Half Watermelon had no idea what the two women had discussed. After their conversation, they had sealed off the area with spiritual energy, and roughly a quarter of an hour later, both returned.
Lin Luoyu came back without saying much. She simply sat down in a clean spot and began meditating in silence.
Donggua's expression was equally calm, and she gave Watermelon no additional warnings.
They must have reached an understanding.
Watermelon's gaze drifted to Cui Hao last, only to find that the boy who had seemed so curious earlier was now sitting quietly with his eyes closed, resting.
The silence was unusual.
Had this brat finally learned to show some consideration for his senior sister?
Regardless, things had grown quiet, and that was what mattered.
When the morning light fully broke and the sun rose, Lin Luoyu was the first to stand, signaling the group to continue moving.
As they pressed forward, they occasionally caught sight of evil cultivators who appeared to be tracking them from the direction they had come.
Fortunately, none of them were particularly powerful. Unwilling to attract greater trouble by revealing themselves, the group simply took detours to avoid confrontation.
They ran from dawn to dusk and then through the night.
Finally, Cui Hao — who had maintained unusual silence throughout the escape — could not hold back any longer.
"Let's rest... My spiritual energy is nearly depleted."
The moment those words left his mouth, Lin Luoyu was the first to stop. Donggua and Watermelon followed suit.
Donggua studied Cui Hao's weakened state. A normal Foundation Establishment cultivator, bolstered by spiritual energy, should have been able to handle a full day and night of forced travel without collapsing.
Half Watermelon had kept pace with the entire group on a single leg, yet two-legged Cui Hao could not hold out.
Lin Luoyu glanced at Cui Hao, who was panting heavily but gave her a meaningful look. She understood immediately — Cui Hao had processed the information from the jade slip she had given him and was ready for the next move.
She spoke calmly.
"Let's rest for a bit. We should arrive tomorrow regardless, and being well-rested will help us handle any problems on the road. I'll take first watch, then Watermelon, then Donggua."
Donggua was unfazed. No matter how outrageous Cui Hao's demands, Lin Luoyu would always concede after a brief silence.
She nodded in agreement, scanned the area, found a suitable spot, adjusted her posture, and sat down.
For Donggua, the journey's toll was nothing compared to the constant, bone-deep ache of blood qi corruption that had plagued her the entire time.
Cui Hao rubbed his shoulders and strolled toward Donggua.
She had been about to meditate and suppress the blood qi writhing within her, when she saw the loathsome Cui Hao approaching.
A surge of irritation and disgust welled up inside her. Would this brat not even give her a break during rest periods?!
Whenever he came looking for her, it was never for anything good — just annoying questions or foolish ones.
But no matter how intolerable he was, she had to endure it for Lin Luoyu's sake.
Donggua took two deep breaths to calm herself, bracing for Cui Hao's inevitable stupidity.
Cui Hao walked over slowly, then glanced sideways toward Lin Luoyu, who was climbing to a high point to keep watch.
He pulled a sound-isolation talisman from his spatial ring and activated it, enveloping both himself and Donggua.
Lin Luoyu, who had been watching from her vantage point, noticed the spiritual fluctuation and looked over. Upon seeing it was Cui Hao, she said nothing.
Donggua studied Cui Hao's strange behavior with wary eyes. What kind of foolish question required sound isolation?
Was he about to ask something inappropriate?
All trace of Cui Hao's usual roguish grin vanished. His tone was perfectly even.
"I know everything you and my senior sister discussed."
Donggua looked at Cui Hao, whose entire demeanor had transformed — as though he had become an entirely different person. She did not rush to respond.
Cui Hao leaned in slightly.
"You underestimate my senior sister, and you overestimate the power of Haoran Righteous Qi. Do you really think she believed you?"
"You thought that if you just showed her that thing, expressed your sincerity, played the victim, and talked about doing it for the greater good, she would be moved to bare her heart and soul to you?"
Donggua's eyes narrowed, her wariness intensifying.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Cui Hao sneered, his tone growing sharper.
"I'm saying you're about to be sold by my senior sister and you don't even know it. Whatever you gave her is no ordinary object — that's why you waited until you could hide it no longer before confessing."
"You're smart. Greed isn't a bad thing — not being able to control what you're greedy for is."
"That item you have bears a resemblance to something we've been investigating. If you're willing to part with it to save your life, that's fine by me. But tell me — can you truly bear to let it go?"
"I don't care whether you obtained it by chance or through careful scheming. But anything the Heavenly Dao Sect would go to such lengths to acquire is bound to be extraordinary."
"Before coming here, I received word. That object represents the Great Dao — another path beyond immortality."
Donggua stared into Cui Hao's intensely predatory gaze. The foolish, obnoxious expression she had come to despise was gone, replaced by something else entirely.
Greed. Pure, bottomless greed.
And inexplicably, a wave of genuine delight surged through her heart. Donggua grinned.
"So what are you trying to say? That I shouldn't trust the righteous cultivator, but I should trust you?"
"That I should choose death over survival?"
Cui Hao's eyes remained calm.
"All cultivators are greedy — even Haoran cultivators are no exception. It's just that what my senior sister covets isn't material gain. She craves spiritual fulfillment, purity of soul, and transparency of heart."
"Every person has a weakness, and my senior sister is no different. It just so happens that her weakness is me."
"I can drag her down with us. But I want sixty percent. You get thirty. If you want my senior sister to keep her mouth shut, she'll need ten percent too."
Donggua shifted uncomfortably. She could not believe that Cui Hao — whom she had dismissed as an idiot — was capable of saying such things.
She cast another glance at Lin Luoyu before responding.
"You're less trustworthy than your senior sister. The item may be valuable, but you need to be alive to use it."
Cui Hao scoffed and shook his head slowly.
"Interest is always more reliable than people. The reason I called for a stop is that if we keep going, the item will end up in the Heavenly Dao Sect's hands. My senior sister will claim the credit, and my contribution will barely outweigh a single spirit treasure."
"That meager contribution means nothing to me."
"And you — you might survive for now, but do you truly believe that once the Heavenly Dao Sect obtains the item, they'll protect you? Or that they'll actually purge every last evil cultivator so you can live in peace?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet? In this world, everything is an illusion. Only the power in your own hands is real."
"My talent is far inferior to my senior sister's. So if I want to go further than her, I need to be more ruthless than her. More importantly, I need to be greedier."
"And you — if you want to truly survive, if you want to live freely — you can only do it by leveraging what you hold in your hands, so that we are no longer weak."
A genuine smile finally spread across Donggua's face. Before her, Cui Hao suddenly seemed far more agreeable.
It was this greed. This audacity.
This apparent foolishness. This was exactly the kind of person who made her blood race.
Donggua asked curiously, "So were you pretending to be foolish this entire time?"
"More or less. I wanted to disgust my insufferable senior sister and her self-righteous preaching."
Cui Hao tilted his head with a cold smile.
"I wanted to look like a rat scavenging in a sewer — someone so repulsive that no one would give me a second thought."
Donggua's eyes narrowed as she fired back without hesitation.
"But you are."
A wise person would make present sacrifices for future gain; a fool would not. She still needed to test whether Cui Hao was truly a fool, or simply a wise man pretending to be one.
Cui Hao's gaze turned cold, his tone deathly calm.
"Then let's see — when all is said and done — who is the rat, and who is the pig."
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