Chapter 1488: Coming to the Surface

It truly was a case of the tree falling and the monkeys scattering.

Bai Wuya had no choice but to arrange for everyone under Ice and Snow Sacred Land to withdraw.

Whether Ao Feng had lied to them or not, they could not afford to gamble.

For now, they would first remove themselves from danger and see what happened.

If Granny Xue was unharmed, they could always return.

If something truly had happened to her, at least they would not be caught in the aftermath.

Ice and Snow Sacred Land had been destroyed.

Its people emptied out as well.

...

At the exit of the Sacred Realm, Wu Chang carried someone in one hand and flashed into the barrier leading to the mortal world.

The guards stationed there exchanged startled looks.

If they had not seen wrong, the man in Wu Chang’s grasp was Sha Rulai, disciple of Sacred Venerable Daluo.

They had not seen wrong.

After leaving the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, Wu Chang had done exactly what Yuan Se had done before him.

He went straight to Daluo Sacred Land to seize Luo Fangfei.

He stormed through Daluo Sacred Land, causing destruction and killing quite a few people.

But no one knew where Luo Fangfei had gone.

Ever since Yuan Se abducted her the previous time, Luo Fangfei had never appeared again.

Naturally, Wu Chang was unwilling to make the trip for nothing.

He contacted the insider he had planted within Daluo Sacred Land.

That insider did not know where Luo Fangfei was either.

However, he did know where Luo Fangfei’s husband, Sha Rulai, had gone on an inspection tour.

Wu Chang immediately went there.

Sure enough, he found Sha Rulai.

He did not waste a single word.

He subdued the man on the spot and took him away.

At the Sacred Realm exit, even personnel from Daluo Sacred Land did not dare stop Wu Chang.

They could only watch helplessly as he carried Sha Rulai away, then hurriedly sent urgent messages reporting what had happened.

...

After crossing mountains and rivers, Wu Chang went directly to Qiyun Sect.

He descended from the sky among the pavilions and halls on a mountain summit.

This was the residence Qiyun Sect had arranged for him.

He tossed the man in his hand directly onto the ground and looked down at him.

Sha Rulai lay there and quietly looked back.

At first he had been flustered and alarmed.

By now, he had become completely calm.

Blessing or disaster, whatever was coming could not be avoided.

He trusted Niu Youdao’s side to respond in time.

Hei Shi hurried over after receiving word.

Seeing the man on the ground, he looked surprised. “Sacred Venerable, what happened?”

Wu Chang flicked one finger.

An invisible force struck through the air.

Sha Rulai’s body jolted, and he immediately lost consciousness.

Only then did Wu Chang say, “Notify Luo Qiu, Du Wuxu, and Lan Daolin. Tell them to come see me.”

Those men were not people who could simply be ordered about at will.

Hei Shi asked, “What reason should I give them?”

“Tell them the old demoness is dead.”

“Ah!” Hei Shi was stunned. “She... really died?”

“I killed her with my own hands.”

“Yin Ji truly is still alive. She never died...”

Wu Chang then recounted what had happened.

Hei Shi’s expression grew grave. “Understood. I’ll notify them immediately.”

Wu Chang raised one hand.

“There’s something else.”

“Investigate the people who entered the Sacred Realm and practice fire-aspect arts.”

“Judging by the cultivation and strength of the man who fought me, he should have only recently broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm.”

“He has only just entered the Nascent Soul Realm, yet he could already fight the old demoness and me.”

“The old demoness was right about one thing.”

“This man will inevitably become a serious future threat!”

Hei Shi hesitated. “Sacred Venerable, that may be difficult to investigate.”

“There are quite a few people beneath Heaven who practice fire-aspect arts.”

“And if someone deliberately arranged this, getting a fire-aspect cultivator from outside into the Sacred Realm would not be especially difficult.”

Wu Chang gave him a target directly.

“Then investigate people connected to Maolu Villa.”

Hei Shi stared. “Maolu Villa?”

“Just one Maolu Villa... Sacred Venerable suspects Maolu Villa?”

Wu Chang walked to the railing.

He rested one hand on it and gazed into the distance.

“The old demoness’s death was not simple.”

“Why did she just happen to appear there?”

“I can now more or less confirm why Yuan Se seized Luo Qiu’s daughter.”

“Before Yuan Se disappeared, he must have met Yin Ji.”

“When I combine that with the old demoness’s death, I suspect Yuan Se, who has refused to show himself all this time, is already dead.”

Hei Shi was shocked. “With that body of Fatty Yuan’s that could barely be damaged, who could possibly kill him?”

Wu Chang ignored the question and continued along his own train of thought.

“The old demoness’s death was very likely a trap.”

“Yin Ji may have been using my hand to kill someone for her.”

“My Boundless Demon Domain and that mysterious man’s fire-aspect art just happened to counter the old demoness perfectly when used together.”

“And the old demoness just happened to run straight into us.”

“Then that mysterious man just happened to be able to break my Boundless Demon Domain and escape.”

“All these ‘coincidences’ just happened to come together.”

“Do you truly believe it was coincidence?”

Hei Shi still did not understand. “But what does any of this have to do with Maolu Villa?”

Wu Chang’s hand rested on the railing as he stared into the distance.

“After Lü Wushuang rescued Yuan Gang in the Qi capital, she broke away from the others.”

“And Yuan Gang is connected to Maolu Villa.”

“Before Yuan Se disappeared, he too had dealings with Maolu Villa.”

“Zhao Xiongge refused to hand over the Demon Canon no matter what pressure was placed on him.”

“Then Yuan Gang got into trouble.”

“To save Yuan Gang, Zhao Xiongge did not hesitate to surrender the Demon Canon.”

“Don’t forget that Zhao Xiongge has always had a good relationship with Maolu Villa.”

“Yin Ji hid herself for many years before suddenly emerging to make trouble.”

“With the Demon Fox Clan’s strength alone, they have difficulty communicating freely with the outside world.”

“There is no way they could have planned something on this scale by themselves.”

“Someone must be manipulating events behind them.”

“Lü Wushuang’s disappearance was connected to Yuan Gang.”

“After Lü Wushuang disappeared, she actually showed herself in order to save the Holy Rakshasa.”

“Why did Lü Wushuang go looking for the Scorpion Emperor?”

“The Scorpion Emperor is the key to entering the Fifth Domain.”

“Yet Yuan Gang of Maolu Villa is someone who can enter the Fifth Domain.”

“Yin Ji. The Holy Rakshasa. The Demon Canon. The Fifth Domain.”

“You know the relationship all four of those have in common.”

Hei Shi thought about it briefly.

Then his expression abruptly changed. “All four involve Shang Song and his wife.”

“Could Shang Song and his wife be behind this?”

Wu Chang glanced sideways at him.

“What nonsense are you guessing?”

“If Shang Song and his wife were really behind it, would they need to go through so much trouble?”

His fingers slowly brushed the railing.

“Before this, I always felt something was wrong, but I could never put my finger on it.”

“Only after Yin Ji appeared this time and the old demoness died—and after I concluded Yuan Se had probably fallen victim as well—did I think through the chain of events on the road back.”

“At last, a line behind all these incidents began coming to the surface.”

“This Maolu Villa has secretly been involved in far too many things.”

“I now suspect all of it is connected to Yuan Gang.”

“Otherwise, why was Zhao Xiongge so desperate to save him?”

“If it truly is Yuan Gang, then he has hidden himself extraordinarily well.”

“Even I misjudged him.”

“Holy Son of the Demonic Sect?”

“I actually believed Zhao Xiongge’s damned nonsense!”

Hei Shi shook his head in amazement.

“He exposed himself in the Boundless Desert for the sake of a woman.”

“That is completely unreasonable and doesn’t resemble the behavior of someone capable of planning great affairs.”

“Something like that would be enough to dispel anyone’s suspicions.”

“If it truly is Yuan Gang, then anyone would have misjudged him.”

Wu Chang said coldly, “Investigate.”

“Remember, I have my own plans.”

“Do not alert the snake by beating the grass.”

Hei Shi cupped his hands. “Yes!”

...

On a mountain summit outside Nanzhou City, Niu Youdao’s voice suddenly rose.

“What did you say?”

“Wu Chang captured Sha Rulai?”

Wang Zun had personally rushed over with the urgent report after changing his appearance.

His expression was anxious. “There’s no mistake.”

“People from Daluo Sacred Land reported it.”

“The guards at the Sacred Realm exit saw it with their own eyes as well.”

Niu Youdao’s voice sank. “I already warned that Wu Chang might go to Daluo Sacred Land and accidentally drag him into trouble.”

“Didn’t I tell him to avoid the place?”

“Did he not leave?”

“He did,” Wang Zun replied.

“He had already gone out on an inspection tour.”

“But somehow Wu Chang learned where he was and personally went there to seize him.”

“When Wu Chang deliberately comes after someone, how could Mr. Sha possibly escape?”

Niu Youdao asked, “What happened at the Desolate Marsh Deadlands?”

Only then did Wang Zun remember that matter.

He had been so anxious that he momentarily forgot.

He immediately reported, “It succeeded.”

“Working together with Wu Chang, our people succeeded in killing Granny Xue. Wu Chang dealt the final killing blow himself.”

“Everything on that side went smoothly.”

“There were no casualties.”

“Everything is proceeding according to plan.”

“I was afraid a Goldenwing message would travel too slowly while Wu Chang moved too quickly and something might happen, so I personally rushed here to report.”

By now Wang Zun had also broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

The Wuliang Fruit Sha Rulai had relinquished had gone to him.

Hearing that Granny Xue was dead, Niu Youdao slowly let out a breath.

Then he fell into thought again, considering why Wu Chang had captured Sha Rulai.

This side had acted earlier precisely because its former concern was gone.

They knew Luo Qiu had hidden Luo Fangfei.

They had never expected Wu Chang to make this move.

Unable to capture the main target, he had gone to considerable trouble to seize Sha Rulai instead.

It was truly unexpected.

Wang Zun, however, seemed unable to wait any longer. “Mr. Sha has been captured. Huanli may be in danger.”

“If Sir has no other instructions, I need to hurry to Star-Plucking City now.”

Niu Youdao raised one hand.

“You don’t need to worry about Sha Huanli.”

“For the moment, nothing will happen to her.”

“There is still time.”

“I will arrange for a Nascent Soul expert to go there.”

“The moment anything looks wrong, Sha Huanli will be moved away immediately.”

“You have something more important to do now.”

Hearing that arrangements had already been made, Wang Zun relaxed somewhat. “Please instruct me, Sir.”

“Sha Rulai has been captured.”

“The person responsible for communicating with the Demon Fox Clan is gone.”

“Within the Sacred Realm intelligence network, other than Sha Rulai, you are the one who understands it.”

“We cannot lose contact with that side.”

“You must return as quickly as possible.”

“Wu Chang may communicate with the other Sacred Venerables after seizing Sha Rulai.”

“Once that happens, control over entry and exit from the Sacred Realm may become even stricter.”

“You need to return before the others have time to react.”

“Remember this.”

“Until Sha Rulai’s safety is confirmed, remain hidden inside the Sacred Realm.”

“Do not show yourself again.”

“Simply handle the intelligence traffic from the shadows.”

Wang Zun nodded. “All right.”

“I’ll leave Huanli in Sir’s hands.”

“I’ll return immediately.”

“Not yet.” Niu Youdao stopped him again.

“After you return, go immediately to the Desolate Marsh Deadlands.”

“Tell Yin Ji that no matter who takes Luo Fangfei hostage and brings her there, she is not permitted to reveal herself.”

“So long as Yin Ji does not appear, Luo Fangfei retains value and will remain safe.”

“If Yin Ji appears, mother and daughter may both be doomed.”

“As long as Yin Ji preserves herself for later, I’ll have a way to rescue Luo Fangfei afterward.”

Wang Zun nodded. “Understood.”

Niu Youdao suddenly raised his hand again.

He fell silent for a moment.

Then he changed his mind and slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“That won’t do.”

“Luo Fangfei will probably have to suffer some physical torment.”

“Yin Ji is gentle and softhearted by nature.”

“She loves her daughter too deeply.”

“If she sees Luo Fangfei being tortured, I’m afraid she won’t be able to restrain herself from showing up.”

Wang Zun froze. “Then what should we do?”

Niu Youdao lifted his eyes.

“Change the message.”

“When you see Yin Ji, tell her an internal traitor has appeared within the Demon Fox Clan.”

“Tell her to avoid everyone temporarily and not contact anyone in the clan.”

“I’ll identify the traitor very soon.”

“Have her stay hidden for a while.”

“That’s what you tell her.”

“Go.”

“All right!”

Wang Zun cupped his hands.

Seeing there were no further instructions, he immediately turned and disappeared into the vast mountain forest.

Niu Youdao returned at once as well, going straight back to the secret chamber in Nanzhou.

Lü Wushuang had been waiting for him.

She too had been anticipating the outcome.

The moment they met, she asked, “How did it go?”

Niu Youdao shook his head and sighed.

“It succeeded.”

“We succeeded in eliminating Granny Xue.”

“Wu Chang was the one who delivered the final killing blow.”

[End of Chapter 1488]