Chapter 166 - A Town Under Siege (2)

“If I get out, what about you?” Xu Yuan asked in return.

Ran Qingmo pressed her red lips together and said nothing.

In the silence, someone gently knocked on the door of the side room from outside.

The knocking was steady and powerful.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan knew the man they had come to meet had arrived, so he immediately stood and said, “Please come in.”

With the harsh groan of the wooden door, a burly middle-aged man in military uniform appeared at the entrance. His hawk-like gaze swept around the room before he stepped inside and cupped his fists. “Zhou Chen, Young Master Zhou?”

“That is me. Greetings, General Wang.” Xu Yuan also cupped his fists in return.

“The situation is urgent, so I will dispense with the courtesies.” The middle-aged man in uniform had a clean and decisive manner. After the two of them sat down, he wasted no words and asked directly, “Young Master Zhou, what have you come to see this old man for?”

Xu Yuan also went straight to the point. “My senior sister and I wish to borrow a path out of the formation. Would General Wang be able to arrange that?”

“Borrow a path out of the formation?” General Wang immediately frowned.

Xu Yuan asked quietly, “Is there some difficulty?”

General Wang had no intention of beating around the bush. “Young Master Zhou, that may not be possible for the time being.”

Xu Yuan looked at the towering man and tested the waters. “General Wang, if you are worried that the demonic beasts will disrupt your arrangements, my senior sister and I can deal with any demon beasts along the way. I will also compensate Sageridge with ten thousand taels in silver notes.”

General Wang shook his head, his voice deep. “That is not the problem.”

Xu Yuan’s heart sank slightly.

Formations were not unchanging things. From a technical standpoint, opening a path through the illusory mist array was not difficult.

After weighing his words for a moment, Xu Yuan finally chose to ask directly. “Has something gone wrong with the illusory mist array?”

General Wang’s eyes suddenly narrowed, but he did not try to hide it. “Yes.”

“And it is not under the control of your Sageridge frontier army?”

General Wang immediately frowned. A hint of scrutiny appeared in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, “Young Master Zhou, this is a matter of our Sageridge frontier army. You are a guest.”

Xu Yuan shook his head and took a Listening Wind Tower token from his robes.

“General Wang, have you heard of my Listening Wind Tower?”

“You people are information peddlers?”

Xu Yuan fell silent.

General Wang’s eyes flickered. He glanced at Ran Qingmo, and his attitude softened a little. “My apologies. I’m rather blunt. Young Master Zhou, the two of you are not from a sect?”

Xu Yuan smiled faintly. “Naturally not.”

The Great Flame Empire’s frontier armies had always held a great deal of hostility toward sect members, especially in disaster-stricken areas like Sageridge, where demonic beasts attacked every year.

After a brief pause, Xu Yuan asked, “General Wang, was what I said just now correct?”

General Wang pondered for a moment, then said quietly, “For now, my men can still handle the current situation.”

Xu Yuan sighed softly. “General Wang, there is a piece of news concerning the Myriad Manifestations Sect that I believe you may find interesting.”

General Wang raised an eyebrow. His callus-covered index finger tapped lightly against the table. “Oh? Is Young Master Zhou planning to sell information to my Sageridge frontier army?”

“Not sell. Gift.”

“Your Listening Wind Tower does charity work too?”

“Perhaps.” Xu Yuan looked at him calmly and said nothing.

Sometimes silence was more convincing than explanation.

The room fell quiet for a moment.

General Wang narrowed his eyes, then finally sighed. “In that case, I shall listen with all ears.”

“The Myriad Manifestations Sect intends to create ghost fog in Sageridge.”

Seeing the shock and confusion in General Wang’s eyes, Xu Yuan said evenly, “It seems General Wang still does not know that ghost fog can be created?”

General Wang remained silent, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

Xu Yuan stared at him for several breaths and more or less understood.

To him, the Third Young Master of the Chancellor’s Manor, the fact that ghost fog could be raised was probably common sense. But to General Wang, it was terrifying intelligence he had never even heard of.

The formation techniques used to raise ghosts were basically on the same level as a nation’s highest classified technologies.

Xu Yuan leaned back lightly against his chair.

“This next piece of information is also a free bonus from me, but I ask that General Wang keep it confidential. Modern formation arts have already developed to the point where they can control and restrict ghost fog.

“Many sects throughout the realm are secretly raising demon ghosts. Great powers like the Celeste Sword Sect and the Calm Sky Merchant Guild possess more than one ghost fog site. The soul pills circulating on the market are refined by these sects and merchant associations through their ghost farms.”

General Wang listened carefully until the end, then drew in a deep breath. “I can believe Young Master Zhou regarding the matter of raising ghosts. But as for the Myriad Manifestations Sect wanting to create ghost fog in my Sageridge, does Young Master Zhou have proof?”

“No proof.” Xu Yuan shook his head with admirable frankness.

When General Wang heard this, he seemed to relax. He let out a long breath. “To be honest, Young Master Zhou, I have never had the slightest good impression of sect members. But right now, Sageridge has gathered a full four hundred thousand people. The Myriad Manifestations Sect does not have the nerve to do such a thing.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Four hundred thousand people. As long as even some of them escape and the matter is exposed, the Myriad Manifestations Sect will become the target of universal condemnation. No one will be able to protect them.”

“General Wang, you are right.” Xu Yuan looked at the burly middle-aged man before him, his voice very soft. “But all they have to do is make sure no one escapes.”

“Four hundred thousand people. Four hundred thousand pairs of eyes.”

“But right now, all four hundred thousand of them are trapped inside this illusory mist array. And outside, there may be tens of thousands of demon beasts surrounding the town.”

General Wang fell silent

Tap, tap, tap...

Xu Yuan lightly struck his knuckles against the table and said in a low voice, “Let me give General Wang another free piece of information. Over the past five years, the number of small frontier towns along the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range that have been breached by demonic beasts is more than can be counted on both hands. If Sageridge falls, it will have been done by demonic beasts. The Myriad Manifestations Sect merely happened to discover that this place was suitable for establishing ghost fog.”

“But you still have no concrete proof,” General Wang said. He seemed unwilling to believe such horrifying intelligence.

Xu Yuan could roughly understand what General Wang was thinking.

Four hundred thousand people. If evidence of such an inhuman atrocity ever got out, the court would absolutely move to exterminate the sect. Even if not for the common people who died miserably in Sageridge, then at least to kill the chicken and frighten the monkeys. The court would still have to destroy the Myriad Manifestations Sect by force.

But in other words, if what he said was true, then the Myriad Manifestations Sect must have made complete preparations, the most meticulous preparations possible, before carrying out its plan to slaughter the town.

With one side scheming while the other remained unsuspecting, Sageridge would find it very hard to avoid disaster.

No one could immediately accept information like this when it was suddenly placed in front of them.

Xu Yuan sighed, looked at General Wang, and said quietly, “If you do not believe me, verifying it is actually very simple. General Wang only needs to check a few things.”

General Wang’s fists tightened slightly. He stared at the handsome young man before him. “What things?”

Xu Yuan said in a low voice, “The control rights of the illusory mist array. The number of demonic beasts around Sageridge compared with previous years. Besides that, you can also inspect the other town-protection formations on the walls.”

At this point, he paused, then said softly, “Of course, there is one most important point. General Wang, you had best go check right now whether the communication crystal in the county office is still functioning. If it isn’t... hehe.”