Chapter 242: Lure Revealed

Soon, news that Young Master Bai Huaiyu would soon return to his Bai Family spread throughout the Lingwu Sect. Knowing the Ghost Official might target Bai’s son, the move by the Seven Clans was startling in its intensity. They not only gathered all seventeen Golden Core cultivators currently available to the clans for the escort mission but also heavily compensated for experts from the Leshui Sect and the Yun Huan Sect to join the protection.

Originally, this was meant to be conducted secretly. However, the sheer scale made concealment impossible.

In the end, the Seven Clans stopped wasting effort trying to hide it. Openly displaying their forces, they paraded out of the mountain in a grand procession.

Tiered immortal clouds and divine lights glowed, departing beneath the veil of the descending twilight.

At that moment, everyone was staring at that particular immortal cloud.

Even after it disappeared from sight, countless people anxiously racked their brains, awaiting news borne from that cloud.

Nobody was foolish; everyone understood the Seven Clans’ intent.

Though Second Young Master Fang had initially voiced the idea of using Young Master Bai Huaiyu to lure out the Ghost Official as a joke, it had to be conceded that, with no other leads, this was the only remaining method. Therefore, the entire Lingwu Sect waited, wondering if the Ghost Official would indeed strike at that cloud and if they could manage to capture him.

……

“The Seven Clans party has now traveled five hundred li. All remains normal. No signs of an attack by the Ghost Official!”

He Zhenzhang looked anxious in the side hall currently occupied by Fang Cun, frequently bringing updates. Several Elders from their Leshui Sect had also been invited by the Seven Clans to assist in Bai Huaiyu’s escort, giving them a reliable source.

“The Ghost Official isn’t stupid! Anyone can see it’s a trap! Why would he show himself?”

Meng Qing’er scoffed at the news He Zhenzhang brought back.

“Knowing doesn’t always help,” He Zhenzhang countered softly. “If the Ghost Official is dead set on killing that Bai scion anyway… That’s probably what the Seven Clans are betting on. Leaking that Bai’s son would enter seclusion for ten years upon returning home serves as a warning: miss this chance, and you get no other. Plus, judging by the power the Ghost Official displayed before, he’s probably close to Nascent Soul cultivation! Even with the convoy escort, he could still have a chance of succeeding if he really tried….”

“Even Fifth Uncle Xue died. Who dares claim the Ghost Official has to kill that Bai heir?”

Meng Qing’er remained dismissive.

As they argued, both subtly glanced in Fang Cun’s direction.

They were bickering partly to pique Second Young Master Fang’s curiosity and get him to probe further.

Fang Cun indeed satisfied their wish. He gently set down his scroll. “Being able to set this trap shows Young Lu Xiao isn’t half bad. He’s figured out the Ghost Official’s motive for killing.”

Seeing they’d sparked his interest, He Zhenzhang and Meng Qing’er were overjoyed. They hurried over and asked, “Will it work?”

Fang Cun smiled faintly. “Looks pretty shaky to me.”

……

“Young Master Bai Huaiyu has been escorted a thousand li away. The Ghost Official remains unseen!”

“The Bai Family’s Qi Refiners have also set out to rendezvous. They will meet within a day!”

“It seems the Ghost Official will not appear this time!”

Meanwhile, in another side hall within the Lingwu Sect, Divine Eye Young Master Lu Xiao, three Grand Elders from the Nine Immortals Sect, several Elders left behind by the Seven Clans, and Chief Warden Xue of the County Mansion were seated together. Compared to the trickle of updates reaching Fang Cun via He Zhenzhang, the flow of news here was relentless; a new report arrived here every few moments. Those assembled wore grave expressions, silently listening for a long time.

“Will they succeed?” Chief Warden Xue finally broke the silence, unable to restrain himself.

Lu Xiao glanced at him politely. “That depends on what you define as success!”

Chief Warden Xue snapped back angrily, “Success, of course, means capturing the Ghost Official!”

Lu Xiao shook his head gently. “The time for concealment has passed. Esteemed Warden, the game I set isn’t primarily focused on capturing the Ghost Official. If he strikes at Bai’s son, we win seventy percent. If he doesn’t, we still win fifty percent. Considering the Ghost Official’s terrifying power and mysterious background, securing even fifty percent satisfies me.”

“You…! Can’t you even tell the truth to me?” Chief Warden Xue was visibly agitated. Only Lu Xiao, the three Nine Immortals Elders, and a very few key figures knew the plan’s details.

Lu Xiao simply gave a courteous bow. “Too many voices risk leaks. Revealing it endangers stability. I beg the Esteemed Warden’s forgiveness.”

Chief Warden Xue gritted his teeth. After a moment, he asked, “Then at least tell me what counts as one hundred percent success!”

“For one hundred percent…?”

Divine Eye Young Master Lu Xiao and the three Grand Elders remained impassive, yet their thoughts subtly drifted. Unconsciously, their minds all turned to one location within the Lingwu Sect – a secluded side hall in the southwest corner.

……

“Young Lu Xiao’s thinking is sound. That outrageously conspicuous immortal cloud? A lure, yes; a trap, yes. He wasn’t truly banking on the Ghost Official attacking the cloud. Naturally, if the Ghost Official does strike there, he falls into the trap. But even if he doesn’t target that cloud, the Ghost Official has already lost half the battle. Still,” Fang Cun smiled as he spoke to He Zhenzhang and Meng Qing’er in his hall, “if you want the truly big show, you’ll need to look inside the Lingwu Sect.”

“Inside the Lingwu Sect?” He and Meng both were bewildered. “So many people escorted Bai’s son home; the sect is practically deserted now!”

Fang Cun grinned at He Zhenzhang. “Old He, if you’re free, why not take a walk through the Lingwu Sect? The southwest direction seems interesting.”

“Heh?” He Zhenzhang started, then quickly shook his head. “No way! There’s definitely a trap there!”

Meng Qing’er caught on first, whispering urgently, “You mean… that super showy immortal cloud wasn’t pretty-boy Lu’s real move? Right now, inside the Lingwu Sect, in the southwest… there’s an even bigger trap?”

Fang Cun nodded, still smiling. “The southwest is the emptiest, quietest part of the whole Lingwu Sect. It’s the easiest place to strike.”

He Zhenzhang frowned, thinking hard. “Who lives over there?”

Many esteemed guests remained at the Lingwu Sect. The Duskblade Sect Leader had arrived late, looking somewhat sheepish. Disciple groups from the Leshui and Yun Huan Sects were present. Several County Mansion Wardens and Divine Generals had also stayed. All these were prominent figures who resided in suitably grand halls. The desolate southwest corner only housed lower-status individuals with humble cultivation levels.

“Could some powerful figure be secretly hiding there?” Meng Qing’er guessed. “And that person is the Ghost Official’s real next target?”

Fang Cun chuckled. “Moving a big name so overtly now would be too obvious. I doubt he’d do that. Maybe that person’s status wasn’t that high to begin with?”

Meng Qing’er tilted her head, perplexed. She turned and slapped He Zhenzhang out of frustration, then said to Fang Cun, “Honestly, I don’t understand. Just tell me plainly. Will pretty-boy Lu’s double trap — the overt and the hidden one — actually manage to draw out the Ghost Official?”

Fang Cun thought for a moment. “Yes.”

Both He and Meng’s faces instantly lit with intense excitement.

BANG!

At that exact moment, panicked cries suddenly erupted outside the hall. Someone yelled, “The Ghost Official has shown himself!!!”

……

“What? The lure worked? He really came out?”

He Zhenzhang and Meng Qing’er were astounded. Even the Little Fox practicing calligraphy nearby couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw her brush aside and scrambled frantically to the hall entrance on all fours. Climbing onto He Zhenzhang’s shoulder, she strained her eyes toward the southwest.

In their line of sight, the far southwest direction — where the empty courtyards and thinnest spiritual aura were — suddenly erupted with towering surges of power! It was as though countless burrowing beasts had burst from the earth! Glowing runes and the massive light of the Mountain Protection Array descended from the sky instantly, sealing off that building complex completely and flawlessly.

“So that was the real trap…” He Zhenzhang muttered, nervously swallowing. They could witness the commotion unfold, but the distance was too great and their cultivation too low to discern the specifics clearly.

“Draw out the Ghost Official?”

Fang Cun, seated calmly behind them, smiled. “Drawing him out was always possible. But…”

Before his murmur faded, intense disturbances arose over the southwest halls, like pouring cold water into hot oil. Following the surge of powerful auras came a wave of confused shouting and furious roars, tinged with unmistakably startled panic. It didn’t sound like a fierce battle had erupted to capture a target, but rather… an unexpected loss of control.

“The Ghost Official?!” “What happened?! Did they get him?!” Ying!!

The Little Fox, He Zhenzhang, and Meng Qing’er, though mere spectators, were intensely wound up. They felt just like gossip-loving onlookers!

“No need to look.”

Fang Cun’s light voice cut through. “Most likely… they failed.”

……

“How could this happen?” Voices echoed angrily within the Lingwu Sector now wrapped in night, crowded around an unremarkable side hall in the southwest. The gathered individuals, brimming with cultivation power or wielding formidable Magic Treasures, stared at the scene before them with fury and rising terror. A deep, chilling dread seemed to seep out from their very bones.

Inside the hall, another person lay decapitated. Beside the body stood the chilling Decapitation Order.

Their plan had worked. The Ghost Official had indeed been successfully lured.

He had appeared. Killed someone.

Then vanished.