Offering Charcoal in the Snow, Betting on the White Cloud Temple!

Jiao Lei held out for half an incense stick's time. He was a man, all right.

That was a little longer than Shi Jian had expected, but only a little...

After his breastbone was crushed and then his limbs were crushed one by one, Jiao Lei finally broke down, his eyes long since bloodshot.

His mouth hung open, drool mixed with bloody froth spilling out as he haltingly gave Shi Jian what he wanted...

"It's... it's Fenghe Commandery, the Fenghe Sect..."

Shi Jian's claw stopped. "The Fenghe Sect sent you?"

Jiao Lei nodded desperately, tugging at his wounds until the pain twisted his face. "Han Qing too... Han Qing was an elite disciple of the Fenghe Sect, sent to White Cloud Commandery to prepare the way..."

"Wei Chen and I were sent by the Fenghe Sect too... After Han Qing died, the people above ordered us to take over and keep stirring up trouble in White Cloud Commandery..."

Shi Jian's pupils contracted.

"How many Golden Core cultivators does the Fenghe Sect have?"

"Two... two."

Jiao Lei gasped for breath. "The sect master, Feng Daoyuan, is at the Golden Core Middle Stage; the deputy sect master, Yan Qiu, is at Early Golden Core..."

"Fenghe Commandery is small, and its Spirit Vein isn't large. The two Golden Core cultivators have been fighting fiercely over resources... Yan Qiu has always wanted to carve out new territory, and when he heard that White Cloud Commandery's Golden Core cultivator had fallen, he got ideas..."

"Han Qing, us, and several groups of Rogue Cultivators in the south were all... secret agents sent out by Yan Qiu..."

"First we muddy the waters, then find a chance to nibble away at them."

"Once the White Cloud Temple has completely collapsed and the twenty-year period has passed, Yan Qiu will petition the superior sect for permission to bring people over and take control..."

When Jiao Lei finished, he slumped to the ground, without a shred of strength left.

Shi Jian fell silent.

It was quiet all around. The aftershocks of the battle had already faded, leaving only the crackle of torches and the groans of the wounded in the city.

Sun Bo'an stood ten paces away, his face ashen. He had heard it.

He had heard every word!

Golden Core.

And there were two of them!

His face darkened. The Lineage had only just begun to show signs of improvement, yet they had stumbled across something like this. How could he not be alarmed?

"Ancestor... what should we do?"

Shi Jian ignored him, his mind racing.

Tonight's battle had caused too much of a commotion.

He had crushed two Foundation Establishment cultivators on the spot. The thirty or forty Qi Refining Rogue Cultivators had either died or been captured, and half a street in the south of the city had collapsed.

More than three hundred thousand mortals lived in Hongtian City. With so many eyes and ears, there was no way to keep today's events hidden...

If the news couldn't be contained, he would have to find another way...

Within a month at most, Yan Qiu of the Fenghe Sect would learn that a Foundation Establishment bear demon in Hongtian City, White Cloud Commandery, had killed his men.

Whether or not his information had leaked.

To eliminate future trouble, he would surely kill Shi Jian to silence him. For a renowned Golden Core True Person to take revenge on a Foundation Establishment bear demon would be no different from crushing an ant.

Run?

Run with the several dozen members of the Sun Clan? Where could they run?

The monk could run, but the temple couldn't. Which of Hongtian City's businesses, spirit fields, marketplace, the more than a hundred bear cubs on the back mountain, or spirit beasts could they take with them?

Shi Jian licked his fangs. He wasn't willing to cut away his own flesh like this.

He couldn't run. If he did, he would be a stray dog, and all his years of work would go down the drain. He, Shi Jian, wasn't that generous!

In that case, only one path remained.

"Bo'an."

"I'm here, Ancestor."

"Go prepare a few things."

As Shi Jian spoke, he scratched lines into the ground with his claw. It was a rough but clear map showing the approximate positions of Fenghe Commandery and White Cloud Commandery.

"Record Jiao Lei's confession on a voice-transmission Jade Slip."

"Then wipe Lü Fangzhi's flying sword clean and put it with the confession."

"Also, pick out a few of the better-looking spirit medicines from our storeroom."

Sun Bo'an's breathing quickened. He had an inkling of what Shi Jian intended to do.

"Ancestor, are you going to..."

"Sell the information to the White Cloud Temple. No, not sell it-give it to them! Give this information to the White Cloud Temple!"

"The White Cloud Temple is like an ant on a hot pan right now. If they know who's stabbing them in the back, they can take precautions."

"As the saying goes, adding flowers to brocade is not as good as offering charcoal in the snow. Sending them this intelligence is offering charcoal in the snow."

"As for whether the charcoal is enough, that's for the White Cloud Temple to weigh."

Sun Bo'an's Adam's apple bobbed. "But what if the White Cloud Temple can't withstand the Fenghe Sect and turns around and sells us out?"

Shi Jian fell silent for two breaths, then smiled.

"If they can't withstand them, we'll run."

"I, Shi Jian, have lived for sixty years and come this far from being a wild bear. If there's one thing I don't lack, it's the ability to start over."

"But before we run, we have to put our chips down and take a gamble."

"If we don't try, how can we know the outcome? Besides, if we run straight away, that's as good as confessing without a fight."

"If they see us carrying on as usual, the Fenghe Sect might hesitate and reconsider whether we know anything, and whether it's worth tearing all pretense aside."

"After all, if this blows up, their superior sect will hold them accountable too."

"If we gamble, we have at least a fifty percent chance of survival."

Shi Jian stood up and looked down at Sun Bo'an.

"Get everything ready now, and have Kezheng make the trip tonight!"

"Remember, he must deliver this information into Song He's own hands and avoid drawing anyone else's attention as much as possible."

"When he delivers the message, tell him to say that the Sun Clan, though lacking in talent, has caught two fish that slipped through the White Cloud Temple's net. Though the fish are small, the one who cast the line... may help your temple resolve its present predicament."

"As for what happens afterward, that depends on what the White Cloud Temple chooses."

Sun Bo'an took a deep breath and bowed deeply.

"I understand!"

He turned and left, his steps swift, without the slightest hesitation.

Shi Jian stood alone among the ruins, looking up at the night sky. The cold moonlight cast a pale glow over the rubble and bloodstains covering the ground.

All along the way, he had kept making choices, kept gambling on tomorrow.

This time was no exception.

From the moment one set foot on the path of cultivation, there was only the road forward. Human or demon, all were ultimately pursuing that thread of hope for survival!

Compared with him, the White Cloud Temple had even fewer choices.

At least Shi Jian could still choose to run, or even take the extreme step of becoming a great sect's spirit beast to seek its protection...

But the White Cloud Temple could only succeed!

If it failed, it would be destroyed!

As for whether Yun Du could successfully form a core, Shi Jian wasn't optimistic, but on the path of cultivation, anything was possible.

After all, the White Cloud Temple had existed for many years.

Shi Jian didn't believe Zhao Qing had left no contingency behind...