122: Chapter 122 Undercurrents: The Hound's Sniff
The "bait" I cast out worked even better than I had imagined.
Within a mere hour of me spreading that "gossip" through the 【Swarm Network】, the entire underground world of Jiangcheng was in a complete uproar.
I could clearly "see" inside that abandoned chemical plant that the moment Night Crow received the news, he snapped his eyes open from that deep, death-like state of meditation!
A flash of obvious... greed and... caution flickered within his obsidian-like eyes.
He did not fly into a rage and set out personally like last time.
After being toyed with by us so many times, this old fox had clearly become even more suspicious and cunning.
He simply spat out two words slowly toward the shadows before him.
"Go, investigate."
The next second, several cold shadows that merged perfectly with the darkness slipped silently out of that chemical plant, which was like a demon's den. Like the most loyal of hounds, they sped toward the coordinate point I had "tossed" out.
I saw that they moved swiftly with tacit coordination, each carrying various strange Magical Artifacts that I didn't recognize, specifically used to track residual energy.
They followed the "escape route" I had forged, conducting a carpet search inch by inch.
As for Night Crow himself, he remained seated cross-legged on that throne, his eyes having turned into two bottomless, slowly rotating black vortexes at some unknown point.
I could feel his massive, Peak Demon Rank Divine Sense hanging high above Jiangcheng like an invisible satellite, remotely monitoring every... move of his "hounds."
He was waiting.
Waiting for a... definitive result.
On the other side, that group of mysterious spies from the 【Star Council】 also received the news at almost the same time.
Their reaction was even more... bizarre than the Xuantian Alliance's.
I saw clearly through a fly lurking in the ventilation ducts of their stronghold—that Advanced apartment building—that the ordinary-looking man who had once performed a "tip of the hat" to me simply brewed himself a cup of black tea unhurriedly after receiving the intelligence.
Then, he walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and, looking at the seemingly calm city nightscape outside, a playful arc curled at the corners of his mouth.
"The Ice Phoenix's aura?" he muttered to himself, his voice tinged with a hint of curiosity and a trace of... disdain, "Those idiots from the Xuantian Alliance have started biting blindly again after smelling blood."
"However... this aura seems somewhat interesting." A glint of wisdom flashed in his eyes, "It's too weak, and also too... 'clean.' It's like... perfume that has been carefully blended; although charming, it lacks that trace of a natural Soul."
He actually saw through the... flaw in my "bait" at a single glance?!
My heart skipped a beat!
This 【Star Council】 was even more troublesome than I had imagined!
"Let the 'Shadows' follow and take a look," he ordered the air indifferently, "Remember, do not expose yourselves, and do not alert the enemy. I want to see just how deep the waters of Jiangcheng really are. And who is the one accompanying us... in playing this interesting game."
As his voice trailed off, the space behind him rippled with an imperceptible tremor, like water.
Several figures, even more illusory than shadows and almost impossible to detect by any energy-tracking means, slipped silently out from those ripples.
They were like true ghosts, following behind those "hounds" of the Xuantian Alliance, maintaining an... absolute safe distance, neither too close nor too far.
The two groups, one in front and one behind, one in the open and one in the dark, slowly converged toward the... "stage" I had meticulously prepared for them.
I lay on Lin Qingzhi's shoulder, live-streaming these movie-like, spectacular scenes to her in real-time.
"Well done." Lin Qingzhi's voice echoed in my mind, tinged with a hint of approval, "Next is the most critical step."
"Let them... 'meet by chance'."
I understood perfectly.
My will plunged into the 【Swarm Network】 once again.
I began to mobilize my "subjects" spread throughout the city to meticulously design a... "perfect" misunderstanding for them.
In the abandoned factory district on the outskirts of the city, I found a perfect "intersection point"—a derelict warehouse piled high with rusted iron barrels and chemical waste.
First, I had a mutated moth under my control sprinkle traces of Lin Qingzhi's incredibly faint Ice Phoenix aura, like scattering pollen, silently over the central area of the warehouse.
Then, I ordered another mutated earthworm lurking underground to gently nudge the ground along the route where the 【Star Council】 "Shadows" were about to arrive.
"Hm?"
Those ghost-like "Shadows" abruptly stopped in their tracks.
They sensed an incredibly faint... spatial fluctuation coming from underground.
"Is it some kind of trigger-based spatial trap?" one of the "Shadows" asked via mental fluctuation.
They grew vigilant.
And in those few fatal seconds while they slowed their pace due to vigilance—
The "hounds" of the Xuantian Alliance had already arrived at the warehouse first!
"Found it! Captain! The aura is right here!"
One of the Xuantian Alliance members, holding a compass-like Magical Artifact, let out an excited low roar.
Without hesitation, they immediately rushed into the warehouse and began to search carefully for any traces the "prey" might have left behind.
And the moment they entered the warehouse, I launched my... second step of the plan.
I ordered a huge mutated spider that had been lurking at the top of the warehouse to suddenly cut the... spider silk it had woven, which connected the rafters to a pile of teetering iron barrels!
"Clatter—!"
Dozens of iron barrels filled with unknown chemical waste descended from the sky like a rainstorm, smashing fiercely toward those Xuantian Alliance members who were busy searching!
"Bad! It's a trap! Retreat!"
The expressions of those Xuantian Alliance members changed drastically!
They never in their wildest dreams imagined that such a simple, yet deadly... physical trap would be lying in wait here!
They scrambled, rolling and dodging toward the warehouse entrance in a sorry state!
And in the split second they were dodging, the few "Shadows" from the 【Star Council】 who had arrived late finally reached the warehouse entrance.
They happened to "see" the scene of those Xuantian Alliance members fleeing the warehouse in a sorry state.
More importantly, they clearly sensed that incredibly faint yet pure... Ice Phoenix aura coming from the depths of the warehouse!
In their eyes, the scene before them transformed into—
The Xuantian Alliance people had arrived first, wanting to snatch the "token," but had accidentally triggered a trap set in advance by the "token's" owner!
"Interesting."
One of the "Shadows" emitted a playful, cold mental fluctuation.
He did not choose to act immediately; instead, he silently took out a... spatial beacon the size of a fingernail, shimmering with a faint silver light, from his bosom, and then flicked his finger!
The beacon turned into a stream of light invisible to the naked eye and silently attached itself to the... back of one of the Xuantian Alliance members who was preparing to report the situation to Night Crow!
After doing all this, they, like true shadows, merged back into the darkness and vanished without a trace.
I took all of this in, a cold smile curling at the corners of my mouth.
The fish hadn't just taken the bait.
They had even started... tearing at each other.
...
Inside the abandoned chemical plant.
Night Crow's eyes, like black vortexes, snapped open!
His massive Divine Sense clearly "heard" the sorry report from his subordinates.
"...Captain, we triggered a trap! The target is very cunning! And... and we discovered that the 【Star Council】 people are also following behind us!"
"Star Council..."
Night Crow spat these four words out slowly, and for the first time, a look of genuine, cold... killing intent appeared on that morbidly handsome face.
"As expected, you couldn't hold back either, could you?"