One Trace Harms Three Immortals

In the Celestial Chamber.

Su Jiu stood alone by the window, her back to the door, gazing at the nightscape outside, lost in thought.

Su Ji pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind him with a soft click.

A faint creak echoed, followed by the sharp sound of the latch falling into place.

In the quiet room, the noise was unusually distinct.

Su Jiu’s shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly.

Su Ji said nothing. He walked to the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and downed it in one gulp.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

After a long silence, Su Jiu’s cool voice finally broke the stillness.

"I hope Senior Brother truly managed to extract something useful from those merchants."

A trace of lingering irritation laced her words.

Su Ji set the teacup down with a soft clink.

"No need to ask."

"Hmm?"

Su Jiu turned around, her fox-like eyes flickering with confusion.

Su Ji moved to stand beside her, shoulder to shoulder, both looking out at the bustling nightscape below.

He didn’t glance at her, yet his voice carried clearly to her ears.

"Junior Sister, let me show you what those so-called ‘merchants’ downstairs really are."

Moments later.

Su Ji led Su Jiu to the stairwell landing.

Su Jiu’s gaze swept across the hall below.

The burly men were still drinking, shouting, and playing finger-guessing games, no different from ordinary caravan guards.

"What’s wrong with them?"

Had Su Ji bribed the innkeeper to secure just one room while also finding time to observe others?

Su Jiu’s clear fox-like eyes instantly reflected Su Ji’s faintly amused face.

But Su Ji merely gestured politely. "Let’s talk inside, Junior Sister."

"Too many ears out here."

After a brief hesitation, Su Jiu finally stepped back into the room.

Only then did Su Ji continue. "They’re from the Blood Fiend Sect."

Su Jiu frowned. "I didn’t sense any cultivator aura from them."

As a Golden Core cultivator, her spiritual perception was razor-sharp. If they were cultivators, even suppressing their aura wouldn’t escape her detection.

"Auras can be concealed."

"But some things can’t be hidden."

"Think harder, Junior Sister."

Su Jiu searched her memory but found no clues.

Su Ji lowered his voice, brimming with certainty. "Caravan guards who’ve weathered storms and traveled far should have calloused hands and rough, sun-darkened skin."

"Yet look at them—soft and fair, as if they’ve never known hardship."

"And the way they hold their bowls? Casual on the surface, but their grips are firm, wrists steady—a habit forged from years of wielding weapons."

"This is no merchant group."

Su Jiu’s heart jolted. She had never observed mortals from this angle before. Su Ji’s words felt like opening a door to a new world.

Though, to be fair, Su Ji had already opened many such doors for her...

Only now did she realize that despite her Golden Core cultivation, her insight into human nature paled in comparison to Su Ji, who was merely at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Su Ji didn’t give her much time to ponder, pressing on with his deductions.

"I suspect the massacre in Anyang City was the Blood Fiend Sect’s doing."

"What?" Su Jiu’s face instantly paled.

Su Ji turned to meet her wide, disbelieving eyes. "Simple elimination."

"Within a thousand miles, only three factions could pull off something of this scale."

"The Joyful Union Sect, the Love-Longing Sect, and the Blood Fiend Sect."

He counted them off on his fingers.

"The Joyful Union Sect? All they care about is dual cultivation. Slaughtering a city? They’d rather turn everyone into cauldrons—killing is too inefficient and no fun."

"They’d sooner—"

"Moan and gasp~"

"How biiiig~ Scream..."

The crude yet eerily accurate assessment made Su Jiu’s cheeks flush, though she couldn’t refute it.

"As for our Love-Longing Sect," Su Ji shrugged, "the Grand Elder’s corpse probably isn’t even cold yet. The sect’s barrier is locked down so tight not even a fly could slip through. We’re barely holding on."

"Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent two unlucky fools like us."

Su Jiu’s heart sank. She already anticipated his next words.

"So, Junior Sister, tell me—after eliminating two wrong answers, what’s left?"

The Blood Fiend Sect!

The name flashed through Su Jiu’s mind.

The Blood Fiend Sect was infamous for its blood-path cultivation, its disciples ruthless killers who showed no mercy.

But a millennium ago,

they reformed their techniques.

Switching to animal and demon beast blood for cultivation.

Slowly whitewashing their reputation.

Now they stood among the top sects, ranked second—

far mightier than the Love-Longing Sect’s humble ninth place.

If they needed to refine some sinister artifact or practice a forbidden ritual, sacrificing a city wasn’t beyond imagination...

Su Jiu fell silent.

She studied her seemingly carefree yet terrifyingly perceptive senior brother, emotions churning.

Truly, no one succeeded without reason.

She’d thought reaching Golden Core meant she could protect Su Ji effortlessly. Yet faced with real danger, she still felt like a clueless child.

Meanwhile, Su Ji always saw through the fog first.

"Then... what should we do?"

The question slipped out, laced with a dependency she didn’t even notice.

Su Ji’s voice warmed with inexplicable excitement.

He strode to the window, spinning to lean against the sill, watching her with lazy amusement.

"Junior Sister, what’s our mission?"

"To uncover the truth about Anyang City," she answered reflexively.

"And now the truth is right before us. But without proof, who’d believe us? Should we march back and tell the Sect Master it’s the Blood Fiend Sect? Think he’d trust us, or assume we’re making excuses?"

Su Jiu had no rebuttal.

"So..."

Su Ji stepped closer, leaning in until his breath brushed her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

Su Jiu jerked back, putting distance between them, her guard up.

"Must Senior Brother speak like this...?"

At this moment, Su Ji remained oblivious to the gravity of his actions.

One misstep, three immortals doomed.

---

Meanwhile, downstairs.

The table of ‘merchants’ drank heartily.

One burly man spoke up: "Boss, about Anyang—"

The leader gulped his wine. "Wasn’t us. Why else would we invite the Love-Longing and Joyful Union Sects to investigate? Thieves crying ‘stop thief’?"

The first man frowned. "Then why are we here to..."

He dropped his voice. "...slaughter a city?"

The leader drained another cup. "Too many questions."

"I’m starting to doubt your loyalty."

"I dare not, young master!"

The leader of the 'merchants' could only drown his frustrations in wine.

Why slaughter the city?

Simple, really.

Damn it, wasn’t it because the Grand Elder of the Blood Fiend Sect had kicked the bucket?

That old fossil had somehow lost his mind and suddenly clawed his way out of his coffin.

And now? Too late to crawl back in.

He just dropped dead right in front of it.

His time was up—gone, just like that.

You know how it is—a Grand Elder doesn’t necessarily have to lift a finger, but you can’t afford not to have one.

Without a Grand Elder, even those eunuchs from the Love-Longing Sect could trample all over them.

Then came the incident in Anyang City.

Who cared about the truth?

Just pin the blame and be done with it.

The lives of Wan’an City’s entire population would serve as fuel.

Let the Sect Master grow stronger, ascending as the new 'Grand Elder' to anchor the sect’s fate.

He didn’t dare wag his tongue carelessly.

If the Love-Longing Sect or the Joyful Union Sect caught wind of this…