The carriage sped back to the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, where priests were already waiting to receive Shi Ming and Deng Jun.
Stepping down from the carriage, Shi Ming saw a Spirit Awakening Priest walking toward him.
He sighed inwardly. He had to admit that Xiao Suo understood the white-robed priests' reactions all too well.
Shi Ming had already sliced his palm with a dagger while still in the carriage. However, he didn't dare press a bloody hand directly against anyone, as that would instantly put them on guard.
Xiao Suo hadn't specified how much blood he needed to wipe on them anyway. He had cut his finger during the journey and smeared the blood in the concealed spaces between his fingers.
Then, he waited for the wound on his palm to heal and wiped away the most obvious bloodstains.
"Lord Priest," Shi Ming said, stepping forward and anxiously grabbing the man's sleeve. "Please take me to see Priest Qian Que!"
The priest nodded, smoothly withdrawing his sleeve. "I am here specifically to receive you. Let's go."
Shi Ming's eyelids twitched slightly as he looked at the incredibly faint bloodstain on the Spirit Awakening Priest's cuff.
Right then, Deng Jun, who had driven the carriage, asked carefully, "Lord Priest, should I follow as well?"
The priest shook his head. "Go back on your own. Do not leave the Myriad Ancient Pagoda again anytime soon."
As for exactly how long that would be, no one knew.
Deng Jun opened his mouth to speak but ultimately just turned to Shi Ming. "If everything is fine, you can come find me at the estate."
Shi Ming nodded.
Watching Shi Ming fly off with the priest, Deng Jun shook his head. "It's best to stay as far away from the priests' business as possible."
Afterward, he returned the carriage to the Myriad Ancient Pagoda's stables and walked back to his estate to wait for news.
Priest Ban had requested a few days of leave for him, but they had returned early.
Deng Jun was in no rush to cancel his leave and return to work. He went back to his house and drank alone in brooding silence, waiting for Shi Ming to return.
Unfortunately, Shi Ming still hadn't returned by nightfall.
It wasn't until midnight that Deng Jun, completely intoxicated, fell asleep in his rocking chair.
A moment later, his eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Neither clone ran into trouble. Heh, does Shi Ming truly want to cooperate with me? What a pity that a mortal corpse really cannot become a priest. Otherwise, the emergence of an immortal Black Robe in the Wizard World would be fascinating."
As it turned out, after drawing everyone's attention to Shi Ming, Xiao Suo had actually possessed the inconspicuous Deng Jun.
He hadn't come here to cause trouble at all; he simply wanted to figure out the true reason behind the destruction of his clones in the Capital City and the Mist Valley.
Soon, Xiao Suo closed his eyes again.
Since he didn't want anyone to notice Deng Jun, he hadn't outright taken his life, instead allowing Deng Jun to control his own body most of the time.
He had often used this method in the past to gather covert intelligence.
However, this sort of semi-possession placed a heavy burden on him. His minuscule clones couldn't maintain it at all; it could only be performed by his main body.
After Xiao Suo went dormant, Deng Jun remained completely oblivious. He just shook his head and continued to sleep.
While things quieted down on Deng Jun's end, it was still a bustling scene over by Shi Ming.
Priest Qian Que and Priest Li He were meeting Shi Ming together, with three or four other priests standing by.
Shi Ming kept his head lowered, his thoughts unreadable.
He didn't even know where he had been brought. The surroundings were plunged into dimness.
They seemed to be inside a palace, though Shi Ming hadn't seen how they arrived.
The priest who had brought Shi Ming over remained standing beside him, keeping him under subtle guard.
Seeing Priest Li He and Priest Qian Que approach, Shi Ming opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly, the two priests flickered, appearing directly in front of and behind him simultaneously.
At the exact same moment, two columns of starlight—one strong, one weak—cascaded down, enveloping everyone and the entire hall within their glow.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Shi Ming looked up in astonishment.
"There is no need to be nervous." Priest Li He looked down at Shi Ming from his towering height. "What we are about to discuss is of the utmost importance and absolutely cannot be leaked, so we had to set up some defenses."
"Ah, I understand."
Looking at the group, Shi Ming knew he couldn't put up a fight anyway. He could only stand there obediently, unsure if they had seen through his little scheme.
The next morning, Deng Jun was awakened by a servant.
"Master, Young Master Shi is here."
Shi Ming had a unique status and held no official post at the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, but since he had once passed the county examinations to become a scholar, the servants generally addressed him as Young Master Shi.
Deng Jun scrambled out of bed. "He's finally back. I wonder if they made things difficult for him. Quickly, invite him in."
Deng Jun hurriedly threw on his clothes and boots, rushing out to meet Shi Ming in the reception study.
"Why are you here? Didn't I tell them to have you wait for me in the inner hall?"
The two were close friends, and as a martial artist, Deng Jun preferred conversing with his companions in the main room.
However, on his way to the main room, a servant had informed him that Shi Ming had headed to the front courtyard's study to wait instead.
The moment Deng Jun stepped inside, Shi Ming glanced outside and stealthily shut the door.
Amused, Deng Jun laughed. "We're in my own home, so why are you acting like a thief?"
Looking dead serious, Shi Ming leaned in close to Deng Jun. "The Myriad Ancient Pagoda is setting an ambush for Black Robe Xiao Suo."
"That's a good thing!"
Shi Ming continued, "But they're using me as bait. I... I'm really unsure about this."
"Why would they use you as bait? Hasn't he been actively avoiding you?"
"Well—sigh, I can't share too many details."
"Alright. If the Lord Priests forbade it, then you'd better keep your mouth shut. But even if you are the bait, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?"
Anyone else acting as bait might worry about rescue arriving too late and dying at the enemy's hands, but Shi Ming couldn't die. What was there to be afraid of?
Seeing Shi Ming's continued unease, Deng Jun comforted him. "Priest Qian Que is definitely leading this operation. With him there, you have nothing to worry about. Actually, I'm quite curious myself—Priest Qian Que seems to have been going out a lot recently. Has something special happened?"
"There has." Shi Ming hesitated, as if struggling to say more.
Deng Jun leaned closer. "Tell me about it. Did some big shot come to visit the Myriad Ancient Pagoda? Is that why all the priests have become so active?"
Shi Ming hesitated for a moment before leaning right up to Deng Jun's ear. "There is indeed a big shot. What's more, he's the actual leader of this operation."
Deng Jun's eyes flashed. "Who?"
"Me." Li Ban abruptly clamped his hand around Deng Jun's throat. His other hand reached to the back of Deng Jun's neck, pinching and pulling to forcefully dig out a red chunk of flesh.
Deng Jun froze in shock, only then realizing that the Shi Ming standing in front of him had, at some unknown point, turned into Li Ban.
"Lord Ban—" Before he could finish, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
The chunk of flesh in Li Ban's hand actually tried to take the opportunity to escape. Unexpectedly, a beam of starlight crashed down, instantly freezing the flesh mid-teleport.
Having already performed this exact operation three times before, Li Ban smiled slightly. He released Deng Jun's body, brought two fingers of his left hand together, and extracted a tiny Wizard Embryo Fragment directly from the chunk of flesh.
The fragment pulsed with a faint light, clearly reeling in shock.
"There's no need to rush. Next, it will be the turn of the 'you' in the Nihility State."
Xiao Suo's astonished voice transmitted from the fragment.
"You—" That single word was all it took. Li Ban immediately confirmed that Xiao Suo truly did have another clone in the Nihility State.