"See for yourself." Lin Wei pulled up an interrogation video.
In the scene, Zhao Tianxiang laughs maniacally, "You think we collect living souls just for sacrifice? How naive. Those pure living souls are the best 'materials' to create the most perfect 'containers'."
"Container? What container?" the interrogator pressed.
"Hehe, you'll find out then." Zhao Tianxiang laughed strangely. "On the night the seven stars align, a great being will descend. And those children will be 'reborn'."
The video recording ends here.
Huo Yuwei frowned, his face grim. "What nonsense is he spouting? What vessel? What great being? What new life? Does he think evil cultivators would have a change of heart and help those children rewrite their fate?!"
"I don't know, but it's definitely not a good thing."
Lin Wei turned off the projector. "We consulted psychology experts and metaphysical consultants, and they believe that Zhao Tianxiang's words may have several layers of meaning. The worst possibility is that the Netherworld Cult wants to use the souls of those children to carry the arrival of some kind of evil being. Moreover, this being is extremely powerful, so powerful that it would require the sacrifice of nearly a thousand clean souls to awaken it."
Huo Yuwei clenched his fist. "If that's the case, then we must speed up our actions, find out their purpose as soon as possible, and rescue all the children!"
"Yes, we are already investigating."
Lin Wei nodded. "Based on the clues provided by Zhao Tianxiang, we have pinpointed the possible locations of the other two envoys. One is on the southwestern border, and the other is on the southeastern coast. We have already sent people to investigate."
"Then who is the last one?" Huo Yuwei remembered that the Netherworld Sect should have seven Venerable Envoys. Three Venerable Envoys were sealed by Qi Qi, and the fourth Venerable Envoy, Zhao Tianxiang, and the sixth Venerable Envoy were captured by the special department. So there should be three left.
“The last one, there’s no information at all.” Lin Wei smiled bitterly. “Zhao Tianxiang said he had never met that envoy, only that his code name was ‘Zero,’ and that he was the cult leader’s most trusted person and the true executor of the entire plan.”
zero.
For some reason, this code name gave Huo Yuwei an ominous feeling.
***
After the meeting, Huo Yuwei returned to the Huo family villa with a heavy heart.
As soon as I entered, I was greeted by an enticing aroma.
"You're back just in time. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall has just finished cooking." Madam Ji poked her head out from the kitchen. "Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."
The dining table was laden with delicious dishes, and Qiqi was already sitting obediently in her high chair, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the large clay pot in the center.
Madam Huo, seated in the main seat, saw Huo Yuwei and asked, "How did things go?"
Huo Yuwei hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth, "It's a bit complicated. The Netherworld Cult is more difficult to deal with than we thought. We still have too little information. There's a lot we don't know, and we can only rely on inference for most of it."
He briefly recounted the meeting's content, but omitted the disturbing details.
"Can't we do divination?" Qiqi asked, biting her chopsticks and blinking her big eyes.
Huo Yuwei shook his head, "Lin Wei tried divination, but the other party seems to have a way to block it, and Lin Wei suffered a very serious backlash."
"Is Sister Lin Wei alright?" Qi Qi asked worriedly.
Huo Yuwei smiled and patted her head. "Don't worry, the physicians from the Xuanmen Association have already treated her. Her injuries aren't serious."
After listening, Madam Huo remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "What a tragedy, those children are so pitiful."
Madam Ji's eyes also reddened. "Yes! Awei, you must rescue them all!"
"Don't worry, Aunt Ji, we will definitely rescue all the children," Huo Yuwei solemnly promised.
Qiqi was picking at the rice in her bowl when she suddenly said, "Big brother, Qiqi has thought of a way."
"What method?"
“Since that scoundrel said there might be more than one ‘leader,’ why don’t we lure them out?” Qiqi tilted her head. “Like we did with the bait jade pendant last time.”
Huo Yuwei's heart skipped a beat, "You mean..."
"We can spread the word that the special department has found something very important, or learned a very important secret, and then lure those bad guys to come and steal it," Qiqi said, her eyes sparkling. "That way, we can catch them!"
Huo Yusen put down his chopsticks. "This idea is theoretically feasible, but it's difficult to implement in practice, and the risk is very high. First, we don't know what the other side cares about most. What if the information we release doesn't attract their attention and we don't lure them out? What will we do then? Second, even if the other side is indeed lured out by our false information, we don't know who they will send or what methods they will use. What if the people they send are very capable and we can't handle them at all?"
"Qiqi doesn't know what information the other side cares about, but it's quite simple to capture the people they sent. We can set up a formation in advance, lure them into the formation, and then capture them."
"No, those envoys of the Netherworld Sect are so powerful, ordinary formations definitely won't be able to trap them. Even more powerful formations are beyond the capabilities of the special departments; don't even think about trying to do it yourself." Huo Yusen saw through Qiqi's intentions at a glance, his face stern and his tone serious. "The doctor said you must rest properly and cannot use your spiritual power!"
Qiqi tilted her head and said in a childish voice, "Little Nine Brother is silly, we can ask Grandpa Taoist for help! He's so powerful, setting up a formation will be easy for him!"
Huo Yuwei thought of Xuanzhenzi's elusive methods and felt that this was a feasible plan.
He looked at Huo Yusen, "Xiao Jiu, I think Qi Qi's idea is feasible. What do you think?"
Huo Yusen looked at Qiqi and, for some reason, felt that Qiqi was up to something.
But the little girl's big eyes were clear and bright, and her soft, chubby face was full of sincerity, making her seem like she had no ulterior motives at all.
He pondered for a moment, “It’s not impossible, but it requires a meticulous plan. First, we need to determine what the ‘bait’ is; it needs to be important enough to tempt the higher-ups of the Netherworld Cult. Second, we need to choose a suitable location that won’t harm innocent people but is also convenient for us to set up an ambush. Finally, we need a comprehensive retreat plan to ensure a safe retreat should we fail.”
The five-year-old boy's analysis was so logical and insightful that it secretly amazed the adults present.
Grandma Huo looked at her grandson with satisfaction, "Little Jiu has grown up and is very thoughtful."
Mrs. Ji asked worriedly, "Isn't this too dangerous?"
"There are definitely dangers, but it's worth a try."
Huo Yuwei is a soldier, and a special forces soldier at that; every mission he undertakes is dangerous.
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