Cultivation Nerd

With Hu Jin involved, anything could be possible, and no matter the danger, the grandpa in the ring would save him. Sadly, I did not have that privilege. So, I had to plan things through and take some countermeasures.

In this case, the worst-case scenario was that someone was leading these monstrous beasts. Usually, disciples already had enough difficulty defending the towns, and it was not unheard of for them to fail. But with the beasts being somewhat organized, we were all in for a painful death.

But despite everything, I was not in the worst-case scenario.

Because if there was really some kind of Beast King, it meant they wanted to take over the local area. Which also belonged to the Sect. When it came to these kinds of things, if the Beast King was even somewhat bright, a preemptive strike against the Blazing Sun Sect was vital.

Cultivators might fight and argue against each other, like children in a kindergarten who do not want to share a toy. They were still likely to band together against a common enemy.

But this was also looking at it from a human perspective, and how this was moved forward would depend on how this Beast King saw things. Uniting against a common enemy was not usually seen in monstrous beasts.

"Are you suggesting that a monstrous beast was leading cross-species of other monstrous beasts?" Song Song asked.

"Yes," I answered.

Both Song Song and I knew that monstrous beasts could have a leader. It usually was something like a wolf pack, with its wolf leader. But a wolf-type monstrous beast would never lead a horse-type monstrous beast.

"I understand why you seem so worried about this," Song Song said, and she rubbed her chin. "You haven't led me wrong so far, and despite how hard to believe your words are, I will believe them. But since we are already so far from the Sect, it would be useless to return, and I doubt they would listen to me, much less you, about some Beast King."

Well, I didn't want to return to the Sect, as attacks could already be happening. At least, if the Beast King was smart enough, he should have stealthily surrounded the Sect.

That was what I would do in his place, and make sure to kill anyone coming in as a messenger so nobody was any wiser about what was happening outside. Assuming he didn't know about communication artifacts, he had no way of knowing since he was a monstrous beast.

"Also, your theory makes sense on paper. You could also be overthinking this and trying to humanize monstrous beasts. There was no need for one to understand the other. I doubt even humans would be interested in understanding how a pig's brain worked before it was about to be turned into pork." Song Song smiled, almost like a proud parent or, in this case, an older sibling. "You have an active imagination, sometimes allowing you to think outside the box and create techniques no one thought of before. But sometimes your ideas can end up coming off as too wild. Yet, we will prepare, and if you have any plans, don't be afraid to come and suggest them to me."

"Well, I have no idea for now. I was hoping you had something in mind," I shrugged, trying to devise a plan.

"You can only connect the dots looking backward, not forward," Song Song said.

Okay, that sounded quite wise, and it was something Song Song would never come up with.

"Where did you get that from?"

"From a book," she answered honestly. "While I can let you handle the managing side of things, a leader must at least be a good speaker. So, I memorized some good quotes and when to say them. It gives the illusion of the leader being wise, and with you working behind the scenes, that illusion becomes a reality."

Song Song was surprisingly honest and not insecure about what she lacked. I should learn more from her.

There was nothing I could do about the incoming threat, and during these times, I usually panicked for a bit. Which served no purpose and did not solve the problem at all.

Instead, I sat down, took out a small brush and a book, and began writing down everything about the tree-like monstrous beasts while the memory was still fresh.

But while I was writing, Song Song was staring at me, which made it a bit uncomfortable.

After a dozen minutes of me writing and her staring, I turned toward Song Song and asked, "Don't you have anything better to do? Like reassuring the group that everything will be okay and acting like you're sad due to the losses."

"They will take care of that on their own," she waved off my worries. "I'm just recalling how you didn't refute my claims that you would be my second in command and work behind the scenes. Despite a couple of nobodies dying, I'm in quite a good mood right now. I knew that eventually you would come around and accept my leadership."

She was joking with that last part, but every joke had a hint of truth. If I let her say that I was under her command enough, sooner or later, someone like her would just declare it.

"Well, thanks for reminding me then. The answer is still solid; no," I smiled. Also, you really should be trying to gain the trust of your team."

"They're a half-hearted team of people who want something from me. In my eyes, they're all losers and easily replaceable. If they die, I can find someone else to take their place; it isn't hard to find greedy people," she yawned before looking at me and smiling mischievously. "No offense to your cousins, of course."

"None taken. But to be clear, I also want something from you. I wanted your protection; that's the only reason I'm even here," I clarified.

"It's different. They don't have the context of our relationship," Song Song said.

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Since when did the antisocial murderhobo girl become so knowledgeable about friendship and all that?

"Also, isn't your cousin one of those so-called useless people?"

"Yes, so what? If Sia dies, there are plenty like her. How many young girls do you think my clan has? A lot more than you think, just in case anyone needed a marriage alliance," Song Song chuckled as if recalling a joke only she knew about.

Song Song's clan was related to the Blazing Sun Immortal. This meant they all had a better chance of being born talented than the average dude. Yet, it was more of a miss than a hit when it came to inherited cultivation talent. But still much better than the average person.

For example, even the Liu Clan had more mortal members than Cultivators. That was why someone like my grandpa only had me as a cultivator in his branch of the family tree. Though he was more of a misfortunate case.

Song Song kept staring at the rest of the team and said, "Anyway, what do you think we should do with this sorry lot?"

"Hmm?" I tilted my head, confused.

"I mean, the team is injured. It's not like the injured ones would be any good on the front lines. There's also that spy still hiding, and I doubt they died in this attack. Additionally, what are we going to do to prepare for that theory of yours? We can't act like it doesn't exist," Song Song explained.

"You're the leader," I dodged all responsibility and put it in her hands.

"You're the strategist," she refuted.

"Unofficial strategist. I barely have any experience."

"Still, a strategist. When you're sick, you'd still want a doctor rather than no doctor, even if they might not be the best one," Song Song refuted.

Wow, okay. Song had gotten better at verbal sparring, retorts, and joking. Fighting wasn't the only thing she was talented at.

Song Song might actually make a good leader—that was something I never thought I would say. Sadly, if she couldn't control those impulses, she would still have difficulty appealing to anyone, especially with how she treated people who approached her with ulterior motives.

Despite our banter, my mind was moving to figure out anything that would help us in this situation. I recalled how everything was supposed to go; we would separate into five teams and manage six towns. Since Song Song was quite a big shot, she had a larger territory to manage.

This could also be one of the tests for her as the possible next Sect Leader. But for now, I was not worried about that, as a plan slowly began forming in my head.

The injured needed time to recuperate and someone to look after them. At the same time, we had to keep the forces fresh and...

"Usually, around six inner disciples are there in each town to protect it, with the help of a governor and any other clans that reside within the town, right?" I inquired.

"Yes."

I picked up a stick and began drawing on the wet dirt. "From the maps you have shown me so far, it seems like the five towns we have to look after form a diamond shape with another town in the middle," I said, drawing a rough four-pointed diamond. "We surround the town in the middle and can use that to our advantage."

"I see..." she nodded. "We don't need so many people in the middle town since we can have others protecting it. Few beasts will get past the other towns' defenses and come to our own."

"Nope," I shook my head. "Quite the opposite, actually. I want all but four of us to be in the middle of town."

"What?" She looked at me, confused.

"The bulk of the team will be in the middle town, while four people you trust will each be managing one of the other towns. You will be the one with all the power at hand, and if needed, you will also be a backup for each of us when we need it. As for the injured, they will also get the rest they need in the middle town," I said.

Though that one guy was missing an arm, no amount of resting would fix that.

Song Song rubbed her chin and nodded, "Yes, I can see this working. Also, there's no chance the traitor will have the opportunity to convince five others to join her cause by whispering honeyed words into their ears."

That was a legitimate worry. One person was dangerous enough, but getting six Qi Gathering cultivators was dangerous even to Song Song. However, the chances of that happening were low with someone like Song Song, as no one would easily fold and betray the scary person. They all knew how she was, and they wouldn't even dream of an easy death in that case.

Sometimes, it was quite useful to be feared.

"Well, I already know who I'm going to put in charge of the Northern Town," she looked straight at me.

I frowned, "Many will protest the decision to put a mere Body Tempering Cultivator in charge."

"If they question my decision, then I will deal with them," Song Song stated matter-of-factly, and any other excuse died in my throat. "Anyway, congratulations. Don't worry too much. I will keep an eye on you and be the first to come to your aid in case something happens."

Her decision had already been made, but I couldn't help but ask, "Why me?"

I was not necessarily the best choice for this.

"Because I trust you to handle the town well and deal with some problematic issues there. You're the perfect guy for this, and I trust you with it," she clarified.

Ultimately, Song had to choose some people she trusted to manage the surrounding towns. Sadly, there were not many people she trusted in general, so she ended up putting those she trusted the most in charge.

In the East would be Liu Qian.

In the South, it was her cousin Song Sia. She was tending to the wounded with a worried look on her face.

In the West, it was someone Song Song suspected would betray her. Ye An was put in charge.

"Why her?" I asked.

"Well, despite trying to hide it from me, Ye An has recovered her cultivation, and she makes a good meat shield," she revealed.

What? So fast!

I knew Ye An would probably eventually recover her cultivation, but this was too fast. Had she had some fortuitous encounter I knew nothing about? Or perhaps her strange Spirit Roots had a role in this.

No, there was no time to worry about it at a time like this.

"I researched this area, and the West Town is usually the one with the most dangerous monstrous beasts," Song Song nodded and looked quite proud of that choice.

Of course, the one on the central island was going to Song Song, and she would be there with all her members. Anyone who had a chance of betraying her would be within arm's reach, both literally and figuratively.

Hopefully, her paranoia didn't skyrocket; otherwise, all the people going with her would end up as corpses by the next time we met.

"Enough talking about this; now is the time for action. I will escort you and the rest of the new town leaders to your destinations and make sure none of you die on the way there," Song Song declared.

...

Days later, just as she had promised, we stood in front of a tall, dark wall with marble-colored gates, one with a crimson flag on one side and a green flag on the other.

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