Jian Jing and Jian Dan kept their heads down, acting timid, not daring to glare at Hu San anymore.
"Brother Mang, is Hu San here to defect?"
A burly male cultivator asked, his greedy eyes sweeping over Jian Jing and Jian Dan, drool practically dripping down his chin.
"Wipe your damn mouth. These two female cultivators are gifts for the boss, they're not for you!"
The sentry, called Mang Da, spat and spoke with disdain.
Then he puffed up his chest and walked past the guards by Greenfield Lake, striding into their real territory. After he left, the man who'd spoken muttered angrily,"Bastard, only knows how to bully under someone else's shadow!"
"Tch, then why're you so desperate to get inside?" another man shot back.
Meanwhile, Jian Mao's group had already dealt with all the outer sentries. The fourteen outer watchers and the four guards by the lake were left untouched, since the lakeside offered no cover. If they didn't take those men down in a single strike, the inner ring would be alerted.
Dragged along, Jian Jing and Jian Dan soon saw the inner defenses only had fewer than twenty people. They exchanged a glance, and Hu San quickly asked Mang Da,
"Brother Mao's resting today, and you guys still went out? Don't you ever take a break?"
"Why the hell are you asking so much? Just 'cause the boss is resting doesn't mean we stop looking for resources. Not everyone needs to sit around all day."
"Ah, my bad, I spoke too much. Brother Mao's always been more diligent than my Brother Qingmian, that's why you've grown so fast. I was just admiring it."
"The boss works hard, so we all gotta work hard too. Qingmian's just lazy, that's why his crew's weaker than us."
Mang Da scolded proudly.
Hearing this, Jian Dan knew their enemies had fewer than fifty people left on-site. Fourteen outside, sixteen they'd passed along the way, so it all came down to how many were at Mao Wu's side.
At the base of a mountain wall, Mang Da stopped and said, "Wait here, I'll go report."
"Thanks, sorry to trouble you!" Hu San replied.
As Mang Da went in, Jian Dan tugged the rope and stepped back, looking scared to enter. Hu San turned and barked,
"Too late to be scared now. Don't make me cut up your pretty faces, just behave."
The two guards by the cliffside glanced at Jian Jing and Jian Dan, calculating whether they'd get a taste after the boss got tired of them.
Jian Dan shot Yu Linhai a quick look and whispered, "You stay out here. If anything feels off, kill those two guards."
He nodded in agreement.
Soon Mang Da came back and waved to Hu San. "Bring the gifts in. The boss is interested in what you've got to say."
Then he waved at the two guards before turning back the way he'd come. Mao Wu had sent him back to his post as a sentry.
Mang Da swallowed his pride. He wasn't Mao Wu's match, nor as popular, so all he could do was grit his teeth and leave. At the treeline, Jian Mao and the others grew anxious, but without a good chance to strike, they held back and waited.
"Senior Brother, that guy came back?" Jian Xu whispered.
Everyone saw the tall sentry return. Timing it in their heads, they guessed Hu San must've already been led inside.
"If he goes back, he'll find the sentries gone. We can't let him return."
Jian Mao nodded. With all five of them together, taking him down wouldn't be a problem.
Mang Da never expected intruders to have slipped this deep. By the time the light faded from his eyes, he realized too late they'd been tricked. Once he was dead, pale green mist rose from Greenfield Lake and spread to both shores. The guards didn't panic, they just strapped on special masks and continued patrolling, only now in groups of three.
That gave Jian Mao's squad their opening.
When the mist thickened, hiding everything in a green haze, the five donned cloth masks, held their breath, and ambushed the nearest trio of patrolmen. Five against three ended in seconds. After stripping the corpses of their masks, Kuang Dao, Jian Chun, and Wu Siyuan put them on, then dragged the bodies into the forest and lay in wait.
They repeated the process. But when they killed the third team, one of the earlier cultivators spotted them. Mistaking them for Hu San's squad, he shouted for help and lit a signal flare. The exploding firework alerted both the guards and the inner camp. The cliffside guards saw it too. One rushed into the cave to report to Mao Wu, leaving the other outside. Seizing the chance, Yu Linhai sprang forward, sword flashing. He cut the guard down in a single strike, then swapped clothes and stood guard at the entrance.
Inside, the other guard reached the formation plate at the entrance and felt dread. Still, he clenched his teeth and ran deeper to warn the boss.
Time rewound to when Hu San led the two women in.
Sensing the sentry had left, Jian Dan quickly pulled out a soundproof formation plate. She slotted in a spirit stone and pressed it into the ground. The moment it sank in, the formation activated, cutting off all sound from inside and out.
Hu San dragged the two women forward and bowed to the burly, scar-faced Mao Wu sitting at the head.
"Hu San greets Boss Mao!"
He yanked the rope so Jian Jing and Jian Dan stumbled forward. They hunched close together, trembling, eyes lowered, too "afraid" to look up.
Beside Mao Wu lounged two female cultivators, clothes in disarray. Clearly, before the interruption, something unspeakable had been happening. At first Mao Wu looked annoyed at being disturbed. But when he saw the two newcomers, his expression brightened.
"Hu San, Mang Da said you've brought gifts and want to talk business?"
"Yes, Boss Mao. Please take a look."
Hu San shoved the two women forward until they were barely two meters from Mao Wu, gesturing for him to inspect them.
"Not bad. They're clean, right?"
Mao Wu's eyes swept over them like merchandise. If Qingmian dared send him used goods, there'd be no deal.
"Of course they're clean. Sending anything less would show our boss had no sincerity."
"Good. So, what kind of cooperation do you want to discuss?"
Hu San grinned on the outside but was panicking inside. Why hadn't the women acted yet? He was running out of lies to spin.
"Well, our boss found a place, it's got formations from the Immortal Realm. There's definitely treasure inside, but you know, we're short on manpower..."
"Oh? Where? I've scouted the outer ring clean."
Hu San wiped the sweat on his forehead, forcing his story. "Not the outer ring, it's deeper inside. Last time Brother Qingmian was being chased, he took a new path instead of the usual one, so..."
At that moment, Jian Dan struck. Mao Wu's full attention was on Hu San, so she unleashed the Obsidian Bracelet. This time she'd fueled it with Xianyuan energy, and with one crushing punch, Mao Wu was reduced to a pool of blood and flesh.