After several rounds of negotiations between the Sect of Seven Mysteries and the Wild Wolf Gang, a border area called "Falling Sand Slope" was mutually agreed upon as the meeting ground.
As for the participants, the Wild Wolf Gang took a very hard line, insisting that a leader from each side must attend to demonstrate sincerity; otherwise, there was no point in holding the talks.
This demand did not cause any commotion among the Sect of Seven Mysteries, for such conditions were entirely normal in negotiations. Naturally, the true head of the sect would never venture into danger; at most the Sect would send a Vice Sect Leader, and the other side would likewise send a Vice Gang Leader of comparable rank to maintain appearances. Thus, this condition posed no problem.
The two sides fixed a specific date for the negotiations, and on that day each would send a contingent of over a hundred men to attend the meeting.
Fearing that the opponent might lay an ambush during the talks, the Sect made extremely thorough arrangements for both the negotiating team and backup forces. Not only was the team led by Vice Sect Leader Wu, the sect's second-strongest fighter, but the nearly one hundred members were all top-tier experts — mostly Protectors, Patrons, and other core figures of the sect, along with several Elders and Hall Masters to provide backup. It was a formidable lineup indeed.
With such a powerful force, even if the Wild Wolf Gang sent every last elite they had, they could not hope to stop this team's advance. The entire Sect of Seven Mysteries was brimming with confidence.
Furthermore, should anything go wrong, the negotiators could rely on their superior martial arts to fight their way out and return to their own territory, where several squads of elite Blood Blade Hall disciples were stationed to ensure their safe retreat.
Li Feiyu also volunteered to join the team. For a man whose life was soon to end, the more dangerous the place, the more he yearned to go.
And so this team, which accounted for nearly half the Sect's top fighters, finally set out from the mountain as the day of negotiations drew near. The round trip would take at least half a month — a truly long stretch of time!
Han Li, however, was not particularly concerned. To him, whether the peace talks succeeded or collapsed, it mattered not at all. He was about to leave this place and venture into the wider world. The rise and fall of the Sect of Seven Mysteries had little to do with him!
As long as it did not involve him personally, he could not be bothered with such matters.
So in the days following the departure of the negotiating team, he continued unhurriedly cultivating the herbs he needed and began collecting rare medicinal seeds for future use.
Han Li had already decided that once the negotiating team returned to the mountain, he would formally take his leave from the Sect Leaders. If the higher-ups were foolish enough to refuse, he would not mind showing them his true strength, to make them give up any notions of keeping him.
Secretly slipping away without a trace would have been the simplest option. But Han Li feared that if they could not find him, they might trouble his family. So openly requesting leave and demonstrating his power to deter them was truly necessary.
As for his excuse for leaving, Han Li had long since thought of one: he missed Doctor Mo and wished to seek out his master. Whether they believed him or not, Han Li did not care in the slightest. With absolute strength backing him, why should he fear any schemes they might harbor?
Whenever Han Li thought of this, a faint cold smile would creep to the corner of his lips. If he wished to take the lives of those Sect Leaders at this moment, it would be as easy as turning over his hand.
Of course, he merely thought such things; he would not actually do them.
But what Han Li never imagined was that on the fourth night after the negotiating team departed, a ragged figure, covered in dust, with disheveled hair, suddenly burst into his room. The man's bloodshot eyes stared out from a face of gaunt desperation, and his cracked, peeling lips rasped out a single sentence:
"The negotiating team is wiped out. Vice Sect Leader Wu is dead. The Protectors, the Patrons, several Elders — all dead. Nearly everyone is dead."
Han Li was stunned by these words, and before he could even open his mouth to ask —
*Peet...*
Suddenly, a shrill warning whistle sounded from somewhere on the mountain.
*Tok-tok...*
Immediately after, a muffled wooden clatter began to ring out.
*Dang, dang...*
*Ting-ting...*
*Bang-bang...*
……
All manner of alarm signals rang out simultaneously, followed by countless battle cries that erupted across the mountain like rolling thunder. Amidst this could be heard the faint clash of steel, as though in that single instant the entire Caixia Mountain had been transformed into one vast killing field.
Han Li's expression darkened. Without waiting to hear more from the man before him, his figure flickered and he was already outside. He cast his gaze around, spotted the tallest building, gave a light stamp of his foot, and in the next instant stood upon the roof, scanning the valley beyond.
His face was grim. Everywhere his eyes fell, flames roared toward the sky, shadowy figures rushed about, and the flash of blades never ceased. Screams of combat, alarm cries, and furious shouts merged into a single uproar of chaos.
He heard the sound of wind behind him and asked without turning his head: "Li Feiyu — is it the Wild Wolf Gang?"
"Yes. I never expected them to have planned this so meticulously. They annihilated nearly our entire negotiating team, then immediately pursued us survivors and stormed the mountain." The messenger was none other than Li Feiyu, who had departed four days ago. His voice was thick with fury and bitter helplessness.