“How about we kill them all?”
He Yong heard this and immediately changed from crying to laughing, looking at Cheng Hong Ling with gratitude.
“Solve it all at once? Hong Ling, to be honest, we only have five Ghost Tomatoes in hand right now. If we act immediately, you might need to get within ten zhang of the Blue Scale King Snake to lure it.”
Qin Quan reminded her seriously.
“Ten zhang? That’s too dangerous. The Blue Scale King Snake is known for its speed.”
“Maybe we should forget about it. Hong Ling is much more important to our HongHua Sect than that Blue Scale Stone.”
“If it really doesn’t work, we can wait a few more days. Anyway, those villagers have held on for half a year, there’s no rush.”
…
The high-level figures discussed animatedly, each sharing their opinions, and couldn’t reach a conclusion for a while.
“All you Immortal Elders…呜呜… I beg you… we really can’t wait any longer! If we wait any longer, all those elders and kin will be gone.”
He Yong was shocked and desperately kowtowed again.
“Thank you all for your concern. My mind is made up, no need to discuss it further.”
Cheng Hong Ling politely declined.
“Forgive me for asking, but you are a clone, aren’t you? Can you make the decision on this matter?”
Qin Quan confirmed after some deliberation, as he had witnessed the genius disciple’s behavior after she “split personality” before.
“The clone is me, and the main body is also me. There’s no need to distinguish so clearly.”
Cheng Hong Ling took a deep breath, then shot a fierce glare at Qi Huang beside her, thinking that if it weren’t for this damn clone’s recklessness, she wouldn’t have been mistaken for someone with a mental illness.
“Yes, what she means is what I mean.”
Qi Huang shivered and quickly stated her agreement.
‘Clone? Main body?’
He Yong listened with confusion, his eyes quietly darting between Qi Huang and Cheng Hong Ling.
“Since that is the case, then I have nothing more to say.”
Qin Quan could not force the issue further and had to let it go. Although he was the Sect Leader, he could not go against a genius disciple whose cultivation level was two levels higher than his, especially when the latter had not made any mistakes.
“Since we are going to act, we must devise a foolproof plan. After all, Hong Ling is too important to our sect, and we cannot afford any mistakes.”
Xu Mei reminded them worriedly.
“That’s natural. Actually, I’ve been thinking about this issue for a long time. Although the HeYi Sect is stronger than us, they cannot possibly station all their experts in Panshan Village. If we launch a surprise attack, we still have a great chance.”
Qin Quan expressed his thoughts.
“Yes, not only must it be sudden, but it must also be fast. Once it drags on for too long, the HeYi Sect’s reinforcements will arrive, and that will be trouble.”
Elder Ruan agreed.
“Fast? Easy for you to say! But perhaps we don’t have a choice. We still don’t know how many disciples the HeYi Sect has stationed there.”
Another elder, surnamed Tao, questioned.
“That’s simple! We can just ask He Yong.”
Qin Quan took over the conversation and then inquired with He Yong.
“They have about a hundred disciples there, and I heard there’s also a Protector and two Elders.”
He Yong recalled and explained.
“What? A Protector and two Elders? As far as I know, the Protectors and Elders of the HeYi Sect are all in the Guiyi Realm. Whether we can defeat them is still unknown, let alone resolve it quickly?”
Elder Tao was startled.
“What are you afraid of? I’ll handle these three.”
Cheng Hong Ling immediately spoke up to boost morale.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you out then.”
Qin Quan showed a look of relief.
“Besides the three Guiyi Realm experts, the other side has a hundred disciples. It seems we will have to send everyone to win this time. And to kill them efficiently, we must act by surprise to minimize casualties.”
Elder Ruan sighed beside them.
“To act by surprise, we need to be sufficiently familiar with the environment there. This might have been a problem before, but it’s different now. He Yong can be our guide.”
Qin Quan said this and cast his gaze at He Yong.
“Yes! Although his name is He Yong! He really seems very useful now.”
Elder Ruan teased.
“The general plan has been formulated. I also hope everyone can consider the specific action steps. Initially, our goal was just to obtain the Blue Scale Stone, but now there’s an added mission to save the villagers.”
Qin Quan continued to solicit opinions.
“There’s nothing to consider. Save the villagers first, then go get the Blue Scale Stone.”
Cheng Hong Ling spoke.
Qi Huang nodded secretly, this was also her idea, after all, every life was important.
“Yes, save the villagers first, and incidentally deal with those troublesome guys from the HeYi Sect, then we can focus on dealing with that Blue Scale King Snake.”
Xu Mei, her master, expressed her support.
“Saving the villagers is not complicated, the main problem is how to get the Blue Scale Stone. We don’t even know where that thing is now. We can’t just start searching slowly after arriving at Panshan Village. By then, the HeYi Sect’s reinforcements would have arrived, and it would be too late.”
Elder Ruan frowned.
“There’s no need to worry about that. According to the information provided by Ma Wen, as long as we find the Blue Scale King Snake, we will find the Blue Scale Stone.”
Qin Quan quickly reassured him.
“Why?”
Elder Ruan was confused.
“This has to do with the formation of the Blue Scale Stone. The so-called Blue Scale Stone is actually formed from the mixture of secretions from the Blue Scale King Snake and mud, and then compacted by its scales over years and years. This means the more times it crawls over, the higher the probability of forming a Blue Scale Stone. Therefore, it usually only appears in its lair.”
Qin Quan continued to explain.
“So that’s how it is!”
The faces of several high-level figures showed understanding.
“Hong Ling, we’ll have to trouble you to lure it out then. We will get the Blue Scale Stone as quickly as possible after finding its lair.”
Qin Quan made the final arrangements.
“Okay.”
Cheng Hong Ling naturally had no objections. After speaking, she realized that she wasn’t the one acting as bait, and that she was playing the role of the clone. So she sent a telepathic message to Qi Huang: “Don’t just stand there dumbly, you are the main body!”
“No problem! I’ll go lure that big snake alone with the Ghost Tomatoes, and you guys can go inside and get the Blue Scale Stone.”
Qi Huang quickly stated her agreement.
The matter was thus arranged. In order to achieve the element of surprise, Qin Quan decided to depart on the morning of the third day and also asked those who participated in the meeting to maintain secrecy as much as possible.
Back at their residence, Cheng Hong Ling was a little worried, so she called her clone into the room alone.
“Can you lure the Blue Scale Snake by yourself? Do you want me to go with you?”
Cheng Hong Ling suggested kindly.
“I’m going to lure it, not fight it to the death. What’s the use of having more people?”
Qi Huang countered instead of answering.
“Alright, I’ll go into the snake’s lair with them. If you can’t hold on, be sure to contact me in time, and I’ll recall you immediately. The Blue Scale Stone is valuable, but it’s not worth losing our lives for.”
Cheng Hong Ling warned her with concern.
“Okay, and you must also protect those Senior Sisters! The HongHua Sect is basically sending everyone this time, and they probably can’t be exceptions.”
Qi Huang was also worried about those delicate Senior Sisters.
“You seem quite concerned about them.”
Cheng Hong Ling showed a trace of mockery on her face.
“Uh, Senior Sisters, of course I care! Don’t you care?”
Qi Huang explained guiltily.
“Senior Sisters, of course I care! But whether you only see them as Senior Sisters, I don’t know.”
Cheng Hong Ling sneered.
Qi Huang felt extremely awkward, wondering if she had really been so obvious. It seemed she would have to restrain herself more in the future.
…
Panshan Village is located in the easternmost part of Huang Tian Prefecture, separated from the neighboring prefecture by only a mountain range. Because that mountain range is rich in iron ore, it was once a very lively place. Later, it was abandoned due to the haunting of lone ghosts, and it has now become a desolate place with very few people.
At this moment, Panshan Village has been surrounded by disciples of the HeYi Sect, and the remaining twenty to thirty old, weak, sick, and disabled are barely surviving. They have eaten everything edible in their homes, and it has even reached the point of cannibalism.
It’s not that the villagers haven’t thought of escaping, but every attempt has ended in failure, and those caught were all killed.
The villagers were initially frightened and remained silent for a period of time. However, they recently realized that if they didn’t escape, they would only die. So, a few days ago, they organized another escape, which, of course, also failed. The leader of the escape has now become a corpse, hanging from the big tree at the entrance of the village.
The disciples of the HeYi Sect outside the village are sitting around the campfire, eating and drinking heartily, completely indifferent to the villagers’ lives. It’s like two different worlds inside and outside.
“Senior Brother Zhang, how much longer do we have to guard here?”
One of the clean-looking disciples of the HeYi Sect started complaining.
“Who knows? I heard that the Ghost Tomatoes planted by our sect have been picked by the HongHua Sect next door, so we can’t lure the Blue Scale King Snake for now.”
A tall and thin middle-aged disciple nearby replied, presumably Senior Brother Zhang.
“Then what should we do? We can’t just wait until the sect gathers enough Ghost Tomatoes again, can we? How long will that take?”
“Yeah, this damned place is full of poisonous snakes. One wrong move and you’ll go to see Yama.”
“Not only poisonous snakes, but also lone ghosts. It’s really not a place for people to stay.”
…
The young disciples around complained one after another.
“What are you howling about? You ask me, who do I ask? Anyway, the sect has already issued an order that these villagers are absolutely not to be released before the operation.”
Senior Brother Zhang reprimanded with an unsightly expression.
“How about we kill them all? They’re all going to die anyway.”
The previous clean-cut disciple suggested.
