They were leaving already?

Father and son of the Lin family both lost their usual composure.

A Sect Master of the Implement Sect, and a powerhouse of outstanding ability in the War Temple’s Yi section — either of them a person of standing and reputation anywhere in Great Qian.

And yet right now, both stood with mouths open, unable to find a word to say.

What had this Inspector actually come here to do?

If the aim was to determine what Perfected Master Hu was actually scheming, then using the Implement Sect’s formation to immobilize it first, then waiting for Lizhou’s General to arrive, was about as close to foolproof as any plan could get.

If the fox denied everything to the bitter end, this was still the opportunity to drive it out of Great Qian.

Fully justified, and without needlessly offending Qingqiu either.

But what was Commander Shen doing right now? He was following this fox demon out of Great Qian, off his own territory, toward some unknown gods-knew-where destination?

If the fox had pre-arranged a group of demon kings waiting outside to ambush and kill the Inspector—

Who was the War Temple going to come looking to for answers afterward?

Did Great Qian still have the strength to apply pressure on a major outside faction beyond its borders?

And in the end, would this black pot of blame land on the Implement Sect’s back?

“Commander Shen.”

Madam Lin called out with a grave expression — even if there was a personal grudge, there was no need to settle it on someone else’s home ground.

But Shen Yi only gave a casual wave, and followed the two fox demons riding their clouds off across the sky.

“Aiyah!”

Lin Qingyang watched the three figures vanish, and finally couldn’t hold back, his fist coming down into his palm. “We should have said something to one of the other rotating Custodians before all this!”

He and the others were simply too junior in standing — no one could talk a Custodian and Inspector out of anything.

“Your feet are too slow — get on your cloud and go notify the General, and tell him to make it fast!” Lin Jingyi had had quite the fright himself. He’d meant to handle this quietly, let the War Temple deal with it, keep things small — how had it come to this.

“Right!” Lin Qingyang wasted no more time and shot off toward Lizhou City on his cloud.

Beyond Great Qian’s borders, the mountains stretched wide and green.

Shen Yi no longer had to keep track at every moment of whether he’d traveled three hundred li or eight hundred — that kind of thing no longer mattered.

Vast mountain ranges swept past beneath his feet, countless peaks and rivers crossing in an instant.

“It seems Commander Shen has some sentimental attachment after all.”

Perfected Master Hu flew ahead with its junior, glancing back at the young man every so often, and remarked casually, “That former colleague of yours chose not to wait and went straight to the Silver Moon Cold Pool on her own.”

“From what I understand, the demon there carries no great reputation — only because it prefers not to wander the world. In actual strength it’s no weaker than many names far more widely feared.”

No weaker than. If anything, an understatement.

A flicker of unease crossed Perfected Master Hu’s eyes, too quick to notice.

Short of a demon emperor, it had never encountered a demon more formidable than that old dragon — which was exactly why it had needed to arrange this many contingencies.

This Shen fellow was turning out to be even more brazen than expected.

He had to be holding a considerable number of cards in reserve.

Still — it didn’t seem like the man wanted to talk, which suited Perfected Master Hu fine. It looked away with a smile.

No matter how many cards he held, had he never heard the saying that two fists were no match for four hands?

Today’s arrangement had him surrounded on every side. There was no way out.

Just as Perfected Master Hu’s thoughts began to drift, a faint thread of sound transmission reached its ear.

“That white dragon has gone mad. Your Silver Moon Cold Lotus is almost certainly gone. My thanks for the assist, old friend — but I can confirm now that Great Qian has produced an actual genuine Mixed Origin Grandmaster. Time for me to go have a word with the War Temple.”

At those words, Perfected Master Hu’s face went instantly pale.

Constrained by Shen Yi’s presence behind it, it forced itself to stay calm and transmitted back, “How is that possible? The cold pool’s suffering isn’t something just anyone can endure. Even a Mixed Origin Grandmaster who condensed their path infant through Mysterious Ice killing-force would need to go all-out just to resist it. Even if the old dragon slipped up, there’s no way something that powerful was close enough to affect it without it noticing in time.”

“The thing is, she didn’t use any presence at all — just brute-forced herself down to the bottom… though the price was steep. Left half her body behind, and fled with nothing but her path infant dragging the remains.” The voice replied with some admiration.

“Took the treasure and still got out of that old dragon’s hands alive — she’s genuinely ruthless. Though she won’t be daring to return to Great Qian for a while.”

Then, almost as an afterthought: “Be careful — the old dragon has gone looking for you. Elder brother will take his leave first.”

At that, Perfected Master Hu’s pulse spiked, and in a frantic burst of transmission it called out, “Wait — Elder Brother, you said the War Temple had wronged you — don’t you want a chance to settle that score?”

“What do you mean? You’re asking me to collude with demons?” The voice gave a cold laugh.

“Not collude — what I mean is… I’ve brought along Great Qian’s Inspector here. Use him as a peace offering to the old dragon. Once it deals with this Shen fellow, the two of us can then move on the old dragon together.”

Perfected Master Hu worked hard to keep its expression neutral.

Silence on the other end, stretching out for a while.

Then, finally, a laugh. “Whether I get that score settled or not doesn’t really matter either way. If I’m helping you clean up your mess, the demon core goes to me.”

“…”

Miserable wretch! Perfected Master Hu ground its teeth, and still had to feign composure as it turned back to give the young man a smile. “Nearly there.”

“Mm.”

Shen Yi gave a small nod.

He finally understood what cultivation was for.

Perhaps it was exactly for moments like this — when you could see perfectly clearly that the other party was wound tight all over, radiating intent to trap and kill you.

And could still remain perfectly at ease.

Even feeling something faintly like anticipation, wondering just how many fine dishes the other side was going to manage to call up.

Soon.

Perfected Master Hu seemed to sense something, and descended swiftly.

“Elder?” The young fox demon took a steadying breath. Was it finally time to make a move?

Mountains and clear water all around — pleasant surroundings, at least, though rather wasted on that young man.

Before it could finish the thought.

A shrill dragon’s roar erupted in the distance, saturated with bottomless grievance and rage.

“You worthless fox — you’re going to die for this!”

With the roar, a silver-white shape appeared on the horizon, churning and thrashing as it plunged downward.

The sheer scale of it seemed ready to crush an entire mountain forest to dust.

Its head bore a stag’s antlers; its body was sheathed in silver scales, long and powerfully built; its claws curved like golden hooks; two long whiskers streamed from the corners of its jaw.

Unmistakably, a white dragon.

The young fox demon’s eyes went wide, and it scrambled sideways in a panic.

Perfected Master Hu glanced back at Shen Yi, found the man standing with hands at his sides, expression entirely unchanged, doing nothing more than raising a single eyebrow.

Still this composed…

Itself, however, was not about to stay and enjoy the spectacle.

With that thought, Perfected Master Hu shifted its footing slightly, stepped to Shen Yi’s left, and then cupped its fists and called out in a great voice, “Dragon Brother, please — your rage is understandable! In my drunken stupor I let slip the location of your cave estate, and Great Qian’s people overheard it — I deserve ten thousand deaths!”

“However!”

“Your little brother has been working hard to make amends — I’ve brought you the Demon Suppression Division’s Inspector in person, a true-transmission disciple of the War Temple, one for whom they’ve gone so far as to invoke a golden dharma form, even at the cost of offending Xuanguang Cave!”

Perfected Master Hu got it all out in a single breath, not daring to pause for even an instant. “Today, your little brother is willing to capture this man alive for Dragon Brother — and have the War Temple compensate you for your losses.”

At those words, the white dragon’s coils slowed. It held its claw suspended in midair.

Those gleaming dragon eyes swept across the three figures below, and the madness in them gradually faded, its voice carrying a raw, menacing edge. “You think I’d still believe you?”

“Junior Brother Shen — my apologies.”

Perfected Master Hu shook its head and looked toward Shen Yi, something that looked like genuine regret crossing its face. “What can you do — you’re young, full of fire, you’ve made too many enemies.”

With that, it let the cupped fists fall open. “Dragon Brother — I knew you wouldn’t believe me, which is why I’ve also brought a Perfected Master of Xuanguang Cave. The War Temple invoking its golden dharma form was actually meant to be used against him.”

As the words settled.

A slender figure in a light robe slowly materialized from behind and to Shen Yi’s right.

“They wouldn’t even let anyone speak your name — I thought you must be some truly remarkable figure. Now that I’ve actually seen you in person…”

Perfected Master Changqing smiled faintly, and said in a quiet voice, “Nothing special after all.”

(End of Chapter 242)