Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 151 - 151 150 One After Another

151: Chapter 150: One After Another 151: Chapter 150: One After Another Several days later, Xiang Zhiwen came galloping on horseback.

He started lambasting the moment he arrived, “Hou Niao!

You truly are a fool!

What promises did you make to me last time?

Ease into it, draw the snake from its hole, never be rash…

Weren’t those your very own words?

Did anyone force you?

And what about the irrigation projects, benefiting the common folk, putting the people first…

Did you not spout those grand words?

Have I wrongly accused you?

It’s all nonsense!

The so-called irrigation project was nothing but a ruse, you deceived both the giant rat clan and me!

Wasn’t your intention from the start to flood Suqiu, dare you deny it?”

Hou Niao, with all due respect, poured the tea, filled the cups, a picture of sheepishness, not arguing back, just waiting for Xiang Zhiwen to finish his rant before he offered up a cup of tea,

“Senior Brother, if I say I didn’t have that thought at the time, it would be self-deception; but to say it was my intent, isn’t that a bit of an overstatement?

The main goal was still to benefit the people.

Then, depending on the situation, to seize any unplanned opportunities…

It was fate!

Once in a century kind of fate!

The rain was so heavy, I would have felt guilty to not do something given the heaven’s clear signal!

I had meant to inform you beforehand, but the water rose too quickly, the moment was fleeting, there was no time!

No sooner had I finished than I immediately sent Fang Yazi on horseback to report to you.

I guarantee there won’t be any more mishaps in the future, and we’ll follow your advice to the letter.”

Xiang Zhiwen glared, not buying this excuse, “Don’t even think about it!

You expect me to wipe your ass after you’ve diarrhea?

Should chaos arise in Yinling due to this, then it’s all on you!

And not just West Mang Mountain, you’ll be responsible for any place affected.”

Hou Niao was in a difficult position, “Senior Brother, it’s only a Suqiu, only a rat clan, surely it’s not that serious?

How much trouble can they cause?

There are hundreds of demon clans in the Yinling Wilderness, are we really missing these dirt old rats?”

Xiang Zhiwen held back his irritation; this was the result of a newcomer’s reckless courage, without a grasp of the overall situation of the demon clans in Yinling,

“The giant rat clan is not an inconsequential player in Yinling; on the contrary, those so-called rare breeds are immaterial as they don’t play a significant role in the Demon Clan’s balance chain.

The giant rat clan holds a unique position in Yinling, evident in three aspects.”

Hou Niao beat his chest in regret, “Three aspects?

Them?

Let’s hear it then.”

Xiang Zhiwen ‘hmphed’ heavily, as if to say this scoundrel really was a piece of work, who did he think he was fooling?

“Firstly, the giant rat clan is the only clan in Yinling without a fixed territory; they are the only clan with claim to the entire surface of Yinling!”

Hou Niao nodded eagerly, “Got it, they have a monopoly underground.”

“Secondly, they are the single-clan demon species with the highest counts of demon transformation, rumored to be over a hundred, twice as much as the second-ranked wolf demons.

How many did you kill?”

Hou Niao felt slightly embarrassed; he had perhaps gone too far, “One hundred and three…”

“Lastly, the giant rat clan has the most extended family among the demon clans!

The great hamsters, the black-furred rats, the yellow-breasted mice, the stinking shrews, the field mice, the hamsters, the flying squirrels, the bamboo rats, the steel-teeth rats, the tailless mice, the long-clawed sand rats…

They’re not only spread throughout Shan Country but also everywhere across the Jinxiu Continent!

So, you might have offended the only species on the Continent that could rival humans in numbers.

Now, how does that make you feel?”

Hou Niao just gritted his teeth, “That…

might we need a plague of rats?”

Xiang Zhiwen felt an urge to kick this guy hard, “So, although the giant rat clan has never ranked at the top among the Yinling Demon Clan in terms of combat power, they have never been a species that relies on fighting alone to win.

In every power shift in Yinling, they play an indispensable role and are a crucial force in balancing the powers of the Yinling Demon Clan.”

“It is because of them that the Wilderness Wolf Clan is kept within an acceptable range…”

Hou Niao weakly said, “Do you mean, to exterminate the Wolf Clan again?”

Xiang Zhiwen felt utterly defeated, “If the Wolf Clan is exterminated, tigers, leopards, and bears will overrun us!”

Hou Niao, stubborn as ever, said, “Then we’ll exterminate the tigers, leopards, and bears!”

Xiang Zhiwen was speechless, “If the large carnivorous Demon Beasts are gone, how would we control the herbivorous Demons?

Their reproductive abilities are even stronger, with cows, horses, sheep, deer, pigs…

Following your idea, should we exterminate them as well?

Then turn Yinling into a Demon hell?”

Hou Niao smiled lightly, “From another perspective, couldn’t it be a human’s heaven?”

Xiang Zhiwen grabbed his Daoist robe, “Hou Niao!

You’re – damn it – possessed by a demon!”

Hou Niao spread his hands, “We are originally from the Demon Sect!”

Xiang Zhiwen gritted his teeth, “Others can call us the Demon Sect, but we mustn’t willingly descend into demonhood ourselves!

That’s a strategy by the Daoist and Buddhist Sects to strike against us.

If we readily accept this, then we are truly beyond redemption!”

Hou Niao just sighed, “What’s so bad about the Demon Sect?

At the very least, one can live freely and enjoy their cultivation…”

This was Hou Niao’s personal feeling after nearly a year deeply involved with the Quanzhen Sect.

He was surprised to discover that his position within the sect was quite ambiguous and conflicted.

Some people were trying to whitewash their reputation, not wanting to be part of the Demon Sect but to integrate into the larger Daoist family; in terms of cultivation ideology, the difficulty wasn’t that great, it was just a matter of choosing between Skill and Sword.

The Quanzhen Sect could at a stretch be called a Daoist group specialized in swords;

But the difference in their actions was significant, more extreme, more violent, with a hint of heterodox methods; yet these people believed this style could change, they wanted to change, and there were others outside helping them to change.

In the Quanzhen Sect, there were also a group of cultivators who were staunch believers in the Demon Sect, taking pride in the current position of the Quanzhen Sect within the Demon Sect.

Within the sect, numerous factions stood like forests, just as he saw when he first arrived: family and mentor-disciple oppositions, divergent paths in Skill cultivation, regional groupings, contradictions between sword cultivation and Skill cultivation, and so on.

However, in the nearly a year since, Hou Niao found that many so-called oppositions were somewhat exaggerated; they sounded severe, but in fact, they managed to coexist peacefully within the Quanzhen Sect.

For instance, the cultivation direction opposition he always thought existed, was Sword Cultivation purer, or should Spells be integrated?

This seemed irreconcilable, but in actual contact, it was not the case at all.

Everyone seemed quite tolerant and could understand each other’s different choices; moreover, in different stages of cultivation he found himself swaying back and forth, sometimes focusing purely on swords, and after a while, switching to cultivating Spells.

With this in mind, how could there be sharp opposition?

What truly could influence the unity of the Quanzhen Sect was only one kind of opposition: the whitewashing faction and the demon-possessed faction!

This was irreconcilable, a head-on conflict, even a life-and-death struggle!

He was still of too low a Realm to feel it clearly, but the higher up he went, the sharper the opposition became!

In places like Jin City, Mu Shuai’s residence was stubbornly of the whitewashing faction, while the Central Army residence belonged to the staunch demon-possessed faction.

The supervisory yamen, in charge of maintaining balance, was the fence-sitting Capital Commandant’s faction.

This was the reason for Xiang Zhiwen’s anger.

Although his Realm was limited, he now appeared to be undeniably of the whitewashing faction, so seeing Hou Niao’s various deeds, he was deeply saddened.

What should have been a more Daoist-minded action to save the living, had turned into a ruthless slaughter!

That was something only someone possessed by a demon would do.