Chapter 287: Stone Emerges

The surface of the lake outside the Reception Hall was instantly burned red by a great fire. On the side facing the lake, one could see flames as magnificent as sunset clouds on the horizon.

Among the hundreds of guests still in the Reception Hall, many were observing the lake surface silently; more than one felt restless inside, wanting to take advantage of the chaos to do something, or at least go watch the excitement, but most still suppressed their restless hearts and chose to remain conservative bystanders.

There was no help for it; in the past few days, fishing on the lake had been constant. Not only were the stupid fish that jumped out voluntarily stewed, but even the ordinary fish that couldn't resist the temptation had been fished clean. What remained were merely the friendly fish that were already on the side of the fishhook, the melon-eating fish that had no interest in the bait, and the cowardly fish that didn't dare to eat even when they saw the bait.

The fire was burning so fiercely, yet the Reception Hall was unexpectedly silent for a moment, which left those who had secretly prepared to strike hard to maintain order, including Wang Fei, feeling inevitably disappointed.

However, this was only because the situation was currently unclear and there were many cautious people; once true chaos erupted, it was hard to say what the state of the Reception Hall would be.

Especially since the Disciple of Zhuoyu Villa guarding here knew that the current Reception Hall was truly empty.

Where the flames rose, it had already turned into a mess.

Fierce Beasts were roaring, Phantoms were shuttling, smoke and gas were crisscrossing, and flames were towering; between water and fire, it had become a chaotic battlefield. The Turtle Pirates and water ghosts who had completed their first task immediately drew their weapons, intending to join forces with Shi Chunqing's assault team and have a real, bloody fight with the counterattack of Zhuoyu Villa.

However...

Where was Shi Chunqing's team?

"It's so quiet."

Hua Qian gently poked his head out of the water and had this thought.

At this moment, it was the deepest part of the night. Both under and above the water, it was completely quiet. One could not see any scenery other than the water, and one did not know if this was the Zhuoyu Villa that Lady Hua Rong often mentioned.

Although he could take a slight breath after coming out of the underground river and breathe in the fresh air of the deep mountains, it was far from time to relax. Shi Chunqing had adjusted the team in the water, and the formation still moved forward in order; no one dared to disrupt the order, so naturally, Hua Qian could only follow the steps.

He already understood in his heart that at this point, whether he could exert combat power was no longer important; the mission had been completed, and the key lay in whether the message just sent had been received.

That Communication Artifact was given to him by Wei Se for emergency contact. It was said that Zhuoyu Villa itself had Art Tools that could communicate flexibly and in real-time during experiments, but those were newly developed and unstable, and they were prone to failure in certain enclosed or remote places. Therefore, what Wei Se gave him was a relatively old and time-tested Art Tool that could only send a signal once, but it was stable enough and almost never failed. The only thing was that after sending it, the sender could not get a response and felt uncertain.

Especially seeing the silence inside Zhuoyu Villa, as if it were a prey without any vigilance, it was even more worrying.

But Hua Qian also understood that when a hunter ambushes prey, the hunter also remains quiet.

Who was the prey and who was the hunter, he did not know yet.

Shi Chunqing led the people to dive all the way, landed from beside that large Blue Stone at Gongyu Hall, and felt his way forward in the dark. It was low tide in the middle of the night, and the Blue Stone was exposed above the water, about the height of a person, which happened to be similar to Shi Chunqing's height. He walked around the side of the Blue Stone, which just happened to hide his figure.

Gongyu Hall was Gongyu Hall; it was not the Sword Furnace, nor did it have the conditions for Sword Casting. Xue Xianyun cast swords elsewhere. Shi Chunqing naturally knew where he could strike at the heart.

However, after getting ashore—actually, it was a wooden plank road built by the marsh—Shi Chunqing's movements were not as fast and firm as they were in the water, but rather he walked unhurriedly, suppressing his speed, and observing left and right, as if looking for something.

Was he looking for the reinforcements brought by the East Pillar of State?

Hua Qian guessed, and was also a bit strange: why were the reinforcements not to be seen? Others might not know, but he knew that there was indeed such a force. Those people had long since broken into pieces, smuggled themselves into Zhuoyu Villa in batches and at different times according to different identities, and Shi Chunqing had also sent a signal to notify them; at this time, they should have joined forces according to the plan. Why was there not even a shadow?

Shouldn't they have created chaos a step earlier to let Shi Chunqing complete the strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west? Even if they just set a fire?

Could it be that, as Shi Chunqing said, the people here had long been cleared out by Zhuoyu Villa and could not be counted on at all?

If so... Hua Qian's gaze shifted to behind Shi Chunqing:

Wouldn't killing him count as a great success?

Just as he was about to act, Shi Chunqing suddenly fumbled by the river, and then, like lifting a door curtain, he lifted a transparent curtain out of thin air.

Swish—

The scenery before his eyes changed!

The sky, which had been empty, changed abruptly. Not far away, dots of lamp light appeared. It turned out that houses had been built along the plank road by the lake. Although they could not be seen clearly in the dark, one could vaguely see that they each had their own characteristics. No matter how strange, those were real houses where people lived.

Tearing off a layer of disguise, in an instant, they arrived in the Human World from the wilderness.

However, what stunned Hua Qian the most was that not far from these houses, a high tower that looked like a stone pillar stood tall. The top of the tower was burning with a blue-white flame. The flame was so quiet; it was by no means the "evil fire" of arson, but the high-temperature flame that only appeared in true smelting.

The Sword Furnace? Was that the Sword Furnace?

A dignified Sword Furnace, the key to successful Sword Casting, a thorn in the side of countless people, was built so openly on the shore by the water? Just covered by a layer of camouflage? Could it be reached by walking? And it burned a fire all the time, telling those with ill intentions day and night that this was the Sword Furnace they wanted to destroy?

Was Zhuoyu Villa too bold?

After so many days, had it not been pushed down by anyone yet? Were these Turtle Pirates too incompetent?

Hua Qian's shock was actually no different from the others; the others were also greatly shocked. Although their positions were different, they all had one doubt: did this still require them to specially sneak up and take action? The reinforcement team that spent so much money and paid such a high price to get up the mountain, what exactly were they doing?

Shi Chunqing did not say a word and led the team toward the Sword Furnace. The team was full of tough men, and they walked on the uneven wooden plank road without making any sound.

Seeing that the wooden plank road had come to an end and there was a mudflat ahead, suddenly, countless Thunder Lights erupted from the surface of the water!

No one knew where the thunder and lightning came from. It was as if thousands of thunder snakes were lurking under the calm water surface, but they were startled by some small stone. Once startled, it was a force of thunderous momentum!

The thunder and lightning rose from the water, and in an instant, it covered the swamp. Seen from the sky, the dark lake water suddenly turned blue-purple. The thunder snakes climbed up along the wooden plank road at a speed the naked eye could not capture, rushing wildly toward the people on the plank road.

At this moment, even Hua Qian panicked—thunder and lightning had no eyes and could not distinguish who was a spy!

However, almost at the same moment, Shi Chunqing moved. He poured a jar of liquid he had prepared early down the wooden plank road. The wooden plank road was instantly as if covered with a layer of oil. That layer of oil emitted a faint light. That light was different from the Thunder Light; it was thinner, but like an insulating mat, it completely isolated the Thunder Light and electric light. Even the misty water vapor wrapped in the Thunder Light could not invade the oil light in the slightest. At least for the group of people, it was absolutely safe for the moment.

What this layer of oil light was, Hua Qian naturally did not know, but that kind of light was familiar to him; it seemed to be a Phantom?

Although a Phantom was soft, it was not a liquid after all. Could that jar of stuff be Phantom Sauce?

It seemed that Phantoms were not conductive.

Under the protection of the light carpet, Shi Chunqing was safe and sound. He backhanded and drew a sword, saying loudly: "Is that Brother Jiang who has come?"

This shout was truly effective. A person immediately descended from the sky, sitting on a very lifelike thunder bird. His face was reflected blue-white by the Thunder Light, his sword-like eyebrows stood upright, and he shouted: "Shi Chunqing, you actually really came?! You actually still have the face to come?"

Shi Chunqing said with a calm expression: "Since you are waiting for me here, you should have known that I would come. It seems you have done well; Zhuoyu Villa is very quiet, and there are no traces of destruction. The others have all been sent away by you, right? Lifting the heavy as if it were light, very methodical. What method did you use? Who is presiding over the overall situation? You are all too impetuous, and he is even worse; I suppose it should be Tang Shidi, right?"

He asked a series of questions on his own. How could Jiang Shenyi answer? His expression was agitated, and he stood up on the thunder bird and shouted: "Why did you betray Master? Why did you betray us?"

Shi Chunqing looked into the distance at the Sword Furnace and said: "Is Tang Shidi still casting swords in the Sword Furnace? He is worthy of being our little genius; he has only been here for a few years and can already cast swords. This year's Sword Casting should be successful, right?"

Jiang Shenyi was ignored by him. In addition to extreme anger, his eyes actually turned red, and he asked again word by word: "Why did you betray us?"

Shi Chunqing finally withdrew his gaze, turned to look at him, and said: "It would be fine if he asked me this question. If Tang Shidi asked me, I would also be willing to explain it to him seriously. But you... or other juniors asking me is laughable. Where do the two words 'betrayal' apply between me and you?"

Jiang Shenyi was stunned by him. Just as Shi Chunqing said, if one did not speak of affection but only of kindness and righteousness, Shi Chunqing had always only had kindness toward him and had never taken anything, so naturally, there was no talk of betrayal. If one really had to calculate the breaking of kindness and righteousness, he should not ask about betrayal, but instead should ask:

"Why did you abandon us?"

However, at this moment, he could not say such words. He forcibly suppressed his agitated emotions, glared at him, and said: "Why did you betray your master? You forced him to be heartbroken when you took away his life-saving treasure back then, and now you are bringing these thieves up to destroy his Sword Casting. Is this a must to kill him? Are you still a human?"

Shi Chunqing paused for a moment and said in a calm tone: "Although we have already parted ways, I did not want him to die. I came today for his own good. It is best for him not to cast this sword; there will be no good end if it is cast. I took his Sword Casting materials back then, which could be considered saving him. I didn't expect him to be obsessed and not realize his mistake, so I had to come up again. This time, I absolutely will not allow him to cast the sword."

Seeing that Jiang Shenyi opened his mouth to ask, Shi Chunqing said: "Don't ask anymore; you won't understand even if I tell you. Now I am going to see him. He might understand. If Tang Zhao were here, he might have guessed it himself long ago, and I wouldn't need to say it."

Jiang Shenyi was trembling with rage, and gritting his teeth, he said, "How could I let you pass? Let you disturb his Sword Casting? If you refuse to speak, then go to your death!"

In an instant, the Thunder Light erupted to its limit once again!