After searching for a little while, Yue Xing found the perfect place to lay his trap. It was a hidden and secluded small forest, but an easily accessible one. That way, if he needed to flee from the Blood Wolf Gang’s hideout, he could reach the trap without issue.

  Yue Xing then went to work setting up the formations. He layered them, so that the Tortoise Shell Formation was within the Slaughtering Sword Formation. That way, he could control the latter while protected by the former. That should allow him to survive a strike or two from Li Zhanhao.

  Whether or not this made a difference remained to be seen.

  With his trap in place, Yue Xing turned his attention to the valley containing the Blood Wolf Gang’s hideout. Once he made it past the formation protecting it, there would be no turning back. He would either rescue the children and escape, or die trying.

  A part of him, a small part, questioned the wisdom of this decision. Thanks to the Book, he knew the Xu siblings wouldn’t die. In fact, they would reach high status within the Blood Lotus Cult. Why risk his life saving them?

  Yue Xing ignored that part. The Xu children were innocent. They didn’t deserve to be thrown into a place like the Blood Lotus Cult, a place of cruelty and ruthlessness. He didn’t want to see them become demonic cultivators.

  Yes, they wouldn’t die. However, they would lose their inner light, the spark of goodness and joy that burned within them. They deserved better than that.

  Deep down, another part of Yue Xing wanted to rescue the children for his own sake. They brought laughter and liveliness to his life, something he hadn’t realized he needed. He didn’t want to lose that, even if it meant risking everything.

  Once Yue Xing firmed his resolve, he pulled out the special talisman that would allow him to pass through the formation, and entered the valley. The entire time, he made sure to conceal his presence with his soul sense.

  The formation resisted Yue Xing for a bit, as he tried to pass through, before it sensed the talisman. All resistance died away and he entered without issue.

  Unlike the rest of the area, it wasn’t windy and cold inside the valley. In fact, it was rather warm. There was no snow at all within the valley. Plant life flourished, filling the air with the scent of vegetation. A mortal would’ve considered this place a paradise, a small slice of spring hidden within winter.

  However, to Yue Xing, this wasn’t too unusual. Keeping out the weather was rather simple with the right formations. Still, he found it odd that the Blood Wolf Gang managed to create one themselves. Perhaps one of them was a hidden formations master. Or maybe they acquired their defensive formation from someone else.

  Yue Xing shook his head to clear his thoughts. It didn’t matter. He had more important matters to deal with. He looked around for a good vantage point to observe the rest of the valley, before finding a tall tree nearby.

  After climbing the tree, Yue Xing looked around. A forest took up most of the valley, with a clearing in the center. Within the clearing, he saw the crumbling ruin of an estate. It was well lit and bustling with activity. If he strained his ears, he could make out the faint sounds of celebration.

  They must’ve thrown this celebration because they captured the children. As much as this angered Yue Xing, it also presented an opportunity. If the Blood Wolf Gang was too busy celebrating, they wouldn’t be as watchful and vigilant.

  Maybe, just maybe, this would allow Yue Xing to sneak in, find the children, and sneak out again. However, he refused to leave anything to chance. If he wanted to escape, then he needed to increase his odds of success.

  The Blood Wolf Gang were already distracted by their celebration, so what if Yue Xing added to the chaos? He had several kinds of attack talismans in his storage pouch, including explosive ones. What if he placed them in strategic locations and marked them with his soul sense? That way, they would explode with a single thought from him.

  His soul sense was powerful enough to make it work. That way, if he got caught and someone raised the alarm, he could set the explosive talismans off. The Blood Wolf Gang would be too busy dealing with the explosions to worry about him and the children. Of course, it would also alert Li Zhanhao that there was an intruder. However, Yue Xing had already prepared for that possibility.

  With that in mind, Yue Xing climbed down the tree and snuck towards the crumbling estate. When he arrived, he saw that it was in better condition than it seemed from a distance. While the walls and most of the buildings were little more than ruins, the main hall and a few of the auxiliary buildings were in good repair.

  Yue Xing entered the estate, keeping to the shadows. While there were lanterns all over the place, bathing the estate in warm light, there was also plenty of darkness for him to take advantage of.

  Using soul sense to conceal his presence only hid him from other cultivators’ soul sense. It didn’t affect the mundane senses. Yue Xing knew techniques and spells existed to make oneself invisible, or even change one’s appearance, but he didn’t know any of them. This meant he had to rely on old fashioned skulduggery.

  A part of Yue Xing considered it ironic that he had the talent to be a soul cultivator, yet knew none of the skills associated with them. He planned on changing that. While he was a blade cultivator, he understood the utility of stealth.

  In front of the main building lay a vast courtyard. It was occupied by dozens of people, who drank and feasted to their heart’s content. Most of them were men, but a few were women. All of them were demonic cultivators.

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  “This is the life!” one of them exclaimed.

  “Now if only we had some music and dancers to entertain us!”

  “How about it, Meiling? Why don’t you sing and dance for us?”

  One of the female gang members grew angry and punched the offender in the face. This caused the other gang members to burst out into laughter.

  Yue Xing snuck past them, before heading into the main hall. If he were Li Zhanhao, he would want to keep the children as close to him as possible. While the formation kept out intruders, it was best to not take any chances.

  Besides, it was also the best place to set up the explosive talismans.

  In the main hall’s central room, Yue Xing saw more people. There weren’t that many, less than a dozen or so, also feasting and drinking. He guessed these were the higher ups within the Blood Wolf Gang. At the far end of the central room, sat a rough-looking man atop a throne-like chair. The man was in early Foundation Establishment.

  Li Zhanhao, the leader of the Blood Wolf Gang.

  For a brief moment, strong killing intent rose up within Yue Xing. However, less than a moment later, he pulled it back and retracted his gaze. Cultivators were sensitive to that sort of thing. He didn’t want to alert Li Zhanhao and ruin everything.

  Yue Xing’s prudence paid off. A moment later, he felt soul sense from a Foundation Establishment cultivator sweep through the entire estate. He held his breath, his heart thumping against his chest.

  After searching around for a few moments, the soul sense stopped sweeping around and disappeared. Yue Xing resisted the urge to sigh with relief.

  “What’s wrong, Boss?” someone asked.

  “Nothing,” Li Zhanhao said, frowning. “I thought I sensed someone direct killing intent towards me.”

  One of the Blood Wolf Gang higher ups laughed.

  “You’re the glorious leader of the Blood Wolf Gang! Only a fool would direct killing intent towards you.”

  The others joined in on flattering Li Zhanhao. Soon, the man’s frown disappeared and a smile took its place.

  Yue Xing shook his head, before sneaking away. He searched through the rest of the main hall, making sure to avoid the members of Blood Wolf Gang. Whenever he found a good spot for an explosive talisman, he placed one down and marked it with his soul sense, before hiding it. That way no one wandering past would see it.

  First, Yue Xing searched for the cellar. If he were Li Zhanhao, he would want to keep the children in a secure location. However, when he neared the kitchen and overheard someone mention the children, he stopped to listen.

  “Stupid brats!” a man said. “Why do we have to bring them their food? We should be celebrating with the others, not babysitting.”

  “Shh!” another man said. “Shut up! Do you want to die? The boss said to take care of the children, so we take care of the children. If anything happens to them, we’re dead.”

  “But why? What’s so important about those brats?”

  “Does it matter? Just do what the boss says. If we do a good job, maybe he’ll reward us.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  A few moments later, two gang members emerged from the children, carrying several dishes. Yue Xing followed after them, still sticking to the shadows. To his surprise, the two gang members didn’t head towards the cellar. Instead, they headed towards what looked like living quarters. Given their location within the main hall, Yue Xing guessed these living quarters belonged to Li Zhanhao.

  Yue Xing thanked the heavens. If he hadn’t overheard the two gang members, he would’ve wasted time searching the cellar.

  Two more gang members guarded the entrance to Li Zhanhao’s quarters, a set of double doors. The guards nodded as the two from the kitchen opened the doors and entered. During this brief moment, Yue Xing heard a familiar voice.

  “Let us go, you bad men!” Xu Shu shouted. “Or our big brother is going to come and kill you!”

  One of the gang members laughed.

  “Not unless he wants the boss to-”

  That was all Yue Xing overheard before the double doors closed again. However, that was enough. He found the children. Now he just needed to rescue them.

  For a brief moment, Yue Xing considered waiting until the two from the kitchen left. However, he didn’t know how long that would take. The longer he stayed here, the higher his chances of discovery. The sooner he escaped with the children, the better.

  To that end, Yue Xing took out two Ice Spike talismans and readied them. He actually knew the Ice Spike spell, learning it was part of the Celestial Sword Sect’s basic training, but he wasn’t proficient with it. It was better to use the talismans, to guarantee the guards’ swift deaths.

  Without hesitation, Yue Xing activated the two attack talismans. Spikes made of bone-chilling ice emerged from the talismans and shot towards the two guards. Neither one had time to react before the Ice Spikes impaled them. Their bodies remained upright, leaning against the double doors, with shocked expressions forever frozen on their faces.

  Yue Xing drew his sword and rushed towards the double doors, before throwing them open. On the other side, he found a luxurious bedroom, one fit for a mortal king or emperor. The two gang members from the kitchen stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by broken dishes and spilled food.

  The two of them were in the midst of fending off the Xu siblings. The children attacked with reckless abandon, screaming their lungs out while biting and hitting the gang members’ legs. The two gang members tried to hold them off without hurting them.

  Under other circumstances, Yue Xing might’ve found it amusing. However, there was nothing amusing about this situation.

  Yue Xing rushed towards the gang members. They were too busy dealing with the children to notice him until it was too late. He swung his sword, taking care to avoid the children, and cut the two gang members down.

  The children scurried away as the two bodies fell down. They stared at the dead gang members with wide eyes and pale faces. Blood pooled around the bodies. Some of it managed to get on the children.

  Yue Xing regretted this, since he had wanted to spare the children from the ugliness of the cultivation world, but he didn’t have that luxury at the moment. A swift escape took priority.

  Yue Xing wiped his sword clean and sheathed it, causing the children to look at him. At first, they looked at him with lost expressions on their faces. However, after a moment, he saw recognition in their eyes.

  “Big Brother,” Xu Liang said in a trembling voice. “Is that really you?”

  Yue Xing nodded.

  The children’s expression crumpled, before all three rushed towards Yue Xing and hugged him with tears in their eyes.

  “Shh, don’t worry,” Yue Xing said. “I’m here. Everything is going to be alright. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Now that he had found the children, it was time to escape.

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