Someone was expanding farmland on Qiu Luoye’s territory, not even a mile away from Li Banfeng and Ma Wu’s plots.
Ma Wu had a look of helplessness on his face. Li Banfeng wore a puzzled expression. He couldn’t figure out Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan’s attitudes. In the past, just for the sake of Pioneers, the two Local Deities had gone to war directly, which baffled Li Banfeng. Now, Qiu Luoye was going to lose his temper over the Pioneers again.
"Old Five, why do Local Deities care so much about Pioneers?"
Ma Wu stroked his chin. "I’ve seen this in books before. The books do say that where there are people, there are gods, but they don’t explain why."
Li Banfeng heard this saying for the first time: where there are people, there are gods.
Ma Wu couldn’t think of a strategy. "Now that Lu Xiaolan is starting farmland on Qiu Luoye’s territory, it’ll be troublesome if Qiu Luoye protects her."
Li Banfeng also felt it was a tricky situation. "If Lu Xiaolan has come up with this, she must have someone guiding her."
Ma Wu stood up. "It doesn’t matter who’s behind her; we can’t let her drive a wedge right into our heartland. I will keep an eye on her starting today. As soon as Lu Xiaolan shows up, we’ll immediately take her down."
「That night」
Ma Wu took Xiao Chuanzi and Ah Qin with him and lay in ambush at the predetermined location near the farmland that Lu Xiaolan was working on. According to Ma Wu’s plan, whether Lu Xiaolan was involved in the expansion or wanted to play landlord, they would kill her before she entered the land.
The first day passed without a glimpse of Lu Xiaolan; only several Pioneers entered the land. Lu Xiaolan did not do the work herself; she had hired others.
Ma Wu really wanted to kill all of these Pioneers, but Ah Qin stopped him. "Wulang, if you kill every Pioneer you see, aren’t you still provoking Qiu Luoye?"
Xiao Chuanzi suggested, "Why not wait until the expansion is over to make a move?"
Ma Wu frowned. "If we wait until the expansion is over, she’ll just hide back in the land once she sees us. It’ll be even harder to act then. The head of the household often comes to check on the expansion. Sometimes they even have to throw some food, water, and herbs onto the land. I think Lu Xiaolan will show up in the next couple of days."
Three days of land expansion went by, and Ma Wu had been in the wild for three whole days, but Lu Xiaolan did not appear. Xiao Chuanzi also kept watch. It wasn’t too hard, but Ma Wu had his cultivation practice to keep up with. Xiao Chuanzi had to listen, observe Ma Wu’s practice, and stand guard, which was somewhat exhausting.
During those three days, three Wandering Monsters came to inspect the area. Their strength wasn’t bad; you couldn’t say Qiu Luoye was taking it easy. But all three Wandering Monsters were defeated.
The first was a Scorpion whose pincers could snap a tree as thick as a bowl. The Scorpion entered the land and didn’t come out, presumably dead inside. The exact details of the fight were unknown to Ma Wu.
The second Strange Monster was a stalk of Bamboo that lasted the longest, enduring a whole day, until time ran out and it lost through attrition.
The third to enter the land was a deer, which also stayed a whole day. However, it was in worse shape than the Bamboo, emerging from the land with a broken horn and a dazed stumble.
Ma Wu noticed a pattern; he had seen this method of land expansion before.
"Private detective Da Boyins! This is his usual tactic: lay spider webs over the land first, then hide himself, wait for prey to be caught in the web, and launch a sudden attack with venom, before winning with a single strike."
This was Da Boyins’ signature move and the foundation of his reputation as an expert in land expansion. Da Boyins’ venom was most effective against creatures that resembled animals, especially insects. However, his tactic was less effective against plants, which is why the Bamboo lasted till the end. Plant-like Strange Monsters were actually what Da Boyins liked to encounter the least. But even when this Bamboo showed up, Da Boyins still managed to prepare the land—such was his strength.
Three days had passed, dawn was breaking, and the land had been successfully expanded.
As he thought about it, Ma Wu suddenly felt a chill. He glanced at Ah Qin beside him.
"Let’s go, back home first." Ma Wu reacted quickly and immediately left the hiding spot.
The moment the four of them left their hiding place, a strand of spider silk tripped Ma Wu, sending him stumbling.
"Nobody move." Ah Qin steadied Ma Wu, squatted down, and looked around. She was trying to determine Da Boyins’ hiding place when suddenly, a woman’s voice reached her ears.
"Fifth Brother, you were looking for me."
Lu Xiaolan! Ma Wu’s hair nearly stood on end. He hadn’t expected to finally encounter Lu Xiaolan after three days of waiting, only for her appearance to scare him this much.
Xiao Chuanzi pulled out five Signal Firecrackers, snapping them one by one. The fourth one finally ignited. A burst of flame shot up into the sky.
Ma Wu shouted, "Ah Qin, run!"
"Wulang, don’t panic!" Ah Qin grabbed Ma Wu and leaped to the side. A web of spider silk sprayed toward them. Ma Wu dodged it, but Xiao Chuanzi wasn’t so lucky; Da Boyins caught him and tied him up like a rice dumpling.
"Chuanzi!"
Ma Wu wanted to go back to save him but was held back by Ah Qin. "Don’t just move around; we’re surrounded by webs!"
Ah Qin squatted on the ground, her two antennae swaying back and forth, seemingly still unaware of where the enemy was. Actually, Ah Qin had already seen Da Boyins; she was deliberately pretending to search for him. Da Boyins was right above them, a strand of spider silk slowly descending.
Without a hint of emotion, Ah Qin placed her front two hands on the ground while her middle two hands stealthily reached her waist, drawing two Throwing Darts. Her back legs gathered strength, ready to leap at any moment. Her tactic was to first launch a stealth attack with the Throwing Darts to force Da Boyins to dodge, and then to intercept him midair once he left the treetop.
The tactic was extremely clever, but the moment Ah Qin pulled out the Throwing Darts, she made a slight noise—the sound of the darts scraping against the Dart Pouch. This sound was very faint, yet it did not escape Lu Xiaolan’s ears.
"She’s seen you!"
This was the most annoying part of battling a Peeping Cultivation practitioner; any little movement couldn’t be hidden from their surveillance. Yet, even now, Ma Wu still didn’t know where Lu Xiaolan was.
Da Boyins made the first move, hanging by a spider thread, and left the treetop.
Ah Qin was forced to change tactics, leaping straight up to intercept him in midair.
Mid-flight, Da Boyins was clearly not as fast as Ah Qin. As they neared, Ah Qin drew her Short Knife, ready to strike Da Boyins down, only to be suddenly hit from behind. She plummeted rapidly, crashing to the ground.
CACKLE! CACKLE!
The assailant hadn’t used their hands; they used their tongue.
Zhuo Yuling was beneath the tree! She had extended her tongue, striking Ah Qin in the back and snatching her from midair to the ground.
The moment Ah Qin hit the ground, Zhuo Yuling twisted her body, her long tail whipping her Peach around to stab directly toward Ah Qin. This was Zhuo Yuling’s killing move, capable of piercing Ah Qin’s body with ease.
Ah Qin stepped on Zhuo Yuling’s tongue and leaped again, narrowly evading the attack. Zhuo Yuling swung her long tail again, continuing the pursuit. Ah Qin beat her to the punch, nailing one of the Throwing Darts into Zhuo Yuling’s Peach. It was a precise hit; as Peach was arched up, the dart struck right in the center.
Zhuo Yuling, in severe pain, caused her tail to veer off course. Ah Qin dodged another disaster but was then bitten in the back by Da Boyins. With that bite, Ah Qin’s body went limp. She fell to the ground, shouting to Ma Wu, "Wulang, run!"
Zhuo Yuling pulled the Throwing Dart out of the bullseye; its barbs tore out a large piece of flesh and blood. This minor injury wasn’t much to her, but Ma Wu’s gaze abruptly swept across Zhuo Yuling’s eyes, using Charm Art to force her blood to flow downwards.
SPURT!
The bullseye bled profusely. Zhuo Yuling covered it, crying out in shock. She hadn’t expected Ma Wu to have such a ruthless tactic. The more agitated she became, the fiercer the bleeding, and for a moment, she could hardly stand steady.
Da Boyins spat out a web to wrap Ma Wu up. Ma Wu couldn’t dodge and was also tied up like a rice dumpling.
Da Boyins approached Ah Qin, ready to slowly wear her down. Ah Qin was poisoned, like an insect in a spider’s web, with almost no chance to free herself. And she was under the constant surveillance of Lu Xiaolan.
One shouldn’t think that Lu Xiaolan couldn’t launch an attack; she excelled in Martial Arts and possessed Spiritual Objects and Magical Treasures.
In such a situation, the fight seemed over. Da Boyins just needed to wait a little longer, let the poison work a bit more, and he would be able to kill Ah Qin without fail.
In her dizziness, Ah Qin still wanted to save Ma Wu. she despaired.
Suddenly, she heard Lu Xiaolan shout, "Hurry up, someone’s coming!"
Just as Da Boyins was about to finish off Ah Qin, he felt a slight tremor in the ground.
"Who’s coming?" Da Boyins was highly sensitive to vibrations.
Lu Xiaolan looked around for a moment. "It’s a Bagworm Moth. Hurry up and get moving!"
Da Boyins’ eight eyes flickered at once, and his eight legs trembled together. His body twitched uncontrollably.
Zhuo Yuling, holding her Peach, said, "Big Bin, what are you waiting for? Hurry up..."
Ma Wu glanced at Zhuo Yuling once, and her bullseye bled again.
At the same time, Da Boyins leaped up. No longer concerned with anyone else, he quickly disappeared into the night fog.
"Big Bin! Spider Bin!" Zhuo Yuling called out several times but received no response.
The Bagworm Moth was getting closer. And another person, running even faster than the Bagworm Moth, was about to arrive.
"Mother, what should we do?" Lu Xiaolan asked.
"Let’s go!" Zhuo Yuling grabbed Lu Xiaolan, and they disappeared into the night.
「Soon after」
Li Banfeng arrived quickly, removing the spider silk from Ma Wu and Xiao Chuanzi. Yanzi also came. Looking at Ah Qin, she sneered, "What a useless woman. What’s the use of Little Brother bringing you along?"
Ah Qin lacked the strength to argue, lying on the ground, unable to get up.
Ma Wu looked at Li Banfeng and whispered, "Someone sold me out. There’s a traitor in our territory!"
PS: Who is the traitor?