"You're telling me that little Kai might be one of the demonic cultivators we've been looking for? Damn..."

Mu Ran stared at the spot where Shen Kai had vanished off and his face looked like he was undergoing some sort of profound 'character-growth'. Zhanxian, wearing a dark cloak, stood idly beside him and observed a shard of one of the knives it had picked up from the ground where it had exploded. The aura emitting crystal in the pocket of his robe was still glowing faintly in the night's bleak light, stimulated by the remnants of Xuhan's qi.

Han Xuhan really wanted to see what Shen Kai's reaction would be after learning that he had been frightened off by a skeleton who wasn't even as strong as Xuhan himself. Shen Kai's expression would be such a precious sight! If they really ever met in the future again, Xuhan would surely reveal this small information during a critical moment.

Xuhan had just finished explaining what had happened here. Looking back, it had been the most intense struggle of his life. Had he failed to deceive Shen Kai just once, his fate would have been sealed. That said, Han Xuhan vaguely felt that Shen Kai originally didn't want to kill him. The spot where he had tried to stab Xuhan on his first move was a bit off from the position of his heart. Had the dagger entered his body, it would've come out under his left collarbone.

Xuhan couldn't think of a reason why Shen Kai would bother to injure him. Even if the weird portal was a trap, Han Xuhan was so weak that he would've died first after going in.

Unless...That wasn't a trap, but a clue to what the demonic cultivators were up to. That could explain why Shen Kai suddenly went berserk despite his well prepared disguise. No wonder he had offered to go in inside the portal first despite how dangerous it seemed to the Han Xuhan and Mu Ran. But then, why would such an important clue like the portal be exposed like this? It was so easy to find that even Mu Ran had found it while peeing, not to mention it was in the middle of a cleaning in a jungle with clear evidence of human activities...

...Unless, Mu Ran had lied about how he had found the portal. Logically, the only oddity here was Mu Ran, and it was he who 'accidentally' found out about the portal, something that should have been well disguised and protected.

Following that logic, it could be assumed that Mu Ran definitely did something he didn't want others to know and managed to unearth a hidden portal to someplace that likely had an important clue to their mission.

Looking at how enthusiastic Mu Ran was about venturing inside this suspicious portal, Xuhan guessed that some sort of precious treasure was involved here. Perhaps Mu Ran had found something he didn't want to share with others, understandably.

Xuhan didn't want to compete with Mu Ran for such treasures. But seeing how much risk he had been forced to take, Xuhan felt that he deserved some remuneration.

"Boss, what's on the other side of the portal? Is it really a trap?"

Mu Ran's chain of thoughts broke as he turned to look at Xuhan. He seemed to have recovered from the shock pretty fast.

"Oh it's definitely not a trap. If it was it'd be difficult for me to return so fast, wouldn't it?
The other side seems to be a completely separate world from this side. The first thing I saw there was an overwhelming amount of fog and strange different coloured balls of light floating in the air in the midst of the fog. For some reason, the fog gave off a dangerous impression. So i didn't get close to it and waited for the two of you to come over. Had I known that the situation on your side was so dire, I would have rushed here to help. After all, you're so weak. It must've been quite difficult to defeat someone two layers above you in terms of cultivation level."

"He was at least five layers above me."

"...Ah, must've been more difficult than I thought. So anyway, since it's not a trap, how about we return and check it out?"

Xuhan felt a bit pissed off at how lightly Mu Ran treated his victory just now. But it was understandable. Mu Ran was used to beating up opponents much stronger than himself in terms of cultivation level.
But Xuhan didn't raise a fuss since he was about to 'pull a manoeuvre' right now.

"Boss, since it's not a trap, that means it might be something the demonic cultivators don't want others to find out. In that case, they wouldn't leave the entrance out in the open so conspicuously, right? Did you really discover it while peeing?"

Xuhan's tone was light, but there was a slippery undertone hidden in the way he spoke. Mu Ran suddenly looked rather awkward. Avoiding Xuhan's gaze that seemed to be laced with suspicion and anger, Mu Ran stuttered and tried to come up with an excuse or rebuttal. But Xuhan interrupted him as soon as he opened his mouth, taking the chance to accomplish his original aim.

"You know, I think we should really return to the sect and report this to the authority. After all, Shen Kai alone almost killed me, and he's definitely not the only demonic cultivators around. I can't see any point in risking my life just because you want to go inside that portal that leads to some godforsaken place. Surely, an elder from the sect would be a much better investigator since the enemies involved here are so powerful. Even if the other side of the portal is not a trap, your description makes it seem like a place we outer court disciples shouldn't explore stupidly."

"Now hold up, underling. I'm confident that I can protect us both-"

"I don't remember you fighting Shen Kai though."

Mu Ran winced and shut up at that. How was he supposed to explain to his underling that the ancient, slumbering soul hiding in his body was desperately urging him to go inside that portal and explore the mysterious world fragment on the other side?

If Mu Ran didn't comply, the ancient soul might fall into another long period of slumber from which it might never wake up at all. He had made a deal with that soul. If the soul really fell asleep, Mu Ran's fate was sealed. Eternal torment awaited him down that path.

But Mu Ran couldn't find faults in Han Xuhan's logic either. Han Xuhan was an out and out weakling. He saved his neck from Shen Kai's clutch by probably relying on luck. But the next incident may not lead to such a good ending for either of them.

"Fine, Han Xuhan. How about this? Let's make a deal. You won't report the incident of me going down the portal to the sect. In return, I'll share ten percent of whatever I find in there or the equal worth in spirit stones. You dont even have to go in, just wait outside."

Han Xuhan's eyes gleamed. Finally, Mu Ran was starting to think in the same wavelength as him. But that still wasn't what he wanted to achieve.

"Boss, how can I let you go in alone? Even if it's risky, I'm willing to go in and explore the other side of the portal. I believe sharing the guilt of overstepping our boundaries in this mission would bear better results. How about we split the share based on our contribution during the exploration? And if I really dont manage to contribute much, we can follow your offer just now, right?"

Taken aback at first, Mu Ran slowly let out a grin and agreed, and saw the same grinning expression being mirrored on Han Xuhan's face in the dim moonlight.