Hong Sihai deliberated a moment, then saluted with cupped fists. "I must ask the Elder of Eight Cripples and the two Straight-Talking Brothers to lend us their strength!"
The three answered at once: "It is our duty. We await the Alliance Leader's orders!"
At that very moment a violent explosion tore through the women's quarters on the east side of Four Seas Hall. The roar of it shook everything around, and a column of massive thunder-light shot up into the sky. Hong Sihai's face changed. "The Dawn-Crowing Lord!"
The infiltrators who had slipped in earlier, before the hall's experts could give any signal, had already killed a whole crowd of people without a sound — terrifying enough in itself. But set against the uncanny thunder-fire of the Dawn-Crowing Lord's divine weapon, that bit of destruction hardly counted for anything.
From the direction of the blast came a cry like a hawk's — Four Seas Hall disciples relaying word in whistle code. In short order several more explosions sounded, one after another. Hong Sihai stood unmoved as a mountain; apart from dispatching the Elder of Eight Cripples and the Straight-Talking Brothers, he made no other move, and the heroes gathered in the main hall began to stir restlessly.
Liang Dou, called "Breath Swallowing the Crimson Clouds," stepped forward and saluted with cupped fists. "Every one of the Twelve Yuan Chen is a Grandmaster. If we sit back and let them run free, the casualties inside the hall may be heavy — and sitting here gets us nowhere. Better to let us lead your disciples out in scattered patrols. The moment any of us meets a member of the Twelve Yuan Chen, we will close with him, while your disciples contact the other heroes to converge and wipe him out."
Hong Sihai waved a hand. "At a time like this, command goes to Yuhan."
Huang Yuhan bowed his head slightly in salute. "Hero Liang, this is only a probe. With the enemy hidden and us exposed — their strength unknown, even their identities unknown — what we must fear most is a chaotic melee. Four Seas Hall's discipline is strict. No one may move from one defense zone to another, and each zone has its own dedicated action teams for engaging the enemy; no zone needs support from another's defenses. That way, however the enemy shifts about, our lines stay in good order. The strength committed at every quarter-hour and every watch — I hold it all in my mind."
"Once inside Four Seas Hall, the balance between us and them lies plainly visible. Never mind how fierce the Dawn-Crowing Lord acts — every step he takes is before my eyes. Wherever he runs, I know exactly where he is. Give me a little under half a two-hour period, and I can drive him into a dead end. Let him make whatever racket he likes; he will not be able to stir up real trouble."
"You heroes anchor the main hall. The moment you move out, it will be with the momentum of a toppling sky — no confusion whatsoever — crushing the mere Twelve Yuan Chen like a mountain bearing down on a fragile egg. If the enemy cannot be fathomed, then at least keep ourselves clear. Wait for them to walk into our jar; once we have scouted out their strength, knowing them and knowing ourselves, we can seize their main force and break them in a single stroke. If instead this little chaos throws our hands into disarray and wrecks our arrangements — the enemy still unknown while we have already lost our own clarity — then we are beaten before the battle is even fought."
"Four Seas Hall's disciples work together with practiced ease and know one another root and branch; they are hard to impersonate. That is far simpler than hastily sending out a crowd of heroes, letting the enemy turn our mutual strangeness against us and slip through the gaps in our defenses at will."
Hong Sihai burst out laughing. "Do you see? That is my chief steward for you."
"With him here, however crafty the Twelve Yuan Chen may be, they cannot tear open this net of heaven and earth. Stay here at the center with me, everyone. Whatever needs moving, Yuhan will direct. From this moment, watchful eyes blanket every corner of Four Seas Hall, and every move lies in Yuhan's grasp. Once Yuhan confirms where the enemy is — if he does not strike, all well and good; but strike once, and they die!"
Hong Sihai's words landed with the ring of struck metal, and Huang Yuhan's coordination was in truth rigorous and measured, information flowing freely back and forth — until even the Grandmasters who knew nothing of the importance of intelligence began to feel that everything lay in sure hands.
As for the two infiltrators: whichever zone they entered, wherever a clue turned up, they could be pinned down within a quarter of an hour at the most. However fiercely the explosions and thunder-fire raged outside, the Elder of Eight Cripples and the two Straight-Talking Brothers kept herding the intruders along. Gradually the area in which they could move shrank drastically, and soon they would be hemmed in entirely.
Only then did a fleck of golden light streak away beyond the horizon...
A Four Seas Hall disciple came to report: "The intruder was wounded by the two Straight-Talking Brothers. He blew open a courtyard wall where others waited to cover him, and fled on a divine weapon!"
Huang Yuhan said coolly, "It was only a probe — they wanted to map out our defensive system and hunt for a flaw."
"Finding no opening, they pulled back... A pity. Had they lingered a little longer, I could have pressed them into the inner courtyard, and then called on the two great grandmasters to act. Not even with wings could they have escaped."
"They have only withdrawn for the moment. Tonight, something is certain to happen!"
"Change the formation in good order. Verify every single person's identity..."
Watching Huang Yuhan handle it all with such methodical calm, Qian Chen felt his eyes opened wide. Truly, when the Mist-Riding Lord had said Four Seas Hall's guard was airtight, it was no empty boast. So long as Huang Yuhan stood there alone, the Twelve Yuan Chen could never hope to muddy these waters.
Of course, this probe ought, in all likelihood, to have been carried out by the Mist-Riding Lord and the Dawn-Crowing Lord together. The one wielded poison, the other thunder-fire; their killing and destructive power was the most astonishing of all. Had the two of them struck at once, instead of swapping in another, nameless Yuan Chen member, tonight's chaos would likely have been many times worse. Then again, judging by how things had gone, even that would not have broken the defense line Huang Yuhan had laid out.
Qian Chen thought to himself, "I'd wager the Twelve Yuan Chen are still wondering why the Mist-Riding Lord never took the chance to strike."
Hong Sihai said with feeling, "The 'Cut the Grass, Pull Out the Roots' poison the rat plague spread earlier was probably meant for just that moment. If our patrol disciples had gone berserk and killed blindly just now, the chaos might truly have handed the Twelve Yuan Chen their opening. Young Brother Qian, you have rendered us a great service!"
Qian Chen shook his head. "The hall's disciples come and go by fixed rules. Even if one quarter fell into chaos, it would not spread to the others..."
"I mean that you saved Yuhan..." Hong Sihai clapped him on the shoulder. Qian Chen gave a wry smile — at last he knew whom Huang Yuhan had learned that habit from. "If Yuhan had been poisoned, this hall would truly have been thrown into disarray... Yuhan, you are the linchpin of the whole hall now. You must see to your own absolute safety!"
Hong Sihai turned back to Huang Yuhan. "Nothing less than foolproof! You are not to take any risks. Do you hear me?"
To the whole hall, Hong Sihai raised his voice: "The Twelve Yuan Chen failed in their attack and have withdrawn for now, but tonight may yet bring more trouble. So I must ask everyone to remain here in the Five Lakes Hall and not wander about. Should anything come up, you must clear it with our two seniors — Divine Monk Kongming of Shaolin and Daoist Wanshi of Wudang. The Twelve Yuan Chen are sinister and cunning; we cannot guard against them too carefully. My thanks for your trouble, everyone!"
Someone among those seated below laughed. "We who walk the jianghu are well used to weathering the wind and sleeping in the open. With so many good companions around us, and this spacious Five Lakes Hall besides, who could call it hardship?"
The Straight-Talking Brothers chimed in. "That's it exactly! The Twelve Yuan Chen keep their identities so secret — why, one of them might be sitting among us right this—"
"Mmph!"
It was the divine monk Kongming, who had jabbed a finger and knocked the pair's breath crooked. Everyone present felt a touch awkward. Everyone knew that possibility existed — but you cannot simply go saying it out loud!
Chapter 17