Bai Su’s true agreement or not was something Hua Jian was still in the dark about.
But since he had already said as much, she didn’t really see any need to poke holes in it or raise any doubts.
Why reject something that was to her benefit?
Besides, she was doing a good deed here—helping Bai Su deal with the man who killed his father. Bai Su really had no reason to refuse, right?
“Is she…?” Linglong nudged Hua Jian’s waist with her elbow, lowering her voice as if she wanted to ask something.
Before Linglong could get her question out, Hua Jian turned and pressed a finger to Linglong’s lips, “Don’t ask. He agreed, that’s all that matters.”
Any more questions would be impolite.
After “persuading” Bai Su, the woman immediately raised her voice and shouted to the Ling Kings still stalling the Chai Family Patriarch, “Hold on just a bit longer, everyone! Victory is within reach!”
Even as she shouted, she leapt towards the battlefield where A Meng and Xia Lao were fighting, intending to deal with Xia Lao, the Ling King, first.
Xia Lao was already sweating buckets fighting A Meng alone. Now, with the woman joining the fray, he was quickly overwhelmed and soon defeated.
Once Xia Lao was taken down, the now-free A Meng sped off to deal with the remaining Ling Kings.
But this time, she approached with much more caution.
After all, the Chai Family Patriarch held a combined Treasure Map Fragment; last time, her attack had been blocked by just one fragment.
Now, facing a two-in-one fragment—who knew what would happen?
“Huh?!”
Bang!
The Chai Family Patriarch let out a startled sound as a sharp blade struck his arm, sending him flying backward.
If he hadn’t instinctively raised his arm to block, A Meng’s not-so-sneaky sneak attack might’ve left him seriously injured.
“What’s going on? The Treasure Map should be able to block a Spirit Beast’s attack…”
The Chai Family Patriarch looked in confusion at A Meng, who’d landed her blow, starting to doubt the authenticity of his Treasure Map.
But the events so far matched the information he’d decoded from the map; gathering the three fragments had indeed dispelled the Magic Mist in the cave, giving everyone freedom to move.
Only this Spirit Beast had been able to break through. Why?
A Meng glanced down at her own claws, also puzzled by the effect. Why had she been blasted away by golden light before, but not now?
So strange.
Still, strangeness aside, with the golden light’s barrier gone, she could finally go all out and pummel this greedy bastard!
With a mighty beat of her wings—swoosh!—A Meng charged straight at the Chai Family Patriarch, and the two peak Ling Kings were instantly locked in combat.
This was truly a battle between equals; neither side could gain the upper hand, and even Bai Su’s subordinate Ling Kings couldn’t find an opening to interfere.
At this moment, Hua Jian had already moved on to take a hostage.
“What—what are you trying to do?” Her father held at bay, Xia Lao knocked aside and his fate unknown—Chai Xianyun was now thoroughly isolated and helpless, staring in fear as Hua Jian walked toward her step by step.
Not long ago, she’d been laughing and chatting with this girl. How had things changed so drastically in just a few days?
“I don’t want to make enemies of your Chai Clan. The Spirit Liquid of the Soul up there isn’t something your family can lay claim to. Can you talk your father into handing over the Treasure Map Fragment? We’ll turn these dangerous things over to the Hudaosi.”
Hua Jian raised both hands, her expression righteous as she spoke to Chai Xianyun.
“Why should I believe you? For all I know, you want to keep the treasure for yourself!” Chai Xianyun was unconvinced. Who’d believe that nonsense?
Everyone entered the Secret Realm for the treasures, right? She was more inclined to believe Hua Jian wanted the treasures all to herself.
After so many days on the run, Chai Xianyun was wound tight as a spring—now she was a wary little cat, ready to hiss and lash out at anyone.
Hua Jian had her own method for handling such types: for hissy little kittens, two slaps would do the trick—beat them into submission and see if they still want to hiss.
Convincing her was best; if not, well, she only cared about results.
“I mean, you’d best believe me, because what I’m about to do next might be a bit… excessive.” Hua Jian flashed a mischievous smile.
“What do you mean—ah!”
Before Chai Xianyun could understand, several green vines wound around her legs.
At the same moment, Hua Jian flashed behind her, binding Chai Xianyun’s hands with more vines, then pressing a sharp vine like a dagger against her neck.
“Chai Family Patriarch over there! Your daughter is in my hands! If you don’t want her to die a tragic death, surrender immediately. I swear not to harm your life!”
Hua Jian shouted to the Chai Family Patriarch, locked in fierce combat with A Meng.
But he paid no attention to Hua Jian’s threat, only fighting all the more fiercely.
“You can’t threaten my father.” Chai Xianyun whispered. Her father was a cold-hearted man; at a time like this, he’d never care about her life.
She wasn’t his only child, nor his favorite—she was no bargaining chip at all.
“Wow, your big clan is really cold-blooded, huh?”
“I don’t think you have room to talk.” Chai Xianyun, with a sharp vine still pressed to her throat, replied lifelessly.
For some reason, though she was being used as a hostage against her father and knew her father wouldn’t give in, she didn’t feel much fear.
She even felt, deep down, that Hua Jian wasn’t the type to really harm her.
“I think I do have the right. If someone tried to threaten me with my family, I might actually care…” Hua Jian muttered softly. “Too bad I don’t have any.”
That was the upside of being a lone star—no one could find her weak point, and anyone trying to threaten Hua Jian through friends or relatives would be wasting their time.
“…Kill me if you’re going to, then.” Chai Xianyun didn’t know how to respond, so she just shut her eyes with a look of noble resignation.
“Ugh, so troublesome. Why listen to your cold-blooded dad like that?” Hua Jian sighed helplessly and withdrew her sharp vine.
The hostage tactic was useless against people with no family feelings.
She did have more ruthless tricks up her sleeve for Chai Xianyun, but those were going too far—if she really tried them, Linglong and Venerable Fenghua would probably gang up on her later.
That’s the trouble with being a good person—there are so many things you just can’t do.
If only she were one of those Huayagu Cultivators, a real villain—she could use the “fallen heiress” plan now, and even if the Chai Family Patriarch didn’t give in, she could at least disgust him.
But as it was, she could only sigh, let go of Chai Xianyun, and return to pondering new ideas.
The battle between A Meng and the Chai Family Patriarch was far too intense.
Even ordinary Ling Kings didn’t dare to join in, and as for her and Linglong, two Spirit Masters, they stood no chance of interfering.
Or so it should have been.
But the Mirage Qi that Hua Jian controlled was a powerful weapon for the weak to overcome the strong.
If she could land a direct shot, even the Chai Family Patriarch could be knocked out by Mirage Qi for a while.
And in a battle between experts, being knocked out for even a moment was enough to decide the outcome.
Even if it didn’t, it’d be enough for A Meng to snatch away the Treasure Map Fragment.
“I’ll use a Mirage Qi Bullet on him. If I can get a direct hit, I might be able to control him,” Hua Jian explained her plan to Linglong.
“Yo, Mirage Qi? That really could trip up that old guy.” Before Linglong could answer, the Ling King woman exclaimed with admiration.
As expected of a personal disciple—she even had rare stuff like Mirage Qi.
For Huayagu Cultivators, whose direct combat strength was relatively weak, Mirage Qi was practically a divine artifact: its control effects and certain extraordinary powers made it a treasure they would do anything to acquire.
The way Hua Jian spoke, it was as if she could casually pull out a Lingqi Bullet whenever she wanted.
Yes, in the woman’s mind, Hua Jian’s so-called magic mist must be a consumable, so she assumed Hua Jian was using her trump card now.
She had no idea that, for Hua Jian, magic mist was limitless. After absorbing its power, Hua Jian could now produce it herself, albeit in small quantities.
What Hua Jian did next only confirmed her assumptions. Hua Jian took a finely crafted wooden box from her storage pouch, inside which several colorful, conical items were neatly arranged.
That was exactly what a single-use spirit tool should look like!
“The only problem now is that the fighting is too fast over there—I’m not sure I can catch the opportunity.”
“I can fix that. I’ll use an Array Formation to briefly restrain them, giving you your shot,” the woman immediately suggested.
There were still some idle Ling Kings watching the show—let them form a formation to restrain the Chai Family Patriarch and give Hua Jian a surefire chance.
Now that she controlled Bai Su, she could command Bai Su’s subordinates to obey her.
“Can you handle it?” Linglong looked at the woman. Maybe because of her poor showing in their earlier fight, Linglong didn’t trust her abilities much.
Also, Hua Jian had cut off her question earlier, which made Linglong even more certain of the woman’s identity.
Just as Hua Jian had guessed before, this woman must be from Wanhuagu, and the reputation of Huayagu Cultivators… wasn’t great.
“Little missy, with me here there are six Ling Kings in total—enough to pin him for two or three breaths at least. Will that do?” The woman was speechless at Linglong’s distrust.
Honestly, if she hadn’t been messed up by Hua Jian’s mist, Linglong wouldn’t have stood a chance against her.
Sure, Huayagu Cultivators were weaker in direct combat, but not so weak that a Spirit Master like Linglong could take advantage.
Two or three breaths? That was more than enough. Hua Jian nodded quickly.
“That’s plenty!”
In battles where victory was decided in a flash, two or three breaths was a lifetime.
“All right, I’ll go get you the chance!”
The woman flew straight to the unsure Ling Kings, quickly persuading them to form an Array Formation Hua Jian had never seen before.
Linglong immediately recognized it—it was a fairly common restraining array used by rogue cultivators, easy to use and purely for trapping someone within.
Most of the time, city guards used it to apprehend wanted cultivators.
“Hua Jian, she’s from Wanhuagu, isn’t she?” While the woman was away, Linglong seized the chance to confirm her suspicions.
“Nineteen times out of twenty, I’d say. She’s just too agreeable, like she’s deliberately going along with us.” Hua Jian nodded as she infused magic mist into a Lingqi Bullet.
The woman’s sudden change in attitude was very odd, especially since Linglong had just thrashed her.
Now, she acted as if nothing had happened and readily cooperated.
Anyone else would at least be upset, or make things difficult, right?
But this woman acted as if her fight with Linglong had been a friendly spar, and now they were close comrades-in-arms.
Whenever Linglong and Hua Jian faced a tough problem, she jumped in right away with a solution.
And she did all this without asking for anything in return, acting the part of a warm-hearted do-gooder.
It was clearly abnormal, and the likely reason could only be something deeper.
The simplest explanation: the woman was a Huayagu Cultivator, treating Hua Jian as one of her own.
For a Huayagu Cultivator, anyone considered “one of us” would naturally be treated as a core disciple.
In that case, it made sense—the woman, as an outsider disciple, was helping the core disciple solve problems.