Chapter 1061: The Sacred Venerable Has Read and Is Informed

Sha Huanli had actually gone straight to Ice and Snow Sacred Land instead of Daluo Sacred Land!

As far as Niu Youdao knew, Sha Huanli lived in Star-Plucking City year-round and rarely returned. Now that she had finally come back, and so many days early at that, by both sentiment and propriety she ought to have gone first to Daluo Sacred Land to pay her respects to her father. Yet she had not. What was going on?

He had far too little manpower inside Sacred Realm. The problem was that even if he could find others, anyone who learned what he meant to do would certainly refuse. He could only ask the Demon Fox race for help. Yet the Demon Foxes had only a limited number of experts capable of taking human form. He could not pre-position them at several locations and split his strength, especially when Sha Huanli traveled with so many expert guards.

He had predicted in advance that, arriving this many days early, Sha Huanli would certainly visit her father at Daluo Sacred Land first. He had therefore gathered Demon Fox experts and carefully arranged an ambush along the route to Daluo Sacred Land.

He had even prepared an excuse to travel alongside Sha Huanli so he could coordinate with the Demon Foxes from within.

Who could have imagined that Sha Huanli would go straight to Ice and Snow Sacred Land instead? All his careful preparation had gone to waste, and the Demon Foxes' long journey had been for nothing.

He could still find an excuse to travel with Sha Huanli now, but there was no longer enough time to notify the Demon Foxes and change the ambush location. On his own, there was little chance he could deal with all the guards around Sha Huanli without letting a single one escape or leak word of what had happened.

The plan had failed before it had even begun!

Once he calmed down, Niu Youdao looked again at the men Sha Rulai had sent, whispering among themselves, and combined that with what he had just witnessed. He gradually realized there might be some problem in the relationship between Sha Rulai and his daughter.

A serious oversight! Something capable of affecting the plan this much, yet he had failed to notice the slightest sign beforehand.

He had never heard any rumors about such a thing, nor had anyone ever mentioned it to him. He had never expected the relationship between father and daughter to be troubled.

Unexpected, yet in a way perfectly understandable. Sha Rulai had remarried. It was not hard to understand his daughter being unhappy about it.

That Sha Rulai always wore a stern face, as though everyone in the world owed him money, forever carrying himself high above others. Yet who would have thought that a disciple of the dignified Sacred Venerable Luo Qiu could not even intimidate his own daughter?

Niu Youdao was irritated, but irritation solved nothing. He still had to find a way through this. He would not give up easily. There was still an opportunity, only now it came with additional complications.

For the moment, he could not act inside Ice and Snow Sacred Land. He had no eyes, ears, or manpower there. Accomplishing something like this alone and without any cover was impossible.

Before Xue Luo'er's wedding, there was clearly no longer any chance to act.

The same problem remained: he had no eyes inside Ice and Snow Sacred Land. Even if Xue Luo'er took Sha Huanli in and out to enjoy themselves, he would have no way of knowing.

There was one point he could be certain of, however. No matter how close Sha Huanli and Xue Luo'er were in private, Daluo Sacred Land and Ice and Snow Sacred Land were ultimately two separate factions. Sha Huanli could not remain at Ice and Snow Sacred Land forever.

Which meant there would still be an opportunity when Sha Huanli left.

But Niu Youdao needed to know exactly when she would depart. Otherwise there was no telling whether she would leave early or late.

He also needed to accompany Sha Huanli himself. Only then would he have a chance to influence the route she took.

A flying mount generally traveled in a straight line, but not in an absolutely perfect one. Even a slight deviation could carry it far from an ambush point and make the two sides miss one another completely. One group would be flying high in the sky while the other waited on the ground. Who could calculate an absolutely exact interception point without the slightest deviation? Niu Youdao therefore had to remain at Sha Huanli's side and exert some control over their route.

There was another problem. After Sha Huanli left Ice and Snow Sacred Land, would she go to Daluo Sacred Land, or leave Sacred Realm directly?

Those were two entirely different routes.

Judging by what he had seen, father and daughter were not on good terms, so Sha Huanli might not go to Daluo Sacred Land. But who could guarantee she would not make a perfunctory visit out of propriety? One unexpected development had already occurred. He needed to learn from it and guard against every possibility of another.

This was troublesome. Unless he could determine the route in advance, the limited manpower available for the ambush would never have time to shift back and forth.

Waiting like a hunter beside Sacred Realm's exit was unrealistic as well. That would alarm a large number of Misty Pavilion personnel.

Abducting someone was not easy at all. In some ways it would have been simpler to charge directly into a crowd and kill someone.

After thinking it through again and again, Niu Youdao concluded that he had to make a trip to Ice and Snow Sacred Land and personally get a grasp of the situation. This was his only chance.

Once he had made up his mind, he quickly left the area around Sacred Realm's exit and went to the communication point he had established in advance. He sent word to the Demon Foxes lying in ambush, telling them the plan had changed because of an unexpected development and ordering them to withdraw for the time being.

Only afterward did he go back to meet Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie, whom he had left in some unknown place, and take the two of them back to Wentian City.

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie had long since grown accustomed to Niu Youdao suddenly leaving them behind and disappearing on his own. They had no idea what their Elder was doing. Everything felt mysterious, even furtive, but they knew better than to ask. Asking would get them nowhere anyway. Ever since the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, Elder Niu had been slipping away by himself from time to time.

After returning to Wentian City and reporting in, Niu Youdao went directly to find Huang Ban.

When they met, Huang Ban happened to be sitting with Xuan Yao, drinking tea.

Xuan Yao cast him a cold sidelong glance and gave a faint snort, then refused to look at him directly again.

Huang Ban's attitude was neither warm nor cold. He stared into the tea in his cup and asked, "What do you want?"

Standing outside the pavilion, Niu Youdao reported, "I want to make a trip to Ice and Snow Sacred Land."

There was no helping it. Although the inspectors had been granted a degree of freedom in carrying out their duties, Misty Pavilion still needed to keep track of their movements. If something happened, they at least needed to know where to begin investigating.

At those words, Xuan Yao and Huang Ban both looked up, apparently surprised.

Huang Ban frowned. "The inspection authority granted to you by the Sacred Venerable does not include Ice and Snow Sacred Land. You have no authority to go there, and it is not a place you should be visiting."

Niu Youdao said, "Steward Huang has misunderstood. How would I dare go to Ice and Snow Sacred Land to make trouble? While inspecting the Sacred Realm exit earlier, I happened to meet the City Lord of Star-Plucking City. We're old acquaintances. We exchanged a few words, and that was how I learned the Master of Ice and Snow Pavilion is about to be married."

Old acquaintances with Sha Huanli?

Huang Ban and Xuan Yao exchanged a glance, the meaning in their eyes unmistakable. So this man had ties to Sha Rulai's daughter. They seemed to have found an explanation for why Luo Fangfei had suddenly intervened and sent Niu Youdao out of Sacred Realm.

The two realized some of Ding Wei's suspicions had not been unreasonable. Unfortunately, when Ding Wei later investigated the history between Niu Youdao and Sha Rulai and examined the records concerning the Tiandu Secret Realm, he had found nothing wrong. Sha Rulai had shown Niu Youdao no favoritism whatsoever. Even after accepting a liquor recipe from him, Sha Rulai had still driven him nearly to death. Nothing had seemed abnormal.

Huang Ban asked, "What does the Master of Ice and Snow Pavilion getting married have to do with you?"

Niu Youdao said, "By sentiment and propriety, I ought to go congratulate her. If I can get a cup of wedding wine while I'm there, so much the better."

Xuan Yao gave a derisive snort, mockery plain on his face.

Huang Ban looked mocking as well. "Ice and Snow Sacred Land is not a place for ordinary social courtesies. Nor is it somewhere just anyone can visit. The Master of Ice and Snow Pavilion is getting married, yet even people like us have no right to attend without being summoned. As for you... is there really any need?"

Niu Youdao remained courteous. "The Master of Ice and Snow Pavilion is also an old acquaintance of mine. By sentiment and propriety, I ought to go."

Huang Ban and Xuan Yao both froze.

This fellow knew Xue Luo'er too?

But the two of them were people of Dayuan Sacred Land. Whether it was Sha Rulai's side or Xue Luo'er's, neither had any reason to do anything to them. Under ordinary circumstances there was no need to fear either faction. Huang Ban said coldly, "Inspectors from the various sects have no authority to interfere in any of the Sacred Lands. I do not approve this. Of course, if you insist on going, you carry an inspector's status and I can't tie you up. But Misty Pavilion's flying mounts are forbidden from trespassing into any Sacred Land without authorization. If you want to walk there on your own two legs, there's nothing I can do about that."

A strange little smile tugged at Xuan Yao's mouth as he slowly drank his tea. Inwardly, he was delighted. He enjoyed seeing Niu Youdao obstructed.

Ice and Snow Sacred Land lay in the bitter cold of the polar reaches, an immense distance away. If Niu Youdao relied on his own cultivation to fly there, who knew when he would arrive? The wedding would probably be over long before he reached the place. He still wanted to curry favor and drink wedding wine? He would be more likely to drink the northwest wind.

Niu Youdao studied their reactions, then nodded. "Since Steward Huang can't make the decision, I suppose I'll have to report Steward Huang's exact words to the Sacred Venerable and see whether the Sacred Venerable agrees."

With that, he turned and left.

Huang Ban's face darkened. Both tea drinkers stared at his retreating back.

Niu Youdao had not been making an empty threat. He truly did submit a report.

The results of his first three consecutive petitions had deviated somewhat from what he had originally planned and left him trapped inside Sacred Realm, unable to get out.

Even if his later plans succeeded, leaving Sacred Realm would still be difficult. So he had to drag the person secretly colluding with him into the light. At present, that hidden party was his only hope of leaving Sacred Realm after everything was done.

Even if Tianlan Sacred Land replied that he was not permitted to go congratulate Xue Luo'er, he still intended to make the trip. At worst, he would have someone deliver the gift outside Ice and Snow Sacred Land. Even if he could only probe the situation around the periphery, that would still be useful.

If Huang Ban refused him a flying mount, that did not matter either. There were still the other seven factions. They had agreed to stand together against Misty Pavilion. He could have one of the others requisition a mount and then borrow it. One way or another, he was determined to make this trip.

The next day, a reply arrived from Tianlan Sacred Land.

Niu Youdao opened it and saw the same four words as before:

The Sacred Venerable has read and is informed.

What was that supposed to mean? No approval, but no refusal either. Clearly, the intent was for him to follow the rules.

Whatever. Since the Sacred Venerable had not refused, Niu Youdao decided that when the time came he would simply invoke Lan Daolin's name and demand a flying mount from Huang Ban. Huang Ban would not dare refuse.

Once his mind was made up, Niu Youdao had Qin Guan obtain oversized sheets of paper from Misty Pavilion, along with inks in various colors.

When everything arrived, several tables were carried into the middle of the courtyard and pushed together. A large sheet of white paper was spread across them. Niu Youdao dipped his brush into ink, and beneath his hand a vast landscape gradually took shape.

It was the wedding gift he intended to send Xue Luo'er.

He had no other gift to offer, so he could only display his skill and create something with his own hands.

Cloud-veiled mountains faded into the distance. Amid red blossoms and green willows, a stream flowed beneath a small bridge where a loving pair stood together. The scene carried an exquisite artistic conception, and the brushwork was extraordinarily accomplished.

Kunlin Shu and the others watching nearby exchanged surprised looks. None of them had expected Niu Youdao to possess this skill.

Then they watched him write a single line in the blank space:

Envy only the mandarin ducks, not the immortals!

[End of Chapter 1061]