Baili Xin understood that they wanted to whisper, so she immediately quickened her pace and put some distance between herself and the two of them.
Yu Qing gave Mu Aotie another look. Understanding the cue, Mu Aotie immediately walked forward, falling in behind the group. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully, trying to catch the conversation between Old Seven and Old Fifteen, ready to cough immediately to warn them if he heard anything.
Yu Qing glanced around before leaning in to whisper to Nan Zhu. “In that slovenly old man’s room, there are a few paintings hanging on the wall. On the right wall, there is a complete map of the Kunling Mountain territory. I need to borrow it. Watch my cues later and cover for me, you and Old Nine.”
Saying “borrow” was just a euphemism for stealing.
Nan Zhu’s eyes widened in shock. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, “I know what you are up to the moment you stick your arse in the air. Seeing you talking nonsense at that door earlier, I knew you were up to no good. Are you sick? We have already entered the Spirit Valley, so why are you stealing their map now?”
Yu Qing said, “Now is not the time to explain. Just cooperate for now, and I will explain it all later.”
Nan Zhu quickly glanced around. “It is not that I will not cooperate, it is that there is no way to do it. They are watching with wide eyes. Stealing right in front of them, what were you thinking? Are you afraid they will not see it or something? The moment we enter their sect’s forbidden grounds, we start stealing their things. Do you think the number one spiritual plant sect in the world is made of clay?”
Yu Qing said, “We are currently, at the very least, disciples of the Longguang Sect. Even though we have been expelled, with our status as Grand Archers, it is still very easy to join the military. The mountains may not turn, but the waters will. Who knows whose trouble we will be in the future. If they catch me, you three just go and plead for me. It is just a map. If we get caught, we will just have our own explanation. We will just say we took it to have a look. What can they do?”
If he were not afraid that causing a scene would arouse suspicion, or that they might draw the wrong conclusions, he would have just asked to borrow the map directly.
Hearing this, Nan Zhu thought about it. It made sense. As long as one was shameless enough, it really was not a big deal. Still, he gritted his teeth and said, “Can you not understand human speech? They are right in front of us, watching. How are we supposed to steal it?”
Yu Qing nudged his lips towards the figure of Yan Yao on the mountain. “Did you not see it when we came over earlier? It is very quiet over there. No one pays it any mind.”
Nan Zhu asked, “What if there are people there now?”
Yu Qing replied, “I am not stupid. If there are people, I will naturally call it off.”
Nan Zhu was still worried. “They have paintings hanging on the wall. If one goes missing, will they not notice?”
Yu Qing said, “Why would they say we took it? Enough. There is nothing more important than life and death. Do not worry about this. Go keep your beauty company, and send Old Nine over.”
“Sigh.” Nan Zhu sighed, but obediently went over, swapping places with Mu Aotie.
Mu Aotie did not have so much nonsense to say. As soon as he heard he needed to cooperate and act according to the situation, he nodded in agreement, only asking what he needed to do.
After secretly finalising the arrangements and just as they were about to make their move, Yu Qing suddenly noticed something was wrong. He found a flaw in the plan. He realised that Baili Xin had taken some sort of weird pill, and she was indeed sticking to his side like a shadow. Getting her to step away for a few whispered words was fine, but if he left alone, this woman would probably follow him again.
The key issue was that the three martial brothers could not control her, and they also had to guard against her. At this moment, it was not even easy to explain their actions to her, and it was not worth arousing unnecessary suspicion.
Having no other choice, as Yu Qing walked close to Nan Zhu, he tugged at Nan Zhu’s sleeve, signalling to him that Baili Xin following them was a huge hassle. Then he poked him with his finger, pointed towards the exit, and muttered two words softly, “You go.”
Nan Zhu understood. He glanced at Baili Xin following behind and also felt a bit of a headache, but he still nodded.
Yu Qing immediately gave a very deliberate dry cough to attract everyone’s attention. He pointed towards a few trees in the distance laden with red fruits and asked, “Mr Lu, what kind of trees are those? Can we go over and take a look?”
He needed to stall for time. Unlike when they came, everyone was returning at a faster pace. If this continued, they were afraid there would not be enough time for the theft.
No one knew what Lu Youming was thinking, but he still smiled and nodded, raising his hand to gesture to everyone. “Please follow me.”
Just as everyone reached a small hill, Mu Aotie suddenly quickened his pace, catching up to Zhan Yunqi, who had been accompanying the guests the whole way. He said to the accompanying disciple, “I do not want to tour anymore. Take me out first, and we will wait for them outside.”
Everyone immediately stared at this unconventional fellow. It was not entirely strange, though. Mu Aotie looked like the aloof type on the surface, and saying something like this perfectly matched his image.
The disciple then looked at Zhan Yunqi, as he was not in a position to make the decision himself.
Zhan Yunqi did not want to force a guest either, so he nodded slightly. “Go accompany him.”
The disciple obeyed and immediately led Mu Aotie away. The two of them left first.
Nan Zhu then cupped his hands and bowed to the crowd to apologise on the spot. “My junior martial brother has ruined everyone’s pleasant mood. Please forgive him!”
Everyone realised that this fat fellow was actually quite polite.
Xiao Chang said, “Brother Zhu is too serious. It is of no consequence.”
Nan Zhu apologised repeatedly, gaining the unanimous understanding of the group. Out of the corner of his eye, he also caught sight of Mu Aotie and the other person’s figures rounding the small hill. He immediately cupped his hands to Zhan Yunqi again and said, “I do not know what has gotten into my junior martial brother today. I am going to go check on him. I will go over with them first. Please take your time looking around, and do not let us affect your mood.”
No one present tried to stop him. Nan Zhu immediately withdrew, turned around, and quickly ran over to catch up with the two of them. His figure soon disappeared behind the small hill.
Lu Youming and Zhan Yunqi watched them go for a moment, but did not think much of it. After all, there was a disciple accompanying them. They turned around and continued to accompany the guests on the tour.
Little did they know, the moment Nan Zhu’s figure rounded the small hill, he stopped immediately. After waiting for Mu Aotie and the disciple to walk far away, he started walking again, stopping and starting as if he were just strolling, following behind the two of them. He walked slowly with his hands behind his back. Occasionally, busy Kunling Mountain disciples in the valley would see him, but none of them treated him as a bad guy.
But Nan Zhu himself was secretly holding his breath, not daring to relax. He appeared relaxed on the outside but tense on the inside, walking on eggshells. He also had to use the cover of various spiritual plants as much as possible, trying his best to avoid being specifically noticed by Yan Yao on the mountain.
Yu Qing, who was in charge of stalling for time, continued to tour with the main group, acting as if nothing was wrong.
The others did not think much of it. Only Baili Xin, who was carrying a bow in her hand, occasionally stole glances at Yu Qing, her eyes full of suspicion.
The martial brothers had deliberately kept their secret exchanges away from her, so she knew it was not just idle chatter. Coupled with the three of them acting abnormally now, it was hard for her not to mutter in her heart, but she could not figure out what was going on.
Among the three martial brothers, Mu Aotie’s task at this moment was the easiest and simplest, which was just to walk away.
After the accompanying Kunling Mountain disciple climbed the steps of the exit corridor, he turned around, facing the beautiful scenery inside the Spirit Valley, and said, “Let us just wait here.”
Mu Aotie immediately refused. “It is better to wait outside at the gate.”
There was absolutely no room for negotiation. He spoke as he walked outwards.
The Kunling Mountain disciple was speechless and had no choice but to turn around and follow him.
The two of them went all the way through the corridor. Under the watchful eyes of the two guards outside the main gate, they walked down the first layer of steps. After walking across a flat area, Mu Aotie stopped walking. Acting as if he was tired from walking, he sat down on the steps under the stone memorial archway.
One of the guards asked the accompanying Kunling Mountain disciple what was going on. The latter, feeling helpless, explained the general situation.
Thus, the guards at the gate did not interfere any further and let them wait there.
Meanwhile, Nan Zhu also popped his head up from the steps inside the Spirit Valley. He took a peek into the corridor and saw no one. Knowing that Old Nine had successfully lured the person away, he immediately hurried up, walking quickly through the corridor until he suddenly stopped at the door of the room where they had registered earlier.
He stopped to listen quietly for a while, turned his head to look around everywhere, and then stepped up onto the steps at the door. He called out at the door, “Is anyone there? I have a favour to ask.”
He called out a few times and waited for a while. There was still no response from inside the room, no one in the corridor, and no reaction from the other rooms. He immediately poked his head inside the door to peek into the room. After confirming there was no one, he quickly slipped inside.
Once inside, he quickly surveyed the few calligraphy and painting scrolls hanging on the wall. In a single glance, he locked onto the map Old Fifteen had mentioned. He dashed over, confirmed it was the complete map of the Kunling Mountain territory, and without any hesitation, took it straight down.
With the item in hand, he was just about to roll up the map and stuff it into his trouser leg to leave, when his gaze fell on a few scrolls of calligraphy and paintings in a porcelain vat in the corner of the room. His movement paused. He looked back at the empty space on the wall, feeling it was indeed too conspicuous. He immediately walked quickly to the porcelain vat, rummaged through the few scrolls, found a landscape painting of a similar size, and hung it in the spot where the map used to be to fill the gap.
He took a few steps back to look. It did not seem so eyesore now. Only then did he shake out the map in his hands. With a couple of swishes, he actually tore the map directly off the scroll. He folded the map smaller and stuffed it inside his clothes. Doing this was indeed much easier to carry and not easily discovered.
As for the remaining two scroll rods, he threw them directly into the porcelain vat holding the calligraphy and paintings. He then cast a spell and channelled his energy to grind them into fine powder, turning them into sediment at the bottom of the vat.
He turned around and walked quickly to the door. He poked his head out to look carefully, confirming there was no one in the corridor, and quickly slipped out. He had just taken a few steps towards the main gate exit when he thought of something. He actually quickly retreated back to the steps leading up from the Spirit Valley side. Only after doing this did he suddenly shout loudly, “Junior martial brother, junior martial brother, where did you go?”
Soon, the figures of the guards watching appeared outside the door at the exit of the corridor. Shortly after, Mu Aotie’s figure also appeared on the steps outside the door, responding from afar, “Senior martial brother, I am here.”
Only then did Nan Zhu walk over in large, fast strides, quickly exiting the main gate under the watchful eyes of the guards.
The Kunling Mountain disciple who had previously accompanied the guests out also walked back to the steps at the main gate. He looked at the empty corridor inside, then looked at him, and asked in confusion, “What are you doing? Where are they?”
Nan Zhu let out a sigh. “They are still touring inside.” He raised his hand and pointed at Mu Aotie. “I was worried about him, so they asked me to come out and find you first.” He then pulled Mu Aotie down the steps and reprimanded him harshly, “What is wrong with you? Everyone was still in the mood for touring, and you shouted that you did not want to tour anymore. Do you know what it means to ruin the mood? Do you have any manners at all?”
Letting him scold, Mu Aotie remained silent and took it.
The guards outside the main gate walked down the steps to return to their posts. The accompanying disciple also silently walked down. It was not appropriate for him to interfere in a reprimand between fellow martial brothers, so he just let it be and waited quietly beside the two guards.
They were quiet, but Nan Zhu was not. His mouth kept scolding nonstop, scolding Mu Aotie with such flair. He scolded for a long time, scolding so much that the three Kunling Mountain disciples at the gate looked at him with new respect, realising this guy could really talk.
After quite a while, Nan Zhu’s mouth finally calmed down. The two martial brothers waited together under the stone memorial archway.
Taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, Mu Aotie shot an inquiring look at Nan Zhu.
Acting as if nothing was wrong, Nan Zhu raised his right hand to touch his chest and ribs under his left armpit. It looked like he was scratching an itch, but in reality, he was telling the other person that he had succeeded and the item was here.