Chapter 602: Chapter 601: Calculation Error
"Brother Fan, it’s been a year and you still look as charming as ever."
Li Changde was the first to greet him.
This Fan Wuqian was extremely aloof, but since he had saved his life in the past, he regarded him as a close friend.
"Brother Li, you flatter me."
Fan Wuqian first smiled at Li Changde, then turned his eyes towards Sun Wei and Shi Xiaole, lingering on Shi Xiaole for quite some time: "I guess this must be the famous Young Hero Shi who is rising to fame recently. Even a nobody like me, have heard of your great name."
"Swordsman Fan is too kind."
Shi Xiaole responded with a laugh.
The group entered the Fan Residence.
Fan Wuqian, knowing that the three were coming, had arranged a very lavish banquet, not only filled with exotic luxuries but even the wine was the top-grade Intoxicating Red Dust from the Flying Horse Dynasty.
During the banquet, there was continuous casual conversation. Fan Wuqian not only reminisced with Li Changde, but also kept initiating conversation with Shi Xiaole, showing great hospitality as the host.
"Brother Fan, actually, I have come here to ask for a favor."
After the third round of drinks, Li Changde said hesitatingly.
Fan Wuqian waived his hand: "Haha, Brother Li, what’s our relationship? Just say it straight."
"Well... Brother Fan, do you still remember the Vitality Locking Vine you once showed me? Young Hero Shi needs it urgently. If it’s convenient for you, could you part with it? Don’t worry, if you have any conditions, you can discuss them with Young Hero Shi."
Fan Wuqian’s expression changed slightly, but quickly returned to normal. He sighed, "Brother Li, you are not aware, someone has already taken away that vine." Turning to Shi Xiaole, he said, "Sorry, Young Hero, you are a step late."
Shi Xiaole just smiled and said it didn’t matter.
Li Changde asked, "Do you know who took it away?"
Fan Wuqian seemed to hesitate, suggesting they not dwell on such disappointing matters and urged everyone to continue drinking. Since he was the host, Li Changde did not want to press him too hard and kept his doubts to himself.
After the banquet, Fan Wuqian personally led the three to their rest area. Then he hurriedly left the backyard and entered an inn with a few abrupt turns.
As soon as he entered, he angrily asked, "Where did you take my son and daughter?"
Thump!
The master of Red Rock Altar pushed Fan Wuqian to the ground with one foot.
The Wolf Head Man grinned, "Your son and daughter are safe for now, but what happens to them next depends on your behavior, Master Fan."
Fan Wuqian’s face turned from pale to red in quick succession. He showed expressions of anger and humiliation. In the end, he closed his eyes in desperation and said, "Li Changde came to ask for the Vitality Locking Vine on behalf of Shi Xiaole."
Everyone looked at each other. The Vitality Locking Vine was indeed precious, but its effects were somewhat mediocre. They could not figure out why Shi Xiaole wanted it.
The Master of Red Rock Altar angrily asked, "How did you respond?"
"I excused myself, saying it had already been taken away by someone."
Things become precious when they are rare. Fan Wuqian regarded Li Changde as a good friend, but having to part with the Vitality Locking Vine was something he was very reluctant to do, so he evaded the request during the banquet.
As for Shi Xiaole’s favor, Fan Wuqian lived his own life and did not care about it at all.
The masters all grinned at each other sarcastically. A fine friend indeed.
"Master Fan, continue to keep an eye on them, especially this Shi. If anything goes wrong, hehe, don’t even think about seeing your son and daughter again in this life."
The Wolf Head Man waved his hand irritably.
Shi Xiaole was more difficult to deal with than Bai Zhanmei. With nine of them, they did not have a full confidence to take him down.
Fan Wuqian on the ground struggled, and finally gritted his teeth, "Are you saying if I help you deal with Shi Xiaole, you will let my children go?"
The expression of the Wolf Head Man changed, squinting his eyes, "If you really have a way, I, the Master, swear by my martial arts heart, I will not harm them." As he said, he unexpectedly made a vow in advance.
After all, such oaths were irrelevant. If it were not for controlling Fan Wuqian, he wouldn’t care about the life and death of his children.
Fan Wuqian said, "You have been reluctant to act, evidently very wary of Shi Xiaole’s prowess. In this case, why not use a scheme of driving the tiger to swallow the wolf."
"What do you mean by driving the tiger to swallow the wolf?"
"Years ago, the mother of the leader of the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect was poisoned by a villain and was at death’s door. She once sought a particular medicine from me and was very grateful to me afterwards. I might simply put the blame on him, and let Shi Xiaole go and find trouble with the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect."
"On the other hand, I will secretly give the Vitality Locking Vine to the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect and tell the sect master that someone is trying to force me to hand over the Vitality Locking Vine and ask him to protect it. In this way, even if the two sides meet, they will definitely not be able to clarify the situation."
Fan Wuqian said.
Everyone in the room had goosebumps. This old man was exceptionally treacherous and ruthless.
"Idiot! With the power of Shi Xiaole, how can the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect stop him?"
The master of the Red Rock Altar angrily reprimanded.
At this point, the Wolf Head Man surprisingly spoke, "This is what you don’t know. Hundreds of years ago, the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect produced a genius who reached the rank of Limit Supreme Lord at the age of sixty. It was later said that he died in an ancient relic. But according to internal information from the Three Talents Association, this person is not dead at all and is still hidden within the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect."
Another master frowned, "The plan seems feasible, but what if Shi Xiaole doesn’t believe it and investigates with the Divine Strategy Academy?"
"Don’t worry about that. I, the Master, will take action in advance to keep the intelligence organizations in the Heavenly Twin City from revealing this matter."
Whether it was the Divine Strategy Academy or other intelligence organizations, because they have so many branches, unevenness was inevitable. Even the various branches would engage in grey transactions from time to time for their own interests.
"Alright, in this way, the probability of us capturing Shi Xiaole goes above half."
The Wolf Head Man shook his head and chuckled, "No! A few days ago, I had already notified the Northern Forest branch, I believe they will arrive soon. If necessary, they can assist us, and even though we have to share the credit, the success rate... "
"One hundred percent!"
The eight altar masters all burst into hearty laughter.
The skilled practitioner from Heavenly Twin Swords Sect alone was enough for Shi Xiaole to handle. When the time comes, their Yundai sub-sect will ambush from outside, striking when the opportunity arises, then the big plan will be settled.
Retreating ten thousand steps back, even if Shi Xiaole didn’t go to the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect, their two sub-sects combined, with more than a dozen Limit Supreme Lords and Top Supreme Lords working together, they would have more than enough force to take down the opponent.
Of course, it’s best if the other party goes, otherwise they have to invite members of the North Forest Sub-sect to step in, and at that time they could at most claim half of the merits.
...
"Brother Li, do you think this swordsman Fan is a loner?"
Inside the room, Shi Xiaole asked Li Changde.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
Shi Xiaole fell silent.
From the performance at the banquet today, Fan Wuqian seemed to pay special attention to himself, which is not like the behavior of a loner. Could he be overthinking?
For the next few days, Li Changde occasionally mentioned the Vitality Locking Vine. All of which redirected by Fan Wuqian. Until the three gave up and decided to leave, Fan Wuqian suddenly brought it up.
"I didn’t want to hide it from you, Brother Li, but these past few days I’ve been restless because of the Vitality Locking Vine. I feel really sorry for you. But, I have a difficult secret to tell, I’m afraid that it might cause some stir if it gets out."
"Brother Fan, what on earth is going on?"
Upon hearing there’s a catch, Li Changde hurriedly asked.
"Are you aware Brother Li, who took the Vitality Locking Vine?"
"Who?"
"It was the Sect Master of the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect, Wu Mengqi. He somehow got the information about the Vitality Locking Vine, tried to forcibly take it several times, and I had no choice but to hand it over to him for the safety of my whole family."
When he said this, Fan Wuqian’s face showed a hint of barely suppressed anger.
Li Changde slapped the table, standing up in a rage, "How dare Wu Mengqi, relying on his power and influence, to commit such evil acts!"
Yet in his heart, he was actually pleased.
To be honest, Fan Wuqian’s hesitation initially made Li Changde feel quite embarrassed. It wasn’t that he was hell-bent on getting the Vitality Locking Vine. Some things were just better off being put on the table.
Now hearing Fan Wuqian’s tone, it seemed he didn’t mind giving away the Vitality Locking Vine. Li Changde naturally felt a surge of both gratitude and excitement.
Given Shi Xiaole’s strength, to retrieve the Vitality Locking Vine from Wu Mengqi’s hands would be a piece of cake.
"Young Hero Shi, I’m not a petty person, especially since you are Brother Li’s friend, which also means you are my friend. If you could retrieve the Vitality Locking Vine, I, Fan Wuqian, without hesitation, will hand it over."
Fan Wuqian let out a sigh of relief, as if he had been lifted a burden off his chest, and he looked more at ease.
Shi Xiaole looked thoughtful, and after a while, he said, "You can rest assured, this matter will be left to me."
"Hahaha, that’s good. I don’t have to feel guilty anymore."
...
Upon leaving the Fan Residence, Shi Xiaole entered several intelligence agencies, and thoroughly investigated a lot of information regarding the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect.
The data indicated that the whole Heavenly Twin Swords Sect had a total of eleven Dragon Gate Realm masters, with Sect Master Wu Mengqi having the highest cultivation, reaching the eighth level of the Dragon Gate Realm.
Years ago, Wu Mengqi did secretly enter the Fan Residence several times, seemingly with some intention. All these coincide with what Fan Wuqian had said.
However, Shi Xiaole still had some doubts.
Why did the other party kept silent at first and only spoke up after a few days? Was it truly to avoid suspicion? Shi Xiaole may have a strong sense of justice, but in reality, he was also a rather suspicious person and wouldn’t easily trust people.
In fact, discerning the truth was simple, he just had to use the Soul Capturing Skill on Fan Wuqian. However, it was against Shi Xiaole’s principles to do so.
Without hesitation, Shi Xiaole infiltrated the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect.
The Wolf Head Man and Fan Wuqian, who had calculated meticulously, missed the most important point—Shi Xiaole’s strength. To him, things were not complicated. He could see by himself.
"Who goes there?! Who dares to infiltrate my Heavenly Twin Swords Sect?"
As he approached the main hall, a large man in his fifties blocked the path. Behind him was a rather handsome middle-aged man, the Sect Master of the Heavenly Twin Swords Sect, Wu Mengqi.
Having been warned by Fan Wuqian earlier, Wu Mengqi alerted the ancestor in advance and waited here.
"Friend, it seems you’ve come to the wrong place."
Wu Mengqi said indifferently.
Shi Xiaole just smiled. The two thought they had discovered him, not knowing that he had intentionally let them find him. Drawing his sword, he aimed a stab at the tall man.
"You dare!"
The big man’s body lighted up with a silver glow, his spirit was even stronger than Bai Zhanmei’s by a notch. His hand swung twice, manifesting huge palm shadows that seemed to sweep everything aside.
However.
The sword light slid through the gaps of the palm shadows. The angle was so exquisite that it gave the big man the creeps, as he couldn’t believe there would be such a loophole in his move.
Clang!
The big man wanted to counterattack, but a piece of the sword tip was already at his throat, rendering him immobile.
"What..."
Wu Mengqi was stunned, unable to believe that the ancestor, who was nearly invincible in the Yundai region, was defeated by a young man with a single sword stroke.
