Ye Shuyang was now also reluctant to bring it out, but he kept silent—after all, Duanmu Li was still holding the line! There was no need for him to step up and offend that great demon. As for Medicine Immortal Valley, Lu Qian didn’t say a word; he was just a disciple, after all, with no right to speak!
Morgan Shangguan suddenly smiled softly at Damien Gray and spoke with gentle warmth, "Ghostmaster, would you mind cooperating with us just this once?"
At her words, everyone exchanged glances. If Ghost Sect and Cloud Guild joined forces, could anyone stand against them? The righteous factions had once banded together to suppress the Ghost Sect, only to be destroyed one after another. Now, tempted by the treasure, some of the evil sects might join forces as well, but with the Cloud Guild on the Ghost Sect’s side, it wasn’t just about losing confidence—it was that they truly felt they didn’t stand a chance!
Damien Gray’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. "Isn’t the Cloud Guildmaster scheming against the Ghost Sect? Now you want to cooperate with us?"
With those words, everyone understood—there was little harmony between Ghost Sect and Cloud Guild. Secretly, they prayed Ghostmaster wouldn’t agree. Otherwise, they might not even see a crumb of the treasure! It would be best if Ghost Sect and Cloud Guild fought to the death and left the treasure for the rest.
Morgan Shangguan wasn’t angered. She simply asked calmly, "Ghostmaster, do you disagree?"
Damien Gray seemed to ponder for a moment before replying, "That depends on what the four righteous heroes think." His words carried a hint of sarcasm. "If the heroes are truly noble and generous, willing to share with their fellow martial artists and not hoard the treasure, then so be it. Otherwise, I’m not a petty man—I’ll set aside past grudges and cooperate with the Cloud Guildmaster to claim the treasure for ourselves."
Morgan Shangguan coughed lightly to hide her smile, then said with a touch of regret, "That would be quite a loss. Had I known, I would have held back and not provoked Ghostmaster!" As she spoke, she glanced at Jade Feilong and Ye Shuyang, then at Duanmu Li, as if hoping they wouldn’t reveal the treasure map—if so, cooperating with Ghost Sect meant a bigger share for them.
From their exchange, everyone understood that Ghostmaster still cared about the Cloud Guildmaster’s actions toward Ghost Sect, so he was reluctant to cooperate. Yet, if the four map holders refused to bring out the treasure map, he’d set aside past grievances and join forces with the Cloud Guildmaster to claim the treasure.
At this, the crowd cursed the two as shameless bullies, but they were powerless to resist. If these two weren’t ruthless, could they even be called villains? All they could do was hope the righteous leaders wouldn’t cling to the treasure map, so maybe they’d get a share after all.
They seemed to forget that the treasure had nothing to do with them in the first place. Their wish to get it for free wasn’t exactly noble either!
Damien Gray and Morgan Shangguan were only pressuring those few people; their main goal wasn’t to claim the treasure for themselves, but to investigate the hidden hand behind the scenes. Since someone backing Hua Qianyu was pulling the strings, they wanted to see his true intentions. Of course, if the opportunity arose, Morgan wouldn’t mind pocketing some gold and silver—she still needed capital to challenge the Ghost Sect!
After much discussion, Jade Feilong and Ye Shuyang, though unwilling, realized that bringing out the treasure map and searching together was the wisest choice. Otherwise, as Ghostmaster said, there would be no peace, and clinging to their own share was pointless.
Besides, if they really angered Ghostmaster, even their own share might be lost!
Jade Feilong was full of regret now. Why had he invited the evil sects? The other three treasure maps were all in the hands of the righteous. If he hadn’t called the villains, Hua Qianyu—the source of all this trouble—wouldn’t have appeared, and he wouldn’t be facing threats from Ghostmaster and Yun Fengqing!
Duanmu Li, on the other hand, didn’t care much; the treasure didn’t tempt him. But he wasn’t sure what Duanmu Xun thought, so he wrote a letter explaining the situation and waited for Duanmu Xun to come in person. After all, this was no small matter. Though Duanmu Li was the martial alliance leader, the real master of First Manor was Duanmu Xun, and as a son, he naturally had to listen to his father—filial piety demanded it.
Ye Shuyang, meanwhile, returned to Leaf Gate himself, since it was only two or three days’ journey from Jade Dragon Manor.
Lu Qian also wrote to inform Gu Yin, the master of Medicine Immortal Valley, but didn’t ask him to bring the treasure map. The valley was far from Jade Dragon Manor—nearly a month’s journey—and Gu Yin’s attitude was unclear. So, everyone planned to gather the three maps first, then go to Medicine Immortal Valley together.
At this point, no one wanted to leave Jade Dragon Manor, afraid of missing anything. So, they all stayed—and fortunately, the manor was big enough!
After that, talk of the treasure dominated every discussion. As for Hua Qianyu, who started all this chaos, no one knew when he’d disappeared—and no one cared.
For several days, everything was peaceful. With the treasure map drawing everyone’s attention, the Bloodheart Jade Ruyi had been all but forgotten.
In the room, Yun Su hesitated to speak. Morgan Shangguan flipped through her accounts, unable to bear Yun Su’s plaintive gaze. She looked to Ouyang Lin and said coolly, "Ouyang, why not steal back the Bloodheart Jade Ruyi? If this goes on, Yun Su will pine herself sick!"
Yun Su pouted, "I’m not! I just feel bad for Miss." She added in a small voice, "But I do like it too—it’s really beautiful!"
Morgan Shangguan smiled, "Just make sure to hide it well!" Yun Su nodded, happily dragging Ouyang Lin off to play thief.
Morgan Shangguan’s gaze returned to her ledger, but before she could refocus, a breeze swept by the window—and in the next instant, she was pulled into someone’s arms.
Damien Gray had just started kissing her neck when Morgan Shangguan pushed him away and said helplessly, "How many times have I warned you? Be careful—I’m supposed to be a man right now! If a man’s neck is covered in kiss marks, people will think I have a taste for men!"