Chapter 180: Desperate Measure (Patreon)

“So we can count the upper northern market district out as well.”, Qingge summarized the report she’d just been given.

“I’m afraid so, yes.”

Qingge sighed.

“Thank you for your hard work. You may leave. I don’t think I have anything else for you to do today.”

The man, an aged cultivator at the upper end of the Soul Realization Realm, bowed politely before turning to leave.

They’d been systematically searching the sect for the place Elder Zhong’s daughter was being held captive. It hadn’t been an easy task, even though Elder Shi given Qingge permission to commit as much of the Enforcement Hall’s personnel to the task as she wanted. Above all else, it was the need for secrecy that had slowed them down. Officially, the investigations had been conducted for a dozen different reasons, from corruption charges to searching for smuggle ware.

For all their efforts, they hadn’t found anything. Qingge crossed the northern market off the once long list of potential locations. That had been the last spot on the northern mountain that had remained open. Her gaze swerved to the top of the list. Now, there was just one likely hiding-place left they hadn’t looked – the very first location that came to mind, but also the most difficult to actually check: the Healing Hall.

Qingge sighed again. She had dreaded this outcome from the day they had started searching.

If she’d had to hazard a blind guess as to where Elder Xia would hide a captive, it would have been either the Healing Hall or the Xia Family’s estate from the start. It was where any of the Xia Family’s members could come and go as they pleased without ever calling attention to themselves, and where she herself spent the most time. Since Elder Zhong had been able to tell her that the latter wasn’t an option, the Healing Hall had always been the most likely location.

Unfortunately, it was also among the most secure places in the sect. The need to keep the wounded safe in the event of a crisis meant that the formations protecting the Healing Hall were even more advanced than the ones surrounding even the pillar family’s estates. The whole purpose of the search Qingge had devoted so much of her preciously short time to conducting was making sure that they wouldn’t attempt such a thing in vain.

Two days. That was how much she had left until Master Wei would return to the sect. How much she had left before the peninsula’s greatest assassin would try her best to kill her. She shuddered.

She hadn’t been as surprised as Elder Shi when she had heard that her master was already on his way back. Elder Zhong wouldn’t have been ordered to kill her if his return wasn’t somewhat close at hand. Qingge thanked the heavens that she’d had the idea of letting Senior Lai warn him. Not only had it bought her time that might end up being of critical importance, it also let her plan more securely.

If it came down to it, Qingge wasn’t going to let herself be killed without putting up a fight. She would inform Elder Shi, who could get Elder Hui and Elder Lai involved as well. They could hunker down at the library, and defend themselves until her master arrived.

Would they all be willing to do that? Qingge didn’t know. Would they be able to prevent Elder Zhong from landing a killing blow on her? Qingge didn’t know either. But they could certainly try.

Even if she did survive, however, that didn’t mean Elder Xia’s plan would have failed. If Elder Zhong actually tried to kill her and several other elders fought to prevent it, that situation could easily spiral into an open war, regardless of the real reason it had started. The Xia Family might not come out as untouched as they were hoping, but the outcome would be catastrophic either way.

No. There was a reason Qingge had worked so hard to try and make sure Elder Zhong’s daughter was actually being held where she thought she was. They had to make this work.

The sound of the door to her room being opened drew Qingge’s gaze away from the paperwork in front of her.

“Elder Shi!”

She quickly rose to greet her closest ally in this entire ordeal as she strode into the room.

“Qingge. I hope I’m not disturbing you?”

“Of course not. I’ve just received the reports from the final investigations.”

She gestured to her desk.

“And?”

“Nothing.”

Elder Shi cursed under her breath.

“Then it’s the Healing Hall or the Xia Family’s estate, no?”

“I’d bet on the former.”, Qingge said decisively.

“Your reasoning?”

Qingge collected her thoughts for a moment. She’d decided to honor her agreement with Elder Zhong and hadn’t told Elder Shi of their meeting and the ultimatum she had been given, so she also couldn’t reveal that Elder Zhong had already searched the estate herself.

“It’s closer to the Training Hall. Elder Xia would have had to hide Liting away as quickly as possible after abducting her; every moment spent out in the open would risk being caught. To get to the Healing Hall from the Training Hall, you only need to go up the mountain. To get to the Xia Family’s estate, you need to get past several of the other families’ estates first. She wouldn’t have risked that.”

“Makes sense. And the Healing Hall is even more secure than the estate as well.”

Qingge nodded.

“And there’s constant rotation of visitors. Easy to let her guardians come and go as they please.”

“Good. Let’s hope we’re right, then.”

“We did our best to confirm. It’s not like we can have the Xia Family’s Estate searched.”

“And how do you intend to proceed now? Do we still go ahead and try to free Liting?”

“I believe it remains the best course of action. We can’t give Elder Xia the initiative anymore.”

“Elder Wei is going to return in only two days. Wouldn’t it be best to just wait for him?”

Qingge paused to think for a moment. Once again, she couldn’t give Elder Shi the real answer – that Elder Zhong would try to kill her, if they did..

“That would certainly give us the best chances, yes. But once master returns, he is immediately going to have to make his case about the true identity of the murderer, or he is not even going to be allowed to enter the sect. Would the patriarch let himself be pressured to let us search the hall controlled by one of his closest allies for evidence, when he doesn’t even have an interest in my master’s banishment being lifted?”

“I see.”, Elder Shi stated, nodding to herself. “You certainly have a point. If we want to properly preempt them, we have to do it now. Heavens, I hope Xinming turns out as clever a disciple as you… Tell me then, what do you think we should do?”

“If we try to make a direct attack, the deciding factor is going to be speed.”, Qingge began. “We’d need to wait until Elder Xia is somewhere as far away from the Healing Hall as possible, strike with enough power to break through whatever defensive formations protect Liting, then grab her before Elder Xia arrives. Other elders will quickly be on the scene as well, so she’s out in the open, Elder Xia won’t easily be able to retake her.”

“It’s possible this could work.”, Elder Shi confirmed hesitantly. “But it’s highly risky. It’s not that I’m against some direct problem-solving, but this could fail at any part of the operation. If we fail to break through the formations immediately, if we can’t find Liting quickly, if Elder Xia returns faster than we anticipated…”

“…We are in deep trouble.”

Qingge took a long breath.

“As I said, I’d much prefer a covert operation over a direct attack.”

“The problem being that neither of us can even approach the Healing Hall without being detected by its formations.”

“Exactly.”

Over the past weeks, Qingge had spent a lot of time contemplating how they could approach this issue.

“Elder Zhong might have a chance at doing so, but we know that she’s too afraid for her daughter’s safety to help us. Besides, Elder Xia is almost certainly having her closely monitored. Beside her, there is only one person in the sect who might be able to overcome these formations without being detected.”

No matter how often she had turned it in her head, she’d always reached the same conclusion. Elder Shi’s eyes widened as she understood what Qingge was implying.

“You are not actually thinking of enlisting his help.”

“I am.”, Qingge retorted. “And I’ll have to ask you to accompany me.”

Not a single cultivator in the sect, no, on the whole peninsula, could rival Elder Zhong’s ability for stealth. But they didn’t need to sneak up on a Dao Contemplation Realm Cultivator. They only needed to avoid being detected by the formations. And there was someone in the sect who could certainly help them with that.

Someone who just so happened to be Master Wei’s most bitter rival.

“I’d like you to ask for an audience with Elder Liang.”