Yin Hu jogged through the brush towards the moving little blip of Qi he locked onto. Going back and forth. Stopping for a moment and then moving away from him slightly. Only to come back. Moving perpendicular from his position.

It was strange, but not something he couldn't think a reason for. Maybe Jun was chasing after a Shui. And Shui was doing her best not to get caught by the older girl. An intense game of tag in the dense ink-like shadows that surrounded the entire forest. A high stakes game.

One that he would make sure to reprimand the little girl for.

Running without a care in the world. Chasing after who knows what and listening to spirits that may or may not be evil. All things that were dangerous. Far more dangerous than he was willing to allow her to go through at her current strength level. Maybe once she was strong enough to take care of herself. But not now, and not in a year from now.

Yin Hu needed undeniable proof that she was capable enough. He couldn't risk his potential nukes. Not after all his investments.

Part of being a master is teaching them discipline! They have to understand when they are outmatched and when they need to escape instead of fight. Too many—

He stopped in his tracks.

Eyes locking onto a new individual he did not sense in the slightest, the person was covered in the shadows as he continued to walk to break free from them. His perception did not give a hint that another person had been in the area at all. Only the minuscule blip he assumed was Shui. That did not bode well for any of them.

How many more people were in the forest? Did they all know how to hide their Qi like Jun did? Was it a basic skill? Yin Hu needed to figure out how to do it as soon as possible if he was to teach Shui about it. Maybe have Jun teach her instead. He would need to time the suggestion perfectly with his persona. Make it seem like it was beneath him to teach such lowly techniques and cultivation skills.

Yin Hu looked back at the blip of Qi, before he slowly turned his head back towards the figure that fully stepped out of the inky fog. Making his last quick look at who he assumed was Shui seem like he was not searching for anything in particular.

"This fog," a man white a long white beard said. His black robes were released by the shadows as he fully stepped into the clearing with him. "It perplexes me. A domain, yet not. Large enough to cover the forest, but still strong within the smallest scales. I do not understand it. But do I need to in order to destroy it?"

Said elderly man pinched the fog like it was real and physical.

This was everything Yin Hu expected a hidden sage or monster to look like. The clearly old persona, yet young clear skin. A white beard and long hair, yet a straight back and strong steps. All the hidden signs that this person was not the old frail person he made himself to look like.

Nothing like YagWan and his bullshit. This was the real deal. A true cultivator maybe even as strong as the Gang Boss, Dong ZhenKang.

Yin Hu smiled. The stronger they were, the more they believed his persona. This person should be the same. He had tested it on all the strong cultivators he had seen and it worked every time. He doubted the man before him would figure it out.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Not with Dong ZhenKang falling for it too.

"Forests are rife with bugs and insects. Bothersome things. Crushed beneath the thrum of life that surrounds them. Maybe not even intentionally." Yin Hu said as he did the same pinching move.

The old man took a step back, head looking back and forth at the shadows. "I see. So it was you this whole time? And those little girls?"

Little girls?

Yin Hu narrowed his eyes as his attention snapped back to the little blip of Qi. Locking onto it for a moment. It still looked the same. Unchanging. Yin Hu let out a relieved breath. He feared the worst when the old man mentioned his little girls. He wasn't sure what he would have done if either one of them had gotten hurt seriously. Nor did he like the horrible feeling in his chest.

"Senior!"

Yin Hu turned back to the old man.

"If you go for my Son-in-Law, I will die to rip those two girls apart," the old man started leaking a strange dark gray Qi from his hands. Sizzling and popping when the dripping hit the ground. "L-Let the younger generation deal with their own problems, Senior."

"Your son-in-law and my Jun, I'm assuming?"

Jun had the WorldBane - Thin Eviscerating Grass Blade. If it had a spirit just like YagWan claimed, and Jun fought the way she continued to do so against all the bounty hunters, then he had no fear she would do well against someone her age. He trusted her to take care of business. Protect Shui while he distracted the nuke level old person in front of him.

The old nuke nodded.

"I'm fine with this proposition. But if they approach Shui in any way, expect the worst. I will not have mercy." Yin Hu waved his hand. A table and two chairs appeared before him with a steaming pot of Dragon's Red Tongue Tea Leaves. All the chinaware too.

Said old man bowed and made his way to the table. Sitting down with an air of pompous arrogance. "Thank you, Senior."

Yin Hu sat down as well. Pouring himself a cup of tea and the man one as well. He would not fall for the same trick twice. Not after what happened with YagWan. He would not drink another elder's cup of tea even if they gave it incredible names and titles. Heavenly this, and dragon that. A bunch of lies is what that all was.

"A connoisseur of high class teas? It smells wonderful. It warms my frozen, black heart to see a kindred spirit, senior?" The old man paused, giving him a hidden signal to introduce himself.

"Yin Hu. You can also call me James Anderson."

The old man blinked for a few seconds at the second name. But eventually shrugged. "This one is Cai Xuefang—"

Cai Xuefang waved his hand over the table. An entire feast of sweets, cakes, tarts, and a dozen other sugary stuff covered the table.

He was instantly in Yin Hu's good books. His eyes glimmered as he saw chocolate cookies and cake. What appeared to be cold ice cream. And things he did not recognize but looked nearly as delectable. He had to hide his audible gulps and swallow his saliva.

Yin Hu grabbed the first one near him. Picking it up and towards his mouth

"—Elder of the mighty Dark Gate Palace."

Yin Hu froze with the donut shaped thing half way to his mouth. Eyes looking away from the delectables and back to Cai Xuefang. The Dark Gate Palace elder he had been meaning to dodge this entire time. The man with the army of Demonic Cultivators in search of Jun and Shui, marching towards the Silver Mountain Gang.

Fuck. Do Demonic Cultivators keep their promises?

"Have you heard of our Patriarch, Zi Zhen?"

Yin Hu put the treat down, he would eat it in a second. "I have not. The name does not seem familiar to me."

"Really?" Cai Xuefang said as his eyebrows shot up. "Such a strange thing. Let me tell you a little about him. He is our Heavenly Demon. A warrior of legends, fighting greats such as Zhong An to an undecided tie. A monster that named our cult after the Gates of Death he saw in a vision. In his lonesome, he conquered parts of the world, only when the great calamity descended upon the world did he form our Dark Gate Palace—"

Yin Hu nodded, zoning out his words. Busy with his own thoughts, not listening to all the exposition the old man was doing. None of it mattered to him. He'd never meet this Zi Zhen. Nor this Zhong An. Nor anyone else he mentioned if his plan even worked partially. None of them should be in the Bleak Forests. Each one on a mountain somewhere playing hide and seek.

For now though, he could worry about the sweets.

He smiled as he picked up the treat he put down. Licking his lips. He brought it to his mouth and took an enormous bite. Savoring the—

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