55 On the matter of war

Liu Qian was sweating buckets, but at least it was hidden by the heavy rain. He had already lost his cart and along with it all his fake wares. On the bright side, he now had a real story to tell anyone he came across. He was exhausted. But hope was reignited when he found a small group of travelers that seemed to be heading in the same direction as he.

"I'm lost," he told them with a pathetic voice, "and I'm cold. I just want to get to the city, please…!"

They were kind people, a group of travelers that were traveling to the city for the coming New Year. The leader was a wheel maker and his wife, a tea connoisseur. Or so she claimed to be even though she's only ever had the chance to savor three different types of leaves in her entire life. They were just ordinary people, unaware of the drama of the cultivation world and were only preoccupied with the economy of their respective villages and which family member married who, where, and when. But they were familiar with the muddy roads and the rainy climate of Muguan Province, unlike Liu Qian.

They allowed him to hitch a ride on the cart and even shared a steamed bun with him.

But Liu Qian was wrong to feel relieved.

It happened too quickly for him to react but he was sure that if he did, he would have been dead like the others.

The talisman under his breast saved him, offering just enough protection to allow Liu Qian to keep his life when a rain of black arrows descended from the skies.

When he came to, he was stuck beneath the cart and the old wheel maker who had fallen on top of him, dead.

"Why…did you kill them?" A lazy voice dawdled beyond them the shower of pitter-pattering rain.

There was a sharp pain shooting up from Liu Qian's waist but he muffled his own voice, trying as he could to peer at the two killers from beneath the wheel maker's arm. He could only really make out their feet, shuffling around in the mud.

The voice that replied to the first was much lower, "The Eternal Devil Blood Seal feasts upon blood and souls. So I'm getting blood and souls. What were you expecting?" He was grumbling and moving around, prodding the corpses. Liu Quian saw that he was wearing black.

The first voice sighed. The bottom of his robes was orange with red accents. Liu Qian recognized the style of Seven Moons garments. He kept still. "You killed a grand total of six people…does that…even amount to anything?"

The black-robed man groaned and walked towards Liu Qian. The young cultivator's chest sped up and thundered against his chest. If they found that he was still alive. he'd definitely be promptly killed. "Every little bit counts. Didn't your lover tell you?"

"Hui-ge…" the Seven Moon's cultivator sighed again, "How many times did I tell you… He isn't my lover."

"And I'm not your ge."

Liu Qian's heart leaped into his throat. Hui was the name of the Demon King's Clan…! And this demon was right in front of him, reaching down to pull aside the wheel maker's corpse!

Liu Qian's fingers slowly curled around the hilt of a dagger, even though he knew it could be futile.

But fate had different plans.

"Wait," the Seven Moons cultivator spoke up and stopped the demon in his tracks, "we need to go back. Now." There was an urgency in his voice that contrasted the languid tone he was using earlier.

"What? Why?" Liu Qian kept his eyes closed but he could hear the scowl in the demon's voice.

"I forgot to put Xiao Pangqiu back in his cage!"

"What!?" The demon roared and dropped the wheel maker's body back onto Liu Qian.

"Oof!" The air was knocked out of his chest and Liu Qian was late with masking his reaction but the two villains were no longer interested in the bloody carnage.

"Why the heck did you forget!? Are you retarded?" The demon roared.

The man whined, "Ah, but I always forget…the truth is, I always forget…"

Liu Qian opened his eyes just in time to witness the Seven Moons cultivator and the Demon step into an array next to the road, disappearing in a shimmer of red light.

Just what was that? Liu Qian clenched his teeth and finally pulled himself free from the corpse atop him and the cart that pinned him against the cold muddy ground. His clothes were soaked through and now covered in filth as well. But he didn't have time to worry about details and instead turned his attention over to the spot where the other two had disappeared from.

Cautiously, Liu Qian tested the array. He tried stepping in with one foot, then two. But nothing happened. He frowned. He was certain that he hadn't seen this array placed so conveniently next to the murder scene before the two's arrival. Either they had planted it there just now or it was hidden before.

There was also the matter of the Seven Moons cultivator disappearing through, despite being a human and not a demon. But Liu Qian had no means of activating the spell no matter how much he tried. He didn't have the time to decipher the secrets behind the portal array. And he had to relay all this precious information back to Liu Fumao ideally before he got killed.

He had to hurry. There was another piece of alarming information that he had learned. One that Liu Qian was dying to return to Wangyun Peak with. The Eternal Devil Blood Seal…the Forbidden Tool rumored to once be lost or hidden away…was now in their nefarious hands!

After burying the bodies in graves marked with only sticks and stones, Liu Qian muttered his apologies before rushing off. He was eager to get out of Muguan Province as fast as possible…

…

"It is imperious that we proceed with due caution." Liu Fumao said in a grave tone. He had with him only his most trusted men as they discussed Liu Qian's discoveries. "We shall proceed quietly for now. I understand the press of urgency, however, we ought to use this chance to gather our forces and plan our attack. It is the only way we could stand a chance against a power as terrible as the Eternal Devil Blood Seal."

In the room, Liu Sumeng was quiet. He was thinking about the war that happened in his previous life and how it turned out. But there were several issues upon making comparisons.

For one, in his previous life, the war banner that campaigned against the demons and the Seven Moons Sect was one of a mad emperor who had little care for the lives of his soldiers. He was also a genius craftsman who had gathered and refined hundreds of sacred treasures in his arsenal.

Yuan Xuelan was far from achieving the power and might that the world witnessed and trembled before in Sumeng's previous life. And Liu Sumeng doubted it'd be wise to charge into the fray with as much folly as before. He didn't know how it took him a lifetime to remember that lives were precious and should not be tossed to the wind.

But there were differences on the other side as well, Yang Sehan and the Demon King haven't had the same amount of time gathering power for the Eternal Devil Blood Seal yet and Liu Sumeng had the knowledge that they were looking for the other two Forbidden Treasure as well.

"...May I speak?" He interrupted the heated discussion happening around him.

Liu Fumao nodded, "Speak, Sumeng."

"I fear it may be their goal to gather the Three Forbidden Treasures."

The crowd erupted into a string of agitated murmurs, "Quiet." The Sect Leader commanded, instilling silence once again upon the room. "There is no current evidence of this." Liu Fumao narrowed his eyes at his nephew, but he knew there was more to Sumeng's thoughts.

Liu Sumeng nodded. He already understood from his previous life that that was exactly their goal but there was no way to prove it that at the moment, "Perhaps. But it will pay to ensure the safety of the other two Forbidden Treasures. And if worst comes to worst, we will have a power that is equal in strength."

One of the Elder surged to his feet and roared, "You can't be suggesting we actually use a Forbidden Treasure!? Do you not understand that they're Forbidden for a reason?"

Another Elder nodded his head, "Yes and the Eternal Devil Blood Seal is arguably the most terrifying one, how could we hope to match it in its ferocity?"

Liu Sumeng continued, "It is true that the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead's power cannot match the Eternal Devil Blood Seal's in its ability to bring ruin. But the same cannot be said about the Eternal Celestial Sun Scroll."

The hall continued with more anxious protests but Liu Sumeng was undeterred, "I'm not saying that we ought to readily rely on its power. But having the threat of its might beneath our banner is not a bad idea."

Someone else scoffed, "The Eternal Celestial Sun Scroll has long been lost to the world. Some said that the Treasure has even been destroyed centuries ago. Where you do expect us to dig up such a thing?"

The other followed with comments of agreement. But Liu Fumao was quiet, intrigued at Liu Sumeng's unusual talkativeness.

"Of course, we need to focus on gathering our troops. But having multiple backup plans is imperious to war, lest we forget, these backup plans need preparation as well." Liu Sumeng furrowed his brows. He had a lot of experience as a trusted general at Emperor Taixu's side. It was difficult to maintain humility in front of his Elders, who knew very little of war. They might have been skilled cultivators and wise against the threat of devils and demons but this was a whole different matter entirely. How was Liu Sumeng to convince them of that?

And thus the debate continued far into the evening, contained by noise barriers set around the hall so that outsiders may not privy to the Heavenly Sword Sect's private affairs.