Facing a person from the jianghu, Shi Jingzhi subconsciously rolled up the flag. Afraid of being recognized, he mumbled a response and turned to flee. But before Sect Leader Shi could take a step, he heard Yin Ci speak up: "Red Hook Protector Hua Jingchun?"

Hua Jingchun raised her delicate eyebrows: "That's right, you as a doctor know quite a lot."

Shi Jingzhi stopped in his tracks, swaying slightly. Without needing Yin Ci to explain, he was well aware of the Red Hook Sect... A Red Hook Protector had fallen to this state?

There were six Protectors in the Red Hook Sect, with eighteen Elders under them, each managing their own duties. The Protector position wasn't considered the pinnacle within the sect, but in a colossal organization like Red Hook, anyone who could become a Protector was a significant figure. Shi Jingzhi had no impression of the crippled woman before him. Since this person rarely showed herself, she was likely one of the "Inner Protectors" in charge of equipment and crafting.

Unfortunately, the two of them wore Nuo masks and ordinary clothes, not looking like important figures. Hua Jingchun had little interest in them, focused on treating her injured leg - with Shi Jingzhi's hemostatic and anti-inflammatory medicine, her remaining half leg could barely be saved.

Yin Ci didn't let her off, spouting a bunch of nonsense: "Senior, this junior has relatives in Red Hook, but haven't received word in a while. They say something happened in the Red Hook Sect, hasn't the young sect leader returned?"

With her life saved, Hua Jingchun couldn't ignore him: "Your relative? What do they do?"

Yin Ci clasped his hands in salute: "Tending to the tea in the Finding Immortals Residence."

Finding Immortals Residence was the courtyard in Red Hook Sect for receiving foreign merchants. Seeing that this person was quite knowledgeable about Red Hook, Hua Jingchun's expression softened. She sized up Yin Ci for a moment, sighing faintly: "What return or not, this young sect leader is better off not existing at all."

Yin Ci continued to guide the conversation: "This junior doesn't understand - Protector Hua, this junior has heard people say, if the sect leader position is vacant, then the Three Protectors and Six Elders nominate the sect leader. The young sect leader found externally must hold the sect's token, and needs the endorsement of someone Protector level or above."

"Indeed so." Hua Jingchun dipped a small knife in strong alcohol, scraping off the necrotic flesh from her wound bit by bit, hissing as she did.

"Then isn't it settled. The young sect leader wields the Sweeping Bone Sword, surely personally chosen by Dark Blood Witch. Dark Blood Witch has keen judgment, how can you say 'better off not existing at all'?"

Hua Jingchun's knife paused, a hint of gloom flashing across her face: "Your relative won't die, don't ask what you shouldn't."

With that said, she signaled to the people beside her with her eyes. Those people stood up, the leader smiling at the master-disciple pair: "For saving Sister Hua, we won't be stingy with the silver. Please follow us, everyone crammed here lacks ventilation."

Although this place only had mud walls and straw on the ground, it was clearly sending them away.

Haste makes waste. The master-disciple pair didn't insist on staying and turned to leave. They had only walked a few steps when Hua Jingchun began whispering with the people beside her. One had astounding internal energy, the other keen senses honed over three hundred years. Despite the group lowering their voices to the extreme, the two still overheard the gist.

"...That young sect leader, absolutely cannot take the position..."

"The sect brothers all come from poor families... He's not just robbing commoners, but injuring our kin..."

"...Before his butt even warmed the seat, he drove out Sister Hua... Sister Hua manages the ancient artifacts, maybe that Sweeping Bone Sword is fake..."

Shi Jingzhi exchanged a glance with Yin Ci - the Red Hook Sect had long maintained orderly conduct, the followers weren't as numb as those in the Ling Sect, and definitely wouldn't allow themselves to be slaughtered in a daze.

"From the sound of it, that new young sect leader has big problems. If he's from the Immortal Gathering, that would be perfect." Shi Jingzhi gleefully rubbed his paws together. "In any case, he's no good egg. Find a chance to catch him and let Su Si interrogate him."

"Mm." Yin Ci stopped and pretended to pluck a blade of grass from Shi Jingzhi's hair.

On Hua Jingchun's side, the conversation continued: "...But isn't he the great-grandson of 'Su Zhi'? If we really make a move, it won't be righteous... When the time comes, if the Protectors..."

The smile froze on Shi Jingzhi's face, Yin Ci's hand stilled in midair. Shi Jingzhi turned his head at an extremely slow speed, a large amount of shock shooting out from the eye holes of his Nuo Mask.

"Ah Ci, you... I, this..." Shi Jingzhi leaned on his flag, his entire being somewhat in a daze. "That young sect leader..."

He was Sun Huaijin's great-grandson, Sun Huaijin was from the same era as the "Su Zhi", the timeline indeed matched up. Yin Ci was immortal, if he had a family in the past, it seemed not too strange. Shi Jingzhi's mind turned to mush, a faint sourness welling up amidst the mush.

His nose seemed stuffed up, unable to smell the bloody stench filling the courtyard, only able to catch Yin Ci's scent.

Yin Ci finally plucked away that blade of grass. He watched with a solemn expression as Shi Jingzhi swayed like a roly-poly. After the man had swayed enough, Demon Lord Yin shook his head, patting Shi Jingzhi's face with a chuckle: "I have never married, much less have children. No need to worry, you won't become someone's great-great-grandfather-in-law."

Sect Leader Shi finally recovered from the dizziness of the jumbled generational titles: "That young sect leader is an imposter?"

"The name 'Su Zhi' is well-known, in recent years I don't know how many unacquainted descendants have popped up." Yin Ci sneered coldly. "But for Red Hook Sect to acknowledge him, this person's martial arts must be extraordinary - how wonderful, the good grandson immediately taking the sect leader position, with the great-great-grandparents present to visit, wouldn't that be grand?"

Shi Jingzhi: "..."

He suddenly understood Sun Huaijin's helplessness back then. For some reason, for the first time, he felt he had aged a lot. Shi Jingzhi stood there desolately for a while, stroking his non-existent beard: "Husband is right, let's do that."

The murderous air on Yin Ci's face instantly deflated. He rarely stumbled over his words, turning his head away. Shi Jingzhi looked left and right, spotting a hint of pink on the other's earlobe.

Red Hook Sect's main altar.

The new young sect leader was leaning by the window, gazing at the desert scenery outside. The winter snow had completely melted, leaving only a stretch of desolation beyond the window. He picked up a piece of candy from the small table and popped it into his mouth. The hand that took the snack was covered in thick calluses, clearly belonging to a martial artist.

"Sickening," he frowned at his subordinate.

The subordinate didn't dare breathe loudly, hurriedly removing the candy and adding a pot of clear tea.

This young sect leader looked quite youthful, with a refined appearance. His features weren't stunning, but on par with Su Si. However, compared to Su Si who was full of the liveliness of the mortal world, this person seemed a bit detached from worldly affairs, bearing a few similarities to the Su Zhi of the past.

He wore a long sword with a bone hilt, engraved with the emblem of the Red Hook Sect. One of his hands always rested lightly on the sword, as if afraid it would grow legs and run away on its own.

"Young Sect Leader." The room was the same as before, and the subordinate was the same close attendant as before. Except for the person by the window, everything seemed unchanged. However, compared to facing Dark Blood Witch, this subordinate's tone carried a hint of bitterness.

"Hmm, how is Hua Jingchun?"

"She has been thrown off the Three Provinces Cliff according to the rules, and there is currently no trace of her. Perhaps she is dead," the subordinate said cautiously. "Young Sect Leader, the inauguration ceremony has not been held yet, and the matter of external plundering..."

The man raised his eyebrows and drew his sword in an instant, the shining blade pointing at the subordinate's throat.

The subordinate didn't dare raise his head, but persisted, "The external plundering has gone too far and is not the way of our Red Hook Sect. If Dark Blood Witch were still here, she would be furious."

The young sect leader smiled ambiguously, "I have said countless times, Dark Blood Witch is old, conservative, and timid, though her vision is commendable. As the saying goes, a bear's den is formidable. As the number one demonic sect, we can't even afford to offend a few villages?"

"Our Red Hook Divine Sect does not prey on the living for food, only robbing the dead of their wealth. This is the iron rule set by the late sect leader. Wu Huai, you..."

Wu Huai slowly extended the sword tip, "Who allowed you to directly address me by name? The late leader is nothing but bones now, and you're still adhering to his dead rules. I also have the blood of the Su family flowing in me. Isn't living blood more interesting than a dead man? Say one more word, and you can say goodbye to your tongue."

The subordinate's shoulder was pierced, and his voice was tinged with blood, "Our Red Hook Divine Sect..."

He didn't finish before the sword tip pried open his teeth. More than half of his tongue fell to the ground. The subordinate was both shocked and angry, spitting out a large mouthful of blood mixed with saliva. Wu Huai's swordsmanship was not as sinister as the Sweeping Bone Sword, but it was still extremely wicked and unpredictable.

"Clean the floor," Wu Huai sheathed his sword and gestured to his underlings.

The subordinate collapsed to the ground, choking on his own blood and coughing incessantly. Wu Huai walked over and placed a foot on his head, "Even if you don't respect the Sweeping Bone Sword, I am the great-grandson of the late leader. You should at least respect this bloodline."

The underlings tremblingly approached to wipe up the blood, while the subordinate looked mournfully in the direction of the window. The window was inlaid with the finest colored glass, so transparent it seemed almost nonexistent. A few months ago, the gaunt old lady often sat there, sipping tea and enjoying the scenery. Now, not even a shadow remained.

Even if Dark Blood Witch were still alive, she wouldn't have brought back a descendant of the Su family just because he was one and treated him like a treasure. That was the bad habit of the Ling Sect; the Red Hook Sect would never be so spineless. But no matter how much he wanted to refute, he could only make vague ah ah sounds. He couldn't move or call out. The subordinate had no choice but to give up struggling and lay limply on the ground.

He wondered how Hua Jingchun was doing.

Some days ago, Hua Jingchun had offended Wu Huai for some reason and was ordered to be thrown off the Three Provinces Cliff. Hua Jingchun, as a Protector, was very popular in the sect and had always been valued by Dark Blood Witch. It was impossible for her to have ulterior motives.

So the subordinate had taken precautions and slipped her a small grappling hook before she was thrown off the cliff. With Hua Jingchun's skills, she definitely wouldn't perish at the bottom of the cliff.

Since Wu Huai's return to the sect, he couldn't be said to be particularly arrogant or domineering on a daily basis, but his actions were vicious and ruthless, completely at odds with his refined appearance. It just so happened that he had both the token and a guarantor, which had previously maintained the rules of the Red Hook Sect, but now had become the biggest obstacle.

The subordinate didn't care what the Protectors or the Elders thought. In his experience of following Dark Blood Witch for these years, Wu Huai was definitely not suitable to lead the Red Hook Sect. After the inauguration ceremony in a few days, it would be too late.

Before that, it was necessary... necessary to eliminate this person.

The subordinate's vision began to darken, and his thoughts gradually became hazy. Just as he was about to get up, he felt a coldness at his temple—Wu Huai had stepped on his head and pierced his skull with a single stroke of his sword.

"Daring to be absent-minded at a time like this, the Red Hook Sect really dares to use anyone," Wu Huai said nonchalantly as he pulled out his sharp sword. "He was just a personal servant. I'll personally pick one tomorrow."

He wiped the blood from his sword.

"Sect Master Qu will arrive in a few days. Having a dull old servant by my side would be such a downer."

Author's Note:

Yin, the Demon Lord: I'm used to it. There's always someone eager to be my grandson.