NOVEL NEXT Chapter 165: Watcher
High above, Li Wei narrowed his eyes. The faint red aura rising from Li Wuji's command tent twisted upward like a serpent of light though thin at first, the pylon of energy began thickening as the Blood Lotus inheritor's internal qi stirred.
Even from the cloud-shroud, the demonic inducement was perceivable.
"So. This is your hand," Li Wei murmured. "A spirit that drinks men dry, and an ignorant fool who believes he can one day tame it."
His voice was soft, but the contempt beneath it was cold enough to frost stone.
The cloud beneath him drifted lazily, its soft weave shimmering faintly with the talisman formations he'd inscribed earlier. He rested an elbow on its edge, robes fluttering lightly in the wind.
"Li Wuji… you and I share one trait indeed," he whispered. "Neither of us hesitates."
The breeze shifted. The tents below rippled as if bowing to an unseen will. "But your blade chops blindly," Li Wei continued. "Mine strikes with precision." The cloud glided slowly as he followed Yuan Yi's departing figure weaving her way toward the western ridge.
"She fears him. Resents him. Yet she remains." Li Wei exhaled softly, his gaze steady as a hunter observing prey. "When a horse stands by the tiger's side, it is either brave or cornered," he murmured. "Which one are you, Yuan Yi?"
Below, the maiden approached a secluded cluster of torches near a jagged ridge where several lieutenants whispered urgently. Their faces were pale, eyes hollowed by exhaustion, suspicion, and dread. They stood like men walking a tightrope above an abyss.
Li Wei recognized the posture instantly.
The posture of men who believed they had no way out. Yuan Yi slowed her steps upon drawing close, as a scarred lieutenant with broad shoulders and fierce expression. He was the kind of man who looked carved from mountain shale, but still rose to meet his superior.
"Yuan Yi," he rasped. "You carry the orders?"
She nodded. "Scorched earth. No retreat." A ripple of surprise was thin, sharp, but undeniable. It quickly spread through the gathered soldiers.
"That madman," someone spat. "He'll destroy everything!"
"Not 'will' he already is," another cursed. "He's offering us up to that cursed spirit of his!"
Yuan Yi did not flinch, nor soften her tone. "I am only here to pass on a message, what you do next is up to you."
The scarred lieutenant stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Messenger or not… it won't last. Sooner or later you'll have to choose. Join us, or die when he decides your usefulness has ended."
Yuan Yi's eyes flickered momentarily, while conversing with the bold lieutenant.
Then she whispered in his right here "Patience favors the fotunate."
The word drifted out like a phantom. "The bait has already been dropped," she added. "Wait for the hook." The lieutenants exchanged confused glances.
But Li Wei understood crystal clear.
She knew Li Wuji was preparing a trap.
And she, in her own delicate way, was warning them to be ready.
Li Wei leaned back on the cloud, thoughtful. This is becoming interesting," he murmured. "The vipers lie in wait for the prey unaware of the sparrow above."
His lips curved faintly. "This camp is just about ready to explode."
For two nights and two days, Li Wei hovered above the mountain's base, a motionless sentinel cloaked in drifting mist. He hardly had time to sleep. The young master cultivated in stillness, he observed and kept his ears open.
From above, every movement of the Blood Lotus camp unfolded like a painted scroll. He saw exhausted cultists limping back from failed raids, their armor dented, their spirits frayed.
He saw lieutenants whisper revolt one moment, then kneel before Li Wuji the next with faces that were largely composed, though their hearts trembled. Li Wei easily saw Yuan Yi's tight jaw whenever Li Wuji spoke, the flicker of resentment carefully hidden beneath obedience.
He saw Li Wuji bleed a captive imperial lieutenant before the apparition, crimson tendrils lapping at poor man's lifeblood like a starving beast. "Blood begets dominion," the spirit rasped.
Li Wuji answered in a whisper that echoed with madness. "Dominion begets eternity."
Li Wei's fingers tightened around the cloud's edge. His expression did not change, but a storm gathered quietly within him. "You seek eternal life and yet you stand in a graveyard of your own making," he murmured. "But an eternity built on corpses crumbles as the wind changes direction."
His eyes softened for a moment as another memory surfaced in his nebula, it was of the villagers he'd saved days prior. The utter desperation on their faces etched into his bones.
He recalled Tang Li, the young woman whose kindness pulled him from the brink.
The child who had clung to his sleeve.
The covenant he'd made.
It was a promise he would not break.
When he opened his eyes again, they were still as the sea.
"The day is coming, Li Wuji," he whispered. "Soon, our path will cross. On that day… I am certain that only one will progress with their Dao."
On the third night, the storm finally broke loose.
A sudden explosion of flames ignited the western ridge. The fire leapt skyward like a beast freed from its cage, painting the ravine in shades of crimson and gold. A cacophony of shouts began to erupt as steel clanged incessantly.
Grown men screamed like infants.
Li Wei straightened instantly. His eyes focused, tracing every thread of activity.
Cultists were rushing wantonly in all directions, like ants whose nest had been kicked open. Tents toppled. Banners burned. The camp was once a coordinated base of operation, now teetered on the edge of collapse.
The conspirators had chosen their moment ruthlessly, and they had chosen well. Li Wuji stormed from his tent like a demon reborn. His cloak snapped behind him like wings. His eyes burned crimson beneath windswept strands of hair.
"Who dares?" he roared.
His voice cracked through the night like a whip of thunder. A shockwave burst from him, sending weaker cultists to their knees, clutching their skulls as they fought to keep consciousness.
On the ridge, a band of nearly forty conspirators emerged, blades gleaming, torches raised high.