ASER - Chapter 131
Chapter 131: Sycophant
People in intelligence disliked dragging things out and wasting time; they also valued the effectiveness of information. So, Xiao Jin got straight to the point, "The signal line has been upgraded to the highest level. In all the Five Prefectures, only Xiao Mieluo and I are authorized to view it. Mr. Zhao, you may speak."
Reliable!
A'Diao immediately and concisely relayed the relevant intelligence, also sending over the video she had recorded of Lin Xijun and others. Finally, she said, "I'm going to Sea-Sky One Hue now. I can find this mole very quickly. However, I'm not sure whether to kill this person first to end the conspiracy, or to follow his trail to dig deeper. As far as I know, their network is almost completely laid out. You've seen what I sent you."
The information she could deduce, Xiao Jin naturally could as well, and Xiao Jin knew even more than A'Diao.
But Xiao Jin was also surprised that this Zhao Ritian could gather such detailed intelligence. After quickly processing this information, she decisively exchanged her own information.
"My investigation has led to the Five Elements Cult. I suspect someone intends to use the cult's evil array to sacrifice cultivators' Spiritual Cores and Spirit Clusters to summon a Lair."
The Five Elements Cult? A'Diao blurted out, "The one in Danzhou? Weren't they summoning a Spirit Gate?"
Although they indeed failed to summon a Spirit Gate back then and ended up summoning a Lair, how come it now seems they can directly summon a Lair?
Damn it, don't tell me that array was created specifically to summon Lairs from the very beginning.
Xiao Jin: "Mr. Zhao also knows about the Danzhou incident?"
So perceptive! A'Diao's heart tightened. She said, "I also know that Qu Jiangnan from Danzhou Academy fled an arranged marriage to Danzhou. Hehehe, when it comes to romantic gossip, I know more than anyone. I wonder if she has a sweetheart. Hey, you think this person..."
Her gossipy energy was truly top-notch, acting as if she knew all the secret affairs of Kyoto and couldn't stop talking about them.
Xiao Jin could only steer the conversation back. "The incident in Danzhou was initially thought to be an accident where demonic spirits were drawn in due to an attempt to summon a Spirit Gate. However, according to the Intelligence Bureau's records, more than one similar case has occurred since then. Basically, seven out of ten times, both Spirit Gates and Lair demonic spirits appear together. Therefore, I believe this evil array might have been designed to summon Lairs from the start. Moreover, while the Five Elements Cult was just a minor nuisance in Danzhou, it has actually developed very powerfully and secretively in the Five Prefectures region, and only recently has the Intelligence Bureau found traces of it."
Xiao Jin's speculation coincided with A'Diao's first reaction upon hearing the news.
"No wonder these people are capturing so many. I heard that in Danzhou, they only captured some children and summoned a small Level 1 Lair. Doesn't that mean they're going to summon an even more terrifying Lair this time?"
Comparing the consumption of a dozen or two with the disappearance of thousands of cultivators, how much larger will the summoned Lair be?
A'Diao's scalp tingled just thinking about it.
Xiao Jin had long suspected this, so she didn't feel uneasy now. But her decisiveness in contacting A'Diao and placing her trust in her also stemmed from her keen sense of the crisis.
"So I choose the second method. I'll trouble Mr. Zhao to lure out this mole, but don't kill him. It's best to provoke him into activating his plan prematurely, or to expose his deeds. Considering he commands so many people, he should have other minions inside Sea-Sky One Hue. Once he's exposed, it might also prompt the mastermind to activate the plan ahead of schedule."
"Given the current situation, it's better to make them act prematurely than to let them prepare everything and proceed according to their plan."
A'Diao: "Alright, I agree. Because it's too late for you to come over, and to recall those experts and troops tied up in A and B Zones, right?"
Xiao Jin: "It's too late. Not to mention they can't break away immediately, even if they could move, the round trip would take time."
She didn't mention what would happen to all the cultivators in that area if the enemy launched their plan, or whether they would be slaughtered.
She didn't mention it, and A'Diao didn't either.
Could it be that these two women were willing to sacrifice everyone's lives to foil this conspiracy?
Too ruthless!
Toilet, however, didn't think so.
These two were so decisive simply because there were only three solutions to the current situation.
First, capture Mysterious Person A and evacuate everyone from the coastal area. But if they left, the commotion would be too great, and the enemy would immediately realize the situation was exposed and retract their feelers. But would they change their plans and delay the original conspiracy? No, because only Mysterious Person A would have been captured. Not to mention whether this person would reveal the secrets, even if he did, there wouldn't be enough forces in the coastal area to handle the situation.
Second, pretend to know nothing, list Zhao Ritian as the mole to deceive the enemy, and let them prepare according to their plan. Meanwhile, Xiao Jin would contact Xiao Mieluo to deploy troops. However, there was a time cost here—you wouldn't know where the enemy's conspiracy was exactly laid out. Underground? What was the situation underground? Would a Lair be born here? The coastal area was so vast, where exactly was the secret location? How to investigate, and would they be detected by the enemy during the investigation and expose themselves? Would the enemy succeed and suddenly erupt before they found anything?
Third, capture Mysterious Person A, but further reveal their understanding of the intelligence, forcing the enemy to feel that if they didn't act now, they would miss the opportunity and their secrets might be uncovered by the Intelligence Bureau. Thus, the enemy would decisively activate the conspiracy, and A'Diao, mixed in among them, would obtain firsthand intelligence to pass on to Xiao Jin, so she could arrange the next steps.
Xiao Jin and A'Diao were both people capable of handling major events. Their way of thinking involved weighing pros and cons from a broader perspective. Since they knew about the evil array, they also determined that these people wouldn't be in immediate danger for the time being. Of course, A'Diao dared to choose the third option out of self-confidence.
Xiao Jin also dared to choose this. A'Diao guessed that she must have reviewed the video of her dealing with the shark swarm at Station No. 3.
But A'Diao was also afraid that for such a major event, if she went to the front line and Xiao Mieluo and the others couldn't return, where would Xiao Jin deploy troops from to resolve it?
If the follow-up support couldn't keep up, no matter how confident she was, she feared something might go wrong, so she directly asked Xiao Jin.
The life of the dignified Second Young Master of the Zhao family was very precious, after all.
Xiao Jin's voice was very cold. "No family would deploy all their combat power to be stationed externally in a high-risk area."
A single sentence made A'Diao realize. "Such a secret, thank you for informing me. I hope Director Xiao can rest assured, I, Zhao Ritian, will definitely not fail your trust."
Facing such a high-ranking official, A'Diao also intended to build a relationship, so her words were pleasant—anyway, if it really involved her own life, she would definitely run faster than a rabbit.
"You're welcome. I, Xiao Jin, never ask anyone to entrust their life to me for a task without providing support. It has arrived. Please check it."
A'Diao's brow twitched. She instantly sensed... swoosh, something appeared before her.
A small, purple-patterned metallic snake, but it had a pair of purple metallic wings.
Not scary, nor disgusting; on the contrary, it was very cool and aesthetically pleasing.
Xiao Jin: "This is Forbidden Item A-98, Soaring Serpent. They are all connected to the Shengtang signal line, accessible to nobility under the Tang Song system. Even in A Zone, they can cross chaotic, signal-less areas to contact each other. It also has functions like photography, video recording, tracking, and positioning. Because of the special materials used, those below Grandmaster rank cannot sense its presence. In case of crisis, it has a built-in one-time random teleportation array, capable of randomly teleporting once within a twenty-li radius, but the prerequisite is that your Spiritual Core must not be locked."
Holy crap! Such an awesome Forbidden Item! No wonder it's A-grade, and ranked in the top one hundred among A-grade items.
A'Diao: "You're giving this to me? What about you, Director Xiao?"
Xiao Jin: "I'm a disabled person and don't take risks, so naturally I don't need it. However, there's another Forbidden Item, A-99, Bifang, which is with my brother. The two are family heirlooms from when our Xiao Clan helped establish the nation; they were originally a pair and have a special connection. After you bind it, you can also contact him, but it seems he's unlikely to be free at the moment."
Anyway, in Xiao Jin's view, the most important functions of this item currently were communication and teleportation—one for transmitting intelligence, the other for saving one's life.
In A'Diao's eyes, this Xiao Jin was truly a decisive woman. She gave away a family treasure just like that, unafraid that A'Diao might bind it and not return it.
By the way, can I not return it?
A'Diao's thoughts were quite wishful, but she said, "Alright, I'll use it for now. If I make it back alive, I'll return it to you. If I die, remember to collect my corpse."
Xiao Jin: "..."
After ending the communication with Xiao Jin, A'Diao bound the Soaring Serpent, turning it into a bracelet, and then sent the puppet to Sea-Sky One Hue.
Then, two hours later, the current situation unfolded.
A'Diao's main body watched as the Lair erupted and everyone fell in.
Although she had anticipated it, A'Diao still hadn't expected the enemy's move to be so massive. The entire coastline where the encampment was located had collapsed.
However, she still saw the situation below through the puppet and was shocked.
Energy and spiritual power nullification, Snow Demons, and everyone captured, awaiting sacrifice. Moreover, she had just tried, and because the large Lair had erupted, it disrupted the signal. Even ordinary signals couldn't be sent out, just like in A and B Zones.
Fuck!
Fortunately, Xiao Jin had the foresight to give her the Soaring Serpent.
But the problem was, the Lair had already been created. What else did this group want to sacrifice?
This was a problem, but A'Diao still sent this intelligence to Xiao Jin first. Xiao Jin seemed a bit astonished, because the situation was worse than she had imagined.
Snow Demons, they were not ordinarily difficult to deal with. The main issue was their Extreme Cold Confinement, which was too troublesome.
A'Diao: "I used a Level 7 Energy Puppet Talisman. It's a type that consumes energy from the start to maintain its existence. Its core is a Spirit Core, so it should weaken quickly and I'll lose contact with it. I have to go down myself."
Originally, Xiao Jin felt that with the Soaring Serpent and Zhao Ritian's abilities and intelligence, his chances of survival if he ventured down were still high. But now, Xiao Jin found it tricky, though there was no other way.
The puppet body was trapped and would soon lose contact. Only the main body could go down to investigate the situation.
"The Soaring Serpent has a Mental Guidance Mode that can be activated by consuming some mental power. The duration of use is generally measured by the strength of one's mental power. If you go down, manage your time for transmitting information well, but reserve some for teleportation."
"I've made arrangements. Reinforcements will arrive in two and a half hours."
Xiao Jin didn't take the clingy, "maybe you shouldn't go" green tea route. Since Zhao Ritian himself said he would go down, and it concerned the interests of the Five Prefectures, she wasn't polite.
Two and a half hours? That fast?
It should be enough time.
At this moment, A'Diao ran through her action plan in her mind, confirming there was room to maneuver. Then, she entered the dense forest, quickly assassinated a Snow Demon, activated all her status skills, then used "Parents Wouldn't Recognize You" to replace it, and dragged a hapless cultivator that the Snow Demon had been dragging down into the Lair.
If she didn't go down soon, Song Ling and the others might die.
This unlucky fellow couldn't blame her; even if she hadn't acted, he would have been dragged down anyway.
However, Daoist arts that had already been consumed and activated could not be interfered with by the Extreme Cold Confinement below. But the "Parents Wouldn't Recognize You" skill would likely have limitations once down there, as it also consumed Mental Power. After Mental Power became unusable later, at its current level 25, it could probably last for two hours.
Other Snow Demons returned to the Lair one after another. A'Diao dragged the body and followed them... About ten minutes later, they arrived at the prison.
These ordinary cultivators, of course, weren't qualified for the No. 1 Prison Area and were all locked up in more than twenty other cells. A'Diao did a quick count and found that over two thousand people were imprisoned.
It couldn't be helped; almost all the cultivators at the coastal encampment had met with disaster. Probably only a few were frantically trying to escape now, but A'Diao estimated they wouldn't make it out. The disparity was too great, and there were too many Snow Demons.
A'Diao threw the cultivator into the prison and was walking out with a group of Snow Demons when suddenly, a Level 7 Snow Demon entered.
"You few, come over here."
These demonic spirits were interesting. After fighting humans for thousands of years, they had learned human language. Perhaps it was much more advanced than the complex and ancient language of demonic spirits, so they chose this method of communication.
But this startled A'Diao, her heart skipped a beat.
Was her cover blown?
Not really. This Snow Demon was calling them for a task.
"The King's yang-absorbing phase has arrived. Before the sacrifice, pick a few strong ones with abundant yang energy and send them over."
Because their energy was also restricted—they could use Daoist arts outside the Lair, but not here—so they had to be transported manually.
A'Diao: "?"
Excuse me, is it the 'yang-absorbing phase' that I'm thinking of?
No. 1 Prison Area.
The Level 7 Snow Demon led A'Diao and the others in. The Snow Demons guarding this place included two Level 7 ones and over three hundred Level 6 ones, each strong and fierce. Meanwhile, the other people in the prison had mostly succumbed to poison, each one weak and feeble. Even Elder Han and Bao Chong were drowsy.
"Pick ten." The Level 7 Snow Demon gave the order. A'Diao saw the other Snow Demons already starting to pick with practiced ease. Not to be outdone, she directly opened a cell door, grabbed someone's foot, and started to drag them out.
Han Zhuo, who had been drowsing, suddenly woke up and turned to see an enchanting and androgynous-looking Snow Demon grabbing his foot and dragging him out.
His expression froze, and he tried to struggle. It wasn't just him; others were also shocked, especially those being dragged out.
"What are you doing!"
"Fuck!"
Prodigies like Song Erhu and Duan Fei tried to resist, but they had little strength and were suppressed by the strong Snow Demons.
Song Ling opened her eyes just in time to see a Snow Demon slap Han Zhuo on the head.
"Behave yourself! It's your honor to offer your young and healthy body to my King. Don't be ungrateful!"
After all, he was her former deskmate. Song Ling frowned, but she wasn't an idiot. Prisoners had no room to resist.
But where on earth were they dragging Han Zhuo and the others?
The Level 7 Snow Demon looked coldly at these panicked and cursing humans and smiled faintly. "Don't be afraid. We're not absorbing your Spiritual Cores or Spirit Clusters, nor do we want your lives."
Oh? You don't?
Song Erhu and the others immediately struggled much less.
Level 7 Snow Demon: "We need your yang energy."
Everyone: "..."
Song Ling and the other female cultivators: "???"
The cell instantly fell deathly silent, while Han Zhuo and the others immediately struggled even more violently. The other Snow Demons became furious, holding them down and beating them.
A'Diao also beat Han Zhuo, cursing as she did.
"How dare you refuse! Despicable! My King is an unparalleled noble being. You lowly humans only need to offer your yang energy to receive her favor. What an honor this is, yet you dare to resist! You're courting death!"
These words struck a chord with the Snow Demons and infuriated the human prisoners.
From Han Zhuo +333333!
From Li Yuankai +233333!
From Tuoba +188888...
Damn it, they so regretted being young, fit, and strong!
The Level 7 demonic spirit also looked down on humans, saying arrogantly, "Well said! I advise you not to be ungrateful. Obey my King. With your weakened bodies, you won't last more than a few minutes before being sent back. What's there to be proud of!"
A few minutes? Who lasts only a few minutes?!
One of the demonic spirits, seeing how glib A'Diao was and how she curried favor with the superior, suddenly had an idea and sycophantically added, "Boss, these lowly humans are useless. Should we pick a few more?"
The Level 7 demonic spirit thought for a moment, "Alright."
Alright? Ten isn't enough?
A'Diao had a vague bad feeling and wished she could strangle that sharp-tongued Snow Demon. Sure enough, the Level 7 demonic spirit suddenly pointed. "That one. I remember him. He's the one who killed Sima Yu, forcing us to act prematurely. I heard he's also from a very strong prestigious family. Drag him out. Let his body become the supreme offering to my King."
Watching her own puppet body being dragged out.
From Han Zhuo and others +++++
This must be goodwill, right? They were so happy, their struggles even lessened.
A'Diao was miserable internally but showed no sign of it on the surface. Looking at the puppet's body, she nodded repeatedly and continued to flatter, "Boss, your judgment is excellent! Although this human isn't much to look at, his physique seems very good. He will surely satisfy our King. Of course, our King is noble; these humans can't compare to the adults of our own kind in any way."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"That's right, these lowly humans."
"Drag them away, drag them away! We'll send them back later. But they're poisoned now, all limp. What if they have no strength?"
A'Diao immediately said, "They don't need to exert any effort. Our King has plenty of strength. They just need to lie there. Mere scoundrels, they want to exert effort? Are they even worthy?!"
The group of Snow Demons immediately agreed.
Han Zhuo and the others looked as if they had lost their parents, glaring angrily at A'Diao.
Fuck! This is the sycophant of the Snow Demon clan!
It seemed A'Diao had truly wounded their pride. The Mental Power from this group of prodigies surged faster than anything.
But the Level 7 Snow Demon particularly admired A'Diao, feeling that such a quick-witted subordinate must have excellent aptitude and high intelligence, with a limitless future. It patted A'Diao's shoulder.
"Very good. Drag them away."
Pa, the puppet body Zhao Ritian suddenly grabbed the bars of the cell and wailed, "My health is poor! I'm impotent! Go find that one, the leopard-headed guy! He's a commander, very strong! Or that old man is fine too, he's a veteran Glimmer rank!"
Bao Chong, who was pretending to be asleep: "!!!"
Elder Han, who was originally worried about the Young Marquis: "..."
From Bao Chong +555555!
From Elder Han +566666!
The Level 7 Snow Demon frowned, glanced at the two, "Too old. Don't want them. Drag him away, drag him away! So annoying! If you make any more noise, I'll cut out all your tongues."
At this moment, A'Diao's heart was pounding.
What to do? If the puppet body was dragged over, it would be exposed in minutes.
Not to mention she still didn't know what level that King was; if it was Level 9, she would definitely be exposed instantly. Even if not exposed, where would the puppet get yang energy... No, she, the main body, didn't have any either!
Fuck!
She was about to be exposed before she could even probe for any information. Maybe she should retreat immediately.
A'Diao was burning with anxiety, already preparing to flee. But just then, the prison door opened again, and a group of people in red robes stood at the entrance.
Yes, humans, not Snow Demons.
They're here. People from the Five Elements Cult?
Comments
Post a Comment