The trap he had set up on the platform halfway up the mountain was one used by hunters to capture large demonic beasts. Or rather, it was less for capturing and more for killing.
He had arrived two days early. In his calculations, he figured he would have about a day and a night, but Strategist Ji, being a man of deep schemes, had considered far too many aspects and possibilities, causing him to overlook the clues Li Yan had left behind. The black cloth map was, of course, something he had intentionally left. From the looks of it, Strategist Ji still believed it was dropped in a hurried escape, and that the trap here was merely a precaution set up while in hiding.
After leaving the city that day and entering the mountains, he had begun to lay all sorts of false trails, aiming to misdirect Strategist Ji and buy himself more time. Upon arriving here, it took him nearly half a day to select these two ambush locations.
On the platform, what caught his eye was a giant boulder. Years of wind and sun had loosened it, creating a gap between it and the ground. Only its immense weight kept it deeply embedded in place. He found two stone pillars in the mountains, each as thick as an infant's arm, and took out some simple tools he had prepared in advance, among which was the tendon of a demonic beast.
Of course, before this, he had not been certain what kind of trap to set. He had simply considered as many of his old mountain traps as possible and purchased some easy-to-carry tools in the city beforehand. He was not sure which would be useful and which would not, but he could not afford to buy anything too large or conspicuous. When he fled the Strategist's Manor this time, he had strapped them tightly to his body under his outer clothes. His black robe was loose, and he had secretly practiced many times to determine the absolute limit of what he could hide without Chen An or Li Yin noticing.
He hollowed out the base of the platform's boulder bit by bit, slowly sliding the two stone pillars into place to stabilize it, eventually creating a temporary equilibrium. Then, he tied one end of the demonic beast tendon to a rope stretched between the two pillars.
The next step was to make this section of the demonic beast tendon taut, hiding most of it in the crevice beneath the boulder while leaving a small portion exposed, making it look like a cocked "Heavy Foot Crossbow" at first glance. This was something he had seen by chance in the military camp, and after some thought, he applied the principle here.
Finally, he set a rope loop in front of the "crossbow bolt." This rope was looped back and hidden, tied to the giant boulder itself. When someone tried to retrieve the "Heavy Foot Crossbow" from the crevice, it would be as if they had pulled the trigger mechanism themselves, upsetting the boulder's balance. Since the side of the boulder facing the cliff had been hollowed out and cleared of debris beforehand, it would slide down rapidly, pulling the rope loop on the ground taut. If anything was caught in the loop, it would be instantly cinched tight and dragged over the cliff.
This chain of events was interlinked, and a single miscalculation would have resulted in failure. But the two most difficult parts were these: first, Li Yan himself occasionally had to sit on the boulder without disturbing the balance of the pillars below, lest he and the rock slide off the cliff first. The other was when to knock over the waterskins, ensuring the spilled water would naturally fall onto the demonic beast tendon, making it seem natural and unsuspicious to anyone who arrived.
When Strategist Ji had seen the waterskins on the platform earlier, he had grown suspicious. He shook each one and was surprised to find they were all still half or partially full. After a moment's thought, he understood it was a part of Li Yan's scheme. After all, who would drink from every single waterskin? A person would typically open one and keep it at hand.
There was one thing, however, that Strategist Ji could not figure out. He assumed Li Yan could not have known when he would arrive, yet a considerable amount of time had passed since his arrival, and he had only seen Li Yan spill a waterskin once. If Li Yan had done it twice, he might have become suspicious. How did Li Yan time it? When did he decide to kick over the waterskin? It was a puzzle he could not solve, but he was certain that Li Yan must have repeatedly used the spilled water to lure his enemy.
Hearing Li Yan's words, Strategist Ji said no more. He stood up and walked towards him. By now, he had recovered a significant amount of his spiritual power and could perform the Spirit-Absorbing Grand Art. He did not want to waste any more time, lest more complications arise.
He walked in front of Li Yan. Since only his right hand was functional, he reached out and lifted Li Yan, propping him up against a tree. Once Li Yan was settled, he sat down cross-legged beside him. He tapped several points on Li Yan's body with his right hand. Li Yan immediately felt the restraints on his body loosen, and he regained his freedom. Just as he was about to make a move, a large hand clamped down on the crown of his head. A powerful suction force instantly emerged, and he lost control of his body. He could only feel the spiritual power within his Dantian's Sea of Qi surging uncontrollably towards the crown of his head. He was utterly horrified.
Strategist Ji had released the restrictions on his body to allow the spiritual power to flow unimpeded under his control. He was not afraid of Li Yan resisting, because as soon as his hand touched the major acupoint on the crown of his head, Li Yan would be powerless.
Li Yan's heart pounded with urgency. He knew this was a matter of life and death. If his spiritual power was drained like this, he would be completely depleted and dead within fifteen minutes. But in the instant he felt that shock, his spiritual power was already on the verge of erupting from his body.
'Then there's only one last gamble. If I die, you're coming with me.' A viciousness sparked within Li Yan. He decided to reverse the elemental attribute of his spiritual power, converting everything in his body to the fire attribute.
This was the result of his recent, frequent experiments on himself. The Night Curtain Art that Strategist Ji practiced was of the wood attribute, so he needed to absorb wood-attribute spiritual power to achieve a breakthrough. In his daily cultivation, Li Yan had noticed that when his spiritual energy circulated near the corner of his dantian where the Fire Poison was suppressed, only the wood attribute elicited a calm reaction. When spiritual powers of other attributes drew near, that area would stir restlessly, especially with the fire attribute. This indicated that the Fire Poison was more sensitive to fire-attribute spiritual power. Therefore, Li Yan planned to convert all his water spiritual power into fire spiritual power and let Strategist Ji absorb it. Even if it did not kill Ji on the spot, he probably would not last long afterward.
Of course, having his water spiritual power absorbed would also throw Strategist Ji's internal energy into chaos, but he reasoned that fire spiritual power would cause even greater harm and was more likely to trigger the Fire Poison.
However, the moment the spiritual power entered Strategist Ji's body, he would realize it was wrong. In his anger, he would just need to apply force with the hand on his head, and Li Yan would die before him. But Li Yan had no time to consider that. As his thoughts raced, he began to switch his spiritual power. He stirred all the spiritual power in his body, preparing to output it all in an instant, when suddenly, something changed.
A rapid sound of something cutting through the air came from the forest. Two figures flew over, their sleeves rustling loudly.
"Haha, little brother Li, don't you worry, I'm here!" As he spoke, the two figures had already shot forward and landed in front of them. It was Hong Linying and his burly junior brother.
Strategist Ji's heart sank at the sight of them. He quickly stabilized his spiritual power, but his palm remained on top of Li Yan's head.
"Strategist Ji, have we arrived at a good time?" Hong Linying asked after steadying himself.
"It's you two? Truly impressive concealment techniques. I just searched a radius of several li and found nothing. How did you do it?" Strategist Ji said without turning his head, his hand still resting on the crown of Li Yan's head.
He was furious, but he did not let it show. He was more surprised than anything. To ensure he would not be disturbed while absorbing the spiritual power, he had scoured the surrounding area for several li. Aside from some small animals and birds in the trees, there was nothing that could threaten him.
"Oh? It seems you knew about my junior brother? In that case, Strategist Ji, you are the truly impressive one, feigning ignorance all this time." Hearing Strategist Ji's words, Hong Linying responded with a question of his own, having first deduced that Ji seemed to know of his junior brother's existence.
"Then what is Marshal Hong's purpose in coming here? To spy on me and my disciple as we practice?" Strategist Ji retorted with his own question.
"Hehe, Strategist Ji, why say such things? We came only because we have long admired your esteemed sect's martial arts. Would you be willing to take out your sect's secret manual for my junior brother and me to have a look? In this situation, I imagine you can neither advance nor retreat, can you?" Hong Linying was even more direct, tearing away all pretense with his words.
"I didn't realize Marshal Hong had such a sharp eye. It's not impossible for you to view my sect's secret manual, but I don't have it on my person. How about we wait until dawn, and I'll return to my residence to retrieve it for you?"
Strategist Ji was truly enraged. Of all the times Hong Linying could have shown up, he had to arrive just as the Spirit-Absorbing Grand Art was activated. His timing was perfect. Once this technique was in motion, it could not be stopped without suffering a backlash. Fortunately, he had only just begun and could still stabilize his spiritual power, but he could only delay for a short while longer at most.
This was, in fact, a coincidence. Hong Linying knew that even together, he and his junior brother were no match for Strategist Ji. But he knew one thing: in the martial world, whether cultivating or circulating energy to heal, the greatest taboo was being disturbed. A light interruption could lead to serious injury; a heavy one could lead to cultivation deviation and death. So, the two of them had been tailing Strategist Ji from a great distance. They knew his skill was profound and did not dare get close, but they only needed to be able to see his movements.
They were waiting, waiting for Strategist Ji to begin healing himself. Then, everything would fall into place.
As a cultivator at the third layer of Qi Condensation, Strategist Ji could not extend his divine sense too far. Though his eyesight was sharp, he was being plotted against by those with intent. When he searched outward, the two would see him coming from afar and retreat further. When he returned, they would slowly creep forward again.
The moment Strategist Ji activated the Spirit-Absorbing Grand Art, the two exchanged a look and immediately revealed themselves. Who would have thought that their move would perfectly coincide with a flaw in the technique?
"How could that be possible? Why don't you first recite a few passages of the manual for my junior brother and me to comprehend?" Hong Linying said, shaking his bald head and repeatedly refusing.
"Hehe, it seems Marshal Hong doesn't trust me. As you can see, I am currently practicing with my disciple. Could you perhaps wait a little while?" Strategist Ji could already feel the spiritual power within him beginning to churn violently.
"It's... it's... at his waist." A strained voice came out. It was Li Yan, who, after circulating his energy for a long while, had finally managed to resist the suction from the crown of his head enough to speak.
"Oh?" Hearing this, Hong Linying and his companion immediately looked towards Strategist Ji's waist. There, tucked into his sash, was the jade book. In the night, it seemed to flow with a faint light, clearly no ordinary object.
The two exchanged a glance, and their figures suddenly exploded into action. They attacked at the same time. The large man struck a palm toward Strategist Ji's back, while Hong Linying bent his fingers into a claw and snatched at the jade book at Ji's waist. As he moved, Hong Linying shouted.
"Strategist Ji, since you're unwilling to get up and hand it over, I'll just have to take it myself, haha!"
His voice carried a faint, thunderous rumble. He was secretly using the Buddhist "Lion's Roar." They were masters of the martial world, seasoned in life-and-death battles. They knew that Strategist Ji was in the middle of a healing process and was most vulnerable to disturbance. As they attacked, they also used their vocal arts to disrupt his mind.
With one hand disabled and the other locked in a suction force with the crown of Li Yan's head, Strategist Ji was unable to move it to block. Yet he remained with his back to them, his expression unchanged, and he responded with a question.
"Marshal Hong, when I came this way this afternoon, I scouted this area first. I am confident in that. You two were not lying in ambush here with this boy beforehand. This means you must have tracked me here, tailing me from a distance to know my every move. Am I correct? I just don't know how you managed it."