Clang, clang, clang…
A bell rang in the mountains, a long, ringing alarm spreading far into the silent night.
Yu Qing and Mu Aotie, disguised as masked bandits, scrambled ashore almost rolling and crawling. Once on the bank, they rolled a few times and lay flat in a patch of woods, holding their breath, concealing their aura, and staring intently in the direction of the river.
Soon, the source of the abnormal rumbling they had sensed in the water appeared.
Waves churned up from upstream, surging all the way down. The turbulent water washed against both banks, and occasionally a massive snake-like body churned and sank beneath the surface. Palm-sized scales, white as jade, shimmered with a silver glow in the moonlight.
The two martial brothers, hiding behind a tree and peering out, felt their hearts pound with hidden fear. They did not know what the creature was, but they could imagine it was definitely something driven by Kunling Mountain. For a monster of such size to establish itself on Kunling Mountain, it could not be an unnamed wild beast. It must be a spiritual creature reared by Kunling Mountain.
The waves were turbulent, the great surges rushing away, and the splashing sound invading both banks took a long time to subside.
Unable to figure out the situation, and judging by what had just happened, they dared not take the water route again and could only burrow into the mountains. Using the Viewing Art to examine his surroundings, Yu Qing suddenly tugged Mu Aotie’s arm, leading him to quickly dart further away to hide.
Not long after they lay still, they vaguely saw several figures flash past their previous hiding spot, clearly conducting a search. Mu Aotie was secretly alarmed. If they had escaped a moment later, they would likely have been discovered by the searchers.
Yu Qing, however, was not worried about this. He noticed that there seemed to be quite a few people already conducting a sweeping search in the surrounding area, and the number of people gathering here appeared to be increasing.
This formation gave him a headache. Although he had seen larger formations and had once been trapped and surrounded in the mountains by an army of thousands, he could not help but mutter to himself, asking if this was really directed at them. The problem was that he had no idea how they had been discovered.
Waiting until several searchers in front of them had wandered past, Yu Qing whispered, “We must find a way to confirm if they are coming for us.”
Mu Aotie retorted, “Is there anyone else trespassing here right now?”
Yu Qing replied, “What I mean is, we do not know how we were exposed. I want to confirm if they know it is the two of us. If the other party already knows it is us, then they are coming for us. Even if we run back to our lodging, we will be caught. Perhaps someone is already waiting there in ambush. Old Seven has definitely fallen into their hands as well. What is the point of us hiding and dodging like this?”
Mu Aotie nodded. “How do we confirm?”
“We can only try to capture a prisoner for interrogation.”
Yu Qing dropped these words and immediately waved his hand as a signal. Spotting another opportunity to slip through the cracks, he urgently led Mu Aotie to seize the chance and bypass the circling, sweeping search directed at them.
After dodging around for a while, based on their continuous evasion, a deeply alarmed Mu Aotie gradually became certain. This fellow, Old Fifteen, was actually leading him to weave back and forth repeatedly through the encirclement, and could always predict the movements of so many coming and going searchers in advance, managing to avoid them by a narrow margin just one step ahead.
One must know that so many searchers were cultivators. Their perception and hearing were extraordinary. Stopping their movements a step early, holding their breath, and hiding in a suitable position was extremely important. The slightest mistake would lead to exposure.
Normally, with so many people sweeping back and forth, running around under the noses of so many cultivators, it was impossible not to be discovered.
Yet, when Old Fifteen led the way, his winding paths and intermittent stops were always so perfectly timed that they became the fish that slipped through the net of the search, remaining consistently undetected.
This almost magical ability truly astonished Mu Aotie, providing a more tangible sensory impact than when he had guided them on the Nether Sea.
He now truly understood why Old Fifteen dared to challenge the foundation of this thousand-year-old great sect. Old Fifteen indeed had some confidence, or rather, the capability in this regard.
He himself did not need to do anything else, just follow Yu Qing’s commands to walk and stop.
Suddenly, Yu Qing raised his hand to signal, halting his movements, and the two of them froze in place.
Yu Qing first reached out and drew Mu Aotie’s personal sword, then pointed to the large tree ahead and whispered, “Old Nine, go up the tree and hide on the side facing away from the moonlight. After you see my signal, regardless of any noise or whether you will be discovered, immediately jump to the tree on the opposite side.”
Mu Aotie nodded and grunted in agreement. He was not Fatty Nan, so he did not have much nonsense to say, nor did he ask for reasons. He simply complied, swiftly darting up the large tree ahead and hiding in the direction Yu Qing had specified.
Meanwhile, Yu Qing himself quickly crouched like a cat to hide under the ridge ahead, quietly drawing his own sword as well, holding a sword in each hand and lying in ambush.
The two martial brothers looked at each other’s hiding spots in the darkness, both holding their breath and remaining perfectly still.
Not long after, two Kunling Mountain disciples appeared, walking while vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
Just as the two reached the front of the ridge, Mu Aotie noticed the swing of the sword in Yu Qing’s hand and swiftly darted from his hiding spot to the tree on the opposite side.
The two Kunling Mountain disciples quickly looked up in alert. Their attention had just been drawn upwards, seeing only a human figure. Before they could make out the details, they were suddenly startled, realising a change was right in front of them. Hindsight, combined with the close distance and their lack of defence in front, meant it was already too late to react.
Both attempted to draw their swords, but before they could pull them out even halfway, their retreating figures stiffened. Their necks were already cold.
The swords in Yu Qing’s left and right hands were placed against both their necks almost simultaneously.
“You cannot escape, we…”
As soon as one of them spoke, Yu Qing immediately hissed a reprimand, “Shut up!”
The blade had already drawn a bloody cut on the person’s neck to prevent them from making a sound and luring their companions.
Mu Aotie naturally understood Yu Qing’s intention at this moment. He swiftly darted down, seized the opportunity to act, and quickly placed a restriction seal on both of them, rendering them unable to move.
At this point, Yu Qing breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He had originally wanted to find a lone target to act upon, but he had not found any. All those searching back and forth were in pairs, or at least in groups of two or more, which was likely a precautionary arrangement to prevent accidents.
Just now, he had truly feared that the distance between the two would be too wide, making it impossible to hold them both hostage simultaneously in an instant. If a fight broke out and caused a commotion, the consequences were imaginable, and capturing these two would have lost all meaning.
Fortunately, the two had been quite cautious during their search and dared not stray too far apart, allowing him to succeed in one swift move.
He sheathed his own sword, then casually slid the other sword back into the scabbard at Mu Aotie’s waist, tilting his head to signal, “This is not the place to talk. Take the people and let us change locations.”
He turned around to clear the path and lead the way in front.
Mu Aotie, as always, bore the burden without complaint. The physical labour was his. He tucked one person under each arm and followed behind Yu Qing.
After finding a place that felt like it could buy them a bit more time, he put the hostages down. Yu Qing woke one of them up and threatened him directly, “If you do not want to die, do not make a loud noise. I have no feud with your sect, nor do I wish to harm you. I certainly do not want to pry into your sect’s secrets. I only wish to ask you a few simple questions, so you can rest assured.”
Raising his hand, he pointed at the other unconscious one. “Do not think about playing any tricks. If what you say does not match what he says, you will have only yourself to blame.”
The awakened one stared at the two masked figures before him and gritted his teeth, saying, “Who exactly are you?”
Upon hearing this, Yu Qing paused. Whether the other party knew their identities was exactly what he wanted to find out, so he retorted, “Who are you pursuing?”
This time, it was the awakened one’s turn to pause. “Naturally, we are pursuing you.”
Yu Qing was puzzled. “How did you discover us?”
“You trespassed right to the foot of Meteor Hall. How could you not be discovered?” The awakened one looked quite surprised, then could not help but ask with some bewilderment, “You do not actually not know what Meteor Hall is, do you?”
The implication was clear. How could they dare to barge in there without knowing anything about the situation?
Yu Qing’s expression beneath the mask was somewhat awkward. Although he had seen the marker for Meteor Hall on the map, he had indeed barged in without understanding the situation, relying solely on the Viewing Art he had cultivated. Now it seemed that the place called Meteor Hall might have some special significance.
Furthermore, why did it feel like this interrogation had changed its flavour? Was he questioning them, or were they questioning him?
He immediately asked, “I only want to know how you discovered us.”
The awakened one now truly believed it a little. This person might really have no feud with Kunling Mountain and probably did not come here to commit crimes, otherwise he would not be so ignorant.
Besides, the other party’s question was indeed not much of a secret, so he replied, “Meteor Hall is guarded by the spiritual beast Fudi. You cannot possibly have never heard of Fudi, can you?”
Hearing this, the corners of Yu Qing and Mu Aotie’s mouths twitched simultaneously beneath their masks. Although they had never seen the spiritual beast Fudi, they had heard of it. They knew of its ability to lie prone on the ground and listen, hence the name Fudi. In short, it possessed an extraordinary talent for hearing.
The two martial brothers estimated that the other party was not lying. The question they could not figure out before had finally found its answer.
However, Yu Qing could not help but curse inwardly. Previously, he had seen Kunling Mountain use the rare spiritual beast Qianshu to pull carriages and entertain guests. Now, an extremely rare spiritual beast, Fudi, had appeared. Who knew what monster was churning in that river ahead? How could Kunling Mountain have so many bizarre spiritual beasts?
Cursing in his heart, looking around with his eyes, he asked aloud, “How many Fudi spiritual beasts does Kunling Mountain have?”
The awakened one wanted to intimidate him, but glancing at his still unconscious companion and realising the other party would verify his words with him, he ultimately considered his own life. “It is good enough to have even one of such rare spiritual beasts, and this one was passed down from the previous generation. Take my advice. Kunling Mountain has stood for a thousand years and is not a mere decoration. It is not something anyone can trespass into at will. Surrender and admit your mistake as soon as possible. If it is a misunderstanding, once it is clearly explained, our sect will not be unreasonable.”
Yu Qing did not respond. Instead, he suddenly struck out with a finger, directly knocking the man unconscious. Surveying his surroundings, he gave Mu Aotie a sentence, “Someone is coming this way. Change locations.”
Mu Aotie immediately clamped the two men under his large arms and followed behind him, continuing to weave and flee.
Under the moonlight, a large black shadow suddenly appeared in the sky over the distant mountain forest. It was a flock of night owls capable of seeing in the dark, flapping their wings in the cover of night. There were fully a thousand of them, descending like a dark cloud. Such a scene could be described as extremely rare.
“Hush…”
From within the mountain forest, whether from a flute or a whistle, a loud, clear sound rang out.
The thousands of night owls suddenly changed their flight formation. Some scattered across the night sky, looking down at the mountain forest below. Others dispersed into the forest, weaving and soaring among the trees. Pairs of night eyes searched everywhere, scaring mountain rats and the like into a frantic flight for their lives.