Demon Sword Sect's Undercover-Chapter 788 - 787: The Great Thief of Grotto Heaven

"Brother Liu, what a coincidence."

Fairy Zhuang smiled gracefully, feigning a casual encounter.

Hou Niao came to a stop, amused. This woman had deliberately waited here for him.

"It’s been a while since we parted last year. The Fairy seems even more transcendent than before. It seems Langya Mountain is indeed nurturing... Hmm, what do you need me for?"

Fairy Zhuang walked closer, her demeanor natural, yet the words that came out of her mouth surprised him, freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"Brother Liu, there’s news from above. You might have something to do."

Hou Niao’s heart stirred. He, of course, understood this was definitely not an assignment from Wu Sect—the channel was all wrong and no Tongxuan junior still in the Natural Realm had any reason to inform a senior brother like him. Piecing together what he saw and heard at Old Zhu’s place, this probably had to do with another identity Liu Yishou held.

He had originally thought he could avoid such trouble, but it seemed his luck wasn’t good. The trouble had come to him through this woman, whom he had never expected. Clearly, the previous night’s pleasures were merely a pretext for getting close to him—a very cautious move.

For him, coming from a penal background and having held a position in Shan Sect’s Sikong Mansion, he could tell from these details that she was very professional.

The trouble was serious.

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about..."

Fairy Zhuang smiled lightly, "Why be so tense, Brother? Just look at this."

She raised her hand, displaying a talisman in her palm—a bright red heart pierced by a tiny arrow.

Heartless Dao. Hou Niao never dreamed that Liu Yishou would also be linked with a Demon Sect within Daoist Sects, seemingly irrelevant, right? But the evidence was in front of him. He knew this woman wouldn’t come to deceive him for no reason. Without absolute confidence, what she was doing now was a path towards death.

"What can be done at such a time?" he could only mumble vaguely since he didn’t know whether Liu Yishou was utterly loyal or being coerced. But temporizing and prevaricating seldom led to a big mistake. The best he could do for now was to improvise, depending on the steepness of the slope he had to roll down.

Fairy Zhuang seemed to anticipate his reaction and wasn’t surprised, "Why resist and push back so much, Brother? It’s been over a hundred years. We haven’t asked you to do much, have we? Compared to what you received initially, isn’t putting in some effort from time to time to be expected?

Now is the perfect time for action; if you miss this period, what can be done once everything returns to normal? In the past six months, Brother has kept a low profile and even ignored the normal means of contact. Do you not wish to cooperate anymore?"

With just a few sentences, Hou Niao understood a lot; it was coercion. Someone had leverage over him, and it wasn’t trivial—least of all something he would dare let his Sect know about. It was his first mission; he had been in hiding for over a hundred years, which also fit with him changing his family name to Zhu.

As a spy, he likely had a secret way of receiving messages, but due to this body having a new owner, he simply had no clue about it. As a result, when they couldn’t contact him, they had to take the risk of using this woman to get close to him—probably something like that.

He had fallen into this pit by his own doing, and now he couldn’t just run away; for the sake of his own safety, he had to play along and see if he could delay things. He would stall until he completely finished his Flying Sword; then nobody would bother over the trifles of the Heartless Dao anymore.

"Speak, but I’m currently preoccupied with the matters of the Inner Warehouse, and it’s very difficult for me to find the time..."

He dragged his words out, but Fairy Zhuang had no doubt about his sincerity, as this was exactly the reaction he should have. For these disciples of the great sects who had been coerced, the common attitude was to dodge if possible and to delay if feasible.

"It’s precisely because it concerns the Inner Warehouse that I need your help."

Fairy Zhuang looked at him steadily, flipping an item in her hand that resembled a silkworm cocoon, "This is a Seasonal Silkworm. You just need to place it into the Inner Treasury Formation, it’s that simple. This shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?"

Hou Niao said angrily in a low voice, "The Inner Warehouse is isolated by an array; nothing can be brought inside!"

Fairy Zhuang remained unmoved, "That applies to spatial objects, materials for magic artifacts, and everything that has a spirit mechanism within. However, it does not include this Seasonal Silkworm. You only need to place it in the array node of your Artifact Repository, and do nothing else. It has nothing to do with you."

Hou Niao refused outright, "You say it has nothing to do with me, but how can it not? What realm are you in to make such bold claims? In the entire Chaoyang Peak warehouse area, all the guardians combined number just over a hundred. If something happens, none of us can escape. How can you guarantee that I won’t be implicated?

The divine skills of the Daoist Sect are unfathomable. If one by one they probe our hearts, who can say they’ll come through unscathed? Since it will be revealed sooner or later, I might as well choose another way..."

Fairy Zhuang nodded her head, acknowledging that his resistance was only normal. She also needed to explain things more clearly to dispel his worries. Given his character—greedy, lascivious, and timid as a mouse—it was unlikely he’d have the courage to risk it all.

"The Seasonal Silkworm has no spirit, no root, no dao; it’s a marvel of the Northern Territory. It cannot be detected by formation probes, and this has been verified. We have no need to harm you; there’s no benefit for us in doing so.

Its function is to infiltrate the formation, and as soon as you place it into the node, it will wake up on its own, surviving on the formation’s energy and waiting for the opportunity to seize control of the formation.

The so-called ’seasonal’ refers to the timing of its activation, which is set to seasonal cycles. It never misses its mark and acts silently and undetected, so even a Master in the Nascent Transformation realm would have trouble noticing it.

Spring Equinox is three days away; place it into the array node of the Inner Warehouse that evening. Don’t worry about anything else. A season later, at the Summer Solstice, the Seasonal Silkworm will take effect, and we will take action then. You don’t need to do a thing. Look, absolute safety. What does it have to do with you?"

Hou Niao was still unsatisfied, "How can it not concern me? Anything that goes missing in the Inner Warehouse is my responsibility! I’m the head officer of the Inner Warehouse; do you think I could escape blame? Moreover, I don’t understand why, in terms of value, among the tens of thousands of artifact treasures in the Inner Warehouse, there might not be even one that compares to this worthless Seasonal Silkworm. Throwing away the watermelon for the sesame seed—what are you really after?"

Fairy Zhuang chuckled softly, "Senior brother, you are mistaken. Our goal is not your Artifact Repository, but we have another target in mind; you are just the head officer of the Tongtian Realm Artifact Repository. There are over a dozen other Inner Warehouses on Chaoyang Peak. What does that have to do with you? If something goes wrong, if some treasure is lost, you won’t be the one to take the blame."

Knowing she had to clarify things or this timid fellow wouldn’t be at ease, she continued, "The Inner Treasury Formation of Chaoyang Peak is an integrated whole, and your Artifact Repository is just one of its sub-formations within the larger structure. The purpose of doing this is so that if anything happens, it can be remotely controlled and led from the main formation, and any incidents can be known at the first moment.

Our reason for introducing the Seasonal Silkworm is not for the junk of the Tongtian Realm, but for another purpose. As for what that is, shall I not say it?"

Hou Niao persisted, "If you don’t explain, I won’t be at ease!"

Fairy Zhuang sighed, "Our aim is Wu Sect’s Pocket World! Wu Sect has four Pocket Worlds in total, usually carried by different Masters. Unless we forcefully seize them, we have no opportunity; however, Wu Sect’s relocation presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since the Sect’s activities are nearly at a halt, all four Pocket Worlds are stored in the core treasury..."