Chapter 829: Night Kill

Gu Changhuai frowned slightly and said coldly:

"Aren't you afraid these Xiao family members are secretly still colluding with the Gui Water Sect, even as they publicly pledge allegiance to the Xia family, and ruin this plan?"

Xia Diansi shook his head calmly: "This is not up to me—my uncle knows what he's doing."

"Uncle?" Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened. "You mean… Xia Jiancha?"

"Yes," Xia Diansi nodded. "All matters concerning the Xia family's arrival in Qianxue Prefecture are under my uncle's full authority."

Gu Changhuai fell silent.

Regarding the Dao Ting Si's Inspectorate, he, as a Gu Diansi, could only remain silent.

Gu Changhuai turned his head away, no longer looking at Xia Diansi, instead fixing his gaze on the dark river, brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

Xia Diansi no longer looked at Gu Changhuai either.

Her expression was calm, her eyes fixed ahead, resolute.

The two acted as if they were sulking, neither looking at the other.

Mo Hua sighed softly, yet at the same time, he silently pondered within.

Xia Jiancha… who is this person?

Jiancha…

Judging by appearances, his status must be higher than a Gu Diansi—he can control Gu Shuji, so his cultivation must be at least Liu Yuhua, and his authority seems immense.

"This Xia Jiancha received a tip from the Xiao family, and, using the chaos in Wanyao Valley as a pretext, claimed that the scholarly atmosphere of Qianxue Prefecture was deteriorating, and extended his reach into the Dao Ting Si of Qianxue Prefecture…"

The first step was to investigate the Gui Water Sect.

But why investigate the Gui Water Sect?

To show loyalty to the Dao Ting Si, to uphold Dao law?

Mo Hua shook his head.

And after the Gui Water Sect is investigated, what then?

What will the Xia family—or rather, this "Xia Jiancha"—do next?

Mo Hua frowned; the situation felt increasingly chaotic.

Everyone wants to stick their hand in—Qianxue Prefecture is turning into a mess.

"We'll think about it later…"

The urgent matter now is capturing the Water Yanluo.

Originally, Mo Hua had been confident, but now that the Xiao family had gotten involved, he felt a quiet unease.

The situation was growing more complicated.

And could Xia Jiancha truly trust the Xiao family? Letting them get involved in such a crucial mission—eradicating water bandits, capturing the Water Yanluo?

Mo Hua found it hard to believe.

He couldn't make sense of it—then, at that very moment, he recalled the teachings of Mr. Xun from Shengzhiqian Sect:

"When facing matters, don't consider only your own perspective, or you'll inevitably be short-sighted, narrow-minded, and unaware that you're tunnel-visioned."

"Learn to stand high, and look down from above."

"Put yourself in their place—imagine yourself as the 'Ancestor,' and think how they would view the issue…"

"Put yourself as the Ancestor…"

Even if Xia Jiancha isn't an Ancestor, he holds Gao Wei—he sees things from above, looking down.

Mo Hua tried to imagine himself in Xia Jiancha's position.

The Water Yanluo mattered to him.

But to a cultivator of Xia Jiancha's level, he probably didn't care much.

The Water Yanluo was merely one of his pawns.

Even the Xiao family and the Gui Water Sect were his pawns.

This time, he set the tiger to devour the wolf—letting the Xiao family consume the Water Yanluo pawn—not only to seize leverage against the Gui Water Sect, but also to…

Test the Xiao family?

If the Xiao family obediently killed the bandits and captured the Water Yanluo, it would prove their allegiance was sincere.

If the Xiao family schemed behind the scenes, it would prove they harbored treacherous intentions.

Once the Xiao family truly showed disloyalty, pretending obedience while secretly resisting, this Xia Jiancha, after dealing with the Gui Water Sect, might turn around and eliminate the Xiao family too…

Set the tiger to devour the wolf, then kill both tiger and wolf.

The more Mo Hua thought, the more it made sense—he muttered inwardly:

"These people… so many scheming thoughts, and such dirty hearts…"

…

In the night, the river was dark and murky; the fleet continued forward.

Mo Hua sat at the bow, pointing the direction.

A silver thread glided freely through the water—this was the little silver fish.

It happily led Mo Hua forward.

But no one else could see it.

After crossing the wide river stretch, they entered the natural marshland known as the "Labyrinth," where the waterways narrowed and silt piled up, making boat passage difficult.

Xia Diansi ordered all boats to link bow to stern, forming a single-file line like a long serpent, to navigate the "Labyrinth" without getting lost or sinking into the mud.

After an indeterminate time, they arrived before the island.

Mo Hua looked up—the moon was cold, the wind high, the night deep; the island lay silent as ever, crouched in the Yan Shui River like a dormant beast of prey.

Xia Diansi waved his hand. "Hide."

All spirit boats shuddered, emitting a faint hum, as a layer of light curtain rose and gently enveloped their hulls, concealing them from view.

Mo Hua was startled by this sight.

Concealed spirit boats!

These more than thirty boats were all spirit boats with concealment effects!

Concealed spirit artifacts have always been expensive, let alone spirit boats of this size.

The Xia family truly has vast wealth and influence.

Mo Hua silently sighed in his heart.

After all the boats were concealed, they hid among the waterweeds surrounding the island.

Xia Diansi gathered the leading Zhisi and revealed to them the detailed encirclement plan:

"This is the array diagram of the island, it is…"

Xia Diansi glanced at Mo Hua and said quietly, "... crafted and surveyed personally by a highly skilled array master…"

"The diagram depicts the internal array layout of the island and marks the positions of the Eight Trigrams and Eight Gates…"

"Around the hour of Hai, we strike. At this time, the water bandits will venture out to raid, their gate wide open—we ambush them en route, kill a portion first, then breach the gate and surge inside."

"What comes after bursting in is the critical part."

"The gate through which the water bandits exit is the Kan Gate; if the plan proceeds smoothly, we will breach the Kan Gate at Zi Hour."

"After Zi Hour, when we storm the island, the bandits will inevitably activate the array, and thereafter, every half-hour, the Eight Gates within will shift."

"Here is the pattern of the Eight Gates' rotation—every team leader must memorize it."

"Ignore the other gates; only block the Du Gate and Jing Gate—the two ordinary gates—and the Kai Gate, Xiu Gate, and Sheng Gate—the three auspicious gates, especially the Sheng Gate, to prevent the bandits from escaping."

"Of course, manpower alone cannot seal them off."

"Outside the island, besides the initial Kan Gate, traps and array formations must be set at the entrances of the other seven gates to capture, surround, and even annihilate these bandits."

"These array formations have all been prepared in advance."

"Later, I and Gu Diansi will eliminate the hidden sentries around the island; everyone else must deploy these arrays before battle begins…"

…

After Xia Diansi finished giving orders, the Zhisi all bowed solemnly and replied in low voices:

"Yes!"

Yet they also felt a quiet awe.

Especially Xiao Tian, who spoke in admiration:

"The Xia family is truly a great clan—deeply rooted. In such a short time, they managed to summon such a skilled array master who uncovered the island's array."

"I wonder…" Xiao Tian asked curiously, "What is this Mr.'s name and background? Might this subordinate be fortunate enough to meet him?"

Mo Hua, beside Xiao Tian, blinked once.

"This 'Mr.' is standing right beside you…" Xia Diansi thought silently.

But she could not reveal Mo Hua's identity, only saying: "This matter is top secret; I cannot disclose it."

Xiao Tian said: "It was this subordinate's impertinence."

"Enough," Xia Diansi acted with swift decisiveness, no longer delaying, and ordered:

"Time is critical—act now! Give the water bandits no chance to escape! Crush them with Lei Ting force!"

The Zhisi all bowed their heads solemnly and replied:

"By your command!"

In the darkness that followed, one by one, the concealed spirit boats spread out methodically across the Yan Shui River, weaving a vast net that slowly encircled the island where the bandits hid.

The first step: eliminate the hidden sentries.

Such tasks required absolute silence and zero mistakes, so they were entrusted to Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi, both Jin Dan cultivators.

Night deepened; a water bandit on watch near the island yawned, growing drowsy.

The island was desolate and had never seen outsiders; over time, these bandits had grown lax, their vigilance far lower than before.

As he yawned, suddenly a pale hand clamped over his mouth.

The bandit's pupils widened in shock—he was about to shout when a sword tip pierced through his chest; wind spirit energy surged through the wound, spreading through his meridians and shredding his internal organs into bloody pulp.

The bandit struggled for a few moments, then his gaze dimmed, his breath vanished—he was dead.

Gu Changhuai killed one, turned his head, and saw Xia Diansi already had a short sword slit another bandit's throat.

The short sword was sheathed in a layer of frost.

At the instant she cut the bandit's throat, the frost sealed his nose and mouth, preventing any sound—even his blood slowly froze.

In mere moments, the bandit's face turned purple, his entire body encased in ice—he died on the spot.

Gu Changhuai raised an eyebrow.

This was the first time he had seen Xia Diansi fight.

Ice sealing, stealth assassination, one strike to kill.

It suited this woman's consistently cold nature.

Mo Hua, watching from afar, was also surprised.

"Ice elemental root…"

This was the first time he had ever seen an Ice elemental root cultivator.

In the cultivation world, elemental roots are commonly divided into Five Elements and Three Anomalies.

The Five Elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth; the Three Anomalies are "Wind, Ice, Thunder."

Wind elemental roots are uncommon but occasionally seen—for instance, Gu Changhuai possesses one.

Ice elemental roots are exceedingly rare; so far, Mo Hua has seen only Xia Diansi.

As for those born with a Thunder Spirit Root, capable of cultivating the powerful Lei Ting Dao Art, such cases are even rarer.

After eliminating the hidden sentries, Mo Hua led his men closer and began laying trap arrays along the island's waterside to ensnare the enemy.

He placed fishing nets in the water.

These nets were specially made, inscribed with arrays, lined with barbs, and coated in poison.

After completing the setup, everyone moved to new positions.

As always, Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi, both Jin Dan, were responsible for assassinating the sentries; once safety was confirmed, Mo Hua led the others to deploy the pre-drawn arrays and various trap spiritual artifacts.

But the water island's scope was larger than Mo Hua had anticipated, and time was tight—the hastily forged array stones were still insufficient.

By the time they finished laying out six gates, all over a hundred array stones and spiritual artifacts had been used up.

Yet two gates remained.

One was the Kan Gate—the exit the water bandits would use to flee the island, and the entry point for the Dao Ting Si forces to storm in; it could be ignored.

But the other, the Li Gate, directly opposite the Kan Gate, could not be left unattended.

"I'll assign men to guard this position," said Xia Diansi.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "We can't split our forces—that would disrupt the earlier plan."

"Then what about this gate…?"

"I have a solution," said Mo Hua.

He took from his storage pouch several vials of grotesque-looking, pungent blood pills, along with fishy-smelling water algae.

These were all prepared in advance.

"These pills are refined from the internal organs of demonic beasts—so they smell terrible, repelling cultivators, but demonic beasts love them."

"This algae, the fisher-cultivators in the small fishing village call it Fish-Stink Algae—it's used to attract water demons."

"If the traps aren't enough, we'll use water demons to make up the difference."

"Throw these blood pills and the Fish-Stink Algae at the Li Gate—to 'lure' the nearby water demons."

"Then this Li Gate becomes a man-made 'dead gate.'"

"If the water bandits flee the island by diving here, they'll find a horde of water demons waiting for them in the water."

"No matter how skilled they are in water, they can't possibly stand against a horde of water demons—once they dive in, death is certain."

These water bandits could die—but they must not escape.

Xia Diansi paused, then gave Mo Hua a long, deep look and nodded. "Fine."

She couldn't help sighing inwardly.

This young boy was truly brilliant.

In such a short time, he'd devised a plan—though cruel, it was perfect for dealing with these wicked water bandits.

Gu Changhuai, however, was unimpressed.

He knew this was surely Mo Hua's pre-planned strategy.

In fact, using demonic beasts to ambush others was probably not the first time Mo Hua had done it.

Likely, others had already fallen into his traps before…

After finalizing the plan, Mo Hua began "luring."

He tossed the Fish-Stink Algae and the blood pills refined from demonic beast organs into the water.

The blood pills emitted a foul stench.

Xia Diansi couldn't help covering her nose and mouth, then asked curiously:

"Are these blood pills always this shape? Why are they so misshapen and ugly?"

"No," Mo Hua replied quietly, "because I refined them…"

His pill-refining skill was terrible.

This wasn't even a proper medicinal pill—he had merely guessed what demonic beasts liked to eat, thrown everything haphazardly into a furnace, and refined it into this ugly mess.

Mo Hua felt helpless.

His arrays were beautifully drawn, but his pills were ugly—he couldn't help it.

Xia Diansi looked at the refined, elegant Mo Hua, then at the grotesque pills in his hand, and said nothing.

After luring was done, all preparations were complete.

Everyone then hid among the waterweeds, waiting for Hai Shi to arrive.

Night grew deeper; a thin crescent moon hung on the horizon, like a sharp, cold blade.

The atmosphere was oppressive, suffused with deadly intent.

After some time, Gu Changhuai, who had been meditating with closed eyes, opened them.

Sounds came from the water island.

A creaking noise arose.

As if a great gate had opened, followed by the sound of boats breaking the water's surface, mixed with rough, noisy voices.

"Time to go hunting…"

"Wonder what we'll kill today."

"Kill the men fast—no big deal. But the women, hold back—don't chop off their heads in one swing, that's disgusting."

"You bastard, you only spare women? You're sexist!"

"Of course I am—aren't you?"

…

More boats arrived; the voices grew louder and more chaotic.

When a small group of water bandits—about fifty to sixty men—emerged from the island in their boats and found themselves stranded on the water, unable to advance or retreat…

A wind blade sliced through unexpectedly.

A water bandit, his scalp scarred and laughing loudly, had his head cleanly severed; blood sprayed as his body toppled like a wooden post into the river.

The noisy chatter ceased instantly.

All around fell silent in an instant.

Then a water bandit cried out in terror: "What the hell was that?"

"How did his head disappear?"

"Did the water demon cut off his head?"

The surrounding night was deep and dark, mist shrouded the water, and threads of killing intent seeped out from the fog.

Soon, a water bandit sensed something amiss and shouted in alarm:

"Someone… is killing…"

A short sword radiating icy spiritual energy slashed his throat, silencing him, freezing his blood, and stealing his life.

Behind the bandit, Xia Diansi sheathed his short sword, his face as cold as water, and said sternly:

"Kill!"

Then, shouts of battle erupted abruptly.

On the previously empty, dim expanse of water, countless boats suddenly emerged.

On each boat stood about ten enforcers, their spiritual weapons finely crafted, their expressions grim and deadly.

At Xia Diansi's command, the enforcers drew their long swords, leapt onto the bandits' vessels, and swung their blades—spiritual energy interwove, and blood sprayed everywhere.

In the blink of an eye, about a dozen water bandits were slain.

Some had their heads chopped off, others their arms severed, still others pierced through their heart meridians—blood gushed like springs, staining the river red.

The water bandits' faces twisted in terror.

"Ambush!"

"Fuck!"

"Where the hell did these bastards come from?!"

"Standard spiritual swords—they're Dao Ting Si's dogs!"

The water bandits cursed wildly.

The presence of Dao Ting Si and the stench of blood stirred their ferocity; they were all desperate men, and naturally lacked no bandit's ruthlessness.

The water bandits also drew their knives and swords, pulled out blood-red demonic weapons, and charged at Dao Ting Si.

But they were fewer in number, caught on open water, and ambushed suddenly—they stood no chance against the prepared Dao Ting Si cultivators.

Especially with Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi, two Jin Dan, leading them.

The water bandits fell back step by step.

One after another, they were cut down.

Finally, some water bandits, overcome with fear, turned to flee toward the water island—but were blocked by bandits behind them; caught between advance and retreat, they became a chaotic tangle, each one picked off by the Dao Ting Si enforcers.

At the "Kan Gate" of the water island stood a massive gate.

The gate was built of wood and stone, its surface swirling with array patterns.

Beyond the gate lay the bandits' stronghold.

Dao Ting Si advanced onto the island; every step forward claimed several lives.

Then a water bandit shouted: "Quick! Close the gate! These bastards are coming in!"

The gate was halfway shut when bandits outside blocked it.

The bandits outside, being slaughtered by Dao Ting Si, screamed in fury: "Shut your fucking gate—I haven't gotten in yet!"

As they shoved and struggled, Gu Changhuai had already reached the gate.

He pulled out a feather fan, condensed spiritual energy, and swept it—sending forth several razor-sharp wind feather blades that instantly shredded a few bandits.

Then Gu Changhuai leapt forward, moving like a gale, and charged straight through the gate.

The bandits inside surrounded him, attacking.

But they were mere Foundation Establishment cultivators; though they had killed countless men, in direct combat they were no match for Gu Changhuai, whose family lineage was deep and his foundation profound.

Xia Diansi also seized the chance to rush in, his sword glinting with icy light, frosty radiance blooming, each strike sealing throats.

In but a moment, the bandits at the Bagua "Kan Gate" lay dead in heaps.

Gu Changhuai pushed his spiritual energy, following Mo Hua's instructions, and forcibly shattered several arrays within the Kan Gate.

Without the arrays sustaining it, the gate was merely ordinary earth and stone—and collapsed in an instant.

Thus, the main gate of the bandits' lair stood wide open.

Over four hundred Dao Ting Si enforcers, eyes sharp as blades, swords and knives raised, surged forward like packs of wolves.

It was precisely midnight.

Within the stronghold, the Eight Gates began to shift.

Dao Ting Si pressed the assault; the bandits struggled, then fled according to the Eight Gates…

Everything unfolded exactly as Mo Hua had planned.

But Mo Hua did not enter.

Spiritual cultivators clashing in battle was still too dangerous.

He sat alone on a hidden boat, poured himself a cup of Ji Tiantian's lychee wine, squinted, and sipped slowly.

Inside the stronghold, the battle grew fiercer, the stench of blood thicker and thicker…

yifan

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