Chapter 36: The Easiest Golden Core to Persuade
Yaoqin frowned slightly. "Didn't I tell her that I would inform her once there was progress?"
"She said she's found an important lead… and when she came, she looked badly injured."
Badly injured?
Yaoqin turned toward her maid Xiaoling, eyes narrowing. After a brief silence, she sighed. "Let her in."
"Yes, Miss."
The maid bowed and quickly left the room.
Yaoqin sat back down and poured herself a cup of tea.
She and Zhao Wanqing had some acquaintance—not close, but familiar enough to have shared a few quiet talks over tea.
Moments later, the sound of knocking echoed through the room. With Yaoqin's permission, the door opened slowly.
Standing in the doorway was Zhao Wanqing, her body soaked in blood. Several deep gashes ran across her arms and shoulders, one so severe it nearly reached the bone. Her Demon Sealing Division uniform was torn and tattered, the emblem half stained red.
Her expression was exhausted; her breath shallow and uneven. It was clear she had just returned from a life-and-death battle.
Yaoqin knew Zhao Wanqing's strength—mid-stage Foundation Establishment. In Yuzhou City, that was already considered quite powerful.
But in the short span of a meal, how could she end up like this?
For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, such wounds were indeed grave.
More importantly, this didn't suit Zhao Wanqing's cautious nature.
Yaoqin took a sip of her tea. The flavor, once smooth, now tasted oddly dull. "How did you get hurt like that? I don't recall you being the sort to risk your life for official duties."
Zhao Wanqing hesitated, her lips tightening. At last, she said quietly, "The one gravely injured is my younger brother."
Her younger brother?
No wonder she was acting so desperate.
Yaoqin lifted her gaze. "Then what do you need from me? The matter with the talisman won't yield results that quickly."
The usual pride in Zhao Wanqing's expression had all but vanished. She lowered her head, voice faint.
"I need help… someone at least at the Golden Core Realm."
That request alone was already excessive. In Yuzhou, even the head of the Demon Sealing Division was merely a Golden Core cultivator.
A person at that realm could serve as an elder in any local sect.
Who in their right mind would agree to help the Division investigate a case—especially alongside a Foundation Establishment officer?
"This afternoon, I went out to investigate and encountered a group of demonic cultivators," Zhao Wanqing continued. "They were only early Foundation Establishment by cultivation, but using that blood energy, their strength rose to mid-stage. Their techniques carried a vicious edge I've never seen before."
She exhaled slowly, her tone heavy. "The Division Chief was reassigned to oversee matters near the Yuzhou River. If we don't suppress them with a Golden Core's power, I fear…"
Her voice trailed off. For someone as proud as Zhao Wanqing, asking for help was no small thing.
But the enemy's strength was real—and she couldn't, in good conscience, send her squad of Qi Condensation cultivators to their deaths.
As for the other team captains, each had their own urgent missions. And even if they didn't, few would willingly accept such a dangerous task.
Still, if she didn't act now, the culprits would vanish from Yuzhou, leaving behind nothing but cold trails and unanswered questions.
It wasn't paranoia—it was experience, carved from years of casework.
She knew the moment they fled, the truth would sink like a stone in the river.
Even so, she fully expected Yaoqin to refuse.
It was a difficult request. In fact, it bordered on unreasonable.
But in all of Yuzhou, aside from the Bamboo Jade Pavilion, Zhao Wanqing truly had nowhere else to turn for a Golden Core cultivator's aid.
She certainly couldn't go beg her family's aged patriarch, who was already half in seclusion, courting death in his next breakthrough.
She had come here only to try—if nothing else, doing something was better than doing nothing.
Yaoqin listened carefully, her eyes thoughtful.
What a coincidence, she mused inwardly.
Had she not recently accepted Chu Xingchen's commission, she would have had no choice but to refuse this outright.
After all, her stay in Yuzhou was only meant to be a simple sect-assigned experience trip—and there were still elders watching over her movements from afar.
It truly was perfect timing.
Yaoqin glanced up at Zhao Wanqing and asked plainly, "How many spirit stones can you offer?"
Zhao Wanqing froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that question, then lowered her gaze to think carefully before answering, "At most… three hundred spirit stones."
That was good enough.
After all, Chu Xingchen had been poor from start to finish — but for the right price, he was the easiest Golden Core cultivator to hire in all of Yuzhou.
And not just any Golden Core — a late-stage one.
No one knew what kind of bizarre fortune he'd stumbled upon to rise so quickly, but whatever it was, he was strong enough now to make things work.
Yaoqin took out a brush and paper, writing down all the key details Zhao Wanqing had shared. Once Chu Xingchen saw the situation, he could decide for himself whether to help.
Besides, he was indirectly tied to this whole affair. If he could uncover anything useful, it might even help resolve the matter he had entrusted to her earlier.
"Take my letter," Yaoqin said, handing over a slip of paper with Chu Xingchen's address written neatly upon it. "If he refuses, try offering more spirit stones."
Zhao Wanqing accepted the note with both hands, her expression solemn.
"And one more thing," Yaoqin added coolly. "No matter whether he agrees or not, you owe me a favor for this."
"I understand," Zhao Wanqing nodded. "Thank you."
————————
Night had already fallen over Yuzhou City.
Before seeking out this Golden Core cultivator, Zhao Wanqing returned home to clean and dress her wounds, changing into a fresh set of clothes.
She might be desperate, but she wasn't without pride.
She knew she was about to meet a Golden Core expert — and one personally recommended by Yaoqin of the Bamboo Jade Pavilion.
Even in her injured state, she understood etiquette.
Going to plead for help covered in blood would only make her look pitiful and desperate — a poor start to any negotiation.
Yuzhou's streets were all too familiar to her.
She could walk them blindfolded and never lose her way.
Each step she took now was slow, deliberate.
A sharp pain burned through her thigh with every movement — the wound there still raw, a deep gash nearly splitting the muscle. To keep the blood from soaking her trousers, she had wrapped her leg tightly in bandages.
Her arms were similarly bound.
She could have numbed the pain with spiritual energy, but she didn't.
Because every step of pain reminded her why she was walking.
Zhao Wanqing and Zhao Zhengyang were siblings — the last true bloodline of the Zhao family.
Their parents had both died young, not long after her brother's birth, struck down by a wasting illness.
Zhao Wanqing could still remember her mother's trembling hand clutching hers before she passed, whispering through fading breath — words that were now half-lost to memory.
Through her sobs, she could only clearly recall one plea:
"You must both live well. Take care of each other."
She didn't remember what she had promised in return.
Only that, now, she had failed to keep it.
Raising her head, she looked toward the bright, silent moon hanging high above.
For years, she had been apart from her brother. After their mother's death, she had devoted herself entirely to cultivation, rarely returning home.
Only recently had she taken a position in the Demon Sealing Division and returned to Yuzhou — finally reunited with her now-grown brother.
Their exchanges had been few, mostly through brief letters.
Zhao Zhengyang's talent was not extraordinary, but his diligence and upright heart had always made her proud.
She had once wanted to bring him into her own squad, to watch over him directly.
But he had refused, wanting to prove himself on his own.
And so he joined another team — the Second Unit.
Zhao Wanqing exhaled slowly, forcing her emotions down.
Her mother's final words still echoed faintly in her ears.
She had failed as a sister.
Now, there was only one thing left she could do — avenge him.
Her brother might never recover. Even restoring him to an ordinary life seemed nearly impossible.
But vengeance… that, at least, she could deliver.
Her hand brushed against the hilt of the short blade at her waist.
Her steps halted before a closed courtyard gate — the address written on Yaoqin's note.
Zhao Wanqing looked at it quietly, eyes dark as the night sky.
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