ughed.The free-roaming person staggered, nearly falling into a roll. He never thought that his identity would also be assumed dozens of times. This was troublesome, what could he do nowPleasure wrung...Chapter 341: Leaving Alone 1
Fan Gao, after receiving the news, found it hard to comprehend and felt that his subordinates were neglecting their duties.
But soon he dismissed this thought. He knew his手下絕不可能會疏忽大意，就算是一個人也決不會所有人都是這樣。
Then, the only explanation was that Xianyao must have found a way to hide!
To leave
No possibility, he had informants in the vicinity. The area outside the山寨was empty; if anyone came out it would definitely be noticed. Up until now no one has come out except for the villagers who left earlier, but that was before Xianyao entered and could not have mixed with them.
They must have hidden somewhere!
"I'll search every inch of this place to find them. Two live people, I wonder where they can hide," Fan Gao ordered a thorough search just as Black Snow had anticipated.
This was actually good for Xianyao because only then could he discover those secret passageways which would mislead Fan Gao's thoughts. Even if Fan Gao didn't believe that the two of them escaped through those hidden passages, there would be a tendency towards suspicion, and this would lead to easing up on the defense.
But all these were after finding the secret passageways. Right now, Fan Gao was only thinking about one thing — how Xianyao disappeared right under his nose. This gap in time seemed empty which scared him.
The two people were clearly within his control but mysteriously vanished, this wasn't pointing to something else: that his setup had a fatal flaw; if these two were mortal enemies then his life could be at risk.
For such danger Fan Gao would not let it pass by without clarification. He needed to understand everything so as to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
"How did he do it I've heard some rumors about him before and thought they were just that, but seeing how much Black Snow likes this kid… there must be something special."
While thinking in his mind, Fan Gao recalled that previously, he only regarded Xianyao as someone who Black Snow liked. Apart from this, nothing had seemed important to him and he believed Black Snow's emphasis on Xianyao was due to her personal reasons and didn't need too much attention.
But now his thoughts were beginning to change. Because Xianyao disappeared right under his nose and when reflecting upon it from the start till now, Xianyao had been surrounded by him but never showed any signs of tension; this calm expression was now a sign of confidence and nonchalance.
From the very beginning, this kid hadn't taken the current situation seriously because he already had ways to deal with it — ways that would cause Fan Gao headaches.
Fan Gao now faced a new decision: if he couldn't find Xianyao and his companion, what should he do!
Burning down this place was an action too large; it would invite suspicion from others. As the Myriad Sword Sect, they were one of the orthodox sects and couldn't afford to make such a move.
Also, with Xianyao and Black Snow involved, regardless of who had trouble, it would cause him headaches!
Xianyao didn't need to be mentioned further; in the eyes of the Evil Sect, he was the sole orthodox successor for thousands of years. Just this alone was enough to give Fan Gao a headache — if others found out that he burned down the orthodox successor of the Evil Sect, his support from the Evil Sect would plummet severely and this wasn't good for maintaining his status.
The parents behind Xianyao were another problem; if they came looking one day, it could have serious consequences!
Even excluding Xianyao, dealing with Black Snow by fire was also a major taboo within the Evil Sect unless he could keep this secret well. Otherwise, it couldn't be done.
Clearly, under such circumstances where many knew about it (even his subordinates), it would only be a matter of time before others found out; this was a reason that Fan Gao had to let go.
Fan Gao wouldn't doubt the loyalty of his subordinates but loyalty didn't necessarily mean they could keep their mouths shut, which was quite a strange thing.
Moreover, even setting fire might not work and could possibly give Xianyao and his companion an opportunity. A large fire would lead to chaos on this scene; it was a very unstable factor.
This instability wasn't something Fan Gao wanted to deal with.
In the end, it remains uncertain whether Xianyao's two entries will be affected by the fire. If they are not affected, then it would be a waste of effort and could also influence their attitude towards him.
If he were to take such action, this grudge would become significant; unlike now where things remain mild with everyone appearing to have a consensus for peaceful coexistence on the surface.
Considering future developments, such an approach is not viable. Thus, at present, the only thing that can be done is searching meticulously!
"A secret passage was found"
About one day later, Fan Gao finally received new information. However, this information did not have a direct connection with Xianyao's whereabouts; they had discovered a secret passage mentioned by Xianyao, and it turned out to be just one of them.
One must admit that Blackwind Fort's management over the years has been quite impressive. Especially regarding this secret passage where Fan Gao spent such a long time searching for it, which speaks volumes about its concealment.
The other passages have not yet been discovered, but they are expected to be found soon...
Another secret passage It seems that our understanding of Blackwind Fort is still insufficient. Indeed, the decision was made on short notice with inadequate preparation.
When the second and third secret passages were discovered, Fan Gao's expression no longer showed as much surprise as before. At this point, he seemed to realize that things weren’t as simple as he thought; his preparations were insufficient, and it looks like he will lose control over Xianyao.
Fan Gao didn't find it hard to believe either. After all, when he first came here, he hadn’t anticipated such a development. He never imagined that Xianyao’s blood could open the box, nor did he expect that Xianyao would disappear suddenly with Black Snow, nor did he anticipate the numerous secret passages in this fort... In short, everything had gone beyond his expectations too much, making him feel overly careless this time despite having prepared for many things. Although he had already done a lot of preparation.
Maybe next time I should also consider those almost impossible events; who knows if something similar will happen again This time it can be seen as a lesson, fortunately not a fatal one, at most just making this plan fail.
That's right, if the plan fails this time, Fan Gao won't lose much. He only loses the chance to seize power in the demonic sect, but he didn’t possess it anyway and thus hasn’t really lost anything. His own status remains unchanged.
The only loss is wasting so much time and effort, along with offending Black Snow. But this isn't a big deal either; at most, it just clarifies their relationship. She hadn't been particularly kind to him before anyway.
"Let's go, retreat according to the original plan. I hope Xianyao really won’t appear."
In the end, Fan Gao made a decision: continue with his original plan. He couldn't abandon this opportunity now that he had reached this point.
Indeed, his original plan hadn't been disrupted; everything that needed to be done was completed. The only variable was Xianyao's presence. If Xianyao did not appear, the plan would still succeed and he could rely on the secret in the box to gain everyone’s support.
This decision無疑was correct: Xianyao obviously wouldn't go to the demonic sect, even if he did, he wouldn’t vie for position with Fan Gao; Fan Gao would still obtain the status he desired.
...Fan Gao's retreat was unknown by both Xianyao and Black Snow. Without notifying them of his actions, it happened late at night when they were all asleep.
If this situation had been known to Fan Gao et al., they would likely feel frustrated. They had been searching for Xianyao while struggling with sleep deprivation, whereas the latter was calmly sleeping under their noses.
The second day morning, as usual, Black Snow woke up and went before the basin of water that Xianyao had prepared for her to wash and dress herself, then ate breakfast he had laid out, preparing in the early light for today's tasks.
Firstly, she watched Xianyao meditating in the courtyard; she kept staring until he stopped. She found herself increasingly enjoying this feeling of quietly gazing at him while daydreaming.
Maybe spending my life looking at him like this would be fine...
"We can leave here now, they've all left!" After finishing his meditation, Xianyao looked at Black Snow accepting his gaze naturally and said calmly.
"What When did everyone leave so quickly..." At first, Black Snow was stunned by this information; then she felt a bit resentful, blaming Fan Gao for moving too fast. She loved living here under Xianyao's care and being able to gaze at him all day long.
"Isn't it better to leave sooner What a strange girl! On the first day you were always praying for them to go away quickly, now why do you wish they hadn’t left so soon" Xianyao asked in confusion.
"That was then. Don't you know girls can be unpredictable" Black Snow pouted and said, "Isn't it that I like being with you Do you not like it"
“I don’t like it at all!” Xianyao replied directly, “When we leave later, we will go our separate ways. You should return to your demonic sect.”
"No, I don't want to! If I go back now, I'll only cause trouble for the demonic sect. I have to follow you; you can’t drag me away and then abandon me here," Black Snow jumped next to Xianyao, grabbing his arm with a pitiful look.ed the courage to do so."This..." The guard frowned, about to say something, but realized he didn't actually have any rights or grounds. Despite the ambiguous nature of逍遙's words, it seemed to imply a...