Since Han Li had spoken thus, the old man, though still brimming with doubts, could only comply for the time being.
Not long after, the second brother returned with a livid expression. Sure enough, he had failed to catch up with their fifth sister. But fortunately, Han Li had already given instructions beforehand, so none of them needed to fear the senior's wrath.
At the same time, in an extremely secluded alley in the capital of Yue, a slender figure was stumbling southward toward the southern district. Under the faint moonlight, a closer look revealed it to be none other than the young woman known as "Fifth Sister," her expression panicked.
As she ran, she kept glancing back over her shoulder, her face twisted with the fear that someone might suddenly appear behind her.
Although most of the young woman's spiritual power had been sealed by Han Li, her spiritual sense remained intact. After confirming that no one was pursuing her from behind, she finally felt somewhat at ease.
She owed this to the Concealment Talisman that the young man had slipped to her when he let her go, which had allowed her to escape this far.
Shortly after fleeing, she had spotted the tall, thin figure of a man flying overhead. Fortunately, she had reacted swiftly and used the talisman, barely managing to evade detection.
Now, her second brother had either gone chasing in another direction or had already returned to the Qin Residence. Only then did she dare sprint so recklessly through the alley.
What she was heading toward was a secret Black Fiend Sect stronghold in the southern district. She believed that if she could report Han Li's hiding place and detailed intelligence to her superiors, it would surely earn her considerable merit! In that way, she would be one step closer to her dream of achieving Foundation Establishment.
Back in the day, she and several other outer disciples of the Black Fiend Sect who had shown promise had witnessed the mysterious Sect Leader's miraculous ability to help Qi Refining stage cultivators achieve Foundation Establishment. After that, they had immediately and wholeheartedly pledged themselves to the Black Fiend Sect—all for the hope that one day, when they had accumulated enough merit, they would receive the Sect Leader's grace to be guided into the Foundation Establishment stage.
As far as she knew, the vast majority of outer disciples willing to serve the Black Fiend Sect harbored this same ambition, and so she had never believed her choice was wrong!
After all, given her aptitude, her cultivation had essentially reached its ceiling at this level. If she wanted to advance further or even achieve Foundation Establishment, there was no other path.
As for her sworn siblings, though she felt some regret, now that she had chosen this road, she could only sever all bonds of loyalty. If they were captured, whether they would be used in blood sacrifices or placed under control again would depend entirely on the whims of those above. She had no intention of pleading for them. From now on, she would live only for herself.
The young woman harbored these ruthless thoughts as she dreamed sweet dreams of Foundation Establishment. Her feet seemed to lighten considerably.
From a distance, she spotted the street entrance to the southern district and, feeling a surge of joy, was about to quicken her pace when she suddenly felt a wet sensation beneath her nose. Puzzled, she reached up and wiped it, then looked at her hand. Her entire body went rigid, her face contorting with horror and terror.
There, on her five pale fingers, was a thick, sticky blackish-red liquid.
"What is this?"
In a panic, Fifth Sister hurriedly wiped the black blood from her nose with her sleeve, but by now the nosebleed was gushing forth like a dam had burst. In the blink of an eye, black blood also began streaming from her eyes and ears.
The young woman felt her entire body grow weak. Her legs buckled and she collapsed straight to the ground.
Her body was now utterly cold, without the slightest warmth in her chest. She wanted to cry out for help, but her throat was parched and hoarse—she could not produce a single sound.
Then, her consciousness grew increasingly hazy. Before long, she slipped permanently into darkness.
The following morning, passersby would find it somewhat puzzling that a puddle of foul black blood had appeared here for no apparent reason, forcing them to detour around it. It drew considerable muttering and complaint.
At the moment the young woman perished, Han Li was in his own room, inspecting every artifact and talisman on his person, making preparations for departure.
Once he had finished packing neatly, Han Li gazed out the window at the crescent moon, a trace of loneliness crossing his face. He murmured softly to himself:
"It should be about time. The poison should have taken effect."
After these words, Han Li sighed lightly and left the room, heading toward Qingyin Courtyard.
Han Li's suspicions about Fifth Sister had actually arisen while he was detoxifying the Five Friends of Mengshan. Although she had been poisoned with the same substance, her condition was far milder than the other three's—even if the poison flared up, it likely would not have been fatal.
The opposite was true of the Blood Curse on her body. Han Li had expended considerable effort to remove it, which indicated that the young woman had been afflicted with the Blood Curse for quite some time; otherwise, it would not have left such deep imprints in her spiritual consciousness.
Harboring his caution, Han Li had deliberately placed a small restriction on the young woman while removing the Blood Curse—a hidden trump card.
The function of this restriction was to temporarily gather the residual medicinal power from the two bottles of antidote she had consumed in a specific location within her body, then, when triggered by Han Li, cause it to suddenly transform into an extremely lethal poison. The two bottles of pills were named "Impermanence Pill"—they could serve as a supreme antidote, but through a specific technique could also be converted into a deadly poison. They were among the spoils of war that Han Li had kept.
Tonight, when Han Li had secretly summoned the Five Friends of Mengshan and had them witness firsthand that this woman was acting as a spy, he had then seized her and, in the process, casually pressed several spots on her body with spiritual energy.
Those presses not only sealed most of the spiritual power within her body but also triggered this dormant restriction. If Han Li did not undo it within a short while, the young woman would die just as had been witnessed—silently and without leaving any trace.
Whether or not to kill this woman, Han Li had been ambivalent, restrained by his regard for the Five Friends of Mengshan. But one thing was his absolute bottom line: he could not allow this woman to leak information about the Qin Residence and their connection.
Triggering the restriction at that moment had been merely a precautionary measure born of Han Li's vigilance. He had not expected it would actually prove useful.
That was why, when the dark-faced old man had reported to him, Han Li had remained so calm, without the slightest fluster.
Truth be told, if the young woman had remained quietly at the Qin Residence as a prisoner, Han Li would have kept the restriction suppressed for her.
But now that she had escaped—regardless of whether the Five Friends of Mengshan had released her intentionally—having vanished from this world, she would not leak a single shred of intelligence to the Black Fiend Sect. Moreover, he had done the Five Friends of Mengshan such an enormous favor, which should prove greatly beneficial in winning their allegiance!
When Han Li arrived at Qingyin Courtyard, the dark-faced old man and the others, though looking somewhat haggard, had made all preparations and were waiting quietly for him.
"Let's go!" Han Li said crisply the moment he stepped inside.
...
Under the cloak of night, Prince Xin's Manor loomed like an enormous beast, intimidating all petty thieves and vagabonds who might dare to covet the place.
But tonight, Han Li and the others had cast Concealment Arts and slipped inside undetected.
The manor had been in an uproar all day due to the mysterious disappearance of the Elder Wu, the so-called "immortal." But at this deep hour of the night, aside from a few sentries and guards, everyone else had long since gone to sleep, and now slumbered soundly.
Once inside, Han Li immediately located a night patrol guard and used the Mind Control Technique to extract the locations of Steward Wang and the Young Prince. Then he knocked the guard unconscious with a palm strike.
He then addressed the other four:
"Of these two, the Young Prince has the lowest cultivation. We'll start with him and deal with the Steward last."
The Four Friends of Mengshan had already been stunned to learn that the Black Fiend Sect operatives were actually people from Prince Xin's Manor. After hearing Han Li's words, they naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement. For cultivators like them, though this Young Prince was of imperial blood, his status as a core disciple of the Black Fiend Sect was what truly made them wary.
Next, the group silently approached the Young Prince's residence—a three-story building.
Several manor guards were stationed nearby. Fearing they might interfere if a fight broke out, the Four Friends of Mengshan acted before Han Li could even give the signal, swiftly subduing all of them.
Han Li observed their practiced efficiency and nodded to himself, thinking that having some subordinates might not be so bad after all!
Having learned from the guards that the Young Prince resided on the topmost third floor, Han Li did not let the others ascend. Instead, he ordered them to take up ambush positions around the building.
Should the Young Prince prove slippery enough to escape from Han Li's grasp, they would be there to intercept him and buy time.
Of course, to avoid alerting Steward Wang, who was housed on the other end of the manor, Han Li expended a considerable amount of spiritual power to erect an enormous sound-dampening barrier, centering it on the small building and encompassing an area of dozens of zhang in every direction.
Only then did Han Li float lightly up to the third floor and slip inside.
Just as the Four Friends of Mengshan stared at the third floor with bated breath, barely daring to blink, a figure flashed rapidly out from within.
Startled, they saw it was Han Li and immediately felt relieved—while also growing quite puzzled.
Had Senior Han really succeeded so quickly? But where was the Young Prince?
Han Li descended from above with a grim expression. Upon seeing the four gathered around him, he frowned and said:
"There's no one upstairs—only an illusion-disguised puppet. It seems he must have gone out for something."
Han Li's words left the others exchanging bewildered glances, at a complete loss for what to do next.