The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 777 - 431 Flaw
"Your brain capacity really needs to be expanded!" She twirled a white feather in her hand. "Guangcheng Palace is now under the secret influence of Yin Jiu You. Li Jianming disappeared in the Ba Snake Mountain Range, and it’s very likely that it was Yin Jiu You who orchestrated his disappearance, aiming to frame the Hidden Stream for it. Anyway, our Demon Sect has never liked humans, so if we did something out of line to a human envoy, it wouldn’t be surprising. I guess even Yin Jiu You didn’t expect the Hidden Stream to actually kidnap envoys from various factions, instigating war in the Northwest. This is really like a dream come true—Yin Jiu You is of course happy to see it happen, and he’ll also find ways to get Guangcheng Palace to join the battle, on one hand weakening Hidden Stream’s influence, on the other hand reaping many unclaimed Cultivator souls. It’s a perfect win-win situation."
"Li Jianming is also quite capable, having not died in the hands of the assassin sent by Yin Jiu You, but instead was saved by Elder He, and thus his life was spared." She was fortunate to have an incredible lung capacity, which allowed her to say such a lengthy statement without gasping for air. "Elder He knows that once he hands over Li Jianming, Guangcheng Palace will lose its reason to join the war, and they might just have to withdraw their troops. The waters would no longer be muddied, and as a result, the strength of Hidden Stream’s enemies would diminish again, lessening the pressure on Jiu Mo, and in turn affecting Elder He’s grand scheme of seizing power."
"Since Li Jianming is so important, why not just kill him and eliminate future troubles?" Qi Zai finally caught on to some of the nuances. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Ning Xiaoxian looked at him approvingly: "Li Jianming cannot be killed. If Elder He succeeds in taking over, he would need to play the Li Jianming card to negotiate peace with Guangcheng Palace, so he can only keep him well-guarded in his own Prefecture."
"That tricky Li Jianming, after being imprisoned for so long, finally found an opportunity to send a message to me. It’s a pity that the Earth Yin Child he released was intercepted by Jiu Mo’s subordinates. I’ve already asked him; he’s quite cautious and did not mention my name in the message, so Jiu Mo doesn’t know who the intercepted message was intended for. It’s like a message-carrying pigeon shot down from the sky; you can intercept the message tied to its leg, but you can’t tell where it was headed to. However, the content of that message is enough for her to pinpoint the hostage’s location to Elder He’s residence. If you were Jiu Mo, and you suddenly found out that Elder He secretly harbored such an important negotiation pawn as Li Jianming without reporting it, what would you think?"
After some thought, Qi Zai said: "Li Jianming was once an invited guest, so the fact that Elder He kept him confined, unwilling to hand him over to Jiu Mo, suggests... suggests that he has ulterior motives and does not want the current battle situation to ease."
"Exactly. Even we can guess that the person who does not wish to see the current chaos subside, is very likely the mastermind behind this series of events, let alone Jiu Mo, who sits in such a high position?" She sneered, "Even with the slightest suspicion. But don’t forget, this is Hidden Stream, not a human government office. As long as the leader has doubts in his heart, there’s no need for concrete evidence to easily dispose of a subordinate. This matter is highly confidential, and not wishing to alarm others, she sent a trusted assassin to attempt killing Elder He and to capture Li Jianming."
Success or failure can hinge on the same factor. She sighed inwardly, Elder He was nearly flawless, but he almost lost his life due to an oversight. Everything is a matter of moderation, and while he had his supporters within Hidden Stream, Elder He was overly cautious and trusted no one but himself, otherwise, just by entrusting Li Jianming to his followers, even if the news leaked, Jiu Mo would not suspect him.
If not for the intervention of her group, Jiu Mo would have eliminated such a significant thorn in his side. This was a scenario that Elder He wished to avoid and also one that she and Changtian did not wish to see.
Yes, Changtian could no longer wait to finish his trek across the Great Snow Mountain, and was seeking to reclaim the power of Hidden Stream. What they tacitly agreed on was that her journey westward was fraught with uncertainty. The closer they got to the destination, the more apprehensive they felt. What if they could not fulfill their wishes, what if they could not find the Nanming Lihuo Sword? Yin Jiu You’s forces had already taken notice of her, and if she couldn’t establish her own power, when Yin Jiu You finished dealing with Guangcheng Palace and then turned his attention to her, would she end up like a walnut under a hammer, smashed to pieces with a single strike?
The original plan of Changtian and Ning Xiaoxian was to use the escape from the Ba Snake Mountain Range as bait to lure Langya into the God Demon Prison, turning him over to Changtian for handling, forcing him to undertake the Blood Oath. In this way, they would gain control over half of Hidden Stream’s power, but they did not expect Elder He to disrupt their plans midway. Speaking of which, Elder He and his subordinates had been plotting for a long time, but this sudden move was somewhat hasty.
