“What do I think?”
Aksai’s expression darkened.
“Lin Mei is stubborn and naive, but she’s not reckless. She should be fine for at least the next two days. But this situation has got nothing to do with being reckless or not.
Let’s just say that things are about to get complicated. Friends would turn into foes and foes would turn into friends.”
“I think I get it. But…” Jian said with a doubtful voice.
“If I’m right,” Aksai continued. “Lin and Bai won’t be targeted by the demonic forces on their way back to Rai City. But what will happen once they leave the demonic sphere of influence? That, I really can’t say.”
There was a reason why Aksai thought that going back to take shelter in Haan Di was a bad idea. He didn’t specifically make things clear earlier because he didn’t want to expose a few things. Because that would have a certain set of consequences he didn’t want to bear by himself.
At first, Aksai had thought Lin Mei and the others were just ordinary cultivators. But something about the way Haitin had reacted when he looked at Lin made Aksai reconsider.
Then there was the strange timing of the demonic forces retreating during the battle, just when things were about to go south for Aksai’s group. At first, Aksai had assumed Haitin had ordered the retreat because he sensed Ren approaching.
But after witnessing the interaction between Haitin and Ren, Aksai was certain Haitin didn’t consider Ren a real threat. There was no reason for Haitin to pull back his forces before Ren even revealed himself. After all, he had arranged a theatrical show for Ren. Why would he not add more drama by killing a bunch of nobodies?
This wasn’t a preemptive move against Ren at all.
Now that he thought about it, it really was odd. If Haitin’s goal was to test Haan Di’s bottom line, he should have at least killed one or two of Aksai’s teammates. Why let them all live?
Aksai could only form one hypothesis from these details: someone in his group was as important as Haitin. Someone who represented the future of a powerful organization. Haitin didn’t want to offend that organization by endangering that person.
Ren clearly didn’t know this. If he had, he never would’ve acted the way he did with Aksai’s team. He would’ve personally escorted them back to Haan Di’s borders.
When Lin Mei mentioned that she had heard of Haitin Blackblood, Aksai had started suspecting that Lin Mei was the reason Haitin restrained his wild actions, all while giving Ren the impression he was merely testing Haan Di’s response.
Although this was all just conjecture, Aksai knew he was at least 70-80 percent right. Anyone with a bit of sense and an understanding of Dadangar’s brutal reality would come to the same conclusion given enough time.
Even Ren, if he thought back on Haitin’s behavior, would eventually understand.
And what would happen when Ren realized that a powerful “chess piece” was trying to leave the board? He had already offended someone by choosing not to rescue Lin and using her as one of the chess pieces.
So he certainly wouldn’t let Lin leave the Wild Devil Lands. Since he had already done it, he would use her as a chess piece to his advantage.
In simple terms, Lin Mei might be fine if she was just an ordinary righteous faction cultivator. But if she truly belonged to a powerful organization, things would take a dark turn.
Haan Di would use her to draw that organization to their side—by making her Haitin’s victim. This way, the organization behind her would back Haan Di and wage war against the demonic forces.
Haan Di might be weak for the time being due to some reason. However, its power and influence would certainly double if this organization were to support Haan Di in its objective to suppress the demonic faction.
***
Aksai watched Lin Mei’s fading figure as a multitude of thoughts and conjectures spiraled like a wild storm in his head. He sighed before speaking further.
“Let’s hope Lin isn’t some powerful chess piece in this game. As for the others… it’s out of my hands now. If they’re wrong, the Wild Devil Lands won’t be forgiving. And honestly, we don’t have the luxury to worry about others’ safety when we’re surrounded by danger ourselves.
If they end up dying, then we were right. If we die, then they were right. In the end, there’s no way to know for sure which path is the right one. We can only trust our instincts.
I won’t be happy if my prediction turns out to be true, and I won’t be sad if it’s wrong. Being right doesn’t give us any rewards, and if we lose, nothing else will matter anyway.
Dying is the easy part. There are fates worse than death out here. I’ve made my choice, and I won’t let their decisions influence mine.”
Jian gave a grim nod. “So, it’s just the two of us for Jaishin Lake?”
“Just us,” Aksai confirmed.
They watched in silence as their former teammates disappeared into the distance, each taking a different path, heading toward uncertain fates.
Aksai then turned and began walking in the direction they had planned. For the first time in a long while, he felt a pang of helplessness—not for his teammates’ safety, but for how Haitin would react when he discovered the group had split.
***
As far as Aksai understood, Haitin was a different breed of demonic cultivator. He wasn’t as crude and bloodthirsty as others who walked the path of the Demonic Dao.
At the same time, he was even more dangerous than a typical demonic cultivator because he knew how to control his emotions. In a way, he was a contradiction.
He was clever and cunning, with both talent and a powerful vessel bloodline. On top of that, he had an entire major demonic sect and its allies backing him.
Aksai guessed that even Core Formation Lords from the righteous sects wouldn’t necessarily want to antagonize someone like Haitin.
It wasn’t because Haitin’s individual strength surpassed that of a Core Formation Lord, but because he represented the potential of the new generation within the Demonic Dao.
As such, Haitin had become one of the key players in this cold war.
If Lin Mei also represented the future of a powerful organization due to her potential and lineage, then she was just as important as Haitin.
However, she and the organization behind her had been caught off guard by the demonic faction’s sudden actions, which stripped her of her “player” rights and turned her into a mere chess piece.
To make matters worse, Lin wasn’t as cunning or ruthless as Haitin, so she remained in a passive position in this confrontation.
Sensing something was wrong, she chose not to become a chess player and even wanted to quit the game altogether.