Chapter 535: The Plan Changes

Chapter 535: Chapter 535: The Plan Changes

Li Mo took a deep breath.

No matter how many times he witnessed this scene, it always made his hair stand on end and his scalp tingle. That night in the rain, he and his disciple vanished from each other’s sight just like that.

At that moment, he thought he was surely dead, yet he was unexpectedly able to open his eyes once more.

Perhaps this was the heavens showing mercy; good deeds bringing good rewards. He spent half his life as an exorcist, and it turned out to be the reason he passed the test.

"Li Mo." Chen Xuan twisted his wrist and suddenly looked at him.

"I’m here!" Li Mo jolted and hurriedly bowed, "This subordinate misread people, I hope Lord Xuan won’t punish me too harshly!"

"Save the nonsense, come over here." Chen Xuan said irritably, thinking he was already looking for leniency before he even opened his mouth?

"Yes." The other immediately walked up to him.

"These three people said they came to Baihe Village because they received a bounty letter for hunting Demon Fiends. Is this letter reliable?"

Li Mo was greatly shocked, "What? That’s not supposed to happen!"

"What do you mean?"

"The Demon-Hunting Letter is typically sent selectively to cultivators who might accept the commission, based on the location and severity of the demon threat." He explained, "For example, Loose Cultivators from Kun Mountain are more likely to receive news about Demon Fiends in Pei State. It’s far away, and if it takes a month or two to get there, someone else would have dealt with the Demon Fiend already."

Chen Xuan pondered, "Your point is that if there were indeed a demon disaster in Baihe Village, Kunshan Cultivators should be coming?"

"You are correct, but there’s another possibility: with so many loose cultivators now in Baihe Village, the letter might be sent directly to the village." Li Mo cautiously corrected, "Though I don’t know how those people managed it, they are indeed quite familiar with cultivators’ whereabouts."

"You should search the house where they are staying and see if you can find that letter." Chen Xuan thought for a moment and instructed.

The latter complied.

Within less than a quarter of an hour, Li Mo had brought the Demon-Hunting Letter to Chen Xuan.

"I found it; the letter was in their luggage."

The envelope was red with black edges, quite striking—in this era, pure and bright colors represented identity and wealth.

Chen Xuan took a look and found only three sentences on it.

"There are Demon Fiends appearing within Pei State."

"If left unchecked, the threat is significant."

"Hope those with powerful abilities will go to hunt them down, great rewards will follow."

He tossed the letter back to Li Mo, "Is the content you received before the same as this?"

After reading it, the other involuntarily furrowed his eyebrows, "Strange... why is it so ambiguous? There’s no demon disaster information, nor even the exact location mentioned..."

"The Demon-Hunting Letter of Yongtang City is more detailed?"

"Yes!" Li Mo said without hesitation, "If it’s not specific to one city, we’d waste a lot of time just searching. Also, the means by which the Demon Fiend commits crimes, the victims involved, the characteristics of the wounds, these are all necessary information! If we only know there are Demon Fiends somewhere but know nothing else about them, it is no different from blindly exterminating demons or walking into a deadly trap."

Indeed, that all makes sense, Chen Xuan thought.

The gap between loose cultivators can be bigger than that between humans and dogs. Without understanding the enemy type ahead of time and making thorough preparations, it’s unlikely they’d even survive to claim any bounty.

Facing a letter with such vague descriptions, unless a cultivator is absolutely confident in their own power, no one would dare accept the commission.

Could it be... the sender anticipated this?

Chen Xuan stroked his chin, "Could it be that the other party thought the Demon Fiends in Pei State too strong, hence sending the letter to Royal City?"

"If such a level of Demon Fiend did appear in Pei State, the news would have spread everywhere by now." Li Mo shook his head, "You may not know, but the local citizens are most sensitive to demon disasters. When they encounter Great Demons, aside from fleeing, they have almost no means to deal with them. And running away itself spreads the news faster than merchant caravans."

"It’s because where there’s a demon disaster, the citizens remain in peace and have not fled to other places."

"You must be joking, Lord Xuan, such a thing cannot happen—" Li Mo stopped abruptly, he suddenly realized why the other said this.

In the eyes of most people, there are no taboos in this world, only Demon Fiends and even more bizarre Demon Fiends.

At least that’s what he thought when he first encountered the taboo.

Chen Xuan straightforwardly asked, "Suppose Baihe Village did indeed have a Great Demon like me?"

"Then they indeed might send the letter to places beyond Pei State..." Li Mo replied with a stiff expression, "After all, the cultivators capable of handling Great Demons basically only exist within Royal City..."

This naturally includes the Immortal Masters of Lotus Cloud Sect in Royal City.

Fortunately, the Immortal Master Lan Qin of Luo Kingdom is not currently in the city.

Moreover, considering her neutral assistive style, even if she learned of a Great Demon in Pei State, she might not act immediately.

But Chen Xuan knew well, that ignoring temporarily doesn’t mean ignoring forever; once the Nine Department Judges go missing and warning letters keep coming, Lan Qin will notice little Baihe Village.

This wasn’t good news for his plans.

Chen Xuan had no intention of lingering in Baihe Village.

He developed the villagers to accumulate "start-up capital," then relied on them to naturally spread the taboo’s news, attracting more people to partake in the fusion. In the end, Baihe Village’s fate would be decided by the villagers themselves, Chen Xuan wouldn’t interfere much.

But now the situation was different.

The negative information about Demon Fiends in Baihe Village will counteract the positive information from blessings, and the Demon-Hunting Letter will also make cultivators naturally hostile toward the village. The stance of the Nine Department Judges proves this; they positioned themselves as interrogators the moment they arrived. Even if Chen Xuan didn’t show up, they would transfer this hostility onto others... such as the local villagers.

"Are you... planning to leave Baihe Village?" Li Mo asked cautiously.

Chen Xuan was slightly surprised, "Why do you think that?"

"With your ability, as long as you guard here, even if the Immortal Masters of Lotus Cloud Sect came, they couldn’t cause you any trouble." Li Mo glanced at him stealthily, now he could distinguish some human emotions from the ever-changing face, "Yet you seem troubled, troubled by the troubles the Demon-Hunting Letter brings... that’s why I have such a question."

Seeing Chen Xuan silent, he added, "It would be ideal if there was a hidden Grotto Heaven nearby. I heard that among Ancient Immortal Techniques, there’s a Pocket World Technique, capable of transforming ordinary caves into grand sect residences... Setting restrictions at the entrance would make it impossible for outsiders to intrude without permission."

Unfortunately, this world itself is an exquisitely crafted Pocket World.

The mountains and rivers within are shaped by the Lotus Cloud Sect’s grand formation, and even the spiritual qi gathering points are man-made designs; it’s unlikely to leave another erosion zone suitable for a Pocket World.

The underground flesh fortress can indeed accommodate the villagers, but who would want to stay in a sealed space without daylight for a long time?

Chen Xuan could also retrieve everyone’s souls and bodies, the so-called sealing; however, doing so wouldn’t benefit him at all—the unconscious individuals wouldn’t be able to channel spiritual qi, and pure flesh would become a burden to him.

Ultimately, his body wasn’t suitable to be used as a sanctuary.

Wait a minute!

A sudden flash of brilliance crossed Chen Xuan’s mind; these two points might not be mutually exclusive.

He could indeed create another Pocket World within the Pocket World—provided that this Pocket World doesn’t rely on reality.

And he just happens to have an ability to accomplish this!