Chapter Forty-Three: Schemes

The group finally stopped in a place where the miasma was thin. Seeing that they had escaped the pursuit of the leeches, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Liu Xin gazed ahead, her face filled with worry, pacing anxiously back and forth.

Xiao Xiao watched Liu Xin, who was pacing restlessly, and hurried over, holding onto Liu Xin’s arm. “Sister Liu Xin, don’t worry. Eldest Senior Brother and the others are blessed with good fortune; perhaps they’ll be back any moment now. Let’s wait here a little longer!” Liu Xin managed a faint smile at Xiao Xiao.

Everyone had been suffering from the effects of the miasma, and after fleeing all this way, their energy was nearly spent, so they all sat down to meditate and recover. Only Liu Xin continued to pace restlessly.

“No, I can’t just sit here and wait for death! Eldest Senior Brother has always treated me like a sister, and as for Demon Night…” Thinking of Demon Night, Liu Xin’s cheeks flushed red.

“When he first arrived at the academy, Demon Night was so naive, always smiling at everyone, honest and enthusiastic, fiercely righteous, yet with an unspoken, bewitching charm that made people want to draw near. In the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, he saved nearly ten thousand civilians, and to buy time for his fellow disciples to escape, he faced the entire demon clan alone! In the tavern in that small town, in order to defend me, he didn’t hesitate to draw his blade…” As Liu Xin thought of Demon Night, her cheeks unconsciously flushed and a smile appeared on her lips. But remembering how, to cover everyone’s retreat this time, Demon Night had drawn his sword to battle the swarm of insects, her face suddenly paled.

She stopped pacing and walked to Zhao Mu, who was meditating. “Zhao Mu! Please look after Xiao Xiao. I’m going ahead to look for Eldest Senior Brother and the others!”

Zhao Mu opened his eyes and quickly stood up. “No, Senior Sister, you can’t go! It’s better if I go ahead and investigate. I’m the strongest here, after all.”

Liu Xin lowered her head and pondered for a moment. “Very well, Zhao Mu, but you must be careful! Whatever you find, come back and tell us immediately!”

Zhao Mu cupped his fists to Liu Xin. “Senior Sister, don’t worry! I’ll be careful. You all wait for me here.” With that, Zhao Mu turned and ran back the way they had come.

After watching Zhao Mu leave, Li Qin and the others cast a glance in his direction, then resumed their meditation. At that moment, Sun Kaide’s eyes darted shrewdly; he crept over and sat down next to Li Qin.

“Eldest Senior Brother! Now is the perfect opportunity to weaken Divine Wind Academy’s strength! Their strongest, Demon Night and Peng Lei, aren’t here, and Zhao Mu just left. Why don’t we…” Sun Kaide made a slashing gesture across his neck.

“No! Absolutely not. Don’t be reckless. Setting aside Demon Night and Peng Lei’s life-saving grace, if we kill them now, we’ll surely become enemies with Peng Lei and the others. That would be disastrous for seizing the Heart Lotus of the Earth. There’s no rush to kill them. Once we’ve obtained the Heart Lotus, we can exploit Demon Night’s fierce sense of justice and impulsive nature, secretly stoking conflict between the demon clan and Divine Wind Academy. That way, the demons will be tied up with them, and whichever side prevails, there will inevitably be casualties. They’ll also keep the demon clan occupied, giving us a chance to escape. If we run into them alone later, hmph, will they still be our match then?”

Hearing Li Qin’s plan, Sun Kaide clenched his right fist and tapped it lightly against his left, secretly giving Li Qin a thumbs-up. “Eldest Senior Brother, brilliant! Truly, killing two birds with one stone, or rather, three with one arrow! Not only do we claim the Heart Lotus, but we use Peng Lei and the others to weaken the demon clan. Marvelous! Marvelous!”

Li Qin let out a sinister laugh, but quickly fell silent and glanced toward Liu Xin, confirming she hadn’t noticed them. “Enough! Don’t act rashly. The most important thing is that they mustn’t discover our plan.”

In the distance, Zhao Mu spotted two figures approaching. He drew his weapon and hid, watching their approach. When he saw it was Eldest Senior Brother and his companion, he leapt out at once.

Zhao Mu called out joyfully to Peng Lei, “Eldest Senior Brother! Over here! I knew you’d be all right, haha! Come, let’s go—everyone’s waiting up ahead!”

Peng Lei was startled to see someone suddenly appear, but upon recognizing Zhao Mu, he exclaimed in surprise, “Zhao Mu! What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to take care of Xiao Xiao and Liu Xin? By coming here so openly, aren’t you afraid Li Qin and the others will get ideas? Hurry, Xiao Xiao and the others are in danger! There’s no time to explain, we have to go, now!”

Seeing Peng Lei’s anxious expression, Demon Night nodded to Zhao Mu. “Third Senior Brother, let’s catch up quickly. Whatever’s happened, we’ll discuss it when everyone is together.”