Chapter 626: See Which One Is Better to Kidnap

That was exactly the possibility they feared most: that Baili Jie might be from Misty Pavilion.

Now that Niu Youdao had said it aloud, Yun Ji’s heart nearly leapt from her chest. She was already somewhat flustered. “You suspect he belongs to Misty Pavilion?”

“I was only naming one possibility. He could be anyone,” Niu Youdao replied. “Until we understand his background, don’t make reckless moves. Otherwise, you’re only asking for trouble.”

“How many times has he delivered Spirit Essence Pills for you?”

Yun Ji said, “Huan’er said this was the first time. Huan’er personally went to buy a batch earlier. After that, he entrusted the task to Baili Jie. This was Baili Jie’s first delivery.”

“How many did he bring?”

“One thousand pills!”

One thousand was not an enormous number, but neither was it insignificant. Niu Youdao breathed a little easier. “That isn’t too serious. An ordinary sect buying a thousand pills in one purchase is perfectly normal. Duyun Mountain has quite a few demon cultivators, after all.”

Yun Ji shook her head pessimistically. “It isn’t the way you imagine. You dominate an entire region. The Scarlet Hunting Eagle you ride is something people like us wouldn’t dare dream of owning in an entire lifetime.”

“You come from an orthodox sect. From the moment you entered the world, you walked the proper path beneath the rules governing all beneath Heaven. You don’t understand the hardship of cultivators like us, who have no standing.”

“How could Duyun Mountain’s wealth compare to sects outside that have continuous sources of income? Normally we can only hand out some money and let the lesser demons save until they have enough to purchase pills for themselves. Suddenly buying a thousand at once is not normal.”

Niu Youdao’s teeth ached at the realization.

As if that were not enough, Yun Ji added fuel to the fire. “Huan’er already agreed with him that he would deliver another thousand pills three months from now.”

Niu Youdao was completely speechless for a moment.

Then he lowered his voice and demanded, “Have you gone mad? You know perfectly well your situation cannot be exposed. How could you repeatedly entrust this sort of thing to an outsider? Couldn’t you have split the purchases among different people?”

Yun Ji retorted, “Huan’er never intended for Baili Jie to handle it forever. He was only entrusting it to him temporarily. After two or three deliveries, he planned to change people. How could anyone have known that Baili Jie, by sheer coincidence, would be the one with a problem?”

In the end, they had simply happened to run directly into Baili Jie. Otherwise, there would have been no problem at all.

Niu Youdao did not bother arguing with her anymore. What had happened had happened. Continuing to quarrel was meaningless.

He paced back and forth for a while, then said, “I’m afraid it wasn’t coincidence. I suspect he has been watching Duyun Mountain for a long time and deliberately cultivated a relationship with Yun Huan to gain his trust. If he has spent years operating around Duyun Mountain, then something like this landing in his hands is no coincidence at all.”

Yun Ji asked, “Why would anyone watch us? Is Duyun Mountain important? I never told anyone about the Spirit Pearl before.”

Niu Youdao shook his head. “It has nothing to do with whether you’re important. Some people play a different game from the one Duyun Mountain understands. This isn’t what you imagine.”

He had a headache now too.

He had never expected to run into something like this.

What Yun Ji was doing violated one of the greatest taboos of the nine supreme experts beneath Heaven. If they were provoked into acting, the result would be annihilation. No one beneath Heaven could stop them.

If Niu Youdao concealed the matter and failed to report it, he himself could be dragged down as well.

Was he supposed to report Yun Ji and sell her out?

Leaving aside the fact that doing so would violate every sense of loyalty and righteousness, his own hands were hardly clean.

The key remained Baili Jie’s identity.

Niu Youdao thought of Linghu Qiu. At this point, he almost hoped Baili Jie really was someone from Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Watching his expression shift again and again, Yun Ji felt her heart rise into her throat.

It was easy to imagine that an ordinary person, merely trying to protect himself, would probably betray her.

Fortunately, Niu Youdao had limits to what he would do. He had always held tightly to the words loyalty and righteousness.

Besides, with enough lice, one stops worrying about the itch. He already had a Sacred Rakshasa living beside him, a disaster no smaller than this one. Taking responsibility for Yun Ji’s affair was hardly more dangerous than that.

In the end, he did not abandon her and chose to involve himself.

He had no real choice anyway. So long as he refused to betray this side, he had to intervene. If something happened to Yun Ji, he would be dragged down with her.

After pacing back and forth in thought for some time, Niu Youdao made his decision.

He stopped in front of Yun Ji and said heavily, “You cannot use these one thousand pills. Absolutely do not hide them away. Arrange for them to be distributed to the lesser demons under you immediately.”

Seeing that he was willing to intervene meant they were now in the same boat. If disaster came, he would share the burden.

Yun Ji nodded repeatedly. “All right. I’ll arrange it immediately. I’ll also have Yun Huan refuse the next thousand pills three months from now.”

“No. Don’t refuse them.” Niu Youdao waved a hand repeatedly. “If Baili Jie truly has a problem, then he is already watching you. Continue having him make the purchase. Do not alert the snake by striking the grass.”

Yun Ji disagreed. “Distributing one batch is one thing. Am I supposed to distribute another batch to the lesser demons three months from now? Wouldn’t that be even more abnormal?”

“After you distribute this batch of pills, immediately organize Duyun Mountain’s people and secretly send them to my Qingshan Commandery.” Niu Youdao’s expression was grave. “It seems this matter of borrowing troops is going to have to become real.”

Yun Ji froze. Then she understood.

He wanted Duyun Mountain’s demon cultivators to contribute manpower. In return, Niu Youdao would provide the pills Yun Ji needed.

She nodded. “I understand.”

Niu Youdao continued, “Remember, don’t make a grand spectacle of it. They must travel in secret. The more discreetly they go, the less likely it is to arouse the other side’s suspicion.”

“Someone on my side is connected to Baili Jie, so he will naturally learn about the movement.”

“As for the Spirit Essence Pills you need, don’t worry. I have several sects on my side whose consumption can cover yours. It will be easy to bury your additional usage among theirs without drawing suspicion...”

The two whispered together for a long time, working through the details one by one.

Once everything had been settled, Yun Ji finally breathed easier. Then she suddenly asked, “Why are you helping me this much? Aren’t you afraid of bringing trouble onto yourself?”

“Of course I’m afraid. But I can’t run every time I see trouble.”

“Good. You’re a friend worth having!”

“Friend?” Niu Youdao said. “Your son and I are sworn brothers. Wouldn’t it be improper for you and me to associate as equals?”

“Forget about him.”

“...” Niu Youdao had no answer to that. In the end he smiled bitterly. “Enough. I can’t stay here long. Hurry and prepare. You’re coming with me.”

Yun Ji nodded and quickly left.

When she returned to Yunxiao Cave Residence and met Yun Huan, she first waved Hou Qingtian and the others away.

Once no outsiders remained, Yun Huan stepped forward and asked, “Mother, how did the discussion go?”

Slap!

Yun Ji swung one hand across his face without warning. The blow was anything but light.

“...”

Yun Huan staggered backward, clutching his cheek and staring at her with wide eyes, completely baffled as to why he had been hit.

Only after quite some time did he finally learn the reason from his mother.

Cold sweat immediately broke out across his back.

Yun Ji did not remain long. After giving her son a series of secret instructions, she left with Niu Youdao.

The four of them boarded the Scarlet Hunting Eagle together and flew away, leaving the great bird carrying a heavy load.

Yun Huan stood on the cliff and watched them depart.

Looking down at the familiar mountains and streams below, Yun Ji, now wearing a white veil over her face, sighed quietly to herself.

Perhaps the situation was not truly this bad. They did not even know Baili Jie’s background yet.

But the matter was simply too serious. Yun Ji did not dare gamble, and neither did Niu Youdao. With something like this, even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of disaster was more than they could bear. They could only choose the safest path possible.

Guan Fangyi, traveling beside her, glanced at Yun Ji from time to time and clicked her tongue inwardly.

There truly did seem to be nothing Master Dao could not accomplish once he personally took the field.

He had actually settled the matter of borrowing troops with ridiculous ease...

By the time the group reached Maolu Villa, it was already deep into the night.

Niu Youdao did not bring Yun Ji openly into the villa. Instead, he arranged for her to stay in a guest courtyard and transferred two female disciples from the three sects to attend to her daily needs.

After returning to the villa, the first person Niu Youdao went to see was Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang brought him into his room. The moment the door closed, he turned and came closer. “How did it go?”

Niu Youdao exhaled. “It really was Baili Jie.”

Yuan Gang’s jaw tightened. “So there is a problem.”

“Baili Jie’s identity has to be uncovered...” Niu Youdao explained Yun Ji’s situation to him. “I don’t know whether he has hostile intentions toward Duyun Mountain, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Yuan Gang frowned. “His reach extends this far. His background is probably not simple.”

Niu Youdao asked, “How are you planning to handle it?”

The fact that he personally asked showed how seriously he regarded the matter.

Yuan Gang turned to the table, picked up a stack of white sheets, flipped through them for a while, and pulled one free.

It was a map.

He spread it across the table.

Niu Youdao stepped closer and discovered that Yuan Gang had already produced a rough map of Star-Plucking City.

“This is Shunfeng Hall.” Yuan Gang pointed to one position on the map. “My judgment is that it should be one of Baili Jie’s message-transfer points.”

“If it is a secret communications point, it must have contact with whoever stands behind it.”

“There is no way to follow every Goldenwing that flies out of the place all the way to its destination. So I have people stationed around it to tail every bird for a short distance and map the direction each Goldenwing takes.”

“Once those routes are compiled, I’ll sort through them and see whether there’s a pattern we can follow. Then we’ll choose one bird and follow it all the way to the end.”

Niu Youdao asked, “And if you can’t find a useful pattern?”

Yuan Gang pondered briefly. “We can only do our best. There’s no way to enter Shunfeng Hall and investigate from inside, and we can’t keep following Baili Jie himself indefinitely. We’d be exposed too easily.”

Niu Youdao stared at the map for a while. A ruthless light flashed in his eyes.

“I’ll give you one month. If there’s still no way after that, stop wasting effort on this. Secretly capture Baili Jie and pry his mouth open.”

Yuan Gang asked, “What if he refuses to talk?”

“Borrow a Spirit-Torment Pill from Xiaoyue Pavilion. Once we pry his mouth open, decide what to do based on the situation. If he can’t be left alive, then finish him...” Niu Youdao paused. “What worries me is the outcome we least want to see.”

Yuan Gang understood what he meant.

If Baili Jie really belonged to Misty Pavilion, they would be in serious trouble.

With a background powerful enough to reach the heavens, Baili Jie would have nothing to fear. Even if they captured him and forced his mouth open, they could not release him afterward. A Spirit-Torment Pill would never be enough to control someone protected by that kind of power.

And if Baili Jie failed to return, then every target along every line connected to him might be doomed.

There was precedent for this.

Misty Pavilion would rather kill the wrong person than let a possible threat escape. It would slaughter them all like ants, cleanly and completely, without the slightest need to justify itself.

Yet they could not simply refuse to investigate either.

The person responsible for Maolu Villa’s intelligence hub had a problem. If Baili Jie was not from Misty Pavilion, how could they possibly allow some hostile faction to act with impunity?

Before Yun Ji’s heaven-piercing affair became involved, they could simply have found an excuse and dealt with Gongsun Bu directly.

But now Yun Ji’s matter had been tied into the same thread, and both of them were connected to Baili Jie.

There could be no mistake in resolving Yun Ji’s problem.

After hesitating for a while, Yuan Gang said, “I’ll do everything I can on my side first. If there really is no other way, perhaps we can work through Gongsun Bu instead.”

Niu Youdao asked, “If Baili Jie truly belongs to Misty Pavilion, do you think Gongsun Bu would dare betray me, or dare betray Misty Pavilion?”

Yuan Gang fell silent.

Niu Youdao’s fingers shifted slowly over the hilt of the sword planted before him.

After a while he said, “If there is truly no other way, we cannot touch Baili Jie lightly. Once we touch him, we have to be capable of controlling him.”

“Sha Huanli, City Master of Star-Plucking City. Xue Luo’er of the Ice and Snow Pavilion. Spend some time studying those two and see which one would be better to kidnap.”

“If we can get one of them into our hands, then whether we move against Gongsun Bu or Baili Jie, there will be no problem.”

[End of Chapter 626]