ASER - Chapter 128
Chapter 128: Deceit
A'Diao took the time to turn invisible and find Lin Xijun. This person also lived at Sea-Sky One Hue, ostensibly a member of the Li Clan, and the Li Clan members resided in one area. Although he was already a Forbidden Master, A'Diao's methods far surpassed his realm. After turning invisible and going over, she didn't plan to monitor him personally. Instead, she left him with a True Eye of Insight Secret Art and then returned to her residence.
Now, she was remotely monitoring three groups of people.
1. The ten bandit leaders.
2. Wang Zhi, the traitorous military officer under the Grand Governor's Mansion.
3. Lin Xijun, affiliated with the Li Clan.
If her mental power wasn't sufficient, her brain would have collapsed.
But she acted as if nothing was wrong and began preparing to cultivate secret arts.
Appoint Soldiers Summon Generals was the primary secret art she would focus on next, so naturally, she had to specialize in cultivating it. As soon as she opened it, she had a good idea – it was very suitable for her, and learning it seemed to be very smooth. She could grasp its essence at a glance, and it should be quick to learn.
But the Space Notes was of a high level. From the beginning of the first volume, A'Diao found it obscure and difficult to understand.
It wasn't that her spatial talent wasn't high enough, but that the Space Notes itself was of too high a level. Even just the first volume, A'Diao felt, surpassed the scope of most spatial Dao arts.
"Toilet, let me ask, where did you get these secret arts? Never mind the others, but this Space Notes, why do I feel it's more badass than most of the spatial secret arts from the first generation? It doesn't seem like..."
Toilet: "I don't even know how I came to be, and you're asking me?"
Fine.
A'Diao didn't like to waste time investigating meaningless things.
Appoint Soldiers Summon Generals was divided into two levels. The first was "Appoint Soldiers," which produced soldier-level puppets. The consumption of Spiritual Power was much lower than "Summon Generals," but their effectiveness against enemies was also much lower. A'Diao didn't plan to reach the heavens in a single step; she would take it slow.
Moreover, this was an area attack. In a general sense, it should be sufficient, as she wasn't group-attacking a Boss, after all.
As for the first volume of Space Notes, after A'Diao opened it, she discovered that this volume specialized in spatial escape and concealment techniques.
Very good, this is what I love the most!
At B Zone's Station No. 1, due to the military's caution, they chose to integrate the personnel from Station No. 1 and No. 2, stationing everyone at No. 1.
Now, there were many experts in the No. 1 area, and Yue Xingxi was among them. However, she saw the two experts from Danzhou Academy whom she had been curious about before.
Having seen them from afar once, Zhao Guang was curious. "I know that Principal Jiang Zhou. The principals of Yunzhou, Linzhou, and Hanzhou Academies judge him to be cunning, self-serving, unbearable, and extremely noisy, and they don't like to associate with him. But once, I heard my grandfather say that he considered this person extraordinary because the Qingzhou Academy Principal held him in high regard. Sister, now that you've met him today, what do you think?"
Yue Xingxi found it hard to say that the other party was indeed noisy and gossipy—he had smiled and asked her about marriage prospects the moment he saw her, really hitting a woman's sore spot. Yet, this person, who seemed full of personality flaws, had defended Station No. 1 with great stability and security. His control techniques were as smooth as flowing water, extremely formidable.
"Unfathomable."
Zhao Guang felt the same way. From the beginning, he had stepped out of the circle of impressions set by others and re-evaluated Jiang Zhou. However, his main focus of observation was still Qu Jiangnan.
"Is this person from the Qu Family of Kyoto? Why would she come to Danzhou?"
Others didn't know, but Yue Xingxi, who had studied in Kyoto, was aware. However, she didn't say anything, as it was Qu Jiangnan's private matter. Being a woman herself, Yue Xingxi was a bit reserved about this topic, so she didn't speak, instead looking into the distance.
"The temperature has dropped again compared to yesterday. Has the meteorological bureau not come up with any results yet?"
"Not yet. Right now, we only know that the demonic spirits are much more subdued than before. It seems they dislike this low temperature and have gone dormant."
"In a few days, the military might dispatch personnel to check underwater. If it's temporarily safe, they will withdraw most of the personnel to defend the coastline and then deploy defenses in A Zone. I heard the situation there is very bad, and the Grand Governor and the others are bogged down there."
While the two siblings were talking, by the fireplace in the main hall, Qu Jiangnan, who was drinking coffee, watched her coffee begin to cool. She released a bit of fire element from her fingertip, and it warmed up again.
She didn't drink it, only watched it for a moment. After using her Mental Threads to test the cooling speed and the changes in the coffee and other plant elements within it, she looked up at Jiang Zhou, who was roasting corn. "Putting other things aside, given the current speed and degree of the temperature drop, the sea region is very likely to freeze over."
Jiang Zhou was just about to bite into his corn when he heard this and paused. His mind was quick, and he understood, saying, "You suspect the underwater demonic spirits are likely to come ashore?"
"Individual demonic spirits, but the threat shouldn't be too great... However, I do indeed feel uneasy."
Jiang Zhou knew that the intuition of someone with a strong spiritual constitution was almost equivalent to a prophecy. He became cautious. After pondering for a moment, he said, "You should return to the coast the morning after tomorrow. Those children have gained some experience, and that's enough. Don't let them get caught up in this."
If a major incident truly occurred, those at their level might still find it easy to escape, but those below the Forbidden Master realm would have a hard time.
Qu Jiangnan did not refuse.
One day later, late at night, A'Diao reined in her cultivation somewhat because two of the lines she was monitoring became active.
The ten bandit leaders and Wang Zhi all quietly left their residences, using escape arts to sneak into the dense forest on the shore.
The two groups were likely going to meet and conspire.
Sparrow and Xiao Yuanbao were both a little excited, thinking A'Diao would personally follow them. But she didn't. She continued cultivating, her pupils transforming as if she were a human-shaped camera, monitoring them in real-time.
Half an hour later, in the dense forest along the southern coastline, the two groups indeed met each other in a cleared-out ruined underground cave.
The visibility was dim.
Wang Zhi looked around outside, carefully sealed off the cave entrance, and released a slight halo of light from his fingertips. The eleven people met in the darkness.
One of the bandit leaders was a bit nervous and asked when exactly they were supposed to come and conspire, as the situation was currently a bit tense.
Wang Zhi: "There's one person we need to find a way to eliminate."
Bandit leader: "Who?"
Wang Zhi: "Zhao Ritian."
Upon seeing this, A'Diao suddenly got up, intending to go out.
Sparrow: "Master, are you going to find them?"
A'Diao's expression was cold. "Not them."
A'Diao didn't explain. She directly turned invisible and left Sea-Sky One Hue. She did indeed enter the dense forest, but in a different direction.
The three-line monitoring was still active, but her attention was now focused on the third line.
Half an hour later, she was tailing an invisible person.
Who was this person?
Lin Xijun.
Toilet: "Interesting. Just when Wang Zhi and those ten people made a move, this Lin Xijun also went out. It looks to me like they're deliberately using those first eleven people to attract your attention. Does that 'A' know you're tracking them?"
A'Diao: "Actually, he doesn't need to know. The death of the Reef Whale was enough to make him wary of me. He would also anticipate that I would definitely investigate him once I returned to the coastline. Since I could kill the Reef Whale, even with Han Zhuo's help in the background, he would have some judgment of my strength. It's not impossible for me to track and monitor these people. So, it's also not impossible that he's simply using these people to set a trap for me. It's just that he didn't expect I've already found Lin Xijun. Investigating three lines simultaneously, by comparison, the flaw in those eleven people is too obvious."
Toilet: "Flaw?"
A'Diao sneered: "No matter how well they lie low, how secretly, there's one BUG they probably didn't even consider themselves—that is, if they had successfully deceived the military's investigation and successfully reaped benefits from the Bandit Alliance, with the military exerting such high pressure and all sides on guard, the bandits' business of robbery and killing simply couldn't operate anymore. Why would they still keep these ten people hidden on the southern coastline? If the military had sealed off this area and thoroughly investigated personnel entry and exit, that would be one thing. But the military, in order to control the impact, took no such measures. The flow of cultivators on the southern coastline is also quite large, so it wouldn't be difficult for these ten people to take the opportunity to leave. If they could clearly escape by leaving, even if their identities were discovered, they wouldn't fear being caught, so why are they still carefully lying low here? Do they really plan to stay and fight the demonic spirits with everyone else? That's impossible! Therefore, I suspect they stayed because 'A' wanted to use them to set a trap for me. When I follow their trail into the trap, that's when he truly intends to eliminate me."
She knew from the beginning that investigating these 11 people wouldn't yield any significant results. The reason she monitored them just now was to confirm her current conjecture: that these 11 people were indeed putting on an act to trap her.
Toilet had an epiphany. Damn, this 'A' was truly cunning.
"I don't know what arrangements he'll make. Logically, you didn't hide your whereabouts after returning. If he had the ability to deploy high-level combatants to assassinate you, killing you directly would be the most clean and decisive way. Insisting on these sneaky tactics, I feel like his scheme is not small."
A'Diao pondered: "Of course, it's not small. I'm just worried that he not only wants to kill me but also wants to use me to achieve some other purpose. If even I think this person is cunning, then this person must also be aware of his own intelligence. Smart people like to elevate simple goals, preferably killing two birds, or even N birds, with one stone..."
She became interested, wanting to see what tricks this bastard was really up to.
Lin Xijun simply couldn't have detected A'Diao. Not to mention that after her breakthrough, she was comparable to a Glimmer rank cultivator; even before her breakthrough, her concealment techniques were such that even Forbidden Masters couldn't see through them.
After all, this person was most enthusiastic about studying arts of escape and concealment to preserve her life.
So, he currently didn't know that A'Diao was just a hundred meters away from them.
But... after turning past a dense thicket of bushes, a hollow in a tall tree, rooted over a hundred-meter area, was right before his eyes.
Lin Xijun went in. A'Diao followed behind him and saw through it at a glance: the entrance of the tree hollow was sealed with a transparent spiritual perception film. Any creature containing Spiritual Power or Spiritual Essence passing through, no matter what invisibility secret art they used, unless it was ridiculously high-level, would be detected by it.
This wasn't a technique; it was a Forbidden Item.
It could also soundproof.
Can't get in?
A'Diao raised an eyebrow. Her spatial concealment activated, her body directly merged into space, perfectly ignoring this film... She appeared directly from a spot inside the tree hollow and continued following Lin Xijun deeper into it.
Toilet sighed with emotion again: She verbally complained that the Space Notes was high-level and hard to learn, but whenever she encountered sneaky methods of escape and concealment, it was as if she had a cheat activated. She learned at lightning speed, becoming more excited the more she learned, able to extrapolate and apply her knowledge creatively.
Her learning efficiency was actually higher than for Appoint Soldiers Summon Generals.
What an oddball.
After entering the tree hollow for ten meters and navigating some twists and turns, Lin Xijun finally saw a man wearing a large cloak at the end of the hollow.
"My Lord."
The Cloaked Man turned and glanced at him. Lin Xijun said, "I was very careful. No one followed me."
The Cloaked Man's voice was deep, as if disguised. "What's the use of you being careful? If a truly powerful person targets you, it's impossible to guard against effectively."
What the hell is he saying, does he know I'm here?
A'Diao stood just two meters away from them, watching the two coldly.
Lin Xijun was cautious and also misunderstood, "My Lord, did you detect someone following me?"
"No, I've set up measures at the entrance of the tree hollow. If anyone had come, they would have already been exposed. So, this time it's relatively safe."
"That's good." Lin Xijun breathed a sigh of relief, but thinking of the purpose of this trip, he couldn't help but ask, "Did Wang Zhi and his group succeed over there?"
"Naturally, it succeeded. That Zhao Ritian's methods are quite capable; he targeted them early on. But these young masters from prestigious families are used to being coddled since childhood. They have ability and brains, and having achieved such great merits in B Zone, it's easy for them to get arrogant. So this time, thinking of pressing on with the victory... this mentality makes it easy to fall into a trap."
Lin Xijun: "Then what arrangements do we make next?"
Cloaked Man: "No other arrangements. This person is greedy by nature and cares about benefits. Today, she spent extravagantly, over two billion, and will definitely be eager to recoup it. Since she's already taken the bait, she should have left Sea-Sky One Hue and gone to the vicinity of Wang Zhi and his group."
Lin Xijun: "Will this person take action?"
Cloaked Man: "No, she won't. She will try to find me and wipe us all out in one go. So, currently, she is only spying."
Lin Xijun: "Then, on our side, are we prepared to... against her..."
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
The Cloaked Man shook his head: "No, the original plan has changed. Right now, the biggest trouble in the Southern Sea Region isn't this Zhao Ritian—the Grand Governor's Mansion's Intelligence Bureau is investigating me."
Lin Xijun's expression changed instantly. "Xiao Jin?"
A'Diao's heart skipped a beat. Who was Xiao Jin? A member of the Xiao Clan? Many members of the Xiao Clan were formidable, but this name was unfamiliar. Was it because she was in the Intelligence Bureau? But clearly, Lin Xijun and these people knew some inside details and were extremely fearful of her.
"It's her. This woman is formidable. She has already traced the pattern of the disappearing cultivators. I suspect she's onto something, so we must wrap this matter up. Otherwise, it will be endless. If she detects it in advance and exposes it before our grand task is completed, then everything will fall short at the last hurdle."
Probably because they were too wary of Xiao Jin, neither of them said much more, leaving A'Diao feeling unsettled, wishing she could give them a handful of melon seeds to get them to continue talking.
Moreover, they didn't fully explain the plan to deal with her. Damn! These two bumpkins, can't they say a little more?
Fortunately, their meeting this time wasn't entirely for discussing these matters. There was, after all, something Lin Xijun was supposed to do.
A'Diao suppressed her impatience, full of anticipation.
The Cloaked Man's lips moved slightly as he said, "The plan in B Zone is set. The time is almost ripe. What I need you to do is..."
A'Diao and Toilet both pricked up their ears, listening intently...
He stopped talking. He extended his fingers and handed Lin Xijun a slip of paper.
A'Diao: "!!!"
Damn!
Toilet: "..."
So frustrating!
These two hicks.
Everything was understood without words. Lin Xijun opened the note, and after reading it, immediately burned it.
A'Diao didn't even have time to go over and take a glance before the note was gone, making her extremely irritable.
Toilet: "This Cloaked Man should be 'A'. I support you taking him out right now!"
This was like being hungry all day, ordering takeout, it getting stuck in traffic, and being delivered three hours late. Famished, you go to open it, only to find the vendor tied it with a dead knot that you just can't undo.
MMP, just explode on the spot!
If they're dead, what schemes are there to talk about!
A'Diao, go!
A'Diao wanted to as well, but her temperament was, after all, experienced and shrewd. She held back, watching the two separate without showing any emotion...
Toilet: "Not killing him?"
A'Diao: "This Cloaked Man is not 'A'."
Huh? That can't be, he just admitted it himself.
After the two left, A'Diao had no intention of following them. Instead, she formed a small seal with her fingers and pressed it onto the tree trunk. This small seal automatically traveled within the trunk, and quickly, before the Cloaked Man exited, it found the Forbidden Item sealing the tree hollow's entrance, embedded itself, and disappeared.
From this moment on, A'Diao could track it.
And the next second, the Cloaked Man reached the entrance, retrieved the Forbidden Item, and melted into the dark, cold night, leaving.
Now it was four-line monitoring.
Holy shit!
A'Diao still felt no pressure, but she was integrating the information she had obtained earlier.
Toilet had just been made irritable. "What information could there be? These two are really something else, not saying what they should. I even suspect they knew you were here and deliberately wanted to piss you off... Just a tiny bit of information. Right, why do you think he's not 'A'? His cultivation level also seems to be Transcendent Upper Rank, everything matches up, even his voice is exactly the same, and he admitted it himself."
A'Diao: "That 'A' has the ability to communicate and connect with demonic spirits. If it were him, he and Lin Xijun wouldn't need to choose an area with no demonic spirit activity nearby. Instead, he could choose a place with many demonic spirits. It could both block off and isolate people and also appear natural, because being in league with the demonic spirits, he could just have them avoid harming them. He didn't choose such a place because he can't do it, so he's most likely not 'A'. Moreover, the mask 'A' wore on his face before was different from this one. It's not a big deal if it's different, but that one was of a higher grade than this one. The situation is more tense than before; would you discard a high-grade mask for an inferior one?"
Of course not.
So this person... is also one of 'A's decoys? Could it be that this path is also part of 'A's scheme?
"No, this line of investigation is real and valid. All the information obtained is useful. The reason 'A' made such arrangements is merely out of caution; this is consistent with his personality and style."
Regardless of whether he would be exposed or not, a scapegoat must always be prepared.
A'Diao quickly integrated the information she had obtained this time.
"First: The Cloaked Man said Xiao Jin was investigating him. Actually, he meant Xiao Jin and the intelligence forces are investigating 'A', and they suspect 'A' is masterminding some scheme behind the disappearing cultivators. 'A' is a high-ranking military official. Since he has such a sense of crisis, it means Xiao Jin must have also locked onto investigating high-ranking military internals, making him feel like a fishbone is stuck in his throat, forcing him to devise countermeasures."
"Second, due to the first point, 'A's method involves her, Zhao Ritian. What method could both eliminate Zhao Ritian and allow him to escape blame? There's only one way—make Zhao Ritian become 'A'! Make her take the blame and be punished by the Grand Governor in his stead!"
"Third, to complete this frame-up, it must involve making her leave Sea-Sky One Hue, to make it convenient for them to carry out some plotting."
A dark glint flashed in A'Diao's eyes as she said faintly, "Perhaps the real 'A' is in my hotel room right now, messing around."
Toilet: "???"
Holy shit!
Then hurry back! Maybe you can still catch him in the act.
"At your current speed, you can make it back."
"I can, but I'm not going back."
"???"
A'Diao reached out and stroked the tree trunk, saying thoughtfully, "That Cloaked Man just mentioned the timing and that the plan in B Zone is set. This timing must be related to the current celestial phenomenon. The current phenomenon originated from the Qingzhou military activating that celestial phenomenon Forbidden Item to solve the acidic corrosive weather problem. So, this step was definitely within 'A's expectations. By the same token, we can deduce that this 'A' knew about this military measure. Then, we can screen this person's identity, as this Forbidden Item and the military's actions are definitely classified."
A high-ranking military official who knows about the celestial phenomenon Forbidden Item plan... there aren't many candidates. But she wasn't a high-ranking military insider, so she couldn't thoroughly investigate...
Moreover, the timing he mentioned should be arriving soon. Because just now, when A'Diao observed the Cloaked Man's eyes, there was no sense of anxiety or restlessness; instead, he seemed eager to act. This indicated that even if the Intelligence Bureau was onto their plan, their plan was nearing completion.
Perhaps in these next two days.
Then the time left for her to deal with it was very short...
Toilet: "Even so, why do you keep touching this tree trunk?"
They were supposed to be discussing conspiracies and schemes, but she kept touching it repeatedly. It was quite weird.
A'Diao rolled her eyes and snorted, "Haven't you noticed there's something wrong with this tree?"
"The weather outside is so cold, yet the moisture inside it hasn't frozen. This means it's receiving sufficient energy supply... But other trees are all withered and listless."
Huh?
A'Diao then examined some other trees and found that a few were similar to this large tree, while most of the others were in bad shape.
"Trees with deep roots are fine. This indicates that deep underground, there are enough nutrients and energy to help them resist the cold. Strange. If there were such energy fluctuations, the Five Prefectures' military should have known about it long before designating this place as a concentration point. So, this must have happened in the last few days. Because the experts and advanced equipment have all left for A and B Zones, no one has detected the changes deep underground..."
Just as A'Diao was feeling suspicious, she sensed that the Cloaked Man had suddenly disappeared.
Damn!
Disappeared just like that.
The small seal she had left also went silent.
Was it detected and dealt with? No, if that were the case, she would have experienced some backlash. Since she was fine, it meant the small seal was still on the Cloaked Man, but he had entered a special environment where the connection was directly severed.
"Either he went to an area more than twenty kilometers away, where I can't sense him, or it's a special, sealed space."
A'Diao increasingly felt that this group around Mysterious Person A was plotting something huge. It could very well be a matter leading to the total collapse of the entire coastal line.
Her nerves were on edge, but her mind was extremely calm. She quickly used an earth escape art to sneak underground and investigate.
One hundred meters, three hundred meters, five hundred meters...
A'Diao suddenly didn't dare to go down further.
Because her '5555' nerve threads began to tremble—danger, they were warning her of danger!
A'Diao immediately and quietly returned to the surface, covered in cold sweat.
What was that just now?
She didn't know; she hadn't seen anything at all.
But she only felt that in the abyssal and bone-chillingly cold depths of the earth... she heard breathing sounds.
Slow and ancient.
"Damn it, who knows what big move these bastards are brewing up. The Five Prefectures might undergo a major upheaval."
A'Diao didn't want an upheaval because her future prospects looked excellent. She could already do as she pleased in Danzhou, and in the Five Prefectures, she could also suppress other prodigies. According to her original plan, using the identity of Zhao Ritian, she was about to rise and gain great power. Once 'A' and his people stirred up trouble and controlled the situation, all her efforts would come to nothing, which would be extremely disadvantageous for her.
"I have to go back, but before I do, I need to make some preparations."
What preparations?
A'Diao didn't say, but Toilet saw her use the Military Department's signal network to send a letter to Kyoto...
A letter reporting her safety.
Of course, it wasn't for the Zhao Clan, but others would assume it was. The recipient wasn't anyone else either; it was Sparrow in the dimensional space.
It's just that Sparrow wouldn't receive it. It would be sent out following the signal's path...
The same old trick.
But a letter naturally only has meaning if it's seen by someone.
Seen by whom?
At this moment, in a certain room in Sea-Sky One Hue—alright, it was A'Diao's room—the masked 'A' who was stirring up trouble received a covert notification. Soon, he saw the contents of this letter.
Requesting aid from his family... Young Master Zhao felt someone was targeting him, asking his parents, paternal grandparents, and maternal grandparents to quickly send people... and also that he greatly missed his sister-in-law, Yinyin.
The entire letter didn't mention the Zhao Clan of Taihang Mountain, but you just felt it was that Zhao Clan.
"What do we do? What if people from the Zhao Clan really come?"
"What 'what do we do'? If he's dead, it doesn't matter if they can't find anything. It's not like the Zhao Clan rules the world. Besides, it might not even be that Zhao Clan. Even if it is... why do you think the Zhao Clan didn't care about this kid before the Spiritual Energy resurgence? He's been missing for many years; why would they care now? It's just this kid bluffing."
'A' narrowed his eyes and continued his actions. After he was done, he quietly left the room.
Everything seemed as if it had never changed.
Two hours later, after investigating day and night, the Qingzhou Intelligence Bureau finally locked onto a certain frequency.
"Report! This transmission frequency has appeared again!!!"
"Director!"
The Intelligence Bureau had made a discovery. A secret order was conveyed to the Qingzhou Grand Governor's Mansion, and soon, a military order was issued.
At the crack of dawn, A'Diao rushed back to Sea-Sky One Hue and was just about to enter the hotel.
Clang!!
A large halo of light locked onto her, and from all around, densely packed black-armored soldiers surged out.
"Zhao Ritian, you are under arrest."
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