You're not going to swallow it raw, are you

"What were you whispering about with that Donggua just now?"

Lin Luoyu sat on a clean stone, surrounded once again by the slowly circulating energy of a Soundproof Talisman—undoubtedly another one of Cui Hao's creations.

After finishing his conversation with Donggua, Cui Hao had hurried over to Lin Luoyu, even going so far as to openly use the Soundproof Talisman in front of Donggua, not caring whether the latter might suspect them of scheming something.

Lin Luoyu rested her Haoran Sword against her right arm, glancing at Cui Hao with a strange expression as he grinned beside her.

"That smirk of yours is bad enough, but why is Donggua also smiling so weirdly? Are you contagious or something?"

Cui Hao's smile instantly vanished, replaced by a look of disbelief.

"Senior Sister, you’ve changed! How could you say something so hurtful? My fragile heart is shattered—are you going to compensate me?"

"Your 'fragile heart' is harder than your mouth." Lin Luoyu tapped lightly on her scabbard, steering the conversation back on track before Cui Hao could ramble further. "What new scheme do you have that requires my cooperation this time?"

Cui Hao wiped off a small stone beneath Lin Luoyu and sat down before replying:

"I’m planning to sell you off. I’ll take sixty percent, Donggua gets thirty, and you get ten."

"You’re selling me, and I only get ten percent? No wonder Qinghe calls you a black-hearted merchant."

"Qinghe said that? Back when we were doing business, it was the one drooling greedily, asking if we could squeeze out even more spirit stones."

"Qinghe has no brains. Even if it had the intention, it wouldn’t know how to act on it. The world fears nothing more than capable people with wicked ideas running amok." Lin Luoyu raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

"If you’re planning to sell me, why bother whispering for so long? Aren’t you worried Donggua might get suspicious and ruin the plan?"

"If it fails, there’s always Master’s grand backup plan," Cui Hao said with a bright laugh. "It’s our first time working for Master—we ought to give him a little surprise."

"Merely uncovering their goal would be underestimating you, Fourth Senior Sister. Why not... try luring out a real big fish?"

Lin Luoyu closed her eyes briefly, chuckling before responding:

"If you’re confident, go ahead. If things go wrong, I’ll cover for you."

Cui Hao nodded solemnly. "As expected of the righteous Fourth Senior Sister of Haoran! But there’s one thing I need to remind you."

"What is it?"

"When I give you the signal, act like you’re heartbroken and want to kill me."

"The heartbroken part might be a stretch, but the 'wanting to kill you' bit? I’ll nail that."

"Uh... No need to overdo it."

Lin Luoyu lifted her gaze, her tone turning serious.

"Just remember—safety first. If things get truly dangerous, do as you acted before: abandon me and run."

Cui Hao nodded. "Don’t worry, Senior Sister. What I acted out is exactly what I’d do in reality."

Seeing her willingness to cooperate, Cui Hao felt even more assured.

He raised his hand to retract the Soundproof Talisman, though this time, he had to be extra cautious—lest he end up becoming the butt of his senior sister’s jokes.

His gaze shifted to Donggua, who had been watching him from a distance.

Donggua’s eyes carried a questioning look.

In response, Cui Hao flashed his most innocent smile—Just you wait, all my mischief is about to land on you!

Unfortunately, Donggua wasn’t versed in the unspoken language of sect disciples and mistook Cui Hao’s expression for: Leave it to me, I’ve got this.

Night had fully descended.

The group, which should have been moving by now, remained stationary—each for their own reasons. No one spoke of continuing onward.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a cold, pale glow as the chirping of insects filled the air.

Cui Hao and Donggua rose from the small group and walked away without a word.

Donggua followed behind, casting a wary glance at Lin Luoyu, who remained seated on the stone.

Surely, she must have noticed their departure—yet she didn’t turn around or even ask a single question.

Is Cui Hao really her natural nemesis?

If she were the leader, anyone trying to sneak off like this without explanation would have their head twisted off first.

Being careless in life-and-death situations only led to disaster.

The two didn’t go far, only backtracking a short distance before stopping in a relatively hidden spot.

Cui Hao took out another talisman to set up a barrier, then turned to Donggua.

"Let me see it first."

Donggua didn’t rush. Instead, he asked, "What did you tell your senior sister? Why isn’t she the least bit concerned? And how can you guarantee she won’t secretly follow us?"

Cui Hao replied calmly, "I don’t think you want to know."

"You guessed wrong."

With a shrug, Cui Hao said, "I told her that you and I, like a fox and a turtle, took a fancy to each other and agreed to sneak out tonight for some fun. If she’s really worried, she can scan me with her divine sense and admire my... vigor. She just told me to keep it down so we don’t attract attention."

Donggua’s eyes narrowed, but he swallowed his anger—there’d be plenty of time to make Cui Hao pay later.

Without another word, he took out a black-and-gray crystalline shard pulsing with irregular energy.

Cui Hao’s eyes lit up as he eagerly snatched it from Donggua’s hand, turning it over and even holding it up to the moonlight for inspection. Then, with genuine curiosity, he asked:

"How does this thing work? What does it do?"

Donggua couldn’t hide his shock. "You know nothing about it, and yet you schemed with me over this?"

Damn it, this guy’s a complete fraud. At first, he thought Cui Hao was just dumb, then assumed he was pretending—but now it was clear: he was genuinely clueless.

Cui Hao had originally claimed to be investigating the incident involving the Taidao Sect and Mist Mystic Temple.

That event had been earth-shattering—Daoist Yuyang of the Taidao Sect had personally confronted Chu Xingchen, who had recently risen to fame across the Central Continent.

At just the Nascent Soul stage, their battle had flattened the entire Mist Mystic Temple, turning it into cliffs and deep valleys.

And it wasn’t just a clash of prodigies.

The Taidao Sect’s leader arrived with his elders in full force, while the Tianyan Sect went even further—Bai Xuanling, who hadn’t been seen in the Central Continent for years, made an appearance.

According to intelligence, the cause of the conflict was a scattered shard of Rule Crystal.

It was also after that battle that Chu Xingchen’s name began spreading, eventually becoming renowned across the Central Continent.

Cui Hao wasn’t from the Taidao Sect, so he might not know all the details—but to be this ignorant?

He didn’t even know what the thing was, yet he was willing to stake everything on it?

Donggua scoffed, suppressing his frustration. "You know nothing about it, yet you think it’s worth gambling everything for?"

Cui Hao exhaled onto the crystal, polished it with his sleeve, and finally said:

"I may not trust myself, but I trust the Taidao Sect. You have no idea what they’ve promised for this."

He lifted his gaze, shaking the crystal in his hand as he added:

"First, tell me what these black thread-like things are? Why do they look so disgusting? This huge chunk—surely I'm not supposed to swallow it whole, am I?"