Three cultivators drove a green boat and flew to a rocky area at the foot of the mountain, where a female cultivator was waiting.
"Senior Brother Fang, what happened?" Seeing the green boat land, the female cultivator hurried over to greet them.
Senior Brother Fang jumped out of the boat, cursing out loud: "What else could it be? A bunch of lowly mortals are worried about their children, wasting so much time!"
The female cultivator smiled and said, "Senior Brother Fang, don't worry. Hasn't Master Xuan Ji also not arrived yet?"
The other two male cultivators were busy moving a rattan cage out of the boat and complained upon hearing this: "Senior Sister Chen, we already said not to invite that old Xuan Ji Daoist. He's eccentric and not punctual. With Senior Brother Fang leading, and you two joining swords, slaying the Snake Demon should be easy."
Senior Brother Fang was quite pleased upon hearing this and waved his hand: "Junior Sister, let's not wait for Master Xuan Ji. We've brought the Snake Demon's favorite blood meal; I refuse to believe it won't come out. Once it emerges from that broken array and takes the bait, we, both at Late-Stage Qi Cultivation, can't capture it?"
Senior Sister Chen nodded, took out two gourds. The two male cultivators had already placed the rattan cage on some large stones. Senior Sister Chen stepped forward, pulled out a stopper from one of the gourds, and poured the content onto the children in the cage.
The liquid in the gourd was colorless and odorless, quickly soaking the children.
Then she raised the other gourd, but this time, what poured out was crimson blood.
The seven or eight children were already frightened out of their wits. At this moment, with blood splashing and the stench and terror, they started crying out loud again.
"Shut up!" Senior Brother Fang drew his sword and said viciously, "Little brats, it's pig's blood! But if anyone dares to cry again, I'll cut him open and let his blood flow!"
"Beasts!" Jiang Qingfeng, watching all this from afar, covered Baitao's eyes and cursed angrily.
Lu Qian also frowned deeply. Thunderous measures should be used against the enemy, but such brutal behavior towards innocent children is akin to being no different from beasts. Such actions are no different from the Evil Cultivators of the Demon Sect.
Once everything was arranged, Senior Sister Chen smiled and said: "That's it. First, sprinkle Drunken Immortal Powder, then cover it with pig's blood; the Snake Demon will certainly fall for it. Now, we just need to wait for the Snake Demon to take the bait."
Senior Brother Fang nodded, and signaled the others to retreat a few hundred meters away and hide.
The area became quiet except for the children's suppressed sobbing.
Lu Qian and the others were also waiting. As the sun set in the west, the sky darkened, and the fog on the mountain slowly thickened.
Senior Brother Fang started to grow impatient. A fellow cultivator coldly said, "Perhaps the pig's blood doesn't have enough scent, so the Snake Demon isn't interested? Maybe we should just let those kids bleed a bit to stimulate the Snake Demon?"
Senior Brother Fang was somewhat tempted. Just then, another beam of escape light flashed across the sky, landing in front of them.
When the escape light stopped, a dried-up old man jumped off a worn-out Jade Tablet Spiritual Artifact.
The old man's physique was small and thin, with a messy head of hair tied up, and a small goatee that was gray, both his hair and beard were white, his face wrinkled, and his oversized, oily, dark Dao robe seemed particularly wide.
As soon as he landed, he opened his small eyes wide and shouted angrily: "What are you all doing with these children?"
Senior Brother Fang snorted: "Master Xuan Ji, we invited you to break the array, not to meddle in our business."
Senior Sister Chen tried to smooth things over: "Master Xuan Ji, the Snake Demon is hiding in the array, and we've been waiting for you, but you didn't come, so we had no choice but to resort to this plan to lure the Snake Demon out."
"Lure it out?" Master Xuan Ji jumped, "Then why don't you become the bait yourself, instead of abducting a few children? With such a wicked heart, how can that old Zhao Cang teach out such scoundrels!"
With a clang, Senior Brother Fang and the two cultivators had already drawn their swords: "Master Xuan Ji, we respect you because of your age, that's why we treat you with some courtesy. If you want to stay and help break the array, you'll be rewarded, otherwise, get lost quickly!"
Senior Sister Chen looked unfriendly as well, standing in front of Master Xuan Ji: "Master, don't forget the Immortal-Mortal prohibition. Huanglin Village is the Shengyi Sect's territory; the mortals inside are only ours to manage. If you try to stop us, you break the prohibition, and no sect will tolerate you."
She also regretted in her heart, knowing that this old loose cultivator was friends with her master and had some research into arrays, but not knowing his temperament was like this. If she had known, she shouldn't have invited him to join.
Master Xuan Ji was so angry that his beard stood up, and he summoned a flash of light from his bosom, shooting out a Command Banner: "You dare mention the Immortal-Mortal prohibition? The prohibition clearly states that cultivators shall not harm mortals. Your actions are no different from the Demon Dao!"
With tensions rising, they suddenly heard the sound of stones rattling, followed by roaring that came closer, as the fog grew thicker.
Senior Brother Fang exclaimed with joy: "It's here!"
Senior Sister Chen's eyes flickered: "Master Xuan Ji, if you don't want those children to be eaten by the Snake Demon, join us and act before it eats them to slay it, isn't that a good deed?"
But as the thick fog shook, several shadows leaped out. Lu Qian saw clearly; these were not snakes, but rather several half-man-high gray wolves.
"Wolves?" Senior Brother Fang was puzzled, "Where is the Snake Demon?"
Seeing the giant wolves, the children cried in fear. The wolves howled and rushed straight to the rattan cage.
Senior Brother Fang was about to draw his sword, but Senior Sister Chen held him back: "Senior Brother, don't. The Snake Demon is cunning, these wolves must be driven by the Snake Demon. The Snake Demon probably wants to see the wolves eat the children without any harm before showing itself!"
"Fortunately, my Drunken Immortal Powder only targets things with Spiritual Power. Although these wolves are bigger, they're still not extraordinary and eating it will have no effect."
"Junior Sister truly is intelligent and meticulous, executing flawlessly."
On the side, Master Xuan Ji saw the two disregard the children and cursed loudly, about to leap forward. How could they let him ruin the plan? With a spell, they directed two Flying Swords to force him back a few steps.
In that moment of hesitation, the wolves had surrounded one rattan cage, biting it to pieces in a few moments. The children inside despaired and cried, the gray wolves opened their bloody mouths, their sharp teeth aiming at the children!
Master Xuan Ji roared furiously, waved the Command Banner, about to strike Fang and Chen.
Suddenly, starlight flashed!
Several gray wolves howled miserably, collapsed to the ground, and fell silent.
A One-Leaf Jade Ship fluttered leisurely in the air, Lu Qian stood at the boat's edge, three Silver Needles rose one after another and floated back into his palm.
Master Xuan Ji was overjoyed, but Senior Brother Fang and the others were furious: "Who are you? Dare to ruin my plan?"
Senior Sister Chen showed a surprised expression, pulling Senior Brother Fang's arm: "Senior Brother, that person can use three Magical Artifacts!"
Senior Brother Fang was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said: "No matter how it looks, he's at Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation; don't be fooled by him! We, both at Late-Stage Qi Cultivation, are not afraid of him!"
Master Xuan Ji watched Lu Qian retrieve the three Silver Needles, squinted his little eyes, and seemed to be deep in thought.