Chapter 813: Deathsworn

At those words, some of the men exchanged looks while others fell silent. They had to admit that Taishu Shanyue's reasoning made some sense. Having those three sects carry the goods out really would be the safest arrangement.

Taishu Shanyue continued, "Do you think that overseas bunch doesn't know the exit will be a deadly hurdle? No matter how much they rob, it means nothing unless they can carry it out. They knew taking the goods out would be difficult, yet they still did all this. What does that tell you? It tells you they were confident they could get them out! Where could that confidence come from? Is there any arrangement more secure than having those three sects carry the goods out for them?"

He shook the scrap of cloth in his hand again. "So it's entirely possible that the overseas group really has colluded with those three sects in secret! Think about it. Once the exit opens, if those three sects arrive there, strip the matter bare, and prove they don't have any Spirit Seeds on them, what are we supposed to do then? At that critical moment, are we really going to fight them to the death when they have nothing at all, only to let someone else reap the benefit? We could do nothing but let them leave!"

He waved the cloth again, his expression savage. "A practically perfect plan!"

If the overseas cultivators had heard this analysis, they probably would have burst into tears. What perfect plan?

At the beginning, they had simply thought Niu Youdao's plan was workable. They believed they could lure the people of the seven states out and kill them step by step, weakening the seven states until they could naturally fight their way out with the goods in hand. Who could have known the plan would spring a leak and go completely wrong?

That whole pack of overseas demons and monsters had boarded Niu Youdao's pirate ship and could no longer get off. They had pushed matters so far that they were riding a tiger and unable to dismount.

Not only could they do nothing but follow Niu Youdao all the way down this dark road, their leaders had even become his sworn siblings and been moved by his willingness to risk his life drawing away their pursuers.

Now they were frightened enough to hide like turtles in their shells, afraid even to show their heads. Where was this supposedly perfect plan?

The men around the campfire wore grave expressions. After hearing Taishu Shanyue lay it out this way, the matter truly did sound like a carefully prepared conspiracy.

Wushang Palace Elder Dao Wufeng said heavily, "So you're saying this secret warning may actually be true?"

Lingxiao Pavilion Elder Cheng Mantang said suspiciously, "If that's the case, and the Spirit Seeds are in the hands of the three neutral sects, then Yan, Wei, and Qi never got them at all. If they got nothing, why did they run? Why did they hide? That's highly abnormal. Can anyone explain it?"

At those words, everyone realized the contradiction. Exactly. If Yan, Wei, and Qi had not gotten anything, why had they fled?

The men looked at one another.

Even Taishu Shanyue had nothing to say. The two possibilities directly contradicted each other. There was no way to explain them both.

More than that, as everyone looked around the circle, they had the feeling that the waters of the Tiandu Secret Realm had been muddied beyond recognition. No one could tell which way was which anymore.

A fierce light suddenly appeared in Taishu Shanyue's eyes. "Those three sects are right behind us. If we want to know whether this is true or false, that's simple enough. Have the three sects prove their own innocence!"

Several men frowned or sank into thought.

Cheng Mantang asked, "How exactly do you expect them to prove it? Whether they have the Spirit Seeds or not, they'll never admit to anything and will certainly say there is no such thing. Are we supposed to order them to submit meekly to a search? They couldn't possibly accept that. If they did, where would the face of those three sects go? Are we going to force them to be searched?"

Fu Juyan nodded. "If we use force, there will inevitably be a fight! With the wealth those three sects possess, once they join hands, they could bury people in money. Provoking them would be asking for trouble. Even if we won, it would be a ruinous victory. After our strength was badly depleted, forget seizing first, second, and third place. The moment Yan, Wei, and Qi saw we were easy prey, they'd wipe us out!"

Taishu Shanyue's brows knotted. Everyone's arguments made sense. This truly was troublesome. Those three sects were genuinely difficult to provoke. He could not help sighing. "It's precisely because everyone knows no one dares move casually against those three that Niu Youdao's people are even more likely to use them!"

Dao Wufeng said, "What are you trying to say? You insist on teaching those three sects a lesson? Then let me state Wushang Palace's position first. If you want to make trouble for those three, go ahead. I won't join in." He turned his head toward Baichuan Valley Elder Shi Ru and added in a lukewarm tone, "Brother Shi Ru, you'd better think very carefully about what you do as well."

Shi Ru understood perfectly.

They represented Han. Outside, Han's war with Song had reached a critical stage, and victory was in sight. If they angered those three sects now, Myriad Beasts Sect's beast-commanding methods and Tianxing Sect's vast supply of talismans alone could reverse the war. If that happened, none of them could bear the responsibility.

Compared with the war of national destruction being fought outside, the interests at stake here were secondary. Shi Ru still preferred those three sects to remain neutral.

For the same reason, Niu Youdao had dared rob nearly everyone yet had not casually laid hands on those three. Unless driven into absolute desperation, he would not openly tear relations apart and provoke them.

The muscles in Taishu Shanyue's cheeks twitched hard. His frustration had nowhere to go. "So we're just supposed to ignore this and pretend nothing happened?"

Shi Ru pointed at the cloth in Taishu Shanyue's hand. "Who exactly sent this secret letter? If we can find that person, the truth will naturally become clear. Why don't we take this letter over to those three sects and see how they react?"

Taishu Shanyue's expression eased slightly. He gave a grunt of agreement. "That makes sense!"

The others nodded one after another.

Once the decision was made, the three sides called up an appropriate number of men and went together to see Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect, which were guarding the exit.

...

Yan Baoru sat quietly in a corner, looking from time to time toward the people of the three neutral sects and then toward the darkness beyond the perimeter.

She was waiting.

Waiting for the people of Jin, Han, and Song to come looking. Hoping they would come. Hoping they would ruin Niu Youdao's plans and send him to his death in one stroke.

Whenever she thought of Niu Youdao and what he had done to her, grief and fury rose in her heart beyond her control.

Every scene from that day remained perfectly clear in her mind. That bastard had been like a demon, leaving a memory cold enough to cut into her bones.

She still remembered herself begging and pleading for mercy. How could she have sunk so low? Looking back on it now, even she could not forgive herself. She had actually submitted to a dog like that!

She still remembered how, after she agreed to submit, Niu Youdao had brazenly stroked her neck as though idly handling a private possession that belonged to him. Then, without warning, he had forced her mouth open, produced a pill, and shoved it down her throat.

After she swallowed it, Niu Youdao told her she had taken a Spirit-Torment Pill.

She had been horrified and asked, "You're from Xiaoyue Pavilion?"

Niu Youdao gave no clear answer. He neither admitted it nor denied it.

She had suspected the pill might not truly be a Spirit-Torment Pill. Yet Niu Youdao had released her immediately afterward.

That action made the truth clear to her. What she had swallowed probably really was a Spirit-Torment Pill. If Niu Youdao had not been completely confident he could control her, there was no way he would have let her go.

Before they parted, Niu Youdao gave her enough antidote for the relevant period and made her take it. He told her the dose would last until she left the Tiandu Secret Realm. As long as she behaved obediently, he would give her more antidote after she got out.

She had asked him, "Are you certain you'll make it out of the Tiandu Secret Realm alive to give me the antidote?"

Niu Youdao had seemed exceptionally confident in the deterrent power of the Spirit-Torment Pill. He let slip a few secrets, telling her that he had long since made covert arrangements with Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect. His side would collect enough Spirit Seeds, then have those three sects carry them out for him. Taking first place and leaving alive would be no problem.

At first, she had not known where Niu Youdao could possibly get enough Spirit Seeds. Only after hearing the recent rumors did she understand that Niu Youdao had joined forces with the overseas demons and monsters and plundered enormous quantities of Spirit Seeds.

She did not know exactly how many they had seized. Anyone uninvolved in those events had no way to know. But at last she understood what Niu Youdao's earlier words had meant.

Before the two parted, Niu Youdao had given her a letter. He ordered her to return to the ancient forest at the exit and, once the three sects arrived, hand the letter to a certain person in Myriad Beasts Sect.

And so she had come here.

Once the three sects arrived, she found that person and delivered the letter.

She had secretly looked at it herself. It was a coded letter, and she could not understand its contents.

But the recipient's words and manner had confirmed Niu Youdao's claims in her mind. Niu Youdao truly had secret dealings with those three sects.

If her will had initially broken under Niu Youdao's brutal coercion and she had submitted to him in that moment, afterward she regained her clarity, and all that remained was endless regret.

Her pride would never allow her to crawl forever at Niu Youdao's feet. If she truly had to live like that, what would be the point of living at all? Better to die!

Use the Spirit-Torment Pill to control me forever? Dream on!

Yan Baoru's hatred burned. She wanted to expose the relationship between Niu Youdao and the three sects, but she did not dare do so in front of them. They were on Niu Youdao's side. Exposing him openly there would be seeking death.

So she endured until Jin, Han, and Song arrived.

Then she acted decisively. She wanted someone to intercept Niu Youdao's Spirit Seeds, ruin his plans, and put him to death.

Her anonymous warning seemed to have worked.

Yan Baoru saw people coming. Figures from Jin, Han, and Song flashed out of the darkness. Her heart tightened with excitement, carrying the thrill of revenge.

If she could not solve the problem with force, then she would use her head and her methods to destroy him instead and vent the hatred in her heart.

"I hear the three of you are quite friendly with those overseas people. I also hear they handed you a huge haul of Spirit Seeds so you could take first place?"

The two groups met. Facing the presiding Elders of Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect, Taishu Shanyue called out loudly with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Among the Myriad Beasts Sect group, Xu Huo, Chao Jing's eldest disciple and the man designated to contact Niu Youdao, could not help giving Yan Baoru, seated in the corner, a peculiar glance.

Before Xu Huo came here, Chao Jing had secretly instructed him. He did not know exactly what his master and Niu Youdao were doing together, but he had to obey his master's orders.

He had read the letter Yan Baoru delivered.

Yan Baoru could not understand it. He could.

Inside, Niu Youdao had given him certain instructions to carry out.

Of course, having Xu Huo do it personally was only a last resort. It would be troublesome for him to operate directly. Far better to let a deathsworn agent handle it. That would make matters simpler, more convenient, and more convincing.

Niu Youdao had already delivered the "deathsworn" to him.

It was the messenger herself.

Niu Youdao had said that if she kept her head down, leave her alone. But if she insisted on jumping out and courting death, then let her.

Yan Baoru heard Taishu Shanyue's words as well. Her bright eyes flickered repeatedly. She knew her secret warning had taken effect.

She waited eagerly.

A problem she could not solve with force, she now wanted to solve with intelligence and maneuvering, all to vent the hatred in her heart.

[End of Chapter 813]