Ling Tian's brow furrowed deeper upon hearing Hai Furong's words. He knew very well that these Japanese people would not give up until they achieved their goals!
The fact that they had set their sights on Little Immortal Island meant there must be something they were after on the island.
"Sister Hai, what are the current security measures on the island?"
"We have many cameras installed on the island, with three shifts a day and two teams on duty. During the day, there's also a two-person patrol team.
Including you few, there are less than twenty people on our Little Immortal Island now. The rest are staff, mostly women...
Although we are all martial artists, this place is far from the mainland. I can't be sure if some petty thieves might invade the island!
I actually spoke to Miss Qiu Hong about this, asking her to increase the island's defenses, but Qiu Hong said there aren't enough people, especially experts, and there's a severe shortage..."
Ling Tian nodded. He knew that Qiu Hong was not making excuses. Misty Rain Pavilion was already overwhelmed, collecting intelligence on the martial world from all directions.
Especially with the crooked paths causing trouble everywhere, obtaining information about them came at a great cost.
Furthermore, after Misty Rain Pavilion's headquarters was attacked by the crooked paths last time, they lost many experts, forcing Qiu Hong to divert forces from other areas to support the headquarters.
"Young Master, the people we have this morning are all skilled. If there's an external invasion, as long as we can get an early warning, all of us here can be soldiers."
Ling Tian thought for a moment and said, "Then let's install more cameras, and equip a few drones. Our island isn't that large. With drones, we can always grasp the situation from above, which is much more effective than human patrols.
You go find someone to get them. Don't worry about the cost; I'll cover it.
Also, I'll inspect the island tomorrow to see if there are any other security loopholes!"
"Alright, I'll find someone to improve the island's security system tomorrow!" Hai Furong said happily.
"By the way, do you have a way to get owls? If you do, please get me two."
"Young Master, what do you need owls for?"
"To tame them and have them patrol the island at night, of course!
Also, aren't there many rats and rabbits on the island? With owls, you won't have to expend so much effort clearing out those rabbits manually anymore!"
In a closed ecosystem like an island, if certain animals have no natural predators, they can easily become rampant. The surrounding islands have rats, which were secretly brought to the islands by ships.
And some islands lack creatures like cats or snakes, leading to an overpopulation of rats.
Even some rabbits on islands were brought by fishermen who had nothing better to do. In an environment without predators, they reproduced rapidly and became rampant.
To prevent the island's vegetation from being completely destroyed, the disciples of Misty Rain Pavilion on Little Immortal Island regularly culled the rabbits with bows and arrows.
After skinning the rabbits, they were stored in the cold storage for the islanders to improve their diet, and some were made into delicious spicy rabbit heads.
The next morning, Hai Furong set sail from the island. Ling Tian, meanwhile, summoned Hai Dongqing and the Albatross. The two large birds took to the sky. Hai Dongqing flew at a low altitude around the island, observing for any anomalies, while the Albatross soared high into the sky, two to three thousand meters up, observing Little Immortal Island and its surroundings from a bird's-eye view.
Hai Dongqing swiftly swept over the forests of Little Immortal Island but found nothing unusual.
Just then, a message came from the Albatross. About 10 nautical miles southwest of the island, there was a medium-sized yacht, about 30 meters long. This yacht was circling the island continuously.
Ling Tian immediately controlled the Albatross to descend and fly over the yacht.
On the yacht's deck, a few people were holding fishing rods, seemingly fishing. However, Ling Tian observed carefully through the Albatross's perspective and found that these people were completely distracted, and their fishing rods were merely props.
At the bow of the ship, several people were using high-powered binoculars to observe Little Immortal Island. Nearby, someone was holding maps, compasses, GPS devices, and other tools.
Ling Tian carefully observed the physical characteristics of the people on the ship through the Albatross's vision and soon discovered something. The leader of these people was a man about 1.7 meters tall.
This man had a somewhat lewd appearance and sported a toothbrush mustache, which was a very distinctive mark. These people were actually Japanese!
Ling Tian's guess was correct. The people on the ship before him were the same ones who had approached Hai Furong in the past few days, wanting to buy or rent Little Immortal Island.
The lewd man with the toothbrush mustache was the leader of these people, a Japanese Onmyoji named Boya Takuma.
This man hailed from one of the oldest shrines in Japan, the Ise Grand Shrine! This shrine once held a status in the Japanese Onmyoji world that was even comparable to the White Fox Palace!
In fact, the Onmyoji of the Ise Grand Shrine faction, represented by Boya Takuma, and the White Fox Palace faction, represented by the Abe family, were two different schools of Onmyoji.
Both families initially inherited their Onmyoji arts from the Japanese who stole them from China. Of course, there are also some theories that the Yin-Yang School of China secretly crossed the sea to Japan to escape Qin Shi Huang's pursuit.
As times evolved, the Onmyoji gradually split into two major factions. One faction was the White Fox Palace, represented by the Abe family.
The White Fox Palace was most skilled at controlling Shikigami or attacking opponents with powerful mental energy.
The Ise Grand Shrine, on the other hand, excelled in the Five Elements arts and physical techniques! In fact, the most famous ninjas in Japan ultimately derived their physical techniques from the inheritance of the Ise Grand Shrine!
Initially, the Ise Grand Shrine and the Onmyoji of the White Fox Palace could be considered on par. However, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gradually thinned, the gap between the two sides began to show and widen!
The White Fox Palace faction's primary attack method was Shikigami. The depletion of spiritual energy had an impact on them, but it was relatively limited.
For the Ise Grand Shrine, which used the Five Elements arts, the impact was immense. Many of them could not even cast a small fireball after cultivating for a lifetime!
Thus, the Onmyoji of the Ise Grand Shrine watched as their counterparts in the White Fox Palace prospered, while they were eliminated by history!