Chapter 41 - 40: Setting Fire to the Mountain

Chapter 41: Chapter 40: Setting Fire to the Mountain

Hearing his third brother’s words, Lu Huaiqian tapped his fingers on the table and said in a deep voice, "Don’t speak out of anger. If setting the mountain on fire could solve the problem, that Tiger Demon wouldn’t have entrenched itself here for decades."

Lu Huaisan opened his mouth, but like a punctured waterskin, his shoulders slumped. He grabbed the coarse clay teabowl of completely cold tea from the table and took a gulp. His Adam’s apple bobbed, but ultimately, he said nothing more.

Lu Huaiqian was right. If simply setting the mountain on fire could solve it, the Tiger Demon would have been eliminated long ago.

Second brother Lu Huaichuan patted his youngest brother’s arm. "Huaisan, our eldest brother is right. Once this fire is set, it won’t just be the mountain that burns."

Habitually wiping his glasses, he continued, "Leaving aside the fact that the law forbids burning the mountain. Take our Yin Mountain County, for instance. How many families rely on logging, gathering herbs, and hunting for a living? If the mountain is burned bare, I’m afraid it will incite a civil uprising."

Pausing for a moment, Lu Huaichuan added, "Besides, that beast is extremely cunning. If it sees things going south, it will definitely flee far away. When that happens, the mountain will be destroyed, but the demon will remain unvanquished. When the higher-ups hand down their punishment, the Lu family..." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He left the sentence unfinished, but everyone understood the implication.

The room fell silent, save for the occasional crackle of the oil lamp’s wick, and a distant, whimpering sound from outside the window—whether it was the wind or something else, no one knew.

Lu Jing’an, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up. "Father, perhaps we really can burn the mountain."

Lu Huaiqian’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he didn’t interrupt. He only gave a low hum from his throat, gesturing for him to continue.

Lu Jing’an sat up straight and said, "The files provided by the Anping Bureau clearly record that this Tiger Demon is extremely afraid of fire."

Lu Huaisan chimed in from the side, "Yes, I read the records in that file too. This beast fears fire the most. As long as we burn the mountain, it will undoubtedly die."

Lu Huaichuan pulled his third brother back. "Huaisan, listen to Jing’an first."

Lu Jing’an continued, "The biggest difficulty in this matter is that we must make the Tiger Demon believe we are burning the mountain, forcing it to flee, while not actually burning the forest down."

Burning the mountain while preserving the forest—this was simply impossible. However, Lu Huaiqian said nothing, allowing Lu Jing’an to continue.

Lu Jing’an paused and looked at his father. "Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, do you know there is a chemical from the Void World called phosphorus?"

The three brothers exchanged glances; evidently, none of them had heard of such a thing.

Lu Jing’an tried a different approach. "What about ghost fire?"

This time, Lu Huaisan was the first to speak. "I know that one. When we were young, we even saw it in the mass graves. It’s a glowing, ethereal green flame. It doesn’t catch on clothes and can’t be put out by water."

Lu Jing’an nodded. "Exactly. Phosphorus is the substance that produces ghost fire. Phosphorus has an extremely low ignition point. Its flame is cold and cannot burn wood. If we can obtain enough phosphorus powder, we can scatter it in the forest around the Tiger Demon’s lair under the cover of night. Once the ghost fire ignites, we can supplement it with the thick smoke of wet grass to create the illusion of a raging inferno. The Tiger Demon fears fire. Seeing this, it will surely panic and flee blindly."

Lu Jing’an’s speaking speed gradually increased. "We just need to drive it to run in the direction we dictate. Once it reaches where we want it to go, we can just greet it with bullets."

Although they didn’t understand what phosphorus was, Lu Huaiqian and his two brothers all felt that the plan was feasible after hearing Lu Jing’an’s description.

However, the crux of the problem now was how to obtain a large amount of phosphorus.

Lu Jing’an had already thought of a solution for this as well. "Father, we should go directly to Secretary Hu. We’ll just say we are using it to eliminate the Tiger Demon and ask for his help. Furthermore, we must strictly lock down all information regarding what happened today. We absolutely cannot let Secretary Hu know what transpired in our family today."

Lu Huaiqian immediately nodded. "Alright, we’ll do as Jing’an says. Jing’an, whatever else you need, just ask."

When it came to things he didn’t understand, Lu Huaiqian was more than willing to delegate authority to his son.

Lu Jing’an thought for a moment and said, "I also need some manpower to create a firebreak near the Tiger Demon’s lair."

After saying this, he explained further, "I need people to clear a sufficiently wide strip of land entirely devoid of trees. This way, if the phosphorus doesn’t work, we can genuinely attempt a controlled burn of the mountain within a limited area. At the same time, this action will instill even greater fear in the Tiger Demon if it’s observing from the shadows. It will serve to startle the beast. When it actually sees the ghost fire later, it will be much easier to fool."

Hearing Lu Jing’an’s explanation, Lu Huaiqian nodded at once. "That works. How many people do you need?"

Lu Jing’an considered the question and replied, "The more, the better. First, there’s safety in numbers; second, it will have a greater psychological impact on the Tiger Demon."

Upon hearing this, Lu Huaisan immediately chimed in, "Leave this to me. Tomorrow, I’ll take the brothers up there to chop down trees."

Lu Jing’an said, "Third Uncle, there’s no rush to chop down the trees. Tomorrow, I’ll use the excuse of returning the files to visit the Anping Bureau again. I want to ask if they know the Tiger Demon’s exact location. That way, when you all go to cut down the trees, you’ll have a specific perimeter to work within."

Lu Huaisan nodded. "Alright, Jing’an, I’ll follow your lead."

Having settled that, Lu Jing’an looked at Lu Huaiqian. "Father, the success of this plan fundamentally relies on the phosphorus."

Lu Huaiqian said with certainty, "As long as there’s phosphorus in the province, I will definitely obtain all of it."

With his father’s guarantee, Lu Jing’an felt reassured.

Once the matter was settled, everyone dispersed.

Chen Xuan did not rest. No one was sure how many Chong Ghosts the Tiger Demon had brought with it. Therefore, Chen Xuan had no choice but to take the entire Nursing Home to patrol the inside and outside of the estate once more.

After returning to his room, Lu Jing’an did not immediately rest either. Instead, he directly began Refining the remnant soul of the Martial Cultivator surnamed He.

Saying he was going to the Anping Bureau to ask for the lair’s location was merely an excuse. Lu Jing’an guessed that there was a high probability the Anping Bureau didn’t know the exact location either. However, this Martial Cultivator surnamed He undoubtedly knew. Of course, it also depended on luck—whether his remnant soul still contained such information. After all, it was a remnant soul; missing some information was perfectly normal.

[Refining in progress. Estimated time to completion: 1 hour.]

Looking at the Refining time, Lu Jing’an held no hope for a new entry. With such a short duration, it was highly likely to just yield Energy Points and a Memory Pearl. Now, he only hoped that the memory would be somewhat intact.

Time trickled by. The faint sound of a watchman’s clapper striking the third watch drifted over from a distance.

[Refining Complete!]

Lu Jing’an checked the results of the Refining. Exactly as he had expected, there was only 1 Energy Point and one fragmented Memory Pearl.

He quickly examined the fragmented Memory Pearl.

In an instant, broken images and sensations surged forward. The thick, impenetrable scent of damp, rotting leaves belonging to the depths of the forest... A natural cave formed by jagged, bizarre rocks, its entrance obscured by dense vines. A few strands of sunlight struggled to seep in, illuminating the dried, dark brown stains of old blood on the cave walls... Deep inside the cave, a heavy, foul stench hung in the air over a messy pile of dry grass and animal pelts...

The memories within the Memory Pearl were extremely erratic. It couldn’t be helped; since it was fragmented, skipping memories was completely normal.

After intermittently watching all the contents of the Memory Pearl, a look of joy appeared on Lu Jing’an’s brow. Although the memory was fragmented, he still successfully pieced together the approximate location where the Tiger Demon was entrenched.

With this general bearing, they could better intimidate the Tiger Demon. When it came time to take actual action, things would be much more convenient.

Next, Lu Jing’an mentally reviewed his plan once more. After going over the entire process, he felt that the probability of success was quite high.

Of course, he would still go to the Anping Bureau tomorrow, because the Anping Bureau should have more detailed maps. This was also one of the key steps in the plan.