Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 396 206: Jiangcheng Prison! Fang Changle and Yin Hu

Under the cover of night, a Weixiaoli sped along National Highway 213.

"Fifteen more kilometers, and we'll reach Jiangcheng Prison."

Zhan Xinyue was driving, Sui Chunsheng sat in the passenger seat, and turned to look at Zhang Fan in the back.

Jiangcheng Prison is a special facility in Yujing City, directly managed by the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance, where they hold major Daoist Sect offenders, as well as the demon members of the Wuwei Sect.

"Fang Changle… wasn't he a disciple of Maoshan? How did he end up behind bars?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

Earlier in the day, he'd just heard about this person from Lin Jianyue.

Fang Changle wasn't just any Maoshan disciple—he was a Maoshan Inheritor, standing on par with Xia Weisheng at Zhenwu Mountain.

You have to know, if Zhang Fan hadn't shown up out of nowhere that day, the Zhenwu Jade Scroll, symbolizing Zhenwu Mountain's incense and candle inheritance, would have gone straight into Xia Weisheng's hands—this shows just how important, how special Fang Changle was for Maoshan.

"Five years ago, on behalf of Maoshan, he took on a mission from the Daoist Alliance," Sui Chunsheng said in a low voice.

"What kind of mission?" Zhang Fan asked.

"Infiltrate the Wuwei Sect."

"Undercover?!" Zhang Fan's brow furrowed, a strange look on his face.

"He's a Maoshan Inheritor, and he actually took on such a dangerous task?" Zhang Fan couldn't help himself.

Being an undercover agent means walking between light and darkness—no identity, no past, and maybe not even a future.

The dangers of that kind of life are obvious.

In recent years, infiltration between the Daoist Sect and the Wuwei Sect has become especially intense, with spies everywhere. Most of them either keep their heads down, or vanish forever—the death rate is sky-high.

For someone with Fang Changle's status to take on a job that risky—

"The Daoist Alliance was originally headed by the White Crane Temple, established by the Ten Great Taoist Sects' sacred mountains…" Sui Chunsheng said quietly, his voice tense.

"And as a standing director of the Daoist Alliance, Maoshan is duty-bound in the matter of the Wuwei Sect."

Zhang Fan fell silent at those words.

Nearly every Daoist Sect in existence has some record within the Alliance. Most mainstream sects are considered its members.

Among them, the White Crane Temple and Ten Great Taoist Sects hold the highest status as standing directors, wielding great influence.

That's why Zhao Jie Xuan put forward the so-called 'home invasion' plan, dragging the heirs of all ten great sects into the mix.

If the Daoist Alliance was under the Zhang family's control, whether it was White Crane Temple or Wuwei Sect, if they wanted to make a move, they'd have to think twice.

"Fang Changle is extremely talented, and also thinks very highly of himself. There are very few people he truly respects. Maybe it's precisely because of that confidence and arrogance that he took this task," Sui Chunsheng said in a deep voice.

"People like him—the more dangerous it gets, the more it excites them."

"So, did he defect?" Zhang Fan pressed.

The reason the Wuwei Sect had managed to last this long wasn't just because of their power—when temptation comes, betrayal isn't uncommon.

"Fang Changle really was remarkably capable. Within just two years of infiltrating Wuwei Sect, he earned the trust of [Yin Hu]."

"The Thirteen Zodiacs?!"

The Thirteen Zodiacs. Yin Hu.

The name made Zhang Fan instantly focus, instinctively alert.

He'd tangled with those Thirteen Zodiacs people many times—and knew exactly how tricky they could be.

"Three years ago, Fang Changle sent back a critical piece of intelligence—Yin Hu would appear in Yujing City…" Sui Chunsheng continued in a grave voice.

"You know, the true identities of the Wuwei Sect's demon members are extremely well hidden; they have their own ways of staying safe. Especially the Thirteen Zodiacs—sometimes even they don't know each other's real-world identities."

Zhang Fan nodded—this was one of the main reasons the Wuwei Sect was so impossible to wipe out. They hid too damn well.

Just like Wuma Wuqilu back then—he had many identities. As the businessman Qiu Zhengdao, he'd been working with the Shen Family for years without ever slipping up.

If Yin Hu's true body appeared in Yujing City and they caught him alive—it would be a massive win, maybe even enough to deal a heavy blow to the Wuwei Sect.

"Because of this, the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance took it very seriously, organizing a tight net and even bringing in masters from other provinces…"

"The result…" Sui Chunsheng's face darkened.

"What happened?"

"Wiped out. Every last one," Sui Chunsheng bit out.

"Was it a trap?" Zhang Fan's brows shot up, as if he'd guessed something.

"Those bastards were prepared long before—just waiting for us to walk into the ambush. Not a single person who went came out alive."

"Fang Changle's intel was wrong?" Zhang Fan mused.

If the information he got had been false from the start, then it was just an honest mistake. But if he'd sent fake intel on purpose, then…

"After that, Fang Changle vanished. His handler died at the same time."

"Huh?!"

"Fang Changle's handler was also a Maoshan disciple. He was in his fifties, worked as a plainclothes Daoist, ran a teahouse in Gusu City—nobody knew who he really was…"

"On the night of that incident, he died. The teahouse was burned to the ground, and from then on, Fang Changle disappeared."

"Half a year later, he showed up in North of the River Province, was captured by Zhenwu Mountain's experts, and sent back to Jiangnan Province."

"So…" Zhang Fan couldn't help asking, "Did he defect?"

"Based on the evidence, he definitely has problems—first, the intel was wrong. On top of that, after it all went down, he vanished, and his handler ended up dead…"

Sui Chunsheng looked out at the night, his voice cold: "If you were in charge, what would you think?"

"What does he say about it?" Zhang Fan pressed.

"He claims his identity was blown, that Yin Hu imprisoned him for half a year, and then let him go."

"Let him go?" Zhang Fan was stunned, suspicion flickering on his face.

"Are they trying to frame him?"