"Therefore, we must go out. We need to prepare an escape route - we need a path that doesn't have the arrays and can safely take us out of the city."
"How will we go ahead with it?" Xiao Ming asked, "Should we go alone, or should we split into groups?"
Jun Xie shook his head, "We can't go alone - that's a risky move."
Then after thinking a bit, he continued, "In fact, even the groups are useless. How will you identify the location of the array without me? And I can't be in all groups at once."
Hearing this, everyone became quiet. Yuan Shuchun thought for a moment and said, "We still have a day or two before the people from the Wu Kingdom arrive in the city. Until then - let's prepare ourselves."
"Brother Jun and Brother Kai will roam the city to prepare an escape route. While Brother Ming and I will arrange the assassination."
"Alright," Jun Xie nodded his head and glanced at Kai Yang, who too nodded, indicating he had no problem with the plan.
Yuan Shuchun pursed her lips and added, "One last thing - don't make it obvious that you're looking for an escape route. Just roam around the city as if you're a tourist."
Jun Xie nodded, "Yeah, that's what I had in my mind."
Yuan Shuchun replied, "Alright then, you guys should first move after sunset and roam the city. I will arrange a map of the city with the help of Zheng Clan's head."
"Sure, let's do this." Jun Xie took a deep breath while staring at the picturesque view of the city.
….
Next morning.
After a whole night of searching through the city, the duo of Jun Xie and Kai Yang returned to the tavern.
*flap*
"Guys, here." Jun Xie said as he put an opened map on the table.
"This…" Everyone was surprised to see the marks on the map.
"Are these really the arrays!?" Yuan Shuchun couldn't help but call out in shock.
Jun Xie nodded his head with a serious expression, "Indeed. And this is just the southern part of the city. I haven't even gone to the northern part yet. The situation here is more serious than we had anticipated."
"Aren't these too many? Are you sure this was done by a single party?" Xiao Ming couldn't help but remark while staring at the map in amazement.
Jun Xie pursed his lips, "I will get to that point. First, take a look at this."
He pointed his index finger at the middle of the clustered dots on the map and said, "Here. This place seems to be the heart of the array system."
"Oh?" Yuan Shuchun frowned, "Doesn't the heart of the array system, when destroyed, make the whole system useless?"
"It does," Jun Xie nodded his head, "And this is also the reason why the heart of the array is usually well guarded and very hard to find."
"But I just took one glance on the map and roamed half of the city to figure out the hearts' location."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Fu Kai asked.
Jun Xie pursed his lips, "How should I put this… well… a heart is impossible to find, especially when it comes to arrays from the Wu Royal Clan - they are famous for their arrays, and alchemy prowess."
"But if such a silly mistake is to be done, that too for the protection of the Third Princess Wu, I am sure that there's something more to this array system than what it shows."
"With this suspicion, I began to reevaluate everything and even tried to assess the array types and origins."
"Well, guys, we have a big problem."
"What is it?" Everyone stared at Jun Xie for an answer.
Jun Xie let out a long breath and glanced at Xiao Ming as he said, "Just now you asked if a single party did this… Well, the answer is no. I found traces of not one, but three different types of array structures."
"Three!?" Everyone in the room couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Three different array structures - that meant there were three parties other than them.
If they excluded the Wu Kingdom, that meant there were still two of them who were hidden in plain sight, waiting for the opportune moment to strike and reap all the benefits.
"Who are they?" Yuan Shuchun asked.
Jun Xie replied, "I will get to that - but first see this -" Pointing his finger again at the same spot, he continued, "Can you spot from here which array belongs to whom?"
"Hm.. no." Yuan Shuchun shook her head, so did the others.
It was hard to distinguish just based on the location.
"Me neither. But didn't I say this is the heart of the array structure?" Jun Xie said, "That means all these arrays are of the same system!"
"What?" Everyone looked at each other, and after a moment of silence, Qing Shen said with a pale expression, "Doesn't that mean all three of them are working together!?"
Jun Xie nodded, "Either that or there's one party that's making use of the rest."
"Is that even possible?" Xiao Ming asked, "All sects have their own arrays system unless the arrays are of the common category."
"There is one sect that can do this," Jun Xie said, "The Heaven Oracle Sect."
"This sect has a system, which self-creates arrays based on the surrounding array system, and then uses them to attack it."
"Heaven Oracle Sect!?" This shocked others even more.
What was such a prestigious sect doing here in the city!?
Jun Xie slightly nodded his head, "We don't know why they are here, but this mission is not going to be easy. We still have half of the city remaining. Tonight I will be able to trace out all the arrays, and the first thing we will need to do is find an escape route."
"Indeed." Yuan Shuchun nodded at him, and after a moment of thought, she added, "Also, I have found out why the people of Wu Clan will be stopping here."
"Oh? Why is that?"
....
A/n(6-aug): Only two chapters for today because I need to go out so i couldn't write more.. Will resume 4ch/d from tomorrow. Please vote ps!