Chapter 81: No Mercy for Those Who Threaten Mine

Yu Liang was sitting in his office reading over the supply agreements when Yan Ruo walked in. While she looked as detached as ever, he could see satisfaction in her eyes.

"We have everything," she said, placing a jade slip on his desk.

Yu Liang went through the information they had gathered, one detail after another. Names, places, and the people involved slowly began to form a clearer picture of what had been happening behind the scenes.

His expression didn’t change as he absorbed it all, but his eyes grew colder with each passing moment.

"The Crimson Fire Sect," he said finally. "Low tier sect, affiliated with the Passion Sect."

Yu Liang remembered them very well.

It was not too long ago when he was just a handyman disciple fighting these very sect members of Passion Seect who had come to attack the Cloudwater Sect. Yet in the end, they were driven away even though many had been killed or gone missing.

"Correct. The spy was an Inner Sect Elder, sent to gather intelligence on potential... sources."

"Explain the full situation," he said calmly.

Yan Ruo’s expression hardened. "The Crimson Fire Sect practices a forbidden cultivation method that require living sacrifices.... Large numbers of them. They’ve been targeting independent cultivators for years like people who don’t have a sect backing them up, without families, without backgrounds, even old and injured cultivators."

Then she fell silent for a moment before saying, "And now, their target is Heaven’s Table."

"Because hundreds of independent cultivators come here every day and that’s a lot of people in one place without anything backing us, so they thought we were easy targets."

She paused.

"Our source also found out that some of the restaurant owners in the area are working with the Passion Sect. They planned to cause trouble around Heaven’s Table, drive customers away, and slowly move them to the restaurants they control."

"Once those cultivators started coming there regularly, they’d deal with them one by one which they call ’Harvesting’."

Yu Liang’s expression remained calm as he asked, "The assassination attempt?"

"It was pretty much what we guessed. They wanted to cause trouble for business by making your staff quit, scare away customers and eventually force you to close or sell. They contacted jealous rivals to muddy the waters and make it look like simple business competition rather than showing it like a War."

Yu Liang was silent for a moment as he looked over the information.

Then he raised his eyes. "They wanted to use my restaurant as livestock pens. My customers as sacrificial materials, right?"

"Yes."

Meihua, who’d been standing quietly by the window, finally spoke. "How many have they already killed?"

Yan Rou’s her heart skipped a beat and instantly frantic alarm bell rang in her mind

It was only after Meihua spoke that she realized she had been standing there the entire time.

Yan Ruo didn’t even sense her at all. Even though she was a crippled Nascent Soul cultivator, that shouldn’t have been possible.

Someone standing this close shouldn’t have gone unnoticed and it is extremely dangerous. If Meihua had been an enemy, she could have killed her before Yan Ruo realizes the situation.

Putting these thoughts aside she took a breath and quickly calmed herself down.

"Thousands, according to the records we extracted." Yan Ruo’s voice carried a rare emotion which was disgust. "Over the past three years, Independent cultivators, wandering merchants, desperate refugees were sacrificed and yes they all have same thing in common, these people are without connections so nobody would investigate their disappearance."

The office fell silent.

Yu Liang slowly stood from his chair and walked over to the window.

He looked out over the district.

Somewhere out there, people were still eating at Heaven’s Table, talking with their friends maybe going about living their lives completely oblivious to the fact that they had been targeted as sacrificial materials.

"Summon the others," he said quietly. "All four of them immediately."

Yan Ruo bowed and vanished.

Meihua moved closer. "What are you going to do?"

"What needs to be done."

"Good." She knew what he was going to do and She didn’t have any problems with that.

Within seconds, four figures appeared in the office—the twin brothers, Hei Lang, and the middle aged interrogator. Now, including Yan Rou all four took one look at Yu Liang’s expression and straightened instinctively.

Seeing his expression, they knew something big was about to happen.

"The Crimson Fire Sect," Yu Liang said coldly. "It’s a low tier sect about four hundred kilometers Northeast from here. They have seventeen elders, a sect master, and around five thousand disciples."

He spread the map across the table.

"From what we’ve gathered, the sect master and the elders are all involved in forbidden cultivation. Most of the disciples are innocent and have no idea what’s really going on."

The four Nascent Souls listened in absolute silence.

"I want every elder eliminated including the Sect Master as well, and this will happen Tonight. The disciples are to be left untouched. Make it absolutely clear they’re being spared deliberately as we’re dealing with the people responsible for it, not a massacre."

The twins exchanged a glance. Hei Lang’s single eye narrowed slightly as he understood. Even the old man’s smile disappeared, replaced by a serious expression.

"And one more thing," Yu Liang continued, a faint smile appearing on his face, though there was no warmth behind it. "They wanted to muddy the waters right? Good. Very good." He picked up a storage ring containing the captured spy’s belongings. "Then leave traces behind. Make it obvious that the Passion Sect was responsible for this attack. Let everyone draw their own conclusions about what happened and more importantly Why."

Yan Ruo smiled. "You’re framing them for their own investigation, it’s pretty good plan."

"No, I’m just ensuring the proper narrative spread."

Yu Liang’s smile deepened slightly. "You see, I already had a little grudge against them. And now they’ve gone out of their way to deliver such perfect excuses right to my doorsteps, It’d be rude of me not to accept it."

The five Peak Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged glances.

They had already accepted Yu Liang as their master, but hearing him calmly order the destruction of an entire sect was still something else.

Meihua, standing beside him, smiled sweetly. She knew that while there was some personal grudge behind his decision, most of it was because his people had been attacked.

And somehow, he still cared enough to spare everyone who had nothing to do with it.

"The disciples who remain," one of the twins finally spoke. "What happens to them after? Should we really let them go?"

"That’s their choice. They can rebuild their sect properly, seek other affiliations, or disperse. None of my concern as long as they remember why their elders died." Yu Liang’s said casually. "But make certain they understand this happened because their leadership preyed on the weak with such heinous methods. That’s the lesson that matters."

Hei Lang nodded in approval. "So, when do we leave? Now or are there any other preparations?"

"Now. The Crimson Fire Sect should be settling in for their evening cultivation. Strike during their meditation cycles. It should minimize resistance and maximize efficiency." Yu Liang looked at each of them in turn. "Any questions?"

The middle aged man spoke. "What if one of the eighteen or maybe some of them surrender if given the chance?"

"I understand perfectly what you’re trying to say. But they had their chances. Every time they kidnapped independent cultivator, tortured another victim, or refined another soul, they made their choice. You can even say they had more than enough chances."

Yu Liang’s expression didn’t change.

"If any of you still have questions, ask now. If not then execute the orders."

And all the five Nascent Souls bowed at once before vanishing not even leaving behind their spiritual energy signatures as it dissolving into the night.

Meihua said. "Good. Mercy for those who deserve it. Consequences for those who don’t."

"The cultivation world is cruel," he murmured.

"That’s how it is." She stepped forward. "And I trust your judgment."

Yu Liang’s looked at her and smiled. "The strong get to make the rules, while the weak have to live with them and I’ll make sure we’re never the weak ones."

"Then I’ll also make sure no one mistakes us for weak either," Meihua gave him a warm look before turning to leave.

Yu Liang went back to his accounting with a faint smile on his face as he continued writing, feeling little more at ease knowing someone is standing beside him.

Four hundred kilometers away, five Peak Nascent Souls Realm Cultivators descended on a sect like the judgment of heaven itself.