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nWu Long entered the capital with Shen Min five days after the massacre of the Supreme Master Pavilion. There were only two days until spring, but the weather was still cold, and would stay that way for a couple more weeks. Though the last snow in these regions has probably already fallen.

nShen Min reverted to the light side after the second day of their travel. There as always was no shock or confusion from her as to her current situation, as she was not a separate entity, and therefore there was no continuous sense of identity. Her memories of course were slightly different from what actually happened, as she was a ‘sunflower who did not hurt a soul on their travel’. But her real self surfaced again this time with her own will once they came to the capital as she was beginning to gain command over her physique. The dual cultivation sessions with Wu Long made her a lot more skilled in controlling her Yin Qi than the previous teaching sessions, and Dual Extremes Infinite Union Art was largely responsible for letting her achieve such fast results. Wu Long knew that part of the reason was also that her mental state stabilized quite a lot as she was able to vent her frustrations about lust cultivators as well as find a place for herself in this world beside him.

nWu Long explained to her that she eventually could always stay her true self, bringing out her lighter side only if she wanted to. It was more of a side-effect of the physique that manipulated Yang using Extreme Yin, so she would rarely need this ability to hide her consciousness in an outer shell persona anyway. Her physique’s more valuable aspect was actually in combat, her cultivation level was just not high enough to fully utilize its potential.

nHe went to the Soaring Feather Trading Company and the regional manager there greeted him as a peasant would greet a king again. Wu Long guessed that all regional managers of the company were told of how much Sui Luxiao values him through communication jades and talismans as he was leaving the capital, so he would likely receive similar treatment no matter which branch he visited. He inquired about Yang attribute medicines and ordered some very expensive ones, as they did not have them in stock in this branch.

nOnce they were at the inn they chose, Wu Long inquired more about lust cultivators in the kingdom from Shen Min, as she had been hunting them for a while here. But to his dismay, he found that they had far more supporters and people who practiced it throughout the country than just the royal family radical faction, sprinkled into all levels of government officials, the army, and more.

n“Hmm it would take months to hunt them all down”

nHe said with some frustration, as his traveling plans would be disrupted at this rate.

n“Why don’t you let me deal with them?”

nShe said, and he looked at her with some worry in his eyes.

n“They have dangerous people behind them”

n“They were not able to catch me before since my physique and disguise treasure are a perfect combination to hide in plain sight as you said”

n“Hmm~”

nWu Long hesitated, as he was truly worried about her getting into trouble, but ultimately she was right. She was hunting them down long before he arrived in the kingdom, and now that a major rat nest was uprooted, and he was about to eliminate their biggest official supporters, the radical faction, it was bound to make it easier for her. Not to mention, even if she was his woman, he did not want to restrict her own decisions.

n“I will have to travel for a few more months at least”

nHe finally decided to just warn her that he would be gone for some time.

n“I know, you told me. But this way you can continue your travel and not worry about lust cultivators. Besides, I am a Revolving Qi Realm practitioner, remember? I can wait even hundreds of years, though I will go to search if you do not come back in a few years”

nShe chuckled as she was not such a patient woman to simply wait at the window looking for his figure to show up on the horizon.

nHe smiled at her and gently kissed her forehead as she hugged him closely. Just having someone whose side she considered her place to return to brought her tremendous comfort. She never knew that it was such a bliss.

n“Thank you. But I have to at least get rid of the royal supporters before I leave so that it is easier for you”

nShe nodded to his suggestion, and after some preparations, Wu Long went with her to the palace. Cai Yin was shocked to hear that he was requesting an audience, as she thought he was already with her people attacking the Supreme Master Pavilion.

nShe met him in the same hall as the last time.

n“Your Highness”

nWu Long greeted her with a smile and a wave of his hand which made her people frown, but she just waved her hand to quell their dissatisfaction.

n“What happened? Is there something wrong? Or did the attack fail? If it is about not sending an army I…”

n“I heard about how they restricted your moves, do not worry. That sect does not exist anymore”

n“!?!?…What? But… I did not hear any report…”

n“I have to apologize to you, but I had your men sleep for some time. They should wake up around today or tomorrow. I needed to make sure I got to the capital before the news spread, and I could not trust them”

nCai Yin looked at him with a complicated expression. There was a mix of shock, joy, sadness, and rebuke in her gaze.

n“Do you think your apologies would suffice? That is a serious breach of trust in our partnership. I did agree to cooperate, but making such one-sided decisions is not in our agreement…”

nFinally, she settled her emotions and spoke.

n“…however, I do have to thank you for ridding our country of this vermin that was corrupting it. Please accept my sincerest gratitude”

n“You do not really need to thank me as I did it out of my own volition. I had apologized exactly because of the partnership in this endeavor, but I do not trust your kindness”

n“What do you mean by that?”

n“When I mentioned not sparing any lust cultivators before, I saw the expression you made. You think they just made a mistake, and as long as the Supreme Master Pavilion disappears, they can be redeemed”

nCai Yin’s eyes slightly widened at his words, as she was seen through as if he was reading her mind. As a soul cultivator, she was even more prone to such worries, like a door lock master would always be worried about their door lock being bypassed more than a common person who knew nothing about door locks, simply because he knew ways to bypass it. Not to mention that she only recently broke out of mind control which lasted more than half of her lifetime, that was bound to make her a little paranoid.

nWu Long simply amiably smiled to show no malice, not saying anything and waiting for her to calm down. After a while, he saw the fear in her eyes subside.

n“Do you think lust cultivators are irredeemable?”

n“To be honest with you I am no judge or some righteous person, I am simply personally disgusted with them, so I eradicate them. There is little significance for me if they can be redeemed or not”

nShe shuddered at his words, as she finally understood that she was not dealing with someone who moved on principles or moral reasons, but someone who moved entirely on his own will and decisions. And those decisions separated the life and death of a hundred thousand lives in the Supreme Master Pavilion. Just his thought of finding them displeasing was enough for them to be sentenced to death, down to the last one.

nA bead of cold sweat went down her forehead from the side, and her back felt cold and slightly shivered. His charming appearance and demeanor when speaking completely fooled her.

n“B-but what if they can become someone good that helps people around them…”

n“Your Highness, as much as it pains me to say this, you are wrong.”

n“!?!?…You are…” .

n” I apologize for not properly greeting you before, but the circumstances were not allowing for that”

nAs Cai Yin was desperately trying to find a way to reason with Wu Long, Shen Min suddenly opened her mouth, taking off an earring. She was disguised in the same appearance she met the princess before, so Cai Yin did not pay much attention to her, but when she saw her appearance after she took off the earring, and recognized the earring in her hand as well, she looked at her in astonishment.

nWu Long saw the guards and attendants around the princess go on full alert but did not do anything. It seems they realized that the princess did not want to escalate the talks unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

n“It has been a while, Your Highness. I have not been able to properly thank you before. Thank you for saving me back then”

nShen Min smiled and bowed in gratitude to Cai Yin, who looked at her with wide eyes.

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