Hearing Xiao Diandian’s words, it was clear she knew she was going to die, and that death was certain.
That’s why she was so surprised to be alive.
Lin Qian, with her limited intelligence, obviously didn’t grasp this nuance. She was simply proud.
“Of course! Benefactor Chen saved you, and I’m the one who brought Benefactor Chen!”
She said this with an air of triumph, not holding any resentment against Xiao Diandian for what had happened earlier.
In fact, her words carried a hint of seeking credit.
Xiao Diandian’s emotions had also calmed considerably. She smiled at Lin Qian and said, “I wasn’t in a good mood just now, please don’t take it to heart.”
“Hmph.”
Lin Qian pouted and snorted, feigning anger, then muttered softly, “Fine, I forgive you. It’s because I’m such a good person!”
However, after saying that, Xiao Diandian didn’t look at Lin Qian again. It was clear that whether Lin Qian forgave her or not, it didn’t matter to her.
She was appraising Chen Xiao. After a moment, she spoke, “I thank Benefactor Chen for saving my life. Forgive my presumption, but may I ask who Benefactor Chen truly is?”
Xiao Diandian’s words were filled with hostility. Even someone as unthinking as Lin Qian could sense something was amiss.
“Xiao Diandian, be more respectful to Benefactor Chen. He just saved your life, and Benefactor Chen’s identity is extraordinary. It’s best if you don’t pry.”
Lin Qian said with veiled meaning.
“Oh? How is he extraordinary?”
Xiao Diandian glanced at Chen Xiao with a playful expression, then her gaze fell sharply upon Lin Qian.
“Forget it, I’ll tell you, but don’t be scared!”
Lin Qian leaned in and whispered into Xiao Diandian’s ear, “Benefactor Chen is actually a vengeful spirit. The reason he’s helping us this time is because he also has a grudge against the Jade Spring Palace. Do you remember that unused room on the third floor of the guest rooms? It’s rumored to be haunted, and the ghost haunting it is actually Benefactor Chen!”
Lin Qian spoke very softly, but she wasn’t trying to hide it from Chen Xiao. Chen Xiao’s facial muscles twitched twice upon hearing this, a result of his suppressed laughter.
Xiao Diandian looked at Lin Qian as if she were an idiot, while Lin Qian maintained a serious expression, making her seem even more like a simpleton.
“Benefactor Chen is not a vengeful spirit. Don’t talk nonsense.”
Xiao Diandian glared at Lin Qian.
“How do you know?”
“I just know!”
“Hmph, Benefactor Chen, you tell me yourself. Are you a vengeful spirit or not?”
“I never said I was a vengeful spirit. That was always just your speculation.”
After this exchange, Lin Qian was completely dumbfounded, her eyes wide and vacant. Socially dead… she wished she could dig a two-bedroom apartment into the ground with her toes and burrow into it, never to emerge again.
Chen Xiao and Xiao Diandian didn’t pay much attention to Lin Qian, who was oscillating between social death and feigned death. While Xiao Diandian was sizing up Chen Xiao, Chen Xiao was also sizing up Xiao Diandian.
A cultivator at the peak of the Dao Entry realm, while not a master in Chen Xiao’s eyes, was already a top-tier existence in the mortal world.
Why was such a person imprisoned here, and still carrying such potent poison? What was her scheme?
Chen Xiao suddenly felt a flicker of interest in this woman.
“Speak. Who are you? Why did you disrupt my plans? What is your objective?”
Xiao Diandian’s gaze gradually turned somber, and her tone grew cold.
“You’re interrogating me?”
Chen Xiao revealed a disdainful smile. A mere peak Dao Entry cultivator was no different from an ordinary person in his eyes. He could kill a hundred of them with a single palm, no exaggeration!
He merely released a sliver of his pressure, and Xiao Diandian found it difficult to breathe.
“You… who exactly are you?”
Xiao Diandian’s brow furrowed, and she was on the verge of collapsing.
She realized she couldn’t discern her opponent’s cultivation level at all, which meant he was at least a Golden Core cultivator, or even higher…
And if he was higher, it meant he was not from the mortal world.
Xiao Diandian clearly began to panic, fear appearing in her eyes.
“I ask, you answer.”
Chen Xiao said calmly, his tone devoid of emotion, yet as unchallengeable as a law.
“Who are you? Which sect or school do you belong to? What is your plan?”
Chen Xiao inquired.
Beside them, Lin Qian had recovered from her social death and found herself completely unable to keep up with the conversation.
Xiao Diandian had initially tried to resist Chen Xiao’s pressure, but when Chen Xiao slightly increased it, she completely gave up.
“My Daoist name is Dian Lian. I am a Daoist nun from the Lotus Temple on Mount Luwu.”
Chen Xiao had already guessed she was a nun from the Lotus Temple. Dian Lian, stage name Xiao Diandian. Yes, that made sense.
Lin Qian’s expression became even more stunned, as if she had gone completely blank.
What? Xiao Diandian was a Daoist nun? Then her skills…
“I descended the mountain on the orders of my master to assassinate the demonic Daoist of the Blood Gate!”
“The Blood Gate Demonic Daoist? What is that?”
Upon hearing Chen Xiao’s question, Dian Lian was slightly taken aback. “You don’t know about the Blood Gate Demonic Daoist?”
Chen Xiao shook his head, and Dian Lian explained, “The Blood Gate is the outer sect of the Heavenly Blood Sect, just as the Lotus Temple is the outer sect of the Heavenly Lotus Sect.”
Heavenly Blood Sect, Heavenly Lotus Sect… Lin Qian was utterly confused, feeling her brain was insufficient.
What were these two doing, acting so seriously? Were they performing a play? Why was she the only one without a script?
Chen Xiao, however, guessed that the Heavenly Blood Sect and Heavenly Lotus Sect were both reclusive sects from the Immortal Hidden Realm.
“What is the relationship between the Blood Gate and the Jade Spring Palace? And what about those women in the dungeon?”
Chen Xiao continued to ask.
“Shi Kai, the owner of the Jade Spring Palace, is the current sect leader of the Blood Gate. The Blood Gate’s cultivation method involves refining blood to absorb energy. Therefore, the women imprisoned in the dungeon are all blood slaves raised by Shi Kai!”
Dian Lian stated concisely.
“You went undercover at the Jade Spring Palace, risking your life and getting captured and thrown into the dungeon, just to find this out?”
Chen Xiao asked.
Dian Lian shook her head. “No, the Lotus Temple already knew these secrets.”
“Then why did you come?”
As Chen Xiao asked, he suddenly realized something. “I get it. The poison you took, you administered it yourself, didn’t you?”
Dian Lian nodded. “That’s right. This way, if the Blood Gate members used my blood for cultivation, they would also be poisoned!”
Dian Lian had originally intended to boast about this being a unique secret poison of the Lotus Temple, incurable… but the poison within her had been resolved by this expert with almost no effort.
“Originally, I would have died from the poison within three days. But because of Lin Qian, I was so angered that the poison attacked my heart, causing it to flare up prematurely and nearly kill me.”
Dian Lian explained.
Lin Qian’s mouth hung open, large enough to swallow an egg. So she had almost caused the death of Xiao Diandian, no, Daoist Dian Lian.
“Let’s leave quickly!”
Dian Lian urged. “Shi Kai will surely receive news that the blood slaves in the dungeon have been rescued. By the time he arrives with the Blood Gate disciples, it will be too late for us to escape.”
In her opinion, although Chen Xiao was very powerful, Shi Kai was also not weak. Furthermore, the Blood Gate had many disciples. Even if Chen Xiao was incredibly powerful, a lone tiger could not withstand a pack of wolves.
Therefore, given the current situation, it was best to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
Dian Lian stood up to leave, but Chen Xiao grabbed her arm. “No, you’re still hiding something from me!”
“Hmm?”
Dian Lian’s expression changed slightly, and she froze.
“When you blamed Lin Qian for saving you, you mentioned ‘all efforts in vain.’ You were captured for so long. If you were simply relying on blood to transmit the poison, your objective should have been achieved long ago, shouldn’t it?”
Chen Xiao analyzed with reason and evidence.
Dian Lian gave a wry smile and said, “Alright, you are an expert. It doesn’t matter if I tell you. These women you saw in the dungeon earlier were not merely blood slaves. We were to be refined in three days, and that was my true objective.”
“Refined? By people from the Heavenly Blood Sect?”
Chen Xiao probed.
Dian Lian nodded. “According to information from the Heavenly Lotus Sect, the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Blood Sect, Ximen Qiufeng, wishes to break through to the Sea of Consciousness realm soon. For this purpose, the Blood Gate will prepare one hundred women to be sacrificed for his breakthrough.”
Hearing this, Chen Xiao understood everything. This woman named Dian Lian, by nurturing poison within her body, was attempting a suicidal attack on the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Blood Sect.
“Alas, the plan was flawless, but fate played a cruel trick, and all efforts were in vain.”
Dian Lian sighed helplessly. “I am now preparing to return to my sect to report. You two should also leave quickly. If Shi Kai arrives soon, things will become troublesome!”
Actually, Dian Lian harbored a faint worry that the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Blood Sect, Ximen Qiufeng, might personally come to the mortal world to refine women for his breakthrough.
However, the probability of this was not high. After all, reclusive sects had only one opportunity each year to leave the Immortal Hidden Realm.
But there were no restrictions for outer sect disciples who remained in the mortal world to enter the Immortal Hidden Realm.
Therefore, it was likely that the Blood Gate would escort the hundred women to the Heavenly Blood Sect.
Lin Qian didn’t fully understand their conversation and felt lost in a fog.
But one thing she was clear about was that the crisis had not been resolved.
In fact, it had become even more perilous.
The thought of Boss Shi’s sinister face sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.
“Benefactor Chen, let’s listen to Xiao Diandian and leave here quickly. I… I’m scared.”
Lin Qian pleaded timidly.
Chen Xiao smiled slightly. “It’s too late to leave here now.”
“Hmm?”
Lin Qian was startled. “Benefactor Chen, what do you mean by that?”
“They’ve already arrived. They’re outside.”
As Chen Xiao finished speaking, Dian Lian suddenly heard hurried footsteps.
Immediately after, with a bang, a middle-aged man with a sinister face kicked open the door and burst in.
“Boss… Boss Shi…”
Lin Qian’s face turned ashen with fear.
As the situation reached its climax, Dian Lian displayed a fearless expression. “Benefactor Chen, take Lin Qian and leave this place. I will hold back the Blood Gate members, even if it costs me my life!”