Chapter 799: There's an Ambush

The moment Situ Yao saw Niu Youdao with his own eyes, his last shred of hope vanished. He sighed inwardly. Niu Youdao, Niu Youdao, how could you have been this careless? Little Brother, don't blame me. I was forced into this too!

Sure enough, Cai Jinqi immediately turned to him. "Sect Leader Situ, whether you're friend or foe is for you to decide."

Situ Yao smiled bitterly. "He has a Heavenly Sword Talisman."

Cai Jinqi replied, "Does Sect Leader Situ not have one? Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion sent practically its entire senior leadership in here. Given your sect's resources, I don't believe you came completely unprepared."

Situ Yao did indeed have a Heavenly Sword Talisman. It had been prepared for an emergency. He had never imagined he might have to use it against Niu Youdao.

Even if it were not being used on Niu Youdao, spending it at all would pain him.

Cai Jinqi seemed to guess what he was thinking. "Sect Leader Situ, the protection of Yan's three major sects is worth more than one Heavenly Sword Talisman. Then there are the interests tied to Jinzhou. Is the choice really that difficult?"

Situ Yao sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

Cai Jinqi said, "You handle him from the front. Everyone else will close the encirclement. This time, we absolutely cannot let him escape."

Situ Yao's expression turned grave. After another sigh, he waved one hand.

Twenty cultivators from Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion flashed out together and landed in the valley.

Cai Jinqi waved as well. "Surround the place! If anyone lets Niu Youdao get away, I'll use his head to make up for it!"

At his command, all hundred-odd people who had come with him moved at once, immediately surrounding the valley where Niu Youdao was hiding.

"Little Brother, come out. I know you're inside."

Standing in the valley, Situ Yao raised his head and shouted toward the cave in the cliff.

A moment later, Niu Youdao appeared at the cave mouth with a bundle on his back. He stood there leaning on his sword, looking down from above with a cold stare.

"Situ Yao, what are you doing here?"

This was something Niu Youdao had not expected.

He had not expected to lure Situ Yao over.

Still less had he expected Chu Fengping to make Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion deal with him.

Situ Yao said, "Little Brother, your whereabouts have already been exposed. I had no choice in coming."

"No choice?" Niu Youdao asked. "What do you intend to do?"

Situ Yao said, "Little Brother, listen to me. As long as you surrender, agree to whatever conditions Lingjian Mountain puts forward. If you're willing to cooperate fully, there may still be a road back."

"Nanzhou is in your hands, after all. Everything can be discussed. There's no need to force matters into a life-and-death struggle."

Hidden nearby, Cai Jinqi flew into a rage at those words.

The situation had already been ruined. Cooperate his ass!

If they turned back now, did Situ Yao think Xiaoyao Palace and Zijin Cave were fools?

Without the agreement of those two, a Niu Youdao who could not take first place was no different from a dead man. What use would keeping him alive be?

Niu Youdao's face remained expressionless. "And if I refuse, what will you do?"

Situ Yao said, "Why make things difficult for yourself? Little Brother, you're leaving me no road back either. If you insist on being stubborn, then this elder brother can only wrong you."

On the cliff opposite, Cai Jinqi flashed into view and shouted, "Situ Yao, what are you still babbling about? If you don't move now, when will you?"

Situ Yao looked back at him, then turned again toward Niu Youdao with a bitter smile.

"Little Brother, you've seen it yourself. You're already surrounded. I can only apologize."

Niu Youdao shouted sharply, "Situ Yao, you still have a choice. If you don't want to court death, stay where you are and behave yourself. This has nothing to do with you."

Situ Yao shook his head. Sighing helplessly, he drew his sword.

Then he froze.

Several more figures had appeared at the cave mouth behind Niu Youdao.

They were none other than Wu Zhaoxing, Yun Ji, and Yun Huan.

Cai Jinqi froze as well.

Hadn't they said Niu Youdao was alone?

He had questioned the fellow disciples who had followed Niu Youdao all the way here, and they had confirmed it. From beginning to end, they had seen only Niu Youdao. Not once had anyone else appeared beside him.

The sudden appearance of Wu Zhaoxing and the other two did not seem enough to change the outcome, but Cai Jinqi felt an inexplicable unease.

He immediately shouted, "Situ Yao, why haven't you moved?"

Niu Youdao suddenly channeled his spiritual power and thundered, "Leave no survivors. Attack!"

The strange atmosphere had not even had time to settle before a Lingjian Mountain disciple cried out in alarm.

"Senior Brother Cai, an ambush! There's an ambush!"

Cai Jinqi whipped his head around.

With a sudden whistle, a flowering vine clinging to the rock beside him lashed out like a whip. One branch pierced beneath his ribs like a blade and plunged deep into his organs, spraying blood.

The vine that had looked so bright and beautiful a moment earlier was instantly shrouded in demon qi.

Cai Jinqi's eyes bulged in terror.

He tried to flash away, but the branch inside his body hooked him in place like a barb.

He grabbed the vine piercing him with one hand, trying to restrain it, while the other drew his sword to cut it apart.

More branches surged over and wrapped around him before he could strike.

The vine exploded into growth.

Tendrils fine as hair whipped outward and bound his arms and legs tightly.

"Urgh... aaah!"

Cai Jinqi threw back his head. Veins bulged along his neck as a miserable roar tore from his throat.

People behind him immediately rushed forward to rescue him.

The spreading flower-vines thickened and split open, bursting forth into blade after blade. More than a hundred weapon-like branches swung at once, crashing against the rescuers while demon qi flooded the area.

Fierce fighting erupted from every direction at the same time.

Broken rocks continuously tumbled from the tops of the cliffs.

Situ Yao and the others in the valley stared in shock.

At the cave mouth, Niu Youdao still stood leaning on his sword, ignoring the stones falling around him.

Yun Ji and Yun Huan repeatedly swept their sleeves to knock the rocks aside and shield him.

A tremendous crash came from behind.

Situ Yao and the others spun around and saw a section of the cliff collapse beneath the strain of too many people fighting on top of it at once.

Yet the flower-vine with its hundreds upon hundreds of tendrils did not fall.

Its roots spread outward and stabbed into an intact section of rock farther back, anchoring it in place.

The entire mass of vines floated in midair.

Cai Jinqi, still wrapped in its branches, hung suspended with it.

Before long, the tangled mass swayed in the air and rapidly took human form.

It became an enchanting woman.

Fuhua.

But countless tendrils still extended from within her body, turning her into a living demon covered in writhing limbs—seductive and terrifying at once.

Her people had already charged over and intercepted those trying to rescue Cai Jinqi.

With no one left to trouble her, Fuhua leisurely stretched out her tongue and licked her lips with an alluring smile.

The branch embedded in Cai Jinqi's body suddenly seemed to begin drawing something out of him.

Bulges traveled along the vine toward Fuhua floating in the air.

The instant they entered her body, she narrowed her eyes and twisted languidly, her face filled with pleasure.

Cai Jinqi, meanwhile, trembled helplessly in the vines.

He could no longer make a sound.

His entire body was visibly withering at astonishing speed.

When the branches finally released him, he had become a badly shriveled corpse.

It dropped into the valley below.

The countless tendrils spreading behind Fuhua rapidly withdrew and wove themselves into a pair of wings.

In an instant, hundreds upon hundreds of brilliant flowers bloomed across them.

The flowered wings beat.

Her roots detached from the cliff.

Fuhua shot into the sky like a beautiful butterfly trailing long streamers.

She circled through the air above the valley, her wings carrying her back and forth with breathtaking beauty.

Yet anyone who had just watched her drain Cai Jinqi dry could feel the terror concealed beneath that beauty.

Niu Youdao raised his head and watched her soaring overhead.

He had long known Fuhua was a demon cultivator, a flower demon, but this was the first time he had ever seen her reveal her original demonic form.

Situ Yao and the others in the valley looked up as well, then turned toward the surroundings.

The sounds of fighting were already fading.

Soon, they stopped completely.

The sudden battle had come quickly and ended just as quickly.

Situ Yao and his companions soon understood why.

Large numbers of cultivators had appeared all around the valley.

There had to be somewhere between one and two thousand of them.

The people of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion awkwardly backed together into a defensive formation, tense and alert.

At last they understood.

They had walked into a trap.

Their hundred-odd people had been attacked by one or two thousand.

Needless to say, this had to be Niu Youdao's handiwork.

Yet Situ Yao and the others found it almost impossible to believe.

How had Niu Youdao managed to pull together this many people?

Only around ten thousand cultivators had entered the Tiandu Secret Realm in total.

Seeing that the surrounding force consisted of demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters, they already had a suspicion.

When Lang Jingkong, Hong Gaitian, and the others appeared one after another, the answer was confirmed.

These were the overseas cultivators.

Situ Yao looked again toward Niu Youdao standing expressionlessly at the cave mouth with both hands on his sword.

He felt almost frantic.

How had this bastard managed to bring this entire crowd to his side?

Above the valley, the beautiful butterfly folded her wings and returned to ordinary human form.

Her clothes fluttered as she drifted down onto a cliff.

With a wave of her hand, Fuhua said, "What is there to discuss? Attack!"

The people on the cliffs were just about to charge down when Niu Youdao shouted in time.

"Stop!"

The crowd froze and looked back toward Fuhua.

Fuhua smiled like a flower in bloom. "Little Brother, they came here to kill you. They showed you no mercy at all. Don't tell me you still intend to spare them."

Hong Gaitian called loudly as well, "Little Brother, don't be softhearted like a woman!"

Lang Jingkong said, "Little Brother, you've already said everything that needed saying, and they refused to listen. There's no need to press a warm face against a cold backside."

Duan Wuchang said sinisterly, "Little Brother, you aren't thinking of letting them go, are you? If you do, our entire operation will be exposed."

The highly nervous Situ Yao and the others stared in bewilderment.

They were already calling one another brothers?

What was going on?

Niu Youdao lifted his sword and cupped his hands toward the four in thanks.

Then he looked down into the valley and said coldly, "Situ Yao, do you want to die or do you want to live?"

Situ Yao smiled bitterly. "Naturally I want to live."

Niu Youdao flashed down into the valley.

Wu Zhaoxing, Yun Ji, and Yun Huan followed and landed behind him.

Standing before Situ Yao, Niu Youdao slowly shook his head.

"Sect Leader Situ, I have never done anything to wrong you. Put your hand over your conscience and tell me: how has this Niu treated Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion?"

Situ Yao replied, "This was a choice between life and death. If you were in my position, how would you choose?"

Niu Youdao answered with ringing force, "There are things a man will do, and things he will not!"

"You knew Chu Fengping was forcing me. I could have chosen the easy road, but I would rather drive myself into a dead end. So tell me—how would I choose?"

The words were upright and unanswerable.

Situ Yao and the others lowered their eyes in shame.

Niu Youdao asked, "Do you want to leave, or do you want to stay?"

Situ Yao looked left and right at the reactions of his fellow disciples.

In the end, he cupped his hands in shame.

"I wronged Little Brother before. I am willing to join you."

"Then I hope Sect Leader Situ won't change his mind again."

With that, Niu Youdao turned away.

Wu Zhaoxing and the Yun mother and son gave the people of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion cold looks before turning and following him.

Once they caught up, Wu Zhaoxing reminded him, "These fickle little men already betrayed you once. There's no guarantee they won't do it again."

Niu Youdao said, "There's no point dwelling on that."

"When the balance of power isn't on our side, don't expect outsiders to swim against the current for us."

"They stood by and watched Lingjian Mountain's disciples be wiped out. They can't go back anymore."

"We're surrounded by this crowd of demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters. We need some manpower of our own at our side."

"When you're trapped in danger and the struggle is life or death, the more of your own people you have, the better."

[End of Chapter 799]