Chapter 3055: Duanmu Heng's Third Suggestion

In his haste, Duanmu Heng forgot his place.

"Huh?" Pan Xincheng snapped, "Impudent!"

"Please, Celestial Venerable, clear my doubts!" Duanmu Heng urged anxiously, "When?"

Pan Xincheng sighed, recalling briefly:

"Exactly when—I can't remember."

Such a minor matter, the authorities wouldn't even bother to announce it with fanfare. Pan Xincheng could only estimate:

"But it should be within a month."

"Meaning after the Battle of Kunlong Ravine?"

"Yes… probably."

Damn it! Duanmu Heng closed his eyes—no wonder he'd always felt the small hole on the gate was off; his intuition had been warning him repeatedly!

He had once read materials about Panlongcheng, which mentioned that Panlongcheng bred the Three Corpse Worms—not only to confuse enemies in battle, but also to guard the city gates in peacetime, detecting those with ill intent.

The Three Corpse Worms naturally stem from human malice, so of course they are especially sensitive to others' malice. Panlongcheng used them to guard the gates, year after year keeping enemy spies at bay.

The walls of ancient Panlongcheng also have many such holes; later generations generally believe they were formed by wind erosion in the wasteland, but some say they are nests of the Three Corpse Worms. Now, inside the gate tunnel of the Chixiao Golden Palace, there are also such holes!

The ongoing series of major battles taking place on the Between Between Between Beijia mainland involve hundreds of thousands of Cangyan troops, which shows that after the Battle of Kunlong Ravine, the Earth Mother once returned to Cangyan and transported the army over.

That is to say, with the Panlongcheng, which has returned from void to substance via the Great Square Vessel, there is an opportunity to place the Three Corpse Worms on the gate of the Chixiao Golden Palace!

But when Duanmu Heng made his plans, he never anticipated this; he still based them on the original data of the Chixiao Golden Palace, so of course there would be deviations! His data was outdated, not updated.

When they crossed the sea in disguise, they harbored ill intent toward Cangyan and the Chixiao Golden Palace, making them impossible to escape detection by the Three Corpse Worms.

Just this tiny oversight in intelligence led to their failure to reach Mei Lake smoothly, causing his painstaking infiltration plan to become a laughingstock.

Infuriating, hateful!

His heart gave a sudden jolt: if this is true, the other side likely noticed them upon their initial entry into the Chixiao Golden Palace, yet never acted to overturn the table and capture them—could it be because the other side also needs time, and thus dares not startle the snake?

The time to prepare, the time to gather resources and manpower. In other words,

Thinking this, Duanmu Heng shouted a warning: "All Divine Venerables, take note—they may have mobilized the entire power of Ju City!"

Wei Jia Shen had not yet spoken when a heavenly god ahead suddenly turned and asked him:

"Are you Duanmu Heng?"

"Yes! Your…" Duanmu Heng could feel that this deity differed from Pool and the other heavenly gods—more aloof, more immense in divine power, and more importantly, the other heavenly gods deliberately kept their distance from Pool, treating him with special reverence.

"I'll give you one more chance." This heavenly god interrupted him, "If what you say is true, and Ju City's defensive forces pour out in full, then they will likely intercept us ahead."

Whatever trap, whatever Great Immortal Huang, whatever Giant Spirit God—these are merely appetizers, merely the other side's delaying tactics. Ju City will bring out the true main course to entertain us.

"That is, a narrow encounter." I ask you: in this situation, do you still have any advice to let us quickly take the Chixiao Golden Palace?" To the Lingxu crowd, regardless of the reason, Duanmu Heng has already failed twice—once at Kunlong Ravine, once now—both are crucial plans of the Lingxu Holy Venerable.

Three strikes and you're out; he has no chance for a third failure.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Duanmu Heng's back, knowing his personal fate hinges entirely on this answer. But he had already rehearsed this problem long ago, so without hesitation he said:

"Don't lock horns with the Cangyan people; scatter and head for Mei Lake!"

"Are you sure?" This heavenly god's eyes narrowed, he said sternly, "The other side has already discovered us and mustered the entire power of Ju City to encircle and intercept us. In this situation, you want us to divide our forces?"

"If we move as a group, it's easier for them to encircle and intercept us; if we split up, even if divided into dozens of streams, the enemy will be thrown into confusion." Encircling and intercepting is ultimately a passive act—it must adjust its plan and direction according to the target's movement, so time-wise it will always lag a few steps behind. "Here to Mei Lake is not far—at most a few dozen breaths, at least half a moment; most Divine Venerables could make it there!"

Wei Jia Shen interjected: "If the enemy has heavily garrisoned the shores of Mei Lake, waiting for us to walk into their net, then dividing our forces would also be futile? We still need to fight them properly."

"They can't hold it." Duanmu Heng shook his head, "Mei Lake is too vast, its shoreline too long—throwing tens of thousands of people onto the lakeside, they'd vanish instantly. Even if they use the Wu Jin Golden Mirror to track each of us Divine Venerables, they'd only be able to search one by one—this is precisely the advantage of dividing forces."

The heavenly god ahead then asked him: "They likely already know our objective—if they just take away the core of the Chixiao Golden Palace, we'll come for nothing." "If they can do that, then even if we go together, we'll come for nothing." Duanmu Heng sprinted ahead, his thoughts still flowing, "But I firmly believe one thing: the core of the Chixiao Golden Palace is an absolute secret in Jiuyou's hands. Before our arrival, if there were a second person in this palace who knew its location, that would be unthinkable—let alone taking it away!"

"Even the State Minister of Cangyan, Du Shan, couldn't?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Duanmu Heng declared firmly, "If it weren't for our infiltration, I'd suspect Du Shan doesn't even know where the core is stored. Imperial intentions are like the sea—deepest parts no one trusts. The Chixiao Golden Palace surely recognizes only Jiuyou as its master; if besides Jiuyou there were a second person with the power to move the core, this palace would be in danger!"

The most unbelievable thing in this world is the human heart; the hardest thing to test is human nature. If such a tremendous secret were shared with a second person, that would mean constantly testing that person's heart and nature.

How could Jiuyou, so perceptive, do such a foolish thing?

"Now Jiuyou and the Earth Mother are both on the Between Between Between Beijia front lines, unable to return here in time. So I judge that Ju City can only strive to guard the core of the Chixiao Golden Palace, but cannot move it." Duanmu Heng said quickly, "But we are different! If we cannot take it, we only need to destroy it!" The requirement of the Lingxu Holy Venerable is simply to take the Chixiao Golden Palace lock, stock, and barrel. As for how—whether to take it or destroy it—whatever is convenient, let's do it. In short, what Pool most wants is to strike an effective blow against the War Alliance and Cangyan.

This heavenly god remained silent for a few breaths, then said: "Hope you didn't speak wrong this time."

Duanmu Heng's forehead beaded with sweat, yet his attitude was firm: "No mistake. Otherwise, why hasn't the other side moved Mei Lake's core yet?"

The heavenly god thus ignored him.

Duanmu Heng softly asked the Coming-and-Going God: "Who is this?"

A single glance from them could give him immense pressure.

"The Ying Shi Tian, my lord."

Duanmu Heng gasped in surprise, his heart finally at ease.