“Where’s Ye Zi?” Ye Jiuge looked behind Ye Yu and noticed that Zi Shang was nowhere to be found.
“The Demonic Corpse found us when we were trying to come back. Ye Zi told me to come back first. He said he’ll be here shortly,” Ye Yu replied.
“Oh. Did you manage to find Shou Hou? Is he willing to help us?” Ye Jiuge asked hastily.
“I did find him. He’s willing to help us.” Ye Yu nodded ruefully.
Ye Yu could tell that Shou Hou’s love for his sister ran deep. He had agreed to help them as soon as he heard that they were planning to capture Si Youyue alive and use him to trade the Yin Corpse Sect for Ye Yunzhi.
“He agreed so readily. Could it be a trap?” Ye Jiuge could not help but be suspicious.
“It’s not a trap. Ye Zi tested him, and Shou Hou was telling the truth,” said Ye Yu.
“Then there’s no problem whatsoever.” Ye Jiuge had faith in Zi Shang’s Demonic Eye.
“I promised Shou Hou that we will act in three days.” The Blood Lotus Flower was going to bloom then, so this was their last chance to attack the Bloodthirsty Sect.
“Alright. I want you to inform Jun Yichen of our plans. Tell him to pay attention to our movements and coordinate with us accordingly,” Ye Jiuge instructed.
Jun Yichen despised outsiders and spiritual practitioners. He always carried out his missions alone. Given how skilled he was, it was for the best to let him work alone during this mission.
“I’ll find him at once,” Ye Yu replied then left.
Ye Yu had only been gone a short while when Zi Shang returned.
“Little Jiuge. Did you miss me?” Zi Shang embraced Ye Jiuge and kissed her countless times the moment he came back.
Ye Jiuge tried her best to tolerate Zi Shang’s cloying, but she eventually ran out of patience and pushed him away. “That’s enough.”
“Hardly enough.” Zi Shang kissed her once more. It was not every day that he got the chance to kiss Ye Jiuge like this.
“That’s a load of nonsense. Let me ask you something. Are you sure that Shou Hou is sincere about helping us?” Ye Jiuge could not rest easy without receiving confirmation from Zi Shang.
“I’m absolutely sure. All that’s left now is to conquer the Bloodthirsty Sect!” Zi Shang’s pupils narrowed into thin, vertical lines as he grinned.
It would be his turn to conquer Ye Jiuge once she conquered the Bloodthirsty Sect.
“Good!” Ye Jiuge patted Zi Shang on his thigh excitedly before she pushed him away and ran off to the camp to discuss her plan with Gong Xifan.
Zi Shang had already grown accustomed to Ye Jiuge’s ‘hostility’ toward him. He simply made himself invisible and trailed after her.
Ye Jiuge quickly reached the camp. Gong Xifan nodded in agreement after hearing her plans. “Alright. I’ll do as you say.”
“Then let’s gather everyone! We need to share this good news with them!” Ye Jiuge said with a smile.
Gong Xifan called Gong Honglei over and instructed him to gather all the spiritual practitioners before he walked out with Ye Jiuge.
Baili Moyun stood next to Nangong Li, and he greeted Ye Jiuge from afar with a wink.
Ye Jiuge initially intended to smile back but decided not to when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Zi Shang’s handsome face had turned grave.
“Uncle, everyone’s here.” What Gong Honglei was really trying to say was that Gong Xifan could give his speech now.
“In three days, the Blood Lotus Flower will bloom, and that is our last chance to attack. Thankfully, Ms. Ye has finally found the way to destroy the protective formation,” Gong Xifan said in a clear voice.
All of the spiritual practitioners began discussing this among themselves.
“Is there really a way to destroy it?”
“You aren’t deceiving us, right?”
Gong Xifan waited until everyone was more or less done with their discussion before he raised his hand and pressed it downward.
The spiritual practitioners quieted down instantly.
It was only then that Gong Xifan nodded at Ye Jiuge and beckoned to her to speak.
Ye Jiuge took a step forward and said, “I do have a way to destroy the protective formation, but I need all of us to stay united and work together.”
Once she had finished, she scanned the crowd of spiritual practitioners before her. It was clear that she did not trust them.
“Don’t look down on us, Ms. Ye. We might be a raucous bunch, but that does not mean that we do not know what’s best for us. We are up against a powerful enemy. We would just be digging our graves if we did not unite as one, since we are not be able to leave anyway.” Su Xun’er was very pragmatic.
“That’s right, that’s right!” Sun Shufeng and the other spiritual practitioners echoed.
Anyone who refused to cooperate and work together as one would be beaten to death.
“If that’s the case, then I will tell you all my plan. I have in my possession a spiritual tool capable of affecting the protective formation. All of us will be able to destroy the formation and make our way to the Bloodcloud Peak if we make full use of this spiritual tool.” Ye Jiuge got right to the point.
“What kind of spiritual tool is it?” Wang Haoqiang asked in a soft voice as he nudged Sun Shufeng next to him.
“How would I know?” Sun Shufeng replied irritably.
He did not get along with Wang Haoqiang.
“Senior Sun is known to be a very talented man from the Qiqiao Sect. You are very knowledgeable about spiritual tools as well. Aren’t you curious about what kind of tool it is?” Lin Yanxi smiled at him and asked in a gentle tone.
Both Lin Yanxi and Wang Haoqiang were even more well-behaved after Ye Jiuge had punished them.
Now, they did not dare to breathe a word. They only egged others on to ask questions for them.
“You flatter me, Junior Sister Lin.” In truth, Sun Shufeng was curious about this spiritual tool. He, along with some other spiritual practitioners, created a slight disturbance as they inquired about it. “What kind of spiritual tool is it? Let us see!”
“The spiritual tool has formidable power, but its power is drained with each use, which is why I placed a seal over it. We will only be able to open it when we need to use it.”
Ye Jiuge fished out a palm-sized black box and held it high in the air for all to see for a quick second before she tucked it away again. She then went on to say, “The problem that we have on our hands now is that this spiritual tool has to be placed in the protective formation in order for its effect to kick in. Who’s willing to carry out this mission?”
“Since the spiritual tool belongs to Ms. Ye, why not place it yourself?” Sun Shufeng asked, bewildered.
“The protective formation will waver for a brief moment when the spiritual tool kicks in, and I am the only person who will be able to seize the exact moment when it happens and lead everyone away in time. That is why I have to leave the job of planting the spiritual tool to someone else,” explained Ye Jiuge.
The spiritual practitioners exchanged glances, but no one made a sound.
The mission of planting the spiritual tool involved going deep into the enemy’s territory and was undoubtedly very dangerous. No one was confident that they would be able to return alive if they took on this mission.
Baili Moyun was just about to offer to do it when Nangong Li pulled on his sleeve.
Baili Moyun turned to look at Nangong Li with confusion, and Nangong Li shook his head lightly. He wanted Baili Moyun to wait and see what happened next.
Baili Moyun mistakenly thought that Nangong Li was worried about his internal injury, and he was just about to tell him that he was alright when Gong Xifan took a step forward and said in a low voice, “This mission is indeed very dangerous. In that case, I shall be the one to carry out the mission with my team!”
“As is to be expected of Great Master Gong, you are truly a righteous man. I wonder who you’d like to bring along with you? You’ll need others to protect you while you plant the spiritual tool.” Ye Jiuge knew the answer, but she pretended to ask the question as though she had no clue.
“Let’s just go with our grouping from before. Lin Yanxi and Wang Haoqiang shall accompany me,” Gong Xifan said naturally.
Lin Yanxi and Wang Haoqiang were both overjoyed when they heard this.
He must have a death wish if he truly intended to bring the two of them along on such an important mission!
If they could not kill Gong Xifan and snatch the spiritual tool from him, they could hardly call themselves spies.
“Why not let me accompany you, Uncle?” Gong Honglei asked hastily. He did not know that they were plotting something.
Gong Honglei did not trust Lin Yanxi and Wang Haoqiang to protect his uncle during such an important mission.
