The master and disciple were each lost in their own thoughts, neither paying attention to the commotion outside. While they were considering how to resolve the awkwardness, Sun Huaijin's visit directly pushed the situation to the edge of a cliff.

When facing the Deity Summoning Formation before, Shi Jingzhi didn't even feel this guilty. Although they hadn't developed deep familial bonds in their few brief encounters, he absolutely did not want to scare the old man to death. The usually composed Sect Leader froze for a moment, nearly giving up and diving under the covers.

Yin Ci calmly pressed down the corner of the blanket.

So Shi Jingzhi could only steady his emotions and neatly arrange his clothes. He then flew up to a chair not far away like a cannonball come to life. Shi Jingzhi positioned himself extremely quickly; judging from his posture alone, he looked like he was discussing important sect matters with his own disciple.

Yin Ci: "......"

He had never seen Shi Jingzhi's hands and feet coordinate like this before. Unfortunately, Sect Leader Shi was still a bit green - he himself was only wearing a sleeping robe, and was lying horizontally on the bed. In the pitch dark, what proper business could they discuss?

Sun Huaijin both respected and feared the "Su Zhi", and did not rashly enter. The old man cleared his throat and repeated very politely, "Big brother?"

"Come in," Yin Ci said helplessly, tidying his plain sleeping robe.

Sun Huaijin entered the door with a respectful expression, and upon raising his head, saw Sect Leader Shi pretending to be calm. The old fox and the young fox were frozen in the room, and no one spoke for a long time. Sun Huaijin's gaze swept over Shi Jingzhi and stopped on Yin Ci, his face slightly distorting.

Sun Huaijin was completely baffled. During the day, Ku Mountain Sect was leisurely and idle, but now in the middle of the night, his great-grandson had appeared instead. Just now when he was outside the door, he had already called out "big brother", so he had to find a plausible reason... After all, since there was someone in the room, why did Yin Ci let him in? Otherwise, early tomorrow morning, he could still use sleepwalking to explain.

The three people faced each other in silence.

In the end, it was Yin Ci who sighed, "Alright Huaijin, he knows about my matter."

"...As for his matter, I also know about it now." Yin Ci paused meaningfully before adding a sentence.

Old Sun's face trembled. Without hesitation, he shook off the deaf servant supporting him to one side and plop, knelt on the ground. The old man touched his head to the floorboards and said tremblingly, "This little brother is advanced in years, and the only thing on my mind is these bloodlines. Back then, I indeed intentionally concealed it from big brother, please punish me, big brother."

The words were spoken flawlessly and smoothly, without the slightest intention of making excuses for himself.

Old fox.

Yin Ci looked at Sun Huaijin with amusement. Since he could tell Shi Jingzhi his identity, their "master-disciple relationship" couldn't be that bad no matter what. This old man was certain that with Shi Jingzhi in front of him, he could play the pity card here.

However, Shi Jingzhi's identity was delicate, and all the relatives he could speak a few words with were in the palace. Now that he was wandering outside the palace, he could only acknowledge relatives with means like Sun Huaijin. Not to mention the countless times Old Man Sun had deliberately violated rules, Yin Ci really couldn't bear to make things difficult for Sun Huaijin in front of Shi Jingzhi.

"Get up," Yin Ci said calmly, "It's good that we've spoken openly, this kid hasn't caused me any trouble."

In front of Sun Huaijin, Yin Ci was not the "clumsy elder" that Shi Jingzhi was familiar with. That aura of a demon sect leader returned once again, with a subtle sense of distance between him and Sun Huaijin. Shi Jingzhi rubbed his chest - recently, inexplicable desire and joy often appeared together, making his heart a mess and catching him off guard.

Yin Ci completely took control of the topic, and Sun Huaijin seemed to have completely forgotten the suspicious scene when he first entered the door. Now, Sun Huaijin shakily got up, had the deaf servant place a soft cushion on the chair, and then moved his honorable buttocks onto it.

"It's good that we've spoken openly, it's good that we've spoken openly." Old Man Sun repeated in a soft voice. "Bro... Sect Leader is following my great-grandson, also wanting to investigate that Immortal Gathering?"

"That's right." Yin Ci sat casually on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on Sun Huaijin, surging with a sharp aura. "Since you've come visiting in the middle of the night, you have a lead on your side?"

The Immortal Gathering was not like the Ling Sect, it couldn't be simply infiltrated and investigated.

In the three hundred years since the founding of the Dayun, the Immortal Gathering had been as honest as could be, at most managing some temples on a daily basis. The Immortal Gathering operated on a ten-year cycle, recruiting people of power and influence among the people. In the past hundred years, all it could provide was rejuvenating immortal wine and connections, like a health club for outstanding people in society, and the entire organization was very loose.

Shen Zhu had spent more than half his life investigating it, and had yet to touch the core. But that was also normal; if the Immortal Gathering had taken a big share of the national religion's benefits and strengthened its cohesion, the royal family would have probably long ago eradicated the National Teacher's lineage.

Compared to jianghu figures, idle wealthy people like Sun Huaijin were now more likely to come into contact with the Immortal Gathering.

"When I made my fortune, I was too old to join the Immortal Gathering. Fortunately, with gold and silver donations, I had some contact - those people were very polite, benevolent and generous, and did not force the common people to donate money. They were also very attentive to the renovation of temples in Qizhou, and there were no rumors spread."

Sun Huaijin slowly sipped his tea and caught his breath. The room had a few more lamps added, and the orange-yellow light flickered, extremely warm.

"Of course, such boring matters are not worth discussing in the deep of night."

The old man's gaze touched on Shi Jingzhi and withdrew.

"It's just that speaking of the Immortal Gathering, I recalled a strange matter. Even for an old man like me with a bit of spare money, the Immortal Gathering never forced donations. There was only one exception... Jingzhi is also here, so I might as well start from the beginning."

Sun Huaijin's father was addicted to gambling, and one morning lost the entire family fortune and drowned himself cleanly in a river. His mother borrowed a white silk sash and departed from the world, leaving only an eleven or twelve-year-old Sun Huaijin. Just as the young man was about to be beaten into servitude by creditors, "Su Zhi" took action, paying off debts and adopting him in one go.

Regarding the motive for saving him, Su Zhi only answered one sentence: "With your bloodline, it should not come to this" -

Sun Huaijin was a descendant of Sun Wang, one of the "Fierce and Peaceful Marquises" who founded the nation.

The Sun family was originally populous, and after three hundred years, those with blood ties and relations numbered in the thousands. With so many people, it wasn't worth much, and no one would take that bit of bloodline as something precious.

...Unless someone had made a fortune.

Sun Huaijin was obsessed with blood relations. Once he achieved success, he brought countless people to prosperity with him. Many people brought "returning to the ancestral roots" tokens, thinking to claim being a relative and get a meal or two under Sun Huaijin.

After three hundred years, the important tokens had long been divided up completely. The Sun family tokens were all bits and pieces of small items; some were stools used by Sun Wang's servants, some were worn-out brushes Sun Wang had used, and even more outrageously, some brought out the tattered shoes of Sun Wang's cousins.

Sun Huaijin turned away no one. However, he had no interest in that pile of junk unfit for polite company, and casually found a warehouse to store it.

"Later, no one else came to claim kinship. Just as I thought things had quieted down, more people from the Immortal Gathering showed up," Sun Huaijin said solemnly. "They claimed that the founding heroes were immortals descended from the stars, attendants of Divine Emperor Wu. It would be a disgrace for the immortals' belongings to be scattered outside. They were willing to pay money to acquire and properly handle them."

"At the time, I thought it made no difference to me, so I sold the items to them. In business, who dares to offend the immortals?"

Shi Jingzhi: "...This counts as a 'strange event'?"

Sun Huaijin glared at him in warning, then threw Yin Ci an apologetic look that seemed to say "youngsters don't understand."

Yin Ci felt a vague stomachache coming on. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Huaijin, please continue."

"I have an old friend in the Red Hook Sect who likes this stuff and wanted to get his hands on some artifacts from the founding of the nation to play with. Before the Immortal Gathering came, I happened to pick out some items in good condition and sent them to him. Later, the Immortal Gathering found out about this and actually secretly investigated my friend's whereabouts."

"If they were simply afraid of disgracing the immortals, was there any need to be so sneaky? I had my servants spread the word that I had given my friend a bench, and only then did the Immortal Gathering back off."

It was just a trivial matter, not strange enough to arouse suspicion. Sun Huaijin had long since put it out of his mind. Bringing it up now, there was indeed a strange sense of unease.

"What exactly did you send back then?" Yin Ci frowned.

"A small, well-preserved statue of a deity. The craftsmanship was a bit crude. It was said to have been made by the Madam of Sun Wang herself. It should still be at the main altar... As for why the Immortal Gathering cared about these items, I have no idea."

The old man's expression turned solemn, his voice a little hoarse.

"I came here late at night for another important matter. Sect Leader, a major incident has occurred in the Red Hook Sect."

Although Sun Huaijin had long since left the sect, his attachment to the Red Hook Sect remained. Earlier, his tone had been calm, but when it came to the Red Hook Sect's affairs, Sun Huaijin sat upright, his voice steady but urgent, unlike that of an old man. He spoke for half an incense stick's time, relaying all the information he had obtained in great detail to Yin Ci.

Shi Jingzhi didn't sit on the meditation cushion for long before he was relieved - Sun Huaijin was old and weak, and couldn't handle talking for so long. As soon as he finished speaking, he started panting and had to be supported out the door by his deaf servant to get some air and take his medicine.

Sect Leader Shi took the opportunity to move back to the edge of the bed, still digesting the information from earlier. "The young sect leader of the Red Hook Sect happened to survive outside and is bringing the Sweeping Bone Sword as a token. He will return to the sect on a chosen day? And he specifically invited Taiheng Sect and the Yueshui Bureau to attend the inauguration ceremony?"

The real young sect leader was wrestling with his thoughts while hugging a big goose, and didn't seem like he was about to make a high-profile return.

Yin Ci was not surprised. "The Red Hook Sect won't collapse so easily just from losing its sect leader. If you want to throw the Red Hook Sect into chaos, you'll need to administer a stronger dose of medicine. A young sect leader of unknown origin suddenly appearing must have something to do with that Immortal Gathering... Huaijin's information is quite good."

If there were also people from the Immortal Gathering within Taiheng Sect, they would take this opportunity to stir up trouble. As long as the target was identified, this would be a very good breakthrough point.

The northwestern main altar of the Red Hook Sect?

His earliest "clear memory" began in the northwest. Now, after all the twists and turns, he seemed to have returned to the starting point. Yin Ci couldn't help but lower his gaze and look at his own hands.

Through the flickering light and shadows, Yin Ci vaguely saw their mangled appearance - at that time, he had clawed open the yellow sand with his ten fingers, the sand mixing with fresh blood, grinding against the wounds like sandpaper... Come to think of it, when did that happen?

Countless chaotic memories rolled into a ball, tumbling back and forth in his brain. Yin Ci felt a wave of dizziness.

Shi Jingzhi sensed Yin Ci's trance and quietly pressed his lips to the corner of his disciple's mouth, imprinting a kiss. "If the two of us join forces this time and still don't succeed, then no one in this world can do it - and since it's something no one in the world can do, there will be no regrets even if we fail."

A set of specious arguments, but Sect Leader Shi managed to say it with a righteous air. Yin Ci slowly retracted his fingers and turned his head, gently biting the other party's lower lip. "There's some truth to that..."

Before the word "truth" could land, there was a loud bang from the doorway.

Sun Huaijin had hurriedly finished his medicine and, ignoring his deaf servant's warnings, returned to the room, only to run into a scene of ambiguous firelight. The old man's knees went weak, and a trembling cane instinctively rose, but he didn't know who to hit.

His great-grandson was royalty, and his elder martial brother's kindness was as weighty as a mountain. Who could he hit?

Sun Huaijin had experienced a life full of ups and downs, weathering great storms. From an orphan to a wealthy man, from the jianghu to being caught in the web of officialdom and commerce, he had seen all the strange and bizarre things in the world. Even in front of the undying "Su Zhi", he could maintain a calm expression while lying.

...But he really had never seen anything like this!

Sun Huaijin sighed for a moment, his throat gradually choking up. In the end, he rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.