Chapter 210: Plan

Hu Rui'an lightly shook his head, sensing that the commanding officer before him did not quite believe his words.

He was not surprised by this; if the roles were reversed, he himself would likely disbelieve such a claim upon first hearing it.

Immediately, Hu Rui'an shifted his thoughts and gave Fu Qiwén a brief account of everything that had occurred on this journey.

Upon hearing Hu Rui'an's words, Fu Qiwén's expression froze instantly—he was clearly stunned.

"How is this possible?"

Fu Qiwén's already deeply lined forehead creased even further as he said:

"Shen Juesheng was a long-established martial elder of the Jianghu; according to you, his martial cultivation has advanced even further, yet he was still knocked flying by a single punch from the Eighth Prince?"

It was not that Fu Qiwén disbelieved the man's words—it was simply that this matter was too incredible.

Once, Shen Juesheng had dominated the Jianghu with his peerless Dao of the knife, a figure the young Fu Qiwén had deeply admired; yet now he had been defeated by a mere youth under twenty, fresh to the Jianghu—no one would believe it if told.

Hu Rui'an watched Fu Qiwén's face, filled with shock and doubt, and thought to himself that he had not yet mentioned Lady Murong Xiaoya—if he had, the man would be even more astonished.

As for why he did not mention Lady Murong Xiaoya, it was because Li Musheng had instructed him to keep it secret; after all, Lady Murong Xiaoya's Zhu Que bone was an exceedingly rare treasure.

This artifact could rapidly enhance one's power to an astonishing degree; if word got out, who knew how many in the Jianghu would covet it?

"My lord, rest assured—every word I just spoke is true. With the Prince's martial strength, escaping from Luoshenfeng Sect should be no problem."

Hu Rui'an spoke with clear confidence, offering Fu Qiwén a reassuring word.

Hearing this, Fu Qiwén fell silent, his expression shifting, before finally giving a slight nod and saying:

"Very well. I hope your words are true."

Then he slowly closed his eyes, and opened them again, saying:

"The Prince has always felt different from others; previously, I thought he had some hidden advantage, but now it seems…"

He did not continue, for how could he imagine a mere twenty-year-old possessing martial strength surpassing Shen Juesheng? How had the man cultivated such power?

Fu Qiwén shook his head, glanced toward the direction of Luoshenfeng, then gathered his thoughts and said:

"Setting aside the Prince's matter for now—even if his martial cultivation is truly supreme, annihilating Luoshenfeng cannot be accomplished by him alone."

Saying this, he opened the map on the table and ordered the three Vice Prefects of the Tianjinwei from the already-converged three provinces to join him for a meeting.

"Rui'an, you've handled the affairs in Shengzhou well—I had actually already considered abandoning the Tianjinwei presence in this province."

At this, Fu Qiwén praised Hu Rui'an with evident approval, but Hu Rui'an dared not take credit, saying:

"It was all thanks to the Prince; without him, I could never have captured Mei Yan and his wife."

At this, the two exchanged glances—Hu Rui'an had, of course, fully reported Mei Yan's death and that of the Martial Saint's daughter.

Yet now their focus was entirely on annihilating Luoshenfeng, and they both silently avoided discussing the matter.

Soon, the other three Vice Prefects commanding the Tianjinwei across the three provinces arrived, and Fu Qiwén began formulating the next offensive plan.

"Luoshenfeng's influence is deeply rooted in Lanzhou; we must deploy carefully, concentrate all our strength, and break through their defenses from four directions, then strike straight to the foot of Luoshenfeng."

As he spoke, Fu Qiwén pointed to the map, where the central position of Luoshenfeng Sect's territory was marked.

The main peak, "Luoshenfeng," was surrounded by eight other main peaks arranged in all directions; four of these had already been circled in vermilion ink—clearly the ones Fu Qiwén had carefully selected as targets for the breakthrough.

"The other three routes have already been engaged by three other senior Tianjinwei commanders besides myself, each attacking one of Luoshenfeng's three peaks; our target is the third peak—'Yuxing Peak.'"

…

On the dusty road, the carriage of the Xishan Dao Sect rolled forward, leaving deep ruts, while the scar-faced man up front kept glancing back at Li Mu, who rode a mule.

But whenever Li Mu looked up, the man immediately hurriedly averted his gaze.

Since leaving the last Luoshenfeng checkpoint, half a day had passed; along the way, they had coexisted peacefully with Li Mu.

They had encountered Luoshenfeng disciples setting up roadblocks and checkpoints, but nothing had happened.

This man behind them did not seem to harbor any deep grudge against Luoshenfeng—he appeared content to do nothing unless Luoshenfeng people provoked him.

Yet now the scar-faced man was torn and deeply conflicted.

On the road, they had encountered Luoshenfeng forces multiple times; he had considered revealing Li Mu's identity to them, hoping to be rid of the man behind.

But when he recalled the gruesome scene of Hu Rui'an effortlessly wiping out a group of Luoshenfeng experts, he was instantly terrified and abandoned the thought.

Moreover, though Li Mu on the mule gave off no trace of martial Qi, the fact that the previous group had allowed him to accompany them to Luoshenfeng meant he must have some hidden strength.

Thus, his thoughts rose and fell repeatedly, yet he never dared to resist.

"What is he going to Qisheng Peak for? He killed so many Luoshenfeng people at once—this hardly looks like a birthday visit."

The scar-faced man was alarmed and uncertain; taking the man to Luoshenfeng wasn't a problem, but he feared Li Mu would cause trouble and drag the entire Xishan Dao Sect down with him.

Meanwhile, Li Mu rode the mule, refining the Qinglong Cangming Jing while traveling.

Accustomed to smartphone navigation, he found ancient maps as incomprehensible as random scribbles; his sense of direction was poor, so following the scar-faced man's group was truly convenient.

At this moment, he turned his head and saw, not far behind, the robed old man leading a large horse, upon which sat a girl in pink robes—now appearing on the other side of the road.

Li Mu slowed slightly, waiting for them to catch up, then glanced at the two and stroked his chin, saying:

"Surely not—you've followed me all this way just for this mule? Your hearts are too small."

Hearing this, the girl in pink pouted, her eyes darting as she sized up Li Mu, her slender eyebrows furrowing as she said:

"The expert who traveled with you is gone—why are you still so arrogant?"

(End of Chapter)