Since Wei Zhao had told him to go in, Bing Wushuang had not the slightest hesitation; he stepped straight through the door.

"Well then, now that everyone's here, the three of you have a good talk. I hope that by the time I come back there'll be good news—good news for you as well, of course. Otherwise, to be locked away in this sunless place for the rest of your lives would be rather stifling, wouldn't it?" Qiu Mingchong laughed heartily, shut the iron door, and strode off.

"Leader, what's going on here?" Bing Wushuang gave the Duanmu Yu beside him a slight nod by way of greeting, then asked outright. Wei Zhao's letter had said nothing of the particulars—only that he should come—and he was still utterly in the dark.

Hearing that tone, Duanmu Yu could not help but glance at Wei Zhao in astonishment. During the last Taigu Trial she had indeed sensed a certain tacit understanding and connection between the two, but she had never imagined it was this sort of relationship. That tone—Bing Wushuang had plainly become, like Wu Chengtian and the rest, a loyal little underling beneath Wei Zhao's banner.

As for the others, it hardly mattered; but Bing Wushuang was, across the whole of the Taigu minor jianghu, a prodigy of the highest renown, and one who had always been so proud that he scarcely deigned to look anyone in the eye. That he would now willingly submit himself beneath Wei Zhao—this truly did overturn one's whole worldview.

Yet at the thought that the other party was Wei Zhao, Duanmu Yu found, once her astonishment passed, that it was only to be expected. At the Taigu Trial, even a legendary being like the Nine Infants had been left gaping by Wei Zhao. If he set his mind to it, subduing Bing Wushuang was naturally even less of a challenge.

Wei Zhao laid out the whole business in a few words. When Bing Wushuang had heard him out, his face turned strange; he looked Wei Zhao and Duanmu Yu over carefully, and at last summed up: "Didn't think it—you Yeling Sect higher-ups are quite the experts at courting death."

Even with his toes he could tell that the relationship between Duanmu Yu and Wei Zhao was hardly ordinary—and more than that, these people had actually tried to extort Wei Zhao himself. If that wasn't courting death, what was? By comparison, those higher-ups in the Xuejian Sect had at least been sensible.

"…" Duanmu Yu was speechless. Even from her own standpoint, she felt that the higher-ups of her sect were all courting death together. She was not worried at all now about Wei Zhao and herself; rather, she was more worried about the Yeling Sect—if Wei Zhao were truly provoked this time, and took it upon himself to tear the whole sect down, what then?

Setting everything else aside, her feelings for the Yeling Sect still ran deep.

"So what does the leader mean to do?" Bing Wushuang looked to Wei Zhao. On an occasion like this there was no need for him to bring his brains; whatever Wei Zhao said, he would do. Even if Wei Zhao gave the order to wipe out the entire Yeling Sect, he would not utter a word of protest—though, naturally, for Duanmu Yu's sake, Wei Zhao certainly would not do such a thing.

"No rush. By the way—that Qiu Mingchong you just saw, did he look familiar to you?" Wei Zhao asked suddenly.

"Qiu Mingchong?" Bing Wushuang thought it over. "He's just been out to the secular world for training, hasn't he? Nothing particularly special… wait, now that you mention it, he did seem a little familiar!"

"So my memory wasn't playing tricks. He's one of them." Wei Zhao nodded.

"What riddles are you two talking in?" Duanmu Yu was utterly lost, wholly unable to grasp what the pair were on about.

Wei Zhao and Bing Wushuang exchanged a glance; there was no point in concealing it any longer, so he laid it all out: "In the secular world there is an extremely mysterious and powerful organization called the Center. Through this round of secular training, they have already turned a good many insiders within the various Taigu sects. If I'm not mistaken, they have now brought their people into the Taigu minor jianghu, and after lying low for a time, they will likely begin to lay hands on the Taigu Alliance."

"Lay hands on the Taigu Alliance? Is that even possible?" Duanmu Yu was dumbstruck. She had never witnessed the Center's strength and depths, and having been born and raised in the Taigu minor jianghu, such a thing sounded to her, on first hearing, like a tale from the heavens.

"Of course it's possible. They can turn out a whole pack of Nascent Soul old monsters at will. Given time, what difficulty would there be in laying hands on the Taigu Alliance?" Wei Zhao said.

"Turn out a whole pack of Nascent Soul old monsters…" Duanmu Yu was completely stupefied by these words. Nascent Soul old monsters were the highest combat strength of the Taigu minor jianghu; if they could truly be manufactured in batches, then never mind laying hands on the Taigu Alliance—seizing direct control of the entire Taigu minor jianghu would be no difficult feat at all!

Shocking as it was, Duanmu Yu quickly recovered—at least outwardly she was calm again—and asked instead: "Then what you were saying just now about Qiu Mingchong…"

"He is one of the pieces the Center has secretly turned," Wei Zhao confirmed. He had been suspicious from the first time he laid eyes on Qiu Mingchong; but since even he did not fully command the Center's list of turned agents, he could only rely on his earlier observations. Unless he had paid particular attention, all that remained was a faint impression—and only now, with Bing Wushuang's corroboration, could he be entirely certain.

Naturally, Bing Wushuang did not command the full list of turned agents either; it was merely that each time he contacted Dr. Glasses, he would more or less run into certain other people. Even if nothing was said outright, one could always guess at a thing or two.

"There is such a thing?" Duanmu Yu was both startled and furious. Though her words were a question, her meaning was already beyond doubt—otherwise there was no explaining Qiu Mingchong's strange behavior of late. True, the man had always harbored the notion of supplanting her, but in the past he had never had the nerve.

As the three were speaking, the iron door outside opened, and Qiu Mingchong stood in the doorway asking, "Well, you three—how did the talks go?"

"Oh, you mean the Spirit Perception Grass? Sorry—Bing Wushuang has already used it up," Wei Zhao answered casually. This was, in fact, the plain truth: the Spirit Perception Grass had indeed already been used up by Bing Wushuang.

"Yes, it was quite tasty," Bing Wushuang chimed in smoothly, then turned to Duanmu Yu and said, "You ate some too—how did it taste?"

"It really was quite tasty," Duanmu Yu played along. Now that she knew the other party was a mole for the Center, this was no longer something she or anyone else in the Yeling Sect could handle; only Wei Zhao could settle it. Whatever Wei Zhao said, so it would be.

"What? You ate it?" Qiu Mingchong was furious at these words. His purpose in making an issue of the Spirit Perception Grass this time was not simply to take Duanmu Yu's place—more crucially, he had orders from the Center behind him. If he could not fish in these troubled waters and obtain the Spirit Perception Grass, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Duanmu Yu's stubborn resistance these past days had been one thing; frankly, he had actually been glad to see Wei Zhao and Bing Wushuang arrive, because only thus could the waters be muddied, and only in muddy waters could one fish. Yet he had never expected that these people would simply go ahead and eat it! (To be continued.)