Mao Dou scratched his head with that honest smile of his. Yu Zongfan gave a shy grin. Both silently admitted they'd gotten a little impatient.
"Since you're in a hurry, I'll add another training item," Jian Dan said. "Drill the Five Elements arts until you can cast them in an instant."
"Yes, Zūnshàng!"
They answered in unison.
"Start with techniques aligned to your spiritual roots. Once you're fluent, move on to the others."
"Yes."
The two senior brothers accepted the new task and buried themselves in cultivation.
So Jian Dan's days slipped into a rhythm of teaching disciples and refining artifacts, with the occasional summons to the Law Enforcement Hall to help Senior Brother Jian Li handle hall affairs.
Once War Hall squads started coming out of seclusion, Jian Dan personally put them through maneuvers. The hall's combat power climbed another step.
That day, Wei Zhengrong rushed in to invite Jian Dan to the Law Enforcement Hall. There was important news, and Senior Brother Jian Li insisted she come.
Since it sounded urgent, Jian Dan didn't delay. She set down the cube she was refining and flashed to the main hall.
"Senior Brother, what's so pressing?"
Only then did Jian Li lift his head from the jade slip. His voice was low. "Bi Shu found a cultivator possessed by a blood insect in Tianquan City."
"Oh? Seems Bi Shu's useful after all. Which clan?"
"The Kong clan."
"So coincidental?" Jian Dan smiled. "Which one of the Kongs?"
"Kong Xingkun."
"Tsk. Heaven's really come to collect him." There was a hint of schadenfreude in her tone.
"Strictly speaking, Kong Xingkun wasn't the first host," Jian Li added. "It started with one of his concubines, a gift from a minor clan to curry favor. Water spiritual root."
Jian Dan could fill in the rest. "They sent him a furnace cauldron. She was pretty and still a virgin. He took a fancy to her, didn't he?"
"Exactly. That's how the blood insect reached him."
"What's the situation now?"
"Kong Xingkun's under restraint, but the Kong clan refuses to force the insect out. If they drive it from his body, Kong Xingkun won't survive."
"He asked for it."
Jian Dan couldn't muster a shred of sympathy.
"So they're at an impasse."
"Tian Hong Zhēnzūn hasn't shown himself?"
"No. Master has no patience for this kind of wrangling."
Jian Li spread his hands. If there was a fight, Tian Hong Zhēnzūn would be the first to charge. This sort of argument bored him.
"Then besides telling me, what else do you want me to do?" Jian Dan asked calmly.
"You and Jian Jing caught the last blood insect yourselves. Got a good plan?" Jian Li didn't stand on ceremony. He wanted solutions.
"Are we saving Kong Xingkun," Jian Dan asked directly, "or cutting him loose?"
"If we save him, how? If we abandon him, how?" Jian Li smiled.
Jian Dan turned her white-jade storage ring, gaze steady. "If we save him, do it like the Yao clan. Extract the soul and let him seize a new body to be reborn.
If we abandon him, even simpler. We won't play the villain. Have Bi Shu communicate with the insect. Inform it we've discovered it and intend to destroy it. It'll naturally drain the essence it wants, then flee the host."
She spread her hands, brisk and to the point. "If you think the Kong clan's still useful, choose the first. If you believe they'll harm the sect in the coming years, then this is a perfect chance to teach them a lesson."
"The coming years?"
Jian Li rolled the phrase on his tongue, then asked, "You're worried they'll drag the sect down when the insect war breaks out?"
"Yes."
She didn't hide a thing. "You know about the last captured blood insect. I lent the Soul-Nurturing Pearl to the Yao clan and saved Yao Bin. Kong Xingkun's filth disgusted the Yao clan enough. They've already accepted my hint and will gradually distance themselves from the Kongs."
"Junior Sister had this laid out long ago?" Jian Li wasn't surprised. After leaving seclusion and retaking the hall, he'd reviewed every decision Jian Lu had made.
It was obvious her choices all served the sect's interest, while quietly gathering the great sects of Lingyun Continent together. Now she'd even pulled Heavenly Demon Palace into the web.
"Not to hide it, Senior Brother," Jian Dan said with a blink and a smile, "I've had eyes on them ever since the Kong clan abandoned Kong Qiankun.
The Yao clan excels at spirit-plant cultivation. The Jin clan specializes in alchemy. That's why I used Jin Ai's matter to make a few 'open' interventions."
"They stood crooked on their own and gave the insect clan an opening," Jian Li said. "What's that got to do with you?"
"You're right." Jian Dan's lips curved. Jian Li was deliberately removing her from the blast radius. She didn't mind. She'd accept the consequences of what she'd done.
Before they could decide, the sword pendants at Wei Zhengrong's waist jolted in quick succession.
A heartbeat later, Jian Dan's hall-master token trembled as well.
Last of all was Jian Li's sword pendant. Almost the same instant.
Jian Dan swept them with her divine sense. The message was from the Tianyue Squad's captain.
"Hall Master," it read, "the blood insect in Kong Xingkun's body fled on its own and started attacking Kong clan cultivators, draining their essence. Jian Mao intervened in time and saved them. In the end, Tian Hong Zhēnzūn contained the insect within a domain of thunder."
Jian Dan's lips lifted. No need to put Jian Li on the spot. The insect had made the decision for them.
Jian Li looked up. One glance at Jian Dan and they understood each other.
"Zūnshàng," came another message, "Kong Xingkun has fallen. The Kong clan's Ancestor is furious, but with Tian Hong Zhēnzūn present, he can only choke it down."
"Hmph. If not for Tian Hong Zhēnzūn, their entire clan would've been food for the insect. He should be grateful, not angry." Jian Dan's tone was cool.
Jian Li didn't add anything, but he clearly agreed.
"Zhengrong, send Law Enforcement Hall personnel to take over. Follow the trail down and find who brought this thing into Heavenly Sword Sect territory."
"Yes, I'll see to it."
Wei Zhengrong took the order and hurried off to muster people.
Kong Clan Main Hall
The Kong clan's Zhēnzūn looked thunderous. Tian Hong Zhēnzūn sat to the side, casually toying with the blood insect he'd pinned down.
Below Tian Hong Zhēnzūn sat Jian Mao and the Tianyue Squad. Everyone followed the golden rule of silence. No one spoke.
Having finished her task, Bi Shu was still trembling. Mo Su and the other two escorted her to a teahouse near the Kong estate.
Mo Qi glanced at Bi Shu's pale face, poured her a cup of spirit wine, and smiled. "Bi Shu, that was a great merit. How do you feel?"
Bi Shu downed it in one gulp, exhaled, steadied herself, and answered, "Terrifying. The blood insect had already merged. It held half that cultivator's memories and power and even tried to control me."
Mo Su and Mo Yi, who had kept silent until now, turned their gazes on her.
Feeling the sweep of two Zūnzhǔ's divine sense, Bi Shu straightened at once.
"So you startled it," Mo Qi said softly, "and it tore free to escape?"