Taking advantage of creeping darkness and the silent night, the groundhog managed to inch closer to Zhang Jian's farm.
It had been looking for a way in for many hours but it found that Cerberus didn't move away from the farm for even a minute.
It appeared to it that Cerberus was guarding some precious treasures as evident from the qi oozing out of the farmland.
The groundhog sneaked in and managed to pull out a handful of vegetables before its legs gave out from fear and it retreated back in a hurry.
The groundhog was extremely satisfied with its haul. It considered those vegetables to be divine heavenly treasures and was tempted to go back for more but its survival instinct won out at the end and it returned to report to its superiors in the Shadow Kill Hall.
Ge Kai was informed about the impossible feat achieved by one of its subordinates and he couldn't help but be astonished out of his wits.
At the same time, with this act as the precedent Ge Kai worked up a plan in order to steal the Purple Sapphire from Zhang Jian's hut without alarming him.
The higher ups from the Devil World had already devised an array to break the seal on Yin and had been pressuring him to retrieve the Purple Sapphire. Ge Kai was afraid of the monstrous existences living on Mount Dabie and had never even imagined that he would find the answer to his problem so soon from one of his own subordinates that he had never taken notice of before.
Ge Kai called the groundhog in order to learn for himself the exact details of how the groundhog managed to steal from Zhang Jian.
When Ge Kai discovered the process, he determined that the most important obstacle to his plan was Zhang Jian. Therefore Ge Kai decided to lure him away from the hut before carrying out his plan.
The two man team that Ge Kai decided upon consisted upon himself and the groundhog.
Ever since Ge Kai had told the groundhog his plan and had asked it for assistance, it had been thinking that Ge kai would ask it to be the scapegoat in order to lead Zhang Jian away from the hut while Ge Kai himself would do the easier job of looting the empty hut.
As they reached close to Mount Dabie, Ge Kai revealed that the groundhog was going to loot the hut while Ge Kai would be the one to lure Zhang Jian away since the groundhog couldn't possibly handle him on its own.
The groundhog looked on with teary eyes and a heart full of roiling emotions. It had never thought that Ge Kai would care about it so much as to take on the dangerous job himself. At that moment the groundhog had decided in its heart to live the rest of its life for the good of the Shadow Kill Pavillion and the Pavilion Master Ge Kai.
What it did not know was that Ge Kai was perfectly aware of how dangerous going into the hut could be which was the very reason that Ge Kai had decided to send the groundhog in and chose the easier of the two jobs for himself. If it had known Ge Kai's true thoughts, it would have definitely coughed up enough blood to form a lake.
In order to lure away the murderous yellow dog in Zhang Jian's hut, Ge Kai had already designated some of the disciples from the Shadow Kill Pavillion to lurk around the perimeter of the hut in order to attract its attention.
Both Ge Kai and the groundhog lay in wait until the disciples succeeded in luring away Cerberus before making their move.
As soon as they saw a fleeting figure that looked like it wanted to tear apart everything in its way like a torrential hurricane, they looked towards each other and nodded.
Ge Kai snuck out of their hiding place and approached Zhang Jian and Wang Yan who were working in the fields as per their usual routine.
"Master, why is it that I still can't completely make out the profundities of your cultivation technique. I can't feel the increase in my strength at all. I feel that it's too difficult and profound for me."
Wang Yan complained in a slightly spoiled tone to Zhang Jian. They both had yet to notice the Pavillion Master creeping upon them from behind while eavesdropping on them at the same time.
"It's not that your strength hasn't increased at all but it's that your perception is lacking. You can't seem to understand how great your improvement has been because you view it from a subjective point of view. Only the onlooker has the ability to truly see what the participant cannot. In my opinion, when you came here you were only a helpless little girl while now I can see a strong independent girl in front of me who can survive on her own in any situation."
Zhang Jian had not been telling lies to her. He really had noticed an increase in her stamina and endurance as they continued to do field work.
Wang Yan's heart almost jumped out of her chest from the excitement of being complimented by Zhang Jian. It had to be known that being called strong by someone of Zhang Jian's calibre meant that she could definitely hold her own now against her enemies.
Before she could express her excitement, an old man in shabby clothes interrupted their daily cultivation session.
"Is the girl your disciple?"
"Yes, I suppose she could be considered to be one since she calls me Master."
"You are very lucky to have her as your apprentice. It is almost impossible to find someone who is barely any good these days."
Although Zhang Jian thought that the old man was speaking nonsense, he still didn't call the old man on his bullshit. In Zhang Jian's mind, Wang Yan could be called anything but good, she had next to no knowledge, had rigid and awkward movements, was hard to teach, and the worst of all she had no endurance at all. She was someone who would start sweating from just walking alone.
Zhang Jian had previously said that her strength had increased but it was only compared to before when she would get tired after barely doing anything.
"Old fellow, why do you say that. I am sure that you can find someone just as capable if you look hard enough."
Zhang Jian decided to indulge the old man a little. It wouldn't have been good to say hurtful words to him over nothing.
"It's not as easy as it seems to you. You really should be thankful since you have it so easy. I don't have anyone to teach and impart my knowledge to. I have cultivated for a lifetime and want to pass on my knowledge. I saw that this girl was very suitable but since she already has such a capable master, it would be wrong of me to poach her right from under your nose."
"Oh, so you are also a fellow cultivator. "
Zhang Jian seemed surprised on the surface but sneered inside since he knew that their primitive methods could never compete with his agricultural knowledge at all.
"I couldn't help but wonder what you were teaching your disciple when I looked on from afar. Now that I have seen this field for myself, I can tell that this can only be the handiwork of a peerless master. To be honest I was thinking of poaching this little girl but now that I have seen your field I know that we are worlds apart in terms of strength and cultivation technique."
Ge Kai had thought that by complimenting both Zhang Jian's work and his apprentice, he could distract both Zhang Jian and Wang Yan for long enough so as to give the groundhog a chance to infiltrate the hut without alerting anyone. All of this had been pre-planned and the plan had been carried out almost flawlessly.