The Game with Fairies

Under the cover of night, clusters of flickering campfires cast long shadows across the wilderness.

Outside Tianjiao City, the sprawling tents and campfires merged into a vast expanse of crimson.

Followers of the Blood Lotus Sect, with red headbands and lotus emblems, stood out distinctly in the darkness.

Tianjiao City, without a moat or even walls high enough to be considered formidable, relied on the combat prowess of cultivators.

In all the historical turmoil and strife, mortal armies hardly had the chance to enter the fray. Their sole value lay in serving the cultivators as shepherds to their flock.

Thus, even though Tianjiao City was one of the larger cities under the rule of the Demon Refining Sect, its walls were merely a few zhang high, hardly a formidable fortress.

A slightly stronger martial artist could easily scale these walls with bare hands.

To the tens of thousands of Blood Lotus Sect followers outside, the low walls were no different from a mere dirt mound.

Yet, so far, the Blood Lotus Sect had not launched a full-scale assault.

Tens of thousands of followers, clad in red armor and wielding steel weapons, simply encamped and surrounded Tianjiao City without attacking.

A massive banner stood outside the western gate of Tianjiao City, bearing the words 【By the True Lord Imperial Decree, Vanquish Demons and Exterminate Immortals】.

Even in the darkness, the characters were clearly visible.

This was the banner of the Blood Lotus Sect’s leader, representing absolute power outside Tianjiao City at this moment.

Underneath the banner, several figures hurried into the tent.

Liu Hucheng, one of the four great Incense Masters of the Blood Lotus Sect, lifted the tent flap and entered anxiously.

“Master, why haven’t we launched the full assault yet?”

Liu Hucheng had come from within Tianjiao City, where he was the first Incense Master to appear, acting as bait and orchestrating everything.

He and Nangong Ting operated within Tianjiao City, one overt and the other covert, one still and the other active, working together to stage this grand spectacle.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Eventually, they successfully trapped the Sect Master of the Demon Refining Sect and twelve Elders within Tianjiao City.

After Nangong Ting initiated her attack amidst the chaos, Liu Hucheng, who had been imprisoned, was released.

But as Liu Hucheng and his followers wreaked havoc in the city, breaking through several government offices and slaughtering many Demonic Sect cultivators, he received unexpected and terrible news.

–Nangong Ting, who had been acting with him in the city, had been captured by the Demon Refining Sect!

Upon learning this, Liu Hucheng did not linger.

He immediately gathered a thousand followers, causing chaos in the city, broke through the Demonic Sect’s encirclement, and led his forces out of Tianjiao City.

Now, he hurried to the leader’s tent, eager to understand why the full assault had not yet been initiated.

According to the original plan, once the blood mist engulfed the land and many of the Demon Refining Sect’s powerful figures fell into the trap of Tianjiao City, the forces outside would immediately launch a full assault.

In coordination with the thousand-plus people inside, they would level Tianjiao City and slay all the Demonic Sect cultivators within.

But by nightfall, Liu Hucheng, who had just fought his way out of the encirclement, losing two to three hundred lives in the process, found that the camp outside still surrounded the city without attacking.

Such inaction made Liu Hucheng both anxious and angry.

After settling his followers who had just fought their way out, he immediately took several close Banner Masters and rushed straight to the leader’s tent.

However, upon entering, Liu Hucheng did not see the leader, Fang Yingtian.

Under the dim light of an oil lamp, seated on a couch was a young girl in a white robe.

Despite the heat of the third month of summer, the girl was dressed in a thick, fluffy robe as if she were extremely cold.

Her black hair was tied behind her head, and beneath the bangs that fell across her forehead was a slightly pale and delicate face.

Seeing Liu Hucheng storm in angrily, the girl showed no surprise.

She smiled and gestured to the seat in front of her, saying, “Please take a seat, Uncle Liu. You’ve had a hard day.”

Seeing this pale-faced girl, Liu Hucheng’s initial fury couldn’t help but falter.

He hesitated for a moment, then sat down in front of the girl with a look of irritation, asking, “Why are you here? Where’s the leader?”

The girl before him was named Shen Yan, the leader’s right-hand woman.

Often, she could even represent the will of the leader himself.

Her presence here indicated that the leader had already left. Otherwise, she would not be the one in the leader’s tent.

Seeing Liu Hucheng’s impatience, the girl sighed softly and said, “The leader has left Tianjiao City and is leading forces to pursue those eight thousand cavalry.”

“The Elder Qi of the Demon Refining Sect is not an easy opponent. If we allow that Elder to lead the eight thousand cavalry to cause trouble outside, it would hinder our plans.”

“Therefore, the leader has gone personally to pursue them, aiming to slay all eight thousand cavalry and ensure that our plan is free of any future threats.”

Shen Yan spoke softly.

Yet Liu Hucheng was still dissatisfied, “But the leader’s departure doesn’t affect the siege, does it?”

“Right now, there are only fifty to sixty thousand soldiers in Tianjiao City with wavering morale, no match for our sect’s army of one hundred and sixty thousand.”

“If we launch a full assault, taking Tianjiao City would be a matter of moments!”

“Now that Incense Master Nangong has unfortunately been captured, we must break through Tianjiao City as quickly as possible to rescue her!”

“Moreover, several of those Demonic Sect Elders are still hiding in the city! If we don’t quickly take the city and find them, they might find a chance to escape too!”

Liu Hucheng was extremely eager.

Taking Tianjiao City and slaying the Demonic Sect Elders within was the most crucial objective of this operation.

It was already troublesome that several Demonic Sect Elders had displayed their powers and escaped during the day.

Now, the whereabouts of the other Demonic Sect Elders hiding in the city were unknown, and they must not be allowed to escape!

However, facing Liu Hucheng’s urgency, the pale-faced girl still shook her head.

She exhaled a breath of cold air, seemingly chilled, and warmed her hands over the brazier in front of her.

The girl then spoke, “We no longer have one hundred and sixty thousand.”

She shook her head, continuing to speak under Liu Hucheng’s astonished gaze.

“Now, there are only ninety thousand followers outside the city. It seems like more because I’ve used a deception technique.”

“I had the soldiers leave the camp through one gate, circle the city, return to the camp, then change their armor and banners before exiting through another gate to circle the city again.”

“This cycle repeats, pretending that we still have tens of thousands outside the city.”

“In reality, it’s just to intimidate the soldiers inside the city, a mere show of force.”

“The strongest battalions of our sect have already been taken by the leader and the others.”

“They have now left Tianjiao City to pursue and kill those fleeing elders. It is imperative to stop these escapees in the wilderness.”

“And two hours ago, our spies stationed outside relayed intelligence.”

Shen Yan looked at the astonished Liu Hucheng and slowly said, “During this upheaval, one of Yan Xiaoru’s direct disciples actually managed to escape.”

“And in just a few short hours, she escaped the area covered by the blood mist.”

“Two hours ago, she arrived at Bishui City, two thousand li away, with a white-robed female disciple and publicly revealed her identity.”

“By now, the entire Demonic Sect should be aware of the unrest that has occurred within Tianjiao City…”