“Zhu San!”

Hearing the shout, Zhu Laosan stood up and approached the door. He didn’t unlatch it immediately, pressing his ear against the wood. “Who is looking for me?”

“We need to ask you about the spirit fields.”

Zhu Laosan frowned. He was on edge, but a routine inquiry about the fields shouldn’t be dangerous. He forced a smile onto his face and pulled the door open.

“About the fields? I’m afraid I don’t know much—”

Before he could finish, a blur of green lashed out.

Snap!

A vine whip, thick and sinewous as a python, coiled around him. It tightened instantly, pinning his arms to his sides and squeezing the breath from his lungs.

Deacon Bai stepped into view, manipulating the bluish-grey vine with a cold sneer. “It’s been a while, Zhu San.”

“Deacon Bai!” Zhu Laosan’s face went pale. “Is this about selling the Spirit Root Refining Art to Bai Lingyun? That was resolved! I atoned for my crimes! Why are you here?”

“Logically, that matter is indeed settled. You were lucky enough to earn merit to offset your guilt,” Deacon Bai said, his voice dripping with disdain. “However, who told you to catch the Bai family’s attention again? Your new sins have come to light!”

“I’m wronged! This is a frame-up!” Zhu Laosan screamed, struggling against the vines. “The Bai family is framing me! I am innocent!”

“Innocent? We’ll see.” Deacon Bai signaled to the two Inner Disciples behind him, Jin Qi and Sheng Yan. “Search his residence and his person. Thoroughly.”

Jin Qi and Sheng Yan commanded their subordinate Outer Disciples to tear the place apart. One team ransacked the stone house; the other descended on Zhu Laosan.

In just a few breaths, they found it. A disciple pulled a small, embroidered pouch from inside Zhu Laosan’s robes.

The disciple tried to pry it open, but the drawstring remained sealed tight, protected by a spiritual lock.

“Deacon Bai,” the disciple reported. “It won’t open.”

“A blood-bound Storage Bag. Rare for a Qi Refining cultivator.” Deacon Bai’s eyes narrowed as he turned the pouch over in his hands. “Zhu San, the Sect confiscated all your assets last time. How do you possess a Storage Bag again? And a valuable, blood-bound one at that?”

“Deacon Bai, don’t slander me!” Zhu Laosan yelled, sweat beading on his forehead. “The Sect allowed me to trade again! I just can’t sell to disciples! I earned this trading with Rogue Cultivators! It’s perfectly reasonable!”

Deacon Bai scoffed. “Caught red-handed and still quibbling. Do you think I’m helpless against a locked bag?”

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Zhu San, confess now and you might live. Keep lying, and I won’t be polite.”

“I have nothing to say because I’ve done nothing wrong!” Zhu San stiffened his neck, clinging to his denial like a lifeline.

“Seeking death,” Deacon Bai spat. “Take him away. To the Artifact Refining Department. We’ll drain his Spirit Breath and blood; the refiners have ways to force this bag open.”

With a wave of his hand, Deacon Bai summoned a flying artifact. His team dragged the struggling Zhu Laosan onboard and streaked toward the refining peaks.

From a distance, Han Yu and Senior Sister Li watched the procession disappear into the clouds.

“Well?” Senior Sister Li asked with a faint smile. “Is that satisfactory, Junior Brother Han?”

Han Yu nodded. “Naturally.”

“The skinny Rogue Cultivator he colluded with won’t escape either,” Li assured him. “Once we have him, Zhu San can’t deny a thing. The Jiang family’s Fifth Prince and the Demonic Cultivator are next.”

She paused, looking at him seriously. “Master agrees with your request. Your involvement remains classified. No public announcements. We will see how much evidence we can recover.”

As they spoke, Hua Qi came rushing over, looking flustered.

“Senior Sister Li! Junior Brother Han! Was that Deacon Bai making an arrest? Is there another spy?”

“Yes,” Li replied calmly. “It was Zhu San.”

Hua Qi looked shocked, then resigned. “That Zhu San… he was always full of crooked ideas. I thought he was endlessly grateful to you, Junior Brother Han. I thought he had reformed himself.”

He shook his head. “I guess a dog can’t stop eating filth. He couldn’t resist breaking Sect rules again.”

Han Yu and Li exchanged a brief glance but said nothing more.

Han Yu needed anonymity for survival. His cultivation was too low to be painted as a hero who roots out spies; that would only paint a target on his back.

The next day, Senior Sister Li visited the Main Peak to track the progress of the investigation. She returned with grim but satisfying news.

The raid was a complete success.

The Jiang Fifth Prince had been captured and brought to Wanchun Valley. The Demonic Cultivator instructing him had resisted and was cut down on the spot.

More importantly, the Artifact Refining Department had cracked Zhu San’s bag.

The contents were damning. Inside, they found Spirit Corroding Powder, the Blood Refining Art manual, and Jade Slips containing Sect-restricted spells. Any one of these was a capital crime.

The skinny cultivator had also been netted. He turned out to be a bandit Rogue Cultivator with a history of murder and robbery.

The only loose end was the “traveling merchant” with the goatee. He had vanished—either fleeing Green Grain Market or discarding his disguise.

“The Sect is interrogating Zhu San and the bandit now,” Li reported. “We should know the fate of those two missing women soon.”

Han Yu was genuinely surprised. Zhu Laosan and the bandit were merely Qi Refining trash. That they held out this long against the Sect’s interrogators was impressive in a twisted way.

If they don’t talk soon, the Sect will likely resort to Soul Searching.

Another day passed. The resistance finally broke.

Zhu Laosan and the skinny bandit confessed everything.

The details were gruesome. Zhu Laosan had indeed taken his two pregnant wives to the “Small Gathering.” He sold them like livestock to unknown buyers, indifferent to their fate.

He also admitted to the plot against Han Yu. They planned to ambush him, loot his corpse, and then flee with the traveling merchant to a new region.

The interrogation also revealed the true identity of the mysterious merchant.

He wasn’t from the Black Mountain Market in the Great Zhou Dynasty as he had claimed. He was an agent from the Ten Thousand Beasts Market, located near the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range—territory controlled by the Spirit Beast Sect.

According to the merchant, the Spirit Beast Sect had thrown its gates wide open. They were aggressively recruiting disciples and followers every year, ignoring background, status, or morality. Even criminal Rogue Cultivators were welcomed with open arms.

The Ten Thousand Beasts Market had exploded in size, becoming the most prosperous hub in the Southern Region. Cultivators from the Nanli Kingdom, Xiyue Kingdom, the Great Zhou Dynasty, and even the barbaric tribes of the East and North were flocking there to seek power.

For scum like Zhu Laosan, it was a paradise where they could “fully display their abilities” and maneuver between factions without consequence.

Han Yu listened to Senior Sister Li’s recounting, his brow furrowing. The confirmation of Zhu Laosan’s malice was expected, but the news about the Spirit Beast Sect was alarming.

“Senior Sister Li,” Han Yu said slowly. “We are desperately trying to improve our strength here, but it seems the Spirit Beast Sect isn’t resting either.”

“No, they are restless,” Li agreed, a shadow crossing her face. “They are expanding like a plague. I truly don’t know why they are so intent on crushing Wanchun Valley.”

Two days later, Jin Qi arrived at the Spirit Field Department with the official rewards.

For her meritorious report, Senior Sister Li received ten Minor Merits and a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills.

For providing critical, accurate intelligence that neutralized multiple threats, Han Yu received a windfall.

One Major Merit. One Blood-Bound Storage Bag (the very one confiscated from Zhu Laosan). One bottle of Qi Gathering Pills. One block of Thousand-Year Sunkwood Heart. One bottle of Beast Spirit Pills, designed for raising Qi Refining stage spirit beasts.

Jin Qi also delivered the final verdict on the prisoners.

Zhu Laosan and the skinny bandit had blood on their hands—not just cultivators, but over ten innocent mortals. The Sect showed no mercy. After performing a brutal Soul Searching to verify their confessions, they were executed.

As for the Fifth Prince of the Jiang family…

The Sect considered the Jiang family’s long history of obedience to Wanchun Valley. Furthermore, the prince was not yet ten years old and hadn’t even had his Spirit Root tested. His corruption was deemed the result of a child’s grief and a villain’s manipulation.

Wanchun Valley spared his life. They crippled his Blood Refining cultivation and placed him in the care of servants within the valley.

In two years, he would undergo the Spirit Root test. His fate—whether he would become a disciple or be cast out—would be decided then.