Funeral

The matter of Nalan Yanran was only a brief interlude. Even though Xiao Yan had agreed to marry her, who knew how long it would be before the wedding actually took place?

Before leaving, Ge Ye handed Xiao Zhan a letter of recommendation.

"Clan Leader Xiao, this is a letter of recommendation from the Misty Cloud Sect, written personally by our grand elder, Yun Leng. If young Xiao Yan wishes to join our sect, he can use this letter to bypass the entrance assessment and become a member."

This was the other underlying reason Ge Ye had accompanied Nalan Yanran to the Xiao Clan. The grand elder had personally approved this trip, all for the sake of recruiting Xiao Yan.

A recommendation from the Misty Cloud Sect? Written personally by its grand elder, no less?

Yun Leng was a Peak Dou Wang. Within the entire Misty Cloud Sect, his word was law, second only to Sect Leader Yun Yun's.

Receiving his recommendation essentially meant that joining the Misty Cloud Sect would put one on a clear path to soaring success.

In the past, Xiao Zhan would certainly have accepted it with delight.

But with the cultivation and talent Xiao Yan had now displayed, joining the Misty Cloud Sect might instead become a burden.

After all, once he joined a sect, he would be bound by its restrictions, and his every action would represent its stance.

Rather than the Misty Cloud Sect, Xiao Zhan hoped Xiao Yan would join Jia Nan Academy.

As an academic institution, Jia Nan Academy offered far more freedom. Even after graduation, its students were not required to carry out its assignments.

By offering rewards for various academy missions, Jia Nan Academy supplied its students with vast quantities of resources. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Moreover, even after graduating, many influential figures who had once attended Jia Nan Academy remained attached to it and were willing to lend it a helping hand.

Jia Nan Academy's former students were scattered throughout the world, and its ability to rally support was beyond anything the Misty Cloud Sect could match.

Thus, joining Jia Nan Academy seemed to offer better prospects than joining the Misty Cloud Sect.

"Thank you for your kindness, Old Ge. I'll keep this recommendation for now."

Xiao Yan stepped forward and accepted the letter. As the saying went, another friend meant another road to take. Going to the Misty Cloud Sect was hardly a bad option, and keeping the recommendation did not mean he had to go.

Seeing Xiao Yan accept the letter, Ge Ye nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I shall return to the Misty Cloud Sect to report. Farewell, everyone. There is no need to see me out."

"Yan'er, do you really intend to go to Jia Nan Academy?"

Xiao Zhan and the elders all looked at Xiao Yan, though none of them would interfere with his choice.

"I'll keep it for now. I'm still young, anyway. I can make that choice whenever I like."

Xiao Yan was in no hurry. He had not even undergone his coming-of-age ceremony yet. Why rush to join a sect?

"Good. As long as you have your own plans. Now, back to our earlier question: how should we deal with the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family?"

Xiao Yan had already worked out an answer to that. It was also why he had chosen to spar with Nalan Yanran here.

"I do have a way to get those two old villains to take the bait." The corner of Xiao Yan's mouth curled upward. "Father, starting now, I want you to spread word that I suffered grave injuries in my fight with Nalan Yanran and am on the verge of death. Then hold my funeral in two weeks."

"A funeral?"

At Xiao Yan's words, everyone present wore a peculiar expression.

"That's right, a funeral. Every Dou Zhe who took part in the ambush against me was wiped out. Even the Jia Lie Family has no way of knowing exactly what happened.

And only the few people here know about my duel with Nalan Yanran.

I need the clan to fake the news that I died from my injuries, then use the mole to pass it along.

That will make those two old villains believe it all the more. Finally, invite the prominent families of Wutan City to the Xiao Clan to mourn me."

With that explanation, the elders immediately understood his intent. He meant to set up a Hongmen banquet-a feast concealing a deadly trap!

"A mole? What do you mean?"

Everyone present was shocked. They had never imagined that agents of another faction were hiding within the Xiao Clan.

"Exactly. I stayed within the Xiao Clan for three years without leaving. How could I have been ambushed the moment I went out? Someone must have leaked my movements."

The moment Xiao Yan finished speaking, Grand Elder Xiao Lie could no longer contain himself. "Outrageous! I'll investigate everyone in the clan immediately. We must find that mole!"

"Don't be impatient, Grand Elder. That mole still has a use. Let him live a little longer."

After all, Xiao Yan still needed him to carry word to the other two families that he had been gravely injured.

"But even if we prepare a deadly banquet, those two old men are cunning and calculating. How could they fall for it so easily?"

Xiao Yan smiled. "Since they were willing to invest so much in killing me, how could they rest easy without seeing me draw my last breath?

After all, people instinctively believe what they want to believe. Given a choice between me being alive and me dying of serious injuries, they'll certainly prefer the latter.

I'll also need you to put on an act with me, Father. Make it look as though you're so devastated that grief has made you ill. As long as you're still standing, they won't dare come to a banquet at the Xiao Clan.

Finally, don't hold the mourning ceremony at the Xiao Clan. Ideally, hire Wutan City's best funeral service and make the whole affair the talk of the city.

That will also keep them from worrying that we've laid an ambush at the Xiao Clan.

With all that in place, even if they still harbor doubts, they'll be more inclined to believe that I'm dead and you're ill."

And once the two families lost their Da Dou Shi, their followers would scatter like monkeys fleeing a fallen tree.

When Xiao Yan finished, everyone from the Xiao Clan stared at him, dumbfounded.

Was this really Xiao Yan? When had he become such a strategist?

"Finally, there's the most crucial point: how to carry out the killing.

First, our Xiao Clan has three Da Dou Shi: Father, a Five-Star Great Dou Master; the grand elder, a Three-Star Da Dou Shi; and the second elder, a Two-Star Great Dou Master.

The Jia Lie Family has its head, Jia Lie Bi, a Three-Star Da Dou Shi, along with two One-Star Great Dou Masters, Jia Lie Hu and Jia Lie Xiu. The Ao Ba Family is slightly weaker. It only has its head, Oba Pa, a Three-Star Da Dou Shi, and his younger brother, Aoba Rui, a One-Star Great Dou Master.

That means our clan has three Da Dou Shi, while our targets have five. If all of them attend the banquet, we'll struggle to take them head-on.

So we need to create circumstances beforehand that prevent the other Da Dou Shi from attending. And as an extra precaution, we should spend three hundred thousand gold coins to hire a Three-Star Da Dou Shi from the Shadow Tower to help with the assassination.

As long as a four-against-two

situation takes shape, Jia Lie Bi and Oba Pa will be doomed!"

That was the entirety of the plan Xiao Yan had devised. Since time had been short, he had not yet worked out every detail.

After all, the plan depended on the other side actually attending this deadly banquet. It exploited their obsessive state of mind.

If they were not obsessed enough, his plan might indeed fail.

But even if they did not attend, Xiao Yan still had a backup plan.

At that point, he would publicly produce "evidence" that the two families had tried to assassinate him, giving the Xiao Clan legitimate grounds to declare war on them.

However, that would certainly inflict heavy losses on both sides. Unless there was absolutely no other choice, Xiao Yan did not want matters to reach that point.