"I will certainly seek him out!"

Chao Zhilin firmly insisted, right in front of his senior sister; the bond of brotherhood between sect members could not be neglected.

In fact, after uttering those words, he also felt some regret, regretting his impulsiveness, but what's said is said, and what's spilled cannot be recaptured.

Well then, once he said that, Guann Yingjie would find it difficult to say anything contrary. To oppose would make him seem merciless and disloyal, disregarding the life and death of his sect brothers.

Even Mulan Qingqing felt cornered by those words, but as team leader, she had to be cautious, whispering a reminder, "If we really do as Wang Sheng insists, once word gets out, you all know the consequences—we can't bear that responsibility."

Chao Zhilin whispered back, "Wang Sheng is such a scoundrel that Heaven and Earth can't tolerate him. As long as he can't speak, afterward, nobody will know."

For them, killing "Wang Sheng" was as easy as flipping over one's hand; there was no possibility of failure.

Seeing his junior brother so concerned about brotherly affection, Guann Yingjie, clenching his teeth, couldn't remain silent any longer and nodded, "Whether Brother Guan is dead or alive, we do not know. If his life can be exchanged for just a glimmer of hope, Wang Sheng's death is indeed insignificant."

Mulan Qingqing was as cold as frost, with no expression on her face, but inside, she was extremely conflicted. Pressured by her junior brothers, she knew well that it was not wise to search for someone in the Moon Sea, but if she stubbornly refused to search, it would mean disregarding the life and death of her fellow sect members.

Making a decision to stop the plan was difficult—how would she face the world upon returning to the sect?

How many in the world could stand against the weight of moral and social obligations?

Moreover, it was said there was no sound of violence when the incident occurred. If Guan Wen was truly in a desperate situation, waiting for rescue, it would indeed be inappropriate for her to do nothing.

After hesitation, she conceded, "How many people should we send?"

Seeing her decision made, her junior brothers immediately began brainstorming to assist in the planning.

After a moment, Chao Zhilin said, "Too few is inadequate, too many is also inappropriate; a large commotion is not good. A hundred people should suffice."

Mulan Qingqing asked, "Whom shall we send?"

Guann Yingjie replied, "Senior Sister, don't worry about this; I'll coordinate the people from my side; you just need to be in touch with Brother Yan. The primary concern is to ensure that our forces do not meet, and as for Wang Sheng, that scoundrel, he must not be left alive!"

Mulan Qingqing gave a slight nod and picked up the mother-and-child talisman to contact Yan Ji again.

Behind the dirt mound waiting for the message, Yan Ji knew what to do next; he put away the talisman, stepped out from behind the dirt mound, and returned to the group, now waiting.

Everything unfolded as Shi Chun had predicted. After a night of lost contact, the sects scattered around the Moon Sea truly felt uneasy. By mid-morning, they began to check on the area one after another—the ones that arrived first were generally close by, beginning to re-establish their channels of communication.

As the sun reached its zenith, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang made excuses to move around, and away from prying eyes, they also took out their mother-and-child talismans.

The burning hot talisman bore a message: Bai Shuchuan is anxious for success and rushes to the Moon Sea; I am acting against my will, compelled to join them.

Unless there was some unexpected error, this message must have come from Bian Weiyin, still maintaining the usual reports to facilitate decisions among their allies.

Shi Chun shook his head as he read; now you realize you're acting against your will. I had advised you before, if you won't listen, suffer the consequences yourself.

He, as usual, read and did not reply, putting away the talisman.

Wu Jinliang pondered, "They are also heading to Moon Sea; we won't run into them, will we?"

Shi Chun heh'ed, "With thousands of people around Moon Lake, surveillance is set up more or less every mile or two by Xuan State agents; encountering them is highly probable. Now that everyone in Xuan State knows your sister's story, I don't know whether they will help you avenge her if they see Bai Shuchuan; Bian Weiyin being among them might get her implicated too. Whether she can be saved or not, we'll have to see how it turns out."

He pointed to the talisman in Wu's hand, suggesting the option to send a message in a critical moment.

Of course, if the situation was not right, he would also stand by and watch Bian Weiyin die.

Wu Jinliang guessed that choosing not to save her was the most likely outcome because he knew Shi Chun very well; he knew that deep down, Shi Chun hated those outside of Life Prison, having once said in his presence: There is no one under heaven who cannot be killed!

He knew that "under heaven" referred to people outside of Life Prison, who had no personal ties to them.

Of course, Wu also harbored hate for people outside, but he was someone who distinguished clearly between love and hate; besides those he should hate, there were also those who were very lovable. He thought that Bian Weiyin was too beautiful to die like this; it would be a waste.

Under a high, snow-capped mountain peak, a figure clad in a bizarre cloak made from several pieces of clothing landed lightly after speeding through the air and suddenly stopped, also taking out a mother-and-child talisman. The characters that appeared on the talisman were the same as those Shi Chun and the others had seen.

This person, of course, was no other than Xiang Laner.

In this disguise, without speaking or looking up close, even gender would be indiscernible.

Likewise, after receiving the message, she did not reply but continued to leap towards the mountaintop.

Once she reached the snowy summit, she took out a bundle of clothes she had prepared in advance and set them on fire.

Soon thick smoke was billowing from the mountaintop.

Running here to do this, of course, was a method of contacting others.

This was advised by Feng Chi before departing from Wukang Mountain. If people were to contact her here and in case of any special circumstances—should contact be cut off—she was to light smoke at the highest peak of the West Pole.

The current situation was that someone had already reached out to her, but then contact was lost. She didn't know if this method would still work; now, it was a last resort, akin to using a dead horse as a living doctor.

After a good while of smoke rising, Xiang Laner's gaze flashed as she saw figures rapidly scaling the mountain from the base, not just one; people appeared from all around the base.

Not long after, twelve figures successively leapt onto the mountain summit, comprising both men and women, dressed in the garments of various sects, their eyes full of wariness.

Xiang Laner swung her arms, and the surrounding snow quickly piled up to form an igloo dome.

Once the group was accommodated inside, she propped her cloak open with her elbow and conjured a ball of flame with her fingers.

Upon seeing this, the twelve immediately kneeled on one knee, silent without a sound.

Xiang Laner spoke in a hoarse voice, "The person who was in contact with you, where are they?"

She hadn't shown her true face nor revealed her real voice. In theory, these people weren't qualified to directly interact with her, and she had appeared before them out of necessity.

Although she had made an appearance, she still needed to make every effort to conceal her true identity.

The twelve exchanged glances.

"There has been no contact from anyone."

"Same for me,"

The replies were similar, all stating that their contact had been absent for a long time, which was why they had followed the backup plan and come here.

Moreover, these people didn't even know who was supposed to contact them; they had assumed it was the person standing before them.

Xiang Laner hadn't told them that it was Sun Shigang. Since Sun Shigang was absent, she had no choice but to reassess these individuals.

Upon inquiry, they were all members of sects from various states, arranged to follow the commands of the contact person — twelve sects, twelve groups, none of whom had known each other before, and upon entering the territory of the West Pole, had immediately rushed to the designated location to await contact.

Surprisingly, the rendezvous point for six of the groups was at the Moon Sea, at the crook of its crescent shape.

"Moon Sea?" Xiang Laner expressed her bewildered suspicion, "Why were you told to wait at the Moon Sea for contact?"

"We don't know."

That was the response from the leaders of the six groups.

However, one person hesitated and then said, "Since this assembly is aimed at the Insect Extreme Crystal, and it's said there's an abundance by the Moon Sea, could it be that we were meant to search for the Insect Extreme Crystal?"

Xiang Laner replied, "The Moon Sea is perilous. What use would thirty of you be in searching for Insect Extreme Crystals there?"

The person responded uncertainly, "Could it be that there is some method to evade risks?"

This remark gave Xiang Laner pause as she remembered the original purpose of the mission.

The reason for sending people to assist her in the assembly was to help her achieve a certain success and return to Wukang Mountain to secure her standing, meaning helping her find a significant number of Insect Extreme Crystals.

Now knowing that the so-called twelve groups only amounted to sixty people, such a small force would not have much advantage in the violent clashes among the masses from the states. This couldn't be the intended use for them.

This meant that the people set to rendezvous at the Moon Sea might indeed be prepared to search for Insect Extreme Crystals.

If such preparations had been made, it wasn't just a gamble on luck.

She suddenly realized something; the man Sun Shigang probably had a way to avoid risks in the Moon Sea, either a secret or an object, and she was certain it was the latter.

For if it had been some kind of secret, their superiors would have directly informed her. It must be something that had to be brought in, and to avoid going through her and thereby keeping her safe, they had made such plans.

Understanding this, she couldn't help but silently curse Sun Shigang to damnation.

None of these people had made contact with Sun Shigang, and his fate was almost certain; he was most likely dead.

It was a pity she had so few opportunities to meet Sun Shigang and had no chance to learn the details.

With this thought, she decisively decided, "Let's go to the Moon Sea!"

Go to the Moon Sea? To find Shi Chun and the others.

Both Shi Chun and Sun Shigang had disappeared, and she had never abandoned her suspicion about their connection. If Sun Shigang had fallen into Shi Chun and his companion's hands, the items he carried could very well be with them.

To find Shi Chun, she first needed to find Bian Weiyin. If Sun Shigang's items were indeed with Shi Chun, she could use a paired talisman in Bian Weiyin's hands to probe for them.

Such matters were not suitable for Bian Weiyin to relay, so she could only borrow the paired talisman that Bian Weiyin used to contact the two directly.

As they prepared to leave the temporary igloo, someone reminded her, "We have been informed that the assembly will employ the Heavenly Mirror. When we move as a group, each group should maintain at least thirty feet of distance from one another, so as to avoid appearing together in the Heavenly Mirror's reflection."

Thus the group followed these instructions. After finding their respective teams at the foot of the mountain, they maintained a considerable distance as they moved forward, with Xiang Laner forming a group by herself...

A troop of more than a hundred individuals arrived near the Moon Sea and halted in the glow of the setting sun, not venturing closer.

It was the force sent by Guann Yingjie. After receiving a message, Mulan Qingqing immediately informed Yan Ji, notifying him that the corresponding forces had arrived and were ready at his command.

Yan Ji's response was to have the forces wait there until dawn the next day for further action.

And so, the assembled troops lay in ambush, waiting for dawn.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.