Busted

Habit ingrained through years of work dictated that unless he was conducting an interrogation, Taishi Ran never believed a single word spoken by an enemy. Yet as Lou Ji’s words fell, his bloodstained fingertips trembled ever so slightly, beyond his control. Because the situation before his eyes forced him to believe. Locked in combat against Lou Ji, he had lacked the spare leeway to probe the battle between Xu Changtian and Luo Bingli in the deepest reaches of the mist. Even so, the two beams of light that had nearly swept all the fog from the entire city just moments ago had been impossible to miss. Evidently, those were Luo Bingli’s lethal trump cards, unleashed against Xu Changtian. Unleashing them twice in succession already spoke volumes. Taishi Ran pushed himself up from the ground. Tilting his head back, he gave a faint, mocking laugh. “Chief Lou, since Luo Bingli fled, why didn’t you pursue her?” With the fog swept away and having sensed what had transpired in those deepest depths, Lou Ji had completely relaxed. Her slightly languid voice drifted out softly: “I couldn't catch her. If she intends to flee with her cultivation methods and Dao Rhyme, even a Saint would find it difficult to keep her here.” Taishi Ran fell silent for a breath. Looking toward the deepest expanse where the mist was gradually gathering once more, he suddenly asked, “Chief Lou, before I die, I want to ask you a question.” Hearing this, the bewitching red lips smeared with traces of blood curved faintly. “Mm... I am in a rather good mood right now. I shall allow you one question.” “How do you intend to handle the present Xu Changtian?” “That question... I recall having already given you my answer earlier.” “...” Silence. Looking down at Taishi Ran, who had practically reached the end of his rope, Lou Ji gave a low laugh. “Very well, allow me to ask you a question in return. Now that things have come to this, do you people of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion regret it?” “Regret it?” A momentary, peculiar expression crossed Taishi Ran’s face. Then he drew a deep breath and spoke languidly: “I do indeed regret it quite a bit. Not the assassination attempt itself, but our failure to take him more seriously.” Lou Ji narrowed her gorgeous eyes slightly. “You truly won't shed a tear until you see the coffin.” Taishi Ran shook his head, murmuring in a low, gentle whisper: “Prior to this, there were actually two differing opinions within our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion regarding Xu Changtian. “The first was that he was merely a trigger for the descent of the Great Calamity, not the calamity itself. The second was that he was the calamity itself. “The former voice drowned out the latter, which left the resources I could mobilize extremely limited.” Lou Ji raised a brow. “Is your Overseeing Heaven Pavilion not an organization that exists for the sake of the human race? If so, why did the former drown out the latter?” Taishi Ran replied bluntly, “They feared your Chancellor's Manor and were unwilling to take such a risk.” Lou Ji asked with keen interest, “Yet is your Overseeing Heaven Pavilion not an autocracy run entirely by that Pavilion Master of yours who fancies himself ‘Heaven’? How could there be differing voices?” Hearing this, Taishi Ran looked deeply at Lou Ji and countered softly, “Is the interior of your Prime Minister's Manor not similarly Duke Xu's personal realm? Yet when it comes down to reality, are there no other voices?” “...” Lou Ji smiled at his words, but offered no reply. The Chancellor's Manor was too vast—so vast it had become somewhat bloated. Though those below obeyed Chancellor Xu’s commands, when it came to practical execution, matters would more or less become distorted under the weight of conflicting interests. Just like the choice of successor to the manor. Before Changtian revealed his brilliance, the majority had supported Xu Changge. Even though the higher-ups were displeased with that haughty brat, none could deny his peerless talent, and though his style was headstrong and conceited, he was decisive and ruthless. Yet by the same token, a considerable portion backed the adoptive daughter, Xu Xinyao. The reason was simple: not everyone wanted war. War meant the collapse of order, tearing everything down to start anew. Some could not bear to witness the realm plunge into chaos. Others, having sat in high offices for years, had grown so attached to their authority that they had long forgotten why they had chosen to follow Xu Yinhe in the first place. “See? You are no different.” Taishi Ran’s voice carried a wistful smile. “Still, in hindsight, mediocre fools truly ruin great affairs. If the Pavilion had granted me more resources, this venture would in all likelihood have snuffed out this calamity right as it arose.” Lou Ji exhaled gently. Taking advantage of the dispersed fog before it could reconvene, her qi swept past Xu Yuan, who had fallen back into a stupor after Luo Bingli’s departure. She asked softly, “Then have you ever considered that before this, Changtian was merely an ordinary young man blessed with decent talent and a few lucky encounters, and that it was your assassination attempt that drove him to become the Great Calamity you speak of?” “Chief Lou must be joking.” Taishi Ran did not hesitate in the slightest, his voice calm and resolute. “A calamity will never shift its course simply because of the actions of a few individuals. At most, it merely accelerates the process.” Hearing this, a flicker of boredom flashed through Lou Ji’s eyes. “You truly are obstinate to the core.” As she spoke, Taishi Ran countered softly, “Chief Lou, there is no need to rush to deny my words. You are frequently by his side, so you should be well aware that long before our assassination attempt, he had already displayed certain peculiar signs, hadn't he?” “...” Lou Ji’s eyes narrowed slightly as countless memories flashed through her mind in an instant. After the journey to the Northern Border: Changtian’s unknown scouting methods, Luo Xiran’s bizarre fungal carpet, the cultivation method that devoured the Heavenly Yan divine soul and Saint-rank Yin Source... “Indeed, there were.” Her momentary silence drew a faint chuckle from Taishi Ran. “Following the path of cultivation he embarked upon, even if we hadn't come today, it was only a matter of time before Xu Changtian became what he is now.” Lou Ji exhaled softly and chuckled. “Are you finished talking?” A glimmer of a smile appeared in Taishi Ran’s eyes. “I am finished.” “Then go die.” The moment Lou Ji’s words fell, countless tender red shoots suddenly sprouted from the ground around Taishi Ran. The soul-bewitching aura radiating from them almost instantly caused him to lose consciousness. The reason she had spoken so much with this Transcendent expert of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was that she had been quietly preparing this technique. Lou Ji wanted to capture him alive. Yet just as her technique was about to coalesce completely, a regretful smile brushed across Taishi Ran’s slackening face. Parting his lips, he uttered the final words of his life: “Chief Lou, no need to trouble your hands... See you in hell.” With those words, his body abruptly expanded, and the Sumeru ring on his fingertip flared with brilliant light. At the same time, the bodies of the withered elder and the middle-aged woman underwent an identical change. Three deafening roars echoed through the heavens. A tempestuous blast wave surged forward, and the soaring flames blasted out three mushroom-shaped black clouds within the dark mist. Watching Taishi Ran choose suicide without the slightest hesitation, Lou Ji, standing in the void, felt a trace of regret cross the depths of her eyes. It seemed that while she was preparing her soul-bewitching art, he had also been preparing his final arrangements to erase all traces. Once the smoke and dust cleared, Lou Ji immediately extended her intent-soul and Source Qi downward to investigate, but everything below had already been reduced to nothingness. Just as Taishi Ran had promised moments ago, he had erased every trace of his existence from this world of his own accord. Qi dynamics, corpses, and the remnants of his techniques had all been wiped clean. Upon realizing this, Lou Ji glanced once more at the deep crater blasted open by Taishi Ran, then drew back her gaze without lingering for even a second. For someone to carry through with their inner conviction to the very end, he could indeed be considered quite a figure, but that was all. Taishi Ran was not the first of his kind to die at her hands, nor would he be the last. Casting her gaze toward the deepest depths of the mist, Lou Ji sensed the vapor gradually gathering back together, while that brat Changtian had once again vanished from her perception. Pondering for a moment, Lou Ji chose not to rush over immediately. Sweeping her eyes over her surroundings, she found a relatively clean patch of ground, sat down cross-legged, and retrieved several high-grade pills for healing and qi replenishment from her Sumeru ring to swallow. After Luo Bingli’s spell had dispersed the mist, every detail of the battle over there had been fully captured by her qi. Just as Taishi Ran had said, the present Changtian had indeed turned into a monster. After several fierce clashes, in her current state she lacked full confidence in subduing Changtian without harming his life. “That brat truly gives people no peace of mind...” Murmuring languidly, Lou Ji slowly closed her eyes and began to meditate to regulate her breathing. For a time, not a single sound remained within Huizhou County, which had been turned into a ghost town. The qi around Lou Ji gradually pulled inward, and the wounds she had suffered in the battle just now began to heal rapidly at a pace visible to the naked eye. Yet this silence did not last long. *Tap.* *Tap.* *Tap.* A gentle series of footsteps suddenly echoed through the quiet black mist. Hearing the light sounds, Lou Ji slowly opened her closed eyes. As though having sensed it long beforehand, she looked toward a spot a hundred zhang to her side. There, a woman appeared—a woman clad in a lake-blue palace gown. Luo Xiran walked slowly out of the black mist, arriving about ten feet before Lou Ji within several breaths. Silently straightening her voluminous skirts, she sat down across from her. The two women exchanged a look. A hint of teasing crept into Lou Ji’s gorgeous eyes, breaking the silence first: “I thought a senior of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion like you, who has lived for ten thousand years, was already dead.” Luo Xiran’s expression was gentle and serene as she answered softly, “After his aberration, that brat's state is of the same origin as mine. He didn't make a move against me.” “Is that so?” Lou Ji murmured noncommittally. Then her gorgeous eyes, shimmering with an alluring violet light, half-narrowed. “Listening to your words, however, may I understand it as you knowing what brought about Changtian's current state? Or perhaps, you had a hand in it?” Looking at the trace of ill will in the other woman's gaze, Luo Xiran’s face remained as calm as ever as she said softly, “Chief Lou, being overly suspicious is not a good thing. I am not your enemy.” Regulating her internal injuries, Lou Ji replied softly, “Suspicion is a necessary quality for someone sitting in my position. As for whether you are an enemy or not...” At this point, Lou Ji’s soft, charming words paused for an instant, and she smiled. “I imagine you aren't. But in order to make me trust you, Changtian told me something. Would you like to know what it was?” “What?” “He is the fruition of your lifelong painstaking effort.” “...” After a breath of eye contact, Luo Xiran nodded gently. “That is indeed true.” “What fruition—” Lou Ji’s delicate brows furrowed slightly as she asked instinctively, but she cut herself off, pivoting instead: “Forget it, I'm not curious about what fruition it is. What I am curious about is whether this fruition is related to Changtian's current state?” Luo Xiran did not deny it. “It is.” Lou Ji’s brow furrowed even tighter, and she enunciated every word: “He once said that when he was in the Northern Border, he and that girl Li Qingyan had together slain a Barbarian King who had achieved Sainthood. You should have been traveling with him at the time, right?” Luo Xiran sighed. “That brat truly tells you everything, doesn't he?” Hearing this, Lou Ji gave a tinkling giggle, smiling radiantly. “Naturally. After all, I am his big sister~” The very next instant, the smile on Lou Ji’s face vanished as abruptly as a mask falling away, and she asked coldly, “So what exactly happened during the journey to the Northern Border?” Luo Xiran deliberated for a moment before saying, “In slaying the Barbarian King, he was the primary force.” “...” A moment of silence fell. Lou Ji instinctively glanced toward the deepest reaches of the mist, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. “Are you joking with me?” In a gentle tone, Luo Xiran uttered two words: “Aberrant ghost.” “Aberrant ghost?” Lou Ji went quiet for a moment. “Li Zhaoyuan's ancient teleportation treasure... sent you into an aberrant ghost nest?” Luo Xiran shook her head and spoke wistfully: “No, only that brat and Li Qingyan. Bai Muxi and I were already within that aberrant ghost nest to begin with.” Hearing this, a glimmer of comprehension flashed through Lou Ji’s eyes. “No wonder that girl surnamed Bai seemed completely out of place with everything in the outside world.” Luo Xiran chuckled softly and continued, “That nest was an underground palace built by the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion during the Great Calamity of aberrant ghosts ten thousand years ago, meant for researching medicine to reverse aberrant ghost transformation. Later, however, it fell out of control due to internal strife. Within it resided a primordial aberrant ghost.” “...” Hearing this, Lou Ji instantly understood roughly what might have happened. Aberrant ghosts were almost entirely extinct throughout the Great Yan world today, though occasional remnants still lingered within discovered secret realms. There were even madmen who deliberately released aberrant ghosts to cause trouble for the imperial court. However, those were the lowest grade. The humans and demonic beasts they transformed would merely turn into mindless wild beasts driven solely by instinct. The Prime Minister's Manor had developed over a dozen secret realms containing aberrant ghosts, and among them, not a single primordial aberrant ghost had ever been found. “You're saying... Changtian was converted into a kin by that primordial aberrant ghost?” Luo Xiran nodded gently. “It seems Chief Lou is also aware of how extraordinary primordial aberrant ghosts are. That brat was indeed converted into a kin. Moreover, he utilized the demon crystals of high-grade aberrant ghosts to briefly obtain power at the Transcendent, or even Semi-Saint level. He rescued me, and through the Fate-Reversing Liquid I had developed back then, he regained his human body.” “...” Hearing these words, Lou Ji felt as though her heart could hardly take it. Her tone became somewhat grinding, and she let out a sinister, low laugh: “Hehehehe... It seems that brat Changtian was hiding quite a few things from this sister of his.” Luo Xiran appeared somewhat surprised to hear this. Glancing at the anger on Lou Ji’s face, she asked in bewilderment, “You didn't know about this?” “Know what?” “...” Luo Xiran. “...” Lou Ji. The air suddenly fell dead silent, their locked gazes seemingly freezing over. Luo Xiran parted her lips, realizing she had apparently spoken too much. The smile on Lou Ji’s face grew even broader. Good, very good. This brat's wings had truly grown stiff—he even dared to conceal such a momentous matter. After a moment of silence, Luo Xiran tried to smooth things over in a soft voice: “Chief Lou, this matter was actually quite a stroke of coincidence—” “Senior Luo.” “Mm?” “Do you take me, this Chief of the Black Scales, for a three-year-old child?” “...” Luo Xiran. “Tell the truth.” The look in Lou Ji’s eyes looked capable of killing. Luo Xiran fell quiet for a moment, then averted her gaze. “That brat said... my brother told him.” “Luo Daofan?” “Mm.” Luo Xiran sold him out with utter crispness. “Fine.” Lou Ji agreed in a single breath, a trace of a chilling smile flashing in her gorgeous eyes. Once they returned to the capital from this trip, she would go settle accounts with that Saint's remnant soul. She wanted to see just how many things that brat Changtian had kept hidden. If the stories didn't match, she would see what kind of explanation Changtian could possibly offer— Thinking up to this point, Lou Ji’s thoughts suddenly snapped. Her pupils contracted violently, and even her breath froze. Forcibly suppressing the notion surging in her mind, Lou Ji tightened her grip slightly on her robe and asked in a low voice: “So, Changtian's current state... is related to his aberrant ghost transformation back then?”