Lu Huaiqian listened to his third brother, tapped his fingers on the table, and said gravely, "Don't say things in anger."
"If setting the mountain ablaze could solve this, the Tiger Demon wouldn't have been entrenched there for decades."
Lu Huaishan opened his mouth, then slumped as if he'd been punctured.
He grabbed the coarse pottery teacup on the table, long since gone cold, and gulped down a mouthful. His Adam's apple bobbed, but in the end, he said nothing more.
Lu Huaiqian was right.
If setting the mountain ablaze alone could solve the problem,
the Tiger Demon would have been dealt with long ago.
His second brother, Lu Huaichuan, patted their third brother on the arm.
"Third Brother, Eldest Brother is right.
If we set this fire, it won't be just the mountain that burns."
He habitually wiped his glasses and continued,
"Leaving aside the fact that the law forbids burning mountains, how many families in Yinshan County make their living from logging, gathering herbs, and hunting?
If the mountain is left scorched bare, it could well spark a revolt."
After a pause, Lu Huaichuan went on,
"Besides, that beast is cunning. The moment things look bad, it'll flee. Then the mountain will be ruined, the demon will still be alive, and when the higher-ups come down on us, our Lu Family..."
He left the sentence unfinished, but everyone understood.
The only sounds in the room were the occasional crackle of the oil lamp's wick,
and a distant, mournful wail outside the window—whether from the wind or something else, no one could tell.
Lu Jing'an, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Father, perhaps we really can set the mountain ablaze."
Lu Huaiqian's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he didn't interrupt.
He merely gave a low "Mm," prompting him to continue.
Lu Jing'an sat up straight. "The Peacekeeping Bureau's files clearly state that the Tiger Demon is extremely afraid of fire."
Lu Huaishan chimed in, "That's right. I read the files too. That beast fears fire most of all."
"As long as we set the mountain ablaze, it's as good as dead."
Lu Huaichuan reached out to stop his third brother. "Third Brother, listen to Jing'an first."
Lu Jing'an continued,
"The biggest challenge is convincing the Tiger Demon that we're burning the mountain,
so it flees in panic, without actually burning the whole forest to the ground."
Burning the mountain while saving the forest—those two things were simply impossible to reconcile.
But Lu Huaiqian said nothing. He let Lu Jing'an continue.
Lu Jing'an paused and looked at his father.
"Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, have you heard of a Western chemical called phosphorus?"
The three Lu brothers exchanged glances. None of them had ever heard of it.
Lu Jing'an put it another way. "What about ghost fire?"
This time, Lu Huaishan answered first.
"I know that. When we were young, we saw it at a mass grave."
"Green and flickering, drifting around. It wouldn't set clothes alight, and water couldn't put it out."
Lu Huaiqian nodded. "That's right. Phosphorus is what produces ghost fire."
"Phosphorus has an extremely low ignition point. Its flames are cold and dim, and can't set wood alight.
If we can get enough phosphorus powder,
we can scatter it through the woods around the Tiger Demon's lair under cover of night.
Once the phosphorus catches fire, we can add wet grass and thick smoke to create the illusion of a raging inferno.
The Tiger Demon fears fire. When it sees this, it'll panic and flee without thinking."
Lu Jing'an's words came faster and faster.
"We just have to drive it in the direction we choose."
"Once it runs where we want it to go,"
"we can simply greet it with bullets."
Though the three men didn't understand what phosphorus was, after hearing Lu Jing'an's explanation, they all felt his plan could work.
The key problem now was how to obtain a large quantity of phosphorus.
Lu Jing'an had already come up with a solution. "Father, we should go straight to Secretary Hu."
"Tell him we want to use this to eliminate the Tiger Demon and ask him for help."
"Also, we have to seal off everything that happened today."
"Secretary Hu must not find out what happened at our house today."
Lu Huaiqian nodded at once. "Good. We'll do as Jing'an says."
"Jing'an, whatever else you need, just ask."
When it came to things he didn't understand, Lu Huaiqian was more than willing to let his son take charge.
Lu Jing'an thought for a moment. "I'll also need some men to make a firebreak near the Tiger Demon's lair."
After saying that, Lu Jing'an explained further. "We need people to clear a wide strip of land, with no trees left standing."
"That way, if the phosphorus doesn't work, we can still try a controlled burn over a limited area."
"Doing this will also make the Tiger Demon, watching from the shadows, more afraid."
"It'll serve as a warning to the monkey by killing the chicken."
"Then, when it sees the phosphorus fire for real, it'll be even easier to fool."
After hearing Lu Jing'an's explanation, Lu Huaiqian nodded at once. "All right. How many men do you need?"
Lu Jing'an considered it before answering. "The more, the better. More men will make the work safer, and they'll have a greater effect on the Tiger Demon's nerves."
After hearing Lu Jing'an, Lu Huaishan immediately picked up the thread. "Leave this to Third Uncle. I'll take the brothers to cut trees tomorrow."
"Third Uncle, there's no rush to cut trees. Tomorrow, I'll go back to the Peacekeeping Bureau under the pretext of returning the files and ask if they know the Tiger Demon's exact lair."
"That way, when you start cutting, you'll have a specific area to work with."
Lu Huaishan nodded. "All right, Jing'an. We'll do as you say."
After he finished, Lu Jing'an turned to Lu Huaiqian. "Father, phosphorus is the key to making this plan work."
Lu Huaiqian replied with confidence, "If there's phosphorus anywhere in the province, I'll make sure we get every last bit of it."
With his father's assurance, Lu Jing'an felt at ease.
Once they'd settled everything,
everyone dispersed.
Chen Xuan didn't rest. No one could be sure how many Chang Ghosts the Tiger Demon had brought with it, so Chen Xuan could only lead all the guards on another patrol, checking both inside and out.
After Lu Jing'an returned to his room,
he didn't rest right away.
Instead, he immediately refined the remnant soul of the Martial Cultivator surnamed He.
Lu Jing'an's claim that he was going to the Peacekeeping Bureau to ask about the Tiger Demon's lair was just an excuse.
He suspected the Peacekeeping Bureau probably didn't know where it was hiding either.
But the Martial Cultivator surnamed He had to know.
Of course, it also depended on luck—on whether the information was still in his remnant soul.
After all, it was a remnant soul. It was only natural for some memories to be missing.
[Refining in progress. Estimated completion time: 1 hour]
Looking at the refining time, Lu Jing'an didn't expect much from the Affix.
With such a short time, he'd most likely only get Energy Points and a Memory Bead.
For now, Lu Jing'an just hoped the memories would be relatively complete.
Time trickled by. From somewhere in the distance came the faint sound of the night watchman's clapper, marking the third watch.
[Refining complete]!
Lu Jing'an checked the results.
Just as he'd expected,
there was only 1 Energy Point and one damaged Memory Bead.
Lu Jing'an quickly examined the damaged Memory Bead.
In an instant, broken images and sensations surged into his mind.
The damp, decaying-leaf scent of the deep mountain forest, so thick it seemed impossible to breathe through...
A natural cavern formed by jagged rocks, its entrance hidden behind dense vines.
A few faint rays of sunlight struggled inside, illuminating old, dried, dark-brown bloodstains on the cave wall...
Deep inside the cavern, the stench of blood and beasts hung heavy. A messy pile of dried grass and animal hides lay...
The memories within the Memory Bead were extremely disjointed.
That couldn't be helped. It was damaged, after all. It was only natural for the memories to jump around.
After piecing together the contents as best he could, Lu Jing'an's brows lifted with delight.
Though the memories were incomplete,
Lu Jing'an had still managed to piece together the approximate location where the Tiger Demon was entrenched.
With a rough idea of its whereabouts,
he could put more pressure on the Tiger Demon.
When the time came to act, things would be much easier.
Lu Jing'an then went over his plan again in his mind.
After reviewing it from beginning to end, he felt the odds of success were quite good.
Of course, he still had to go to the Peacekeeping Bureau tomorrow,
because they should have more detailed maps.
That was another crucial step in the plan.
Before you continue