Lu Shui hadn't waited long before Zhen Ling returned.
"Young master, bad news." Those were the first words Zhen Ling said upon returning.
Lu Shui wasn't particularly concerned. If someone was watching them, how could the news be good?
"What specifically?" Lu Shui asked.
Though Zhen Ling didn't know whether Lu Shui would act recklessly, she still needed to report the facts:
"According to my investigation, the general situation here is that people from the Faceless Sect are besieging a small Liang family.
"The purpose of the siege is to get that Mysterious Book, but I couldn't find out what it specifically is."
"The Liang Family? The Faceless Sect?" Lu Shui was puzzled. He'd never even heard of them.
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling shook their heads too:
"This is the first time we've heard of them as well."
Since none of them had heard of them, there was nothing to discuss.
Lu Shui said:
"Then what's the bad news?"
"They seem to be deliberately edging closer to us—or, more precisely, people from the Liang Family are deliberately heading this way. Our whereabouts have been exposed.
"I just learned that the Liang Family probably has three Bright God experts, while the Faceless Sect has even more. Their Heavenly Maiden, Left and Right Protectors, and Four Great Elders may all be Bright God experts.
"The people from the Faceless Sect should also be gathering and heading this way now.
"The situation is very unfavorable for us."
Three from the Liang Family, seven from the Faceless Sect.
Lu Shui frowned. Killing ten Fourth Tier experts in one go would be difficult.
But he should be able to work something out.
Bright Gods were Fourth Tier, and Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling were Fourth Tier Bright Gods too.
As for Lu Shui, he was only at 2.3, with one more night to go before he advanced.
But advancing wouldn't help. A Second Tier facing a Fourth Tier would just be throwing his life away.
He needed to try borrowing outside power.
Seeing Lu Shui stay silent, Zhen Wu grew uneasy:
"Young master, we should run. As long as we hold out until the Mo Family responds, things should be fine."
Lu Shui looked at Zhen Wu. It was an option, but the time wasn't right yet.
More importantly, they were already being watched. Fleeing the whole way would make him miss his chance to counterattack.
Just then, Zhen Wu and the others felt the area around them being sealed off.
Zhen Wu furrowed his brows:
"They're here. Zhen Ling, protect the young master and get him out of here. I'll hold them off."
Zhen Ling was reluctant. She wanted to stay behind and block the way herself.
But before she could say anything, Lu Shui spoke:
"You should leave together. If you split up, they'll pick you off one by one, and you'll die even faster."
Zhen Wu looked at Lu Shui, hesitant:
"Then can the young master escape on his own?"
Why would I run? Lu Shui was a little bewildered, but he couldn't be bothered to explain, so he just nodded:
"It shouldn't be a problem."
"It shouldn't be a problem" meant there definitely was a problem. Their young master was so unreliable. But splitting up really would get them killed faster, and the other side had quite a few Fourth Tiers.
Seeing them still hesitating, Lu Shui continued:
"I have a magic treasure my parents gave me. Even if I get captured, it can hold out for a few days."
Only then did Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling feel a little reassured. Zhen Wu said:
"We'll buy the young master enough time. You should leave as quickly as possible. Don't linger."
After Lu Shui nodded, Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling headed outside. Though it looked like they were abandoning him, they still had to do it.
Foolish, weren't they?
"Foolish." Watching the two leave, Lu Shui couldn't help saying, "My parents never gave me any magic treasures. I just said that offhand, and you believed me.
"Come to think of it, why didn't my parents give me any magic treasures? Aren't they worried I'll get into an accident?"
After thinking it over, Lu Shui remembered that he really did have life-saving treasures. It was just that they were all in his old Storage Bag.
Unfortunately, he couldn't remember where he'd lost it.
Without worrying about that, Lu Shui picked up a chopstick and began drawing a formation on the ground.
This time, he used Heaven and Earth Power.
There was a large formation outside. If Lu Shui wanted to borrow outside power, that was the only formation he could use.
It was already too late to set up his own formation.
So he planned to use Heaven and Earth Power to connect to the formation outside. Then he'd have a chance to turn the situation around.
Lu Shui drew the formation slowly. As he worked, he could hear fighting outside.
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling had probably started fighting the people from the Faceless Sect.
Lu Shui didn't get distracted. He continued drawing the formation with Heaven and Earth Power.
Before long, the formation took shape. Lu Shui pinched his fingers and activated it.
The formation wasn't large, but it operated extremely quickly, and its workings were unfathomably profound.
Forget someone at the same tier—even Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling couldn't make heads or tails of it.
A moment later, the formation stopped operating. But the formation, which had originally stood alone, now had several connecting lines from outside.
Those lines gave off different auras of power, some stronger and some weaker.
Lu Shui frowned as he looked at them:
"Much weaker than I expected. At most, it'll give me the power of Two Strikes.
"And those two strikes can't do any damage to a Fifth Tier.
"That's not good."
Fourth Tier Bright Gods. Fifth Tier Law Bodies.
There was no comparison between Fourth and Fifth Tiers. The Fourth Tier was about gathering divine power, while the Fifth Tier condensed a True Law Body, turning power from liquid into solid.
A Fourth Tier facing a Fifth Tier was like an egg smashing against a rock.
Utterly crushed.
What Lu Shui was concerned about now was whether the Faceless Sect or the Liang Family might suddenly reveal a Fifth Tier powerhouse in reserve. If one really appeared, he would be the one in danger.
"Should I take a gamble? Bet that they really don't have any Fifth Tier experts?"
Lu Shui tapped the ground with his chopstick as he thought.
But he didn't think for long before he came up with an idea.
"Divination Determines Auspiciousness and Inauspiciousness. If it's inauspicious, I'll take everyone and leave immediately."
Lu Shui had some confidence in himself, but he wasn't reckless. If he didn't think things through a little more and ended up with another psychological scar, that wouldn't be good.
One was already more than enough.
Once he'd decided, Lu Shui drew a circle on the ground and split it in two with a line down the middle.
Then he wrote "Inauspicious" on the left and "Auspicious" on the right.
Finally, he laid the chopstick across the center and gave it a spin.
The next moment, the chopstick spun like a lucky wheel.
Lu Shui watched it with a serious expression. The direction it pointed would determine what he did next.
There was no way he could afford not to take this seriously.
Soon, the chopstick began to slow. It was pointing toward the auspicious side, but it was still creeping toward the inauspicious side.
The tip had already reached the edge of "Auspicious." It would soon cross into the inauspicious area.
Lu Shui frowned. If it crossed the boundary, he'd have to leave right away.
But a moment later, the chopstick stopped.
It had stopped right on the dividing line.
Lu Shui looked at the chopstick, deep in thought. He soon understood:
"It's not inauspicious, so it must be auspicious. Looks like they don't have any Fifth Tier experts."
With that answer, Lu Shui felt much better.
But as soon as he picked up the chopstick, he immediately stepped back.
A sword plunged into the spot where he'd been standing.
Lu Shui looked up and saw six masked figures at the doorway.
They looked at him as if he were a frail little lamb.
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