Chapter 1622: Borrowing a Knife to Kill

**Chapter 1606: Using a Borrowed Knife to Kill**

He Lingchuan replied while quickly writing a letter back to Ding Zuodong, saying, "Someone like Qingyang, at her age, wouldn't let personal emotions override the bigger picture. Right now, it's the King of Yao who doesn't want me to leave."

"Getting back to the main point, even if she hadn't mentioned it, I suspect Bai Ziqi might have made other discoveries at Peach Blossom Villa. He might be able to find things others couldn't." This had always been He Lingchuan's deep concern. "Now that Qingyang has seen through my disguise, once Bai Ziqi returns, the two of them will confirm each other's accounts, essentially solidifying that I am the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities. Given that—"

The mirror gasped. How many things did its master have to worry about every single day? Fortunately, it was just an artifact spirit; it only needed to hang on its master and live a simple life.

At this moment, Wan Qifeng came in to report, "The two distinguished guests have arrived."

He Lingchuan immediately rose to greet them, saying, "The commotion inside and outside the villa last night must have been amusing for you both."

Peng Yukui and Mao Gong, guests from Spirit Mountain, had only been at Spring Villa for two days when they encountered the refugee attack. They even helped by felling many refugees. However, they did not participate in He Lingchuan's subsequent departure from the villa with Zhao Song and other palace guards, nor in the encounter with Qingyang and other later events. These were not their concern, and since Peng and Mao were not yet familiar with He Lingchuan, they merely observed from the sidelines. Still, hearing that the battle scene by Peach Creek was particularly gruesome piqued their interest, and they specifically went to observe it that morning.

So Peng Yukui waved his hand and said, "It's a pity we missed out on the excitement outside the villa." Mao Gong, on the other hand, went straight to the point: "Island Master He, do you have any progress to share with us?"

He Lingchuan stood up, opened a sandbox, and pointed to the miniature landscape inside, saying to the two men, "This is a map from Tianshui City to Mangzhou. I just received intel that Bai Ziqi has already reached Fu'an River Estuary, so he'll arrive in Mangzhou in just a few hours at most."

The Yangshan Merchant Guild had informants at Fu'an River Estuary. Bai Ziqi's appearance was distinctive, and he traveled with a large retinue, making him easy to identify.

"Gentlemen, please look. This red line I've marked indicates the most likely route he'll take for his return journey from Mangzhou."

"Likely?" Mao Gong rubbed his fists. "How likely?"

"Over seventy percent," He Lingchuan explained. "Once Bai Ziqi finishes his investigation at Peach Blossom Villa, he'll likely be in a hurry to return to Tianshui City. The shortest route would be to board a boat at Fu'an River Estuary heading east, disembark at Zhuxian Pier, and then travel eighty li by road to Tianshui City."

"After leaving Tianshui City, he reached Mangzhou in only two and a half days. I estimate he took this route, so it's highly probable he'll return the same way, which is both energy-saving and fast."

Mao Gong simply said, "Good." But Peng Yukui remarked, "We're not familiar with this route."

Where Bai Ziqi would stay along the way, and where the best ambush points for Peng Yukui and his group would be—all of this was crucial information that couldn't be grasped without prior reconnaissance. He Lingchuan had already anticipated this. He pointed to the map and explained each location: where there were lakes, where there were towns, and where there were mountains, detailing them one by one.

In just two days, he had become intimately familiar with the terrain, knowing it like the back of his hand. Peng Yukui said admiringly, "No wonder we were specifically told to find you in the mountains. Island Master He, you truly are a polymath."

He Lingchuan humbly replied, "It just so happens that it's also a trade route for Yangshan."

"Does Island Master He have any other advice?"

"After seeing the terrain along the way, you two probably have some ideas already," He Lingchuan said. He Lingchuan pointed to a red dot. "I think this would be a good ambush location. What do you two think?"

The location he pointed to on the sandbox was Zhuxian County!

Peng Yukui stroked his chin. "I was thinking of the Fu'an River Estuary, meaning we'd follow them onto the boat and launch an attack by water."

Mao Gong added, "After entering the Yao Kingdom, we haven't made any moves. Bai Ziqi might think we've given up."

"He's a very thorough person; he'll factor in the threat you pose." Although these people had been pursuing Bai Ziqi all along, He Lingchuan believed his understanding of Bai Ziqi far surpassed theirs. "I've learned that the Yao court has assigned him additional guards, and the Miaozhan Heavenly Temple has also sent many skilled operatives to him. Therefore, a conventional attack would hardly be effective against him. If you were to engage him in ground combat—and I'm not looking down on you—you would be at a numerical disadvantage, and the Yao Kingdom's elemental force is also quite formidable; the smaller factions of the Blazing Gold Plain cannot compare to it."

When he had transformed into the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities to kill Xue Zongwu, he found Xue Zongwu to be a tough opponent. Besides his exceptional cultivation and martial arts, his elemental force was particularly troublesome. He Lingchuan even had to use the elemental force of the Great Wind Army to slay Xue Zongwu as planned. These Spirit Mountain people did not possess elemental force themselves, so they would naturally be at a greater disadvantage against the military guards assigned to Bai Ziqi by the King of Yao.

Mao Gong said flatly, "Unless these guards maintain absolute vigilance every single moment, we still have a chance to personally eliminate Bai Ziqi."

Over the past two days, He Lingchuan had subtly probed to learn about the strength of this group. The Spirit Mountain team consisted of about a dozen people, and Peng and Mao were not the main force. Although they were tight-lipped and didn't reveal everyone's information to He Lingchuan, they stated more than once that Bai Ziqi was no match for them. He Lingchuan could only conclude that these dozen or so individuals were extraordinary, perhaps even possessing trump cards for a devastating attack. Bai Ziqi was a Heavenly Palace Cloud Emissary, whose status in the Heavenly Palace, apart from the deities themselves, was second to none. How could Spirit Mountain send ordinary people to deal with such a major figure?

Peng Yukui then asked, "Does Island Master He have any suggestions?"

He Lingchuan lightly tapped a spot on the sandbox. "The journey from Peach Blossom Villa back to Tianshui City isn't long. As for convenient ambush locations along the way, I personally favor Zhuxian County."

That's where they'd disembark. Peng Yukui asked curiously, "Isn't it all by water? What's the difference?"

"From Fu'an River Estuary to Zhuxian County, they'll be traveling upstream. The weather this winter has been unusual, with continuous rain, preventing ice and snow from accumulating. The river waters are much more turbulent than in previous winters, so this leg of the journey will take twice as long as when Bai Ziqi arrived—that is, twelve hours." The Yangshan Merchant Guild used this route almost daily, so He Lingchuan knew it extremely well. "When they first set sail from Fu'an River Estuary, their vigilance will be at its peak. But after twelve hours, approaching their destination, people are bound to relax. An assassination at that moment would be unexpected."

The two exchanged a look and nodded. "We have methods for underwater assassination. Last time, we nearly took Bai Ziqi's life."

He Lingchuan clapped his hands. "Excellent! If this 'borrowed knife' plan could eliminate Bai Ziqi, then Spirit Mountain would truly be removing a major thorn from his side this time."

Peng Yukui pondered. "There's still a problem: before Bai Ziqi fled into the Yao Kingdom, including his Heavenly Palace attendants, he only had about a dozen people in total. They shared one boat, so attacking that single boat would have been enough. However, Bai Ziqi is returning to Mangzhou with great fanfare this time. As you said, his attendants and guard detail number over three or four hundred people. So, they must be traveling by a fleet of boats, right?"