A Strong Fortress

"So, did you get any information about Osu Ke?" Ma Wan Liu asked Jun Nie. 

"No, nothing. It's like he disappeared into thin air." Jun Nie replied. 

"What do you think could have happened to him, or could it be that he betrayed us?" Wan Liu asked. 

"It can be possible. But, it can also be possible that he died." Jun Nie replied after pondering. 

"It can be, but how? Was he attacked by someone while returning? Or…,"

"Or it could be that he died in the Bai clan." Wan Liu was still speaking when Jun Nie interrupted in the middle and said. 

"What do you think, Jun Nie?" 

"What I think is that he might have been killed by the Bai clan."

"And why is that?" 

"Well, he informed us when he arrived at the Bai clan about his arrival. However, there was no reply from him after that. If he had left the Bai clan, he would have surely sent a message through dark falcon, but did not, which could only mean two things: one, he betrayed us, and second, he never left the Bai clan. However, if he had really betrayed us, why would he not continue his act and keep extracting more information from us, after all, it would only benefit him. He would have also sent a message to us just to fool us if he was a traitor, but nothing like this happened. So, there is very little chance that he is a traitor. This only leaves us with one situation, and that is that he was killed in the Bai clan." Jun Nie stated. 

"If he was really killed in the Bai clan, then that means that," 

"That means that Osu Ke had discovered something that the Bai clan did not want us to know." Jun Nie again interrupted Wan Liu. 

"If that is true, then we can be sure that the Bai clan definitely has to do something with the Death Warrant. Elder Jun, do a more thorough search on this matter. If only we can prove that the Bai clan killed Osu Ke, we can get the inheritance from them as well as destroy their clan by collaborating with the other clans." Ma Wan Liu said with a smile. He had been waiting for an opportunity to destroy the Bai clan for many years. He never liked the Bai clan for interfering with their matters, such as the inheritance that had appeared a few months ago. 

….. 

"Sigh, I am stuck in a difficult situation this time around. I cannot even go out now because of the current situation. But no worries, I will simply fool Tai Qi and Zihao De into giving me more benefits." 

Yang Zhai was sitting in a room, cultivating and smiling. Si Kim was also sitting in the same room with him.

Both of them were in Tai Qi's residence. There were many elders around the Clan leader's residence, around four to five protecting the residence from all four sides. What's more was that Tai Qi himself was inside his residence, including Zihao De, bringing the chance of an attack on the residence to almost zero. If the Ma clan really wanted to kill Yang Zhai and Si Kim, then Wan Liu would have to come himself to have any chance of killing them. But even then, there was little chance that Wan Liu would be able to kill them. After all, Tai Qi was no joke who could be defeated just like nothing. 

And then there was Zihao De, including four to five elders who were outside the residence. They could easily hold off the enemies, until then, the whole clan would be able to gather up, requiring the whole of the Ma clan to attack in order to succeed in killing Yang Zhai and Si Kim, but it would be after they defeated the Bai clan. 

"Hey, Si Kim, how is your cultivation going?" 

"Hmm, why suddenly ask this question?" Si Kim asked with confusion. 

"Of course because I am worried." 

"Worried?" 

"Yes, first, for the clan's benefit your win is needed. Second, because my cultivation is stuck, and I wanted to ask for a few pointers. Third, if you keep on increasing your ranks, I am worried that you might…take your revenge on me in the future, eh…eh…eh. In fact, my cultivation is decreasing, and I am at rank 2 early stage now." Yang Zhai laughed awkwardly when saying this. 

"What?!!!" Instead of feeling proud, Si Kim was shocked. He had heard for the first time that someone's cultivation could also drop without any reason. If what Yang Zhai said was true, then they would lose the final round without a doubt. 

"Are you serious?" 

"Yes, I am. I think, no not think, but I am certain that I have reached my limitations, and if I continue, I will only damage my aperture, that's why I wanted to ask for the pointers. But, it seems useless now. So, I am thinking of developing in body cultivation now, what do you think?" Yang Zhai spoke with confusion. 

"Body cultivation, huh? We only have around one month left before the final round, if you switch to body cultivation now, it will only be disadvantageous. But according to you, if you continue to cultivate, you might drop to rank 1, a difficult situation indeed." Si Kim was in thought and speaking at the same time. 

When Yang Zhai saw this, he was impressed: No wonder he became the Bai clan leader in my previous life, he has forgotten everything I did to him previously and is thinking unbiasedly. He is trying to look for a solution so that we could win the competition without gloating over my misfortune. He did not even pay attention when I praised him and only focused on what was important. The traits of a true leader indeed. 

"Yang Zhai, this is out of my reach, why don't you ask elder Zihao De, or even the Clan leader: after all, we are sitting in his residence right now. So, it should be easy for you to ask for advice." Si Kim evaluated the situation and came up with the best advice that he could give right now. 

Yang Zhai did not ask Si Kim for advice because he wanted one, but because he wanted to convey this information to elder Zihao De. 

!*****!*****!