Feng Lintao was a very clever person. He had manipulated humankind, manipulated the holy lands, had faked his own death, and had then made a clean escape. He was also very cautious. After faking his own death, he faked his death again in order to erase all tracks leading to him.
And yet... he was still quite a tragic figure. Xu Qing and Erniu were using him as bait, all while Yue Dong was trying to reel him in like a fish. There was no other way to explain it than by saying that Feng Lintao was fated to be both bait and fish at the same time.
With that dual identity, he sped across the Gray Sea Region toward the north of Revered Ancient. He wanted to take advantage of the war between Revered Ancient and the holy lands to slip unnoticed into the frozen north. There, in the frigid ice, he would cultivate the legacy of Grand Emperor Fardark. He was confident that, given his talent and the preparations he had made, he would have a high chance of success.
The only sad thing is that I didn’t get much of that holy fardark nectar. With some more of it, my chances of success would have surpassed seventy percent!
Taking a deep breath, he accelerated, shooting off into the distance.
A few days later he passed over the border of the Gray Sea Region. Skirting the Imperial Region, he went through Firemoon territory as he left the east. Things were chaotic, and Feng Lintao was a bit jittery. He ran into various mutant beasts and grues. But being as careful as he was, he got through all of the situations safely. He was being very protective of his fleshly body. Add in the fact that he believed himself to be in a safe situation, he didn’t do anything risky like before.
High above, Xu Qing and Erniu noticed the change, and were happy that things seemed to be going a lot more smoothly.
After the most recent instance of Feng Lintao faking his death, they had to lock onto his new position again and race to find him. Seeing that Feng Lintao was now taking good care of himself caused Erniu to flash a pleased smile.
“Little Fengy is finally putting our hearts at ease. Is it that bad to just be a nice little piece of bait? What's the point of all the silly rigamarole? Did he ever take the time to consider the feelings of the person we’re fishing for? That’s why I have no choice but to say that this Feng Lintao is a far cry from us! I mean, look at how obedient we were when we were acting as bait!”
Xu Qing glanced at Erniu and thought back to everything that happened in the outer sea. Considering what had played out when Erniu opened his mouth back then, Feng Lintao wasn’t too bad at all. At the very least... he wasn’t causing terrifying gods to pop up or getting them devoured by a gigantic beast.That said, Xu Qing always took his Eldest Brother’s feelings into consideration. Therefore, he didn’t quibble. And thus, the two of them remained concealed in invisibility as they followed the bait and waited for the fish to get hooked.
***
Another five days passed.
That was when things changed for Feng Lintao.
Previously, the Devilbird holy land had canceled the death warrant they put out on Feng Lintao. After all, he had been assassinated. But now, they issued the death warrant again! Along with the issuance of the death warrant came a dharmic decree. It was a public announcement that King Birdslayer of humankind, a traitor to the holy lands, wasn’t actually dead. He had faked his own death and escaped to parts unknown!
The news caused an immediate stir in the east. After all, thanks to all of the work the humans had done to put Feng Lintao’s name on the forefront of the war effort, he was extremely famous. And his death had enraged the humans. But now... the holy lands were saying that Feng Lintao had faked his own death!
The entire thing seemed absolutely bizarre. Outsiders had no way of knowing what was true and what wasn’t.
The death warrant came with a huge bounty that piqued the interest of countless cultivators. Anyone who earned the reward would get a chance to become an Imperial Sovereign! Species from both Revered Ancient and the holy lands could get the reward, as long as they killed Feng Lintao. All of the holy lands spies that were under cover in Revered Ancient were now on the move, looking for Feng Lintao.
Different forces throughout Revered Ancient reacted differently. That said, most seemed angry and dispatched people to stop an actual assassination from happening. As for what their true goals were, only they knew. The humans seemed very angry, and they immediately started investigating the matter. As the war outside of the spell formation continued, forces within the spell formation scattered to look for Feng Lintao.
The ones who were suffering the most were the people involved.
The jumpy Feng Lintao didn’t feel safe at all now, and had to be increasingly careful.
When Xu Qing and Erniu heard the news, they exchanged a glance.
“Come on, fish,” Xu Qing said, “bite!”
Erniu licked his lips, and his eyes glowed with blue light. “Interesting. This announcement from the Devilbird holy land could mean different things.... Was it the doing of Lan Yao? Or did the holy land leaders make the decision? Do they really want to kill Feng Lintao? Or... is this a case of beating the grass to startle the snake?” ℝ𝐚Nǒ฿ЁS̩
Xu Qing looked down into the mountainous region where Feng Lintao was fleeing. Eyes narrowing, he coolly said, “When I was a kid, I would catch snakes by beating the grass . When the snakes are hidden, they’re hard to snatch. But when you beat the grass and startle the snake , they’ll crawl out into the open. Then you can just pick them up.”
Erniu frowned thoughtfully. “This whole thing still seems suspicious, though. The Devilbird holy land could have sent this news to its agents secretly. Why are they making such a big deal out of it...? We need to think long and hard about this situation, little Ah Qing. Something definitely seems off.”
Xu Qing thought about it for a moment. “We need to put ourselves in his shoes, Eldest Brother. If I was Feng Lintao, and I was in this situation, what would I do...? For one thing, I would worry that something was going on behind the scenes. And if I was being hunted like this, I would find a good opportunity to fake my death again in front of everyone. I’d do it as many times as necessary, and I would give them time to be convinced of the results. And what that means is that my biggest need would be time.”
Erniu’s eyes lit up with understanding. “That makes sense. In that case, it would make sense that the Devilbirds actually want Feng Lintao to do that. Given Feng Lintao’s paranoid personality, he would definitely act like the startled snake , and would react in kind. Therefore, the real question is what purpose the holy land has for pushing Feng Lintao into faking his own death again....”
As the words left Erniu’s mouth, he looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked back at him. Both of them came to the same answer at the same time.
“Feng Lintao has a third clone out there!” Xu Qing said. “And most likely, Yue Dong and Lan Yao know where it is. Either that, or the holy land itself knows.”
“Exactly,” Erniu said. “And whether it's the holy land or Lan Yao and Yue Dong, the goal is for Feng Lintao to die and then be resurrected in his third clone. When that happens, he’ll fall into their hands! They’re manipulating Feng Lintao with his own paranoid nature! The more paranoid he gets, the harder it will be for him to see how they’re setting him up!
“He’ll come up with all sorts of suspicions and theories that he’ll think are beyond his control. And in the end, he’ll want to gain the initiative again. To be in control. Given that, I bet he's going to show his face soon. He's definitely not going to stay in hiding.”
As everything clicked into place for them, they started making plans for what to do next.
***
Feng Lintao really was paranoid to the core of his being. A few days later, he was still moving in concealment, and he was moving a lot more slowly.
His paranoid nature was really starting to show. When he encountered anything even slightly suspicious, he would blow it out of proportion and create a whole series of contingencies to deal with it. And the more contingency plans he created, the more suspicious things he noticed. The interconnections only continued to grow more and more complex....
On the sixth day, Xu Qing and Erniu realized that it would be easy for Feng Lintao to stay out of sight. But even as the search for him widened, he decided to show himself!
He did it in a clever way that made it seem like he had been successfully plotted against.
The moment he revealed himself, he started fleeing like mad. Then he used a number of different methods to cover his tracks behind him. But clearly, that wasn’t enough. People almost immediately locked onto his position, and thus, a big chase began in Firemoon Darkheaven territory.
The chase lasted for eleven days.... At that point, just as Feng Lintao was about to make it across the border between Firemoon Darkheaven territory and the south of Revered Ancient, he was stopped. He seemed exhausted and overwhelmed with despair, to the point where he looked crazy. He fought bitterly, but the outcome was predetermined. Though he killed many of his enemies, in the very end, one of the holy land’s spies cut him down.
Feng Lintao had died again!
***
In the cave in Fardark County, the red mark on Feng Lintao’s third clone was just about to go completely dark. But then, it flared brightly. The clone’s eyes opened.
An instant later, his face fell, and he lunged backward. At the same time, a cold snort echoed out as the middle-aged cultivator who had been waiting there reached out with his hand. Rumbling filled the cave as spell formations and other measures activated to prevent Feng Lintao from escaping. In an instant, he was bound in place.
There was also a gravitational force that latched onto Feng Lintao’s fleshly body and dragged him toward the middle-aged cultivator.
The middle-aged cultivator grabbed him by the neck and glared at him, his eyes burning with abhorrence.
“You finally showed up, Fellow Daoist Feng.”
Feng Lintao’s face drained of blood as he stared at the unfamiliar cultivator. He had never seen this person before, but he could sense something familiar about him. The abhorrence in his eyes matched the look and tone of voice that Yue Dong had used in the past.
Feng Lintao wanted to speak, but the man’s hands were clamped onto his neck like iron pincers, to the point where he couldn’t make a sound. His cultivation base was fully sealed, and the only thing he could do was wait to die. He suddenly realized what was happening. He knew why the Devilbird holy land had made that announcement about him, and he also realized where he had slipped up!
“Your paranoid nature is a strength,” the middle-aged cultivator said coldly. “But it’s also a weakness.”
Keeping Feng Lintao in his grip, he turned and left the cave. Once outside, he sped off into the distance.
***
It was currently sunset, and the light of evening filled Fardark County with peace and calm. The only movement came from the middle-aged cultivator as he sped across the landscape. There was something that cultivator hadn’t noticed. Specifically, there were a host of invisible threads coming off of Feng Lintao. They represented karma, essence, and fate. They led off into the distance until they reached Xu Qing and Erniu, who were following them at high speed.
Erniu was using his essence-tracing ability, and his eyes were shining. “The fish is finally hooked!”
The dao lineament in Xu Qing’s right eye glittered as he looked at the thread and coolly said, “This fellow is also very cautious. And he’s only a small fish.”
“Yeah,” Erniu said with a grin, “but follow the little fish, and you’ll find its owner soon enough. Little Ah Qing, why do you think Lan Yao and Yue Dong have worked so hard to target Feng Lintao this way? Do you think he has some sort of treasure we don’t know about?”
Erniu’s eyes narrowed, and he licked his lips.