Hidden moth

Chapter 308 All are clever, borrowing a knife and clothes

"I arrived before you and saw that kid destroy the protective array around the herb field and steal three spiritual herbs. Then I hid and waited to ambush you..."

As he spoke, Li Xiuyuan emerged from behind the large rock with his hands behind his back, looking quite dashing... In fact, he was extremely busy during the time He Kao was recuperating.

Elder Li first examined the assassin's body, then replanted the three spiritual plants in the center of the herb field, casting a spell to minimize the impact of the disturbance on their vitality. Finally, he repaired the protective array of the herb field.

He filmed the whole process, but instead of using any magical artifacts like the legendary Mirage Pearl, he used a body camera to wear on his shoulder.

He Kao: "Since you arrived so early, why didn't you utter a sound and just watched me get ambushed?"

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and laughed, "If you were no match for him, I would have taken action myself, but you have already killed that person."

He Kao's tone was very displeased: "But I'm injured, I have serious internal injuries!"

Li Xiuyuan shook his head again and said, "It's just temporary weakness, nothing serious. There are phoenix feather knots here, so we can pick as many as we want to eat later. They can help us digest the medicinal effects of the nourishing pills."

He paused abruptly, looking at He Kao, and said, "You'll have to get through this sooner or later. From now on, I can't always be secretly following you when you go out on business... You've surprised me quite a bit. When did you break through to the fifth level of cultivation?"

He Kao stood up and said, "It was just two days ago."

Li Xiuyuan: "That's quite a coincidence, it just so happens to coincide with the time when the Pure Yang Pill is produced. In this way, we don't have to worry about many things anymore, which is something that even Old Ghost Jiang probably didn't expect."

He Kao: "Elder Jiang booked my train ticket and hotel. Did he foresee that someone would attack me here and specially ask you to protect me in secret?"

Li Xiuyuan sighed: "This is just a test. The target of the test is not you, but certain people, but we don't want anything to actually happen."

He Kao snorted: "I see, they're using me as bait again!"

Li Xiuyuan glared at him and said, "If someone has already set their sights on you, instead of passively defending yourself, you should find a way to lure them out. That's the best protection for you. Don't be ungrateful!"

He Kao: "Who was that person just now? Why did he try to ambush me?"

Li Xiuyuan tossed him two items: "This is the ID card I found on him, and a room key for Beiyuan Manor. The documents are genuine; I guess he didn't expect to be caught by you."

"He's from Hanning, a fifth-tier cultivator, but I can't discern his cultivation style, nor is he a registered disciple of any martial arts sect... He's very likely from the Free Alliance."

The ID card showed his name and address. The "assassin" was named Feng Li, thirty-eight years old, and lived in a certain community in Hanning City. If he was indeed a sorcerer from the Xiaomeng Alliance, it meant that the Xiaomeng Alliance's reach was quite deep, since Fengwei Township was located within the jurisdiction of Hanning City.

He Kao looked at the room key again and said, "Did he know I would come here all along?"

Li Xiuyuan nodded and said, "He checked in a day earlier than you. You arrived yesterday, but he came the night before last."

He Kao wasn't stupid; he immediately realized what was going on and said, "Someone leaked my travel information?"

Li Xiuyuan lowered his eyelids: "The room at Beiyuan Villa was booked for you by Lao Jiang. I knew about it, but we didn't leak the information."

He Kao hesitated for a moment before asking, then said, "Wouldn't the Clan Court handle this?"

Li Xiuyuan said expressionlessly, "I'm already here, of course I'll investigate thoroughly. Just do your job... As a Hidden Moth, you have more than just this hurdle to overcome."

He Kao handed his ID card and room key back to Li Xiuyuan: "If the assassin is from the Xiaomeng, why would the Xiaomeng send such a master to assassinate me?"

Li Xiuyuan gave him a look that said "you're an idiot," but still sent a divine thought, both to analyze the reason and to remind He Kao. He Kao had recently been targeted by many people again, each with their own motives.

The Clan Law Hall awarded the last Pure Yang Pill to He Kao, much to the dissatisfaction of a group of eager disciples. The elders knew some things, but couldn't say them openly, and He Kao was recommended by Mei Guyu.

Mei Guyu's reason for recommending him was simple: in the battle outside Qiyuan that night, he killed one illusionist and six fifth-tier sorcerers from the Xiaomeng Alliance, and frightened Fabre into retreating. He Kao also participated in the battle.

The announcement from the Clan Law Hall only mentioned the results, without detailing the process of the battles. For example, the battle in the Immortal Pot Cave Heaven only mentioned that Master Gu Chun, the Earth Master, had seen through the conspiracy of the Free Alliance; the battle outside Qiyuan only mentioned the power of Elder Mei's divine sword.

From the perspective of the Free Alliance, they were unaware of what had happened in the Immortal Pot Cave. As for the battle at Qiyuan, Fabre was a witness; he personally saw Mei Guyu and "Li Xiuyuan," so why was there an extra He Kao at the scene?
Upon closer examination, it makes sense. After all, Mei Guyu and Li Xiuyuan had dinner at He Kao's house that night, and He Kao was likely providing support and passing on intelligence from the outside.

Therefore, the Xiaomeng also wanted to find out the inside story, but unfortunately, they were not confident in taking action against the higher-ups of the magic sect who were qualified to know the inside story. The most practical way was to pick on He Kao, the easy target.

Qiyuan was a dangerous place, and who knew what traps the Zongfa Hall had set up, especially with Mei Guyu in charge. But just then, He Kao left Qiyuan alone... So someone set up an ambush.

These are just Li Xiuyuan's analyses. As for whether this is the truth, since the assassin is dead, there is no way to investigate further.

He Kao thought for a moment, then finally frowned and asked, "When I checked in yesterday, I saw a coded mark in the hotel that meant the owner wasn't home. Who owns the Beiyuan Manor?"

Li Xiuyuan: "That's the private property of Zhao Ci, a disciple of the Guan Shen Sect. Zhao Ci is the direct descendant of the Huai Lin lineage. He hasn't been here recently; he's still active in Fengwei Township..."

The so-called Huailin lineage refers to the lineage left by Zhao Sanjin, the founder of the Guanshen School. Zhao Sanjin served as the head of the Guanshen School more than seventy years ago. He had a Taoist name called Huailin and was also known as Huailin Daoren. Zhao Ci was his great-grandson.

Zhao Ci himself is currently in Fengwei Township. For some time now, he has been contacting people everywhere, making inquiries, and trying to build relationships, all for the sake of the Pure Yang Pill.

In his view, the Huailin lineage had made great contributions to the refining of the Pure Yang Pill, and many of the spiritual herbs were provided by them. If a representative were to be selected to receive the reward, it should naturally be Zhao Ci.

However, during the internal evaluation within the Guan Shen Sect, his merits were ranked second, after Lin Qingshuang. Then, during the discussion in the Clan Law Hall regarding who should receive the last Pure Yang Pill, Zhao Ci again ranked second, only behind He Kao.

Having missed the opportunity twice, he was naturally very disappointed. After the distribution plan of the Clan Law Hall was announced, Zhao Ci did not leave Fengwei Township during this period, and continued to pull strings, hoping to find someone who had already obtained the Pure Yang Pill to take it with him.

Therefore, what happened here seems to have nothing to do with him personally.

However, from another perspective, perhaps Zhao Ci thought that if He Kao were killed, the last Pure Yang Pill in the Clan Law Hall would be his, so he couldn't wait for someone to plot against He Kao.

Of course, this was just speculation; without evidence, Li Xiuyuan certainly couldn't make such a claim. But He Kao had no reservations in front of Elder Li, immediately sneering, "Is he really that impatient? Isn't there another batch to come?"

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said, "No one can guarantee that the Pure Yang Pill will be successfully refined. Moreover, the Pure Yang Pill may need another batch, but there is no hope of Peony having another batch in the short term, so for him..."

He Kao interrupted, "Why isn't there another batch of Peony? I still have a set of Snow Light Cold and its original pearl mother, which I've already given to Senior Lin Qingshuang."

Li Xiuyuan said unhurriedly, "That's what I'm talking about. Other spiritual herbs for refining peonies are easy to find, but Snow Light Cold and its corresponding mother pearl are hard to find. Many people know this."

If you search slowly, you should be able to find it eventually, but who knows when you'll find it? In a rush, it turns out you can't find it.

When Lin Qingshuang brought it out last time, she stated that she only had one set, but you brought out another set, and no one else knew about it.

Elder Jiang instructed the Clan Law Hall to suppress this news, at least keeping Zhao Ci unaware of it. Therefore, he believed that a second furnace was impossible to expect in the short term… but who wouldn't want to improve their cultivation aptitude as soon as possible?

He questioned, "If I die, the things will belong to him. What kind of logic is that?"

Li Xiuyuan: "Of course it doesn't make sense, so the Clan Law Hall will plug the loopholes and cut off this idea. Even if someone has an accident, the Pure Yang Pill that he deserves will be given to his designated successor... You can designate one now."

He Kao puffed out his cheeks and remained silent, turning his head away to ignore Li Xiuyuan.

Li Xiuyuan could tell he was angry, and said with a wry smile, "It's not necessarily Zhao Ci who leaked your whereabouts. As long as you log into the national high-speed rail ticketing system, you can find your itinerary... This isn't much of a suspect."

He Kao also took out a room card from his pocket and threw it like a dart, saying: "It's one thing if someone can find out that I took the high-speed rail to Dangguan County, but how can they also find out that I stayed at Beiyuan Manor?"

When I checked in yesterday, the receptionist asked for my ID and actually processed the check-in normally. She even checked my reservation information on the computer, including my name and contact information!

This is a bit strange. No matter which hotel you go to, isn't making a reservation in advance and registering upon check-in the normal procedure? But sometimes what is considered normal is actually abnormal.

Why did He Kao have to travel all the way to Beiyuan Manor?

More importantly, Elder Jiang specially booked this hotel for He Kao! How much influence does Zhao Ci have that even Elder Jiang would go out of his way to take care of his business?
In the information age, everything is very convenient once you are connected to the internet, but this is also a double-edged sword, as it can easily lead to the leakage of personal information and even privacy.

The existence of martial arts schools and techniques is unknown to ordinary people, and there are many things to be careful about, so there are many unspoken rules when traveling in the martial arts world.

For example, hotels like Beiyuan Manor are owned by disciples of the sorcerer sect. If a sorcerer books a room through the sorcerer sect's channels, it means that it is a place to stay when traveling the world, and there is no need to register and check in in the normal way.

Even if the boss, Zhao Ci, isn't here, the employees here must have received internal training and know what situations require special handling.

The specific identity information of Elder Jiang, who selected the room, should not have been found on the hotel front desk's computer.

Once He Kao arrives at the store, all he needs to do is give the so-called order number, and the front desk will know what's going on: this person is the boss's friend, and they will directly arrange accommodation prepared in advance for him, without going through the usual registration procedures.

However, when He Kao checked in yesterday, the hotel front desk did not follow the "internal rules" at all.

This wouldn't have been a big deal; the boss was out, so it's possible he overlooked something, or perhaps he simply forgot to inform them. If nothing had happened to him, it wouldn't have been a concern at all. But since he encountered an accident, there's bound to be an explanation…

Therefore, He Kao had every reason to be angry, and by directly handing the room key to Li Xiuyuan, he made his stance clear.

Li Xiuyuan took the room card and said, "Kid, you're getting more and more temperamental."

He Kao: "Can't a person always be without a temper?"

Li Xiuyuan sighed, "If Zhao Ci wants to scheme against you, others are also scheming against him. If something happens to you here today, Feng Li, who made the move, will clearly try to frame him as well."

Nobody's stupid. The biggest misconception in this world is always thinking you're the only smart one!

He Kao, still with a stern face, said, "No, no, no, I dare not think I'm clever. You and Elder Jiang are the ones with the best strategies!"

Li Xiuyuan looked at him and couldn't help but smile, "Why are you so petty, still angry?"

He Kao: "It's not that I'm angry about your and Elder Jiang's arrangements, but how could I be happy about something like this? Besides, I was really injured just now, and I almost couldn't hold on. I haven't recovered yet!"

Li Xiuyuan chuckled and explained, "If I had made a move just now, this precious mirror would probably have had to be taken back to the Clan Law Hall, and wouldn't count as your spoils of war." As he spoke, he tossed over a long-handled mirror shaped like a banana leaf fan.

He Kao caught it nimbly, his sullen face disappearing. He turned around and asked curiously, "Master Li, what kind of magic weapon is this?"

Li Xiuyuan pondered and said, "This is the first time I've seen it either, but if I'm not mistaken, it should be the Bone-Penetrating Treasure Mirror, the sect's lost treasure..."

His tone was deliberately drawn out, and he paused for a moment after speaking. He Kao exclaimed in surprise, "What? The sect's most treasured artifact? How could I dare to take it!"

Li Xiuyuan laughed again: "You child, why are you so impatient? I haven't finished speaking yet. It should be a replica of the legendary Bone-Penetrating Treasure Mirror..."

**
(End of this chapter)