Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

686 Hiding Bodies Is An Art

Having made their decision, Zhi Guan and Liu Bao Ru moved at once. Zhi Guan grabbed two of the people and hid them close by for the moment while Liu Bao Ru slipped back into the underground palace and checked the corridors close by to see if anyone had come to see what was happening.

Their fight had ended fast but cultivators had heightened senses and some of these demonic practitioners might be learning certain arts that would improve parts of their perception. Some might have better hearing than most people at their level and could pick up on what was going on out here. Of course, it could also be that Feng Bai Xiao was still in the underground palace and would notice the spiritual fluctuations from the attacks and figure everything out from there. In short, they had to be careful.

After looking around and also using her spiritual sense to check, Liu Bao Ru couldn't find any issues. She went to open the door to the room and then rushed back to the gate, motioning at Zhi Guan to bring the first two cultivators while she stayed on the lookout.

By now, the next group should be patrolling the inside of the palace so they couldn't let their guard down. While Zhi Guan moved the bodies, he couldn't easily defend or attack so if they were surprised, they'd be in a worse situation than the four people they had just taken care of.

It seemed that the two of them were still lucky though: Nobody passed by and Zhi Guan successfully put down the two bodies. He stopped where he was, glanced around the room, and then simply pushed them under the bed, pulling the blanket to hang down so as to cover them better. Unless somebody stooped down to specifically check, they shouldn't notice anything.

Having made sure of this, he stepped out of the room, giving Liu Bao Ru a look.

She inclined her head and checked their surroundings again while he went outside to get the two bodies he had hidden before.

Now, they only needed to deal with these two and then, they could hide to lie in wait for the second group. Of course, they couldn't expect to have just as much luck as previously. Even though the bodies weren't left as clues and not making a fire had certainly helped with creating less of a scene, the signs of a fight happening were still there and it would be difficult to get rid of them completely as they were subtle and overlooking something was easy. If the patrol group noticed something they hadn't, they'd give themselves away and then they would have to fight against four people without the moment of surprise on their side.

Zhi Guan's brows furrowed as he thought about that but he still didn't slow down. He hurriedly grabbed the two bodies and then rushed back inside, only slowing down before rounding the gate so Liu Bao Ru could warn him if something was amiss.

Thankfully, they still made it back to the room without issue and stuffed the two additional corpses below another bed.

This room had most likely been created for whoever was on guard duty to temporarily stay out here so the furnishings were simple and utilized the space as much as possible. It was also meant for a bigger group so there were enough beds available to deal with two or three groups without issue.

Still, the more people they hid, the more easily they would be discovered. The first body had been put under the bed Liu Bao Ru occupied previously so the blanket could be used to cover it more thoroughly. As for the rest ... they couldn't use the same trick without making others suspicious. Of course, it would be nice if nobody came to check but ... they couldn't be sure of that so they had to plan for the worst. In this case, with few options to hide the bodies any better, they could only choose the spaces that couldn't be seen directly from the door and were less likely to be checked. The rest might have to be left unused.

When the last body was stuffed under the bed, Zhi Guan looked up at Liu Bao Ru. "Let's go?"

Liu Bao Ru nodded but still had some apprehensions. "What do you think where the next group is right now?" The new one usually left roughly around the time when the old one returned so their round through the palace and its surroundings should have just started. The time until they were done with it ... it was pretty long.

Zhi Guan furrowed his brows, not happy with the prospect of lying in wait for what would amount to two hours at the very least and could take longer depending on what else the group found. He wasn't an impatient person and if it had been any other mission, he would have waited however long it took. It was just ... the longer they waited, the less likely they were to be exposed. How could they let that happen?

He headed outside with Liu Bao Ru without answering, quietly thinking of what to do. Each group would first check the inside of the palace before going out so waiting for them to come out was already wasting time. But fighting in the palace was more risky than attacking outside because otherwise, they would be closer to everyone else and the sound would travel more easily in an enclosed space. He'd rather not risk that. As for how to strike a balance between the two ...

"How about attacking them when they step outside instead of when they return?" At the very least, that way, they could shave off some of the time. The rest would still be wasted but they'd at least be a little faster. Under the current circumstances, they couldn't be picky.

Liu Bao Ru thought for a moment and finally nodded. "Let's do that." Anyway, they had nothing to lose by trying that. On the contrary, if they did so, they would indeed get the best of both worlds.

At the very least, this was what both of them assumed.