Chapter 1194: The Scheme

A few minutes before this.

Song Qi and Ma Shier were just about to arrive at the venue when suddenly, an old man appeared directly in front of them.

The two almost crashed into the old man because they couldn't brake in time.

"Huh?" Ma Shier stopped and stared in shock at the white-robed elder. "Bai Hu… what the hell..."

Song Qi furrowed his brow and asked cautiously, "What do you want…?"

"I..." Bai Hu stood with his hands behind his back, looking as if he had something to say but was struggling to get it out.

"Sorry," Song Qi said after waiting for a few seconds, "We're really in a hurry right now. If you're here for revenge on behalf of Xuan Wu, I can come find you later."

Bai Hu was amused by Song Qi's words and chuckled. "Come find me later? What do you mean by that?"

"Yes," Song Qi nodded. "I have somewhere I absolutely must go and people I absolutely must save. If I make it out alive, I'll come so you can kill me with your own hands. If I don't survive, it will indirectly fulfill your wish anyway. Is that acceptable?"

Bai Hu looked at Song Qi with great interest and then asked, "Why should I believe you?"

"Because my name is Song Qi," Song Qi replied. "That name guarantees a completely fair deal in Zhong Yan Zhi Di."

"Good kid," Bai Hu smiled and nodded. "Looks like I came here for the right reason. It's good to meet another person with 'Bao Ran' like me."

Seeing that he wasn't moving aside or attacking, Song Qi and Ma Shier exchanged glances. They were extremely anxious but didn't dare to act out.

"Bai Hu," Song Qi stepped forward and said seriously, "If you can't let us pass here, then at least give us a quick end. Otherwise, we won't be able to face our teammates alive."

"Don't worry," Bai Hu shook his head. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Oh...?"

"Before Xuan Zi died, she kept pointing in the direction you left," Bai Hu sighed softly. "I was worried that might have been her final wish, so I wanted to follow and see for myself. Otherwise, I might regret it someday."

"So... you're here to help us kill Zhu Que?" Song Qi asked directly.

"Of course not," Bai Hu said. "Zhu Que and I were colleagues, after all. I won't take direct action this time—I can only offer some indirect help."

"You've already told us about Zhu Que's eye location, haven't you?" Song Qi said. "We're grateful for that information. If you could just get out of the way, we'd be even more thankful."

"I told you about his eyes... but can you win with that?" Bai Hu turned his head and asked.

"Well, that's true, but standing here isn't going to win it for us either," Song Qi replied. "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

Bai Hu pondered for a moment and then said, "Song Qi, three eyeballs—how do they control four abilities?"

"Um...?" Song Qi was slightly taken aback, then thought for a while before asking, "Duo Xin Po, Yue Qian, and Zhi Kong—what's the fourth one?"

"I see... good thing I came," Bai Hu turned around slowly with his hands behind his back. "I'm prepared to tell you the ultimate secret about Zhu Que, but it's still going to be tough for you. Whether you can kill him or not will depend on your wisdom."

Song Qi sensed that Bai Hu wasn't just stalling—he really had some key information.

"Wisdom is something we're ready for," Song Qi said. "Killing a 'Shen Shou' isn't about brute force anyway—it has to be through Ji Mou."

Bai Hu nodded, then stepped closer and whispered a few words right by their faces. Both Song Qi and Ma Shier were stunned.

The information Bai Hu shared was so abstract that even knowing the truth, they couldn't grasp the principle.

"The three eyes in his mouth represent three kinds of 'Hui Xiang'... and his own two eyes represent the fourth ability...?" Song Qi muttered.

"That's right."

Ma Shier scratched his head after hearing it. "This is messed up... Zhu Que doesn't have 'Zhi Kong', but he has 'Kui Lei' and 'Hun Qian'... this..."

"'Hun Qian' is rare," Song Qi said. "What kind of ability is that?"

Before Bai Hu could answer, something dark appeared from the street corner, catching the eyes of the three.

It was a four-limbed, hollow ladies' suit that had been crawling through Zhong Yan Zhi Di for who knows how long, covered in dust and bloodstains.

It looked like a monster, a ghost, an insect—anything but clothing.

Bai Hu chuckled lightly, slowly bent down, and extended his hand toward the black suit. The suit seemed to notice something and used its edges to propel itself, jumping to Bai Hu's side in a few moves. Then, it sniffed his palm with its collar.

"What a wonderful creature..." Bai Hu laughed. "This is 'Hun Qian'."

"This is... 'Hun Qian'?" Song Qi felt even more confused.

"What the hell is this thing...?" Ma Shier stared at the suit in terror, his skin crawling. "You 'Shen Shou' guys have some weird pets..."

"I've said all I can," Bai Hu said. "If you can use this information to kill Zhu Que, then it means it was his fate."

Song Qi frowned and quickly thought through strategies, but with so little known information, he couldn't come up with a way to kill Zhu Que right away.

'Hun Qian' literally meant transferring the soul to something else, so did Zhu Que have that ability too?

Would he transfer his own soul to...

"Song Qi," Bai Hu interrupted his thoughts and asked, "What do you think... is your only advantage right now?"

"Our only advantage..." Song Qi paused. "It should be that I know Zhu Que's weakness."

"No..." Bai Hu stepped closer, his dry lips curling into a smile. "Your only advantage now is that 'Zhu Que doesn't know that you know'."

Song Qi was startled. "That makes sense..."

"I've said my piece—good luck," Bai Hu stepped back and vanished into the distance, leaving only the black suit writhing on the ground.

"Damn that old fox..." Ma Shier said to Song Qi from behind. "He might as well not have said anything. Now we're even more clueless about what to do... I mean..."

Song Qi lowered his head and stared at the strange suit, his expression grave as he recalled what Bai Hu had just said. Suddenly, a bold idea came to him.

"Shier... are you afraid of death?" Song Qi asked.

"...?" Ma Shier was stunned. "Qi Ge, what kind of question is that...? We've been fighting together for years, and now you're asking if I'm afraid of death?"