyun Sect were in the southwest, he did not know their exact locations.
Moreover, he knew the Zhenyi Department of Dajing Town would pass information to the southern border, but since the two sides had just fought shoulder to shoulder, Lu Zheng decided to mention it casually when it came to mind.
After all, the Yuan Saint Sect had enmity with Dajing. What if they did not receive the news?
“The Huajian Caiyun Sect?”
Saintess Zhilan frowned, puzzled why Lu Zheng suddenly asked about this. “Not far. Why do you ask about that den of lewd thieves, Fellow Daoist Lu?”
The Yuan Saint Sect accepted both male and female disciples, though, being led by saintesses, it naturally had slightly more female disciples.
The Huajian Caiyun Sect also practised a side branch of Daoist bedroom arts involving yin and yang, but they had gone astray.
Over hundreds of years, the Huajian Caiyun Sect had lured away many female disciples from the Yuan Saint Sect, and the Yuan Saint Sect had crippled many of their members in return.
Though both sects shared enmity with Dajing, their own relationship had never been good.
On paper, the Yuan Saint Sect was stronger, but internal strife between its Original and New branches held it back, while the Huajian Caiyun Sect was not weak either, so they had coexisted uneasily.
“The Huajian Caiyun Sect has begun cultivating demonic arts,” Lu Zheng said. “They appear to have thrown in their lot with the Great Black Heaven Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor.”
“What?”
Saintess Zhilan was shocked. “The Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor? He has taken over the Huajian Caiyun Sect?”
It was a bolt from the blue.
What kind of figure was the Great Black Heaven Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor?
When he first emerged in the southern border, he caused widespread panic in the region. Several family heads and top experts joined forces, some died, some were gravely injured, and the power balance in that area was completely reshuffled before the demonic sect he had founded in the southern border was finally destroyed.
When he ventured deep into the Central Plains, Dajing discovered him and sent several top experts, originally intending to slay the demon, but in the end he escaped using a secret method and retreated to the southern border. According to information the Yuan Saint Sect had received, demonic entities continued to appear and vanish unpredictably across the Central Plains without cease.
If such a figure truly took control of the Huajian Caiyun Sect, the outcome was uncertain, but the Yuan Saint Sect, being not far away, could very well be caught in the crossfire.
Lu Zheng nodded and recounted to Saintess Zhilan how, on his return from the southern border, he had encountered a Huajian Caiyun Sect disciple and forced the demonic art out of him.
“The Zhenyi Department will notify the southern border, but since the Yuan Saint Sect is tied to the previous dynasty…”
“I understand!” Saintess Zhilan nodded, actually feeling relieved. Knowing early meant they could strike the demonic sect’s foothold sooner.
Yet she was still puzzled. “If the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor wished to develop in secret, he should not have let disciples who cultivated demonic arts leave, should he? Would that not make discovery far too easy?”
“That I do not know,” Lu Zheng said, shaking his head. “There are many possibilities.”
For instance, those who cultivated demonic arts were often not right in the head, and they might have assumed exposure in the Central Plains would not affect the southern border.
Or perhaps the Huajian Caiyun Sect was merely cooperating with demonic cultivators, or the one directing matters was a disciple of the Demon Ancestor, or someone unimportant who had already scattered.
Lu Zheng continued, “But now the Huajian Caiyun Sect is very likely a demonic lair. Since the Yuan Saint Sect is not far away, you must be cautious.”
Saintess Zhilan nodded. “I shall return to the southern border at once, inform Eldest Sister, and investigate the nearby sects as well.”
Lu Zheng had encountered that Huajian Caiyun Sect disciple over a month ago, so Saintess Zhilan did not dare delay. She bid farewell, gathered Fan Boyu in a surge of true qi, rose into the air, and flew straight southwest.
…
After Saintess Zhilan left, Du Yueyao wasted no time and went to the Hall of Benevolent Hearts with Liu Qingyan, who had barely fought the previous day.
Shen Ying, who had been maintaining the Peach Blossom Evil all this time, was rather exhausted. She pulled Lu Zheng back to the master bedroom and asked him to give her a massage.
The massage lasted all afternoon, yet somehow she ended up even more tired.
…
Crossing back to the modern world and returning home, Lu Zheng went to the market for fresh vegetables, took some frozen wolf meat and seafood he had brought back from the Dragon Palace over the New Year, and made another sumptuous dinner.
Just as Lin Wan came through the door, the final dish of braised king prawns was coming out of the wok.
“Wash your hands and come eat!”
“Coming!”
Seeing Lu Zheng at home, Lin Wan cheerfully took off her coat, washed her hands, changed clothes, and sat at the table.
“Wow! A feast tonight?” Lin Wan’s eyes lit up.
Just as Lu Zheng brought premium ingredients from the modern world to the ancient one, he also brought top-quality ingredients from the ancient world back. From pig demon to wolf demon to East Sea king prawns, he would occasionally prepare such a meal to nourish Lin Wan’s qi and blood.
Then they would battle vigorously through the night.
…
With Lu Zheng home, Lin Wan was all smiles. She did not ask where he had been these past days, simply ate with him happily and shared details of her last two cases.
“Oh, right, the case with Xiaoying has been resolved. I got another third-class merit!” Lin Wan flashed a victory sign at Lu Zheng.
“That came through already?” Lu Zheng asked. “The case is fully cleared?”
“Fully cleared. It was collusion inside and out. The other side turned out to be a major drug lord from northern Myanmar, direct from the factory, fair prices.”
Lin Wan said, “This time we took down one of their shell trading companies, their domestic first-level agent, and most importantly the smuggling cargo ship. That really made him bleed.”
Lu Zheng shook his head, speechless.
Who would have thought that simply watching a play could lead step by step to dismantling a major drug lord’s domestic network.
Was this the butterfly effect?
“Quite unlucky for them,” Lu Zheng said.
“Good that they’re unlucky. If they weren’t, innocent people here would be,” Lin Wan replied coldly.
“But even if you cleared the case, you can’t touch him, right?” Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered.
“No,” Lin Wan said calmly. “He’s under the protection of an armed group there, or rather, he’s probably their financial backer.”
“So?” Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow.
“So!” Lin Wan nodded firmly.
Lin Wan and Lu Zheng looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.
If that drug lord was not dealt with, rebuilding his domestic network would only be a matter of time, and with money paving the way, there would never be a shortage of desperate men ready to take risks.
Therefore…
Eliminating the drug lord once and for all was the only permanent solution.
Lin Wan sighed. “The problem is, even if we kill him, there’ll be others to take his place.”
“Then we keep killing, until no one dares come here anymore,” Lu Zheng said mildly. “It’s not as if we haven’t done it before.”
