Chapter Ninety: Reluctant to Give In

After Lin Hao went in, Cao Yi turned and left.

But Lin Hao became famous once again.

Cao Yi had broken precedent and allowed Lin Hao to go directly into the inner sect assessment, and the fact that Lin Hao possessed five spiritual roots was exposed as well.

However, no one learned the exact details of those five spiritual roots.

As a result, everyone assumed they were just the usual kind and regarded Lin Hao as nothing more than a useless nobody, all of them growing fiercely jealous.

No one could understand what was so special about Lin Hao. Why would Cao Yi take a liking to him and allow this waste with five spiritual roots to enter the inner sect assessment?

And even the Mysterious Sect.

Before long, the relationship between Lin Hao and Cao Yi became the subject of much speculation.

At that time, Qing Ci and the others, who had been sent to Azure City to gather supplies and select promising talents, returned.

Qing Ci came back with the reinforcements behind him, full of menace, and as soon as he arrived he headed straight for Cao Yi.

“Senior Brother, Qing Ci and the others sent to Azure City have returned and are requesting an audience,” one of Cao Yi’s subordinates reported.

“Mm, let him in,” Cao Yi replied with a nod.

“Yes.” The subordinate turned and brought Qing Ci in.

As soon as Qing Ci entered, he immediately bowed his head and pleaded guilty to Cao Yi. “I’m sorry, Senior Brother. We failed to find the person who intercepted our supplies. He seemed to have vanished without a trace, and we suspect even his name was false.

“Still, the city lord did give us a portrait of him.”

With that, Qing Ci took out Lin Hao’s portrait and handed it to Cao Yi.

Cao Yi took one look, and his expression turned subtly strange.

Back then, Lin Hao had indeed disguised himself, dressing like a wandering cultivator in middle age, but with Cao Yi’s eyes, he recognized him at a glance.

“Is it him? Are you sure?” Cao Yi rarely spoke first.

“Yes, it’s him. The portrait was carefully made by the city lord’s people. This person is called Lin Hao. It was he who impersonated one of our Azure City Sect’s men and went to Azure City to seize a large amount of supplies, which is why this year’s haul was not as good as last year’s.

“Still, we were fortunate to arrive in time, so no talent was lost. I brought back everyone suitable for the outer sect selection and ask Senior Brother to punish me,” Qing Ci explained.

While pleading guilty, he also emphasized that he had arrived in time, not wanting Cao Yi to truly charge him with negligence, after all, he had not captured Lin Hao.

By now, he hated this Lin Hao to the roots of his teeth.

Yet he had no idea that Lin Hao was right there in the Azure City Sect at this very moment, and had even been personally sent into the inner sect by Cao Yi himself.

Cao Yi gave no response to Qing Ci’s words. Holding the portrait, he walked to his desk.

He placed the portrait on the desk and, beside it, picked up a brush and drew another one.

The person in that new portrait was Lin Hao. After finishing it, he added a beard and some different attire.

The result was that the two images overlapped perfectly.

Qing Ci watched from the side, his eyes flashing from astonishment to shock, and finally he looked at Cao Yi in obvious urgency. “It’s this man! Senior Brother, how do you know him? Have you seen him before? Where is he now? I must catch this man. He actually swindled so much of our supply. We absolutely cannot let him off!

“He is openly opposing the entire Azure City Sect.”

Hearing Qing Ci’s agitated words, Cao Yi remained calm.

Only after Qing Ci had finished everything he wanted to say, and saw that Cao Yi still had no intention of responding, his gaze resting on the two drawings on the desk without uttering another word, did he notice that if he had not been mistaken just now, there had seemed to be a flicker of amusement in Cao Yi’s eyes while he looked at the drawings.

Then Qing Ci rubbed his eyes lightly and looked again, only to see Cao Yi had returned to his usual serene, unfathomable expression, his eyes carrying a chill of frost.

It made Qing Ci feel that he must have imagined it.

He hurried back to the matter at hand and pressed on, “Senior Brother, please tell me quickly. Have you really seen this person? Where exactly is he?”

Right now, Qing Ci wanted nothing more than to tear Lin Hao’s flesh and drink his blood.

If he found him, he would definitely make him spit everything out. So many rare treasures—if this had been in previous years, he could at least have gotten a small share, and he would also have been able to come into contact with many contributions from the various sects.

This year, however, it had all been taken away by Lin Hao.

Even though Qing Ci had gained some things himself, he still could not swallow it.

Once more, he asked the question in a clear, direct way.

Cao Yi still did not speak, but the servant standing nearby said, “Isn’t this Lin Hao?”

The servant was truly astonished as well. He had never imagined Lin Hao would be so bold, and the words slipped out before he could stop himself.

At the sound of this, Qing Ci immediately turned his gaze toward him. “Lin Hao? You mean his real name is Lin Hao?”

“Yes,” the servant answered.

“Where did you see him?” Qing Ci pressed at once.

“He is one of the outer sect disciples newly recruited into our Azure City Sect, and just now Senior Brother even gave him a chance to enter the inner sect assessment,” the servant said, first glancing at Cao Yi and seeing no sign that he was forbidden to speak.

“What? Senior Brother, is this true?” Qing Ci could hardly believe what he had just heard and asked Cao Yi again to confirm it.

This time, Cao Yi nodded. “It is indeed so. For now, let this matter remain quiet. After all, Lin Hao is already one of our Azure City Sect’s people, so it is only natural that he went to collect supplies. Let this matter pass. Pretend you never knew this person.

“I do not want any unfavorable news spreading.”

Cao Yi spoke lightly.

Though his voice was calm and faint, Qing Ci somehow heard a hidden threat in it.

Qing Ci was utterly bewildered, a face full of questions. He did not know why Senior Brother was protecting Lin Hao so much, nor did he know what sort of background Lin Hao actually had.

He had searched high and low, only to discover that the man had entered the Azure City Sect and might even be entering the inner sect. This was an outrage Qing Ci could never swallow.

But now, standing before Cao Yi and hearing his warning, he dared not make a scene.

He could only lower his head, the indignation in his eyes hidden away, and say in a muffled voice, “Yes. Senior Brother, I understand.”

Then Cao Yi waved his hand, signaling for Qing Ci to leave.

Qing Ci had no choice but to turn and depart.

After he stepped out of Cao Yi’s room and stood at the doorway, he looked back once, his expression dark and his eyes unwilling. After storming off in anger, the news quickly spread.

In particular, it reached the hands of those who were hostile to Cao Yi.

In one room of the Azure City Sect, there was another young man. He looked like an upright, proper sort at first glance, but the constantly shifting light in his eyes revealed him to be a ruthless person, certainly no saintly soul.

One of his subordinates reported to him, “Senior Brother, it turns out that Lin Hao was the one who earlier impersonated someone from our Azure City Sect on the Azure City side. Before Qing Ci arrived, he had already gathered a large quantity of supplies in Azure City.

“Qing Ci and the others searched for him for so long, and never found him.

“I never expected he would be hiding in the Azure City Sect.

“Yet this matter was actually suppressed by Senior Brother Cao Yi, which makes this person truly curious about Lin Hao.”

“Why would Cao Yi protect him so?” the man asked. “Go and investigate his identity. I want every detail.”

“Yes, Senior Brother.” With that, the subordinate left.

The man in the room muttered to himself, “So even you have such a considerate side. I truly want to know what it is about Lin Hao that caught your eye. I’d like to see what secret lies between you and him. It would be best if you don’t let me find any flaw, otherwise, I’ll make sure you suffer.”

As he spoke, a flash of hatred crossed his eyes, deep and vicious. So intense was that malice that if anyone else had seen it, they would have been shocked.

How could one person harbor such profound hatred, as though he meant to destroy the entire world?

Then he returned to his usual placid expression.

As for Qing Ci.

Qing Ci returned to his room in a rage and immediately spread the matter to Cao Yi’s opposing faction. He also sent people at once to investigate Lin Hao.

Because he had once seen the portrait of Lin Hao that Cao Yi had drawn in his room, he had already memorized it. Comparing that with the portrait he had drawn of Lin Hao and writing down the real name beside it, he ordered his subordinates, “Come here. Find out everything about this man for me. To dare act against me—so what if you’re under Cao Yi’s protection? I still won’t let you off. Hmph, I’d like to see what kind of background this Lin Hao really has.

“To think even you, who usually never meddles in such matters, would want to suppress this affair. It’s not going to be that easy. You didn’t give me a single shred of benefit, yet you still caused me to lose so many things, and now you want me to pretend nothing happened? You really don’t think much of me, do you?”

After that, he seemed to recall something and added, “Also, investigate everything that happened to Lin Hao in the Azure City Sect. Especially how he came to be connected with Cao Yi. The more detailed, the better.”

“Yes,” the subordinate answered.

It turned out that Qing Ci was not actually one of Cao Yi’s men. This matter, however, had been assigned to Cao Yi, so he had reported to him.

Now that Cao Yi had given him no benefits at all and even threatened him to bury the matter, Qing Ci was deeply unwilling to accept it. How could it be so easy? He was utterly unwilling.

He simply wanted to see what sort of person Lin Hao was, and if he could use this chance to find a weakness in Cao Yi, all the better.

Indeed, Qing Ci believed that Cao Yi’s protection of Lin Hao probably meant that Lin Hao had been sent by Cao Yi, and that the Azure City incident itself had been Cao Yi’s doing. Perhaps all those sect contributions and supplies were now in Cao Yi’s hands.