Chapter 807: Nestling Like a Little Bird

Before accusing Niu Youdao, Chu Fengping never stopped to think about what he himself had done to the man, nor did he consider that he had been the one to send people after Niu Youdao first.

Shan Hai gave a sardonic chuckle. "Well, well, Chu Fengping. So that's why you kept it from us. You wanted the fat meat all to yourself! You didn't get the meat, but you chipped your own teeth instead. Doesn't feel good, does it?"

Yan Li mocked him as well. "You lifted a rock only to drop it on your own foot."

He was simply taking the opportunity to kick a man while he was down. Of everyone present, Yan Li was one of the few who understood the hidden workings of the affair. Joining in the mockery also helped distance him from it and keep suspicion off himself.

Since Chu Fengping had decided to reveal the matter, he had already prepared himself to endure their ridicule. Ignoring the two of them, he asked the people from Qi and Wei, "What do you think?"

What could Yao Xianding and the others think? Once Chu Fengping laid the matter bare, both sides needed only a little consideration to understand. Mu Yinggao and Ning Wu had plainly shared Chu Fengping's desire to keep the prize for themselves, which was why they had fallen into the same trap. Otherwise, they would never have hidden the matter from everyone else and gone off to their deaths.

Yao Xianding did not know whether to laugh or rage.

He was angry because when he had met Niu Youdao earlier, he had spoken to him civilly and had not made things difficult for him. Yet Niu Youdao had turned around and dealt a lethal blow to Wei's people. If he had known this would happen, he should have killed Niu Youdao outright when they met.

What made it almost laughable was that Niu Youdao could not be blamed entirely. Niu Youdao had used Spirit Seeds as bait, but if Mu Yinggao had not conceived malicious intentions, he would never have walked straight onto the road to death. Strictly speaking, Mu Yinggao had been in the wrong first.

Qian Fucheng sneered. "What else is there to think? You brought death on yourselves!"

Chu Fengping reminded them, "There are already two of your factions here. Add what those demons and monsters from overseas collected themselves, and they now hold at least the Spirit Seeds gathered by the Four Seas group, Daqiu Sect, and Lingxu Mansion. That cannot be a small amount. And that's only what we know about. There may be more we don't know. That bastard Niu Youdao has sold out his own side, colluding with those overseas demons and monsters to attack the cultivators of the seven states. How can we let them go?"

He had kept silent before because, first, he had not understood the situation, and second, he had not wanted to make himself look ridiculous. Now things were different. He had a chance to recover some face.

The overseas group had a large force, no smaller than Yan's entire contingent. Chu Fengping himself was wary of confronting them with only one faction, and Yan Li and Shan Hai might not have agreed to a head-on clash. But now the people of Wei and Qi were here as well.

Everyone understood what he meant. He wanted them to join forces, destroy the overseas group, and seize the Spirit Seeds in their hands.

Cao Bing said, "That overseas bunch started causing trouble from the beginning. I wondered why they had such nerve. Now it seems they were after the reward for first place all along."

Liu Xinggao said, "Which made Niu Youdao the perfect person for them to use. Who would have imagined he could collude with them? That was probably why Elder Chu never expected danger when he secretly sent people to kill him."

Chu Fengping said, "There's no point discussing that now. I only want one answer. Are we doing this or not?"

Yan Li spoke in support. "A bastard who sells out his own side truly cannot be spared!"

Shan Hai glanced at him. Since even Yan Li supported Chu Fengping, he raised no objection.

With the support of Yan's other two factions, Chu Fengping's spirits lifted somewhat.

The final result was hardly surprising. Qi, Wei, and Yan agreed to join forces against the overseas group. Everyone knew perfectly well that they were going there to rob them, but no one mentioned robbery. They spoke only of eliminating the scum Niu Youdao and settling accounts with those overseas demons and monsters.

Once the decision was made, Yan Li immediately asked the disciple who had brought the report, "Where is Niu Youdao?"

The disciple replied, "This disciple was alone at the time and had to return to report, so I couldn't follow them. I only saw Niu Youdao's group heading northeast."

A direction was enough. The three states immediately discussed a search-and-capture plan. With ample manpower at their disposal, they prepared to spread a wide net and search along the route.

While the manpower was being organized, Dong Jinhuan saw the scale of the mobilization and sought out a Xiaoyao Palace disciple named Zhao Dengxuan. "Why have the people of three states gathered together? What are they planning with such a large movement?"

Her relationship with Zhao Dengxuan was no ordinary one. To put it plainly, she had already given herself to him.

Nor was she the only one. An Miao'er and Lin Feiyan had done the same, each finding a patron of her own. The three female disciples from Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain had each given themselves to someone they could rely on.

The three sects had sent one female disciple apiece to serve Niu Youdao. Once this side forced Niu Youdao away, the three women were left completely without support. For a short time it had not mattered much, but as the days dragged on, the unease and fear a woman would feel in such a dangerous alien world were easy to imagine.

Sometimes being beautiful truly was no blessing. The three sects had deliberately selected them to attend Niu Youdao, so naturally none of them lacked looks.

A group of men had been lonely here for a long time. With the three women being attractive besides, it was hardly surprising that some men sought them out to ease their loneliness.

At first the women resisted, but resistance was not really up to them. No one would speak for them, and dangerous or exhausting work could easily be assigned to them.

After being run ragged for a while, none of the three could endure it. Their cultivation was not high either. In the end, they discovered there was nothing easier than undoing their own waistbands. One after another, they did just that, each finding an influential disciple from one of Yan's three great sects to rely on.

If they were going to undo their waistbands anyway, and if they were going to climb to a higher branch, naturally they wanted the highest branch they could reach.

They would have preferred to give themselves to the presiding Elders of the three great sects. Yet even if those three men had entertained the idea, they still had to consider appearances. In a place with so little privacy, such a relationship could never be hidden. The women therefore had to settle for influential disciples beneath those Elders, offering themselves in exchange for favor and protection.

Once someone was shielding them, life naturally became much easier. They no longer had to run everywhere doing exhausting and dangerous work. They simply remained with Yan's joint command, handled miscellaneous chores, and passed their days in relative ease and safety.

Zhao Dengxuan said, "They found Niu Youdao..." He gave her a rough account of the situation.

Dong Jinhuan was shocked. "Cai Jinqi and those hundred-odd people were killed by Niu Youdao? Niu Youdao actually managed to wipe out so many people from Lingxu Mansion and Daqiu Sect as well?"

More precisely, she was frightened. She had never imagined that even after falling into such desperate circumstances, Niu Youdao could still display such terrifying ability.

Killing so many people from those great sects was something she would never even have dared imagine. Chills repeatedly crawled down her back. Whenever she remembered the figure of Niu Youdao standing outside Maolu Villa with his sword planted before him, looking as though he alone reigned supreme, an uncontrollable fear rose in her heart.

Zhao Dengxuan glanced around and teased, "What? Scared?"

Dong Jinhuan took the initiative to wrap her arms around him and nestled gently against his chest. Aggrieved, she said, "Dear Zhao, perhaps you don't know. In Nanzhou, Niu Youdao truly holds power that reaches the heavens. Whether in the cultivation world or among secular dignitaries, no one dares oppose him. Even our Sect Leader has to behave properly in front of him and address him respectfully as 'Master Dao.' If he gets out alive, half a sentence from him would be enough to leave me without a burial place! Who knows how he'd torment me then? Tell me, how could I not be afraid?"

Zhao Dengxuan chuckled. "You're worrying too much. The three states are joining forces precisely to deal with him. Do you really think he'll still make it out alive?"

Dong Jinhuan said, "But I'm truly uneasy and frightened. Didn't everyone think he had already been driven into a dead end before? If he could become the dominant figure in Nanzhou, his methods can't be ordinary. I'm really afraid something unexpected will happen!"

Zhao Dengxuan patted her lower back. "Even if he does get out, so what? You're my woman now. With Xiaoyao Palace behind you, would he dare touch you? Outside this place, so what if his power in Nanzhou reaches the heavens? He still has to act according to Xiaoyao Palace's wishes. Even if the worst happens and he somehow gets out alive, don't worry. I'll step forward and say a word. Niu Youdao will still have to give me some face. Your own sect will have even less courage to touch you!"

With that assurance, the weight hanging over Dong Jinhuan's heart finally lifted. Delight spread across her face as she said softly, "Dear Zhao, I'm yours now. For the rest of this life, I'll be relying on you to look after me."

"Knowing you're my woman is enough. Don't worry. Even if marrying you would be somewhat troublesome, it won't be difficult for me to send a word to your sect and make sure you become someone of standing there." Zhao Dengxuan laughed and flicked a finger beneath her soft chin. "This isn't the time for sweet talk. Go get ready. We're leaving soon. If the opportunity comes later, I'll try to arrange for you to collect Niu Youdao's corpse yourself. That way, when you return, you'll have something to account for before your sect."

"Mm!" Dong Jinhuan nodded repeatedly, obediently nestling against him like a little bird.

She was not the only one terrified by the news. An Miao'er and Lin Feiyan had become nervous as well, and of course each went to find the man who could reassure her.

...

The combined forces of the three states set out to search. They did not find Niu Youdao or the overseas group along the way, but they successively encountered people from Han and Song.

It would actually have been difficult not to encounter them. Han and Song had also run into disciples of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion who were asking everywhere for help locating their Sect Leader. After those disciples pointed them in the right direction, the two states had deliberately come looking for Yan.

Only then did the allied forces of Yan, Wei, and Qi learn that the overseas group had not merely succeeded against Wei and Qi. They had also robbed Han's Tiannü Sect and Song's Blood God Hall. The quantity of Spirit Seeds now in their hands far exceeded what the three states had imagined.

The allied forces of the three states could no longer suppress the heat in their hearts. Their desire to find the overseas group grew stronger than ever. Niu Youdao, that running dog of the overseas cultivators, became almost secondary.

Yan, Wei, and Qi concealed the truth from Han and Song. They did not tell those two states what they knew. With three states already cooperating, they had more than enough strength to deal with the overseas group. There was no reason to invite two more parties to divide the spoils.

But events were no longer theirs to control. Someone was manipulating matters from the shadows.

By sheer "coincidence," some of the people sent out to search by Yan, Wei, and Qi happened to fall into the hands of Han and Song, allowing those two states to learn the truth.

Han and Song, which were fighting each other to the death on the battlefield outside, immediately joined forces here. They prepared to follow behind and wait for a chance to reap the fisherman's profit.

"The overseas group took all the Spirit Seeds from Tiannü Sect, Blood God Hall, Lingxu Mansion, and Daqiu Sect?"

By another remarkable coincidence, some of the searchers dispatched by Yan, Wei, and Qi also fell into Jin's hands. When Qiyun Sect Elder Taishu Shanyue heard his disciple's report, he immediately ordered that the captive be brought before him so he could personally question the man and verify the information.

The cultivator who had happened to be captured pleaded again and again, "I wouldn't dare deceive you, Elder! Elder, I'm only an independent cultivator. I can't truly be counted as belonging to any side. I had no choice but to run errands for them. I beg you to show mercy and spare my life!"

"Fine. As long as I confirm you've told the truth, this old man keeps his word. I will spare your life!" Taishu Shanyue gave him the promise, then waved a hand and had him taken away.

Afterward, he raised his brows, stroked his white beard, and kept chuckling coldly, his eyes shining.

[End of Chapter 807]