Amid the torrential rain that splashed up a hazy mist, Tao Wenshu passed through courtyard after courtyard, searching for Ji Hanyi, Yan Yong, and Ding Songyan, occasionally raising her head to look at the sky.
Once the rain eased a little more and some of the dark clouds dispersed, she could use "Northern Dipper Guides the Way," a secret art derived from the Celestial Stars Scripture, to pinpoint the trail of the Sage-Slaying Path demoness she had just fought.
Though she and the people from the Prefectural Yamen and County Yamen had yet to receive reinforcements, this was within their expectations. The righteous figures within Dingjiang Prefecture alone should have been enough: herself, Lin Hansheng, Yi Qincang, whose shooting from high ground made him equivalent to a Martial Grandmaster, and Su Chongxiao, who was unlikely to cause trouble and could even be persuaded to help with Huai Fruit. They were more than enough to deal with Zhen Qianfan and whoever the Sage-Slaying Path sent.
-If the Sage-Slaying Path had sent a Great Grandmaster of the Celestial-Human Realm, things would never have developed into their current state. Once he confirmed where Yan Yong was imprisoned, he could have raided the Zhen Estate that very night, swiftly rescued his target, then created chaos, sacrificed some disciples, and escaped Dingjiang Prefecture.
Expectations were one thing, but Tao Wenshu had not anticipated two unexpected developments this time. The first was that the Small Boat Gang was actually colluding with someone suspected of being a fiend from the Overturned Boat Faction. They had happened to infiltrate the Zhen Estate for revenge at this critical moment, creating widespread chaos as people slaughtered one another and causing many who should have been safe to die.
Had that been the only development, things would still have been manageable.