The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 939 On the Eve of Crisis
Xiongshan Port, inside a secluded little building.

A man dressed in retro samurai attire, who looked to be in his thirties, was pacing back and forth in a room on the top floor. His brows were furrowed and his expression was anxious, clearly indicating that he had a heavy burden on his mind.

"The Wang family's remaining officials rushed to Tianyuan County to welcome the imperial princess, leaving only one 'military commander' to guard the gate. This is a golden opportunity, so why did Su Xuanbing have to come to Xiongshan Port at this critical juncture?!"
"Shouldn't the military and the Dao Immortal Sect be distracted by the 'Hydra' avatar that we 'accidentally' let in?"
"Could it be that our people gave themselves away, and she noticed something? After all, I heard that although the Su family mainly cultivates 'Battle Techniques,' they also possess a rather powerful pupil technique..."

"Damn it!"

After cursing angrily for a few moments, the man suddenly drew his sword from his waist and swung it fiercely in front of him.

Ding!
With a crisp metallic clang, his knife was caught between the fingers of a gloved hand, and another small, childlike figure appeared.

"Heh, old man, you're quite vigilant." A voice, whose gender was indistinguishable, teased, "It's a pity that without the blessing of the gods, even if your body doesn't decay and your appearance remains the same, you're still only at the 'Refining Aperture' level."

Upon seeing that the newcomer was a "child" with red hair, the man breathed a sigh of relief. He sheathed his sword, ignoring the other's taunts, and asked in a deep voice, "Have you found out what happened?"

Upon hearing this, the red-haired "child" showed a strange expression on his face and said with a grin, "That Fairy Su is here to find a man."

"Be serious! This concerns our lives!" The man didn't believe the redhead's words at all. After all, Su Xuanbing's public image was always associated with words like "ruthless" and "cold-blooded." How could such a woman put aside her official duties to "find a man"?
Only a young man like the city lord could be fooled by his appearance.

Upon hearing this, the red-haired child also stopped smiling and said seriously, "I'm telling the truth. Su Xuanbing is looking for a young master from the Jianye Wang family. She eventually tracked him down to a hot spring inn in Nanshan and is planning to stay there to wait for someone."

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes widened, and a look of horror appeared on his face: "Are you sure it's the hot spring hotel in Nanshan?"

"Are you sure...? What's wrong?" The red-haired child nodded and asked in confusion.

The man remained silent for a long while before gritting his teeth and saying, "It seems Su Xuanbing really did come for us!"

The red-haired child was also unsettled at this point, and asked in surprise, "You mean, the entrance to the divine realm is on the southern mountain?"

Now that things had come to this, the man knew he could no longer hide it, so he nodded and said, "Based on my long-term observation and research on the 'Fengyuan' True Person of the Wang family more than a thousand years ago, I have determined that she most likely entered the Divine Realm using the 'spring water' of Nanshan as a medium."

Upon hearing this, the red-haired child said in disbelief, "Such an important place, old man, you didn't even send your own people to guard it?"

"What do you mean? Isn't that blatantly telling the Wang family that there's something wrong with the hot spring hotel?" The man glanced at his companion with disdain. Although the other party was powerful, comparable to a high-grade divine power, and very devout to the gods, his character had major flaws, after all, he was not a human born normally.

The child scratched his head, looking somewhat frustrated, and said, "So what do we do now?"

“It seems that Su Xuanbing is likely the ‘human tribulation’ we need to face in our endeavors…” The man sighed first, then his tone suddenly turned cold, “So we have to take the initiative to ‘meet the tribulation’!”
"Go and gather all the people at the Divine Power level in Xiongshan Port now. We'll capture this infamous 'Mysterious Ice Fire Lotus' tomorrow night!" The red-haired child was startled upon hearing this and exclaimed, "Old man, are you crazy?! Killing Su Xuanbing will not only incur the wrath of the aristocratic families, but the Xiongshan royal family and the military will also definitely investigate with all their might. What good will that do us in saving Lord Fire God?"

"The Su family is far away in the Great Xia territory. As long as we don't kill Su Xuanbing immediately, but only seal and suppress him, the Su family won't know."

"Perhaps we can pin the blame on that young master of the Jianye Wang family later..."

"As for the Xiongshan royal family, their 'Commander of the Army' is stationed inside the volcano and will not make any moves. Moreover, we will use speed to deal with 'Su Xuanbing' and immediately use the 'spring water' as a medium to enter the 'Divine Realm' and rescue Lord Fire God."

At this point, the man's eyes were filled with fierceness and determination. "This is probably the best opportunity our Kagura clan has had in thousands of years. We must not miss it."

The red-haired child was captivated by his appearance and dared not dwell on the topic any longer, instead asking something else: "Old man, have you already mastered the method to enter the 'Divine Realm'?"

"You can enter at the right time and in the right place... The place is naturally the hot spring at that inn, and the right time is when the 'Kamikaze Festival' begins!"
“When the divine wind rises, it penetrates everywhere, and all ‘hidden’ passages will have a momentary flaw.” As the man, or rather the remnant “priest” of the Kagura clan who worshipped the fire god, spoke, his face revealed the madness of a gambler making a desperate gamble.

……

Inside a luxury hotel in Xiongshan City, Zhao Chen, who had checked in under a false identity provided by "Yin Si," was also nervously waiting for something.

He only breathed a sigh of relief and gradually relaxed as darkness fell.

The moment Zhao Chen saw Su Xuanbing enter the city, he realized he might be getting into some kind of trouble again. After all, the Empress's advice to him was to "advance when encountering 'flowers,' and retreat when encountering 'fire'"...

Danfei's backup plan was located in a blessed land that was actually inside a volcano formed by the "God of Fire". Although she entered through the "spring", she stayed inside for four hours. It is unknown whether this counts as "retreating".

In fact, the reason he didn't leave Xiongshan Port immediately was because he was vaguely worried that he might encounter a "surprise" on the way.

—In Xiongshan, there's also the Wang family taking the blame; if you encounter them on the road, you'll have to risk your life.

"Nothing bad happened...maybe I'm being too sensitive?" Zhao Chen looked out the window at the brightly lit city lord's mansion not far away, pondering, "Retreat at the sight of 'fire,' this 'fire' should specifically refer to a person or something, not that I should run away immediately upon seeing anything related to 'fire,' that's simply impossible..."

"Moreover, if one does not retreat, the danger is considerable, but correspondingly, one can also gain considerable opportunities."

"Crisis, crisis... danger and opportunity always go hand in hand!"

(End of this chapter)