Using his compass, Cao Yun quickly found the direction in which Cang Yin had escaped. Considering the commotion, she had simply left town. Since she could change her appearance, she might simply hide for a time before coming back. But apparently, she was going to the north, toward the Sunmen Province. It wasn't clear why, but they could ask her nicely when they found her again.
This was truly unfortunate, Cao Yun had hoped he could use her. After talking with Dian Mo, he knew that he could not learn her technique as it was related to her bloodline. Absorbing the bloodline of someone was not an easy task even for demons who cultivated blood. Indeed, those powers would not necessarily activate for everyone and they required blood essence, not just blood. Even if someone had demonstrated the bloodline's powers, it didn't mean for sure that by extracting all of their blood essence, the same powers would activate in someone else. For example, if someone wanted to steal the True Fiery Fenghuang bloodline from the Huang family, it would be almost impossible. The dying beast had given this power to the blood of Ancestral Matriarch Huang Baifeng, having her blood was thus necessary.
Since he didn't know whether he could rely on the thief, Cao Yun had used her to convince Gu Song that he was trying to steal his secrets. And it had worked just fine. Now that she had served her purpose and because he could not trust her at all, it would be better to get rid of her. Besides, now he had real reasons to believe that she was working against mankind. Thankfully, he had not sensed a single seal in her. Thus, they might actually get answers.
Cang Yin was trying to run back to the demon territory. But because of the natural borders of the Subei Province, going through the Sunmen province would be easier. Hopefully Gu Song would get rid of the man who could detect her. Thanks to him, she had found out a few things but she didn't find her answer. However, she had discovered what she had been tasked to find. As soon as she saw the chaos around the Xue residence, Cang Yin had a bad feeling. Thus she didn't stay to see the outcome. And because Cao Yun had the strange ability of detecting her, she decided to leave straight away. Of course, she would lose the opportunity to find more, but it was better than to stay, be discovered and be unable to transmit her findings.
As she was drawing near the border, she suddenly halted. Cang Yin had taken the appearance of a young man with long dark reddish hair. She was wearing commoner clothes, but she was hiding a spatial ring on her as well. No commoner could afford such an artifact.
In front of her, a young man had appeared. He was Cao Yun. Although he had revealed his true face to the two Spirit Warriors accompanying him, he decided to use 'Ashen Feather Seal' before the thief, just in case. Even if he was convinced that he was going to take her down today, he didn't want to be careless.
"Excuse me sir, but..."
"No need for games! I already told you that I could see through your disguises. You just tried to have me killed, didn't you?"
Since she was discovered, Cang Yin decided to revert to her original form. As a woman, she was quite stunning. Because she kept on the clothes she had on her, they became a bit too narrow for her but this accentuated her charm. However, she had clearly understood that those charms would have no effect on the young man in front of her. At some point, she had even tried to use incense to corrode his vigilance. But he had stayed cold in front of her warmth. In his eyes, she could see that he was ready to strike her down if she acted in the wrong manner.
"Sir, you wanted to confer with Master Gu, right? Unfortunately I was discovered while in his employ and I had no other way to save my life than to give him something. Thus, I gave you. After all, I knew you would triumph over this monster."
"If your words are true, why would you run away?"
"Well, I was afraid to be discovered by the Governor's forces. After all this chaos, they would probably improve their security. So I decided to leave before that. But look, I was right, you did kill that monster and you probably got what you wanted, right?"
"You were in the service of the Xue family for some time, what do you know about Xue Rui, his concubine and his servant Zhong Ling?"
Hiding, Xue Liu was very interested in Cao Yun's line of questioning. However, he could tell that there was more to the story than what he had said. Clearly, the servant who had brought him to Gu Song and he knew each other. In fact, Xue Liu suspected that he had been using her as a spy. Even after seeing her transform before him, he could not find a fault with her disguise, such an ability was more terrifying than the strongest of cultivators, especially for a military man. If there were more like her, they could reveal all the plans of mankind to the demons.
Cang Yin answered truthfully. After all, she had no reason to lie on those matters. Thus, Xue Liu and Yun Po discovered that Xue Rui had practiced demonic arts and had forcibly dual cultivated with Zhong Ling, slowly devouring her soul. They heard details of her torments. But they also heard that Qiang Zilan had known about it and had kept quiet. As much as she seemed to be sorry for Zhong Ling, she didn't denounce her husband.
"I see... And who else in the Xue family knows about this?"
This time, Yun Po was more attentive than Xue Liu. Indeed, even now he wasn't sure whether Xue Liu was informed of this. To be honest, he hated Xue Liu but he didn't think he could betray mankind. But he didn't know for sure. Right now, they were rather isolated, so if Xue Liu wanted to bury the truth, he could try to kill them right here. In case that happened, Yun Po was perfectly ready. Thankfully, Xue Liu did nothing. In fact, he was also interested in that conversation.
"No one. At least, not to my knowledge."
The one who was the most relieved was Xue Liu. At the very least, the infection was limited to those who were already dead. He could salvage that. Besides, he was now convinced that Cao Yun didn't want the whole story to be made public either. In fact, it wasn't in the interest of anyone to reveal everything. He could still navigate the situation and protect his family. Patriarch Xue was a shrewd man and Xue Liu was merely his junior, he wasn't his son or even grandson. In fact, there were five generations between the two of them. Although he was his blood, he almost felt like a stranger.
This was what happened to cultivators who lived too long. At some point, their attachment to the younger generations would decrease. In the end, they were just distant relatives who were more or less useful to the family. Xue Rui was important because of his alchemy. But now that he thought about it, it was better for him to be exposed the way he was rather than that happening during the Alchemy Conference in public. He could still protect his family's reputation and save Xue Rui's older brother.
"Good. Then let's talk more about you. Your mother is a demon, right?"
Cang Yin was speechless and this was answer enough for the two Spirit Warriors.
"No need to answer, I know I'm right. After all, you were looking for your human father in Qingyun City. If my guess is correct, a demon used a human to conceive a child who was close enough to the demons without being one. Thanks to that, you can cross the array formations without being detected. That explains why you tried to steal information from the Huang family. Their documents have detailed maps of the tunnels under the Subei Province. These would be very useful for an invading force."
"No, wait! You're right that my mother was a demon, but she's dead now. And I refused to serve the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. After all, they are fanatics who believe all humans should be sacrificed to bring about the second coming. They believe that they have to feed all of the human blood to the planet so it births Demon God Da Mo again. He will rise and bring demonkind to the pinnacle. With his return, they will cover the entire galaxy in blood and reign over an empire that will last billions of years. Even if I served them, they would still sacrifice me in the end."
"So you're claiming that you were just after the name of your father? Then why are you going to the Sunmen Province? Isn't it easier to go back to the demon territory from there? Do you take me for a fool?"
Unfortunately, it was rather difficult to know whether Cang Yin was lying or not. Even the two hiding Spirit Warriors were not sure. But her words made sense. No matter how much demon blood she had in her veins, she would still be considered a human by the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Thus, she was doomed to be killed by them. However, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy wasn't the only demon kingdom. She may be working as a spy for another power. Anyway, Xue Liu and Yun Po were both ready to capture her at a moment's notice.
"I... I can give you arcane knowledge of some demon arts that even Gu Song couldn't possibly know."
"And what you would know about Gu Song's knowledge? Do you know anything about the Demon King or the other demonic cultivators? I'm really trying to find some use to your life right now. Help me a little."
From his spatial ring, Cao Yun took out his spear and let out some of his Spear Aura. Now, Cang Yin was certain that her life depended on her words.
"Before leaving, I saw some reports Gu Song had. I memorized all of them before he could destroy them. If you want to meet the demonic cultivators, they will prepare something during the Alchemy Conference. If you let me leave I can make copies of those."
"And how would I know those are exact?"
"If I just give them to you, you'll kill me before I can escape..."
By now, Cang Yon was truly afraid. Discreetly, she decided to activate her concealed spatial ring. Of course, the two Spirit Warriors clearly saw it. But so did Cao Yun. In front of him, her tricks were almost useless. Her blood that was her strength against others had become her weakness in front of Cao Yun, especially now that he fully owned the Drop of Wrath.
From her ring, a thick smoke emerged. All the grass around her died in an instant as the gas spread toward Cao Yun. Seeing this, Xue Liu and Yun Po intervened right away. General Yun went to protect Cao Yun while Patriarch Xue wasn't no second to try to catch the young girl. However, his senses were affected by the smoke and she completely disappeared. General Yun had had the right attitude. Even though the gas would probably not be lethal against Cao Yun's alchemy, the young man was their ace. Only with him could they hope to trace Cang Yin again.
And they did. It didn't take long for them to find her again. Two spiritual senses locked on her. Now she knew she was in deep trouble. During their first encounter, she was convinced that Cao Yun had followed her thanks to the spatial ring she had stolen. Back then, she had abandoned all her possessions that might be traced. But now it was clear that he could not only see through her disguises but also find her anywhere she would go. Unless she killed him, she would never be able to escape. However, he was protected by two middle Spirit Warriors. She had no hope of escaping unscathed.
Very quickly, she analyzed the situation. Most likely, they had heard their conversation. Maybe she could try to turn them against Cao Yun. In the worst case, she might still be able to negotiate. Even a Soul Memory Search was not perfect as she could try and destroy her own soul in order to hide what she knew.
Knowing that running was useless, she stopped and even let go of her spatial ring to show she was no threat. At that very moment, she lost all control over her body and found herself kneeling on the ground. In front of her were the two Spirit Warriors floating in the air as well as Cao Yun still concealing his true face.
"You will come with us and reveal everything you know on both demons and demonic cultivators."
"Wait! I have a secret art that would completely consume my soul. Even if you destroy my meridians you can't stop it as it's in my blood."
Cao Yun immediately asked Dian Mo if this was true.
"Such techniques exist but whether or not she knows of one, I can't tell. You could probably stop it by using your blood cultivation. But it would be hard to explain it away..."
"I can tell you everything you need to know if you swear to let me go."
"You're just too dangerous for that!"
"If you try to extract any information out of me, you will gain nothing. I'm ready to even make a blood oath with you. I won't do anything to bring harm to the Hongchen Kingdom if you just let me go."
That was a true conundrum even for Cao Yun. There was no doubt that she was too much of a threat with her technique. But she might know some important information both about the demons and about the demonic cultivators who were planning something during the Alchemy Conference. Cao Yun might be able to get what he needed out of her but only by exposing he was practicing the cultivation of the demons. Right now, he didn't see any winning scenario. Besides, the decision would come from the two Spirit Warriors.
For them, this was also a tough decision. But they knew what a blood oath was as they were used to dealing with demons. Their main problem was that they didn't know how much Cang Yin knew. Could the risk be worth it?