Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Chapter 1392 - 519: Big Fish Takes the Bait (Part 2)

Zhou Xuan pondered for a while and then asked, "Lao Yun, what purpose does Mr. Nayan’s ’Eighteen Ancient Slaughters Cut White Snake’ set up in our shop serve?""It is said that in ancient times, the White Snake Demon had the ability to ascend to the heavens and descend to the earth. The Eighteen Ancient Slaughters array is like a Heaven and Earth Net. Once it takes shape, and the White Snake Demon is caught in the net, it would find no way to ascend to heaven or descend to earth."

Zhou Xuan clapped his hands and said, "Alright, I understand now, this Mr. Nayan is quite cunning."

"He surely knows that I have hidden the Danzi in the stone temple of ’Shanshui Jian’,

but with the stone temple on my side, I can dive thousands of feet underground, making it impossible for him to track me. Therefore, he wants to lay a Heaven and Earth Net to trap me."

"Once I’m trapped, his subsequent methods will follow, entering my stone temple to seize the Danzi."

After saying this, Zhou Xuan concluded, "So, for the next few days, we only need to do two things."

"Which two?" Yun Ziliang asked.

"First, live as usual," Zhou Xuan said.

"I don’t understand," Li Changxun said.

Zhou Xuan, feeling a bit more relaxed now, smiled and patted Li Changxun’s shoulder, "It’s quite simple. We should eat, drink, and act normally, without alarming Mr. Nayan, letting him continue with his setup."

"What’s the second thing?" Yun Ziliang asked.

Zhou Xuan replied, "I will reveal traces of the Danzi, to let that Mr. Nayan be convinced that I indeed have the Danzi, provoking his greed."

"And then?"

"And then, it’ll be time to lure him into our trap," Zhou Xuan appeared confident.

The tense lines on everyone’s faces also began to relax.

"As expected from the most strategic Mr. from Mingjiang Prefecture, Danzi is impressed," Danzi gave a thumbs up to Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said, "Once you leave this stone temple, act as if nothing happened, and do what you need to do."

"Alright," Yun Ziliang, Li Changxun, and Mr. Bai Lu all agreed.

...

Although the situation was somewhat complex, Zhou Xuan’s decisive actions set the tone.

In the following days, Zhou Xuan visited various friends during the day and spread the word that once the second batch of elixirs was ready, he would return to Ping Shui Prefecture.

"Sister Cui, in a few days, come back to Ping Shui Prefecture with me. Once there, you might not return."

Zhou Xuan said to Sister Cui.

Sister Cui naturally understood his intentions. She was endowed with the Earth Law of the Fourth Realm, and only the Zhou Family’s Troupe in Ping Shui Prefecture could keep her safe.

Although she was somewhat reluctant to leave her neighbors on East Market Street, having Hua Zi to accompany her made it less sorrowful.

Aside from visiting friends, every night, Zhou Xuan would go to the East City Ancient Hall to check on the progress of his second batch of elixirs.

During these few days, Li Changxun and Zhao Wuya unexpectedly became quite close, and the two started to delve into the Alchemy Dao together.

Zhao Wuya was originally interested in elixirs, after all, during his time at Dragon Seeking Mountain, he had turned half a steel mill into waste pills.

And the instigator of his waste pill creations was Yun Ziyi.

Yun Ziyi’s "Alchemy Scripture" was widely circulated in the Dragon Seeking Hall, and it was under the influence of this "strange book" that Zhao Wuya developed a fondness for alchemy.

During these days, whenever Zhao Wuya and Li Changxun excitedly discussed the Alchemy Dao, Alchemist Bai Lu would come over to give a few pointers, but they all disliked each other.

Zhao Wuya and Li Changxun considered Alchemist Bai Lu’s approach to alchemy to be outdated, while Alchemist Bai Lu thought Zhao and Li were "talentless but overly ambitious."

"If you can’t do alchemy, don’t pretend to know. Learn more, and learning will be effective."

Each time they argued, Alchemist Bai Lu would leave this remark and then walk away.

All of them followed the tone set by Zhou Xuan: "Live as you normally would, and avoid showing signs or alarming the snake."

However, Yun Ziliang had some issues.

Being one of the involved parties, he couldn’t remain as unaffected. After learning that Yun Ziyi was still alive, it felt like there was a brick in his stomach, always uneasy.

And worried that Yun Ziliang might expose their plan, Zhou Xuan advised the perpetually sighing Lao Yun not to linger long in East Market Street, especially avoiding places covered by Mr. Nayan’s Feng Shui Formation, like the gaming halls.

"Then where should I go?"

"Go fishing."

Zhou Xuan said with a smile.

Thus, Yun Ziliang took his fishing rod and basket to fish by the Mingjiang river every day, returning home late, fully indulging in fishing.

Truth be told, Yun Ziliang had a natural talent for fishing, much better than his card-playing skills. His basket was never empty, always filled with ten or so big and small fish.

Every other day, he would even catch a half-meter-long big fish, which made Jingyi Shop eat fish every meal.

"I’m sick of eating fish, Lao Yun, try catching something else tomorrow, maybe some old turtles," Zhou Xuan couldn’t help but complain to the visibly tanned Yun Ziliang after eating fish for six consecutive meals.

...

Five or six days passed in the blink of an eye, and on this day, like the previous days, Zhou Xuan stood on the stone steps at the shop’s entrance and stomped his feet heavily.

He did this as a pretense for wanting to strengthen his body and circulate blood, but in truth, he was channeling his perception underground to test the progress of Mr. Nayan’s Feng Shui Formation.

Mr. Nayan intended to establish a Heaven and Earth Net on East Market Street, leaving Zhou Xuan with no escape to heaven or earth.

Today, when Zhou Xuan’s perception penetrated the ground, it had barely traveled over two feet before hitting something like a steel plate and bouncing back.

He immediately understood, stretched lazily, pretended to practice a set of "Tai Chi Boxing," and then returned inside, put on his hat, and headed out the door.