To the north of the marketplace, Su Xuan followed them through the ravine.
“Brother Gong, how much longer till we get there?”
He asked the man walking ahead.
After an hour of trekking, he had learned that the man in front was called Gong Wei, a minor leader of the Qinghe Marauders, around thirty years old, with seven or eight men under him.
The short man with a treacherous face beside Gong Wei was called Shou Gou, playing the role of Dog-Head Advisor.
But what Su Xuan couldn’t figure out was that, despite his veiled probing all the way, Gong Wei—though crude in speech and seemingly ruthless—always gave him the faint impression of not being a bad person.
“In a hurry to get yourself killed? Soon.”
Gong Wei, annoyed by his questions, replied bluntly.
He glanced at Su Xuan and, finding him also not too villainous despite his chatter, asked, “Your cultivation looks decent. Why join us? Couldn’t make it in the marketplace?”
“Hah, the marketplace is too cautious. Where’s the freedom here? Rob if you want, kill if you want.”
Su Xuan, thinking Gong Wei was testing him, smiled with a look of longing.
“Oh, ambitious.”
Gong Wei swept his eyes over the three of them, praising with words but sneering inwardly.
‘Deserving of death! Since they’re all rotten, don’t blame me.’
He had already sentenced Su Xuan and the others to death in his heart.
The ravine grew narrower. At first, there were some flowers and grass, but the deeper they went, the more barren it became. At the narrowest point, the sky was only a slit.
“This is it.”
Gong Wei stopped, formed a hand seal with his fingers, and the otherwise bare cliff shimmered like a mirage. After flickering twice, rows of houses appeared, with occasional cultivators moving around visible.
At the top of the ravine sat a palace, overlooking the buildings below, with a commanding view.
On every house and palace hung a small strip of red cloth, and some places had lanterns.
“No wonder we couldn’t find this place.”
Su Xuan looked at the houses embedded in the cliff and the palace perched on the precipice, letting out a sincere sigh.
“Brother Gong, is there a celebration here?”
He pointed at the festive decorations.
“The boss found a Mountain Fortress Wife. The celebration is the day after tomorrow. You’ve come at a good time.”
Gong Wei patted his shoulder and smiled.
‘That old turtle’s death is coming soon. At least you’ll eat well before you die—die with a full stomach.’
He thought to himself.
“Oh, Commander Gong is back? Not bad this time—caught three?”
At the stockade entrance, a few lazy middle-aged men sat, sizing them up, making exaggerated gestures and laughing mockingly.
Gong Wei’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t heard their taunts, and led Su Xuan inside.
“Kids, don’t pick the wrong boss. Following some losers is just a waste of time, hahaha.”
Seeing him indifferent, the middle-aged men laughed even more brazenly.
‘Looks like Gong Wei’s position isn’t too secure. Seems there’s serious infighting among this group.’
Su Xuan thought to himself.
“This is our place.”
Gong Wei led them to a corner of the cliff, then went deep inside until they reached a remote cave. Besides a small wooden door that shut off the passage, a stone bed covered with a lot of dry grass, and a few oil lamps stuck in the cracks of the wall, there was nothing else.
“You three stay here first. Food will be sent over later.”
He pointed inside and, just as he turned to leave, added a half-threatening remark.
“Now that you’ve joined, there’s no backing out. Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you to the assembly. Don’t try any tricks.”
With that, he turned and walked out.
Su Xuan waited until he was far away and no sound came from the cave entrance, then closed the door and carefully inspected the surroundings.
Seeing that both soundproofing and sealing were quite good, he finally relaxed and began to speak.
“Do you know what their stockade leader looks like? When do we strike?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Shangguan Yu shook her head guiltily.
‘What the hell…’
‘What good are you?’
Su Xuan cast a helpless glance at her and stated his plan.
“The day after tomorrow, he’s marrying the Mountain Fortress Wife. Tomorrow, we’ll find a chance to scout things out. Then we’ll strike when the opportunity arises. Got it?”
Lu Zhiyi naturally agreed unconditionally. Shangguan Yu, seeing she wasn’t in charge, unwillingly asked, “What about tonight? Do we do nothing?”
“You think they’re not on guard? Didn’t you catch Gong Wei’s meaning? Attacking tonight would be suicide.”
Su Xuan gave her a look like she was an idiot.
“Oh…”
Shangguan Yu suppressed her frustration and nodded.
‘It’s fine. Let him be smug for now. When he begs me the day after tomorrow, I’ll just display my cultivation and make him obedient.’
She felt her plan had deviated, so she could only comfort herself this way.
“If you have nothing to do, keep watch for me. Watch the door closely.”
Su Xuan thought for a moment and said to her.
Then he took out a small Pill Furnace and several materials from his Storage Bag, sat down beside the dry grass, and began researching Pill Refinement.
It wasn’t that he was grinding—it was that the time remaining in his mind was only thirty hours, and he was forced to make the most of it.
Shangguan Yu initially felt indignant: ‘Why the hell should I listen to you?’
But when she saw him actually bring out the Pill Furnace and try to refine the Evil-Warding Pill, she obediently sat down by the door.
‘His cultivation talent might be poor, but he really does work hard.’
Having been rejected by so many Alchemists in the marketplace, seeing that he still kept refining pills for her (she thought so), Shangguan Yu inexplicably felt moved.
‘No wonder they all like him. He’s actually… interesting.’
This thought suddenly popped into her mind. Startled, she turned her face outside and pretended to be very interested in the wooden door.
Su Xuan ignored her odd behavior and began adding pill ingredients step by step.
Perhaps it was the experience he had absorbed from Su Yunjin that worked—this time, the pill didn’t burst early. Instead, it faintly emitted a medicinal fragrance.
“Too bad. It’s just the last step. Still lack experience. Probably need a few more tries.”
At the final moment, just as the pill was about to form, the medicine suddenly turned black and gave off a burnt smell. Su Xuan shook his head regretfully.
“It’s okay, Master. Let me clean up.”
Lu Zhiyi, who had been watching from the side early on, comforted him softly.
As she spoke, purple Spiritual Power stirred, enveloping the Pill Furnace. In a few breaths, the black dregs vanished, and even the furnace looked brand new, as if just bought.
“Impressive, Zhiyi. When did you learn that?”
Su Xuan looked at the furnace, slightly stunned.
‘Didn’t I give her a useless cultivation method? Where did she learn this from?’
“I just comprehended it a few days ago. All thanks to Master.”
Hearing the praise, Lu Zhiyi smiled. Remembering her master’s earlier intimate teaching, her face flushed slightly.
She turned around and began to arrange the dry grass on the floor, spreading it neatly. Her face grew even redder, and her heart pounded.
‘This place is so small. Tonight… will I have to sleep with Master…?’
***
At Lin Chengyun’s house in the marketplace.
“Why does the Market Master want us to wear this stupid mask? What’s so shameful?”
Lin Chengyun changed into a form-fitting night outfit and looked at the pure white mask on the table with disgust.
“Probably to avoid exposing our identities. Didn’t he say we need to act in the Secret Realm?”
Lin Zhiwei, dressed identically, picked up the mask and put it on her pretty face, then urged, “Alright. That place is in the ravine. It’ll take half a day to get there.”
Lin Chengyun reluctantly put on the mask, still complaining.
“And the Market Master too. We have to wear masks just to kill some Rogue Cultivators. Sneaking around like this—anyone would think we’re the helpers.”
“Enough, enough. How’s the comprehension on that Jade Slip the Market Master gave you? Learned anything?”
Lin Zhiwei, wanting to stop her complaints, changed the subject as they walked out.
“Don’t even mention it! There’s just one line in there, and it’s useless: ‘Sword… is sword…’ or something.”
Lin Chengyun pushed open the door, even more indignant at the topic, and added hatefully, “Do you think the Market Master cheated us? What senior’s cultivation method starts with such a useless line?”
“What did you say?”
Behind her, Lin Zhiwei looked as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
‘How is that possible…’
She murmured softly, her voice trembling.
She had heard that sentence before.
That night, her master had told her exactly that—word for word.
She had suffered so much these past days, been angry with her junior sister, precisely because she doubted her master’s goodwill, thinking she was right and her junior sister was too naive.
If everything her master said was true, what had she been doing all this time?
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up.”
Lin Chengyun urged from outside the door.
“Hey? What’s wrong?”