This chapter has been brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDOom.
Chapter Eight Hundred and Twenty Seven – Yang Yuan Hao"s Decision
Zuo Mo turned around with a serious expression. After a moment of silence, he said a sentence.
"Cough, so my writing was this ugly before!"
Puh, he didn"t say this well, ge"s presence was weak … …
Zuo Mo mocked himself, but his words did cause his awkwardness to reduce greatly.
Li Xian Er suddenly froze. She looked in disbelief at Zuo Mo as though she saw a ghost.
"In the past, you really tormented me terribly. Cough, and now karma turns back to haunt you. I hadn"t ever thought that you would actually end up in ye"s hands, mwhahahaha… …"
After his embarra.s.sment faded, Zuo Mo immediately became smug as though he had achieved a great victory over Li Xian Er. However, he did not have any hateful feelings towards Li Xian Er, but had some warm feelings instead. His time at Wu Kong Sword Mountain was probably one of the most carefree times in his life.
Li Xian Er wa still gaping with wide eyes as she stared at Zuo Mo. She couldn"t speak for a while.
Zuo Mo laughed while gesturing to the crane. "Don"t worry, just based on our past relations.h.i.+p, I will not do anything to you. When your Tian Huan envoys come, I will release you after we negotiate."
Then he turned and said to A Gui. "A Gui, take her. We"re leaving."
A Gui nodded and then carried Li Xian Er. Zuo Mo brought s.h.i.+ Pei as they left the Abyss Fiend Jail.
They met up with Zhong De. Everyone had expressions of joy when they saw Li Xian Er. Now they had more bargaining chips. Their strategic plan had a higher chance of success.
Zhong De"s plan was full of temptation. But there were so many problems it was hair-raising to think about. For Zuo Mo, taking so many jie at once was an enormous task in times of peace, much less times of war.
If they were the slightest bit careless, they could lose it all.
After everyone was happy for a while, Zhong De bid farewell. He had much work to do. The death of the sect leader needed an explanation. At this moment, what was most important was the stability of Xi Xuan. No matter how strong Zhong De was, he just had one battalion. If Xi Xuan fell into chaos, then the situation would become terrible.
And the families that were willing to follow him or Gu Liang Dao had to be arranged for their move into their new boundaries.
This was a vast and complex process.
———
Mo Cloud Sea.
When Zuo Mo"s message was received, all of the higher ranks in Mo Cloud Sea erupted. Heavens, that was three hundred jie! Everyone was astounded by this plan. Everyone was filled with respect towards Zuo Mo.
As expected of Boss!
He went out on a stroll, invested nothing and gained three hundred jie!
Even Bie Han"s expression became slightly discontent. He had dragged Tang Fei, Ma Fan, and many of the others to fight until even Sin Battalion was crippled to just conquer forty five jie. But Zuo Mo, he went out for a trip, and more than three hundred jie came into his possession.
And it was the other side that was begging him to accept it for next to nothing in return!
The difference between people was so great!
Other than Bie Han who started to reflect on the value of being a battle general versus being a black-hearted business person, all of the higher ranks in Mo Cloud Sea were cheering. Soon, under Gongsun Cha"s command, all the departments started to move furiously to prepare to accept more than three hundred jie.
Everyone knew that this would be a mission unprecedented in scale. This would likely be the largest and greatest transfer of territory in the history of the xiuzhe world.
Resources, battalions, manpower, they were quickly gathered.
In a shockingly short amount of time, Mo Cloud Sea had finished its preparations.
———
Other than Zuo Mo and Gu Liang Dao, no one knew of Zhong De"s intentions. No one would think that there would be a madman that would hand over three hundred jie for free.
But the movement inside Zuo Mo and Gu Liang Dao"s territories still set off the wariness of many factions. The gathering of battalions, the preparations of resources. Officials were constantly being summoned to Cloud Sea Jie.
All the signs pointed to the two having some great action coming up.
If someone was ignorant, they would think that the two were preparing to fight each other, but anyone with common knowledge knew that the alliance between Zuo Mo and Gu Liang Dao was unbreakable. They had not heard of any conflict between the two sides so it was not possible the two were about to start fighting.
Then there was only one possibility, the two sides were going to team up!
Who would be the target?
Kun Lun, Tian Huan, Mo Shen Temple and others immediately became nervous.
If Mo Cloud Sea and Gu Liang Dao allied together, to speak of nothing else, their offensive power could not be dismissed. The probability of Bie Han fighting was low, but one could not forget that Mo Cloud Sea still had Gongsun Lil" Miss that ranked fourth among the ten great battle generals. His Vermillion Bird Camp was also complete and whole. Gu Liang Dao was astounding powerful himself and ranked fifth. [1]
If the two battle generals ranked fourth and fifth teamed up, this would be such a strong pairing that even Kun Lun would feel threatened.
Also nervous was the Nine Great Dhyana Sect. Many people were thinking about whether their recent actions had angered Mo Cloud Sea and now it was time to settle the score.
Yang Yuan Hao was not nervous at all. He was experienced and he had an understanding of Zuo Mo. With this guy"s personality, if he planned to wage war on someone, he would definitely not leak anything beforehand.
This one was faithful sneak attacker!
Fighting openly was not his style at all.
While he did not know what Zuo Mo and Gu Liang Dao wanted to do, he was sure that they were not preparing to start a war with someone.
He did not struggle over this question. He knew clearly that as long as the Nine Great Dhyana Sect did not completely side with Kun Lun or Tian Huan, Mo Cloud Sea would not act against the Nine Great Dhyana Sects.
He had been considering the sect leader"s words these past days.
Previously, he had a.s.sumed that Mo Cloud Sea could not stop Tian Huan"s attacks, but now, he suddenly believed that Mo Cloud Sea had reversed the situation.
Something definitely happened.
Yang Yuan Hao perceptively realized Mo Cloud Sea"s silent change. If Mo Cloud Sea reversed the situation, then Mo Cloud Sea would undoubtedly be the best to side with.
It was time to make a decision.
Yang Yuan Hao stood up.
———
When Zuo Mo received the paper crane from the sect leader of Thunder Sound Temple, he was astounded.
The sect leader clearly expressed their willingness to join Mo Cloud Sea"s territory in the paper crane. Other than the message from Thunder Sound Temple, a letter from Lotus Sutra Temple arrived as well. The two had clearly communicated in secret beforehand.
Zuo Mo was not too surprised by Lotus Sutra Temple"s decision. They had burned their bridges with Kun Lun and Tian Huan. If they wanted to survive, they had to side with a large faction.
But Little Mo Ge was very surprised by Thunder Sound Temple"s action. Thunder Sound Temple wasn"t just the head of the Nine Great Dhyana sects, it possessed a powerful battle general Yang Yuan Hao. Their own strength was not something to be dismissed.
Had his words last time been effective? Zuo Mo muttered inside.
Zuo Mo did not immediately reply but started to think carefully.
He was not completely stunned dumb by what had dropped on his head from the sky. Thunder Sound Temple and Lotus Sutra Temple"s allegiance had benefits and detriments.
What was good was that Mo Cloud Sea"s strength would increase again. Mo Cloud Sea"s strength would undoubtedly reach another peak after adding a top battle general like Yang Yuan Hao.
But there were also detriments. If the news that Thunder Sound Temple and Lotus Sutra Temple siding with Mo Cloud Sea became public, the Nine Great Dhyana Sects would immediately collapse and cease to exist. The sects would quickly divide when they felt a threat to their survival, each of them seeking a route to survival. There were only three choices, Mo Cloud Sea, Tian Huan, and Kun Lun.
Zuo Mo had thought of the Nine Great Dhyana Sects as a barrier, a buffer.
If the situation changed, the alliance of the Nine Great Dhyana Sect"s dissolved, then this barrier would also disappear. Mo Cloud Sea would have territory directly bordering Kun Lun and Tian Huan. The pressure would immediately increase.
After thinking for a long time, Zuo Mo replied to the sect leader of Thunder Sound Temple. He expressed that he welcomed them and also promised that Yang Yuan Hao"s battalion would receive the same benefits as Vermillion Bird Camp and Sin Battalion. But he told them to temporarily keep it a secret and for Yang Yuan Hao"s battalion to prepare.
Zuo Mo thought of the plan he formed in Zhong De"s tent.
If Thunder Sound Temple joined Mo Cloud Sea, then it meant that they did not need to find a way to sneak battalions to Tian Huan"s rear. Yang Yuan Hao Battalion would only need to attack at an opportune time, and Tian Huan would immediately panic.
They could easily cleave the wedge-shaped area from Tian Huan"s map.
Also, this was not a good time to split up the Nine Great Dhyana Sects.
Zuo Mo was full of spirit. Thunder Sound Temple that had come to him was a great bargaining chip to add to his hand.
He was even more confident.
After taking care of these matters, he threw himself back into his study of the [Weaving Girl’s Shuttle]. Tian Huan"s unique system inspired him.
If he could completely study it, it would be of great help to him to perfect Mo Cloud Sea"s system.
Tian Huan"s study of the shen glyphs were more advanced than Mo Cloud Sea.
He did not avoid Li Xian Er when he studied the [Weaving Girl’s Shuttle]. Right now, Li Xian Er was a treasure in his hand, a crucial piece of his plan, and no accidents were allowed.
Supposedly, Tian Huan"s envoy was about to arrive but Zuo Mo knew that Tian Huan would not give up on trying to rescue Li Xian Er. There were countless pairs of eyes staring at them from the shadows.
In order to stop a cooked duck from flying away, Zuo Mo kept Li Xian Er close by. A Gui, Wei Sheng, Ceng Lian"er, Zong Ru and the others formed a perimeter. Zhong De"s Abyss Fiend Jail Battalion formed a larger encirclement on the outside.
It was so heavily guarded that not even a fly could go in.
Only now could Zuo Mo have the peace of mind to ponder Tian Huan"s shen glyphs.
———
Li Xian Er could not describe her feelings right now.
That paper crane represented her childhood memories. Every time she thought back to it, she would smile. Theoretically, this should have been just a minor incident in her life, however, she always had feelings of reminiscence towards that faraway unknown "victim."
She had not thrown away that paper crane and left it in the ring as a memento.
Maybe it was the other"s rebelliousness and hardiness that had left a deep imprint on her. When she had grown up, she would frequently reflect that her prank back then had crossed a line.
It was hard to see such an indescribable presence around her.
Those people around here were elegant and gentle, they were full of talent, their conduct and speech were flawless.
But they did not have that spirit.
But that playmate from her youth was actually Zuo Mo!
She was in a daze for a few days.
[1] WanderingGummiOfDoom: My notes have 5th as Yang Yuan Hao from Thunder Sound Temple. No one identified for 6th. FX could have made a mistake or Yang Yuan Hao and Gu Liang Dao are tied for 5th.
Also just to remind everyone of this little FX journey in writing:
Li Xian Er - Disciple of Tian Huan, granddaughter of Tian Huan"s sect leader, member of the Four Seats . First appears in chapter 7, where she sends a pink paper crane to Zuo Mo. Thinking that the crane is a normal Thousand Paper Crane, Zuo Mo responds antagonistically, and starts a strange long distance abusive relations.h.i.+p with the Mystery Crane Girl. On several occasions Zuo Mo nearly dies due to her antics. She later appears in chapter 659, where she is sent to negotiate with Marshal De, but is later sent to deal with Xiao Mo Ge. It is later revealed in chapter 700 the alliance between Marshal Di and Tian Huan will likely be cemented through marriage. These plans are thrown into disarray as a result of the dawn of the shen era. In the shen era, she becomes the most talented member of the younger generation, is appointed the leader of the four seats, and owner of the Weaving Girl"s Shuttle. She agrees to become a hostage in a risky mission for the sake of the sect, and is later appointed as the next sect leader of Tian Huan by her grandfather.
Translator Ramblings: Ahh Bie Han. This is why you are the minion and Zuo Mo is the boss.