Time goes back almost two hours ago when the three women left Yang Ze alone to go up against the Red scarf bandit...

"What else can you tell us about the Red Scaft bandit?" Cang Yue was the one who asked this question. Since the other party was a powerhouse in the 4th Vein Expansion realm, she needed to know if there was something special about her. At this stage, every little intelligence might help.

Lin Yue thought for a moment before speaking about what she heard from the Sword Sect's information hall.

"She was a saintess candidate for the Sword Sect, but she let her greed get the better of her."

"One day, while exploring an unmarked section of the Endless Mountains, her team came across something. No one knows what it was, but the higher-ups of the Sword Sect have a suspicion that it might have something to do with the Fallen Cultivators."

"After that... she killed her entire team and vanished."

"It wasn't until half a year ago that she was discovered, and since then, the Sword Sect has been keeping an eye on her."

"Earlier, one of the Elders wanted to take action, but in the end held back because of the Grand Elder's order."

"Anyone who can manage to bring her head back or capture her alive would be promoted to the Saintess of the Sword Sect and given innumerable resources."

"Many have tried and failed. The last one being just a few weeks ago."

"I see." Cang Yue nodded in response, but at the same time, she couldn't help but think just what kind of treasure it was for a saintess candidate to desert her sect.

After all, she was the Saintess of the Duality Sect and knew exactly how exaggerated the treatment of a Saintess is.

"What else?" Cang Yue asked again. "What about her strength? Her techniques?"

Lin Yue took a short breath before nodding in response.

"Earlier, it was estimated that she was at the 3rd Vein Expansion realm, but after two 3rd Vein Expansion realm members of the Sword Sect died in her hands, they estimated her realm to be in the 4th Vein Expansion."

"What are the chances it could be even higher?" Cang Yue couldn't help but ask with a frown. She didn't want to have any uncertainties. It would be a disaster if the opponent turned out to be a 5th Vein Expansion realm expert or even worse... a Core Condensation powerhouse.

"None." Lin Yue replied in a confident tone.

"She was at the 3rd Vein Expansion realm half a year ago when she was discovered. An elder of the sect personally tested it."

"In half a year, it is impossible to break through to the 5th Vein Expansion realm."

"Mmmmm" Cang Yue just nodded absent-mindedly.

The three of them didn't say anything else after that. While Lin Yue and Cang Yue were carefully walking forward, Xaio Ruolan's steps paused as she let out a frown before her face returned to normal as she followed behind the two of them.

Though she would occasionally gaze in the direction where they had left Yang Ze.

------------

"It's this place."

Pointing at a simple cave that was enveloped in darkness, Lin Yue took out a thin parchment of paper before looking at it before nodding toward Cang Yue and Xiao Ruolan.

The two women took deep breaths as their figures visibly tensed.

They were going to face someone who could easily slap them to death. If not for Cang Yue, they wouldn't have even dreamed about trying this mission, much less coming here to complete it.

Cang Yue just snorted in displeasure while looking at these two wenches who were obviously waiting for her to go first.

"Forget it." She knew their strength very well. If these two were to go inside, they wouldn't even know how they died.

Raising her hand, she used her internal energy to cover her finger to lighten up the surrounding area.

The three of them then slowly began to walk deep into the cave,

Halfway through, they couldn't help but pause as an intense smell of blood overwhelmed them.

"What the?"

"Ugh..." Lin Yue just closed her nose in disgust, whereas Cang Yue just raised an eyebrow. They had seen their fair share of blood, especially Cang Yue, who had killed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people, and yet, the smell of blood coming from the cave was something that nauseated even her.

One could only imagine just how many people this Red Scarf bandit would have killed.

Xiao Ruolan, on the other hand, had no change in expression. She was usually the kind of person who always had a cold, expressionless face, regardless of the situation.

As the three of them slowly walked forward, they finally reached the end of the cave, and the moment they saw the scene in front of them, they couldn't help but take a deep, cold breath.

It was a large open area roughly ten meters wide. As for its height... it was roughly twenty meters, though the light emitting from Cang Yue's internal energy wasn't enough to illuminate it.

But it wasn't the height or width of the space inside the cave that surprised them; instead, it was the figure of a woman clad in red sitting on a stone, which was placed between five large blood pools with countless bones and half-rotten corpses in them.

The strangest thing about those corpses was their missing faces. It seemed that the woman had taken her time to peel them off.

If one were to look carefully, one would still be able to see their twisted expressions as if they had experienced unimaginable agony.

"It should have.... why did it... what happened..."

Before the three women could even take in the sight around them, they heard the Red clothed woman whisper to herself.

Her face was rather ordinary, though her figure was thin and rather curvy.

At the moment, she had a frown on her face as she constantly entwined her fingers with her hair, which was hanging loose.

Every time she uttered a sentence, she would pull her finger, plucking off that section of hair.

No one knows exactly why or how long she had been doing this, but judging by her half-bald head and the pile of hair beside her, one could only say it must have been long.

"Are you the Red Scarf Bandit?"

Cang Yue had no interest in knowing what or why she was doing this. Her goal was simple... take her back either dead or alive and complete this mission as soon as possible. They still have to tackle an entire tribe after this mission, and she wanted to focus her attention on that.

"....." The red-clothed woman didn't seem to hear her as she kept on plucking her hair with a twisted expression on her face.

"What the!?" Cang Yue just snorted in displeasure before walking towards her. Though she might appear confident, she was extremely wary in her heart, constantly looking around for any ambush or sudden attack.

But to her surprise, nothing happened.

She easily reached the red-clothed woman.

Standing directly behind her, Cang Yue lifted her hand as a long, thin needle appeared in it.

"WAIT." Lin Yue immediately shouted from the side to stop her. How could she not know that this bitch was trying to kill their target?

Normally, she wouldn't have a problem with that, but this was a golden opportunity to fulfil the mission criteria. If they manage to bring her back alive, then the rewards would be even more generous.

Since the other party was just sitting there without any resistance, wouldn't it be better to capture and take her back alive?

Cang Yue turned around in confusion. What was this little slut trying to do?

"We should take her back alive." Lin Yue spoke in a serious tone.

Cang Yue, on the other hand, looked at her like she was looking at an idiot before letting out a cold sneer.

Her hand, which was raised above the red-clothed woman's head, suddenly plunged down.

"NOOOOO." Lin Yue wanted to rush forward and stop her from doing it, but how could her speed compare to Cang Yue's?

She could only watch helplessly as Cang Yue's needle pierced the top of the red-clothed woman's head before coming out of her chin.

Her body suddenly twitched violently like a fish out of the water before turning cold.

"YOU."

It was at this moment that Lin Yue arrived beside Cang Yue while raising her finger towards her in anger.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" She couldn't help but scream in anger.

They had such a great opportunity to earn more merits and rewards, but this bitch squandered it. And for what?

"I promised to help you complete these three missions, and that is exactly what I am doing." Cang Yue just let out a sneer before pulling back the needle, bringing with it a burst of blood and some brain matter, which she waved away.

"Pick her up and let's go." She didn't want to waste another second in this damned place.

"YOU...." Lin Yue's breasts heaved in anger as she gritted her teeth while looking at Cang Yue. If not for the fact that she was two minor realms lower than her and would get absolutely destroyed in combat, she would have fought her.

In the end, she could only swallow her anger before averting her gaze with a 'hmph'.

And just when the tension between the two of them was at its peak, Xiao Ruolan spoke out in a cold voice.

"We should take a look around." Taking a look around, she spoke further.

"We got the Red Scarf Bandit, but what about the so-called treasure?"

"Where is it?"

"And why was she sitting like this?"

Her words instantly brought clarity to Lin Yue and Cang Yue, who both immediately began to look around.

A treasure that could turn a potential Saintess into a bandit... its value must be unimaginable.

The three of them searched for almost an hour, but to no avail.

Cang Yue even used her internal energy to destroy the blood pools, but she couldn't find anything there either.

In the end, Xiao Ruolan, after searching in some inconspicuous corner, finally managed to get her hand on a thin diary.

"Interesting." Her words instantly caught the attention of Cang Yue and Lin Yue, who arrived beside her with curious faces, eager to know what was written in the diary.

Without any hesitation, Xiao Ruolan opened it and began to read aloud.

[After years of searching, I finally managed to find the Crimson Heart. With it, I can finally bring my beloved back to life.

The first sentence made the three women raise their eyebrows. Who would have thought that a potential saintess of the Sword Sect would have a lover?

[The technique that I found with the Crimson Heart seems evil, but I have no choice. Forgive me, Che'er... I have to do this. For you... for me... and for us.]

...

[I SUCCEDEED... I managed to stitch his corpse using the secret method, and with the sacrifice of over a thousand people, I have managed to awaken it.]

....

[Why!? WHY IS HE NOT BACK TO HIS USUAL SELF? WHY IS HE LIKE THIS?]

....

[A TRAP... IT WAS A TRAP. THAT DAMNED THING CORRUPTS WHATEVER IT TOUCHES. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER BROUGHT IT.]

....

[forgive me dear... forgive me... forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me forgive me ]

Looking at the densely written apologies, Lin Yue drew in a cold breath.

"Crimson Heart! Isn't that just a myth?" Cang Yue couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"What?" Lin Yue's ears perked up. She had never heard about it before.

Cang Yue thought for a moment before replying in a grave tone.

"Legend is that a long time ago, an Immortal fell from the sky."

"No one knows what happened, but some say that an extremely powerful force of that time managed to get their hands on the corpse and extracted the Immortal's heart from it."

"But two days later, the powerful force that ruled over the continent was destroyed mysteriously, and the heart disappeared."

Speaking till here, Cang Yue took a sharp breath.

"Rumours have it that if someone manages to get their hands on the heart, they will have an endless supply of both Internal and Mental energy, as well as limitless life."

"But those are just rumours..." Speaking this last sentence, her voice trembled for a moment. She had to admit that even she was swayed.

If she manages to get her hands on this thing...

The three women spent half an hour more searching around before giving up.

In the end, Lin Yue carried the corpse of the red-clothed woman out of the cave as the three women made their way towards the place where they had left Yang Ze.

"Wait. Something's not right." Before they could even reach their destination, Cang Yue's footsteps paused with a frown on her face.

"What's this nauseating smell?" Lin Yue poked her head from behind while pinching her nose close. It was the most disgusting thing that she had ever smelled in her life.

The three of them cautiously made their way back.

And when they finally reached at the steep cliff where they left Yang Ze, they were greeted by the sight of a small figure that was almost half their size, sitting on top of a grotesque corpse with half his face torn off, revealing the earth-shattering appearance underneath.

As if sensing their presence, the figure arched over, bending his back while facing them with his head upside down, with a beating heart in his mouth and a smile so twisted that it sent a shiver down their spine.

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