Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

Inside a stone house in the mining area, the furnishings were extremely simple: a stone table, a few wooden chairs, and a map of the area near the mining site on the stone table.

Zhou Qing, Lu Gongshu, and the cultivators from the Nine Kingdoms Alliance sat around a stone table, discussing their ambush plan.

Everyone knew that if they could intercept or even capture a few Mulan cultivators this time, it would be a great achievement, and they might even receive some rewards. However, each of the eight people had their own thoughts.

Amidst the heated discussion, the cultivator Hu from the Hidden Moon Sect suddenly interjected, "I think this matter is quite significant. Shouldn't we report the situation here to Elder Hong Fu before taking any action?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured on a raging fire, and the entire stone house fell silent for a moment.

After a long pause, the iron-clad cultivator from Huangsha Sect's mind raced. After careful consideration, he slowly said, "We're only speculating about the Mulan people secretly sabotaging the mine for now; it's not a certainty. It's best not to report it. Besides, these Mulan spies might come or not. If they don't come to inspect, and after we report it, Elder Hongfu makes arrangements, but ultimately we return empty-handed, we can't bear the blame."

"That makes sense. It's best not to report it," a cultivator immediately replied.

Another cultivator echoed this sentiment, his words also implying opposition to reporting the matter.

Zhou Qing looked over and discovered that the three cultivators who were unwilling to report were all from the original sects of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance.

Seeing this, the cultivators of the Hidden Moon Sect glanced at the other disciples from the original six sects of the Yue Kingdom. Seeing that they had no reaction, they had no choice but to give up.

He had his reasons for wanting to report it. After all, Fairy Hong Fu was an elder of the six sects of the former Yue Kingdom. If he reported it to her, Fairy Hong Fu might be more inclined to favor them in the deployment, and they might get a bigger share of the credit in the end.

However, what he didn't know was that the iron-clad cultivator from the Yellow Sand Sect had already anticipated this scheme, and the claim that things were still in the realm of speculation was merely an excuse.

Currently, the six sects, including the Hidden Moon Sect, and their Yellow Sand Sect are engaged in fierce struggle in the Northern Liang Kingdom. If they have truly made contributions, it is perfectly normal for the elders of each sect to favor their own people.

Zhou Qing was quick-witted and discerned some clues from their conversation. Considering their relationship, she understood the scheme.

Neither he nor Lu Gongshu uttered a word about this choice, because regardless of whether it was reported or not, they would certainly be credited for discovering Mulan's spy trail, and ultimately, whether or not it was reported was not something they could decide.

They were only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, their strength was lower than others, and their voice was naturally weaker.

Everyone has their own selfish motives, but they won't openly fight each other. Besides, if it were reported, Fairy Hongfu might, for the sake of safety, bring the other two groups in the camp into the deployment as well. In that case, the reward they could get would probably be only as small as a sesame seed.

After a series of perfunctory discussions, the eight finally reached a consensus: they would not report the incident yet and would finalize their action plan: the eight cultivators would take turns guarding the abandoned mine, setting up a trapping formation, and once Mu Lan's spies appeared, they would activate the formation to trap them, while simultaneously sending a telepathic message to the others for help.

In Zhou Qing's view, this plan was quite appropriate. The abandoned mine shaft was not far from the mining area, and as soon as the news was received, the support from the mining area could arrive quickly.

Furthermore, according to the cultivator from the Beiye Sect who contributed the formation, although his Black Wind Killing Formation emphasizes killing rather than encirclement, it is more than enough to trap the Mulan people for a short time if used properly.

After everything was discussed, everyone dispersed.

The crowd waited day after day, like a spider in hiding, having already laid a trap, waiting for the Mulan people, their prey, to come to them.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, but Mulan's spy still hadn't shown up. The long wait made many people anxious and suspicious.

The cultivators from the Hidden Moon Sect privately discussed that they should have reported to Fairy Hong Fu back then, instead of wasting their time here.

Some people speculate that the Mulan people may have already sensed something was wrong and wouldn't come back.

Gradually, even the usually composed Lu Gongshu became restless and came to his door on this day.

"Senior Brother Zhou, two months have passed already. Logically speaking, even if the formation hasn't shown any abnormalities, it should have stopped operating by now. Could it be that these Mulan people have no intention of retrieving this Suppressing Meridian Formation?" Lu Gongshu asked.

Unable to make a judgment immediately, Zhou Qing could only say, "Let's wait and see."

Unable to get the answer he wanted from Zhou Qing, Duke Lu had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

After Lu Gongshou left, Zhou Qing began to ponder. There had been no movement for two months. After such a long silence, either they really weren't coming back, or these Mulan people were extremely cautious and wouldn't show themselves without sufficient preparation.

After all, the abandoned mine was very close to the mining area they were stationed in, and if their actions were not discreet and swift enough, they were very likely to be discovered by Zhou Qing and his men.

Thinking this, Zhou Qing felt a vague sense of unease, as if something unexpected might happen during this ambush.

Therefore, when it was late at night and everyone was quiet, Zhou Qing quietly left the stone house and slipped out of the mining area.

Without saying goodbye to anyone, he flew alone towards the abandoned mine.

Zhou Qing pondered to himself, if these Mulan people really escaped their inescapable net, where would they flee to?

Standing a hundred feet above the abandoned mine shaft, Zhou Qing silently looked around.

Suddenly his gaze turned south, towards the Mulan Grassland.

After flying south for a while, Zhou Qing discovered a canyon that was right on the only way to the south.

His eyes lit up, and he flew towards the canyon.

Upon reaching the top of the canyon, Zhou Qing cautiously looked around before withdrawing his spiritual energy and slowly descending.

He was certain that if these people escaped, they would never dare to fly all the way back to the Mulan Grassland by flying on their magical artifacts. There could be outposts of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance all around Tiantai Valley. Flying directly back to the Mulan Grassland from the sky would undoubtedly be a suicidal act.

So this canyon might really become the "only way" for the Mulan people to escape!

With this in mind, Zhou Qing took out a set of array flags and array plates from his storage bag and set up an array at the north entrance of the canyon.

This formation was obtained by him from Song Yu, and it is the only trapping formation among several formations.

Although this formation is not very lethal, once an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator enters it, it will be impossible for them to break out in less than a few days!

Zhou Qing didn't embed many spirit stones into the array's core. He wasn't sure what to do, so he only left enough spirit stones to maintain the array's operation for seven days before stopping.

After testing the operation of the formation and finding it to be working well, Zhou Qing felt reassured and released the Ink Scale Boat again, returning to the mining area under the cover of darkness.