Rising Winds Overseas – Laying a Bait and an Ambush

Chapter 567: Rising Winds Overseas – Laying a Bait and an Ambush

After returning to Twin Peaks Island, Madam Fan, with Han Li’s assistance, swiftly swept away all the cultivators loyal to Yun Tianxiao. Then she began to wait quietly in the market for his arrival.

Five days later, Han Li sat in the hall of the market, resting with his eyes closed, while Madam Fan sat across from him, her expression shifting unpredictably.

Just then, a streak of firelight flew in through the door. Madam Fan’s eyes brightened. She lightly beckoned with her hand, and the firelight shot into her palm.

A somewhat panicked woman’s voice emerged from the flames.

“Sect Leader, it’s bad! Besides Elder Yun, True Person Miaohe has also returned with him. They have already entered the market. Sect Leader, prepare yourself!”

“What? Miaohe is here too?” Madam Fan was shocked. She crushed the sound transmission talisman in her hand, her face turning extremely ugly.

“Miaohe of the Biyun Sect?” Han Li opened his eyes, his expression shifting slightly, but he quickly calmed down.

“If it’s not that old Daoist, who else could it be? There’s no backing out now. Yun Tianxiao’s people have already been completely purged. He only needs to stay in the market for a short while to notice something wrong.” Madam Fan said, her face ashen.

Then, seeing that Han Li still maintained a composed expression, she fixed her gaze on him, a flicker of hope rising in her heart.

Han Li noticed the woman staring at him in silence and gave her a sidelong glance, speaking with exasperation.

“Madam, what do you mean by looking at me like that? Are you hoping I’ll go and fight an Nascent Soul cultivator head-on?”

But truth be told, he wasn’t really panicking.

Since the one coming was neither Man Brutal Beard nor Wan Tianming, even if he couldn’t win, he could always just wash his hands of the matter and leave. Especially now that he had the Wind Lightning Wings magical treasure; he was more confident than before that he could safely escape from an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

If it were possible, he would of course still prefer to use the teleportation formation to return to the Inner Star Seas as planned. Therefore, even as he spoke these words, his mind was rapidly calculating.

But Madam Fan, upon hearing Han Li’s reply, turned pale. She stood rooted to the spot, momentarily at a loss.

Then, after a moment, Han Li’s eyes flashed with a cold light. He licked his upper lip and asked in a deep voice.

“What exactly is the relationship between Miaohe and Yun Tianxiao? If I suddenly killed Yun Tianxiao, would he definitely step in to avenge him?”

Hearing this, Madam Fan was stunned, but immediately grasped the implication and replied with surprise.

“What relationship can it be? That old Daoist only forced a connection with Yun Tianxiao by having him offer female cultivators from our Sublime Sound Sect as furnaces. Although he has been closer to Yun Tianxiao, if I were to promise him even better terms afterwards, he probably wouldn’t interfere in our sect’s affairs. But this only works if Yun Tianxiao hasn’t had the chance to cry out for help to him. Otherwise, that old Daoist might not be able to save face and would indeed intervene in our sect’s matters.”

“That’s enough. Later, you lure Yun Tianxiao alone into the next room. I’ll kill him in an instant. He won’t have time to call Miaohe for help. As long as you present a fait accompli of your rule, that old Daoist won’t say anything more. Then you can just use better conditions to win Miaohe over.” Han Li analyzed calmly for Madam Fan.

“Fine. We’re at this point now. We have to fight it out. Senior, you must go all out and eliminate Yun Tianxiao in the shortest possible time! I’ll wait in the farthest room from here. Leave the task of luring him to me.” Madam Fan was no ordinary woman. Forced to this extreme, she gritted her teeth and agreed.

Seeing this, Han Li wasted no more time. He quickly walked toward the side door of the hall. It led to a multitude of rooms of various sizes behind the hall.

As he reached the doorway, Han Li seemed to remember something. He stopped abruptly, turned back, his face dark.

“Sect Leader Fan. After I kill Yun Tianxiao, you won’t suddenly get the bright idea to expose my identity to curry favor with Miaohe, will you? Whether you have such a thought or not, I’ll give you a warning first. With my current means, even if I’m still no match for Miaohe, escaping from his grasp is an easy thing. When that time comes, what I might do… I trust you can imagine it. Consider this a word of caution, so that Madam Fan doesn’t let a moment’s rashness cause something unfortunate for both of us.” When Han Li reached the last few sentences, his voice had turned icy cold.

Madam Fan was taken aback. Her expression flickered several times before a bitter smile appeared on her face.

“You jest, Senior. How could I ever repay kindness with enmity? Besides, Elder Han is no ordinary Core Formation cultivator; I am well aware of that. Please rest assured. As long as Yun Tianxiao is eliminated, I will certainly not break my promise.” She said this with a solemn expression, then raised her hand and swore a poisonous oath.

Han Li listened, gave her a few deep looks, and then walked through the side door without looking back. After traversing a short corridor, he entered the very last room.

The room was slightly smaller, but otherwise similarly furnished to the hall.

With a flash of movement, Han Li arrived beside a rosewood chair and sat down. He then closed his eyes, restrained his aura, and completely suppressed his spiritual energy to avoid being detected by Miaohe and the others.

He was confident that with his late Core Formation cultivation, he could fool the spiritual sense of an early Nascent Soul cultivator. But this was still just his own guess.

Whether he could truly evade Miaohe’s perception… he was a bit uncertain himself. He could only do his best.

In the hall next door, Madam Fan was equally anxious.

Though she spoke as if she had full confidence in Han Li, in truth, she didn’t know if his abilities were truly sufficient to kill Yun Tianxiao in an instant.

True, he had shown his hand at the last exchange meeting. But she was well aware that it was mostly due to the element of surprise.

However, she was also a woman of deep schemes. Forcibly using her mental cultivation method to suppress the chaos in her heart, she sat down in the main seat, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and began to sip it slowly.

Through this action, she quickly regained her composure, her expression peaceful.

Just then, footsteps were heard from outside. A moment later, a Confucian scholar and a middle-aged Daoist wearing a robe embroidered with a white crane design entered one after another.

“Senior Miaohe, Elder Yun!” Madam Fan exclaimed, feigning surprise. She quickly set down the teacup that was at her lips and hurriedly rose to bow first to True Person Miaohe.

Miaohe merely nodded faintly, not saying a word, acting like a transcendent being.

But Yun Tianxiao, after entering the hall, swept his gaze around and frowned imperceptibly, a hint of suspicion appearing on his face.

“Why is Yunqin not waiting on the Sect Leader outside? Could she be slacking off? I will have to teach her a good lesson.” Yun Tianxiao returned the greeting briefly, speaking as if in great anger.

“Yunqin? She…” Madam Fan showed a hint of hesitation, glancing at Miaohe, pretending to be tongue-tied and uncertain.

“Sect Leader, Senior Miaohe is not an outsider. Just say whatever it is.” Yun Tianxiao was momentarily startled, but then put on an unhappy expression.

“Since you say so, I will speak frankly. Yunqin is currently receiving a rogue cultivator. He has a batch of Illusory Dream Stones he wants to sell to our sect. That girl insisted on negotiating with him personally, so I had to let her.” Madam Fan replied, also forcing an unhappy look onto her face.

“What? Illusory Dream Stones?” Yun Tianxiao had just turned to say something to Miaohe, but upon hearing this, his body trembled, and a joyful expression appeared on his face.

Upon hearing this, True Person Miaohe’s eyes also flashed with a sharp light, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Hmph! A fine disciple Elder Yun has, insisting on negotiating alone with the other party, not even letting me, the sect leader, observe.” Madam Fan said coldly, her face dark, as if she had been holding in a stomach full of grievance.

“Ahem… Yunqin has indeed gone a bit too far. But I don’t believe she did it on purpose. Sect Leader, where are they now? I’m a bit worried.” Yun Tianxiao coughed dryly a few times, brushing it off lightly. But then, turning to Miaohe, he said extremely respectfully.

“Senior Miaohe, please wait a moment. I will deal with this small matter first, and then we can continue our discussion about what we talked about on the road.”

“Since Fellow Daoist Yun has urgent business, feel free to attend to it. I will just sit here and meditate for a while.” True Person Miaohe smiled faintly, unconcerned.

Upon hearing this, Yun Tianxiao was overjoyed. His gaze then fell on Madam Fan.

“Elder Yun, follow me. I will show you the way.” Madam Fan said reluctantly, walking slowly toward the side door as if very unwilling.

At this point, Yun Tianxiao’s head had already been muddled by the good news of the Illusory Dream Stones. Seeing Madam Fan’s behavior, the last trace of suspicion in his heart vanished. He hurriedly followed close behind.

Miaohe, meanwhile, casually glanced at the backs of the two of them, then found a chair for himself and sat down grandly.

Ahead, Yun Tianxiao followed Madam Fan excitedly to the last stone room in the corridor. The door was tightly shut.

“Here. Have your discussion. After all, this sect leader can’t make any decisions at all!” Madam Fan snorted, pointed at the door, then turned around and walked back, seemingly full of discontent.

Seeing this, a cold sneer flickered across Yun Tianxiao’s face. He nonchalantly pushed open the room’s door and stepped inside.