Chapter 491: Calculated
Chapter 493: Calculated
“I’ve already issued the orders. No disciple or elder of the sect is to have any dealings with the Lu family for a month. What happens after that depends on the situation…”
Sect Leader Zhao’s expression was slightly solemn. He then glanced at Elder Su.
“You also shouldn’t have too much contact with Lu Chengyun. He’s too scheming; you won’t be able to outplay him…”
After speaking, Sect Leader Zhao served tea and saw the guest out.
Elder Su left the tea room with a faint sigh.
He had once held a high opinion of Lu Chengyun. Both were formation masters and got along well—drinking tea, discussing the Dao, even lingering in pleasures together.
Yet he hadn’t expected that beneath Lu Chengyun’s gentle and refined exterior lay such a cunning and ruthless mind…
Truly, you can know a person’s face but not their heart.
Elder Su muttered in his heart, then thought of Mo Hua with some regret.
If he had known, he shouldn’t have revealed all of Mo Hua’s information to Lu Chengyun, needlessly giving him the chance to plot…
The more Elder Su thought, the more he regretted it. He raised his eyes to the mountain, concern etched on his face, whispering:
“I wonder if young Mr. Mo is all right…”
“And if we’ll ever have tea together again…”
Elder Su sighed.
…
“Little Junior Brother should be fine, right…”
Bai Zisheng sat under the big tree in the courtyard, frowning with worry.
“It’s been so long since he came back. I’ve been anxious and lost my appetite.”
Bai Zixi looked at him helplessly:
“Are you just complaining the food’s bad and want him to come back and cook?”
Bai Zisheng said guiltily, “I’m worried about his safety! Cooking is secondary!”
Bai Zixi glanced at him without comment.
Bai Zisheng thought for a moment and said:
“What if we charge in and rescue him?”
“Not enough manpower,” Bai Zixi shook her head.
“How many people do we have now?” Bai Zisheng asked curiously.
Bai Zixi pondered slightly, blinking her eyes before speaking:
“Excluding the Situ family and Dao Court, there are only five Foundation Establishment cultivators and sixty Qi-Refining.”
Bai Zisheng looked disappointed. “Only that many… Are they from our Bai family?”
“No, they were hired by Aunt Xue with spirit stones,” Bai Zixi said.
“What about our Bai family members?”
Bai Zixi looked at him irritably. “There are no Bai family members here. This is Lizhou, far from the Bai family. There’s no time to come.”
Bai Zisheng frowned:
“With so few people, we can’t possibly match the Lu family. How are we going to rescue Mo Hua?”
Bai Zixi’s gaze was cold. After a moment’s thought, she said:
“No need for a direct rescue. Once a fight breaks out, Little Junior Brother should find a chance to escape himself.”
Bai Zisheng nodded, thinking it over. “That makes sense.”
His little junior brother was clever and cunning. Though his cultivation was weaker, he had many unusual tricks.
He could conceal himself, use the Flowing-Water Step, had strong Divine Sense, and was skilled in formations.
Ordinary cultivators couldn’t detect him, and normal formations couldn’t stop him.
If there was a chance, he could definitely slip out…
Bai Zisheng relaxed slightly, muttering:
“He should be fine…”
Bai Zixi nodded lightly, brows slightly furrowed.
Mo Hua’s smiling face flashed in her mind.
She felt uneasy, her delicate hand fiddling unconsciously with the little tiger in her hand.
…
Inside the bamboo room, Old Kui spoke in a flat voice:
“Not enough manpower, right?”
Mister Zhuang nodded. “Not enough.”
Old Kui looked puzzled. “You’re not worried?”
“Worried about what?”
Old Kui’s voice was dry:
“Not enough manpower… How do you deal with the Lu family? How do you resist the corpse tide? You don’t actually expect that child Mo Hua to handle all this alone, do you?”
Mister Zhuang said, “Of course not.”
He looked into the distance, slowly saying:
“Human strength has limits. The great achievements of this world are never the work of one person. Many things cannot be solved by one alone…”
“Behind a hero stand many unsung people.”
Mister Zhuang’s expression was full of emotion.
Old Kui frowned. “Say something useful.”
Mister Zhuang clicked his tongue, slightly exasperated:
“Couldn’t you wait until I finish my reflections?”
Old Kui said, “You’ve said it too many times, my ears are getting calloused.”
Mister Zhuang frowned at the dampening of his mood and added:
“Why can’t you learn from Mo Hua? He listens so seriously when I say these things!”
Old Kui remained silent. “He’s your disciple; he has to give you face. I don’t.”
“Fine,” Mister Zhuang sighed helplessly.
Old Kui’s expression was blank. “What exactly do you intend to do?”
This time, Mister Zhuang was straightforward:
“Not enough manpower? Then I’ll call some people to help.”
Old Kui looked surprised. “You’ll call?”
Mister Zhuang nodded.
Old Kui’s expression turned complex. Silently, he murmured, “You’re alone… and someone will help you?”
Mister Zhuang frowned. “Alone? I have disciples now, three of them!”
Old Kui ignored him, frowning. “Who will you call for help?”
Mister Zhuang smiled mysteriously.
He took out an old bronze coin, tossed it lightly into the air. The coin rolled, stirring the energy, then slowly fell into his pale, long-fingered hand.
The coin reversed, the secret mechanisms shifted.
A faint, almost imperceptible energy stirred, pulling on causality, rippling outward.
Old Kui froze, then his gaze gradually cleared…
…
Meanwhile, to the west of Xiao Huang Prefecture.
In a remote immortal city, three cultivators rested at an inn.
A gaunt old man, a middle-aged cultivator, and a youth in white.
In front of them were simple dishes and wine, but none had much appetite.
The white-clad youth ate silently. The middle-aged man drank to fill his stomach, while the gaunt elder closed his eyes to rest.
After three rounds of wine, the gaunt elder suddenly opened his eyes.
His heart trembled, and he quickly took out the “Three Talents Divination” bronze coins. He shook them and divined, his eyes showing shock.
The white-clad youth looked puzzled.
The middle-aged cultivator asked, “What’s wrong?”
The gaunt elder muttered, “I actually… calculated that person’s location…”
The middle-aged cultivator, excited, crushed his wine cup, eyes wide:
“Really?”
The gaunt elder still found it hard to believe, nodding:
“Yes! The Three Talents Divination coins… the hexagram is correct. It can’t be wrong.”
“But…” the gaunt elder muttered in confusion,
“How did I calculate it? How could I? I don’t have this ability…”
The middle-aged cultivator said matter-of-factly:
“The wise can make mistakes. We plan thefts a thousand days, that person guards a thousand days. No matter how meticulous, there’s always a slip. You calculated it once—perfectly normal.”
A gleam flashed in his eyes. “We must seize this opportunity!”
He threw two spirit stones on the table, then stood up. “No time to waste, we set out immediately.”
The gaunt elder nodded, still self-doubting.
The white-clad youth, however, perked up, imagining the person he might meet, eyes filled with anticipation.
The three set off, following the hexagram’s guidance, heading east of Xiao Huang Prefecture.
After a few days, they arrived before Nanyue City.
The middle-aged cultivator asked, “Is it here?”
The gaunt elder nodded. “According to the hexagram.”
The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment, asking, “What do you mean?”
The gaunt elder thought a moment. “Let’s enter the city and assess the situation first.”
“Won’t it alert him?” the middle-aged cultivator worried.
The gaunt elder scoffed, “What are you thinking? By the time you consider coming here, he may already know. Our arrival is merely testing luck, seeing if there are any clues, and whether he wants to meet us…”
The middle-aged man frowned, muttering:
“Is it really that mysterious?”
The gaunt elder shook his head, with the expression of someone explaining the impossible to an insect, then looked at the white-clad youth:
“Remember what I said. Observe, but speak little and act less. The causality here is too great; we can’t afford trouble.”
The youth nodded, serious.
The three entered Nanyue City, stayed at an inn, and did some investigation.
Afterward, they gathered again, all with puzzled expressions.
“So many familiar faces?”
“Xie family of Kunzhou, Tu family of Lizhou, Yuan family of Qianzhou…”
“Hidden Dao Sect, Returning Sword Gate, Ten-Thousand-Formation Mountain…”
“Did they all calculate it?” the middle-aged cultivator frowned.
The gaunt elder thought, realization dawning:
“It wasn’t just me. Everyone calculated it… or perhaps, that person let us all calculate it…”
The gaunt elder felt much relieved.
With Heavenly Secret Derivative Calculation, it’s not talent that worries you, but unexpected outcomes.
Weak ability at worst means you can’t calculate—no big deal.
The danger lies in anomalies.
What should be calculable suddenly isn’t, or what wasn’t calculable suddenly is.
That brings trouble…
Either someone interfered with destiny, or an astonishing event occurred.
The gaunt elder, knowing his limits, saw that everyone calculated it, meaning his skill was consistent—“weak” but stable.
His anxious heart finally eased.
Yet he wondered:
“That person, elusive like a divine dragon, suddenly left this trace, drawing us here… why?”
Not only was the gaunt elder puzzled; all cultivators gathered in Nanyue City shared this doubt.
After investigating, they found nothing.
The gaunt elder extended his Divine Sense, sweeping over the city.
Nothing.
He glanced at the mine outside the city.
Still nothing.
“Impossible…”
He persisted, using the Three Talents Divination coins to calculate again. This time, he sensed something suspicious.
The elder pondered, then performed a spell, blue light in his eyes, stripping away appearances, and looked once more at the mine.
The sight drained his color, sent chills down his spine, and he gasped:
“Rising corpse qi!”
“How many zombies the hell are there?!”