Xie Yuchen moved quickly, and within a few hours, he had prepared all the personnel and equipment.
"The Xie family will travel to Changbai Mountain in batches with the overseas Zhang family to avoid alerting the inner clan of the Zhang family," Xie Yuchen said as he walked over to Zhang Haike, who was intently studying a map.
"But this will inevitably waste some time on the road," Xie Yuchen's expression remained unreadable, as calm as if he were uninvolved in this war. "Are you sure your clan leader can hold out until our people arrive?"
Although Xie Yuchen was in a crucial position in this game, he was actually the least familiar with Zhang Qiling among those present.
To fully persuade him to participate, Zhang Haike had visited Xie Yuchen immediately upon arriving at the Xie residence, promising that once the battle was won, the overseas Zhang family, with their authority, would copy all the information about the Bronze Gate collected by the inner clan for him.
He had subjected Zhang Haike to a lie detector test, and the subsequent meeting with Wu Tianzhen and Fatty was merely Xie Yuchen's secondary safeguard.
He didn't know Zhang Qiling and was unsure if the person who came for Zhang Qiling was trustworthy. He needed someone very familiar with Zhang Qiling to make a judgment.
And Zhang Haike had passed Wu Tianzhen's test.
Later, Xie Yuchen had asked Wu Tianzhen what his criteria were for judging Zhang Haike's trustworthiness.
Wu Tianzhen had said:
"...Because he's a bit like me."
"It's not a resemblance in appearance, but something deeper. I can feel that, like me back then, he's captivated by someone he just met, deeply moved by some brief memories."
"If he didn't truly understand Xiao Ge, he wouldn't exhibit such a state. And once he understands Xiao Ge, he would never leave Xiao Ge alone."
"..."
Xie Yuchen remained silent at the time, only smiling. However, he was already quite curious. If it weren't for the fact that these people all appeared rational and clear-headed, he would truly suspect that Zhang Qiling had cast a spell on all of them.
At this moment, the silent Zhang Haike finally responded to his earlier question.
"...If we're talking logically, perhaps the clan leader won't last that long," Zhang Haike said without looking up, his gaze fixed on the map, specifically on the location of the altar.
(◎◎ Altar)
This sentence was clearly a warning left by the deceased clansman.
The "one" was not "one," but a stroke left by the blood that had spread.
This sentence should have been (Do not go to the altar).
...But he had overlooked this clue.
Zhang Haike thought of the clan leader's strange condition and the mysterious, highly dangerous milky white substance, his face paling. He could no longer imagine Zhang Qiling winning.
But even so—
"Even so, I still believe the clan leader will survive," Zhang Haike exhaled deeply and turned to look directly at Xie Yuchen.
"Why?"
"Because..." Zhang Haike paused, then softly uttered a sentence.
"Because I told him to wait for me to rescue him."
(...Clan leader, wait for me.)
—
Xie Yuchen's estimation was correct. Although the dispersed teams avoided the reconnaissance of the inner clan's sentries, their progress was significantly slowed.
By the time everyone finally reached Changbai Mountain, a full three days had passed since Zhang Haike and Zhang Qiling parted ways.
"I need to stay and rendezvous with the overseas Zhang family," Zhang Haike handed Wu Tianzhen a map of the sacred land he had redrawn from memory. "The Xie family head will also be here with me to command the battlefield."
"This map might be of some help. The initial part of the sacred land's mechanisms has been cleared by the clan leader, but you cannot enter from the front this time."
"The sacred land has always had tight security, so the direction we've chosen to enter is here—"
Zhang Haike pointed to a corner on the back of the mountain peak where the sacred land was located. This position on the map happened to be an area where a tunnel passed through.
"This will help avoid many eyes, but it also means you'll be taking a completely unfamiliar path filled with unknown dangers."
At this point, Zhang Haike hesitated. His expression shifted several times, as if he had made a difficult decision, and then he said with difficulty, "...You might be in mortal danger. If... you can also wait until our main force attacks the inner clan—"
"No need to say more," Wu Tianzhen interrupted him directly.
He took the map from Zhang Haike's hand and glanced at it, carefully tucking it away. "There's no need to say something against your own heart. In fact, you can't wait to rush into the sacred land to save Xiao Ge and don't care about life or death."
Wu Tianzhen looked up and met Zhang Haike's gaze, his eyes filled with pure determination. "And on this point, we are exactly the same as you."
Zhang Haike didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth: "Tha—" Thank
"Hey, wait!" Fatty interrupted him this time. Fatty had already counted out a handful of high-performance explosives, his face showing the ferocity of a desperate man. "This place isn't where you get to say thank you. We've been family with Xiao Ge for much longer than you Zhang family."
Then Fatty suddenly grinned. "When are you planning to attack? Give us an exact time."
"Fatty estimates that the back of your sacred land isn't very well guarded, probably without a door," he calculated the power of the bombs. "We'll just blow up the wall then, saving us brothers the trouble of wrestling with those rocks."
At this moment, Xie Yuchen smiled leisurely. Having taken charge of the family at the age of eight, he had long learned to conceal his emotions. But seeing these guys' actions now, he felt a long-dormant corner of his heart stir.
"As for the attack time..." He took out a micro-optical computer and lightly pressed a button. There was a crisp "click," but nothing happened.
"Now?"
"Xiao Hua, what are you—" Wu Tianzhen watched in disbelief as the button he saw pressed emitted a faint red light. He couldn't believe what had just happened.
And in the next second, a violent explosion sounded from the Zhang family's ancestral land!!
Streams of fire, trailing long plumes of smoke, shot towards the luxurious houses, exploding into huge crimson fireballs upon impact!
The peaceful interior of Changbai Mountain suddenly became noisy. Countless figures seemed to appear out of thin air from the snowy world, instantly turning it into a "lively" ocean.
...This is too reckless. Wu Tianzhen looked over hurriedly, wanting to say something, but heard Zhang Haike calmly say, "Don't worry. Those old men in the inner clan are very afraid of death. The snow mountain here has good seismic resistance, so there won't be an avalanche."
Wu Tianzhen: ...No, that wasn't what I was thinking about.
And at this moment, Xie Yuchen patted his shoulder.
"Go, Wu Tianzhen," a confident light smile graced his face. "Until you rescue the person, no Zhang family member will go in to disturb you."
"..."
Wu Tianzhen said no more. He turned to look at Fatty, and a great strength seemed to surge within him. This strength supported him as he weaved through the chaotic crowd, heading straight for his target.