Chapter 1222: The Most Suitable Bait

"The spells used by these two leaders were very similar to those of the Xuanlu Fiend, so..." As a renowned Heavenly Master, he had his own methods of judgment. "I reasonably inferred at the time that the Bixia people had enlisted the help of the Howling Forest."

It turned out that the Xuanlu Ghost King had lost more than one clone recently, no wonder it urgently needed replenishment. He Lingchuan immediately said, "So, for the past half month, the Xuanlu Ghost King has been sending imps to prey on people around Rolling Stone Valley because the Bixia people failed in their assault on Jishi Village?"

"It's highly probable," Fu Liushan said, stroking his chin. "The Bixia's attempt to abduct people from Jishi Village was thwarted by you, making it difficult for them to organize another attack for a while. But Xuanlu has a large appetite, so it might have resorted to acting on its own, attacking more villages and towns."

He concluded, "As long as it hasn't recovered, it will continue to prey on people. You saved Jishi Village, so it will go to other villages and towns to kill."

"This Ghost King, in league with the Bixia, has caused us a great deal of trouble. Master Fu cannot stay on the battlefield indefinitely to help us find the Xuanlu Ghost King's clones," Situ Yu added. "It's also preying on people indiscriminately behind the front lines, causing immense panic and disrupting civilian life. By now, it truly cannot be tolerated."

When human power rises again, conflict with the great demons and fiends in the surrounding areas is inevitable. This seems to have become a law of the Shimmering Gold Plains. In the past, when the Kingdom of Julu prospered, it promptly eliminated the White Bear King; similarly, the Kingdom of Yao also dispatched troops to encircle and suppress the Three-Tailed Great Demon.

But even as Situ Yu spoke of "not tolerating it," the knot in his brow remained.

Fu Liushan finished his thought for him: "The Xuanlu Ghost King, how could it be so easy to deal with?"

This region had been in chaos for centuries, and the Xuanlu Ghost King had existed for centuries as well. Various factions rose and fell, ultimately returning to dust, yet only the Xuanlu King remained firmly entrenched in the Howling Forest.

If that fiend were easy to kill, would it still be around for them to deal with?

Dong Rui scoffed, "The power of this Ghost King is very useful in the Shimmering Gold Plains. Why don't you borrow its clones for battle?"

Both the Old Bo King and the Bixia people had sought out Xuanlu's clones, causing their elite combat power to surge.

Even if the number of such elite puppets was limited, they were incredibly effective at critical moments.

They feared neither death nor fatigue, and never betrayed.

"Xuanlu's clones are not lent out for free; the borrower must offer a large number of sacrifices, meaning living souls," Fu Liushan replied. "My family has observed such precedents through generations: once a borrower becomes accustomed to using Xuanlu's clones, Xuanlu's appetite grows larger and larger, demanding more and more living souls, otherwise it reclaims the clones."

"Past borrowers would prioritize sacrificing prisoners of war and people from enemy nations, but the Xuanlu Ghost King demanded too much. I heard the most exaggerated figure was that Xuanlu once demanded 500 people for a single sacrifice! After exhausting captives and criminals, borrowers could only sacrifice their own citizens, which led to indiscriminate arrests under various pretexts, and the more people were captured and sacrificed, the more easily it incited popular rebellion."

He Lingchuan recalled Nangong Yan, the Grand Commander of the Feathered Guards under Lord Bo. Xuanlu had planted a fiend clone within him, using it to control the Golden Feathered Guards.

They were executioners abhorred by gods and ghosts alike, feared and hated to the bone by the common people.

How many living people had they killed to feed Xuanlu? Probably no one knew the exact number.

Even if He Lingchuan hadn't intervened, he didn't believe Nangong Yan and the Old Bo King would have come to a good end.

Situ He stated unequivocally, "Inviting a ghost to possess someone is like cultivating a venomous creature; it's potent in the short term but fundamentally destructive in the long run! We absolutely cannot do such a thing."

Situ Yu glanced at his son. "Mr. He, we just barely secured a major victory this morning. I intend to press on."

He didn't elaborate, but to He Lingchuan, it seemed he had his sights set on Ju City.

The Bixia people in White Peak Town had been routed, leaving Ju City isolated for now. Situ Yu probably wanted to seize the opportunity, before enemy reinforcements arrived, to recapture Ju City in one swift strike.

Once recaptured, the morale of the Situ army would surge, and they would have more leverage to persuade neighboring forces to form alliances.

Situ He immediately volunteered, "There are still two families I haven't visited. I'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

His face was still pale from significant blood loss, yet he was full of drive, showing no signs of retreat despite his near-fatal encounter.

Time was pressing; injuries were no excuse.

Situ Yu saw the bruises on his face and the wounds on his hands. A slight pang went through his heart, yet he felt immensely proud.

He Lingchuan already knew that Situ He had been acting as an envoy, lobbying neighboring factions to join the Situ family against the Bixia.

As Situ Yu's only son, his identity was suitable for the task.

Previously, the Bixia had uncovered intelligence about his route and ambushed him midway.

Even so, Situ He hadn't been intimidated; instead, his resolve had strengthened, determined to complete his mission.

"As for the Xuanlu Fiend," Situ Yu continued, "Does Master Fu have any solutions?"

With his limited forces, it would be difficult to deal with the Bixia while simultaneously tackling the Xuanlu Fiend.

Besides, if the fiend in the Howling Forest were so easy to deal with, would it still be causing him such a headache now?

It was a dilemma.

However, the alliance between the Xuanlu Fiend and the Bixia had indeed caused significant trouble for the Situ family's crucial battles.

He genuinely wanted to eliminate this fiend.

"The Xuanlu Fiend has lost several clones and hasn't replenished them in time, so its main body's power has decreased," Fu Liushan mused. "Dealing with it now would actually be a good opportunity."

Dong Rui interjected, "How many clones does Xuanlu actually have?"

"Unknown."

"What if we lure it out of the Howling Forest?"

"It's very cunning; it usually doesn't come out," Fu Liushan pondered. "I heard that the entire forest serves as its eyes and ears; it knows whenever anyone enters. With such home-field advantage, it's very difficult for others to confront it within the Howling Forest."

Dong Rui was skeptical. "It's never come out?"

"How would I know? Does it need to report to me when it leaves the Howling Forest?" Fu Liushan rolled his eyes. "My father was able to make an agreement with it in the past because he possessed a powerful demon soul that Xuanlu coveted. But it wouldn't leave the forest to retrieve the soul itself, so it agreed not to prey on people in Jishi Village, exchanging that promise for the demon soul."

"Is it really such a homebody?" He Lingchuan glanced at Dong Rui. "You used to hole up in the Myriad Spear Swamp, not seeing outsiders for days. Under what circumstances would you leave the swamp and enter a town?"

Dong Rui used to be quite reclusive himself, sometimes not being seen for months when engrossed in experiments.

"To resupply, of course," he thought for a moment. "After staying in the swamp for too long, my palate would get bored, so sometimes I'd want to go into town for a good meal and taste some wok hei."

"Xuanlu is probably the same." How much could the habits of hermits differ? "Unless it's short on food, I doubt it would easily leave the Howling Forest."

Fu Liushan agreed, "It just so happens that it's lost several clones and urgently needs significant replenishment."

Dong Rui excitedly said, "That makes sense! So, shall we use some living people as bait to lure it out?"

"Uh..." Would that be sending lambs to the slaughter?

Situ Yu frowned. "That's not appropriate."

If he did that, how would he be any different from the Bixia people?

He Lingchuan stated matter-of-factly, "That thing's appetite is too vast; over a hundred living people probably wouldn't be enough."

The Bixia's sacrifices involved hundreds of people at a time.

Fu Liushan looked He Lingchuan up and down. "We need to find something it's truly interested in."