https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-826-The-Eight-Trigrams-Eight-Gates-Array/12587549/
Chapter 827: Night Strike
Chapter 827: Night Strike
Gu Changhuai's expression turned slightly annoyed as he coldly asked, "Aren't you afraid that the Xiao family will openly side with the Xia family but continue their secret dealings with the Gui Shui Sect, ruining our plans?"
Xia Dianshi shook her head, her expression indifferent. "This matter is not for me to decide. My uncle understands the situation."
"Uncle?" Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed. "You're talking about... Inspector Xia?"
"Yes," Xia Dianshi nodded. "This time, my family has come to the Qianshi State, and my uncle is in charge of all matters."
Gu Changhuai fell silent.
When it came to the matter of the Dao Court Inspector, even as a Dianshi himself, he could only remain silent.
Gu Changhuai turned his head away, no longer looking at Xia Dianshi. Instead, he gazed at the dark river, his brows furrowed slightly as if deep in thought.
Xia Dianshi also averted her eyes from Gu Changhuai.
Her expression was calm, her gaze fixed forward, and her eyes held determination.
The two seemed to be in a petty argument, neither looking at the other.
Mo Hua sighed softly, but at the same time, he was also thinking to himself.
'Inspector Xia... Who is this person?'
'Inspector... They must hold a position higher than a Dianshi, able to keep Gu's uncle in check. Their cultivation level is probably at the Feathering stage, and they seem to have a lot of authority.'
"This Inspector Xia must have received a report from the Xiao family. Using the incident in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley as an excuse and claiming that the Qianshi State has a poor scholastic reputation, he extended his influence into the Qianshi State's Dao Court."
'The first step is to investigate the Gui Shui Sect. But why?'
'Is it for the sake of loyalty to the Dao Court and upholding the Daoist laws?' Mo Hua shook his head.
'And what will happen after the Gui Shui Sect is dealt with? What will the Xia family, or this "Inspector Xia," do next?' Mo Hua frowned, feeling that the situation was becoming more and more chaotic.
'Everyone wants a piece of the pie, and the Qianshi State is turning into a mess.'
"I'll figure it out later..."
'The urgent task at hand is to capture the Water King of Hell.'
Mo Hua had been quite confident, but now with the Xiao family's involvement, he felt a hint of unease creeping into his heart.
Things were becoming more and more complicated.
'Moreover, does Inspector Xia truly trust the Xiao family that much? To let them get involved in such an important matter as wiping out the water bandits and capturing the Water King of Hell?' Mo Hua found it hard to believe.
He couldn't quite understand, but at that moment, he recalled the teachings of Old Master Xun:
"When facing a situation, you must not consider only your own perspective. Otherwise, you will inevitably have a narrow view, a narrow mind, and become fixated on trivial details without even realizing it."
"Learn to stand at a higher level and look down from above."
"Put yourself in their shoes and think like the 'Old Ancestor'..."
"Think like the Old Ancestor..."
Even if Inspector Xia wasn't the Old Ancestor himself, he was still a high-ranking official, and his perspective would naturally be from the top down.
Mo Hua tried to put himself in Inspector Xia's shoes and think from that standpoint.
'The Water King of Hell is important to me.'
'But to someone of Inspector Xia's level, he's probably not worth much attention.'
'The Water King of Hell is merely a pawn to him.'
'Perhaps even the Xiao family and the Gui Shui Sect are his pawns.'
'This time, by setting the Xiao family upon the Water King of Hell, he is not only trying to catch the Gui Shui Sect by the tail but also to...'
'Test the Xiao family?'
'If the Xiao family is honest and kills the water bandits, capturing the Water King of Hell, it proves their sincerity in their allegiance.'
'But if the Xiao family plays tricks behind their backs, it shows that they have ulterior motives.'
'When the Xiao family truly shows their two-faced nature, Inspector Xia can deal with the Gui Shui Sect and then turn around and take care of the Xiao family as well...'
'Using one enemy to counter another, and then eliminating both.'
The more Mo Hua thought about it, the more it made sense, and he couldn't help but mutter,
"These people have so many tricks up their sleeves, and their hearts are so deceitful..."
...
In the darkness of the night, the river waters were murky as the fleet continued its journey.
Mo Hua sat at the bow of the ship, pointing the way forward.
At the tip of the bow, there was a silvery streak of light swimming happily in the water—the little silver fish leading the way for Mo Hua.
However, no one else could see it.
After passing through the wide river area and reaching the natural swamp "maze," the waterways became narrower, filled with silt, making it difficult for the ships to navigate.
Xia Dianshi ordered all the ships to line up end to end, forming a long snake-like formation as they navigated through the "maze." This way, they wouldn't get lost or stuck in the mud.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally arrived in front of the island.
Mo Hua looked up, and in the cool breeze and moonlit night, the small island lay quietly in the misty waters, like a lurking beast.
Xia Dianshi waved her hand, "Hide."
All the spirit boats trembled, emitting a soft buzzing sound, and a layer of light veil rose, gently covering the boats, hiding them from view.
Mo Hua was startled by this turn of events.
'Invisibility spirit boats!'
'All thirty-plus boats are spirit boats with invisibility capabilities! Invisibility artifacts are already expensive, let alone spirit boats of this size.'
'The Xia family is indeed wealthy.'
Mo Hua marveled inwardly.
After all the boats became invisible, they hid among the aquatic plants surrounding the small island.
Xia Dianshi gathered the leading executives and informed them of the more detailed encirclement and suppression plan: "This is the island's formation map, drawn by..."
Xia Dianshi glanced at Mo Hua and said silently, "...a highly skilled formation master who personally surveyed and designed it..."
"On the formation map, the layout of the island's formations and the locations of the eight trigrams and eight gates are marked..."
"Around the hour of Hai, we will make our move. At that time, the water bandits will be out raiding, and the gate will be wide open. We will intercept and kill a group of them on their way out, and then we will break through the gate and charge in."
"The critical part comes after we rush in."
"The gate the water bandits use to exit is the Kan gate. If our plan goes smoothly, we will charge into the Kan gate at the hour of Zi."
"After the hour of Zi, when we rush into the island, the water bandits will definitely activate their formations. From then on, the eight gates within the formation will rotate every half a shichen."
"Here is the situation of the eight gates' rotation. All of you team leaders, remember this clearly."
"You don't need to pay attention to the other gates, just block the two flat gates of Du and Jing, as well as the three auspicious gates of Kai, Xiu, and Sheng, especially Sheng, to prevent the water bandits from escaping."
"Of course, relying on manpower to block them is definitely not enough.
"The outer perimeter of the island, in addition to the initial Kan gate, needs to be laced with trap formations at the entrances of the other seven gates to capture, besiege, and even wipe out these water bandits."
"These formations are also prepared in advance."
"Later, Gu Changhuai and I will be responsible for eliminating the hidden guards around the island. Before the battle commences, you must set up these formations..."
...
After Xia Dianshi gave her instructions, the group of executives bowed their heads solemnly and replied in a low voice, "Yes!"
However, they also felt a sense of admiration within their hearts.
Especially Xiao Tianquan, who opened his mouth in praise:
"The Xia family truly has a deep heritage. In a short period, they were able to invite such a skilled formation master to decipher the island's formations."
"I wonder..." Xiao Tianquan asked curiously, "What is this master's name and background? May I have the honor of meeting them?"
Mo Hua, standing next to Xiao Tianquan, blinked his eyes.
"This 'master' is currently standing right beside you..." Xia Dianshi thought to herself.
However, she couldn't reveal Mo Hua's identity, so she simply said, "This matter is confidential, and I'm afraid I can't disclose it."
Xiao Tianquan also realized his mistake and said, "My apologies."
"Alright, let's not delay any further. We must act now and not give these water bandits a chance to escape. With our lightning-fast actions, we will surround and annihilate them all!" Xia Dianshi ordered.
The group of executives bowed their heads and replied solemnly, "Yes!"
After that, in the darkness of the night, the invisible spirit boats quietly dispersed, spreading out like a large net on the Yan Shui River, gradually enveloping the small island where the water bandits were hiding.
The first step was to eliminate the hidden guards.
This task required stealth and precision, and so it was assigned to Gu Changhuai and Xia Dianshi, both of whom were at the Golden Core stage.
As the night deepened, a water bandit on lookout duty near the small island yawned, feeling a bit drowsy.
The island was desolate, and no outsiders had ever visited, so over time, these water bandits had become somewhat lax and less vigilant than before.
As he was about to yawn again, a pale hand suddenly covered his mouth.
The water bandit's eyes widened in shock, and just as he was about to cry out, a sword tip pierced through his chest, and wind-attribute spiritual energy seeped through the wound, spreading into his meridians, mutilating his internal organs.
The water bandit struggled for a few moments before his eyes dimmed, his breath faded, and he died.
Gu Changhuai had killed one, and when he turned to look at Xia Dianshi, he saw that she had already slit the throat of another water bandit with a short sword.
A layer of frost covered the short sword.
In the moment it sliced through the water bandit's throat, the frost sealed their mouth and nose, preventing any sound from escaping. Even the bandit's blood was slowly freezing, drop by drop.
In the blink of an eye, the water bandit's face turned purple, their body froze solid, and they perished on the spot.
Gu Changhuai raised an eyebrow, impressed.
This was the first time he had seen Xia Dianshi in action.
Freeze, assassinate, a fatal strike.
It seemed to fit her consistently cold demeanor.
Mo Hua, who was observing from a distance, was also surprised.
"Ice spirit root..."
This was his first time seeing a cultivator with an ice spirit root.
The common spirit roots in the cultivation world were divided into five elements and three variations.
The five elements were metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, while the three variations were "wind, ice, and thunder."
Wind spirit roots were uncommon but could be found occasionally, like in the case of Gu Changhuai.
Ice spirit roots, on the other hand, were rare, and Mo Hua had only encountered Xia Dianshi with such a spirit root.
As for those born with a thunder spirit root, capable of cultivating powerful thunder techniques, they were even more extraordinary and rare.
After eliminating the hidden guards, Mo Hua led his team closer to the island and began setting up trap formations along the shoreline to entrap the enemies.
In the water, he deployed special fishing nets.
These nets were enchanted with formations, barbed hooks, and coated with poison.
Once they finished setting up the nets, the group began to move to another location.
As before, Gu Changhuai and Xia Dianshi, both Golden Core cultivators, took charge of assassinating the sentries, ensuring safety, while Mo Hua and his team set up the pre-drawn formations and placed various trap artifacts.
However, the water island turned out to be larger than Mo Hua's initial estimation, and with the time constraint, the hastily refined formation coal was not enough.
After setting up formations at six gates and using up over a hundred formation coals and artifacts, they still had two gates left.
One was the Kan gate, which they would use to enter the island, so they didn't need to worry about it.
But the other gate, the Li gate, which was directly opposite the Kan gate, couldn't be left unattended.
"I'll assign people to guard this area," Xia Dianshi said.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and then shook his head, "We can't afford to split our forces; it might disrupt our previous plan."
"Then what about this gate..."
"I have an idea." Mo Hua replied.
He took out several ugly-looking and pungent-smelling blood pills, along with some bloody algae, from his storage bag.
These were items he had prepared beforehand.
"These pills are refined from the essence of aquatic demons, hence the strong smell. Cultivators tend to avoid them, but demonic beasts are attracted to them."
"As for this algae, the fishermen in the small fishing village call it 'fishy algae,' and it's also used to lure aquatic demons."
"If we don't have enough traps, we can use aquatic demons to fill the gap."
"Throw these blood pills and fishy algae near the gate to create a 'nest' and lure the nearby aquatic demons."
"By doing so, this Li gate will become an artificial 'death gate.'"
"If the water bandits try to escape from the island and enter the water here, they will find a group of aquatic demons waiting for them."
"No matter how good their swimming skills are, they won't stand a chance against a group of aquatic demons. Anyone who enters the water here will undoubtedly perish."
These water bandits must be eliminated, and they must not be allowed to escape.
Xia Dianshi paused for a moment, then looked at Mo Hua deeply and nodded, "Alright."
In her heart, she sighed.
This young boy was truly clever.
In such a short time, he had come up with a solution, albeit a bit underhanded, but it was fitting for dealing with these despicable water bandits.
On the other hand, Gu Changhuai seemed to take it in stride.
He knew that Mo Hua must have planned this beforehand.
Using demonic beasts to entrap others was probably not the first time for Mo Hua.
Someone must have fallen prey to his schemes in the past...
After finalizing their strategy, Mo Hua began to "create the nest."
Mo Hua threw the fishy algae and the ugly, pungent-smelling blood pills, refined from the essence of aquatic demons, into the water.
The blood pills emitted a strong and unpleasant odor.
Xia Dianshi couldn't help but cover her nose and mouth, then asked curiously, "Is this blood pill usually this shape? Why does it look so deformed and ugly?"
"No," Mo Hua replied quietly, "It's because they were refined by me..."
His pill concocting skills were terrible.
These pills weren't proper elixirs, he just threw together things that he thought demonic beasts would like into a furnace and haphazardly refined them, resulting in these ugly pills.
Mo Hua felt helpless.
While he could draw beautiful arrays, the pills he refined were ugly, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Xia Dianshi looked at the handsome and elegant Mo Hua, then at the ugly pills in his hand, and fell silent.
Once the nest was set up, everything was ready.
Everyone hid among the aquatic plants, waiting for the hour of Hai to arrive.
As the night deepened, a crescent moon hung in the sky like a sharp, icy blade.
The atmosphere was oppressive and murderous.
After an unknown amount of time, Gu Changhuai, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened them.
Sounds came from the water island.
The creaking of a door opening was followed by the sound of ships breaking through the water's surface, mixed with loud and crude voices.
"Let's go hunting..."
"I wonder what we'll kill today."
"It doesn't matter how we kill the men, but go easy on the women, don't chop their heads off, it's disgusting."
"You mothercker, why spare the women but not the men? Are you sexist?"
"Nonsense, aren't you the same?"
...
More and more ships appeared, and the voices grew louder and louder.
About fifty or sixty water bandits boarded their ships and left the island, floating on the water's surface, unable to advance or retreat.
Suddenly, a wind blade struck, cutting down a scarred bandit who had been chatting and laughing. His head was sliced off, blood splattered, and his body fell into the river like a log.
The loud voices abruptly stopped.
For a moment, the surroundings fell silent.
Then, a water bandit exclaimed in shock, "What is that?"
"Where did his head go?"
"Water demon beheading?"
The night was dark and the water misty, with strands of murderous intent seeping through the fog.
Soon, a water bandit realized something was wrong and cried out, "There's someone... killing..."
A short sword imbued with icy spiritual power slashed his throat, silencing him, freezing his blood, and taking his life.
Xia Dianshi sheathed her short sword, her face as cold as water, and ordered in a low voice, "Kill!"
Then, shouts and screams filled the air.
On the once empty and dark water surface, numerous ships suddenly appeared, each carrying ten or so executives equipped with exquisite spiritual weapons.
At Xia Dianshi's command, the executives drew their long swords and leaped onto the water bandits' ships, slashing and killing with interweaving spiritual power, spraying blood everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, a dozen water bandits were killed.
Some had their heads chopped off, others had their arms sliced off, and still, some had their hearts pierced, their blood gushing out like a spring, staining the river red.
The water bandits were terrified.
"Ambush!"
"Damn it!"
"Who the hell are these guys?"
"Standard spiritual swords, they must be lackeys of the Dao Court!"
The water bandits cursed and shouted.
The mention of the Dao Court and the scent of blood aroused their ferocity. As outlaws, they naturally had the audacity to fight to the death.
The water bandits drew their knives and swords, brandishing blood-colored demonic weapons and engaging in battle with the Dao Court executives.
However, they were outnumbered, caught off guard by the ambush, and no match for the well-prepared Dao Court executives.
Moreover, Gu Changhuai and Xia Dianshi, both Golden Core cultivators, were leading the attack.
The water bandits retreated step by step.
One by one, they were slaughtered.
Finally, some of the water bandits became fearful and tried to flee back to the water island, but they were blocked by their comrades, creating chaos as they tried to escape. The Dao Court executives seized the opportunity and reaped their lives.
At the "Kan Gate" of the water island, there was a large door.
The door was made of wood and stone, with arrays flowing around it.
Beyond the door was the water bandits' lair.
The Dao Court executives charged toward the island, taking lives with every step.
At this moment, a water bandit shouted, "Quick! Close the door! These bastards are about to break in!"
The door was halfway closed when the water bandits outside blocked it.
The water bandits outside, who were being slaughtered by the Dao Court executives, angrily shouted, "Close your damn door, I haven't gone in yet!"
As they pushed and shoved, Gu Changhuai arrived at the door.
He took out a feather fan, gathered his spiritual power, and with a wave of his hand, sent out several extremely sharp wind blades, instantly killing several water bandits.
Then, Gu Changhuai leaped forward, his body like a whirlwind, and rushed into the gate.
The water bandits inside the gate surrounded him.
However, they were only ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. While they had killed countless people, they were no match for Gu Changhuai, who came from a scholarly family and had a deep cultivation foundation.
Xia Dianshi also seized the opportunity to rush in, her short sword gleaming with icy light, and struck at their throats.
In just a moment, the water bandits near the "Kan" gate were all dead.
Gu Changhuai channeled his spiritual power, following Mo Hua's instructions, and forcibly broke through several arrays inside the Kan gate.
Without the support of the arrays, the door, made of ordinary wood and stone, collapsed instantly.
Thus, the main entrance to the water bandits' lair was wide open.
More than four hundred Dao Court executives, their eyes sharp as blades, holding swords and knives, rushed in like a pack of vicious wolves.
It was just past the hour of Zi.
Inside the lair, the eight gates began to rotate.
The Dao Court executives continued their slaughter, the water bandits struggled and fled, and then they escaped according to the rotation of the eight gates...
Everything was going according to Mo Hua's plan.
However, Mo Hua didn't enter the lair.
The battle between cultivators was still somewhat dangerous.
He stayed alone on a hidden spirit boat, poured himself a cup of sweet lychee wine, narrowed his eyes, and slowly drank.
Inside the lair, the battle intensified, and the scent of blood grew stronger...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
