He Yong sat on the ground, panting. After over ten days of torment, he was exhausted. Even though he was worried about the elders and villagers, he found it hard to move his feet. The only reason he could reach this point was the presence of the fairy, who was as beautiful as a celestial being, in their team.
That’s right, He Yong was indeed out of stamina, but he still had a man’s dignity, so he didn’t want to be looked down upon by that fairy. This was his only motivation now.
After resting for a while, He Yong secretly glanced towards the fairy again. To his surprise, he found that the other party was also looking at him, and the gaze in her beautiful eyes was as sharp as a blade, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
‘Waaah! I’ve been caught peeking.’
He Yong instantly withdrew his gaze guiltily. He thought the exquisite fairy was unhappy because he had been peeking at her.
Cheng Hong Ling was certainly not that petty. She had grown up under countless gazes. The reason for her unfriendly look was her suspicion that the young man was a spy.
In fact, Cheng Hong Ling had already observed him, but after hearing the report from her clone, she was still uneasy and scanned He Yong with her spiritual sense again. If there was anything wrong with this young man, she would not hesitate to act.
With a single scan, Cheng Hong Ling’s delicate eyebrows furrowed even more. The young man’s soul was weak, no different from an ordinary person. He did not resemble a cultivator or a warrior at all, because as cultivators and warriors improved their strength, their souls would also strengthen.
Cheng Hong Ling was utterly perplexed, so she contacted her clone and explained the situation.
“If you can’t tell, then forget it. You guys rest in place for now, and I’ll observe more. If that He Yong is indeed a mole, these disciples of the HeYi Sect will eventually reveal it,” Qi Huang said after a moment of thought.
“You’ve actually become smarter,” Cheng Hong Ling said, somewhat surprised.
“What do you mean by ‘become smarter’? Did I seem a bit foolish before?” Qi Huang retorted unconvincedly.
“Not a bit, very foolish!” Cheng Hong Ling struck without hesitation.
‘Ah! So this is how I appear in her eyes!’ Qi Huang was immediately filled with resentment.
“Also, don’t always address me as ‘you’ when you speak to me, it’s very impolite, do you understand?” Cheng Hong Ling added unhappily.
“Then what should I call you?” Qi Huang carefully probed.
“Your parents treat you as their youngest daughter, so you should naturally call me sister,” Cheng Hong Ling patiently reminded her.
“Yes! Sister! Do you want me to add ‘Your Highness’?” Qi Huang said, throwing caution to the wind.
“That would be wonderful! Let’s happily decide on that,” Cheng Hong Ling said with great satisfaction. This clone was too rebellious; the more obedient she was now, the more accomplished she felt.
“Okay, Sister Your Highness!” Qi Huang casually agreed, thinking to herself, who would call you ‘Sister Your Highness’? Calling you ‘Sister’ is already my limit.
Thus, the HongHua Sect group began to set up camp in place. The disciples took out the realgar, garlic, and other items they had prepared from their bags and scattered them around the campsite to prevent venomous snakes from encroaching.
Cheng Hong Ling released her spiritual sense, constantly scanning the surroundings. Although the venomous snakes were hidden, they could not escape under her spiritual sense.
Qin Quan was of course no exception. Although his cultivation level was not as high as Cheng Hong Ling’s, it was not much lower either.
Meanwhile, Qi Huang quietly descended and then monitored the HeYi Sect’s movements from a hundred Zhang away. This distance had an advantage: she could detect them, but they could not detect her.
Outside Panshan Village, about eighty HeYi Sect disciples were ambushing in four teams, surrounding the village from the east, south, west, and north. Since they had maintained this posture for two or three days, many of those with lower cultivation levels were already exhausted.
“Want to sleep? If I see anyone closing their eyes again, I’ll make sure they never open them again,” Guardian Guo warned in a low voice.
The disciples were startled and quickly regained their spirits. The terrifying scene of Guardian Guo killing a rebellious disciple before was still vivid in their minds.
Time slowly passed. In the blink of an eye, two more days went by. Qi Huang had already investigated the situation of the HeYi Sect thoroughly. There were a total of 103 HeYi Sect disciples here, led by one protector and three elders – a total of four masters in the Guiyi Realm.
‘Four masters in the Guiyi Realm! If we fight head-on, it will likely be a tough battle.’ Qi Huang’s heart grew heavy.
Of course, during this time, Qi Huang had also witnessed the tragic state of Panshan Village, which could only be described as a living hell. She had countless impulses to offer assistance, but in the end, she gave up due to reason.
…
Not long after, Guardian Guo himself became impatient. He quietly left his post and went to another ambush location to communicate with an old man.
“Elder Lu, according to the HongHua Sect’s speed, they should have arrived long ago, right?” Guardian Guo asked the old man.
“Yes, Guardian Guo,” Elder Lu replied respectfully. In Immortal Sects, the status of a protector was generally higher than that of an elder.
“Then what’s going on now?” Guardian Guo questioned.
“This…” Elder Lu stammered, unable to speak.
“Are you sure you escorted the young man named He Yong to the HongHua Sect?” Guardian Guo inquired.
“Naturally,” Elder Lu responded with absolute certainty.
“And he wasn’t discovered?” Guardian Guo confirmed.
“Guardian Guo, I am at least a cultivator in the Guiyi Realm. How could I possibly be discovered by an ordinary young man?” Elder Lu became somewhat agitated.
“Then it’s strange. Could it be that the people from the HongHua Sect have really chickened out and dare not save these villagers?” Guardian Guo gently stroked his chin.
“That’s impossible. Before, for those country bumpkins from Bajiao Village, that old dog Qin Quan even came to the door to demand an explanation. This is clearly to salvage the sect’s reputation, so they must save these villagers. Otherwise, how can the HongHua Sect establish itself in Huang Tian Prefecture in the future?” Elder Lu deduced.
“It’s hard to say! If the HongHua Sect really doesn’t come, then our previous act will have been in vain, and we will have also let a little ghost from Panshan Village go out for nothing. If other Immortal Sects find out about the Blue Scale Stone here…” Guardian Guo’s expression turned grim.
“Let’s wait another two days. If the HongHua Sect people are still nowhere to be seen, I’ll personally go and kill that little ghost,” Elder Lu’s eyes revealed a ferocious glint.
“Killing him won’t solve the fundamental problem. What we need is the Ghost Tomato. If we can’t snatch it back from the HongHua Sect, then everything we’ve done so far will be meaningless,” Guardian Guo said, shaking his head.
…
The two high-level figures from the HeYi Sect were discussing like this.
Qi Huang heard everything clearly, and the doubts in her mind gradually subsided. She finally understood what was going on. That He Yong was deliberately released by the HeYi Sect, and a elder was secretly escorting him to the HongHua Sect. The purpose was to use him to lure the HongHua Sect into a trap, thereby snatching back the Ghost Tomato.
‘They probably did this because they didn’t know the HongHua Sect even dared to have designs on the Blue Scale Stone, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.’ Qi Huang speculated.
‘Fortunately, I didn’t act impulsively, otherwise I would have wrongly accused that He Yong.’ Qi Huang secretly felt a pang of fear. It seemed that some things had to be seen to be believed and could not be speculated about without basis.
After clarifying the situation, Qi Huang immediately reported her observations and findings to her main body.
“Since there are no spies, we have no reservations about taking action,” Cheng Hong Ling said eagerly, seemingly never knowing what fear was.
“Although that’s true, the other party has four masters in the Guiyi Realm. If we fight head-on, this battle might not be so easy,” Qi Huang hesitated. She was not afraid herself; if she couldn’t win, she could just run away, but it was different for others.
“How about this, let’s continue to stall. As time passes, once the HeYi Sect becomes careless, the impenetrable formation will reveal flaws, and then we can break it piece by piece,” Cheng Hong Ling decided after a moment of thought.
“That is a good method, but we can stall, yet those villagers cannot! You haven’t seen the tragic situation inside; they are starving to the point of cannibalism.” Qi Huang sighed.
“Why don’t you quietly send them some supplies?” Cheng Hong Ling suggested after a moment of contemplation.
“How to send them? If the HeYi Sect people discover it, it will be like alarming the snake while it is still in its lair!” Qi Huang hesitated.
“Are you stupid? Can’t you fly? Fly higher, and how could they discover you? Just airdrop them,” Cheng Hong Ling said impatiently.
“That’s a good idea! I’ll get the supplies right away.” Qi Huang’s eyes lit up.
“Where do we have any supplies for you to get? Aren’t there small animals everywhere in these mountains? Can’t you figure it out yourself? Don’t make me think you’re a useless clone,” Cheng Hong Ling reprimanded.
Qi Huang felt a little embarrassed, so she abandoned that plan. She scanned in all directions with her spiritual sense, immediately locking onto the flying beasts and crawling creatures hiding in the dark, and her long hair shot out like an electric current.
…
At this time, the interior of Panshan Village was in dead silence. Over twenty old, weak, sick, and disabled people were on the verge of death from starvation. They didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed. All they could do now was lie on their beds and pray, hoping that heaven would open its eyes and send an immortal to rescue them. Although their past experiences showed this was just psychological comfort, it was all they could do now.
However, the villagers never dreamed that this time their prayers would actually be answered; heaven had sent a fairy to rescue them.
“Plop!”
At some unknown time, the sound of objects landing began to echo in the courtyards of every household.
