Chapter 954: There Is No End to Fleeing

The sisters shared a telepathic bond; Lady Zhu also felt its gaze and immediately said, "He Lingchuan is right, this isn't difficult at all. If that fellow surnamed Yu comes, we'll join forces and finish him off!" "..."

It was a pity that a spider couldn't roll its eyes. Lady Zhu ignored it and turned to ask He Lingchuan, "How do you intend to deal with the people from Beijia?"

"Don't be impatient, let me ask you." Its tone was a bit irritable, so He Lingchuan soothed it, "The Beijia team that discovered you, why didn't they strike at you directly before?"

"They'd have to have the ability to do so." Lady Zhu said crossly, "A dozen or so people breaking into my home, wouldn't that just be serving themselves up on a platter?"

The leader surnamed Yu led his team to fight a Mobile Corps Commander war against it, and even mobilized the surrounding demons and official forces, but he simply dared not face it in a direct confrontation.

Just as He Lingchuan said, that was the wolf pack's tactic of harassment and exhaustion.

This Beijia detachment's most important mission was to tail it, to keep a close watch on Lady Zhu and create all sorts of trouble for it.

"Let me ask you again, if this team discovers you have moved to the Yangshan Archipelago, what will they do next?"

"Tail me, investigate." It wasn't easy to adopt a human perspective, so Lady Zhu pondered hard, "Find an opportunity to harass me again."

"The premise for them being able to do that is that you are isolated and helpless." He Lingchuan pointed out directly, "But here, you have Big Sister."

Lady Zhu puffed out her chest: "That's right, don't be afraid, little sister, you have me!"

When it came to one-on-one combat, she could beat her sister until she lost all her teeth; if the fellow surnamed Yu didn't even dare to attack her sister directly, wouldn't dealing with him be a breeze?

He Lingchuan smiled at the two of them: "And you have me."

Lady Zhu remained silent.

Was it really that simple? "First of all, Pan Si Island is, after all, an island in the sea, surrounded by water on all sides and very far from the mainland. It is inconvenient for the Beijia people to come and go, unless they travel by air." He Lingchuan held up a finger, "On the island, it is your domain. Even if they want to play the trick of attacking in a group, they won't be able to hire other demons to do the dirty work."

"Secondly, Pan Si Island is very close to Longji Island, and there are Yin Hui patrolling the sea. Anyone who wants to land on the island without cause must first pass that hurdle of the Yin Hui."

"Thirdly, neither Dong Rui nor I will stand idly by." He Lingchuan said sincerely, "I won't, my many subordinates won't, and the entire Yangshan Archipelago won't! Er Niang, from the moment you moved to Pan Si Island, you were no longer alone."

"Well said, that is exactly what I was thinking." Lady Zhu reached out a claw and scratched her belly, "Little sister, what are you afraid of!"

Lady Zhu was somewhat moved, but no expression could be seen on a spider's face.

Was this boy surnamed He trying to take it under his own wing?

After all these years, had it finally joined an organization? "What big talk." It said eerily, "Aren't you afraid that Beijia will extend a finger and snap you in two with a 'click'?"

He Lingchuan crossed his arms and stretched forward, and sure enough, two "crack" sounds were heard: "Like this?"

"Be serious." Lady Zhu said crossly, "You are sheltering me, aren't you afraid of exposing yourself?"

"I am afraid." Once the topic turned to himself, He Lingchuan leaned back against the large rock and returned to his relaxed posture, "But does being afraid mean I shouldn't do anything?"

He still had goals, he still had a vision, and he still had ambition; how could he stop here?

He Lingchuan said to Lady Zhu: "Didn't the fellow surnamed Yu say that for those Beijia wants to hunt down, it's useless to flee to the ends of the earth? You even shrank back behind the Mou Kingdom, and they still managed to find you."

"They are looking for me only to force out your whereabouts." Lady Zhu worried, "If I move here, won't you be suspected by Beijia?"

He Lingchuan laughed: "So what if they suspect me? Can they find solid proof?"

Lady Zhu interjected: "Wait, this isn't a court case. Does Beijia need evidence to suspect you?"

"They don't." He Lingchuan shrugged, "Let's follow the logic: if Beijia suspects me, what will they do?"

The spider sisters spoke in unison this time: "Deal with you!"

"Specifically, how would they do it?"

Both spiders fell into deep thought.

For such a powerful nation to target an individual, it was indeed a terrifying pressure like the sky collapsing. Even ancient great demons like them felt deep apprehension, and a normal person's first reaction would surely be, "It's over, I'm dead."

But He Lingchuan was already far from Beijia and behind the Mou Kingdom. If Beijia wanted to deal with him, how would they operate? "I am now the lord of the Yangshan Archipelago, with territory and influence." Regardless of whether his influence had yet to grow, it existed. The line between "having" and "not having" was clear, "If Beijia wants to strike at me, there are only three methods: either sneak attacks, sending an army, or inciting surrounding forces."

"From our geographical location, the 'sending an army' option is ruled out first; it is almost impossible."

Both spider demons hummed in agreement.

There was no land connection between Beijia and the Yangshan Archipelago; to get here, they would have to deploy a fleet.

More importantly, this was the deep rear of the Mou Kingdom. If Beijia brought an army here, it would be equivalent to declaring total war on the Mou Kingdom.

At present, the fighting between the two countries could still be called minor skirmishes and conflicts. Both sides were fighting half-heartedly; how much effort had they really used? Would Beijia escalate the war entirely for the sake of one He Lingchuan?

Picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon—the Beijia Demon Emperor didn't seem that muddled.

"Then only sneak attacks and inciting surrounding forces remain, just like what they did to Er Niang before." He Lingchuan continued his analysis, "Let's talk about the surroundings first. The forces near the archipelago are just Bailie and the Qing Kingdom, plus perhaps the Ya Kingdom. But the Ya Kingdom is separated from us by Bailie."

"We are isolated overseas and do not border them at all, so these three forces cannot reach us. Furthermore, as for the situation in the Yangshan waters, ha, they are all aware of it. In a place with baleful energy and Yin Hui, anyone who comes must think twice."

"Then only the last method remains: sneak attacks." Lady Zhu answered first, full of confidence, "We aren't afraid of that!"

"Yes, we aren't afraid of that." He Lingchuan smiled, "A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake; this is our home turf. If they want to come here and use force, they must think it through carefully. Even if they use divine descent, you sisters have nothing to fear together, not to mention that I have an army of Yin Hui under my command that can be deployed at any time."

"Besides, is divine descent such a casual matter?" He Lingchuan's understanding of divine descent far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators, "Every divine descent consumes a massive amount of divine power. Which deity would be willing to pay the price for a mere 'suspicion'?"

When he laid out his plans in the Panlong Desert, the Heavenly Palace sent a Capital Cloud Envoy, which was certainly a sign of taking it seriously.

But He Jing didn't manage to summon a single divine avatar.

He Lingchuan reviewed the events afterward: was it that He Jing didn't want to summon a deity at the moment of life and death? Of course not. The only explanation was that no deity was willing to come down! The year before last, Song Yu summoned a divine avatar in the Panlong Desert, and as a result, that divine avatar was eaten by the Great Square Pot.

That was a warning from the past.

Deities were unwilling to send avatars even to fight over a supreme treasure like the Great Square Pot; would they now easily consume their own power because "Lingxu City suspects He Lingchuan"? He Lingchuan had already learned a lesson about the selfishness of deities.

"That is why I said just now that Beijia only suspects me but has no solid proof; this is very important!" Regarding the mindset of those in power, He Lingchuan was much clearer than the two spiders, "If there were irrefutable evidence and the supreme deities ordered my capture, Lingxu City might have no choice but to comply. But if it is only suspicion, and Beijia does not want to pay a high price, they will naturally come up with many excuses to fob off the deities."

The art of weighing options, in the end, is all about the cost.

In the end, it is about whether it is worth it.

"For example, I am merely an archipelago lord who kindly took you in. How would I know what you did in the past? Just like the Mou Kingdom once kindly took you in. Does that mean the Heavenly Palace and Lingxu City were thrown into chaos by the Mou Kingdom?"

"I have taken in many other demons on this island, I just treat you the same as them. How did I become the mastermind behind the chaos in the Heavenly Palace?"

He laughed: "If he says the reason enough times, perhaps even they will believe it."

"Just like that?" Lady Zhu was still a little uneasy, "You are the number one on Beijia's wanted list, will Lingxu City just let it go like this?"

"On the surface, they won't make a big fuss, but in the shadows, there might be constant movements." He Lingchuan laughed, "It doesn't matter. As long as Beijia isn't making a big fuss, I am not afraid of them."

There was one thing he didn't explicitly state: if Beijia wanted to launch a sneak attack, the best time would be on land. From now on, he would have to be twelve times more careful whenever he went to Blade Harbor.

"Beijia wanting to discover you, investigate me, tail me, and deal with me—all of that takes effort." He Lingchuan added, "In other words, we still have time to develop and grow. A few months is enough to make the Yangshan Archipelago look brand new and begin to take shape! Let alone the mere dozen or so people Beijia sent, even hundreds would be nothing to worry about."

"Fundamentally, to face the threat of Beijia directly, we need to become strong quickly ourselves." He said word by word, "We call the shots ourselves, and Beijia won't be able to do anything to us."

"There is no end to fleeing. If one only thinks of fleeing, one will surely be caught in the end." He kicked the rock at his feet, "Why was my first step to take the Yangshan Archipelago? Only with our own territory and army can we protect ourselves and protect our partners."

"Our secrets cannot be hidden forever." He said slowly, "On the day the truth is revealed, I hope we are already strong enough."

For this, He Lingchuan still had to put in endless effort.

The spider sisters were both silently pondering these words.

This boy, he really always had a countermeasure and was always so optimistic.

"By the way, the Yangshan Archipelago is very large and can still accommodate many demons." He Lingchuan asked the sisters, "Can you introduce some powerful and battle-hardened demons to come here?"

At the moment, the way to quickly improve his side's strength was to find demon muscle.

Training an army, after all, required patient, grinding effort; it wouldn't yield results so quickly.

Lady Zhu: "I've slept for so many years, I don't know if my old friends are all dead. I'll think about it carefully later."

Lady Zhu: "If the refined King in the Demon Nest Swamp is still alive, we could try to persuade him again. If you want to bring him over, there are a few other rogue demons in the swamp who might be brought to the archipelago as well."

(End of chapter)