Chapter 949: Escape Has No End

Chapter 939: Endless Escape

The sisters were in perfect sync. Madam Zhu also felt its gaze and immediately said, “He Lingchuan is right, this isn't difficult at all. If that person named Yu comes, we’ll team up and take him down!”

Unfortunately, a spider couldn’t roll its eyes. Madam Zhu Er ignored it and turned to He Lingchuan, asking, “How do you plan to deal with the people from Beijia?”

“Don’t rush, let me ask you something.” Its tone was a bit irritable. He Lingchuan placated it. “Why didn’t the Beijia team that discovered you attack you directly before?”

“They’d need the ability to do that,” Madam Zhu Er retorted crossly. “Fifteen people breaking into my home? That’s just asking for trouble, isn’t it?”

The leader named Yu led his team in guerrilla warfare against it and mobilized nearby monsters and official forces, but dared not confront it directly.

As He Lingchuan had said, it was a wolf pack’s harassment tactic.

The most important task for this Beijia detachment was to stake out, keep a close watch on Madam Zhu Er, and create all sorts of trouble for her.

“Let me ask you again, if this team discovers you’ve moved to the Yangshan Archipelago, what will they do next?”

“Stake out, investigate.” It wasn’t easy to adopt a human perspective. Madam Zhu Er pondered deeply. “And then look for opportunities to harass me again.”

“The premise for them to do that is that you’re isolated and helpless,” He Lingchuan pointed out directly. “But here, you have Madam Zhu.”

Madam Zhu puffed out her chest: “That’s right, little sister, don’t be afraid, you have me!”

In a one-on-one fight, she could beat her sister black and blue. If even the person named Yu didn’t dare directly attack her sister, wouldn’t it be easy for her to deal with him?

He Lingchuan smiled at them both: “And you have me.”

Madam Zhu Er remained silent.

Is it really that simple?

“First, Pan Si Island is, after all, an island, surrounded by water and far from the mainland. It would be inconvenient for the Beijia people to advance or retreat, unless they came and went by air.” He Lingchuan raised a finger. “The island is your domain. If they wanted to play their ‘group attack’ tricks again, they wouldn’t be able to hire other monsters to do their bidding.”

“Second, Pan Si Island is very close to Dragon Ridge Island. There are Yin Hui patrolling the sea. Anyone who wants to land on the island without good reason will first have to get past the Yin Hui.”

“Third, neither Dong Rui nor I will stand idly by,” He Lingchuan said earnestly. “I won’t, my many subordinates won’t, and the entire Yangshan Archipelago won’t! Madam Zhu Er, from the moment you moved to Pan Si Island, you’re no longer alone.”

“Well said, that’s exactly what I was thinking.” Madam Zhu scratched her belly with a claw. “What are you afraid of, little sister!”

Madam Zhu Er was somewhat moved, but a spider’s face couldn’t show expressions.

Is this He kid trying to take her under his wing?

After all these years, had she finally joined an organization?

“That’s quite a boast,” she said faintly. “Aren’t you afraid Beijia will just snap you like a twig with a single finger?”

He Lingchuan clasped his hands behind his head, stretched forward, and indeed, two cracking sounds could be heard.

“Like this?”

“Be serious,” Madam Zhu Er retorted crossly. “If you shelter me, aren’t you afraid of exposing yourself?”

“Of course, I’m afraid.” As soon as he talked about himself, He Lingchuan leaned back against the large rock, resuming his relaxed posture. “But should I do nothing just because I’m afraid?”

He still had goals, he still had a vision, he still had ambitions. How could he stop here?

He Lingchuan said to Madam Zhu Er, “Didn’t the person named Yu say it? Those whom Beijia wants to hunt down can’t escape, even if they flee to the ends of the earth. You’ve even retreated behind Mu State, and they can still find you.”

“They’re looking for me only to force me to reveal your whereabouts,” Madam Zhu Er worried. “If I move here, won’t Beijia suspect you?”

He Lingchuan smiled: “So what if they suspect? Can they find concrete evidence?”

Madam Zhu interrupted: “Wait a minute, this isn’t a court case. Does Beijia need evidence to suspect you?”

“No, they don’t.” He Lingchuan shrugged. “Let’s follow this train of thought: if Beijia suspects me, what will they do?”

The spider demon sisters said in unison this time: “They’ll deal with you!”

“Specifically, how would they do that?”

Both spiders fell into thought.

Such a powerful nation facing an individual truly exerted a terrifying, overwhelming pressure. Even ancient great demons like them felt deep apprehension, and an ordinary person’s first reaction would surely be, “It’s over, I’m dead.”

But He Lingchuan was already far from Beijia and behind Mu State. So if Beijia wanted to deal with him, how exactly would they go about it?

“I am now the lord of the Yangshan Archipelago; I have territory and influence.” Even if his power wasn’t vast yet, the distinction between having it and not having it was clear. “If Beijia wants to act against me, there are only three methods: surprise attack, deploying troops, or inciting nearby forces.”

“From our geographical location, ‘deploying troops’ can be immediately crossed out. It’s almost impossible.”

Both spider demon sisters hummed in agreement.

There is no land connection between Beijia and the Yangshan Archipelago. To get here, they’d have to deploy a fleet.

More importantly, this is deep within Mu State’s territory. If Beijia brought its army here, it would be equivalent to declaring full-scale war on Mu State.

Currently, the battles between the two nations could still be described as minor skirmishes and conflicts. Both sides were fighting sporadically; how much effort had they truly exerted? Would Beijia fully escalate the war for the sake of one He Lingchuan?

To pick up sesame seeds and lose watermelons—the Beijia Demon Emperor didn’t seem that foolish.

“That leaves only surprise attacks and inciting nearby forces, just like what they did to Madam Zhu Er before,” He Lingchuan continued his analysis. “First, regarding the surroundings, the forces near the archipelago are only Bailie and Qing State, and at most, Ya State. But Ya State is still separated from us by Bailie.”

“We are isolated overseas, not bordering any of them at all. These three forces cannot reach us. Furthermore, regarding the Yangshan sea area, ha, they all know it well. It’s a place with malevolent energy and Yin Hui; anyone who comes here will have to think twice.”

“So that leaves only one last method: surprise attack,” Madam Zhu quickly answered, full of confidence. “We’re not afraid of that!”

“Indeed, we’re not afraid of that,” He Lingchuan smiled. “A mighty dragon can’t overpower a local snake. This is our home ground. If they want to use force here, they’ll have to think very carefully. Even if they employ divine descent, you sisters together would have nothing to fear. Not to mention, I also have an army of Yin Hui at my disposal, ready to be deployed at any time.”

“Furthermore, is divine descent such a casual matter?” He Lingchuan’s understanding of divine descent far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators. “Each divine descent consumes a significant amount of divine power. Which deity would be willing to pay for mere ‘suspicion’?”

He had set up his plan in the Coiling Dragon Desert, and the Heavenly Palace had dispatched the Duyun Emissary, which showed their considerable attention.

Yet He Jing couldn’t even summon a divine avatar.

He Lingchuan reviewed the situation afterward: Did He Jing still not want to summon a deity at the brink of death?

Of course not. The only explanation was that no celestial deity was willing to descend!

The year before last, Song Yu had summoned a divine avatar to descend in the Coiling Dragon Desert, but that divine avatar was devoured by the Great Square Jar.

That was a lesson learned.

Even when vying for a supreme treasure like the Great Square Jar, the celestial deities were reluctant to send avatars. Would they now easily expend their power just because “Spirit Void City suspects He Lingchuan”?

He Lingchuan had personally experienced the selfishness of the celestial deities.

“That’s why I just said, it’s very important that Beijia only suspects me and has no concrete evidence!” He Lingchuan understood the mindset of those in power far better than the two spiders. “If the evidence were irrefutable, and the supreme celestial deities ordered my capture, Spirit Void City might have no choice but to comply. But if it’s merely suspicion, and Beijia doesn’t want to pay a high price, they’ll naturally come up with many excuses to appease the celestial deities on my behalf.”

The art of making trade-offs, ultimately, boils down to cost.

In the end, it’s about whether it’s worth it.

“For example, I’m just the benevolent lord of this archipelago who took you in. How could I know what you did in the past? Just as Mu State kindly sheltered you before, did Mu State cause trouble for the Heavenly Palace and Spirit Void City?”

“I also shelter many other monsters on this island; I merely treat you all equally. How does that make me the mastermind behind the chaos in the Heavenly Palace?”

He laughed: “If they repeat these reasons enough, perhaps they’ll even start to believe them themselves.”

“Is that it?” Madam Zhu Er was still a little uneasy. “You’re the top target on Beijia’s most wanted list. Will Spirit Void City just let it go at that?”

“Openly, they won’t make a big show of it, but behind the scenes, there might be constant activity,” He Lingchuan smiled. “It doesn’t matter. As long as Beijia isn’t making a big public display, I’m not afraid of them.”

There was one thing he didn’t explicitly say: if Beijia wanted to launch a surprise attack on him, the best time would be on land. In the future, whenever he went to Blade Harbor, he would need to be extra careful.

“For Beijia to discover you, investigate me, stake me out, or deal with me, it will all take time and effort,” He Lingchuan added. “In other words, we still have time to grow and strengthen. Just a few months will be enough to give the Yangshan Archipelago a fresh look and an initial scale! Not to mention, if Beijia only sends a mere dozen people, even a few hundred wouldn’t be a concern.”

“Fundamentally, to directly confront Beijia’s threat, we need to become strong quickly ourselves,” he said, word by word. “If we are in charge, Beijia won’t be able to do anything to us.”

“Escape has no end. If we only think about escaping, we will eventually be caught.” He kicked a rock near his foot. “Why was my first step to take control of the Yangshan Archipelago? Only with our own territory and army can we protect ourselves and our allies.”

“Our secrets can’t be kept forever,” he said slowly. “On the day the truth is revealed, I hope we are already strong enough.”

For this, He Lingchuan would have to put in endless effort.

Both spider demon sisters silently pondered his words.

This kid really always has a plan and is always optimistic.

“Oh, and the Yangshan Archipelago is quite large; it can accommodate many monsters.” He Lingchuan asked the sisters, “Could you introduce some powerful and skilled monsters to come here?”

The quickest way to enhance their strength right now was to recruit monster fighters.

Training an army, on the other hand, required slow, patient effort, and wouldn’t yield quick results.

Madam Zhu: “I’ve been asleep for so many years, I don’t know if any of my old friends are still alive. I’ll think about it thoroughly later.”

Madam Zhu Er: “If King Siwen in the Demon Den Swamp is still alive, I could try persuading him again. If you want him to come, there are also a few scattered monsters in the swamp who might be brought to the archipelago along with him.”