CHAPTER 1558: CHAPTER 827: NIGHT ASSASSINATION (PART 2)

"Here is the flow of the Eight Gates situation, all of you who are leading teams, remember it well."

"Don’t bother with the other gates, just block the Du Gate, Jing Gate, the two level gates, and the Kai Gate, Xiu Gate, and Sheng Gate, the three auspicious gates, especially the Sheng Gate, to prevent the water bandits from escaping."

"Of course, relying on manpower alone won’t work."

"On the periphery of the island, besides the initial Kan Gate, at the entrances of the other seven gates, we need to set up trap formations to capture, besiege, and even annihilate these water bandits."

"These formations have also been prepared in advance."

"Later, Supervisor Gu and I will be responsible for eliminating the hidden sentries around the island, everyone else must set up these formations before the battle begins..."

...

After Xia Canonical Official finished instructing, the enforcement leaders’ expressions were solemn, and they all cupped their hands and solemnly said:

"Yes!"

But at the same time, they also sighed in their hearts.

Especially Xiao Tianquan, he opened his mouth and praised:

"The Xia family truly deserves to be a Great Family, with such deep resources, they can invite such an outstanding Formation Master in a short time to decipher the formations on this island."

"I wonder..." Xiao Tianquan curiously asked, "What is this gentleman’s name and origin? May I have the honor to meet him?"

Mo Hua, standing next to Xiao Tianquan, couldn’t help but blink.

"This ’gentleman’ is standing right next to you..." Xia Canonical Official thought silently.

But she couldn’t reveal Mo Hua’s identity, so she just said, "This matter is confidential and cannot be disclosed."

Xiao Tianquan also said, "I was too presumptuous."

"Alright," Xia Canonical Official was decisive in her methods and ordered:

"Time is of the essence, let’s act now and not give the water bandits a chance to escape, surround them with swift and decisive action!"

The enforcement leaders bowed their heads and responded solemnly:

"As you command!"

Thereafter, in the dark of night, concealed spirit boats quietly dispersed, weaving a large net over the Mistwater River, gradually enveloping the small island where the water bandits resided.

The first step was to eliminate the hidden sentries.

This task required stealth, without a hint of error, so it was entrusted to the two Golden Core Cultivators, Gu Changhuai and Xia Canonical Official.

As the night deepened, a drowsy water bandit on lookout near the small island yawned, feeling a bit sleepy.

The small island was desolate, and no outsiders ever came, over time, these water bandits became somewhat lax and far less vigilant than before.

Just as he was yawning, a white palm suddenly covered his mouth.

The water bandit’s pupils widened in shock, ready to shout, when a sword tip pierced through his chest, wind-based spiritual power flowed from the wound cut by the sword tip, slicing through his meridians, turning his internal organs into a bloody mess.

The water bandit struggled a bit, and shortly after, his gaze dimmed, his breath ceased, and he died thus.

Gu Changhuai killed one person and turned to see that Xia Canonical Official had already used a short sword to slit another water bandit’s throat.

The short sword was enveloped in a layer of frost.

At the moment of cutting the water band’s throat, this layer of frost sealed the bandit’s mouth and nose, leaving him unable to make a sound, and even his blood began to slowly freeze.

In just a moment, the water bandit’s face turned purple, his entire body froze solid, and he died instantly.

Gu Changhuai raised an eyebrow.

This was his first time seeing Xia Canonical Official in action.

Ice-bound, assassination, killing with one sword.

It certainly matched this woman’s always cold personality.

Watching from afar, Mo Hua was also somewhat surprised.

"Ice Spiritual Root..."

This was the first time he had seen a cultivator with an Ice Spiritual Root.

In the cultivation world, the common spiritual root attributes are divided into Five Elements and Three Exceptions.

The Five Elements are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; the Three Exceptions are "wind, ice, thunder."

Among them, Wind Spiritual Root is not too uncommon, but occasionally seen; for example, Gu Changhuai is one.

Ice Spiritual Root is quite rare; Mo Hua has only seen the one in Xia Canonical Official so far.

As for naturally endowed Thunder Spiritual Roots, capable of powerful Thunder Dao Skills, they are even rarer.

After removing the sentries, Mo Hua led people closer and began setting up trap formations on the island’s edges against the water to entrap the enemy.

In the water, he laid fishnets.

These fishnets were specially made, with formations, barbs, and even poison coated on them.

After laying them, the group began to change locations.

As per usual, Gu Changhuai and Xia Canonical Official, the two Golden Cores, were responsible for assassinating the sentry posts, and once safety was confirmed, Mo Hua led people to place the drawn formations and some trap spiritual artifacts.

However, the Water Island was larger than Mo Hua had previously estimated, and given the limited time, the hastily refined formation coals were not quite enough.

Thus, they managed to cover six gates with over a hundred formation coals and spiritual artifacts already used up.

Yet, there were still two gates left.

One Kan Gate, which the water bandits would use to leave the island, and the Taoist Court Officials would use to storm inside, could be ignored.

But the other Li Gate, precisely opposite the Kan Gate, could not be disregarded.

"I’ll arrange for people to guard this position," Xia Canonical Official said.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "We can’t disperse our forces, or it will disrupt the previous plan."

"Then this gate..."

"I have a way," Mo Hua said.

He took out a few bottles of ugly and pungent blood pills from his storage bag, along with some fishy-smelling seaweed.

These were all things he had prepared earlier.

"These pills are made from the innards of monster beasts, so they have a strong smell that cultivators avoid, but monster beasts love."

"This seaweed, called fish-scent seaweed by the fish cultivators in the small fishing village, is also used to attract water demons."

"If the traps aren’t enough, we’ll make up for it with water demons."

"Throw these blood pills and fish-scent seaweed at the Li Gate to ’bait,’ drawing in nearby water demons."

"Thus, this Li Gate will become an artificial ’Gate of Death.’

"If the water bandits try to flee the island and jump into the water from here, they’ll find a group of water demons waiting for them."