Strangely enough, none of the elders of the Stardust sect seemed to have been alerted by the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Punishing Tribulation which supposedly only appeared when someone broke a huge taboo or violated natural order. But that was a good thing for Han Xuhan. It meant he had just the perfect opportunity to escape any blame and liabilities stemming from it.
He did not care a whit whether Fang Xie and his partner-in-crime had the ability to deal with the aftermath. At this point, he cared little about anything.
As soon as Tun Shi Tian managed to locate the Spatial rift leading back to their sect, Han Xuhan didn't hesitate to jump down. Instead of canceling the summoning spells of his minions, he made them accompany him physically, much to their astonishment.
However, they also understood that the failure to take over a new body had pushed their master one step away from a fitful tantrum. Although they didn't really understand the chain of events that had led to their failure, they knew that it had been a close brush with success, having been forced by a third party in the end to give up on the prime objective.
"Hey, Zhanxian, did you feel any weird tremors in your mind when we executed the last part of the Body Possession Technique?" Tun Shi Tian whispered as they followed Han Xuhan back to the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak.
Zhanxian nodded vaguely, but shushed the skeleton owl, gesturing silently towards their grimacing Boss.
Even Hai Yin Zhe, mentally almost a toddler, had noticed the aura of gloom radiating around her Papa. The snake refrained from making a ruckus and slung itself on Zhanxian's bony waist patiently.
A surprise was waiting for them in front of Xiao Wu's hut. Mu Ran, Yuen Zhou, and Xiao Wu were sitting on the porch, covered in medicinal pastes and bandages. All three of them perked up the moment they noticed Xuhan's appearance.
"Underling, those are some impressive wounds!" Mu Ran remarked in wonder, eyeing Xuhan's bloody shoulder and scabbing foot.
"Weren't you going to stay here and comprehend the Treasure Tracing Technique? What happened to that?"
Something in Mu Ran's voice prodded at Xuhan's senses. He could feel a tinge of barely hidden hostility flowing beneath the inquiry. Immediately, Han Xuhan shed the skin of a defeated dog, eyebrows raised, mind racing.
"That was indeed the original plan, yes. But there was another business I needed to attend to. Thankfully, I managed to take care of the matter for good. What about you three? Your injuries look ten times worse than mine," he said in reply, doing his best to cover up and divert the conversation.
However, Mu Ran completely ignored his question, sticking to his own line of thought stubbornly.
"What business was this, if you don't mind me asking? Surely, it couldn't have been more important than the Treasure Tracing Technique, right?"
Han Xuhan glanced at Yuen Zhou, who hadn't removed her scrutinizing gaze from him since the start of the conversation. Xiao Wu hurriedly looked away the moment their eyes met, further stoking the spark of suspicion in Xuhan's mind.
These guys knew something... something he had not leaked himself. But how?
"...It was equally important, boss. But like I said, it doesn't really matter anymore now. I did what needed to be done. It's not anything you should be concerned about-"
"Really?" Mu Ran said, interrupting him midway. "My underling visiting another sect to assassinate a disciple there is not something I should be concerned about? Xuhan, how about you come clean?"
The awkward smile he had been holding up vanished as he heard Mu Ran's accusation.
Other than Xuhan himself, every person involved in the case was still inside the cabin.
There was no way anyone could have contacted Mu Ran to inform him of his recent activities in the Stardust Sect, not so fast. If someone other than the thirteen disciples of the Phoenix faction had been present at the crime site, they would have to witness the attack that had taken down Leng Qing first-hand. Then they would have to contact Mu Ran with a magical technique that did not rely on qi, because Han Xuhan had used the Minor Seal of Myriad of Laws to control all the qi around the cabin. Then they would also need to hide from Fang Xie's scary perception and the incredibly powerful Shadow who had been lurking unseen around the cabin the whole time.
This was quite a tall order. No random disciple hiding nearby could accomplish such a feat.
At that moment, Han Xuhan recalled the special cultivation technique most widely practiced in the Stardust Sect. To be able to predict the future actions of someone else down to very accurate details...
What if someone had predicted that Leng Qing might be attacked? It wouldn't be far-fetched, considering that Leng Qing had predicted a day ago that he was carrying four hidden entities on his body.
Scene after scene, a chain of thoughts locked on each flashed by in Xuhan's mind.
This morning, when he had entered Leng Qing's cabin, he had received a warm welcome, clearly an indication of the fact that his arrival was expected. Leng Qing himself had confirmed so.
Then, could the person who had predicted his plan to attack Leng Qing and then informed Mu Ran of this yet-to-happen attack be Leng Qing himself?
Mulling over the situation for a moment, Han Xuhan decided to really come clean, just as he had been asked to. He didn't have the energy to make up another elaborate tale right now.
He sat down on the ground and chose to begin by hammering down on Mu Ran's suspicion.
"This is a complicated story, so I hope you'll listen to the whole thing before judging me. It all began when I first discovered that I would not be able to cultivate for very long."
The beginning confused all three of his audience. But they held their questions back and kept listening.
"Desperate to not be reduced to a life of mediocrity that I am destined for, I began my search for alternate ways to secure my status as a cultivator, a cultivator with a future to look forward to. But in every direction I pursued it, I ended up in front of a dead end or a dark maze of vague possibilities. So I began to lose all hope.
Coincidentally, the tournament was arranged just when I realized that there really was no way for me to tread forward. When I heard that pretty much every well-known sect would gather here, the hope in my heart was revived. Perhaps some foreign sect may have a solution to my problem, I thought. And I was correct!"
Yuen Zhou's brows jumped up. Mu Ran looked surprised too. Xiao Wu scratched his head, still trying to find the connection between the tale and the accusation.
"However, these are foreign sects we're talking about. There is little reason for them to assist me in solving my issue. My existence on its own means nothing to them..."
As he trailed off, Yuen Zhou's pupils shrank, flickering for a moment towards Mu Ran.
"Perhaps sister Zhou already understands," Han Xuhan said lightly. "My existence isn't worth much, but when tied tightly to people like you, boss, the equation becomes different."
Confusion brewing in his heart, Mu Ran couldn't help but ask, "What are you even talking about?"
"That I ended up ambushing Leng Qing today, was both directly and indirectly caused by the relationship between you and I; a relationship of dependence and mutual benefits, a relationship of trust and friendship!"
"...?!"
The mute expression of surprise and disbelief was mirrored by all three of his martial siblings. Laughing, Han Xuhan put up two fingers.
"You can see it from two angles. The first one requires some information you had no way of knowing. Let me explain...
A few days prior to the declaration of the tournament, I had a... minor disagreement with a foreign cultivator. This man turned out to be extremely influential, to the point where he successfully forced our sect master to permit an unreasonable, illogical contract between him and me."
This time, all three of them went pale. A cultivator who could force Xuan Zi to act subservient was someone so far up in the power spectrum that the very notion seemed absurd in their minds. Even the powerful sect leaders of the top-notch sects of the planet couldn't boast of such influence over the Crimson Snow Sect.
"Who is this cultivator?" Mu Ran asked in a hushed tone.
"What's his cultivation level?" Xiao Wu asked.
"What's his background?" Yuen Zhou whispered, wide-eyed.
Han Xuhan sighed. "He is at a realm titled the Dao Integration Realm. His background is mysterious and beyond anything anyone on our planet can counter. But he has recently had some problems with his cultivation, pushing him to the brink of the Soul Reformation Realm. Even then, sect master Zi could not go against his arbitrary, unfair wishes."
Only Yuen Zhou seemed to realize what this Dao Integration Realm was. Han Xuhan noticed the momentary panic in her gaze while Mu Ran and Xiao Wu looked more intrigued than anything.
"What kind of disagreement did he have with you?" Xiao Wu asked.
"It doesn't matter," Han Xuhan said, shaking his head. "What's more important here is what he wanted me to do."
"And that is?" Yuen Zhou asked.
"He wanted me to ambush some disciples of foreign sects in the tournament, which is apparently a bit inconvenient for him to do himself. Once I managed to successfully ambush each disciple, he would sneak into those sects and refine those spiritually injured disciples into his puppets, just like Jin Tuyi, back in the Holy Land of Laws, puppetized Qian Yun and the dozen more of our fellow adventurers."
"...What connection does that have with me?" Mu Ran said, now utterly befuddled.
"Qing Ya, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, happens to be one of his targets," Han Xuhan answered placidly.
Strangely enough, none of the elders of the Stardust sect seemed to have been alerted by the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Punishing Tribulation which supposedly only appeared when someone broke a huge taboo or violated natural order. But that was a good thing for Han Xuhan. It meant he had just the perfect opportunity to escape any blame and liabilities stemming from it.
He did not care a whit whether Fang Xie and his partner-in-crime had the ability to deal with the aftermath. At this point, he cared little about anything.
As soon as Tun Shi Tian managed to locate the Spatial rift leading back to their sect, Han Xuhan didn't hesitate to jump down. Instead of canceling the summoning spells of his minions, he made them accompany him physically, much to their astonishment.
However, they also understood that the failure to take over a new body had pushed their master one step away from a fitful tantrum. Although they didn't really understand the chain of events that had led to their failure, they knew that it had been a close brush with success, having been forced by a third party in the end to give up on the prime objective.
"Hey, Zhanxian, did you feel any weird tremors in your mind when we executed the last part of the Body Possession Technique?" Tun Shi Tian whispered as they followed Han Xuhan back to the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak.
Zhanxian nodded vaguely, but shushed the skeleton owl, gesturing silently towards their grimacing Boss.
Even Hai Yin Zhe, mentally almost a toddler, had noticed the aura of gloom radiating around her Papa. The snake refrained from making a ruckus and slung itself on Zhanxian's bony waist patiently.
A surprise was waiting for them in front of Xiao Wu's hut. Mu Ran, Yuen Zhou, and Xiao Wu were sitting on the porch, covered in medicinal pastes and bandages. All three of them perked up the moment they noticed Xuhan's appearance.
"Underling, those are some impressive wounds!" Mu Ran remarked in wonder, eyeing Xuhan's bloody shoulder and scabbing foot.
"Weren't you going to stay here and comprehend the Treasure Tracing Technique? What happened to that?"
Something in Mu Ran's voice prodded at Xuhan's senses. He could feel a tinge of barely hidden hostility flowing beneath the inquiry. Immediately, Han Xuhan shed the skin of a defeated dog, eyebrows raised, mind racing.
"That was indeed the original plan, yes. But there was another business I needed to attend to. Thankfully, I managed to take care of the matter for good. What about you three? Your injuries look ten times worse than mine," he said in reply, doing his best to cover up and divert the conversation.
However, Mu Ran completely ignored his question, sticking to his own line of thought stubbornly.
"What business was this, if you don't mind me asking? Surely, it couldn't have been more important than the Treasure Tracing Technique, right?"
Han Xuhan glanced at Yuen Zhou, who hadn't removed her scrutinizing gaze from him since the start of the conversation. Xiao Wu hurriedly looked away the moment their eyes met, further stoking the spark of suspicion in Xuhan's mind.
These guys knew something... something he had not leaked himself. But how?
"...It was equally important, boss. But like I said, it doesn't really matter anymore now. I did what needed to be done. It's not anything you should be concerned about-"
"Really?" Mu Ran said, interrupting him midway. "My underling visiting another sect to assassinate a disciple there is not something I should be concerned about? Xuhan, how about you come clean?"
The awkward smile he had been holding up vanished as he heard Mu Ran's accusation.
Other than Xuhan himself, every person involved in the case was still inside the cabin.
There was no way anyone could have contacted Mu Ran to inform him of his recent activities in the Stardust Sect, not so fast. If someone other than the thirteen disciples of the Phoenix faction had been present at the crime site, they would have to witness the attack that had taken down Leng Qing first-hand. Then they would have to contact Mu Ran with a magical technique that did not rely on qi, because Han Xuhan had used the Minor Seal of Myriad of Laws to control all the qi around the cabin. Then they would also need to hide from Fang Xie's scary perception and the incredibly powerful Shadow who had been lurking unseen around the cabin the whole time.
This was quite a tall order. No random disciple hiding nearby could accomplish such a feat.
At that moment, Han Xuhan recalled the special cultivation technique most widely practiced in the Stardust Sect. To be able to predict the future actions of someone else down to very accurate details...
What if someone had predicted that Leng Qing might be attacked? It wouldn't be far-fetched, considering that Leng Qing had predicted a day ago that he was carrying four hidden entities on his body.
Scene after scene, a chain of thoughts locked on each flashed by in Xuhan's mind.
This morning, when he had entered Leng Qing's cabin, he had received a warm welcome, clearly an indication of the fact that his arrival was expected. Leng Qing himself had confirmed so.
Then, could the person who had predicted his plan to attack Leng Qing and then informed Mu Ran of this yet-to-happen attack be Leng Qing himself?
Mulling over the situation for a moment, Han Xuhan decided to really come clean, just as he had been asked to. He didn't have the energy to make up another elaborate tale right now.
He sat down on the ground and chose to begin by hammering down on Mu Ran's suspicion.
"This is a complicated story, so I hope you'll listen to the whole thing before judging me. It all began when I first discovered that I would not be able to cultivate for very long."
The beginning confused all three of his audience. But they held their questions back and kept listening.
"Desperate to not be reduced to a life of mediocrity that I am destined for, I began my search for alternate ways to secure my status as a cultivator, a cultivator with a future to look forward to. But in every direction I pursued it, I ended up in front of a dead end or a dark maze of vague possibilities. So I began to lose all hope.
Coincidentally, the tournament was arranged just when I realized that there really was no way for me to tread forward. When I heard that pretty much every well-known sect would gather here, the hope in my heart was revived. Perhaps some foreign sect may have a solution to my problem, I thought. And I was correct!"
Yuen Zhou's brows jumped up. Mu Ran looked surprised too. Xiao Wu scratched his head, still trying to find the connection between the tale and the accusation.
"However, these are foreign sects we're talking about. There is little reason for them to assist me in solving my issue. My existence on its own means nothing to them..."
As he trailed off, Yuen Zhou's pupils shrank, flickering for a moment towards Mu Ran.
"Perhaps sister Zhou already understands," Han Xuhan said lightly. "My existence isn't worth much, but when tied tightly to people like you, boss, the equation becomes different."
Confusion brewing in his heart, Mu Ran couldn't help but ask, "What are you even talking about?"
"That I ended up ambushing Leng Qing today, was both directly and indirectly caused by the relationship between you and I; a relationship of dependence and mutual benefits, a relationship of trust and friendship!"
"...?!"
The mute expression of surprise and disbelief was mirrored by all three of his martial siblings. Laughing, Han Xuhan put up two fingers.
"You can see it from two angles. The first one requires some information you had no way of knowing. Let me explain...
A few days prior to the declaration of the tournament, I had a... minor disagreement with a foreign cultivator. This man turned out to be extremely influential, to the point where he successfully forced our sect master to permit an unreasonable, illogical contract between him and me."
This time, all three of them went pale. A cultivator who could force Xuan Zi to act subservient was someone so far up in the power spectrum that the very notion seemed absurd in their minds. Even the powerful sect leaders of the top-notch sects of the planet couldn't boast of such influence over the Crimson Snow Sect.
"Who is this cultivator?" Mu Ran asked in a hushed tone.
"What's his cultivation level?" Xiao Wu asked.
"What's his background?" Yuen Zhou whispered, wide-eyed.
Han Xuhan sighed. "He is at a realm titled the Dao Integration Realm. His background is mysterious and beyond anything anyone on our planet can counter. But he has recently had some problems with his cultivation, pushing him to the brink of the Soul Reformation Realm. Even then, sect master Zi could not go against his arbitrary, unfair wishes."
Only Yuen Zhou seemed to realize what this Dao Integration Realm was. Han Xuhan noticed the momentary panic in her gaze while Mu Ran and Xiao Wu looked more intrigued than anything.
"What kind of disagreement did he have with you?" Xiao Wu asked.
"It doesn't matter," Han Xuhan said, shaking his head. "What's more important here is what he wanted me to do."
"And that is?" Yuen Zhou asked.
"He wanted me to ambush some disciples of foreign sects in the tournament, which is apparently a bit inconvenient for him to do himself. Once I managed to successfully ambush each disciple, he would sneak into those sects and refine those spiritually injured disciples into his puppets, just like Jin Tuyi, back in the Holy Land of Laws, puppetized Qian Yun and the dozen more of our fellow adventurers."
"...What connection does that have with me?" Mu Ran said, now utterly befuddled.
"Qing Ya, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, happens to be one of his targets," Han Xuhan answered placidly.
