Qu Duanyun coldly looked at the tea in the cup.

The Scorpion Feet was an assassin organization raised by the Red Hook Sect, especially skilled in pharmacology. This drug should be a Scorpion Feet formula, colorless and tasteless, only adding a bit of bitterness when mixed with water, very suitable for spiking into wine or tea. Qu Duanyun only tasted a little, and the tip of his tongue gradually became numb.

If one looked carefully in the light, one could see the inconspicuous suspended powder in the tea. Ordinary people didn't have such good eyesight. Obscured by light and shadow, this little flaw was practically nonexistent.

Qu Duanyun had received a lot of training in the Immortal Gathering and could taste that subtle difference. This drug was potent. If the drugged tea entered his mouth, even with his profound inner energy, he would still be paralyzed for a moment. Let alone that his mind was not present just now. If he was paralyzed for even a few moments, it could spell trouble.

...Fortunately, someone sent a message in advance.

Perhaps this time, the "heavenly fate" his master spoke of was on his side. The corners of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.

The positions of each guest's seat were fixed. A nondescript note was placed under Qu Duanyun's fruit plate. There were only four words on the note, written neatly and beautifully—

[There is treachery in the tea]

Wu Huai acted arrogantly and cruelly. Now that he was half-seated in the sect leader's position, he didn't openly clash with Qu Duanyun. With a turn of his palm, he used his true qi to pull over a songstress and poured the tea in his hand down her throat. That songstress struggled a few times before collapsing to the ground with a thud, falling into an extremely deep sleep.

After pondering for a moment, he repeated the trick and poured the six bowls of tea and wine into other people's mouths. The songstresses were shocked and frightened, but fortunately no one else had an accident. It seemed that only the bowl Wu Huai picked was drugged.

Wu Huai's face instantly turned overcast.

"How could this be!" A fat protector cried out in alarm. "Where are the people in charge?"

A skinny beanpole took two steps forward in three strides and knelt down on both knees. "This subordinate deserves to die! But, but these medicinal materials and wine, were indeed privately purchased by this subordinate from completely unrelated merchant groups from all over the world. As for how the the the mistake happened, this subordinate also—"

Before he could finish speaking, a long sword pierced through his brow, directly skewering his skull. Wu Huai nonchalantly pulled out his sword and sneered, "Can't even keep the news of purchasing supplies secure, idiot. And for the dignified Red Hook to be inspected by the government yet unable to keep two bags of ingredients safe from meddling is even more idiotic."

Hearing this, the elder in charge of security in the distance instantly broke out in a cold sweat. This time, as soon as Wu Huai raised his sword, a blast of Qu Duanyun's true qi rushed over, causing the sword edge to twist a few degrees.

"Today is a big day for the Red Hook Sect. Seeing blood is inauspicious," Qu Duanyun said in a gentle yet firm tone. "Sect Leader Wu, it's best you stop early."

Wu Huai clenched his teeth, his face twitching. He meticulously wiped the blood from his sword and looked down at the Red Hook crowd below, silent as cicadas in winter. The sun rose higher and higher, and the last hint of breeze disappeared without a trace. The bone chimes hung quietly on the iron wires, like eyeballs suspended outside, looking down on the earth.

"Forget it." Wu Huai slowly revealed a spine-chilling smile. "To have the guts to drug so many people, I'd like to meet them again..."

Before he could finish, several blasts of yin-cold true qi shot out, directly piercing through several unimportant songstresses and servants. While the higher-ranking sect members were fine, the low-level followers on the periphery were clueless. Now agitated by the internal turmoil, they crowded together and clamored.

The incense for the dead was about to burn out, but there was still a misty cloud of smoke at Wu Huai's feet. He swept his long sword, turning the surrounding cups and plates to flying ashes. Then, without moving, Wu Huai stood in front of the portrait of Su Zhi, staring intently at the few entrances to the courtyard.

The people from the Yueshui Bureau didn't make a sound, each holding a brush and recording. Qu Duanyun sat back in his original position, took a drink of water from the waterskin handed to him by a servant, and showed no intention of stopping Wu Huai.

Not far away, in a secret room.

"Go!" Hua Jingchun ordered upon hearing the commotion.

Shi Jingzhi said unhurriedly, "Protector Hua has many people in the sect. No one will give a definite signal?"

"Too many people means too many eyes, easy to ruin things." Hua Jingchun shook his head, a hint of ruthlessness appearing on his face. "Even if we fail, there's no turning back now. If we don't succeed this time, we'll die. To be able to die on Red Hook grounds, in front of Sect Leader Su's portrait, it's worth it even in death."

Shi Jingzhi didn't ask further, only rolling up the flag. "With righteous people like you, the Red Hook Sect indeed hasn't reached its end."

Hua Jingchun smiled briefly and charged out of the secret room on her prosthetic leg. Only a dozen or so people remained by her side—it was truly a risky gamble. Shi Jingzhi was about to follow when he heard Yan Qing say urgently, "Sect Leader, Miss Shen Zhu hasn't returned yet. Should we leave a letter—"

"No need." Shi Jingzhi said without looking back, "I know where she is and what she's doing."

As he said this, Shen Zhu had already reached the Red Hook treasure vault.

The usual carefree expression was gone from her face, and there was still a bit of wet ink on her fingertips. When breaking the entrance mechanism, Shen Zhu deliberately rubbed her fingers on the corner of her clothes, completely wiping away the ink. Then, as if thinking of something, she took out the booklet she always carried with her. She tore off a torn page from inside and shredded it, scattering the pieces under the lush holly.

The missing part of that torn paper was exactly the same as the note Qu Duanyun received.

On the day of the inauguration ceremony, with distinguished guests present, the defenses in other areas of the Red Hook Sect were much weaker than usual. The treasure vault was where the Red Hook stored top-grade antiques. Even if there were still heavy guards, if something happened to the new sect leader, the experts here would not sit idly by. With the experts gone, she could at least handle it.

...But if the matter of "kidnapping Wu Huai" went too smoothly, Shen Zhu wouldn't have enough time.

The Ku Mountain Sect only wanted Wu Huai and the clay statue. The clay statue wasn't a valuable item and certainly wouldn't be stored in the treasure vault. Once this happened, the Red Hook's defenses would only become stricter in the future, and she would have no chance to make a move—"entering the Red Hook treasure vault to search" was something that even if they did her a huge favor, Hua Jingchun definitely wouldn't agree to.

Shi Jingzhi's own life was in imminent danger, so he certainly wouldn't help her with such a troublesome matter with a huge cost.

So she could only muddy the waters and let the people outside buy more time for a fait accompli. As for afterwards... if it succeeded, she would stay; if it failed, she could just run away at worst.

Shen Zhu bit down on her breath-holding pellet and carefully unlocked the mechanism. She dodged more than a dozen patrolling sect members and squeezed herself into an extremely narrow vent, finally reaching the outermost part of the treasure vault.

No one was around. She took off the Red Hook robes used to avoid attention, revealing the tight-fitting outfit convenient for action underneath. The room was dark, so she lit a magic fire stick. Her gaze quickly swept over the neatly arranged collection pieces, searching for her target.

Unfortunately, the outer ancient pieces were expensive and novel, but not quite rare. Seeing that the time of one incense stick had passed, Shen Zhu gritted her teeth and held her breath again, starting to break the seal leading to the middle layer. The dense incantations reflected in her eyes, but couldn't conceal the burning light in them.

"Ah Zhu, refining Wushu ore is a skill that ordinary people can't do." Her mother's face in her memory had already become blurry. "Our whole village relies on this to make a living. When you grow up, your mother will teach you hand in hand. The methods of Sunjia Village and Wang'an Kou were all stolen from our village to learn."

"Stolen?"

"The form can be stolen, but the essence cannot. The Wushu soft armor from our Shenhe Village is a good thing that has entered the palace. Ah Zhu is so smart, she will definitely be more successful than her parents when she grows up."

"Mm!"

...However, whether it was Sunjia Village, Wang'an Kou, or her native Shenhe Village where she was born and raised, they were all successively destroyed by strange "natural disasters". The day Shenhe Village was erased, there happened to be a celebration in the village, and she had quarreled with her parents, so she ran far away in anger.

Children have a big temper, but it dissipates quickly. The young Shen Zhu walked until her stomach was empty and her feet blistered, so she had to turn back and head home. From a distance, she saw her parents who had run out to look for her.

As soon as her father saw her, his whole body relaxed and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Her mother was both anxious and angry, but couldn't bear to beat her: "You naughty child, you only know to run around everywhere, aren't you afraid of being abducted?"

That day Shen Zhu wore straw sandals, which were covered in blood from being worn through. Seeing this, her mother's heart ached, so she half-squatted in front of her and opened her arms: "Come here, mom will carry you on her back. When we get back tonight, we'll--"

Unfortunately, Shen Zhu never got to hear the rest of that sentence.

The Deity Summoning Formation started, and all living people inside it dissolved, as if there was an invisible fire burning. The boundary of the formation separated Shen Zhu from her parents on either side. Shen Zhu watched as her parents suddenly deformed before her eyes, then collapsed to the ground, becoming two twitching human skins.

Just as rainwater penetrates the scorched earth, her parents quickly shriveled into fragments all over the ground, then disappeared into thin air, leaving only two sets of sweat-soaked clothes.

...Ordinary villagers, without a bit of internal strength, naturally couldn't withstand a single breath.

The towns capable of smelting Wushu ore were destroyed one after another, and the Wushu ore refining method was lost. After that, Wushu ore products in the market also disappeared one by one. In order to get to the bottom of the Immortal Gathering's plot, she must get her hands on a Wushu ore product...

Yin Ci had the Hanging Shadow Sword, but Yin Ci was too strong to be normal, and Shen Zhu knew she couldn't ask for the sword to destroy it. However, since the Ghost Tomb could hide the Wushu ore-made "Hanging Shadow Sword", then the most likely place to have Wushu soft armor was the Red Hook Sect, which was accustomed to grave robbing.

Shen Zhu suppressed her memories and suddenly exhaled, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, those incantations had long been sorted out by her one by one, thus breaking the seal.

"Dad, Mom." She silently moved her lips, "Let your daughter take a look at the Wushu soft armor. Your daughter will definitely unravel everything and bring you justice."

At this moment, the commotion on the Red Hook's side had turned back to silence.

Hua Jingchun led a group of people charging into the courtyard and immediately saw Wu Huai coldly smiling on the stage. Wu Huai tightly gripped the hilt of the "Sweeping Bone Sword", looking down at Hua Jingchun from above.

"It's really you." He tightened his grip on the sword, "Protector Hua, I gave you a chance before."

Hua Jingchun's gaze swept over the shattered cups and plates on the ground, and she had an idea in her heart. Her expression remained unchanged, and she looked at Wu Huai very calmly: "I'm already here, what nonsense are you still spouting?"

She deliberately moved her injured leg, her tone becoming even more ruthless: "You call this 'giving a chance'? I'd like to give you this kind of chance. Brother Huai, we haven't seen each other for decades, you've really rotten to the core."

"Just a turtle in a jar, call it whatever you want." Wu Huai let Hua Jingchun curse, remaining unmoved.

Yin Ci lightly clicked his tongue.

Wu Huai looked to be only in his early twenties, appearing to be of the same generation as Yan Qing and Su Si based on his appearance. However, Hua Jingchun opened her mouth and said "haven't seen each other in decades".

This person was clearly an old cucumber that had been repainted - since he had maintained his youthful appearance, he must have drunk immortal wine. And since he drank immortal wine, he must be inextricably linked to the Immortal Gathering.

Thinking of this, Yin Ci tried to exchange glances with Shi Jingzhi. Who knew that the Sect Leader Shi was looking at that "Su Zhi" portrait with a leisurely expression, looking very appreciative.

Yin Ci: "..."

Shi Jingzhi ignored the tense atmosphere in the courtyard, treating the Taiheng Sect and Yueshui Bureau sitting on the side as air. He walked straight up to Hua Jingchun and tugged on her sleeve. The pitiful Protector Hua still had a solemn expression of heroic sacrifice, and it took a long time for her to react: "What are you doing?"

"The situation has changed--"

Hua Jingchun didn't even look at him: "The situation has changed, you guys leave first. This is an internal conflict of our Red Hook, there's no need for you to be buried with us."

"No, the situation has changed, the remuneration needs to be increased a bit." Behind the Nuo mask, Sect Leader Shi narrowed his fox eyes, his tone even revealing a hint of softness. "Sister Hua, I also want the portrait of Sect Leader Su. If you agree, I'll help you take down Wu Huai."

Hua Jingchun was waiting for this person to make a big request, but was stunned by this condition. She finally withdrew her gaze from Wu Huai and looked at Shi Jingzhi as if he was crazy.

"Although that portrait is an antique, it's only used for ceremonies and can't be exchanged for much money. You actually..."

"It was love at first sight." Shi Jingzhi deliberately glanced at Yin Ci, then turned his head and said with a smile. "Do you agree or not?"