Chapter 378: Different Hearts, Different Minds (7/5, Autumn Subscription)

When Fang Yue had previously gone to Man Shui Cun.

Clearly he had only just gone, yet Lord Lan of Man Shui Cun seemed to know his identity, as if he had been in contact with Lord Han.

Previously, Fang Yue hadn't paid much attention to this matter.

Now, thinking back carefully, Fang Yue suspected these two actually had some special method of communication, and the speed of message transmission was much faster than conventional channels!

Hearing Fang Yue's question, Lord Han glanced at Fang Yue in surprise.

"How did you know? I do indeed have a way to contact Lan, it's just that he can't leave Man Shui Cun. Even if he knows of the crisis on our side, there's nothing he can do to help."

"No! He can't move, so he truly can't help relieve our pressure, but if he could lure some of the Wu Yu tribe's anomalies into the village, he'd have room to operate. We don't need him to draw off too many either—just tying up a portion would greatly ease the pressure here."

Lord Han furrowed his brow: "…That's tantamount to pushing him into a fire pit."

"Lord Han, we can barely protect ourselves—are we still going to worry about moral bottom lines? Besides, we're just telling him the situation; whether he's willing to help is entirely up to him. If he truly refuses, there's nothing we can do about it."

Let alone Fang Yue being unable to defeat Lord Lan, even if he could, traveling such a long distance to fight would be unrealistic.

So what they could actually do was merely talk.

"Alright, I'll ask."

Lord Han raised his hand and traced a few symbols in the air that felt somewhat familiar to Fang Yue, then quickly condensed a letter made of frost out of thin air.

"Lord Han… were those Ancient Script you just drew?"

"Oh? You recognize them?"

Lord Han said, slightly surprised.

"Mm, I've seen them in the Huanggui Yiji, but I don't know Ancient Script, so I don't know what those characters mean."

"If you want to learn Ancient Script, it's still too early. At the very least, you'll need to raise your strength further before you can withstand the power of Ancient Script."

The power of Ancient Script?

Fang Yue fell into thought. Lord Han didn't disturb him. Using his hand as a pen, he wrote some characters on the frost letter, after which the frost letter shattered with a pop, fragments scattering across the ground.

"Alright, we just wait for his reply now."

There was a touch more weariness in Lord Han's expression than before; it seemed this method of transmitting information required a considerable expenditure of strength.

This made Fang Yue somewhat worried.

Lord Han was the pillar of Gu Yue Cun—if he consumed too much strength and couldn't perform at his true capability when they actually clashed with the Wu Yu tribe, they'd be done for.

Fortunately, after Lord Han closed his eyes to rest for a while, his complexion recovered considerably.

Seeing no reply yet, Fang Yue, under Lord Han's guidance, continued practicing with the Ningtai Ring.

Under the terrifying pressure of the Wu Yu tribe, Fang Yue burst forth with two hundred percent effort.

Originally only able to condense and fix one-tenth of the blade, Fang Yue, through diligent practice, advanced a few more steps and mastered three-tenths of the blade.

It was at this moment that Lord Han received a reply.

Lord Han suddenly seemed to sense something, then, using the same method as before but with different Ancient Script, traced in the air for a while, and a frost-sealed reply letter appeared before the two of them.

Lord Han picked it up to read at once, but his expression quickly darkened.

Fang Yue's heart skipped a beat, and he asked: "What does it say?"

"…Their Man Shui Cun is willing to help, to lure some of the Wu Yu tribe's anomalies into Man Shui Cun for Lord Lan to deal with. And also… from Man Shui Cun, they can already see the Wu Yu tribe's Black Cloud hanging high in the sky, like sesame-sized black specks."

What?!

Fang Yue's pupils contracted, and his face changed drastically.

Lord Lan of Man Shui Cun being willing to help was certainly good.

But, but…

"How could it be this fast? The Wu Yu tribe's Black Cloud is already almost at Man Shui Cun??"

"No, there's still quite a bit of time before it passes Man Shui Cun. The letter says the Black Cloud is floating at a very high altitude, so it can be seen from afar in Man Shui Cun. Also… hanging from the Black Cloud are human heads.

Like how we humans hang cured meat during New Year, a whole string of human heads, hanging in a long line.

Apparently, among them… is the head of Luo Shenyi, and also the head of Lin Duoduo, the Chief Captain of Luoye Cun's Guard Team…

In short, these hanging heads are most likely people your escort team came into contact with during the escort."

Ma Ling'er, or rather the Wang Nu of the Wu Yu tribe, is gradually sweeping through and severing causal connections!"

Luo Shenyi, and Lin Duoduo…

Just hearing this news, fury welled up in Fang Yue's heart.

"That beast Ma Ling'er!"

Fang Yue clenched his fists, his face taking on a slightly ferocious look.

"It was never human to begin with." After a pause, Lord Han continued: "Ma Ling'er's actions, for us, actually have both pros and cons. The benefit is that it can greatly delay the Wu Yu tribe's arrival. The drawback is… Ma Ling'er's notorious reputation will make people from other villages afraid to provoke them."

For now, only Fang Yue and Lord Han knew the news. Thinking of Lin Ling and Hua Wuye, who still didn't know that their clansmen had very likely suffered tragedy, Fang Yue couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow on their behalf.

"If the Wu Yu tribe comes along the escort team's route, then besides passing through Luoye Cun, they'll also pass through Chaoyue Village, Man Shui Cun, and various other villages. If we could unite this force, we might be able to further weaken the Wu Yu tribe's strength!"

Fang Yue voiced his idea, but it was rejected by Lord Han.

"Not every village is willing to cooperate, and not everyone has the strength to fight anomalies. Most villages, most people, when faced with anomalies, will choose to abandon the village and flee. Our Gu Yue Cun has no choice—we're bound by Ma Ling'er's Trial. Otherwise, I'd want to take the people of Gu Yue Cun and leave too."

Clearly, the trickiness of the Wu Yu tribe was giving Lord Han a headache as well.

And having Lord Lan's aid was already an unexpected blessing.

When it comes to one's own village's affairs, only the people of that village truly care.

After that, Fang Yue discussed with Lord Han how to deal with the Wu Yu tribe while continuing to practice with the Ningtai Ring.

Under immense pressure, Fang Yue's progress advanced by leaps and bounds—by the time he left Lord Han's closed-door cultivation chamber, he could already condense half of the flame blade.

After leaving Han Fu, Fang Yue first got in touch with Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, then went to interrogate Ma Tiejiang.

Fang Yue didn't mention the Wu Yu tribe's impending massive invasion; he only asked indirectly, probing for intelligence about the Wu Yu tribe, especially information related to their weaknesses.

As it turned out, he really did gain quite a bit.

When Fang Yue returned to his residence and began cultivating his Internal Energy Heart Method, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu suddenly knocked and came in.

"It's the middle of the night — why are you here?"

"Ye Ge, I've been thinking for a long time, and I feel like we still need to run!"

(End of chapter)