Chapter 806: Bright Night Martial Contest Tests the Edge (61)

Two hours before the opening of the martial exhibition ceremony, Return Star Port.

"General, I shouldn't question your orders, but if I heard correctly, you said you've already obtained first‑hand information about the Bu Li?" Yan Qing looked at the general with a puzzled expression.

Feixiao nodded and asked into the earpiece of his communicator, "That's right. My subordinates are constantly searching for clues. Moze, what's the situation now?"

"General, before Jiao Qiu completely lost contact, I captured a jade‑sign signal on him; it shouldn't take long before we can locate their hideout," Moze's voice came through the communicator.

"If that's the case, shouldn't we rendezvous with him immediately and eliminate the Bu Li together? Why did we end up at Return Star Port again?"

Feixiao smacked his lips, crossed his arms and chuckled, "It seems your general only taught you swordsmanship, not how to hunt."

"The Bu Li have an old saying, 'In the forest, the hunter and the prey can switch roles at any moment.' Right now we consider ourselves hunters, but blindly chasing them will only make us the prey of Hu Lei."

Yan Qing's expression grew more confused: "General, are you joking with me? A wolf imprisoned for seven hundred years, even with allies, is negligible compared to the number of Luofu Cloud Riders; how could it possibly treat us as prey?"

Hearing that, Feixiao's complexion changed sharply, and he said gravely, "Both of you, set aside any underestimation. Hu Lei is not a Bu Li you can easily slay. The number of foes means nothing to this monster. A beast that hasn't fed on humans in seven hundred years slipped into Luofu Streets before the martial exhibition ceremony—that's the most dangerous and unpredictable aspect of the current situation."

A cold bead of sweat slid down Yan Qing's forehead: "The lives of ordinary people are like meat that could be swallowed whole by that creature at any moment..."

"Exactly. For that reason, we must strike in one blow; otherwise the situation will become unmanageable," Feixiao said. "You've probably heard of the military tactic 'surround three gaps, leave one opening.' Letting the prey run wild won't do. A good hunter prepares fully and waits in the optimal spot for the prey to come to them."

"Imagine we're prisoners who just escaped a dark jail. Even though we can disguise ourselves and blend into the crowd, I don't intend to stay here long; what we need most right now is..."

——

Honkai 3.

"Of course it's the Star Chariot!" Kianna blurted.

"Wrong."

"Class monitor, what's wrong?" Kianna asked, looking at Fu Hua with a puzzled expression.

Fu Hua adjusted the glasses on his nose and looked at Kianna seriously: "You remember the Bu Li we met at the port in Jiao Qiu, right? He said the Star Chariot can't break through the Jade Realm Gate; only a large vessel can. Return Star Port is the place that manufactures Star Chariots. Kianna... if you were a Bu Li, knowing the Star Chariot can't escape, would you still come to Return Star Port?"

"Th-that's... just the junior Bu Li's speculation, right?" Kianna hesitated visibly. "Besides, at this point, where would we get a vessel? We'd be better off forming a team and charging the Jade Realm Gate."

"Actually, the hardest thing to judge is Hu Lei's true intention," Jizi said. "We don't yet know whether he plans to completely abandon escape and stay on the Celestial Vessel to cause massive casualties, or still hopes for a lucky break by seizing a ship... If it's the former, dealing with him will be most troublesome; if it's the latter, there are some clues to follow."

"Clues to follow? Aunt Jizi... during this ceremony, where would a ship come from for him to seize?" Kianna was completely baffled, feeling that the class monitor and Jizi were both giving her riddles.

"Hehe..." Jizi kept a smiling face, walked to Kianna's side, and slammed her fist hard against the girl's head. "First, don't call me aunt! Second, speaking of a vessel... isn't there one floating in the sky of the Celestial Vessel right now?"

——

"... the Star Chariot that carried us away from Luofu. The Bu Li I found at Return Star Port were preparing the escape vessel for them," Yan Qing suddenly understood.

"Hmm, we guess the prey's possible destination, then we should slowly close the net," Feixiao nodded. "Come on, starting from where you spotted the Bu Li's trail, we'll leave the prey nowhere to run."

Yan Qing led the two to the spot where he had previously tracked the Bu Li; he looked around and thought the place looked just as usual.

"After that, I immediately ordered the news sealed and tried to keep everything as it was,"

Xing Nao scratched his head: "Did Yan Qing scare the grass and alert the snakes?"

Feixiao couldn't help but laugh: "If Yan Qing hadn't scared the grass, we'd still have no clue now. But the more meticulously a plan is prepared, the longer it takes to react when it's disrupted. If any Bu Li still gamble on sticking to the original escape plan, they'll definitely return here to check Return Star Port's situation."

Yan Qing turned pale with shock: "You mean there are Bu Li in Return Star Port right now?"

"Didn't you notice that in this automatically operating zone, today's crowd is unusually large?" Feixiao gave Yan Qing a glance, directing his gaze to the two fox people behind him, and whispered, "First, those two crew members from the Heavenly Vessel Department. Since we arrived, they've been quietly watching us."

"Next are the Cloud Knight soldiers over there; if they're on patrol, they're breaking the rule of working in pairs."

"Finally, that craftsman dressed in Gong Zao Si colors, staring intently at the device without stopping."

In an instant, Feixiao identified every Bu Li nearby, and Yan Qing finally realized they were already surrounded by Bu Li informants!

Feixiao was unhurried, saying lightly, "If the target's clear, let's go probe the bottom."

——

Sword Art Online.

"Impressive, you identified all the nearby Bu Li in an instant..."

Asuna couldn't help but admire, "General Feixiao is like using a cheat hack; the moment he arrived at an unfamiliar place, his auto‑targeting activated, and the Bu Li within range had nowhere to hide."

"That's experience, it's like gaining a skill to see through people's hearts," Kirito also envied, "Since Feixiao wants a one‑shot kill, he's planning to extract information from these Bu Li to locate Hu Lei's position."

"But if we pursue efficiency, why not just act and interrogate this group of Bu Li? With only two hours left before the martial exhibition starts, wouldn't torture be faster?" Asuna tilted her head, asking the obvious.