"Venerable, Venerable, is that really necessary? She’s just a little girl..."
"Does it matter whether it is a man or a woman, old or young?" the Vermilion Bird said indifferently. "She is attending the Wang Family’s tedious banquet. If she died on the way, even if the Cui and Wang families do not turn against each other, they will become strangers. Would this not create great chaos?"
She paused, looking curiously at Xia Chichi. "This woman is ambiguously involved with your former lover. Shouldn’t you be the one to kill her?"
"Exactly because he is a former lover, what women he finds is none of my business. How is it suitable?" Xia Chichi declared righteously. "Besides, seeing him being ambiguous with other women, I hate it even more!"
The Bing Po in her hand buzzed and trembled as if to affirm this statement.
The Vermilion Bird said lightly, "If your relationship with him needs to be hindered by other women, then it seems..."
Xia Chichi’s heart skipped a beat, and she started to whine, "Master... Whenever Cui Yuanyang goes out, there must be..."
She suddenly realized halfway through her sentence that if she mentioned that top experts must be guarding Cui Yuanyang, the Vermilion Bird might decide to kill him herself. That would be a disaster! Her thoughts raced, and she quickly changed her statement. "Ahem, who cares, I’ve wanted to beat that little b*tch for a while now. I’ll go right now!"
This abrupt change in attitude might have seemed a bit flawed, but the Vermilion Bird seemed somewhat distracted and did not inquire further. She just waved her hand, "Go. There are only a few routes from Qinghe to here. They are not coming stealthily. Wherever they pass is likely to be greeted by cities. It should be easy to find them. Bring more people."
"Yes." Xia Chichi backtracked three steps at a time as she hastened away, turning to see the Vermilion Bird standing at Songgang, gazing pensively toward Taiyi Sect, seemingly lost in thought, wondering what was on her mind.
Could the Vermilion Bird have old affections with some Taoist from the observatory?
They are both women, why pretend to be all pure and devoted to the divine? Besides, your voice is so charming.
It’s strange how this task came about. It’s not like the Vermilion Bird to focus solely on such a lowly stratagem. It doesn’t match her usual scheming.
Regardless, she had no intention to dwell on this. Now, she needed to think about how to report back.
An even bigger headache was, as the Vermilion Bird had said, tracking Cui Yuanyang’s journey was indeed very easy. As soon as Xia Chichi descended the mountain and entered the city, her subordinates scouted out for half the night and easily confirmed Cui Yuanyang’s whereabouts.
This time, the young lady had learned her lesson; she earnestly brought along protectors from the Earth List and a convoy of followers, all experts. His movements were obvious, but who could make the kill?
Receiving the news, Xia Chichi felt much more at ease, "It’s not that I’m not trying, but it’s really impossible to kill him. Even if the Vermilion Bird tried to kill him herself, it would be very troublesome, and she would probably give up." Thɪs chapter is updated by N()velFire.net
"Holy Daughter, what should we do?" a subordinate asked.
Xia Chichi rubbed her chin, her eyes spinning craftily, "We cannot confront their strength directly, so we must outsmart them. You all stay hidden, I’ll go alone to cozy up to the young lady, gain her trust, and wait for a chance to assassinate her."
The others sighed, "It’s indeed a desperate measure within no other options. This task is weird. Cui Yuanyang previously suffered from leaving home alone, nearly losing his life. Now, how could he be so easy to kill? Holy Daughter, take care of yourself. If it can’t be done, just give up and we will explain to the Venerable."
Xia Chichi giggled, "Thanks~"
Xia Chichi disappeared in a flash to stake out Cui Yuanyang, but she did not expect that even long after she had left Taishan, the Vermilion Bird was still lost in thought.
"That knife should logically be the Dragon Sparrow, similar in appearance, and he has had it since leaving the Cui Family Manor. If it’s not the Dragon Sparrow, then what is it... He is still a survivor from the Luo Family Manor... Although many people tell me it’s indistinguishable, it must only be a replica made by the Cui Family, a pity I’ve never seen the Dragon Sparrow..."
"Regardless of whether it is or not... now that the Maitreya Sect is stirring up trouble, many families have different intentions, the turbulence in the land has already arrived. The previous goal of assassinating the prince has been achieved, it’s no longer something one person can reverse... Should the approach now shift from assassination to utilization?"
"This man still has ties of sentiment with the Blood God Sect, bears no grudges against my Four Symbols Sect, and has old relations with Chichi, highly praised in the communications from Dragon Sparrow... Perhaps he could be invited to join the sect in a high position. Whether he is the prince or not, he warrants such a position, and if so, it seems even better..."
"Involving the future course of action, such an important matter, and it’s infuriating how I can’t contact Xuanwu just now, no one to discuss with, where has that dead tortoise hidden! Chichi does have some ideas, it’s just a pity suspicions of old sentiments are likely, which may lead to emotional decisions."
It turns out she deliberately sent Xia Chichi to kill Cui Yuanyang just to find an excuse to move her away. She was already not considering Gui Chen but was instead contemplating whether to kill Zhao Changhe, not wanting Xia Chichi to interfere...
But as she pondered, her heart gradually leaned towards not killing. After all, times change; originally, killing the prince was to create chaos in Great Xia and unsettle the people’s hearts, but now turmoil had already unfolded, and a situation of divided rule was about to take form. If a prince emerged now, it would not be possible to prevent the worsening situation; rather, it should be seen as a rare opportunity under different circumstances.
If the Four Symbols Sect truly aimed at revolting for the sake of the world’s landscape, a rare opportunity should be indisputable; the issue is their goals are somewhat loftier, and the significance of this rare opportunity remains unknown. In any case, not everything needs to be resolved by killing; leveraging them is also an approach.
As a member of the Southern Seven Constellations and directly subordinate to the Vermilion Bird, Wan Dongliu expressed great admiration for Zhao Changhe in his letters, influencing Vermilion Bird’s inclination significantly.
Yet this issue was indeed momentous, possibly altering the course of action, making it difficult to decide alone.
After thinking, the Vermilion Bird twisted his eyes, unexpectedly removed the phoenix mask, and replaced it with a snake-shaped mask. There was no need to change the red sacrificial robe, as this was the Winged Fire Snake.
Zhao Changhe was staying at the Taiyi Sect, and as usual, was practicing his skill in the evening.
Since killing Fa Sheng, that battle’s Blood Evil roared, greatly aiding the breakthrough to the Sixth Layer of Blood Evil Skill. As in the past, he could now forcefully use the Six Harmonies Divine Skill to push for breakthrough. But his mindset had changed; he no longer wanted to rush, waiting for an appropriate opportunity to let it happen naturally.
Killing to nourish the Evil Qi was indeed a major method in cultivating the Blood Evil Skill, no less effective than extracting Evil Qi from treasures. If a person with malevolent thoughts got involved, it would be easy to kill indiscriminately for the sake of practice, and there was indeed a reason why the Blood God Sect was considered part of the Demon Sect.
Fortunately, the Blood God Sect was not generally strong. Had they been stronger, they would likely cause greater destruction than the Maitreya Sect’s Killing to Become Buddha, as the cultivation advancement was very direct.
Deep in internal viewing, a sudden movement stirred in his heart, Zhao Changhe abruptly opened his eyes, and unbeknownst to him, a graceful figure had appeared in the room, the snake-shaped mask on the face both eerie and enchanting.
"Winged Fire Snake?" Zhao Changhe took a deep breath, said rather speechlessly, "Let me say, the Four Symbols Sect isn’t mad, right? As a traitor of the Blood God Sect, with the Blood God Sect laying low and not troubling me, why does the Four Symbols Sect keep showing up before me? You are their superiors, not subordinates, come on..."
Vermilion Bird smiled slightly, "I’m just here to ask you a few questions."
"In your eyes, what are the Four Symbols?"
"The four extremes of the heavens, the four directions of the earth, the four seasons of time, truly one of the most orthodox and vast cornerstones of the world view. I don’t know why you all have mixed into a Demon Sect, it shouldn’t be."
A very interesting light flashed in Vermilion Bird’s eyes.
Was this his impression of the Four Symbols?