Chapter 1422: The Situation Has Changed

Niu Youdao’s heart grew heavy. After rapidly turning the situation over in his mind, he said, “We should still have a day or two. Misty Pavilion probably does not have many people in this area for the moment. If they act, they will likely have to rely on the strength of the various sects. Sect Leader Xi, go back first and do your best to learn what methods they may use. Keep in contact with us and report any developments immediately, so I know what we’re facing and can prepare.”

Xi Haitang asked, “With so many people watching, are you certain you can take the Holy Rakshasa away without exposing yourself?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared a way to deal with that. We won’t be exposed.”

Xi Haitang nodded. “All right. Be careful in everything. Don’t act impulsively. I trust you won’t do anything reckless.” He cupped his hands and prepared to leave.

Niu Youdao reached out. “I only have large-scale maps with me. I didn’t bring a detailed local map showing the towns and cities around here. Give me yours.”

That was no problem. Other people from Myriad Beasts Sect had copies. Xi Haitang handed him the map without hesitation, then quickly flew away.

Niu Youdao and Yun Ji left as well. After passing through several stretches of mountain forest, they dropped into a canyon and rejoined Yuan Gang and Lü Wushuang.

Lü Wushuang now wore a conical hat with a hanging veil, with Yuan Gang standing guard over her. Yuan Gang’s skin had also been covered with coloring to conceal its pale golden hue, and naturally he wore a false face as well.

Seeing the two return, Lü Wushuang asked, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Niu Youdao tilted his head toward Yun Ji.

Yun Ji stepped forward, seized Lü Wushuang by the arm, and took her some distance away.

Only then did Niu Youdao unfold the map and huddle over it with Yuan Gang, giving him a detailed account of everything he had learned from Xi Haitang.

When he heard that the Holy Rakshasa had killed more than a thousand innocent commoners, Yuan Gang’s eyes turned grave. “We have to succeed the first time. We cannot let her get away, or she’ll kill even more innocent people.”

Niu Youdao said, “The fact that she came out at all means she was probably enraged. Right now she’s in a violent frenzy. I’m not confident I can calm her down instantly. If I try to overpower her directly, I may die at her hands instead, so I’ll need you. Once Lü Wushuang shows herself and we use her name to drive away the surrounding cultivators, you move immediately. You must engage her head-on and hold her fast for a short while. I’ll make my move from behind.”

Yuan Gang nodded. “All right.”

Niu Youdao asked, “Hold her. Ideally, lock her in your arms and don’t let go. Are you confident you can do that?”

Yuan Gang raised his hands and looked at them. “I’ve never fought her before. I can’t say I’m completely confident. I’ll do everything I can.”

“At this point, confident or not, we have to try. Yun Ji will assist you.” Niu Youdao pointed to the map. “We’re here now. We’ll cut diagonally across and head straight for the Huashan County seat.”

“Good,” Yuan Gang replied.

The four immediately set out. They summoned two flying mounts and swiftly took to the sky.

...

After reaching the vicinity of the Huashan County seat, Yun Ji directly sank both flying mounts into an underground space. The four then headed straight into the city.

The gates stood wide open. They entered on foot and found the city utterly desolate. In a county seat of such size, not a single person could be seen. Only stray dogs wandered about searching for food.

“Hm? What happened to this city?” Lü Wushuang asked beneath her veiled hat.

The other three knew what was going on and were not surprised. The commoners here had presumably been evacuated in advance.

Worried that hidden observers might be nearby and notice something amiss, Niu Youdao turned his head. “Silence her.”

Yun Ji immediately acted in secret, rendering Lü Wushuang mute.

The move made Lü Wushuang even more suspicious. Unable to speak, she could only look around from behind the veil.

“Check whether any cultivators are hidden in the city and find us a suitable place to conceal ourselves,” Niu Youdao said.

Yun Ji immediately tossed the bird cage she was carrying to Yuan Gang, slipped into an alley, and began searching the city.

Niu Youdao and Yuan Gang appeared to escort Lü Wushuang as they walked along the main street.

When Yun Ji returned, she reported, “The city is basically empty. I found a few elderly people in several dilapidated houses. They have difficulty moving and seem to be widowed or otherwise without anyone to care for them.”

Yuan Gang immediately said, “Tell me roughly where they are.”

The moment Niu Youdao heard that, he knew exactly what Yuan Gang wanted to do. His sympathy was flaring again. Worried something might happen to those elderly people, Yuan Gang wanted to move them somewhere safe.

Niu Youdao said heavily, “Don’t create extra complications. Now that we’re here, nothing will happen to them, and I won’t allow anything to happen to them.”

Yuan Gang fell silent for a moment. After thinking about it, he realized Niu Youdao was right and said nothing further.

Lü Wushuang watched the exchange between the two brothers, paying particular attention to Yuan Gang. She had no idea what was happening right now, but the fact that a handful of ordinary, unsupported elderly mortals could move Yuan Gang to concern made her eyes flicker repeatedly. She found this man truly strange.

Yun Ji raised a hand and pointed toward a building belonging to a wealthy household. Its upper pavilion seemed to be the highest point in the city and should provide a view over the entire county seat.

Niu Youdao followed her gesture. With their target expected to arrive here, that position would allow them to spot her as quickly as possible. He nodded slightly.

The group hurried over and climbed to the high pavilion, taking positions at several windows to watch.

Mute and unable to speak, Lü Wushuang simply sat quietly in a chair inside the pavilion. Only her eyes kept shifting about, revealing that she was plainly thinking something through.

Before long, a Goldenwing suddenly descended from the sky. Yuan Gang caught it and removed a secret message from the tube on its leg. He drew a homemade pencil from inside his wrist guard and wrote the corresponding translation beneath each line of the secret message.

Once he had finished, Yuan Gang’s expression changed slightly. He hurried to Niu Youdao. “Master Dao, this is bad. The situation has changed.”

Niu Youdao took the letter and quickly read through it. His expression changed sharply as well.

The message was from Xi Haitang.

He reported that the Holy Rakshasa was unlikely to reach Huashan County. In a town in the neighboring county, Misty Pavilion’s people had calculated the route she was certain to pass through and already evacuated every resident. They were preparing to make their move against her there.

The reason they had not chosen this county seat was to increase the chances of successfully poisoning the Holy Rakshasa.

The county seat covered too large an area, and there might not be enough time to prepare. The small town, however, had only one main street, making it far easier to concentrate their methods.

Misty Pavilion could not be bothered guessing what the Holy Rakshasa might choose to eat. They had adopted a catch-all approach and filled the stalls along both sides of the town’s main street with every kind of food. It did not matter what she preferred, so long as she ate something.

Because Misty Pavilion had organized manpower to poison every last item of food as quickly as possible.

As an additional precaution, the Misty Pavilion personnel directing the operation had even gathered a batch of Heavenly Sword Talismans from Song’s Three Great Sects and Myriad Beasts Sect. If the poison took effect but the Holy Rakshasa still retained the strength to resist, and if circumstances allowed, they would immediately concentrate the talismans and bombard her to death.

Yun Ji leaned over for a look and was visibly shaken. “What vicious methods. They’re exploiting the fact that she’s simple-minded?”

“She knows nothing about the ways of the world. How could she understand the treachery of human hearts? With so many people watching her for so long, of course they’d eventually work out enough about her to exploit it.” Niu Youdao crushed the letter in his hand and looked out the window. “No wonder there isn’t a single cultivator in this city.”

He pulled the map from his sleeve, located the small town Xi Haitang had mentioned, and said heavily, “It isn’t far. Hopefully we’re still in time. Move!”

The two flying mounts were brought back up from beneath the earth outside the city, and the four once again rose swiftly into the sky.

...

The town was very small, ringed by an earthen wall that could do little more than keep out wild animals.

Its one main street was uneven underfoot. Nearly every door on both sides was shut tight, while the stalls outside were piled with food: flatbreads, stuffed buns, steamed buns, meat soup, roast meat, meat and vegetables alike. Every sort of food seemed to be present.

Several pairs of eyes hidden inside the town watched the street from the shadows.

In the surrounding hills and forests, large numbers of cultivators lay concealed, hiding themselves thoroughly as they kept close watch on the town and its surroundings.

To attract the target, smoke rose from the chimneys of many homes.

Most of the cultivators were hiding outside the town. Safety was the first reason. The second was to avoid alarming their prey.

Xi Haitang was among those lying in ambush. He remained beside several Misty Pavilion officials, his eyes shifting as worry gnawed at him. He had no idea whether Niu Youdao could arrive in time. Even if he did, with so many people watching, how could he take the Holy Rakshasa away without exposing himself?

The moment Niu Youdao acted, Misty Pavilion’s knowledge of the various factions meant that the techniques used would leave clues. A little analysis afterward would make it easy to notice something suspicious.

With a matter this serious, the moment such a clue appeared, the Sacred Realm would investigate with overwhelming force. Maolu Villa might be uprooted immediately.

Truthfully, Xi Haitang hoped Niu Youdao would fail to arrive in time. Better for the Holy Rakshasa to be dealt with before he arrived, because Xi Haitang did not believe she was worth taking such a risk for. He had already considered concealing this operation and not reporting it, but too many people were involved. He feared that if the truth came out later, he would be unable to explain himself.

Besides, he had no idea whether Niu Youdao’s claim that he could handle the situation was true or false. Yet Niu Youdao had never disappointed them before. That was why Xi Haitang had continued reporting the developments to him.

He did not want Niu Youdao exposed, nor did he want anything to happen to him. It was not that he cared so deeply about Niu Youdao himself. The issue was that, for now, only Niu Youdao could keep the situation under control. Otherwise the Sacred Realm’s investigation would sooner or later reach them.

And the facts had already proved it. Niu Youdao truly had held the situation together. Without him, how could the investigation of the various sects possibly have been delayed this long?

“Someone’s coming!” one of the Misty Pavilion men warned.

Xi Haitang snapped back to himself and immediately looked over.

A pair of silver-bright wings drew inward, retracting against her back. Like a demon descending into the mortal world, the Holy Rakshasa slowly landed inside the town. Her cold gaze swept the surroundings before settling on the roof of a nearby house, where smoke was rising from the chimney.

Bang!

Her figure flashed. A closed door exploded inward as the Holy Rakshasa smashed through it. She inspected every corner of the house and then entered the kitchen, where a fire was burning.

Finding no one, she knocked down several walls with a series of rumbling crashes. Still no one appeared.

Crash!

A wall collapsed. The Holy Rakshasa flashed out through the breach and returned to the street, walking forward at an unhurried pace while looking from side to side.

The aroma of food drifted along the entire street, making her nostrils flare repeatedly.

A pile of white steamed buns gave off curling steam. The Holy Rakshasa stopped and stared at them for a while, then looked ahead again and continued down the street, her gaze repeatedly drawn to the food displayed on either side.

When she reached the middle of the street, the Holy Rakshasa stopped. Her nostrils flared several times. Slowly, she turned her head toward several roasted chickens hanging above a grill, their skin golden and glistening with oil.

As she stared, her body turned with her gaze. She walked to the charcoal brazier and looked back and forth over the roasted chickens.

At last, she extended one finger.

Swish!

A sharp fingertip scored a line across the skin of one chicken. She drew the finger back, opened her mouth, and sucked the fingertip clean.

Apparently she liked the taste.

She yanked the roasted chicken from its hook. Heedless of the heat, she held it in both hands, took a bite, and stood beside the grill eating.

[End of Chapter 1422]