Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu needed to quickly wash off the sweat from their bedroom activities. They also decided, after smelling their room, to host the meeting in another room.

Since Mei Xilan’s room was the biggest, that was the one they used. They arrayed themselves around the sitting area. Zhou Lihua and Hou Jingshu sat on either side of Wu Jian, and Youmei had taken residence on his lap. She demanded he stroke her head so that was what he was doing. Shuchang, Zhou Wen, and Mei Xilan were also seated.

“I see that Youmei has returned. I take it she found something?” asked Mei Xilan.

“I haven’t heard yet. I figured if she did find something, it would be better to say it just once,” Wu Jian said, then prodded Youmei. “What did you find?”

“Um… Youmei followed that Liang Wei guy like you asked her to. He went all the way to this forest and there was a hidden base in a tree.”

“A hidden base?” Hou Jingshu murmured.

“In a tree?” Wu Jian also felt confused.

Youmei continued without answering them. “Youmei went inside with them. She hid in one of their shadows. Inside was a biiiiiiiiig room with lots of women.”

“The kidnapped women,” Mei Xilan muttered, then spoke in a louder voice. “What were they all doing there?”

“Um. They were naked hugging, like what Master and Big Sis Jingshu were doing when Youmei came back.”

Youmei’s declaration caused everyone to turn deadpan stares their way. The expressions they wore somehow seemed both accusatory and exasperated.

“They were, were they?” Zhou Lihua said dryly.

“Um. The room was also very smelly like Master’s room too.”

Hou Jingshu’s cheeks turned a fierce red. Wu Jian had never been happier to have his face covered with a mask.

His room did currently reek of sweat and sex. Now that he was thinking about it, this base was underground, which meant there was no way to air out the smell…

Shaking his head, Wu Jian decided to get this conversation back on track. “I think this proves that Rén Xuě is kidnapping women and using them as cultivation furnaces to raise an army.”

“Nice segue,” Zhou Lihua murmured.

Wu Jian ignored her.

“I believe so, too. Now that we know this, we can proceed with the next phase of the plan.”

What they needed to do next was find out what dual cultivation method they were using. Youmei had stuck around while the young men Liang Wei brought to that hidden base assaulted the kidnapped women. They were not cultivators, but according to her, they all became first subrealm Hunger Realm cultivators after having sex.

“I’ve always been taught that it’s impossible to cultivate if you turn sixteen and haven’t activated your dantian and meridians. The fact that people in their 20s were able to become cultivators through this method seems suspect. I don’t doubt the veracity of Youmei’s words, but this is simply unbelievable,” Mei Xilan said.

“Um. If I may,” Zhou Wen finally spoke for the first time in a while. “I’m not much of an expert on this subject, but I actually do know a bit. The Zhou Clan has a vast wealth of knowledge, after all, including many forbidden text.”

“So you know what method Rén Xuě is using?” asked Shuchang.

Zhou Wen shook her head. “No… but I know such methods exist. There is one method I can think of that can forcibly activate a person’s Meridians and Dantian. It’s called Furnace of Souls Dual Cultivation Method. I, uh, don’t know too much about it. I only saw a bit of the book when I was working in the Zhou Clan library nearly a decade ago.”

Furnace of Souls was a grim sounding name. It made clear that it was an invasive technique that turned one person into a cultivation furnace for the other.

“If a method like that exists, there will be a scroll somewhere,” Mei Xilan said slowly.

“Wouldn’t he have destroyed the scroll by now? To prevent people from discovering it?” asked Wu Jian.

Shuchang snorted and crossed his arms. “You can’t just destroy a scroll containing a cultivation method. They are imbued with powerful spiritual energy that renders them nearly indestructible. To destroy a scroll containing a cultivation method or technique, you have to be stronger then the cultivator who created the scroll, and most cultivators capable of creating scrolls like this would be at the Deva Realm… at the very least.”

Wu Jian tapped his mask several times in lieu of his face. “So the cultivation method has to be somewhere. It’s most likely hidden. If I were Rén Xuě, I would not want anyone finding it.”

There was no doubt in Wu Jian’s mind that, should the soldiers under him learn about this method and what it did, they would oppose him. The friction it would create within his army was unimaginable. His only option was to exploit the ignorance of his men by keeping them in the dark. He was manipulating them into serving his interests and furthering his agenda without questioning the long-term implications.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Liang Wei might know something,” Mei Xilan said. “Rén Xuě seems to trust him. I’ll try to ask him about the scroll.”

“Be discreet,” Zhou Lihua said. “He might become suspicious if you’re too forward.”

Mei Xilan waved a hand as though warding something off. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it sound like I’m interested in seeing what techniques Rén Xuě has available to learn.”

“While you do that, we’ll continue to look around,” Shuchang said.

There were a lot of restrictions placed on their movement within the base. Rén Xuě didn’t trust them. It also seemed like a clear indicator that there were things in this base he didn’t want them knowing about. Perhaps the cultivation method scroll was somewhere in this base. If Wu Jian was Rén Xuě, he would have kept the scroll on his person at all times, but the man didn’t seem to have a storage ring on him…

Hmmm…

Well, there was really nothing Wu Jian could do right now. He would let Mei Xilan handle this task.

***

Mei Xilan had been experiencing internal conflicts ever since she arrived in the Sui Kingdom. Her very first meeting with someone from the Sui Kingdom that she had a personal connection with left a vile taste in her mouth. Liang Wei, a childhood acquaintance and even someone she might have called a friend, had been kidnapping women for Rén Xuě. Now she had discovered that they were using a vile dual cultivation method to steal the vitality of these women in order to force their soldiers to become cultivators. That alone was horrendous, but the fact that this method undoubtedly had a drawback made it even worse.

She would feel no pity for the men who died or went insane after using this technique. Any man who would assault a woman to gain power deserved what they got. However, the method itself was still vile, and she felt bad for the women.

At the same time, she was questioning whether or not she could reconcile her desire for justice with the realization that achieving her goals may require compromising her principals. Was achieving her goals worth sacrificing her own morals over? This wasn’t just about Rén Xuě. There were other issues that she hadn’t told Wu Jian and the others about.

However, she forced those out of her mind as she looked for Liang Wei. She needed to take this one step at a time.

He wasn’t in the mess hall or the command chamber. She knocked on the door to his personal room, but he wasn’t there either. She asked around and learned that Liang Wei had been spotted in the training hall.

The training hall was spacious and carefully designed to create the best environment for cultivating martial skills and combat training. It was located deeper underground. Wu Jian and the others weren’t allowed down there, but Mei Xilan was on account of her status as the Sui Kingdom’s former princess.

Illuminated by spirit crystal lamps, the space was brightly lit, and natural ventilation shafts in the ceiling ensured a constant flow of fresh air. Carved from the solid rock of the mountain, the training hall featured rough-hewn stone walls and pillars. It was divided into two sections--a martial section and a cultivation hall. The loud sound of wooden weapons clashing echoed around her as a dozen or so men fought against a single person. That person was Liang Wei.

Mei Xilan quietly observed the sparring session of twelve versus one. Liang Wei was not great. His technique was sloppy. It was clear that his training had been haphazard. The reason he was able to so thoroughly overpower the twelve going against him was because he was a lot stronger than they were. That was it. She was almost disappointed.

Liang Wei noticed her after some time had passed and called an end to the training session. He came over with a smile as he wiped down the sweat shining on his face with a towel.

“Sui Mei Gōngzhǔ, I am honored by your presence. Have you come here for something? I have never seen you in the training hall before.”

“I came to speak with you,” Mei Xilan said carefully.

“I am happy to talk to you about anything.”

There was something suggestive about the way Liang Wei said that, like he was hinting at something, but Mei Xilan couldn’t for the life of her figure out what, and she had no real desire to.

“In that case, I wanted to ask about the kind of techniques and cultivation methods this army uses?” When Liang Wei gave her a guarded look, she smiled what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I realize that I know very little about the strength of the cultivators in this army. I won’t be able to help as well if I don’t know how strong our people are.”

“Ah… yeah, that does make sense,” Liang Wei murmured, though he still looked a little guarded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if I can help you. While we do have some technique scrolls I can let you look at, I don’t have access to our cultivation methods.”

“Not even the one you use?” Mei Xilan asked with her head tilted.

“Well… yes. You know, it’s like what you all said previously when Zhǐhuīguān Rén Xuě tried to get Jian Wu to reveal his cultivation method. The Cultivator’s Code? It’s like that. The method we use is a secret. It could cause a lot of problems if the enemy were to learn of it… n-not that I think you’d tell them, but a secret stops being a secret when too many people know about it.”

I never thought my argument from back then would be used against me like this…

Hindsight was also twenty-twenty. That said, even if she had known this would happen, she would have still said what she had back then. Mei Xilan did not know what cultivation method Wu Jian used, but she knew it was powerful. Wu Jian had the strength to defeat cultivators at a higher realm than himself. She could only imagine what sort of horrors Rén Xuě would cause if he gained a method like that.

“It’s a shame that I can’t learn the method. I’m certain I could help our people grow stronger, but I understand,” Mei Xilan said. She would let the others know about this and they would decide on a course of action. “Can you at least answer me this; is the method you use the same one as Zhǐhuīguān Rén Xuě?”

“Oh… um… I think so?”

He doesn’t seem to be lying. I guess he doesn’t really know.

“I see. Thank you for answering that question. I apologize if it was a strange thing to ask.”

“Not at all. I’m happy I could help you.”

Mei Xilan met back up with the others and discussed what Liang Wei had told her. It was obvious to them all that he was keeping secrets.

“We won’t be able to find out using subterfuge,” Wu Jian declared. “I think we should use force.”

“Is that wise, though?” asked Zhou Lihua. “It could cause a conflict with the resistance…”

“I agree with Jian Wu,” Hou Jingshu said. “We’ve been tiptoeing around this issue to prevent stepping on any toes, but might makes right in this world.”

Wu Jian nodded. “We’re much stronger than Rén Xuě and his ilk. We can subdue them, grab the evidence, and present it to everyone.”

Mei Xilan pondered for a moment, then nodded. “I agree. I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing. I’ll let Zhang Ming know of our plans.”

“Then let’s not waste any time.” Wu Jian stood up. “We should do this now.”

Mei Xilan and the others stood as well. The time for inaction was over. It was time to put an end to Rén Xuě and his evil actions.