Chapter 381.1. Starting to Move

Ma Xiaotao furrowed her brow and said, “It’s difficult to rescue people. Although I don’t know how you breached the water prison that day, you should have seen that the hostages in the prison were all poisoned. They aren’t able to gather their soul power, and there are many evil soul masters from the Holy Ghost Church deployed there. There are even soul engineer legions inside and outside of Sunrise City. I’m afraid it will be impossible to save these few hundred people, even if the entire Academy was sent here for this rescue mission. Sunrise City is very close to Radiant City, and reinforcements from Radiant City will arrive quickly if anything happens here.”

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “Elder sister, don’t be anxious. We are almost done with our set-up. When the time comes, we’ll have a few ways to deal with the problems outside the city. At the very least, we’ll keep them occupied. We’ll also use diversion tactics inside the city, and draw some of the evil soul masters watching the hostages away. If my guess is right, the border of the Sun Moon Empire shouldn’t be peaceful right now. Some strong individuals must have been dispatched to the border from Radiant City. However, they’ll still need people to guard their capital. Even if they realize something abnormal is happening here, they won’t be able to send too many reinforcements over.”

Ma Xiaotao nodded and said, “I believe that you can succeed. However, how are you going to leave with a few hundred old and sick people? They’ve all been poisoned by Soul Eradicating Powder. I don’t have any antidote for that poison, either. I’m afraid that only the leader of the Holy Ghost Church knows how to neutralize that poison.” Ma Xiaotao’s expression turned cold when she mentioned the leader of the Holy Ghost Church. She unwittingly clenched her fists tight.

Huo Yuhao said, “I’ve already concocted an antidote.”

“What?” Ma Xiaotao was stunned as she looked at him. “You’ve concocted an antidote?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Did you forget that I mentioned that I obtained Ancestor Tang San’s Poison Scripture? In terms of using poison, the Tang Sect has been extremely notable on the continent for tens of thousands of years. The Holy Ghost Church’s poison is nothing. However, it’s indeed going to be a huge problem to leave with the weak hostages. That day, I heard the Third and Fourth Elders from the Holy Ghost Church instructing the Zhong brothers to feed the hostages more. However, it seemed like the Zhong Li brothers were only pretending to obey orders. Elder sister, can you ask them to give the hostages more food? In my opinion, the hostages will be able to recover at least half of their abilities if the poison of the Soul Eradicating Powder is neutralized and if they are given more food.

“Among these hostages, there are elite soul masters and engineers from the younger generation, teachers of various academies, and elders from different sects. If they are able to recover their abilities, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with. It won’t be impossible to escape then if we coordinate with our outside forces.”

Ma Xiaotao revealed a thoughtful look in her eyes. When she looked at Huo Yuhao, she seemed to see him in a different light. “I haven’t interacted with you in five years, but you’ve really grown up. No wonder the Academy is confident enough to send you out alone to rescue the hostages. Your plan seems to be fine for the moment. When you use your diversion tactics, I can help bring Third Elder and Fourth Elder away. They aren’t normally in the water prison, anyway.

“The Zhong brothers are the ones who are mainly in charge of the water prison. The three of them are direct descendants of the Holy Ghost Church’s leader, Zhong Liwu, and they are also his lackeys. They are extremely loyal to him, and only listen to his orders. You’ll need to deal with the three of them, as well as the evil soul masters who are guarding the prison. Those evil soul masters mainly have cultivations between four and six rings. They are considered ordinary disciples of the Holy Ghost Church, and there are about thirty of them. Of course, there are also some military troops guarding the prison. However, they won’t be much of an obstacle.”

After hearing the details that Ma Xiaotao provided, the plan in Huo Yuhao’s head became clearer. “Sister Xiaotao, did you notice a lady called Nan Shuishui? She’s the leader of the Earthdragon Sect, and her martial soul is a Ruby Dragon. She’s also a Soul Douluo, but her abilities are at the standard of a Titled Douluo.” Huo Yuhao had asked Nan Qiuqiu about Nan Shuishui’s abilities.

“Nan Shuishui? I’ve heard of this name before. If I’m  remembering it right, she was taken away by Third Elder. Her martial soul has special attributes of annihilation. If we can understand them well and fuse them into soul tools, we can achieve groundbreaking results.”

“Yes, it’s her.” Huo Yuhao was delighted and asked, “Is she still alive? Was she…?”

Ma Xiaotao answered, “I don’t know the details. However, Third Elder’s interest is completely in soul tools. He’s a Class 9 soul engineer, and he’s not too bothered about women. I hope that this person you’re talking about is still alive. Why? Are you planning to save her?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head without any hesitation and replied, “Nan Shuishui is the mother of my friend. However, we can’t save her first. Otherwise, we’ll alert our enemies. Oh yes, we killed a spiritual-type evil soul master not long ago. Did anyone find out about it?”

“Spiritual-type evil soul master? Are you talking about Wu Yun? She’s been killed?” Ma Xiaotao was more shocked when she heard that Wu Yun had been killed than when she heard Huo Yuhao had an antidote to neutralize the poison of the Soul Eradicating Powder.

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Yes, I killed her. Will there be any trouble?”

Ma Xiaotao shook her head and said, “Wu Yun is an elder in the Holy Ghost Church. She’s actually the head of the Holy Ghost Church’s branch in Sunrise City. After I came here, I temporarily replaced her. The one who was originally in charge of watching over the hostages was the vice-leader of the church, Feng Ling. After that, Feng Ling left for some unknown reason. I think it must have something to do with the situation at the border. I don’t normally interact with Wu Yun, but her martial soul was very strong. Even if I fought her, I wouldn’t be entirely confident of beating her. But you managed to kill her? Unbelievable.”

“Hehe.” Huo Yuhao laughed. He wasn’t going to explain how he had killed Wu Yun, and quickly changed the topic, “Elder sister, we’ll set it like this, then. If possible, please try to preserve Nan Shuishui’s life. I’ll rescue her after I rescue most of the hostages. Shall I brief you about our arrangements in detail?

Ma Xiaotao nodded and said, “Alright, let’s not delay since this is the case. You don’t have to tell me about your arrangements. When you make your move, I’ll distract Third and Fourth Elder. However, I’ll have to leave all of you to deal with the Zhong brothers. Don’t leave any clues when you breach the water prison again. If not for the fact that I was there that day, you wouldn’t have been able to escape easily. Take care, and remember safety is your priority.”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao nodded.

Ma Xiaotao caressed his head and gently said, “You are already taller than me. In five years, you’ll become a Soul Emperor. Fantastic!”

After she finished speaking, she smiled at Huo Yuhao before drifting away.

As he watched Ma Xiaotao leave, Huo Yuhao also touched his own head. For some reason, he felt that there was something wrong with Ma Xiaotao. He had already felt there was something wrong with her when he woke up yesterday, but it became clearer and clearer to him right now.

However, Huo Yuhao was certain about one thing; Ma Xiaotao’s mind was clear. He was too sensitive to spiritual undulations. The pampering look in her eyes when she looked at him couldn’t have been faked.

The leader and vice-leader of the Holy Ghost Church are actually called Zhong Liwu and Feng Ling. This was important information to him. At the same time, Huo Yuhao could also roughly guess that Zhong Liwu had to have something to do with the woman that Elder Mu and Long Xiaoyao fell in love with. That was because he recalled that the evil soul master that woman followed seemed to have the surname ‘Zhong’. He just didn’t know if that woman was still alive, and what the connection between Zhong Liwu and Long Xiaoyao was.

——

On the second morning, Xu Sanshi brought him the concocted antidotes. Huo Yuhao also started to make his move. He used his Spiritual Avatar to silently breach the water prison and mixed the antidote with the poisoned water in the water prison.

As the dosage he needed was too high, it took him a full day to move all of the antidote into the water prison.

The Third and Fourth Elders didn’t appear in the water prison again. Even the Zhong brothers only came to patrol occasionally.

Ma Xiaotao’s orders worked on the Zhong brothers. The hostages were finally given sufficient food. Although they weren’t fed luxuriously, it was enough to fill their stomachs. Along with the antidote that Huo Yuhao mixed into the water they were immersed in, the hostages were feeling much better after a day, even though not all the poison from their bodies had been neutralized. Especially for a few of the stronger soul masters, Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Avatar could tell that they had sensed the change in their soul power from their expressions.

It was time for him to communicate with them.

——

On the second night, he went to visit Ma Xiaotao again. After suppressing the power of darkness in her body, he released his Spiritual Avatar into the water prison once again.

To coordinate with him, Ma Xiaotao sent the Zhong brothers away on a pretext of important matters to attend to. This was a benefit of being the highest-ranked commander of the Holy Ghost Church in Sunrise City.

Without the Zhong brothers, Huo Yuhao was more brazen. It was impossible for those six-ringed evil soul masters to discover his Spiritual Avatar.

After entering the water prison, he drifted into mid-air and released his spiritual power. Very soon, his spiritual power engulfed the entire water prison.

It was not long ago that Huo Yuhao could only communicate with a few people using his spiritual power. However, he could now communicate with everyone within a specific region.

“If you can hear my voice, please don’t move. I’m here to save all of you.” This gentle thought was transmitted to every cell. It was so light that everyone could sense it, but still felt that it was an illusion.