Chapter 79

  The Eternal Veil (I)

  Sneaking into the enemy territory, unveiling deep, dark secrets and points of failure, encountering a smokin' hot femme fatale to--khm, okay, my fantasies got away from me there for a sec, but it really did feel a bit like a spy thriller.

  Except, you know, it wasn't espionage, it wasn't thrilling, and it definitely wouldn't be me sneaking in.

  Elder Qin took the two kids and set up a temporary camp, leaving me with others... which wasn't emboldening. The issue was that he left behind his other disciple--she was 'technically' the only person besides me above the Qi Condensation Realm, but I wouldn't trust her with fighting the strongest person, not when there was perfectly fine Long Tao just standing there, looking bored.

  Drafting up a 'plan' wasn't an issue--there'd be no plan. Send in Long Tao to figure out everything, and then just pretend to come up with a clever solution because Elder Qin was decidedly not aware of just how creepily strong my disciples are.

  But I can't do that with the young woman here, as that'd expose... well, everything.

  So, I had to be 'clever'.

  "Cao Qiu," I said after a brief deliberation. "Would you mind telling me your strengths and weaknesses?" I couldn't exactly 'plot a clever ploy' without knowing things. I mean, I knew them because of Creator's Eyes and all, but I had to first hear them from her.

  "I'm most confident in my speed," she replied. "I have reached Intermediate Mastery of the Sword-Blitz. I'm fairly confident that even someone in the late stages of the Foundation Establishment won't be able to catch me immediately."

  Right, just as her system window said, and the sun around which the entire 'plan' orbited.

  "The goal is to get inside and figure out what's happening; I'm fairly certain that whatever we're seeing right now is either a projection or an illusion," I continued. "So it is entirely possible that the rooftops are lined with the eyes that would spot us immediately if we tried to just sneak in. We need a distraction."

  "A distraction?"

  "Hm," I nodded. "You'll take Xi Zhao with you and go to the town's entrance using the main road. Loudly proclaim that you're the Sect's Disciple and that you're here to investigate a disciple's murder."

  "... who was murdered?!" she growled angrily.

  "Uh, no, no one, as far as we know; the point is to draw their attention to you as much as possible. Demand that if the mayor doesn't come out to meet you, you'll crush the town's entryway. However, no matter what you do, do not step foot into the town itself. If someone comes out to meet you, try and stall as much as possible, and throw out as many accusations as you can think of."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Even if they're not true?" she frowned.

  "Especially those. Say that you've also heard the rumor they're trafficking some forbidden material or engaging in practicing demonic arts. Anything to steer attention to yourself. In the meantime, my other two disciples will round the town toward the side facing the mountains and hopefully find a way in without being spotted." Of course, it would only be Long Tao going in, while Dai Xiu would be the 'watcher'. And Hua? He's, technically, a servant. He's staying with me to serve.

  "If they don't cooperate?"

  "Raise hell," I said. "Unleash sword attacks, demolish the buildings at the border, anything. However, if somebody strong shows up, get out. Immediately."

  "Wouldn't it be better if I went alone, then?" She stealthily glanced at Xi Zhao with a flashing sense of scorn and disdain. Haah, come on, just endure, just endure...

  "Don't worry about him," I said vaguely, smiling. "Just take care of yourself."

  "Oh. Fine."

  "Xi Zhao," just before the two departed, I called out to him and tossed him a satchel filled with 2,000 mid-grade Spirit Stones. He caught it and even stumbled momentarily, having not expected it. "Don't be cheap. Use them all if necessary."

  "... I won't disappoint you, Master." He nodded and left under the young woman's curious eyes that darted between him and the satchel.

  As they left, I turned to the others but still had to be excessively vague--there's a good chance that old thing is listening in, and I couldn't divulge anything directly.

  "Long Tao, take Dai Xiu with you, but be careful--one of you should stay on the outside to be a watcher while the other goes in. Once in, stick to the shadows, suppress your breath, and just observe. Anything out of the ordinary? Note it. Whoever goes in shouldn't stay too long, however; if you hear the sounds of battles coming from out of town, turn around and leave."

  "Yes, Master!"

  "... yes, Master." Dai Xiu nodded excitedly; this was her first time on a 'mission,' and she seemed particularly... zealous about it. I felt kinda bad that she'd be stuck just watching a whole heap of nothing, but it was safer that way.

  "Once we have the full picture of what's happening inside, we'll formulate the course of action!" Spoken like a true general! I think...

  Honestly, this probably wasn't the best plan I could come up with--no, it was nowhere near the best plan. Even within the confines of needing to be vague and assign seemingly the most important mission to the supposedly strongest person, it was still probably... not that good. Why?

  Because the only reason it might work is due to Long Tao's cloaking art. That's it.

  I don't know whether the entire town was under a formation or if there were more checks we couldn't see, or anything, really. Every other part of the 'plan' was superfluous--others may as well have just stayed here with me and drank some tea while Long Tao went in to check things out.

  But there still might be some merit to it all--maybe without even waiting for Long Tao to get in, whatever is happening in town gets revealed due to those two rushing toward the main road.

  Alas, I know I will have to get better. Rather, there is a way for me to get better at this immediately--creating a custom art. I have spare points, that's for sure, and if I was given a day or two to allow my monstrous kids over here to learn the art, I could probably come up with a dozen different plans.

  Hell, just creating a relatively simple art like allowing someone to see through walls or maybe see through illusions would have let us just see what's happening in town.

  Or creating an art specialized in digging long tunnels that'd let us walk into town, just slightly below it.

  Ideas were many, but so were restrictions.

  If it wasn't so last-minute, I may even be able to explain it, or if we'd categorized everything Long Tao hauled from Elder Zhang and found something there... if 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry infiltration... or something like that.