Chapter 1245: A Plan Is Emerging, The Wind is Rising

But why would the Taoist of Sleep know about all this? That was because the Taoist of Sleep was one of the Three Elders of Taisui Mountain. The Three Elders of Taisui Mountain were the highest people in charge in Taisui Mountain besides Ghost Taisui himself. They were all Great Truemen and named warriors on the Earth Champions Ranking. They were also the ones responsible for planning Ye Qing’s ambush and capture. Naturally, the Taoist of Sleep knew it all.

Today’s operation was not part of Ghost Taisui’s plan and order, however. It was just the Taoist of Sleep’s selfish actions.

As mentioned before, the Taoist of Sleep was a believer of the rich becoming richer, and the poor poorer. He was completely selfish and pursued the Great Way solely for his own sake. The reason he joined Taisui Mountain was purely for his own benefit, not because he was truly loyal to Ghost Taisui. Naturally, he wouldn’t care about the Sage’s order or plan. That was why he acted privately and tried to kill Ye Qing for himself.

Alas, the Taoist of Sleep was too smart of his own good. His plan actually backfired on himself.

Of course, this was good for Ye Qing. It was all thanks to the Taoist of Sleep that he learned about Taisui Mountain and Westwind Inn’s conspiracy. Otherwise, he might really be in serious danger.

For this operation, Taisui Mountain had dispatched over thirty warriors including the Three Elders. There were four Great Truemen and two Great Grandmasters, and everyone else was a Trueman or a Grandmaster. Without exaggeration, this was almost the entire bulk of Ghost Taisui’s elites.

Westwind Inn wasn’t holding back either. They had mobilized four Shopkeepers and over forty Accountants. That was four Great Truemen and forty plus Truemen and Grandmasters.

Put together, the ambush party gunning for Ye Qing totaled ten Great Truemen and Great Grandmasters and over seventy Trueman and Grandmasters. A good number of them were named warriors on the Earth Champions Ranking as well. This line-up could have threatened even the Half-Sages on the top thirty or top twenty of the Earth Champions Ranking.

“They sure think highly of me!”

Ye Qing let out a self-derisive snort, though his tightly-knitted eyebrows betrayed his worry. Back at the Kunlun Ruins, he had screwed over the Ghost Taisui massively. Some time later, he had offended the Westwind Inn as well. It made perfect sense that neither party was going to let him go. However, this ambush was on a scale that was beyond even his imagination.

What really got Ye Qing thinking was Ghost Taisui’s strange behavior, however. Specifically, why had he requested he be captured alive instead of killed? Killing someone and capturing someone alive were not the same thing. The latter was much harder than the former. This was doubly true for a Great Grandmaster who mastered both the body and the mind like him. To make a comparison, the price one had to capture someone like him was, at the very least, several times greater than just killing him outright.

And yet, Ghost Taisui made it crystal clear that he would not cooperate with Westwind Inn if they refused to agree to this condition of his. To this end, he even promised them a massive amount of benefits including the Earthly Sovereign Bell. This meant that Ghost Taisui was willing to give up even the Earthly Sovereign Bell just to capture him alive. It made little sense to Ye Qing.

He did not think that Ghost Taisui wanted to capture him alive was purely because he wanted to torture him for the grievous injuries he had dealt him. A Sage could be vengeful, but this would be a level of pettiness that even a thoughtless child would be embarrassed by. Besides, who in their right mind would stake most of his troops and promise their partner an obscene sum of wealth just to torture him? No, it made no sense at all. Ghost Taisui had to be coveting something. But what?

Was it the Earthly Sovereign Bell? Obviously not. He already promised it to the Westwind Inn.

The Annon Sutra? That was equally impossible. He had kept the vellum a perfect secret to this day. No one knew about it.

Could it be Nanke? No, that was the item the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas wanted. It had nada to do with the Ghost Taisui.

What about the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra”? Nah, Ghost Taisui was already a Sage. Whatever martial art he was practicing, it could not possibly be lousier than the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra”, so why would he give up so much for something that was of equal value at best?

Maybe the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”? That couldn’t be right. Just like the Annon Sutra, Ghost Taisui had no idea he had—

Wait

.

Realization struck Ye Qing like a thunderbolt then. It was true that Ghost Taisui did not know that he possessed the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”, but someone else did.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

A grave expression slowly surfaced on Ye Qing’s face. “Could it be... Xuanyuan Kun?”

If there was anything on his person besides the Earthly Sovereign Bell and the Annon Sutra that was deserving of the Ghost Taisui’s attention, it would be the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”. However, Ghost Taisui had given up on the Earthly Sovereign Bell, and he had no idea that the Annon Sutra existed. A famous detective once said that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. All things considered, the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” was the only item that could be tied to Ghost Taisui.

It wasn’t a direct tie, of course. There was a figure at the center of the connection—the Kunlun celestial, Xuanyuan Kun.

In fact, there was a high chance that Xuanyuan Kun was still alive. Specifically, Ye Qing believed that Xuanyuan Kun had attached himself to Ghost Taisui and arrived at some sort of agreement with the Sage.

Xuanyuan Kun was possibly the only one who knew about the existence of the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” and the fact that he had practiced it. That was why he desperately wanted to possess him and become reborn through his body.

However, Xuanyuan Kun could not be reborn if he was dead. This would explain why Ghost Taisui invested and gave up so much just to capture him alive.

Ye Qing could not help but lick his lips when he thought until this point. His heart was filled with a sense of crisis.

If his opponent was just Ghost Taisui, then it would’ve been fine. Although Ghost Taisui was a Sage, the man had sustained quite the grievous injuries back at the Kunlun Ruins. There was no way he had already fully recovered in such a short time.

Xuanyuan Kun though, that was a completely different story.

Xuanyuan Kun was a descendant of the celestials and the former ruler of Kunlun. He was an old monster who had lived for heaven-knows-how-many-thousand-years. Even if he was grievously injured right now, even if he didn’t possess even a-tenth of his strength, a dead camel was still heavier than a horse. That was why he could not help but worry about it.

“If Xuanyuan Kun isn’t dead, what about Xuanyuan Xin? Is she clinging to life as well?”

Ye Qing immediately thought of another celestial, Xuanyuan Xin, and felt a throb because of it. Although there was no direct conflict between him and Xuanyuan Xin, the female celestial was sworn enemies with Xuanyuan Kun. Xuanyuan Kun desired to revive himself through him, and there were two ways Xuanyuan Xin could stop this. One, she could simply kill Xuanyuan Kun. Two, she could kill him. Since Xuanyuan Xin had no idea where Xuanyuan Kun was right now, it was very possible that the woman would go after him instead.

“What a pain!”

Ye Qing’s headache got worse when he thought until this point.

“Screw it. I’m going to leave that problem for future me and focus on the present one first.”

Ye Qing rubbed his forehead. There was one silver lining to this situation, and that was the fact Ghost Taisui and Xuanyuan Kun had not entered the battlefield themselves. This probably meant that they were still recuperating. So, he should focus on solving the joint ambush of Taisui Mountain and Westwind Inn first.

A moment of thinking later, Ye Qing slapped the Hidden Dragon of Sleep and Dreams underneath him. Light flashed, and the creature transformed into the Taoist of Sleep.

“What are your orders, young master?”

The Taoist of Sleep saluted Ye Qing and asked respectfully after he appeared.

Instead of answering, Ye Qing tapped the Taoist of Sleep on his forehead.

A multitude of expressions flitted across the Taoist of Sleep’s face before he said again, “I understand.”

“Make sure that no one discovers this,” Ye Qing ordered.

“As you command, young master,” the Taoist of Sleep responded.

“Alright, I’m leaving now. Follow the plan. I will contact you myself if necessary.”

With that said, Ye Qing’s figure slowly disappeared into nothing.

“See you later, young master.” The Taoist of Sleep saluted deeply.

After Ye Qing was gone, the Taoist of Sleep slowly opened his eyes in the real world. He took his time rubbing his drowsy eyes and stretching a little before disappearing into the darkness.

At the same time, Ye Qing opened his eyes in the Maple Leaf Courtyard and cracked a devilish smile.

“Taisui Mountain, Westwind Inn... I hope you’ll love the pleasant surprise I’m about to give you.”