Chapter 100: The Supreme Art of War Is to Attack Strategy; To Attack the Heart Is Supreme

"Right at his quarters, there's an underground secret chamber—he does all his cultivation there!" Hong Le said casually.

"Many thanks, Martial Uncle!"

By the time the two reached this point, they had also arrived at the herb garden area.

"If you have matters to attend to, go ahead. I happen to need to contact those few alchemist friends of mine!" Hong Le stopped in his tracks.

"Very well, this martial nephew takes his leave!"

After parting with Hong Le, Wei Yuning hesitated for a while, but ultimately decided to go see Qing Yun.

Some things always had to be faced.

From the very first day he entered the sect, he had noticed Qing Yun's abnormality, only later learning that Qing Yun was actually a demonic cultivator. To protect his own cultivation secrets, and moreover, since Qing Yun had never shown any ill intent toward him, Wei Yuning had always maintained a relationship of respectful distance with Qing Yun.

He never imagined that though a man may have no intention to harm the tiger, the tiger has the heart to harm the man.

"This time Qing Wu hired someone to assassinate me, and Qing Yun actually assisted from the side. What enmity or grudge does Qing Yun have against me that he wants me dead? Could it be that he also knows I know he's a demonic cultivator, and wants to use this opportunity to eliminate me?" As he walked, Wei Yuning pondered, trying to understand Qing Yun's motive.

As the steward of the herb garden laborers, Qing Yun was after all a sect leader, and his living quarters were much better than those of ordinary disciples. He also lived in a "cave dwelling" in the northern cliff of the valley, but compared to Wei Yuning's cave, the space inside was not only twice as large, but also had a quieter underground room for cultivation. Most importantly, not far to the east of this cave dwelling was the spirit spring, and the spiritual Qi nearby was much denser.

Wei Yuning had barely knocked when the door immediately opened.

Qing Yun's slightly weary face appeared from behind the door.

Seeing that the visitor was Wei Yuning, a trace of panic showed on Qing Yun's face, but he still courteously invited Wei Yuning inside. The room was very clean, and the furnishings were simple: against the inner wall was a row of bookshelves with many books, a large desk, brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, a tea table, three chairs, two stools, and a very bright luminous stone lamp hanging from the ceiling.

Wei Yuning sat down on a chair of his own accord, and Qing Yun subsequently sat in a chair as well, with a large desk between them. In the center of the desk lay an enormous talisman paper inscribed with strange patterns that Wei Yuning did not recognize.

Noticing Wei Yuning looking at the talisman paper, Qing Yun reached out, initially wanting to take the talisman paper away, but paused, and merely flipped the talisman paper over.

Throughout this, neither of them spoke.

Wei Yuning had made up his mind not to speak first. His cultivation was now higher than Qing Yun's, giving him a psychological advantage, so naturally he was in no hurry.

Sure enough, after several minutes of silence, Qing Yun, as the host, had no choice but to speak first: "Qing... Junior Brother Yuning, I wonder what brings you to visit your senior brother—what guidance do you have?"

"I heard from Martial Uncle Hong Le that Senior Brother is going to the outer domain battlefield. Remembering Senior Brother's care for me over these past months, I came mainly to see Senior Brother off!" Wei Yuning said.

"Oh, Junior Brother is thoughtful—many thanks! You're the first friend to see me off!" A bit more expression appeared on Qing Yun's face.

"Senior Brother Qing Yun, do you truly consider me your friend?" Wei Yuning asked.

"... Of course. You are my junior brother; fellow disciples of the same sect are all friends, not to mention you and I are both disciples of the pill room!" Qing Yun said, looking somewhat flustered.

"Since we are friends, why did you send people to watch me?" Wei Yuning asked.

"I—" Seeing Wei Yuning being so direct, Qing Yun's expression changed.

"I have no enmity or grudge with you. Knowing that Qing Wu wanted to kill me, not notifying me was one thing, but why did you help him?" Wei Yuning continued to ask. His questions were growing sharper, yet his tone was calm, as if recounting a matter that had nothing to do with him at all.

"I—" A look of struggle appeared on Qing Yun's face.

"None of that matters. What I'm curious about, though, is that Qing Wu clearly treated you like a dog to order around, with no respect for you at all—why would you so servilely agree to help him? That doesn't seem like the proud Senior Brother Qing Yun I know!" Wei Yuning chuckled.

"You... what nonsense are you spouting! How has Qing Wu disrespected me? You provoked someone you shouldn't have provoked; this time you just got lucky, that's all. Sooner or later, you still won't be able to escape!" Qing Yun roared. In his anger, he finally admitted that he had been present, which was also tantamount to indirectly admitting his involvement in the matter.

"Provoked someone I shouldn't have? Qing Wu? Bah, what kind of thing is that trash!" Wei Yuning said with curiosity. Though his tone remained calm, at this moment a massive wave surged in his heart.

Before his death, Qing Wu had once said something baffling, the content of which was roughly: "I was wrong, let me go and I'll tell you everything." That day he had been suspicious of those words, but events had unfolded suddenly, and to avoid any mishap, he could only kill the enemies first and be done with it.

Recalling Qing Wu's words afterward, he always felt there was more to them, but soon he forgot about the matter. After all, Qing Wu had suffered greatly at his hands before and had a motive for revenge; perhaps his words at the time were just made up on the spot to save his own life.

But today Qing Yun suddenly said "he provoked someone he shouldn't have," which proved that this person he shouldn't have provoked was definitely not Qing Wu. Could it be the Assassination Demon? That didn't seem right either.

"Hmph, I have no need to tell you! You'd better think about your own aftermath. Qing Wu is dead, the Shadow Pavilion people are dead too—hmph, do you think you can escape?" Qing Yun sneered. Since the two had already torn off all pretenses, he no longer needed to waste words with Wei Yuning.

"That doesn't require Senior Brother's concern; I have my own ways of dealing with it. However, Senior Brother colluding with outsiders to harm a fellow disciple—that crime isn't small, is it? Moreover, because of this matter, that fool Qing Wu died without a burial place. If the higher-ups found out, could you escape blame?" Wei Yuning said.

"Hmph, if you have the ability, then expose this matter! Let's see who ends up worse off first!" Qing Yun continued to sneer.

"What if... I also exposed the fact that you're a demonic cultivator—what do you think would happen?" Wei Yuning dropped a thunderbolt of a statement.

Crack! Qing Yun's chair instantly shattered into countless fragments.

Qing Yun, whose body had already leapt into midair, saw Wei Yuning still sitting steadily in place with no panic on his face, and he promptly retracted his sharp, cyan-blue nails and landed back where he had been.

"Such a fine chair—what a pity!" Wei Yuning sighed.

"You... you knew all along!" Qing Yun stared at Wei Yuning, his face full of horror.

"Yes, I knew all along!" Wei Yuning said.

"You... why didn't you report me to the sect?" Qing Yun asked in bewilderment.

"I have no feud or grudge with you—why would I report you?" Wei Yuning said as a matter of course.

"Haha, haha, sure enough, someone from the Land of Degeneracy—your way of thinking is very... very novel! I like it, haha, I misjudged you! I should have been friends with you." Qing Yun said with a complex expression.

"Though we may not become friends, we also don't have to be enemies!" Wei Yuning said earnestly.

"... You are indeed extraordinary! Thank you, thank you for not treating me as an enemy. But I can only tell you this: although Tai Feng of the Dao Mausoleum lineage hates you to the bone, he won't make a move within the sect. The one who wants to kill you is someone else, and they are even harder to deal with than Tai Feng! Anything more, I cannot say," Qing Yun said.

"It's fine, I won't force you. Just remember your own words!" Wei Yuning said.

"Qing... demonic junior brother, rest assured, from now on, I, Qing Yun, will absolutely never again be your enemy, nor will I ever do anything similar again. If you're not reassured, I can swear by the Dao Ancestor!" Qing Yun said.

"The Dao Ancestor probably wouldn't acknowledge you anymore, haha!" Wei Yuning laughed.

Qing Yun gave an awkward smile and said nothing.

"Senior Brother Qing Yun, don't you want to know how Qing Wu spoke of you?" Wei Yuning asked.

Qing Yun blinked and said nothing, but the curiosity in his eyes was impossible to conceal.

"He said quite a lot, but I remember one line: 'That laborer steward is nothing but a bastard of unknown origin—being able to curry favor with me is already his good fortune. Does he really think I'd help him become an inner sect disciple?' Senior Brother Qing Yun, I'm a bit slow—who exactly was that laborer steward Qing Wu was talking about?"