Chapter 52: Paper Strategy

  "Ah!" Lin Fan liked to read some miscellaneous books, and in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty's Records of the States, there was a story about a certain king who set up a beacon tower. Once an enemy invaded, he would light the beacon tower to summon the vassals for help. This king had a concubine who never smiled, except when she saw the beacon tower lit and the vassals arriving with their troops. So the king would often joke around and trick the vassals just to make his concubine smile. But when an enemy really invaded later on, the vassals didn't believe it, and the king and queen were killed.

  Ximen said: "I know this allusion, but how can we get the fox demon to take action? Are you going to laugh at the fox demon?"

  Lin Fan shook his head and looked at Ximen Shuai: "Last time at the Great Crossing, you chased the Nine Palace Master of the Demon Sect for seven days and seven nights. You had quite a strategy, sticking to him like glue, shamelessly making him hate you so much that he wanted to eat your flesh and drink your blood. If you could do the same to the Fox Demon, it would be annoyed to no end, and when it attacked you, you could just escape. Then the Fox Demon would have no choice but to ask the Hundred Eyes Devil King to drive you away."

  "Will it work?" Ximen asked skeptically.

  "A fly buzzing around my ear every day, I think normal people or fox spirits can't stand it?" Lin said, "Moreover, whether we succeed or not, it doesn't make a big difference to us."

  Ximen Qing worried: "I'm so excellent, what if that fox recognizes me and falls for me?"

  "Spicy chicken noodles, you're really naive." Lin Fan looked at him with disdain and said, "Hurry up and get ready, change into your Ximen's outfit."

  ……

  "... saw the lady as a heavenly being..." Ximen Shuai changed into his white scholar's clothes, picked up his folding fan, and paid a visit. Then he began to deal with the **thousand-year-old demon fox**, several disciples tried to intervene but were easily resolved by Ximen Shuai. Later, Zi Ye made her move, but Ximen Shuai was not in a hurry, slowly engaging in a playful fight, like a cat playing with an old mouse.

  Zi Ye's cultivation is slightly lower than Ximen Shuai, but he shouldn't be so helpless. However, Ximen Shuai has a Seven-Breaking Flag, one of which is the Breaking Illusion. Zi Ye's abilities all revolve around the Purple Pupil Technique, and if the Purple Pupil Technique can't make Ximen Shuai enter an illusion, then it's fundamentally impossible to harm Ximen Shuai.

  At this time, the thousand-year-old fox couldn't sit still and cast a wood-element spell. The demon beast had an inner elixir and could use one of the five elements with ease, its comprehension and progress far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators. Moreover, the demon beast's unique properties made its magic unpredictable. Ximen Shuai secretly cursed his own misfortune, realizing he had overestimated himself. This thousand-year-old fox, although only having 200 years of cultivation left, was ruthless and relentless in its attacks. Yet, Ximen Shuai still needed to maintain a good image, so he lightly fanned himself: "Since the lady is expelling me, I will take my leave. I'll come again tomorrow to pay my respects."

  Ximen Shuai was about to leave, and neither Zi Ye nor Qian Nian You Hu could stop him. Lin Fan used the Tian Yan symbol to observe the battle in Cuilu Valley while roasting a chicken. When Ximen Shuai returned, he pulled off a drumstick and shook his head, saying, "The beacon fire has deceived the princes, but it was not successful."

  "No, it's a success." Lin Fan said: "Since you're coming tomorrow, they can just send a disciple to deliver the message, no need to activate the Emerald Screen."

  "What's next?" asked Sima Yi.

  "Let's not show up for the time being, and come back the day after tomorrow." Lin Fan said: "The Hundred Eyes Demon Sect is busy, it's impossible to stay in the Emerald Valley all the time. Moreover, now that there are rumors of the Tianjiang Gate and the Blood Shadow Sect joining forces, he must be extremely careful. I'm just worried that the Hundred Eyes Demon Lord will burn his own roots."

  "Is it like removing the fire from under the cauldron?"

  "Ah, if he transfers the demon fox to the main altar, we can only stand by and watch. Lin Fan said: "To avoid this situation from happening, you must continue to impersonate the messenger of Tianjiang Gate and send a message to the headquarters of Zitian Gate, saying that Tianjiang Gate invites Baiyan Demon King to meet near the main altar for an important discussion."

  "What if he did go?"

  "It's usually not the case, usually a hall master or a trusted person is sent instead. If Baiyanmo Jun went, it would be 'luring the tiger away from its mountain', and we can take down the demon fox at our leisure." Lin Fan couldn't be certain, but now was the time for Jian Ximen's commander to make his move, after all, others were fighting to the death, while he was just watching the excitement.

  Ximen Commander suddenly said: "You're making Ba Yan Mo Jun torn between two loves, and making me and Ba Yan Mo Jun exhausted from running around."

  "This is the only way to break through the green screen."

  Ximen Shuai thought for a moment, didn't think there was any problem, and set off immediately. The next day at dawn, Baiyan Mojun received the report and rushed to Cuilu Valley, searching the surrounding area thoroughly, but found no trace of Ximen Shuai or Lin Fan. After hiding and waiting for more than half a day, Ximen Shuai still didn't appear.

  In the afternoon, the disciples of the General Altar arrived and informed Baiyanmoku Jun that the leader of the Tianjiangmen had invited him to meet. Baiyanmoku Jun stayed for another night and returned to the General Altar the next day. The next afternoon, the Emerald Screen opened, and Baiyanmoku Jun came to the Emerald Valley again. After arriving, he found out that Ximen Shuai had come before and was even more outrageous this time, repeatedly saying that he wanted to merge with his beloved and practice dual cultivation. What can be tolerated cannot be tolerated, Baiyanmoku Jun suddenly became furious and began searching the mountain again, still without success.

  On the third day, Baiyan Mojun left again in the morning. Lin Fan sighed and thought that if Baiyan Mojun were a bit smarter, he would have taken the demon fox away or arranged for several high-ranking disciples from his sect to be present, which would not have caused so much trouble. Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai were wrong, this time Baiyan Mojun did leave, but secretly arranged four of his disciples to stay nearby.

  Ximen Shuai had just appeared, and before he could even **youhu**, he was surrounded by his disciples. Ximen Shuai looked around at the Ziyanmen disciples and cursed Lin Fan for being unreliable and Baiyanmeng Jun for being despicable. However, after the two sides clashed, Ximen Shuai was still in control, thanks to the Seven Breaking Flags. The power of the Ziyan technique was boundless, but precisely because it was too powerful, all the techniques practiced by the disciples under the Ziyanmen were centered around the Ziyan technique. After Ximen Shuai broke through their illusions with his Seven Breaking Flags, they had no way to counter him, and instead, only the thousand-year-old fox spirit who had cultivated for two hundred years gave Ximen Shuai more trouble.

  Ximen Shuai also fully demonstrated his rogue side, fighting with the demon fox, left hand grasping one, right pinching one, provoking the thousand-year-old demon fox to anger. However, Ximen Shuai was at a loss, and finally, under helpless circumstances, he opened the emerald screen again, waiting for the rescue of the Hundred-Eyed Demon King.

  Ximen Shuai is busy, Lin Fan eats chicken while thinking that he might have made a mistake. The beacons play with the princes, but in the end they don't come because there's distrust between Wang and the princes. Now Ximen Shuai frequently shows up, and **other people's wives**, this Hundred Eyes Demon King won't not come.

  ……

  Ximen Shuai stared at Lin Fan for a while, making Lin Fan feel uneasy. Lin Fan could only say again: "Alright, I'm Zhao Kuang, and I can only talk about it on paper."

  "You're Zhao Kou, I have no opinion, but how could someone as clever as me listen to a Zhao Kou?" Ximen Shuai was speechless. These past few days of running around were all because he thought Lin Fan's analysis was good, and the so-called "beacon fire strategy" had a considerable chance of success. Now looking at it, it was purely nonsense, and apart from provoking the Hundred Eyes Demon King, it seemed to have no other effect.

  Beating won't get in, the plan is stillborn, two people are thinking hard in the back mountain, Lin Fan said: "Or you run a few more laps, we exhaust Baiyan Demon Lord to death."

  "...Ximen's eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he stared at Lin Fan, who could only force a smile."