Chapter 179: The Eldest Senior Sister's Plan

“Senior Sister, is this your plan?”

“Of course.”

“Liu and Gao only know about backup strongholds three and four. The Immortal Cult will certainly relocate to backup stronghold five, the location of which is currently unknown. Therefore, the three of you must use the pretext I gave you to gain Tang Yunsheng’s trust and have him lead you to the original stronghold. The Immortal Cult retreated in a hurry, so there will surely be hidden members left around the original stronghold to inform those who haven’t received the message how to reach the backup stronghold.

“Your appearance near the stronghold with Tang Yunsheng will undoubtedly attract the attention of Immortal Cult members. From their perspective, the three of you might have been captured by the Dao Asking Sect and turned into counter-spies, making you untrustworthy. However, Tang Yunsheng is different. Immortal Cult members know he has been lurking outside the Dao Asking Sect and couldn’t have been captured by them, making him trustworthy. Only if he brings the three of you to the original stronghold will the Immortal Cult accept you and reveal the true stronghold location. The ultimate goal of this plan is for you to gain the Immortal Cult’s trust.”

The Immortal Fairy listened, nodding frequently, thinking it was an excellent idea.

Tang Yunsheng, hidden at the agreed meeting point near the Dao Asking Sect, anxiously awaited news from the Deputy Cult Masters. He watched as the Dao Asking Sect saw off the Five Elements Sect, yet still saw no sign of the Deputy Cult Masters, muttering, "This is bad."

“It’s over, it’s over! Deputy Cult Master Liu and Deputy Cult Master Gao must have been captured by the hateful Dao Asking Sect!”

Tang Yunsheng waited an entire day before Lu Yang and the other two finally appeared, fleeing in disarray.

“Why are there only three of you? Where are Deputy Cult Master Liu and the others?” Tang Yunsheng shook Lu Yang’s shoulders.

Lu Yang’s eyes were vacant. Hearing Tang Yunsheng’s urgent question, his eyes welled up, his lips trembled, and he burst into tears. “Deputy Cult Master Liu, Deputy Cult Master Liu… they failed! At that time, Deputy Cult Master Liu took out the Immortal Artifact and was about to perform his divine technique, but unexpectedly, there was a hidden master within the Dao Asking Sect who could resist the power of the Immortal Artifact and fought fiercely against Deputy Cult Master Liu and the others!”

Meng Jingzhou, remembering the grim situation, also cried out, “Deputy Cult Master Liu and the others would rather die than surrender! They were beaten to death by that accursed Dao Asking Sect!”

Mang Gu just cried, unable to speak for a long time—he had forgotten his lines. The three cried uncontrollably, clearly displaying genuine emotion.

“What?!” Tang Yunsheng looked incredulous, then slumped to the ground. Two Deputy Cult Masters and five high-ranking members—all lost to the Dao Asking Sect. How would he explain this back at the cult?!

“Wait, then why are the three of you unharmed?” Tang Yunsheng realized the problem. The Deputy Cult Masters and high-ranking members had entered the Dao Asking Sect through their barbecue shop, so the Dao Asking Sect would surely suspect them.

Lu Yang composed himself: “Deputy Cult Master Liu branded us with a mark in our minds, disguising us as puppets controlled by his powerful spiritual energy. That’s why the Dao Asking Sect let us go.”

“Then the three of you should have continued to lie low in the Dao Asking Sect. They were three rare undercover agents.”

Lu Yang shook his head: “After such an experience, even if it wasn’t our fault, others wouldn’t tolerate us. Our business would plummet, and people would constantly point fingers behind our backs. There’s no longer a place for us in the Dao Asking Sect.”

Tang Yunsheng patted Lu Yang’s shoulder: “You’ve been through a lot.”

Lu Yang’s genuine emotion showed, and a hint of hatred appeared in his eyes as he continued, “Dedicating ourselves to the Immortal Cult is nothing. But I must not let the traitor get away!”

“Traitor?”

Meng Jingzhou nodded vigorously, his eyes also filled with hatred and ferocity: “Deputy Cult Master Liu’s plan was so perfect, and with us as inside agents, how could they have failed if there wasn’t a traitor?”

“Before he fell, Deputy Cult Master Liu secretly transmitted a message to us, revealing the traitor’s identity and urging us to return safely to the Immortal Cult and expose the traitor!”

Tang Yunsheng’s expression was grim: “Who is the traitor?” This was no small matter. The surprise attack on the Dao Asking Sect was a secret operation, known only to a few high-ranking individuals within the cult. Suspecting anyone would cause major problems!

Lu Yang revealed the traitor’s identity: “The third Deputy Cult Master, Deputy Cult Master Jin!”

“It’s him!” Tang Yunsheng’s voice rose several pitches. After a moment’s thought, it made sense. There were three Deputy Cult Masters in total. With two of them dead, the position of Cult Master would eventually fall to the last remaining one. Everything added up.

“Let’s go! We must report this to the Cult Master immediately!” Tang Yunsheng realized the gravity of the situation. There was no time to lose; they had to leave at once. Now these three were no longer undercover agents, but witnesses.

Tang Yunsheng took the three on a flying boat, heading south. They disembarked near a large city, then he led them about three hundred li into the wilderness.

“Inspector Tang, is the headquarters here?” Lu Yang looked for a place that resembled ancient ruins or a grotto-heaven. Was this the original stronghold?

Tang Yunsheng let out a cruel, cold laugh: “You three clueless fools, still thinking of going to headquarters? We might not even make it there before assassins sent by Deputy Cult Master Jin slaughter us! Who’s to say the Cult Master isn’t behind this? Or perhaps, for the stability of the Immortal Cult, the Cult Master will reluctantly endorse Deputy Cult Master Jin’s plan and dispose of us. If we go to headquarters, our lives will be uncertain; we’d be walking into a trap! In these high-level power struggles, whoever gets involved dies. I don’t want to be a part of any of this. The safest way now is to slaughter you three little brats, and then I’ll escape to somewhere deserted!”

Tang Yunsheng was very rational. Expose undercover agents? What did that have to do with him? As a demonic cultivator, self-preservation was paramount! He’d just find some desolate place, kill the three of them, scatter their ashes, and then the Immortal Cult would have nothing to do with him! As a Nascent Soul cultivator, killing these three Foundation Establishment brats would be as easy as pie!

Lu Yang: “…”Meng Jingzhou: “…”Mang Gu: “…”

This deviated quite a bit from Senior Sister’s plan. There was a problem already in the second step. They had indeed gained Tang Yunsheng’s trust, but that didn’t mean Tang Yunsheng was willing to take the three of them to the Immortal Cult.

“Senior Sister, what should we do?” In the mental space, Lu Yang asked Senior Sister what other brilliant ideas she had.

Yun Zhi’s expression remained as indifferent as ever, but when facing Lu Yang’s question, her gaze flickered slightly before she looked directly at him and spoke faintly. “No worries, everything is under control.”

Senior Sister’s eye movements were minimal, but having lived with her for a long time, Lu Yang was sensitive to such subtle changes. This was clearly a sign of a guilty conscience. Lu Yang suddenly recalled past events, such as Senior Sister using boiling water for his body tempering baths, her constant insistence that he train with tofu, or her mistaking the demands of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace as a marriage proposal to him. Senior Sister was someone naive to worldly affairs. She appeared to have everything under control, acting calmly and perfectly, but in reality, this illusion was created only because her expression remained unchanged from beginning to end.