Chapter 63: Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, A Sneak Attack is Best

"That will do." Chen Xuan hung up the call. "No one can trace this place through a phone call, right?"

For the sake of confidentiality, he specifically drew the curtains and turned off all the lights in the shop. This way, callers could barely see anything other than the barcode scanner facing the camera.

Indeed, this was a trick he had figured out beforehand—as long as the other party was a real person whose face was clearly visible, transactions could take place even if the customer was not physically in the store.

This time, he used the covert transaction feature.

Although it cost a few performance points, it minimized any information leaked by the Ability Store.

"Rest assured, my encryption processing is absolutely impossible to crack with current technology," Lin Qing patted her chest in assurance, then asked with some curiosity, "Still, Manager, how could you be so sure you could meet his demands? What if he didn't need the Voice of Trust?"

To be honest, she had broken out in a cold sweat when Chen Xuan invited the man to state his requirements.

"That's what makes the agency seem unfathomably powerful," Chen Xuan smiled. "Besides, he can make whatever request he likes, but how it gets fulfilled is up to me. If he wants health, I'll give him the Heart-Clearing Technique or Super Sleep. If he wants martial arts, I'll choose the Eight Trigrams Palm or Alchemy. There's bound to be something suitable."

That was the confidence of having a well-stocked inventory!

If nothing else matched, he could always borrow abilities from the Spicy Village.

Left speechless by this logic, Lin Qing replied, "Fine... You really do have a bit of business talent. How do you plan to get the cargo? Even with supernatural abilities, there's no way he can smuggle a massive pile of guns into the country."

"I have my own ways of handling that."

As long as Walter gathered the goods in one location, Chen Xuan could simply open a branch store and quietly transport the merchandise back.

The entire negotiation had gone remarkably smoothly, and the other party's level of cooperation was well within Chen Xuan's expectations. According to the original historical trajectory, Walter would have eventually cooperated with the Containment Bureau anyway, proving that he didn't have an aversion to such mystical organizations. Furthermore, now that the general public was aware of abilities, using them as a bargaining chip was far more attractive than money.

Even so, a lingering doubt remained in Chen Xuan's mind.

He had interacted with Walter's arms operation using historical information, and to prevent accidents, he had specifically instructed in his business letter that the telephone was the sole reliable channel of contact, rendering all other avenues void. Yet, from another perspective, Walter had still ended up aligning with the Containment Bureau—even if that bureau was merely a facade impersonated by Lin Qing.

Was this the inertia of history... or perhaps, destined fate?

***

Outside the outskirts of Jiufeng City, the large tent was a sea of shifting heads.

Li Tiexin, commander of the Cangzhou Left Route Army, sat in the primary seat, watching two factions below argue fiercely.

"The Prefect of Jiufeng confirmed yesterday that Liu Shuyue is inside the city. What are we hesitating for?" bellowed the general of the Iron Cavalry Camp, spraying spit as he shouted. "Are we really going to wait for troops from other provinces to arrive and watch them take a share of the spoils?"

This was the perspective held by the pro-war faction.

"Drag this out another day or two, and I'm afraid the royal city's army will have caught up!"

"The men are all packed and ready, waiting only for Commander Li's command!"

"Even though Liu Shuyue has been stripped of her status, she is still a disciple of the Lotus Cloud Sect. If we attack the Liu family right now, we risk being picked off by her one by one."

Surprisingly, the opponents were those seemingly lawless rogue cultivators. Some wore long robes, attempting to present themselves as refined scholars; others went shirtless, indistinguishable from street beggars. If it weren't for their reliance on the strength of practitioners, Li Tiexin would have chased these unruly martial world vagrants out of the tent long ago.

"Weren't you lot quite bold before? Scared just because a few partners died?" a general sneered.

"At least we've actually fought her," a rogue cultivator dressed as a priest said coldly. "While you lot haven't even crossed the city gates once."

"Enough, quiet down," Li Tiexin finally spoke. "I would like to ask this..."

"My name is Li, Celestial Master Li of Kunshan."

"Ah, Celestial Master Li, if that Liu Immortal... Liu Bandit, were struck by a sword or shot by a crossbow, she would presumably bleed and get hurt, right?"

"Naturally," the priest sneered. "She is not invulnerable to blades and spears. If she lowers her guards, an ordinary farmer could kill her."

"Then that settles it. My army has five hundred heavy crossbowmen and a thousand broadsword wielders. If we swarm her, she won't be able to handle it even if she has three heads and six arms."

Celestial Master Li's expression turned even frostier. "I understand the general's meaning, but if an ordinary farmer could kill her, does that make the rest of us inferior to farmers? She won't just stand there and let you surround her. The talisman arts of the Lotus Cloud Sect are utterly profound; the battlefield is not yours to dictate. I'll be blunt with all of you—without gathering enough cultivators to pin her down, simply surrounding her with your numbers will achieve nothing."

Before arriving in Yunzhou, he had considered himself quite formidable. He could summon celestial phenomena and comprehend cultivation techniques from demonic entities. When fighting evil cultivators previously, not a single one had lasted five rounds against him.

That was why he had come.

If he could personally kill a disciple of the Lotus Cloud Sect, his fame would skyrocket, perhaps even replacing her to become the new immortal master—especially since sect mountain gates reportedly only opened once every century.

Yet, after truly engaging Liu Shuyue in combat, Celestial Master Li realized it was nothing like that. It had been an ambush launched by a group of four rogue cultivators. Liu Shuyue stood atop the roof of the Liu family's main building, seemingly completely unaware of their intrusion. The four of them attacked one after another, and each succeeded. She was pierced by swords, strangled by iron chains, frozen into an icicle, and drained of her blood. Yet, in the end, Liu Shuyue was still standing on the roof, while the other three had their heads severed, wearing bizarre smiles.

He was the only one who had escaped alive.

"General Li, the imperial decree we received was not solely to deal with Liu Shuyue," the iron cavalry general said, cupping his fists. "If the immortal master has rebelled, Jiufeng City is also our target. Since these cultivators are unwilling to fight the Liu family head-on, let's simply avoid the northwest side. Sweeping the outer perimeter should be fine, right? Our brothers haven't seen any action yet."

"Indeed," Li Tiexin looked at the rogue cultivators. "You have no objections to this, do you? The lambs on the outer ring can't stir up any trouble, and even if the Liu Bandit comes, you'll have plenty of time to sound the alarm."

"I object," a crisp voice declared.

"Who?" Li Tiexin scanned his surroundings, realizing the voice seemed to come from outside the tent.

The tent flap was lifted, and a woman whose hands and feet were soaked in blood walked inside.

Celestial Master Li was terrified. Who else could this be but Liu Shuyue? Even though they had only fought once, he would never forget her face!

Yet how had she broken into the center of the army without the slightest warning? He had clearly set up a barrier around the perimeter; the moment any practitioner intruded, it would—

Only then did he realize the barrier had been shattered at some point!

How was that possible?! Although his barrier was not difficult to detect, dissolving it silently was something no single person could accomplish!

"Watch out, she is—" Celestial Master Li's warning was cut short as the world spun around him. His head flew up briefly like a kite with a broken string before rapidly plummeting to the ground.

A fountain of blood gushing from his neck instantly dyed the tent roof red.

"The Liu Bandit has broken in!"

"Draw your swords, quickly draw your swords!"

Amidst the panic, someone knocked over a candleholder, plunging the tent into pitch darkness.

Liu Shuyue advanced with her sword, striking with every step, each blow gleaming like a crescent moon illuminating the night sky. Having lost the Thousand Thoughts Sword and with the Skyglow Art back under reconstruction, she could not move through battle with the untouched grace she had possessed when first leaving the sect. Yet, after five years of tempering, her willpower far exceeded her initial days. Her body strictly adhered to the sect's day-in, day-out training, guiding the flashing blade up and down. Even within the pitch-black tent, she could precisely thrust into the seams of armor and pierce human flesh.

Even without relying on mystical arts and profound techniques, she remained an unreachable existence.

Hearing the visceral sounds of slaughter echoing from inside the tent, Li Tiexin was frightened out of his wits. He was always accustomed to having subordinates do the dirty work while he commanded from the rear; when had he ever witnessed such a spectacle? The moment the candle fell, he threw himself beneath a table, crawling desperately forward because he knew the far end of the long table led straight to the exit of the tent.

Fortunately, Liu Shuyue indeed had no time to spare for him.

Stumbling and scrambling, Li Tiexin burst out of the tent and immediately screamed at the top of his lungs, "We are under enemy attack! Send reinforcements quickly!"

Yet no one answered him.

A dozen soldiers' corpses lay sprawled in disarray around the tent, clearly dead for some time. The soldiers' encampment not far away had already caught fire, billowing thick smoke straight into the sky.

He also heard countless battle cries, as if the force raiding the camp was not just Liu Shuyue, but an entire army from Jiufeng City!

Suddenly, a burly, rugged man smashed through a wooden barrier, striding toward him with wind at his heels. The weapon in the man's hand was not standard military hardware, but a simple firewood-splitting axe.

Losing control of his emotions, Li Tiexin cursed hysterically, "What kind of monsters are you?!"

"Woodcutters from Spicy Village," said Rune Horn Deer, bringing his axe down and cleaving the army commander in two.