Chapter 598: A Thief’s Heart Never Dies
Chapter 598: Chapter 598: A Thief’s Heart Never Dies
In a corner of the valley, dozens of cylindrical Stone Pillars, each about three meters long, had been placed. For the next few days, Shengchuan Gong and Miss Qian Ying remained in the valley, carving runes onto them. The other three to four hundred people were sent to various locations to dig pits at designated spots. Su Qing secretly marked down the location of each one.
Over the next few days, Su Qing made no move, not wanting to disturb them. She simply watched their every action from the shadows. They were targeting her Hua Country and had devised an elaborate plan to do so. Su Qing had no intention of tipping her hand. Instead, she planned to secretly sabotage their preparations one by one. As for the individuals themselves, she would deal with them later, also in secret.
’Heh. If you’re going to make a move against our Hua Country, you’d better be prepared to pay the price.’
Another week passed. Shengchuan Gong and Qian Ying had finished carving runes on all the Stone Pillars in the valley. To Su Qing’s surprise, the woman named Qian Ying would always wait for a moment when no one was looking to secretly smear a paint-like substance on the runes. The substance was a dark, grayish-black and inconspicuous. Even if someone were to notice, they would likely mistake the marks for smudges of dirt.
Qian Ying was clearly doing this behind the backs of Shengchuan Gong and Ye Yue Taidou, which made Su Qing curious about her motives. ’Still, whatever this woman’s purpose is, I’m not going to waste time digging into it,’ Su Qing thought. ’Once I destroy these Stone Pillars, it won’t matter what anyone’s objective was. It’ll all be for nothing.’
Perhaps because no one else had gone missing in the last few days, or because their heightened state of alert had turned up nothing, Shengchuan Gong and his group began to relax their guard.
"Alright. All that’s left is to bury these Stone Pillars," Ye Yue Taidou said, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction. He gazed in the direction of Hua Country, his eyes filled with hatred and cunning, his greed impossible to conceal.
Su Qing noticed that when Qian Ying, who was standing to the side, saw Ye Yue Taidou’s expression, a cold glint flashed in her eyes. Su Qing raised an eyebrow. ’It seems this Qian Ying has a real problem with him.’
Hearing this, Shengchuan Gong sneered. "Hmph. If it weren’t for my respect for His Majesty, I wouldn’t have deigned to help you. Miss Qian Ying and I have been the ones working tirelessly these past few days. You, Ye Yue Taidou, have had it far too easy."
"Hmph. More than half the men here are from my Ye Yue Family, Shengchuan Gong. Don’t act like you’ve gotten the short end of the stick. Your Shengchuan Clan may be skilled in Array Techniques, but my men have done most of the manual labor, all the digging and clearing. We certainly haven’t taken advantage of you."
"It’s getting late. We should hurry and get these Stone Pillars buried." Seeing the two elders about to start bickering again, the man with the neatly trimmed mustache quickly stepped in to play peacemaker. "His Majesty is waiting for our report."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Perhaps out of deference to the Imperial Family, Ye Yue Taidou and Shengchuan Gong said no more. They directed their men to carry the Stone Pillars to the prepared pits and bury all of them. At the same time, Ye Yue Taidou buried cloth dolls stuffed with talismans beside the pillars. Su Qing narrowed her eyes as she watched. The dolls were a dark red, almost black—clearly, they had been soaked in blood.
Su Qing took a sharp breath, her eyes still narrowed on the dolls. At the same moment, she noticed that Qian Ying was also staring at them, her eyes filled with hatred. The moment someone glanced her way, however, Qian Ying quickly masked her feelings, her expression returning to one of cool indifference.
Once the Stone Pillars and dolls were buried, the Array was considered complete. Miss Qian Ying spoke in a cool tone, "Now that the work here is finished, can we leave? We’ve been in these mountains for half a month. Any longer and we’ll turn into savages."
The man with the neatly trimmed mustache glanced at the sky and said with a smile, "Distinguished guests, I’ve already arranged for accommodations in the county town at the foot of the mountain. It’s already afternoon, so why don’t we stay there for the night and set off in the morning?"
He then turned to Miss Qian Ying and added respectfully, "Miss Qian Ying, I’ve prepared a deluxe suite for you at the hotel to ensure your comfort. The rooms for the two elders have also been arranged."
"Fine. Then let’s get off this mountain," Ye Yue Taidou said with a nod. After half a month in the wilderness, even a grown man like him found it inconvenient, to say nothing of a woman like Qian Ying. If they hadn’t been in a rush to complete the Array, he would have moved down to the county town long ago.
That evening, the man with the neatly trimmed mustache had also arranged a lavish banquet. Everyone ate and drank their fill, and by the end of it, they were all staggering back to their rooms. Once the doors were shut, they passed out and fell fast asleep.
Su Qing seized the opportunity to sneak into the hotel. She slipped silently into the room of the man with the neatly trimmed mustache, then commanded vines to grow and seal the entire room before approaching his bed.
The man with the neatly trimmed mustache had drunk a great deal and was in a groggy stupor. But perhaps due to some subconscious sense of danger, he was not sleeping soundly. He began to stir, his eyes fluttering as if trying to open.
Su Qing immediately forced a few drops of the gray liquid into his mouth. Very quickly, he sank back into a heavy, dazed stupor.
After waiting a moment, Su Qing whispered, "Did you set up an Array on Putai Mountain? Is your target... Hua Country?"
"Yes," the man with the neatly trimmed mustache answered with a nod.
’Just as I suspected!’
Su Qing’s fists clenched. She had to fight the urge to beat the man senseless. But to avoid raising suspicion, she suppressed her anger and asked several more questions, all of which he answered obediently.
Hearing his answers, Su Qing raised her eyebrows in surprise.
His answers were identical to what the woman, Qian Ying, had said that day. Su Qing also managed to learn the general location where they planned to act within Hua Country: somewhere in the Qinling mountain range. However, the man with the neatly trimmed mustache didn’t know the exact coordinates. In fact, not even the members of the Ye Yue Family or Shengchuan Family knew, as the final, suitable location would have to be scouted out upon arrival in Qinling.
The ones leading the expedition into Hua Country would be the Great Elders of the Shengchuan and Ye Yue Families. They were the most powerful Onmyoji in their respective clans. Because the site selection within Qinling was so critical, the task naturally fell to the most capable individuals from both families.
The Array they were setting up was incredibly powerful. If it were to be successfully activated, the consequences would be catastrophic.
’These people from Japan... their wicked ambitions truly never die!’