If I Were a Profound Heaven Sect Fiend, How Would You Respond, Old Chen?

Right?

After listening to Chen Shijie's explanation, Zhao Xing couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

Gui Niang and he had no official relationship; they were merely lovers. He had no say in the security of Nanyang County, and his position Agricultural Official was nothing more than to encourage and promote agriculture.

He could have simply left and been promoted back to the army as Military Sima Nong.

But he was willing to risk his life to set a trap and lure the Profound Heaven Sect into attacking him.

For Gui Niang and the people, it is loyalty and responsibility; to quell the bandits and kill the enemy, it is courage and confidence!

Old Chen, what a real man!

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xing knew he should say something. Old Chen had talked to him so much; it was a sign that they were open with each other.

"Actually, my visit this time is also related to the Profound Heaven Sect."

"Oh?" Chen Shijie raised an eyebrow. "You mean..."

"Yes, since I obtained the Evil Aversion Almanac, I have experienced three Great Misfortune and several Minor Misfortune, all of which occurred after the Minor Heat, during the joint search by the county and the East Lake Army," Zhao Xing said slowly.

"Then why didn't you say so sooner?"

"My reason is the same as yours," Zhao Xing said. "I'm just a lowly clerk. Issuing the Thousand Mile Transmission Token and the Evil Aversion Almanac is already considered taking precautions. How could a mere Third-Tier Essence Gathering Qi Ranked Realm Cultivation..."

The Evil Aversion Almanac is not omnipotent; it displays very little information. It can only tell you which time and direction you might encounter problems if you take certain actions. Note that it is "possible," not "certain."

Just like ordinary people, today is auspicious for starting work or opening a business, and building a house; inauspicious for logging, traveling, and funerals. But what exactly constitutes "auspicious," and to what extent? What exactly constitutes "inauspicious," and who might be affected? There are too many possibilities.

"I'm not reporting it, and the reason is simple."

"Firstly, even if I report it, it won't make any difference; the higher-ups will still do what they're supposed to do. They won't go to great lengths just because I'm a lowly clerk."

"Secondly, the higher-ups are taking this seriously and want to know more information, so they want me to act as bait. This is certainly beneficial to the government, but for me, it's fraught with danger."

Zhao Xing spoke frankly and directly.

He was afraid of being sacrificed.

Who can guarantee that everyone in those positions is good? That's not the point.

But what if someone is greedy for credit and acts rashly?

Even if we take a step back and assume that everyone in their position did nothing wrong, and that they were all selfless and upright individuals.

Doing this is inherently dangerous.

Based on Zhao Xing's understanding of the Profound Heaven Sect, he felt he shouldn't have spoken up at the time, lest he cause trouble. He figured he should just be more vigilant and avoid the situation.

The Profound Heaven Sect is not some petty thief or bandit; it is an evil sect with a history of thousands of years.

"Then why are you saying this now?" Chen Shijie asked with interest. "Are you inspired by my courage?"

"No, not at all." Zhao Xing said without any mercy, "After I opened the mountain, I gained too much, obtaining forty-two portions of spiritual essence all by myself. If the Profound Heaven Sect wasn't blind, they would definitely have moved up the arrest sequence for me."

Zhao Xing's reasoning was exactly the same as Chen Shijie's; he also guessed that his importance on the Profound Heaven Sect's list had increased.

In addition, he also has family and friends he values, such as Zhao Ruide, Zhao Zheng, and even Mrs. Cai, as well as his son, Yu Qiandong, whom he does not want to be involved in.

"Give them a good beating and wipe out their hideout in Gucheng. That's the result I want," Zhao Xing said. "The Profound Heaven Sect is powerful, but it's much harder for such a big fish to lie low than for small fish."

"Once a den is wiped out, it's unlikely to resurface for at least ten or twenty years."

Chen Shijie nodded slightly. "You said you have little influence in the government. If you were me, what would you do?"

Zhao Xing said slowly, "That depends on how much weight you actually carry."

Chen Shijie pondered for a moment and said, "You consider me a Regular Seventh Rank. Since you even know that Azure Cloud Matriarch's Water Book was originally on Purple Cloud Island, you should know the power of Regular Seventh Rank official."

Zhao Xing dismissed them, saying, "Don't overestimate me. I just like to read miscellaneous books, old editions of county annals, local gazettes, and ancient family tales. These aren't hard to find."

Chen Shijie said, "Let's just chat casually. We're having a private chat now, so there's no need to hold back. Whether we say something right or wrong, only you and I will know."

Zhao Xing considered it for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, if you insist on letting me talk, then I'll ramble on for a bit. But first, I'd like to see the latest official gazette, as well as the approximate strength of the various armies and departments in Nanyang County. Also, any intelligence related to the Profound Heaven Sect that you can show me, please let me see it."

"After we've looked at it, let's have a sand table exercise. Do you have a sand table of Nanyang County here?"

Chen Shijie raised an eyebrow. He had only intended to have a casual chat, but he hadn't expected Zhao Xing to take it seriously.

Seeing Zhao Xing's appearance, he became interested. "Yes, yes, I come from Military Sima Nong background. Come with me."

He led Zhao Xing through the drill ground and into the back hall.

Chen Shijie was indeed a ruthless killer; he actually transformed the back hall into a small Military Hall.

In the very center is an Illustrated Sandtable, a fourth-tier treasure, which can simulate many kinds of terrain and landforms, and is in miniature scale.

Simply place the map on the sand table base, and it will be recreated.

The sand table even has clouds floating on it, and it records the Heavenly Timing!

"Still a high-grade fourth-tier map? Hmm? This map... is it the Pacify Barbarian Six Counties of the upper reaches of the Canglan River? No, where's Xier County? How did it become a scorched wasteland?!"

Chen Shijie said in surprise, "You have a good eye. You recognized it at a glance... Now I really believe you can see a lot of things."

"As for Xier County, it has disappeared in my calculations, but in reality it still exists."

Chen Shijie waved his hand, and a patch of scorched earth on the sand table was instantly restored.

"Do you know how to use a sand table?"

"Not really," Zhao Xing said against his will. He didn't dare reveal too much. It's one thing to know a lot from reading books, but it's too strange to know exactly how to use heavy military equipment.

"It's written in the military strategy, you can look it up yourself." Chen Shijie pointed to the pile of messy documents, "I almost forgot, Gui Niang is still waiting for me in the side hall... You take a look first, I'll be right back."

After saying this, Chen Shijie turned into a gust of wind and left.

Zhao Xing looked around the Military Hall as if he were his own.

Besides the Illustrated Sandtable, there are also many straw figures inside the hall. However, the straw figures are made very small, miniature, and are almost only the size of a palm.

In addition, there are battle drums, marching orders, and various military flags.

These items all emitted a faint glow, and their quality was quite high.

"How high a position did Old Chen hold before? Could he really Regular Seventh Rank?" Zhao Xing walked to the table and began to look through the documents.

The content is very diverse, covering all sorts of things.

"Detailed Explanation of Great Halberdier Training", "The Blazing Fire Battle Formation of the Five Elements Battalion", "A Hundred Explanations of the Mechanisms of the Artificer Battalion Camp", "The Agricultural Official's Military Strategy", "Mythical Beasts: White Bone Golden Toe", "One Hundred Battles: The Earthly Advantage Institute", "Seventh Order Rations"...

Old Chen's large table is covered with books, both on top and underneath.

As a qualified Military Sima Nong, Old Chen's reading volume and proficiency in magic are several times that of the Civil Sima Nong.

"Old Chen is alright," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Instead of looking through the others, he searched for information and intelligence related to the Profound Heaven Sect.

"In the winter of the 241st year of the Chengkang Era, the sorcerers of the Xuantian Profound Heaven Sect caused chaos in the Daoyuan Continent. The sorcerer 'Myriad Transformation True Lord' used evil magic to corrupt and control a garrison of 47 officers and commanders in Qinglong Prefecture, intending to inflict massacres in the prefectural city and spread the scourge across fourteen prefectures. He was killed by Martial Marquis Zhou Jue 15 days later..."

"In the spring of the 249th year of Chengkang Era, the evil people of the Profound Heaven Sect seized two Dragon Head Tower Ship transporting Grotto-Heaven materials at Wanchuan Mountain Dayuan Prefecture, attempting to distribute them to the people of the seven prefectures of Dayuan Prefecture and spread the belief in Evil God... Three days later, the evil bandit 'High Lord Fa Zhen' and the two Evil God were destroyed by 'An Dinghe', the commander of the Night God Guard, and the Dayuan True Lord."

"In the summer of the 257th year of the Chengkang Era, the sorcerers of the Profound Heaven Sect attacked Ming Lake Dao Academy, causing 420 casualties among the students..."

"The 261st year of the Chengkang Era..."

Chengkang Era was a reign title that preceded New Splendor Era.

It is now the fifteenth year of New Splendor Era, not far off.

Chen Shijie was searching for information about the activities of the Profound Heaven Sect over the past century.

"They were always extinguished, and the bandits were killed very quickly, but they just kept popping up to cause trouble from time to time." Zhao Xing looked at the intelligence report.

The trouble with the Profound Heaven Sect lies in this: the people they send out to cause trouble are all powerful individuals who are about to reach their lifespan.

He was already close to death, so he didn't care about anything and acted crazy.

Even if I were killed, it wouldn't hurt me.

In most cases, the Profound Heaven Sect does not aim to seize land or steal treasures; as long as it can annoy the Great Zhou and spread its existence, it has achieved its goal.

The goal is to sow seeds of fear in the hearts of the people and make them aware of the existence of the Profound Heaven Sect.

Faith is not always necessary; fear can also nourish Evil God.

"Starting from the beginning of the New Splendor Era, we changed our strategy and began kidnapping people everywhere. This is a new round of planning." Zhao Xing compared the intelligence with his memories from his previous life.

At the same time, he was also thinking about how to strike the right balance while reminding Chen Shijie.

You shouldn't make yourself seem unusual.

Chen Shijie didn't return for more than an hour.

When he returned to the back room, he seemed a little down, clearly indicating that Gui Niang was the person he truly cared about.

Zhao Xing had no intention of prying into Chen Shijie's private affairs, because he felt that love and romance were really troublesome. Even a tough man like Old Chen had been influenced by women, so he thought it best to just pursue physical intimacy rather than emotional involvement in the future.

"How's the assessment going?" Chen Shijie asked.

"It's alright." Zhao Xing put down the documents in his hand.

"Let's begin then."

Zhao Xing went to the Illustrated Sandtable and replaced the map with the one of Nanyang County.

"Buzz~"

The sand table trembled slightly, and the sand table, which was about ten meters long and four meters wide, began to change.

New mountains and rivers appeared above, and soon even the weather in various places was generated.

Zhao Xing located Valley County on the sand table and then infused it with his vital energy.

The Valley County suddenly enlarged, taking up the entire sand table.

"Suppose I were a member of the Profound Heaven Sect, hiding anywhere in Valley County except Gucheng, and I wanted to capture you, the Ninth-Rank Agricultural Official of Gucheng, the first thing I would have to consider is timing."

Zhao Xing's opening remarks surprised Chen Shijie slightly, because he had asked Zhao Xing to consider things from his perspective, but he did not expect that the other party would directly consider things from the perspective of the Profound Heaven Sect.

"At what time?" Chen Shijie asked.

"The best time is a day with a positive yang month, a positive yang day, and a positive yang hour," Zhao Xing said

Chen Shijie frowned. "To avoid the temple's monitoring?"

"Hmm." Zhao Xing pointed to the direction of the temple in Gucheng. "January, March, May, July, September, and November are the six Yang months. I checked the intelligence, and whenever the Profound Heaven Sect sends out Yin Soul clones, it is always during these months."

"And it was also a day with a yang month and a yang day."

"During these special periods, the surveillance capabilities of the temple's Yin Spirit will be weakened."

"Although the Yin Soul power hidden by the Profound Heaven Sect will also weaken, the fact that it is weakening at the same time makes it advantageous to act during this period."

Chen Shijie nodded, "That's indeed the case."

When everyone has an advantage, it's as if the Profound Heaven Sect has none, because their Yin Soul can't defeat those in the Great Zhou Temple anyway.

However, if everyone has a disadvantage, then it becomes an advantage for the Profound Heaven Sect, because the surveillance power of the Yin Spirit in the temple will be weakened.

You can gain a period of free time without anyone noticing.

Of course, they will eventually be discovered, and even if they can't win, they still can't win; it's just that the time between "action" and "discovery" is greatly extended.

This period coincided with the Profound Heaven Sect's operation.

Zhao Xing said, "If I were to make a move to arrest you, I would definitely wait until November."

"Why? There are still a few days left in September!"

"It's too late," Zhao Xing shook his head. "I'm here to take you away, not to kill you."

"The remaining few days are not enough for me to take you out of the Great Zhou territory."

"Nanyang County is 108,000 miles away from the border of the Great Zhou. The Profound Heaven Sect is not a citizen of the Great Zhou. If we want to take people out, we must keep a low profile and cannot use our magic. Therefore, it will take some time."

"Indeed." Chen Shijie nodded. "If I wanted to set up a scheme, it should be in November, preferably at the beginning of the month. Go on."

"The time is set, but we still need to see the specific circumstances." Zhao Xing pointed to the map and said, "If you stay in the county town, under the strong protection of the temple, I won't have a chance. The Profound Heaven Sect can't take you away from the town."

It was impossible to forcefully attack the temple of a county town; at least, the Great Zhou at that time could not do so.

"Then how can I give you the opportunity to arrest me?" Chen Shijie asked.

"You will definitely have at least two opportunities to leave the city in November," Zhao Xing said. "One is the Beginning of Winter, and the other is the Minor Snow."

"As the Agricultural Official, you must be present for the assessment during the Beginning of Beginning of Winter. Although there is no assessment during the Minor Snow solar term, you will still go to the townships to inspect whether the solar terms in various parts of Valley County are normal."

"That's right." Chen Shijie nodded. "The Minor Snow solar term could very well lead to a snow disaster, and I need to ensure it proceeds normally. Deploying troops at these two points in time is quite reasonable."

"After considering the timing, I still need to consider the manpower issue," Zhao Xing said. "Gucheng is a top-tier county, and we need to take into account all departments of its County Office, including the Judicial Guard, Military Office, and Patrol Office, as well as the East Lake Army stationed by East Lake."

"You're Ninth-Rank. If I want to arrest you, I'll need at least seven Eighth Grade."

Chen Shijie shook his head and said, "Are you mistaken? I told you to consider me Regular Seventh Rank official, but the Profound Heaven Sect doesn't know my strength."

Zhao Xing calmly replied, "Even if I didn't know, I would still have to prepare this much. Besides, it wouldn't be hard to find out that you are the Military Sima Nong."

"It would be good if we could take you away silently."

"If anything unexpected happens, the few people inside will stay behind to cover the retreat and distract the enemy."

"After capturing you, I will quickly use Disguise and Soul-Sealing Technique to turn you and me into ordinary people."

"Next, we will rely on the support of ordinary believers, and on carriages, horses, and boats, to leave the territory of the Great Zhou."

Zhao Xing zoomed out of the map of Gucheng and zoomed in to show the entire Nanyang County.

With a light tap of his finger on the map, he said, "Nanyang County has many waterways. As long as you can get on a boat on the Canglan River and go downstream, you can reach a border town a thousand miles away in less than a day. Then, you can climb over the mountains and use magic. That's like being free to fly in the sky."

Chen Shijie smiled and asked, "That's too idealistic. Tell me first what you think would be the best ambush location in Gucheng."

Zhao Xing zoomed in on the map of Gucheng and then tapped on a few places. "Gucheng is a county in the upper part of the Nanyang County. The concentrated areas of grain production in Gucheng are in places like Shanggu Town, Old Granary Town Eight Water Bay, Sanpo Ravine, and Pingtang Town."

"If you're going to see it, you'll definitely have to go to these places, right?"

Chen Shijie glanced at them and nodded in agreement. "That's right. Ensuring the people's harvest is the Agricultural Official's top priority. These eight places are major grain-producing areas, so I might go—no, I definitely will!"

Zhao Xing said, "It's now a choice between eight, because the operation could be launched from anywhere, and the locations are all pretty much the same."

Chen Shijie smiled and nodded, "That's right, your analysis makes a lot of sense."

Zhao Xing could tell from his expression that Chen Shijie had thought of all these things, and perhaps even more comprehensively.

However, for Old Chen's safety, he still said a few more words, "The people that the Profound Heaven Sect uses for operations are always disregarding life and death, and they don't care about cost-effectiveness, because the suicide soldiers they send out are all people who are about to reach the end of their lifespan."

"That's why I said preparing seven Eighth Grade is still too few, it's even possible to have more."

Chen Shijie tilted his head and asked, "You didn't mention the officials and clerks from other departments at all, you only counted the forces that were supposed to capture me. If they were to actually take action, there would definitely be fewer people assigned to deal with me, and the Profound Heaven Sect wouldn't have that many people."

Seeing Chen Shijie's appearance, Zhao Xing knew that he had made a mistake based on empiricism.

Because the Profound Heaven Sect had previously looted and captured not only the Agricultural Official, but also other professions, including minor officials and higher-ranking officials.

However, Zhao Xing deduced from the result that the main target of the Profound Heaven Sect was the Agricultural Official profession, because they captured Agricultural Official, brainwashed and trained them, and then created natural disasters within the Great Zhou territory.

"If I were the leader of the Profound Heaven Sect, I think capturing just you would be enough," Zhao Xing said, seemingly arguing. "Lord Chen, you come from Military Sima Nong background. You have enough influence that even Sub-Sixth Rank official comes to support you. Capturing one of you is worth more than capturing ten or a hundred other officials and clerks."

"Wouldn't that create an even bigger sensation?"

"Or perhaps, the Agricultural Official is their primary target, and the others are merely incidental, dispensable?"

Chen Shijie's expression turned serious; the previous analysis was exactly what he had expected.

But now Zhao Xing's seemingly Wuxin remark reminded him that if such a possibility really existed, then had he underestimated the Profound Heaven Sect?