After Ye Wuji calmed his mild frustration and finished eavesdropping on the surrounding conversations, he rented a room in the restaurant.
Seven days passed.
During this time, Ye Wuji wandered around Rootspire City and the bustling market. He sat in the restaurant every day, sipping tea, casually listening to conversations.
"Even with my bounty rising and the four righteous sects pressuring harder to capture the remaining remnants of the Scarlet Soul Sect—especially now with a new war looming on the horizon—this city still remains relatively peaceful and calm. Just like before," he muttered in thought.
"I've been here seven days already and haven't encountered anything suspicious or dangerous. Looks like it's safe enough to try meeting the other demonic cultivators in the area."
With that, Ye Wuji made his way to the mission board at the market square—an old, worn structure now filled with bounties and requests, nearly all targeting the remnants of the Scarlet Soul Sect, except for a few exceptions.
His eyes quickly scanned the board, skipping over the bounties and exaggerated requests, until one particular mission caught his eye. It looked completely average—low risk and equally low reward.
"Hiring cultivators to guard a scarlet wine shipment on its journey to Heavenly Mountain City. Departure: Three days from posting."
"Reward: 100 small spirit crystals."
Ye Wuji smirked.
"A meeting of our remnants, huh? And just in time. Judging by the post date, the gathering should be tomorrow."
In Rootspire City, this exact type of mission—delivering scarlet wine to one of the four righteous sects' cities—served as a coded message for covert meetings between former members of the Scarlet Soul Sect and a few selected demonic cultivators. The reward amount of one hundred small spirit crystals and a shipment of scarlet wine acted as clues. And delivery to Heavenly Mountain City meant that the meeting would take place in the forest cave about fifteen miles north of Rootspire City.
"Still," Ye Wuji thought, "I should double-check the city one last time before going since I have still one day of time. Better be safe than sorry after all."
|>>======|✦|======<<|
One day later.
"It's time."
Ye Wuji took out his flying shuttle artifact and set off toward the forest cave north of the Rootspire City.
Within a few minutes, he arrived. The distance was short, after all. He landed, packed the flying shuttle artifact back into his storage ring, and stepped into the dense woods, heading straight toward the cave.
As he approached the entrance, a figure suddenly leapt out in front of him, halting his advance.
"Which senior brother are you?" the man asked coldly.
Ye Wuji answered calmly, "Outer disciple, Shen Tu."
The man's expression darkened. "Shen Tu? There is no outer disciple like that."
Ye Wuji smiled faintly and nodded. "Ye Wuji."
The cultivator immediately relaxed, though traces of caution lingered in his eyes. "I heard you killed that traitor, Xiao Ren, and then disappeared for over three months. Where have you been?"
Ye Wuji shrugged. "Hiding. My bounty shot up, you know. You think I'd stick my head out like an idiot?"
The man finally let out a breath and nodded. "Fair. Looks like it's really you."
Ye Wuji tilted his head slightly. "And you are?"
"Xie Li. Outer disciple. I got into the sect through Senior Brother Qian Tong's recommendation."
Ye Wuji nodded. Qian Tong had been an inner disciple who was killed during the sect's fall, like the rest of inner disciples.
"How many of us are here?" Ye Wuji casually asked.
"Not much," Xie Li replied quickly. "With you and me added, there are eight Scarlet Soul Sect disciples in total. The others are either dead or didn't show up."
He hesitated, then added, "Also, there are three other demonic cultivators who are not from our sect. Senior Brother Feng Jun invited them."
Ye Wuji frowned slightly. The presence of unknown demonic cultivators made him uneasy, and the fact that Feng Jun had invited them without asking others for their opinion about it didn't sit well either.
Still, he calmed his thoughts.
"I need the Blood Essence Harvesting Array. I can't turn back now… Even if it's a trap, I'm most likely the strongest one here. And if things get dangerous, I'll just escape using my Wings Gu."
Resolved, he glanced at Xie Li.
"Alright. Can I go in?"
"Of course, senior," Xie Li said, respectfully stepping aside back into the shadows of cave's entrance.
Ye Wuji gave a small nod and entered the cave.
|>>======|✦|======<<|
Meanwhile, deeper within cave, in the largest inner chamber of the cave, eleven cultivators were engaged in a hushed discussion.
"Any news about Elders Xue Mo and Mo Sheng, Brother Bai Qi?" one of them asked.
Bai Qi shook his head. "Nothing yet, Brother Chen Xi. They're either dead or hiding. But if you ask me, I believe that they're more likely still alive. After all, all four sects are still searching for them, and the bounty for even a single information is still one hundred large spirit crystals."
Chen Xi sighed heavily. "We can't live like this forever. If even one elder returned, we'd finally have a real path forward again."
"I know," Bai Qi said, rubbing his temple. "But what choice do we have except to wait?"
Then, someone cut in.
"I know what we should do."
All heads turned toward the speaker—Feng Jun, who stood with a faint, eerie smile.
"What do you mean, Brother Feng Jun?" Bai Qi asked, his brow creased.
Feng Jun's smile deepened. "We should simply join one of the four righteous sects."
A wave of stunned silence fell over the chamber.
"Are you insane?!" Chen Xi snapped. "They'd kill us the moment we set foot near them!"
"You're wrong," Feng Jun replied smoothly. "There's a war on the horizon. Soon, all of those four righteous sects will be scrambling for manpower. And if we go to them now, swear loyalty and offer some information or knowledge from our Scarlet Soul Sect, they will welcome us with open arms."
Chen Xi and Bai Qi were about to retort when suddenly—
"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard, Brother Feng Jun."
The voice was cold and clear, filled with disdain.
They all turned to the cave entrance.
Standing there, framed by flickering torchlight, was none other than Ye Wuji.