Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

663 Soul Traps

Da Hei was satisfied with that response. He had a contract with Mei Chao Bing so the only person he actually had to work with was him. But he also knew how important these people were to him so unless he intended to leave, he also couldn't just ignore them. He didn't want to throw away his life though.

"Since you have decided, then that is good. I don't see anything else we should discuss ahead of time regarding this part of the plan. It'll all depend on what ingredients those three bring back. After that, somebody will have to bring the resulting pills or potions to the underground palace, give the three there instructions, and then we can move in to make a sweep of the palace and get rid of those demonic practitioners.

"The big question is how to continue after that. Most sects have something set up to find out if their disciples die outside so ... they might notice. Whether they will do so in the headquarters of their alliance or only at the sect grounds of their original sects is tough to say though. Depending on which it is, the other side might actually get reinforcements."

Elder Xing's lips twitched when he heard that. "To be honest, that speaks against killing them. Maybe we should set up a formation or something to keep them in one place and just leave someone to guard them."

The two Elders both hadn't been completely convinced that killing those disciples would be the best choice and were making that decision only because of the circumstances. Now that Da Hei himself mentioned a big possible drawback, they naturally felt that they might need to reconsider.

Da Hei shook his head though. "Do you actually have somebody who is good enough at arrays to ensure that none of those disciples will manage to break out? Don't forget that these will be the elite disciples of the whole demonic faction. There will be some who are proficient in formations."

Just like the righteous side, the disciples of the demonic faction had their own specialties. And, in fact, they might be a lot better at them compared to those of the righteous faction because competition wasn't a simple thing they did for fun. No, not being good enough could get you killed in their part of the world. Nobody wanted to risk that so they always strove to get better as fast as possible and gain as much knowledge as possible.

Knowing this, it was unlikely to trap the demonic practitioners in a simple array even if they were only disciples and not Elders of their sect. Chances were that at least one of them would recognize the array and know how to undo it. Then, they'd have to deal with everyone after all, and that maybe at an even more inopportune time. Not to mention that that way, they wouldn't know whether to expect them or not.

So in Da Hei's view, killing them was still better. As for alerting their sects ... "There are ways to ensure that their sects can't pick up on their deaths. You simply need to shield their souls." He didn't think that this should be too difficult but, actually, he had never done it either. Still, there were several ways to do so and since they were both Elders of a sect, he figured that they should know how to do it.

Elder Baili and Elder Xing only looked at him in a daze though. They both couldn't help but wonder whether spirit beasts were all like this nowadays or if the midnight wolf was simply a special breed. How could he talk about killing people like it was nothing and then even suggest trapping their souls as if it was nothing? To be honest, there might have been a reason that cultivators developed a slightly bad view of these spirit beasts ...

Da Hei only raised his eyebrows as if he didn't understand their blank looks at all. "What's the matter? Do you not know how to do it?" He stopped looking at the two Elders and instead turned to Xi Ju Hai. "What about you?" He himself wasn't aware of the exact process either but ... well, he wasn't even human and spirit beasts had no sects. When would he ever need to do such a thing? To him, this was simply something he had heard of while traveling the lands.

Xi Ju Hai pursed her lips. Actually ... she did know about those things. She'd just rather not admit to it because this kind of knowledge wasn't seen as positive in the righteous faction. If she said that she wasn't just aware that such techniques existed but even knew their specifics ... she might have a lot of explaining to do.

Baili Chao saw that she seemed a bit stiff and cleared his throat. "Disciple Xi, if you do know, please tell us. I am indeed not familiar with these things but I believe that this might be for the best in the current situation. After all, Da Hei is right that both trying to trap them and killing them without additional preparation is likely to lead to worse outcomes.

"Considering that we are already approaching a battle ... I am afraid we have to do whatever it takes, even if that is something we wouldn't condone under normal circumstances. So really, if you do know, please speak your mind. We won't mention anything about this after we get back if you are worried about this. You don't have to explain to us either."

In fact, she really didn't need to say it: He could guess why Xi Ju Hai was aware of such techniques. In the beginning, when Mu Qing had gone missing, nobody knew what had happened to him. He had simply vanished one day on a mission and never returned but the small soul lamp at the sect had still shown that he was alive. Chances were she had researched how reliable the soul lamp actually was and had found out that maybe, she shouldn't put too much hope in it.