Cao Yun had arrived at the Weiji residence. Thanks to the Sisters of the Abyss, he didn't have to do any form of reconnaissance. Still, he did spread his spiritual senses around just to be sure of what he had been informed. Everything was exactly as the reports had told him. The Sisters were clearly the best intelligence organization in the Desolate Sepulcher. So obviously, they knew absolutely everything one could know about a residence within their own Oasis of Life.
In fact, the residence was technically outside of the Oasis itself. Indeed, there were so many people that even the Weiji family wasn't important enough to warrant a spot within the Oasis of Life. However, they still adhered to all the laws and customs of the Oasis of Life, especially considering the circumstances and who was present in the Oasis. Disrespecting said laws would not only insult the Sisters but the entire Nalupu Kingdom and Lord Wanghuo himself.
Weiji Nian had caused enough problem not to add to them. Thus, she and her son were rather calm and subdued. In fact, her husband had decided to stay in their current residence instead of remaining at City Lord Sihe's sides. Most likely, his missing his family was part of the decision, but his fear of what his wife could do also played a huge part in this.
On the other hand, Weiji Bao was less subdued than his mother. After all, he had always been able to do whatever he wanted with little to no consequence, especially toward his servants. It was an open secret that he abused his servants as much as he abused his slaves. As he grew older, it became worse and worse but his mother always covered for him. As much as it caused trouble for his father, he did cover for his son and wife too.
Each time he was with his family, he tried to admonish both his son and his wife but they only stayed quiet when he was home. For Weiji Bao, his father was all bark no bite. In Cao Yun's eyes, the parents were both to blame for their son's attitude. But it was a good thing as it would make what he had to do easier.
Deep down, Cao Yun knew that the way he was acting and his plans were a little hypocritical. However, he had absolutely no issue when it came to killing Weiji Nian. On the other hand, he did feel bad for her husband and son. In fact, he really felt bad for the husband, but at the end of the day he had sided with City Lord Sihe so he was his enemy. Even in the Hongchen Kingdom, it wasn't too rare that an entire family was punished for the crime of its head. That being said, Cao Yun had no intention of killing the entire Weiji family.
Weiji Nian had to go because she had tried to kill him with poison and she would do worse if she could. Her son was as much a threat as she was, especially when considering his current behavior. Besides, it would spare many victims. And the husband was working for City Lord Sihe. Since Cao Yun was trying to weaken City Lord Sihe, it was the right move, even though he wasn't sure it was right to do so.
Although Cao Yun had made up his mind about assassinating them, he didn't want to kill anyone else, especially not the servant. But the good thing with his plan was that it didn't require such a large slaughter. Moreover, the assassination would look like an accident, an accident that would affect City Lord Sihe beyond comprehension. If he was successful, he could take down City Lord Sihe's influence in one move while getting rid of real threats.
After visiting the Weiji family, he would also visit the nomad tribes who were close by, in the periphery of the Oasis of Life. There was more he wanted to do, but Lord Wanghuo's presence was a huge deterrent. In fact, he counted on the fact that he was currently engaged in some private discussion with High Mother Lisha. While he was busy, Cao Yun could act with much more freedom.
As long as they were all in the Oasis of Life, Cao Yun had many trump cards up his sleeve, so he couldn't let go of such an opportunity. In fact, he might even be able to fight Lord Wanghuo if they were both in the chambers of the Blood Abyss pits, like he had used them to defeat High Mother Qin Xue. But considering his reputation, it would be much more difficult. At the very least, he could escape with his life. Thus, if he could avoid it, he would try not to face Lord Wanghuo directly. Besides, he probably didn't have to at all.
With the Sisters covering him, Cao Yun entered the Weiji residence. Their array formations were so rudimentary that he walked through them without breaking a sweat. To be fair, no one was particularly anxious since they were on the territory of the Sisters of the Abyss. Lord Wanghuo himself was also present. So no one could imagine that any crime would take place. Moreover, setting up array formations for a temporary residence that would be destroyed afterward seemed unnecessary.
Even if they had set up their best array formations, Cao Yun would have still been able to enter and walk freely anyway. After all, the demons were not very good when it came to array formations while Cao Yun's knowledge was beyond what the Hongchen Kingdom even knew. His brother Sun Liao would probably be jealous of him. Once again, Cao Yun thought about his brothers and sisters in the Hongchen Kingdom. It strengthened his will even more. No matter what he had to do, he was going to go back and do what he could to help them against the Empyrean Asura Theocracy and the traitor, Emperor Weide.
The young man could feel Stinking Lungs in him. As it was related to corruption and integrity, it was very active recently. But Cao Yun had found out his truth. Adhering too strictly to one's moral just to feel good seemed as corrupt to him as disregarding one's moral completely. It was a fine line to walk though. But, after all, no one had ever said that doing the right thing was easy. According to many books he had read, the vision of what was good or bad had evolved even within humans. Cao Yun knew that his current actions weren't particularly good, but he didn't think they were that bad either. After all, he was trying to spare the innocents and would only commit terrible action against the guilty ones. But he knew that those actions were terrible, so he steeled his mind and used his mind cultivation to quiet down his emotions.
Finally, he reached the chambers of Weiji Nian. In this residence, she was sleeping in the same chambers as her husband. When Cao Yun entered, the two of them were not completely asleep, neither were they fully awake. The couple was cuddling in bed when he came in, unnoticed.
For several minutes, he observed them as they looked peaceful. Unfortunately, both of them would soon die. So he could let them a few more minutes of peace and tranquility. As much as he despised Weiji Nian, he had nothing to say against her husband personally. Because he was helping City Lord Sihe, he was also guilty in a way, but then some could claim the same about Cao Yun and his alliance with Boss Gui.
When he was ready, Cao Yun sent his own spiritual senses into their minds. He didn't need to completely break their minds. His goal was simply to knock them out long enough for his plan. As soon as they lost consciousness, Cao Yun brought them where he wanted, a small room he had seen on the plans. This would be the best place for what he had in mind as it looked like a reclusive laboratory.
After the parents, Cao Yun also abducted the son. When he entered his room, he saw clothes torn apart on the floor and a bruised servant under his sheets. There was absolutely no doubt in Cao Yun's mind on what had happened. A strange sensation crossed his mind. Cao Yun was thankful and glad that this servant had been abused because it made his life easier. Immediately he chased this thought and felt terrible about it because he knew that there was some truth to it. At the same time, he didn't feel responsible for a wandering thought. Anyone could have terrible thoughts and feelings. What mattered was whether one would entertain them to the point of acting on them or not.
Abducting Weiji Bao was even easier. Since the servant was a mere Blood Child, she had no chance of ever feeling anything around her if Cao Yun didn't want her to.
At last, the parents and the child were gathered in the same laboratory. From his spatial ring, Cao Yun took out many tools and spread them all around the room. In a few instants, it really looked like a laboratory. Everything had been prepared beforehand thanks to the information from the Sisters of the Abyss. Cao Yun was as cautious as he could be, trying to erase any trace of his presence, even on the smallest tools.
Some of the Sisters had confirmed that they could have felt his aura on them. But now that they were helping him, he knew exactly what to do to make sure that only the Weiji family's aura was on those tools.
Cao Yun then wondered whether he should wake them up or not. But he didn't. He had no desire to gloat in front of Weiji Nian. Of course, a part of him wanted revenge, but this wasn't what this was about at the moment. Moreover, one might try to sift through her memories so he couldn't even leave any trace of his presence in her own mind. On the other hand, he couldn't destroy their seas of consciousness or assault their minds as he didn't want to leave any clue. Thus, they would wake up when the poison would kick in. That was what made Cao Yun feel bad.
Indeed, Cao Yun had planned to use the 3-star Heaven poison, the Bloodfire Vermilion Haze. His plan was simple enough. If it worked, everyone would believe that the Weiji family had been killed by their experiments on this terrible poison. Besides, it was the poison that Weiji Nian had used against the nomadic tribes. So it wouldn't be difficult to create further proof that she had dabbled in it. But it would connect City Lord Sihe directly to this poison and its usage against other demons.
With that, he could completely destroy City Lord Sihe's reputation. And the best thing was that it wasn't a fabrication. Yes, he was going to create the incident and some proof. But at the end of the day, City Lord Sihe was indeed playing around with poison. On the other hand, Cao Yun was also working to erase any trace of that fact that poison had been used by Boss Gui. And he was trying to replace her use of poison by legitimate alchemy.
Cao Yun's main problem was that the poison wouldn't kill the Weiji family quickly. And he couldn't do anything to prevent it as he couldn't leave any evidence behind. Although he had no mercy for Weiji Nian and little for her son, he did feel bad. And he also knew that simply feeling bad wasn't a way for him to absolve himself. When everything was said and done, he still took the decision to go ahead with this plan and he would accept the consequences of his actions. Between several scenarios, he was convinced that he had chosen the best one, or at least the less bloody.
The shame he was feeling was a good thing in his opinion. Indeed, it proved that he had not lost himself in corruption. He was aware of what he was doing, why he was doing it and how awful it would be.
In the end, Cao Yun broke a vial and left. In the vial was some of the Bloodfire Vermilion Haze. It spread in the room and infected the three unconscious cultivators. Quickly, they woke up as pain was shooting throughout their bodies. Their very blood was turning into molten lava in their veins. Cao Yun had made sure to create the fastest poison possible. As such, the pain was already so terrible that they couldn't move and they could barely even think.
Not a single scream left their mouths, only low whimpers as their muscles were completely contracted. Blood even flowed from their mouths as they were clenching their teeth. Cao Yun saw everything. He felt as though he had to.
Thankfully, he had been correct in his dosage. When they had awaken, the poison had almost already killed them. But the few moments they stayed conscious and suffering seemed to be an eternity. With his senses, Cao Yun saw every single detail. At first, he saw the confusion, the sheer terror, and in Weiji Nian's eyes, he saw the comprehension. She knew about this poison so she knew what was happening to her body even though she didn't know why.
Since she was the most knowledgeable, Weiji Nian also knew what was happening to her son. Despite the intense pain, she tried to extend her arm toward her son, trying to grab his hand. But she never made it. In her eyes, Cao Yun saw the pain of a parent losing a child in terrible circumstances. No matter what the two of them had done, Cao Yun felt almost sick. He would have preferred to cut their heads off and be done with it, but this was an essential part of his plan. Poison had to be used.
Someone who would play around with poison right in the middle of the Sisters of the Abyss' sanctuary would be seen as the worst blasphemer of all times. The shock caused by such an act was necessary. At the same time, Cao Yun blamed his own weakness again. If he was strong enough, he wouldn't need to stoop to such a level. He could have simply killed his enemies in one swift move. In the end, he really didn't like that he had to take politics into consideration at all. What he truly desired was freedom. As long as his flesh and blood was threatened by Emperor Weide, he wouldn't be completely free though.
Finally, the three members of the Weiji family were dead. Thankfully, he had been right with his poison. They had not suffered for too long. It had been intense but short. This did alleviate his sense of guilt somewhat. Still, he stayed near the residence until the poison had spread far enough that it was too faint to kill anyone else. At least, he had succeeded in preserving the lives of all the servants. No one else had died and this was a good thing.