"The sound of a door opening."
"Dai Yongzhen is back."
Du Jiu and Qi Wenbin looked toward Lianshan Xin in unison.
Lianshan Xin pondered for a moment before speaking. "The Master Dai I know is only at an ordinary Qi Condensation realm level—his strength is even lower than that of an average Qi Condensation practitioner. Otherwise, he wouldn't be working as a mere private tutor."
"Could he be intentionally concealing his strength?" Du Jiu asked cautiously.
Qi Wenbin shook his head. "I didn't sense anything like that."
Lianshan Xin agreed. "He shouldn't be. His aptitude is limited, and when he failed his breakthrough to the True Intent realm, the backlash caused a sharp decline in his cultivation and left severe hidden injuries within his body. My father treated him several times, which was how I ended up studying under Master Dai in the first place. No matter how adept Demon Cult heretics are at disguise, there would be no reason to lay groundwork years in advance, nor is my family important enough to warrant such an elaborate scheme from them."
One should never overestimate oneself, nor overestimate others—that had always been Lianshan Xin's philosophy. Everyone was just running a makeshift outfit; nobody was necessarily that much better than anyone else.
He couldn't say there was zero chance Master Dai was hiding his strength, but the probability was infinitely close to it.
Moreover, Lianshan Xin trusted Lianshan Jingcheng's medical expertise. His father had personally stated that Master Dai had no hope of ever reaching the True Intent realm in this lifetime.
If a father screwed over his son, Lianshan Xin would just have to take it.
"Come on, let's go out and get reacquainted with Master Dai."
Lianshan Xin had no intention of reporting this matter up the chain.
He wanted to settle the loose end of Master Dai right here by himself.
When Dai Yongzhen saw Lianshan Xin emerge from his cellar accompanied by Du Jiu and Qi Wenbin, his expression shifted instantly.
"Little Xin, what are you doing in my house?"
Lianshan Xin looked at Master Dai, who had the appearance of a fair-skinned, frail middle-aged scholar, and sighed softly. "Master, why give up being a respectable law-abiding citizen of Great Yu, only to risk your life for a Demon Cult that can't even pay out your stipends? Your secret is out. Keep your dignity, and surrender."
Hearing Lianshan Xin say this, Dai Yongzhen, who had been on the verge of despair, seemed to calm down instead.
News that Lianshan Xin had joined members of the Nine Heavens to eradicate the Demon Cult stronghold at the Qu household yesterday had already circulated in a small circle. Living not far from the Qu residence, he naturally knew about it.
He simply hadn't expected that he would be next.
"Countless times in my dreams, I foresaw my identity being exposed and being arrested, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be my own student leading men to capture me."
Dai Yongzhen looked at Lianshan Xin, a faint sneer in his voice. "Those four words—'Loyalty to sovereign and love for country'—seem to be something I taught you myself."
Lianshan Xin heard the mockery in Dai Yongzhen's voice, but did not snap back. Instead, he maintained his respect for Master Dai. "Your scholarship is truly well-earned, Master. Although my energy was divided by martial arts and medicine over the years, I still benefited immensely from your tutelage. I just never expected that while I took your teachings to heart, you yourself held them in such contempt."
"Merely pretty lies to deceive you fools. The Yu Dynasty is doomed to fall, a chaotic age is fast approaching, and only Maitreya can save the world."
Dai Yongzhen completely dropped all pretense, reclaiming his haughty pride as a Demon Cult disciple. Even though he was trapped like a turtle in a jar, the gaze he turned upon the three was full of condescending pity.
"There is so much that you hawks of the court will never understand, rushing to your own doom without even realizing it." Dai Yongzhen shook his head and walked straight toward his bedroom. "I've already shut the front gate. Let's talk inside."
"Master, could you please maintain your dignity? I would rather not lay hands on you," Lianshan Xin said.
"What joy is there in life, what pain in death? For the sake of the few years you studied under me, I shall grant you this face."
Du Jiu and Qi Wenbin could barely hold themselves back.
A cultist whelp whose cover had been blown—where did he get the audacity to act so high and mighty before them?
Yet Lianshan Xin shook his head slightly at Du Jiu and Qi Wenbin, checking their impulse to strike.
The less commotion they caused, the better.
The Dai household was different from the Qu household, and Lianshan Xin had different aims here.
After entering the room, Dai Yongzhen noticed his exposed letters, and his expression flickered slightly. "A single copper coin can bring a heroic man low. Even if I, Dai Yongzhen, had to bow my head for five pecks of grain, I never stooped to theft or robbery. In that, I am still vastly superior to you hawks of the court."
Watching Dai Yongzhen's desperate scramble to salvage his dignity, Lianshan Xin almost laughed. "Master, given your current status, you'd better not compare yourself to us. You simply don't have the standing."
When he had studied under Dai Yongzhen, he had noticed a certain haughtiness in him, but had written it off as typical scholar arrogance without holding any prejudice against him.
Yet under circumstances like today's, for him to still put on an overbearing air—and above all, constantly trying to demean and belittle them—Lianshan Xin wasn't going to indulge him any further.
"I give you face by addressing you as 'Master.' If I don't give you face, what the hell are you?"
Behind closed doors, Lianshan Xin dropped his polite facade as well.
Dai Yongzhen chuckled coldly. "Hawks of the court will always be hawks of the court. You think you're fearless just because you have the Nine Heavens backing you, completely blind to the fact that you're nothing more than three pitiful pawns."
"Serving the imperial court at least means our pay isn't withheld for six months straight. That's a lot more respectable than legitimately asking for your stipend only to be denounced and reprimanded by cult superiors. Truly, you once taught me that a person must have backbone. Master, where is your backbone now?"
Dai Yongzhen continued to explain in that condescending tone, "What do you know? The leadership has its own difficulties. Over these years, under the relentless suppression by your Nine Heavens, the Sacred Cult's situation has gone from bad to worse. Many businesses have been disrupted, and revenue is nowhere near what it once was. Across such a vast organization, everyone in the Sacred Cult is pinching pennies and tightening their belts. Asking for my monthly stipend at a time like this was indeed inappropriate of me."
"Huh?"
Lianshan Xin was stunned.
Even though he understood the nature of religious fanaticism, seeing Dai Yongzhen's dead-serious expression still felt surreal.
Seeing Lianshan Xin's incredulous look, Dai Yongzhen grew even more disdainful. "How could vulgar climbers who chase fame and profit ever understand the aspirations of Sacred Cult disciples? When I first entered the cult, I offered my all to Maitreya. To sacrifice myself for the Sacred Cult's grand design, I would die without regret! Besides, I only have a petty stipend to worry about, but our cult leadership has so much more to consider. To prioritize my private needs over the public cause was wrong of me; their reprimand was entirely reasonable. If you hope to turn me using this, you are merely measuring the stature of a gentleman with the petty mind of a scoundrel."
Lianshan Xin glanced over at Du Jiu, then at Qi Wenbin, finally confirming that even in this feudal antiquity, he was not the abnormal one.
"The Demon Cult has always excelled at bewitching minds," Du Jiu said with disgust.
Qi Wenbin also remarked with a heartfelt sigh, "Cultists are beyond redemption. My lord, despite your good intentions, he will never appreciate them."
Dai Yongzhen scoffed. "Failing to turn me, you resort to insults. That is all the court's hounds are capable of."
"They aren't insulting you. They are merely speaking the truth."
Lianshan Xin looked at Dai Yongzhen with deep pity. "Dai Yongzhen, who told you the Sacred Cult's situation has gone from bad to worse, or that the entire cult is tightening its belt?"
Dai Yongzhen said solemnly, "This is common knowledge among everyone in the cult, from top to bottom."
"Then all of you ordinary Demon Cult disciples have been duped. Do you have any idea how many rare treasures I seized from the Qu household?"
Lianshan Xin gave Dai Yongzhen the answer directly. "In all of Jiangzhou, aside from Mount Kuang, the Prefectural Estate, and Bailudong Academy, no place held more treasure than the Qu family. And that was merely what they accumulated in the short term as a covert Demon Cult stronghold; who knows how much wealth they funneled to the Demon Cult over the years? I suspect you and the other rank-and-file disciples never knew a thing about this money, did you?"
Dai Yongzhen's face went stark white.
He truly hadn't known that Chairman Qu belonged to the Demon Cult.
Yet he knew that the Qu Family Merchant Guild had traveled far and wide over the years, amassing staggering wealth.
And of that wealth, not a single copper coin had ever trickled down to him.
Lianshan Xin drove the knife straight into his heart. "In this grand Demon Cult of yours, only ordinary disciples like you are tightening your belts and toiling like cattle. The higher-ups in the cult have never lacked money. The stipends you saved for them? They and their children have been spending them quite lavishly."
"Stop... stop talking!"
Dai Yongzhen swayed on his feet, teetering.
"You're deliberately framing and slandering my Sacred Cult!"
At this moment, even Dai Yongzhen himself didn't believe his own words.
Lies never truly hurt; only the truth was a razor-sharp blade.
"Whether I am lying or your cult leadership is lying—you know the answer in your heart."
"I told you to shut up!"
Dai Yongzhen's emotional defenses completely shattered.
Lianshan Xin didn't kick the man while he was down. Instead, his gaze toward Dai Yongzhen grew increasingly pitiful, accompanied by a deeply buried trace of self-mockery.
No one was born cold and unfeeling. Once upon a time, he too had firmly believed in many ideals, only to be crushed by reality one by one.
If possible, he would have loved to go on believing in those beautiful things.
It was just that the experiences of two lifetimes had taught him that only power and wealth stood the test of time!
And in this world, cultivation had to be added to that list.
Just as Lianshan Xin felt a pang of empathy for Dai Yongzhen, his eyelid suddenly twitched, and his innate ability activated once more.
Looking through Dai Yongzhen's body, his eyes beheld a scene:
A woman clad in a trailing red gown stood with her back turned to Dai Yongzhen.
At her feet lay a weeping infant.
The woman's voice was icy and laced with slaughter:
"His child—are you worthy of raising it?"
Dai Yongzhen knelt upon the ground, his tone resolute. "Elder, Blood Guanyin cannot have a child, but Dai Yongzhen can. This disciple knows his status is humble, but I swear on my life to protect you, Elder, and safeguard this child."
The woman fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "What do you want?"
Dai Yongzhen blurted out, "I only wish Elder would look at me once."
The woman in red drifted away into the distance, never once turning her head to look back at him.
Tears streaming down his face in gratitude, Dai Yongzhen cried out, "Thank you, Elder, for sparing my eyes!"
Lianshan Xin was at a loss for words, any remaining sympathy for Dai Yongzhen completely evaporating.
Simps never met a good end.
Chapter 30