Chapter 1092: Burning Wuliang Garden

"Who would be interested in corpses?" Niu Youdao said. "I'm only doing someone a favor."

Sha Rulai asked, "Who would ask you to find corpses? You brought up Crow Generals earlier. Don't tell me you're planning something against Wuliang Garden."

"Mr. Sha is thinking too much. Wuliang Garden is defended like a fortress of bronze walls and iron ramparts. Even if I wanted to scheme against it, what good would that do?"

"The Demonic Sect asked me to find several people. They suspect those people were refined into Crow Generals by Wu Chang. Finding the corpses would let them confirm it."

"Oh?" Sha Rulai said. "Then why didn't you tell Wu Fei the names of the people involved? Without a target, how is he supposed to search?"

There was obvious suspicion in his words.

Niu Youdao returned the suspicion. "Is this Wu Fei truly reliable? Are you certain you can control him?"

"I need to see more before I decide. Otherwise, I may bring trouble down on the Demonic Sect."

Sha Rulai looked around, then lowered his voice and told him the truth.

"Wu Fei is having an affair with the woman of his martial grandmaster, Zhu Xin."

Niu Youdao was surprised. "Wu Fei has quite some nerve."

Sha Rulai waved a hand slightly. "Wu Fei knew that woman before Zhu Xin did. The two of them had already been involved for a long time."

"Later Zhu Xin took a fancy to her. Wu Fei and the woman had no choice but to pretend they didn't know each other, while secretly continuing the affair."

"Wu Fei is actually terrified and no longer wants anything to do with her, but she refuses to let him go. The moment she gets a chance, she clings to him."

"That time she left Sacred Realm for an outing, she personally chose Wu Fei as one of the people accompanying her."

Niu Youdao said, "If that's the case, wouldn't controlling the woman—someone close to Zhu Xin—be more valuable than controlling Wu Fei?"

"That kind of woman can't be reasoned with. There's no rationality to speak of, which means she's full of uncontrollable variables. If it were you, would you dare try to control her?"

Niu Youdao considered it briefly, then nodded slightly.

That was true.

She was already with Zhu Xin yet still dared cling to her former lover. She was the sort who had no fear of courting death, almost a little mad.

Betting on someone like that truly would be dangerous.

Precisely because of that, Niu Youdao had another concern. "If this continues, something will happen sooner or later. Wu Fei will eventually be dragged down by that woman."

Sha Rulai pointed at the masks on their faces. "Exactly. That's why I didn't dare let Wu Fei see our real faces or learn our true identities."

"It's also one reason I never activated him before. If we truly wanted Wu Fei to play an important role, we'd first have to get rid of that woman."

"You suddenly asked me to find someone. With that woman inside Tianmo Sacred Land, I couldn't conveniently move against her, and I had no other immediate option, so I took the risk of calling Wu Fei out."

"I thought you had some enormous matter in mind. Turns out you only want a few corpses."

He plainly felt he had made too much of the situation by coming personally.

For Niu Youdao, however, that was not the case at all.

Although he had only met Wu Fei briefly and exchanged a few questions, the conversation had already given him enough information.

Combined with what Wu Fei had said, Niu Youdao had at least narrowed down the likely source of the human spirits used to refine the Crow Generals.

He could not guarantee his inference was correct, but he believed the probability was high.

Before this, he had worried that the source of the spirits might be far too broad, especially that they might come from outside Sacred Realm. If so, the range to investigate would be enormous.

Now, however, the possibility that they came from outside seemed low.

There were reasons for that conclusion.

The secret art for gathering dead spirits was not something just anyone knew. Bringing outsiders into Sacred Realm would be too conspicuous, and they would first have to pass the entrance.

The Nine Saints themselves rarely left Sacred Realm. There was only one entrance, and whenever one of the Nine Saints entered or left, it drew too much attention and created too much disturbance.

According to Zhao Xiongge, Wu Chang could not control Crow Generals on a large scale and could only control a limited number.

That meant there was no need to go outside merely to gather a few spirits.

Thus, the likelihood that the spirits used for the Crow Generals came from within Sacred Realm was much higher.

But Sacred Realm itself covered a large area, and all nine factions had many people inside it.

Yet Zhao Xiongge had also said that when a Crow General took human form, its appearance would resemble the face of the spirit in life.

That allowed Niu Youdao to rule out people from the other eight factions.

Perhaps some Crow Generals in Wu Chang's hands had other origins, but at the very least, the Crow Generals inside Wuliang Garden could not have been refined from members of the other eight Sacred Lands.

Wuliang Garden was jointly guarded by people from all nine factions.

If Wu Chang used members of the other eight factions to refine Crow Generals, those eight sides were not blind. The moment the Crow Generals revealed human form and someone recognized a face, it would be the same as Wu Chang openly announcing that he had killed their people.

That would inevitably cause trouble.

His judgment might be wrong, but he had now narrowed the likely source of the spirits inside Wuliang Garden's Crow Generals to people from Tianmo Sacred Land.

Some problems looked chaotic and completely without a thread to follow.

For some people, however, a few clues were enough.

For Niu Youdao, this short meeting with Wu Fei had already produced the first thing he wanted.

The next step was further confirmation.

...

Fire.

A vast fire.

A sudden conflagration formed an enormous ring of flame across the boundless sea of mountains and quickly spread outward.

Prepared fuel combined with the wind. The fire expanded with astonishing speed, and flames gradually surged toward the sky.

Under the tremendous heat, the air in one part of the blaze seemed to distort.

A pale-blue fissure suddenly tore open in space, then collapsed outward into a gigantic translucent bowl glowing faintly blue.

A hidden space abruptly appeared. An entire tract of land seemed to materialize from nowhere, pushing the circular fire zone into an irregular shape.

Mountains and waters, pavilions and buildings were clearly visible beneath the translucent bowl. Many figures could be seen darting through the interior.

The strange sight that had suddenly appeared amid the flames looked like a mirage.

A gap abruptly split open along the curved surface of the glowing translucent barrier.

Numerous cultivators flew out and scattered in every direction, rushing urgently into the sea of fire and using spiritual power to extinguish the flames.

Cultivators were highly efficient at fighting a fire.

Hidden among the treetop canopy atop a mountain peak, Niu Youdao watched from far away.

Hei Yun, crouched beside him, suddenly pointed in one direction. "He really came out. Over there!"

Niu Youdao turned his head and looked.

At the outer edge of the sea of fire in the direction Hei Yun indicated, an inconspicuous column of smoke had risen.

Niu Youdao immediately said in a low voice, "I'll handle the rest. Get your people out immediately."

Without another word, Hei Yun flashed away.

Niu Youdao dropped from the treetop as well and raced through the forest toward the column of smoke.

...

Inside the sea of fire, Ao Feng repeatedly struck with his palms, spiritual power blasting across the burning ground and smothering the flames wherever his force landed.

With a sweep of his arm, he drew water from a nearby stream and pool and sent it surging over another patch of fire.

A man dressed in Misty Pavilion clothing landed nearby and began using spiritual power to extinguish the blaze as well.

At first, Ao Feng assumed the newcomer was simply another man from Wuliang Garden helping fight the fire.

Busy with the emergency, he paid little attention.

Only when the other man came close did Ao Feng realize the face was unfamiliar and seemed to be covered by a false mask.

He immediately became wary.

"Who are you?"

The newcomer said, "Ao Feng. It's me."

"You are..." Ao Feng hesitated.

The voice sounded familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.

"It's me. Niu Youdao."

"You?" Ao Feng was badly startled.

Understanding dawned. The voice matched the Niu Youdao he remembered.

He stared uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"

Even in his dreams, he had never imagined he would encounter Niu Youdao in this place.

As he spoke, he quickly swept his gaze around the surroundings.

Whether Niu Youdao had merely happened to pass by or had come deliberately, Ao Feng wanted no one to see the two of them together again.

"Come with me. Quickly," Niu Youdao said.

Ao Feng had no intention whatsoever of following him. "I still have to fight the fire."

With that, he resumed striking out and suppressing the flames.

Niu Youdao urged him, "The fire is this large. Everyone is scattered everywhere dealing with the disaster, and the whole situation is chaotic. No one will notice one man missing."

"I don't have time to waste words with you."

So he was refusing even when given face?

Niu Youdao gave a low, cold laugh. "Such devotion to duty. I admire it."

"Fine. So long as you aren't afraid of someone discovering the two of us together, I'll stay and lend you a hand."

As he spoke, he tore the false mask straight from his face and began sweeping his arms again, using spiritual power to put out the fire.

The face beneath the mask truly was Niu Youdao's.

Seeing that he genuinely intended to stay, Ao Feng stopped instead.

He lowered his voice angrily. "What exactly do you want?"

Niu Youdao glanced sideways. "Come with me. We'll go and come straight back. I won't cause you trouble."

Their eyes locked.

Ao Feng quickly looked around again, then finally clenched his teeth. "Go!"

The two rapidly left the fire zone.

Using the folds of the terrain and the dense forest as cover, they quickly slipped away.

Once they were far from the blaze, Niu Youdao led Ao Feng into a concealed place he had scouted beforehand.

After they entered deep into a mountain ravine, Ao Feng suddenly seized Niu Youdao by the front of his clothes.

"What do you want?"

Niu Youdao grabbed his wrist and forced it outward. "Surely you aren't planning to kill me and silence me, Mr. Ao?"

"You already tried in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. You can't kill me."

"Or do you want to make enough noise fighting me to draw everyone over here?"

As the two struggled, both began using spiritual power.

Ao Feng was horrified to discover that when his spiritual power struck Niu Youdao, there was nowhere for the force to take hold.

Ao Feng flung his arm and shook Niu Youdao off.

His expression twisted. "I'm asking what you want!"

"Naturally, I came to meet you."

"What is there to meet about..." Ao Feng stopped abruptly.

There was no way this could have been some chance encounter.

His heart began pounding. "The fire outside Wuliang Garden... is that connected to you?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "I set it. If I didn't start this fire, how was I supposed to draw you out for a meeting?"

Burn Wuliang Garden?

The fire around Wuliang Garden had actually been started because of him?

Ao Feng stared at him as though he had gone insane. "Niu Youdao, are you mad? Do you even know what kind of place this is?"

"Shh." Niu Youdao raised one finger to his lips, signaling him to keep his voice down. "Don't be impatient, Mr. Ao. I came this time for your own good."

"For my own good?" Ao Feng laughed coldly without stopping. "Niu Youdao, you've already ruined me badly enough. I can't bear any more of your kindness. Spare me."

That was not merely empty complaint.

After testifying for Niu Youdao, Ao Feng's attempt to leave Wuliang Garden had been ruined, and his master had cursed him bloody.

At this rate, he was probably going to grow old and die inside Wuliang Garden.

More importantly, his testimony had proved Misty Pavilion had violated the Nine Saints' rules.

He had genuinely offended Misty Pavilion to the core.

His days afterward had become difficult.

Even if he eventually left Wuliang Garden, he would not have an easy life.

But at the time he had had no choice.

He had testified only because he needed to save his own life.

Niu Youdao waved a hand. "I understand how you feel. But time is limited. This isn't the moment for useless words. Let's keep this short."

"There's nothing to discuss." Ao Feng rejected him with a wave and pointed at Niu Youdao's nose. "This ends here. Don't even think about threatening me with anything else."

"I'm warning you. If the matter is exposed, at worst we all die together. Don't imagine you'll come out of it well either."

"Get lost!"

With that, he turned to leave.

Niu Youdao spoke calmly behind him.

"Ao Feng, I'm not far from death. Are you really willing to die together with me?"

[End of Chapter 1092]