Chapter 435: Assembly, Sea of Flowers

The elderly man and the young man wound their way through a maze of twists and turns, heading toward an unknown destination.

Sun Tang had no idea where Xu Xiaoshou was really going.

But judging by his demeanor, it didn't seem like he was actually heading off to relieve himself.

As for this fellow whom the little princess had instructed him to keep a close eye on at all times, Sun Tang felt a sense of bewilderment, not knowing how to even begin.

Clearly, this young man was no enemy.

Although Sun Tang hadn't appeared in the banquet hall, so he didn't know the relationship between Xu Xiaoshou and Fu Yin Hong.

Yet, just from the intimate actions between Xu Xiaoshou and Fu Yin Hong earlier, it was easy to infer that this young man would undoubtedly have significant ties with the chengzhu fu in the future.

Watching him like a spy watching an assassin?

Sun Tang didn't think so.

Perhaps what the little princess meant was for him to stay by Xu Xiaoshou's side at all times, to...

Protect him?

"Very well."

Sun Tang nodded vigorously, as if he had suddenly understood.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the old grandmaster, who had been sticking to him like glue all along without saying a word, almost merging into his body like a Saiyan. He felt a strange sensation.

Once the status bar's "under suspicion" notification ended, he figured the old man's inner turmoil must have reached its peak.

"Sun Lao?"

Xu Xiaoshou asked as they walked.

"Hmm?"

Sun Tang glanced back, not stopping his steps.

"From the way you and Xiao Hong interact, it seems you have a close relationship. Did you watch her grow up step by step?"

Xiao Hong?

A flicker of surprise crossed Sun Lao's eyes.

So, these two had already reached the point of using such nicknames?

And earlier...

It must have been them flirting.

"Heh, something like that."

The old man relaxed, his tone becoming much lighter.

"Wow, then you're not just a senior, but like a close elder!"

Xu Xiaoshou feigned great surprise, then said respectfully, "I'm Xu Xiaoshou, and I think it's necessary to get to know you properly... May I ask, what is your honorable surname, Sun Lao?"

Sun Tang stroked his beard and nodded with a smile: "My humble surname is Sun, Sun Tang..."

His words trailed off as he suddenly sensed something was off.

What was Sun Lao's surname?

The way you phrased that question...

His thoughts stalled subconsciously, and Sun Tang was about to turn his head to correct Xu Xiaoshou's wording.

But at that moment, a violent "bang" echoed through his bones from behind his neck.

Xu Xiaoshou had already struck with a swift chop of his hand.

"Urgh!" Caught completely off guard, Sun Tang's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Even so, years of ingrained muscle memory allowed him to mobilize his ling yuan in an instant, protecting his vital points.

That way, the chop didn't decapitate him outright.

"Not fainted?"

Xu Xiaoshou was surprised.

He had seized the initiative, and even though it looked like a simple strike, its power was no less than an ordinary grandmaster's ling technique.

After all, with his full passive skills boosted...

But Sun Tang hadn't even passed out?

As expected of a peak grandmaster at the Xing Si realm!

"Swoosh!"

Without another word, Xu Xiaoshou thrust his other hand forward like a spear, piercing straight through Sun Tang's chest.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

It was like a deflating ball, except what leaked out was blood-red.

Sun Tang's face turned ashen white as paper. He looked down at Xu Xiaoshou's elbow embedded in his chest, completely stunned.

"Wh-why?"

With no body-forging experience whatsoever, such a piercing wound was undoubtedly fatal for him.

But even in death, he couldn't understand why Xu Xiaoshou would kill him.

Wasn't this guy on the same side as the chengzhu fu?

Didn't he have some connection with the little princess?

Confusion, bewilderment, and deep resentment...

Notifications flashed across the status bar.

Xu Xiaoshou smirked faintly and said with a forced smile, "Sorry, I didn't want to do this, but you were getting too close. I couldn't stand it."

Getting too close?

"Cursed, passive value: 1."

Getting too close was a path to death?

Sun Tang's vision went black, and he lost consciousness from sheer anger.

Xu Xiaoshou quickly helped him lie down flat. With a breath, the wound on Sun Tang's chest began to heal rapidly.

But he controlled it precisely, ensuring Sun Tang wouldn't wake up too soon.

"Get some rest."

"Getting close wasn't your fault, but I have important business, and you were sticking too close—that's on you."

He punched the ground, creating a deep pit.

Xu Xiaoshou buried Sun Tang in it, covering him with soil in a few quick motions, leaving only his haggard head exposed under the moonlight, peacefully asleep.

After thinking for a moment, he fed him a dan yao just to be safe.

Then, he casually sketched a simple protective ling array to prevent any passersby from accidentally kicking the head away. Only then did he stand up, satisfied, and dust off his hands.

"Good, sleep well."

"By the time I finish my business, you'll probably be waking up."

Xu Xiaoshou muttered to himself and headed straight for the flower sea without looking back.

The flower sea was shrouded in a lingering aura of scorched desolation.

It looked calm on the surface.

But if you examined it carefully with spiritual sense, you'd realize...

There was absolutely nothing left!

It was as if, after the explosion, all the nested ling arrays had been destroyed, leaving the place safe for anyone to wander freely without any harm.

But Xu Xiaojiji, leading the way, wasn't thinking that at all.

He was in tatters, his body like charred coal, as if he'd just been dug out of a lightning-struck fire pit.

Every step he took was labored, radiating a aura of desperate doom.

"Gugu, Jie Ge, you guys really need to ease up on the directions. I can't take any more hits from these damn ling arrays—I'm not made of meat!"

His tone was full of despair, laced with the most humble plea after being beaten down by life.

Behind him was Xin Gugu, holding a jade slip against his forehead.

Further back was A Jie, curiously looking around.

These two—well, these two entities—were spotlessly clean, like ultimate exploiters playing the roles of slave masters.

As for Xu Xiaojiji's injuries up front, Xin Gugu acted like it was none of his concern.

This wasn't his doing—it was Xu Xiaoshou's!

That's right.

It was that terrorist, Xu Xiaoshou, who hadn't even arrived yet but had set up a web of traps here.

Originally, Xin Gugu had been given this "flower sea navigation jade slip" to lay an ambush first.

He thought, it's just some rundown place—what's the big deal? Why need a jade slip?

But after arriving, he regretted it deeply.

Thankfully, Xu Xiaojiji was scouting ahead.

This flower sea, which seemed utterly calm with no spiritual sense detecting any traps, revealed terrifying nested ling patterns the moment you stepped in.

From the sky, the ground, even underground...

Though they weren't fully integrated,

Even the segmented nesting was enough to inflict damage that no ordinary person could withstand!

After the first booming explosion sent the lead Xu Xiaojiji flying, Xin Gugu understood why Xu Xiaoshou had given him the jade slip.

This godforsaken place, without guidance, was packed with hundreds of airtight ling arrays. Even if a wang zuo came, they'd be caught off guard and go down!

"Incredible!"

Xin Gugu racked his brains but couldn't figure out how.

They had entered on the same night.

Xu Xiaoshou had only beaten him here by a few steps.

Yet, in that short time, how had he found this ultra-secret spot in the chengzhu fu?

And even set up such a masterful ling array, something that would take an ordinary ling array master a decade or more to create?

"How did he do it?"

Xin Gugu didn't know.

But if it was Xu Xiaoshou...

"Well, it's not impossible."

He didn't dwell on it.

Anyway, with a pathfinder ahead, he had some leeway.

As long as he controlled it well and strictly followed the route on the jade slip, even without understanding arrays, there wouldn't be any explosions.

Of course, Xu Xiaojiji's injuries weren't from just one blast.

With Xu Xiaoshou's jade slip...

Something mapped out with spiritual sense in such a short time, Xin Gugu had to test it multiple times to understand what it meant.

After a long period of trial and error, Xin Gugu had roughly navigated the entire nested ling array of the flower sea.

Once familiar with the layout, he led Xu Xiaojiji and A Jie to a stop.

"The trap is set. Now we just wait for the prey."

He glanced at A Jie.

Xin Gugu had a clear assessment of this mostly silent little boy's combat strength.

But Xu Xiaojiji...

"Can you handle it, kid?"

Xu Xiaojiji had been bossed around the whole way and had thought about resisting.

After all, with Xu Xiaoshou absent, if he could slip past these two, maybe he could escape.

What "Tian Shu Ji Pan," what inner guidance...

He didn't want any of it anymore.

Getting the ji pan might awaken something.

But Xu Xiaoshou's existence—or rather...

A Jie's existence!

That was terrifying.

What do they mean by "the gains don't justify the losses"?

He didn't know before, but now he did.

"Can handle what?"

Faced with Xin Gugu's question, Xu Xiaojiji was clueless.

"Killing, of course! Are you ready?"

As the only one who knew the full plan, Xin Gugu had gone from utter disbelief to blindly accepting it.

"Kill who?"

Xu Xiaojiji was still completely baffled.

"Zhang Taiying."

"Zhang who?"

Seeing Xu Xiaojiji's blank expression, Xin Gugu knew this was another poor soul Xu Xiaoshou had roped in.

So, he didn't even know the mission and got sent here?

"A wang zuo," he said flatly.

Xu Xiaojiji's body trembled, and he tensed up completely.

"What? A wang zuo? Here?"

"Uh-huh."

"You guys are crazy! Wasn't this supposed to be work? And the work is killing someone in the chengzhu fu? Have you lost your minds?"

So, the sneaky, even more mysterious Xu Xiaoshou...

His real goal was this?

Xu Xiaojiji clutched his head, utterly in disbelief.

Xin Gugu looked at him with a half-smile, as if watching a fool.

He remembered having the same reaction when he first heard Xu Xiaoshou's plan.

But after getting used to Xu Xiaoshou's style, everything made sense.

"Otherwise?"

He chuckled and said, "You've followed me this far—don't tell me you don't know what these ling arrays are for?"

He sized up Xu Xiaojiji like he was some oddity.

This guy wasn't a ghost beast host or anything.

Yet, his recovery ability was several levels above his own.

Otherwise, just getting here, Xin Gugu felt that in their trio, one would definitely be down for the count.

"Can this ling array kill a wang zuo?"

Xu Xiaojiji was skeptical.

He pointed at the ground, doubting outright.

Even without his own recovery, even the most ordinary wang zuo wouldn't be as restricted as he was, unable to move freely.

The array could blast him because he was cooperating.

But relying on it to take down a fully mobile wang zuo? Impossible!

"You're joking."

Xin Gugu knew what he was thinking.

"Besides the array, we've got you, me, and Jie Ge, right?"

"The array might not kill him, but won't you seize the chance?"

"Imagine, Zhang Taiying steps in and gets blasted away, then the three wang zuo rise up..."

Xu Xiaojiji froze.

This was way too insidious!

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't think three against a wang zuo could instantly finish him off.

But now...

He snuck a glance at A Jie.

With this terrifying thing here, forget three—even just it alone, with a single punch, maybe...

In that moment, though he'd never met him, Xu Xiaojiji already felt sorry for Zhang Taiying.

"Zhang Taiying... Sigh, what a grudge. Can't you let it go?"

"Why mess with Xu Xiaoshou? Of all people..."

Rustle—

The wind picked up.

Xin Gugu's ears twitched.

Someone was coming?

"Quiet."

He placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Mama..."

A Jie's head tilted, his gaze falling on Xin Gugu's hand.

In that instant, Xin Gugu, who was on high alert, suddenly felt a wave of deadly crisis wash over him.

But he hadn't even seen the enemy yet...

Wait!

He hesitated and turned his head, meeting A Jie's lifted, blood-red eyes.

The dazzling red light flashed, seeming to grow more excited.

Xin Gugu's heart sank.

Earlier, Xu Xiaoshou had warned him to be vigilant about A Jie.

During the fight at Zhang fu, this guy had shown inhumanly terrifying power.

Plus, all he ever said was "mama."

Xin Gugu could guess a thing or two.

He swallowed hard, and with a "bang," he instantly turned his hand into blood water and blew it away.

"A Jie... Jie Ge, don't get worked up. I didn't mean to touch you—I'm not your enemy."

"Shh!"

He put a finger to his lips, but saw A Jie watching his hand regenerate into blood and flesh, his eyes lighting up with great interest.

"Don't—don't!"

Xin Gugu panicked.

Remembering something, he pointed ahead and whispered, "Mama, mama..."

"Mama?"

A Jie's attention shifted, and he turned to look.

Just then, as Xin Gugu pointed, a faint light suddenly lit up in the flower sea ahead.

"Buzz!"

A soft hum.

Xu Xiaojiji's neck shrank, and with a "pop," he turned into a small stone on the ground.

Xin Gugu had no time to worry about this coward.

He stared at the light flickering in the distance, then vanishing and reappearing elsewhere, his heart tightening.

"The ling array has been activated?"

"Who came? Is it really mama?"

"Damn it, is it really Xu Xiaoshou?"

Though he had the navigation map, Xin Gugu still doubted how Xu Xiaoshou could have carved such a massive array in half a shi chen.

It was just too unrealistic.

A better explanation was that Xu Xiaoshou had stolen the map from the chengzhu fu.

The ling array was already there.

"So..."

"Now that it's been discovered, has the owner shown up?"

Xin Gugu gripped his zen staff, retracting his aura.

"Jie Ge, get ready for battle!"

"Mama..."

But A Jie didn't hide like Xin Gugu.

In this ling array, Xin Gugu's spiritual sense was blocked, and he couldn't smell anything, but that didn't mean A Jie couldn't detect that familiar scent.

In an instant, it was like a child who had run away from home for an hour, shooting forward to throw itself into mama's arms.

"Damn!"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled and quickly dodged.

If that hit him, he'd fall apart on the spot!

He had used the previously repaired teleportation arrays in the flower sea to get here, but he hadn't expected such an enthusiastic welcome.

"Good, stay still!"

He immediately crossed his arms, and A Jie's red eyes flashed as he copied the pose perfectly.

"Very good. Stay right there, don't move."

Xu Xiaoshou noted the position and turned to Xin Gugu.

"How's it going? Got familiar with the ling array?"

"They didn't cause any trouble, did they?"

Seeing Xu Xiaoshou, Xin Gugu sighed in relief.

Assassinating a wang zuo in the chengzhu fu wasn't something to take lightly.

"Basically no issues."

"It's just that if we need to activate this ling array, I might not keep up with your pace."

Xu Xiaoshou waved it off: "No problem, just follow my instructions when the time comes."

Xin Gugu nodded. "How will you instruct?"

Xu Xiaoshou paused, then waved again casually: "Don't worry, I won't use it unless it's crucial."

Xin Gugu: ???

His legs went weak.

What did that mean?

No instructions?

Or was your so-called "instruction" planning to treat me like an enemy and blow me up too?

Survival by luck?

"Relax, just watch my signals."

Xu Xiaoshou patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Xin Gugu felt a twinge of discomfort.

As expected, teaming up with Xu Xiaoshou for shady business was always kill the enemy and hurt yourself.

He hoped the problems wouldn't get too out of hand...

Xin Gugu didn't dare hope for the best anymore. He asked, "What's the escape plan after we're done?"

"Once the fight starts, that red-clothed guy..."

He couldn't forget about Shou Ye.

No choice—it was his natural enemy, had to be cautious.

"That Shou Ye old man is already tied up. As long as we finish the fight in an instant, we won't even need to escape," Xu Xiaoshou replied.

In an instant.

Xin Gugu's face turned green, and he wanted to say more, but Xu Xiaoshou raised his hand to stop him.

"No need to ask, I've arranged everything almost perfectly. Just get ready to kill."

"Huff."

Xin Gugu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He wasn't unfamiliar with battles where he had no clue and his teammate controlled everything—like when he teamed with Jiao Tangtang.

But past teammates were trustworthy!

Xu Xiaoshou...

This guy would definitely have some surprises in his arrangements!

But he soon realized why Xu Xiaoshou didn't want to say more.

Clearly, there was no time.

Rustle—

The parched ground of the flower sea stirred again, and a faint killing intent descended.

Dark clouds gathered, and the hazy moonlight turned ominous.

Xin Gugu's eyes narrowed.

"He's here."

Under the faint moonlight of the remnants, a massive, one-armed figure that didn't look human approached.

Each step covered several zhang.

The next step took him deep into the flower sea.

Xin Gugu's brow twitched.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the ground and marveled that the flower sea's multiple nested ling arrays hadn't been triggered.

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

Zhang Taiying floated in the air, his sharp eyes like a hawk fixed on the young man in front. "You called me here—what's this about?"

"Old man, playing dumb, are we?"

Xu Xiaoshou smirked: "I didn't invite you. You followed me here yourself. In the chengzhu fu, are you thinking of killing someone?"

"Heh."

Zhang Taiying was amused.

His spiritual sense instantly enveloped the entire flower sea.

No one.

And he hadn't seen any guards on his way here.

That meant this place was exactly as he thought—a spot Xu Xiaoshou had chosen, normally with little defense.

"You've picked a great burial ground for yourself."

Zhang Taiying sneered: "No one around, so let's get straight to it. Think your ambush is set and you can kill me?"

He looked at Xin Gugu and shook his head with a laugh: "Just this one? A bit short on numbers, don't you think?"

Xin Gugu's pupils contracted.

What did he mean?

He forcibly steadied his gaze, trying not to let his eyes drift toward A Jie nearby!

"Zhang Taiying can't see A Jie?"

A flash of insight hit Xin Gugu.

From the moment A Jie lunged and Xu Xiaoshou made him cross his arms and stand still, A Jie had obeyed like it was trained.

Arms crossed, feet planted.

So...

"The spot he's in must have the ling array active?"

"When was it activated?"

"These ling arrays can block aura at such close range, even fooling Zhang Taiying?"

"Most importantly, why can I see him?"

Xin Gugu's heart raced.

Just from this hidden trick Xu Xiaoshou hadn't shown anyone, he could tell how masterful his ling array skills were.

The same ling array appeared differently to different people.

This...

For the first time, Xin Gugu felt a spark of anticipation for tonight's battle.

Maybe fighting alongside this guy was the safest bet?

After all, a ling array that could distinguish friend from foe wouldn't blow up its own side, right?

Thinking that, he stepped forward to challenge Zhang Taiying.

But Xu Xiaoshou suddenly sidestepped in alarm.

"What are you doing? Don't move!"

"Huh?"

Xin Gugu froze, his heart pounding. "Why?"

Xu Xiaoshou signaled with his eyes, basically saying: "Didn't you say you basically memorized the ling array? How dare you lift your foot randomly?"

In that moment,

Though Xu Xiaoshou hadn't spoken, Xin Gugu read the expressive glance and realized something.

He was stunned.

"So, this ling array was stolen, right!"

"You can only control it in specific spots?" Xin Gugu transmitted telepathically, almost in tears.

Xu Xiaoshou gave an awkward smile and didn't explain further.

The flower sea's ling array cluster had been blown up, after all.

Even with his repairs, there were major, irreversible flaws.

He could only control about half of it.

The rest were unstable factors.

One wrong step could trigger a chain explosion.

As for why Zhang Taiying could float in without a scratch...

Honestly, Xu Xiaoshou found it frustrating too!

The flower sea was mostly mined, but there were gaps.

"This guy's luck is ridiculously good!"

"Why didn't he shift a few cun to the left?"

"Then he'd fly up, and we could start fighting right away. What's with all this chit-chat?"

"Do I, Xu Xiaoshou, look like someone who gives enemies a last speech? That's for villains!"