Patting Yu Qing on the shoulder, as soon as he stood up, she happened to be straddling his waist, her hands resting on his shoulders.
Yu Qing wrapped his arms around her legs and set off.
Nan Zhu stood by with a face full of envy. He actually wanted to be the beast of burden, but after glancing at Baili Xin, he quickly reined in his thoughts.
Along the way, Xiang Lanxuan could not help but reach out and tug at Yu Qing’s ponytail. Fortunately, the “Big Head” was not hidden in his ponytail, otherwise it would have been pulled right out. Curious, she asked, “Why do you always keep a ponytail?”
Yu Qing shook his head uncomfortably and freed himself from her tugging. “It is comfortable and requires no grooming.”
Seeing his reluctant expression, Xiang Lanxuan could not help but giggle, feeling that teasing this young lad was quite amusing.
She then asked another question. “Where are we going?”
Yu Qing did not tell the truth. “I do not know. Did you not say someone was hunting you? Let us get away from this area first.”
Was that really the case? Xiang Lanxuan was doubtful but did not ask further. She looked back at the mountain range, compared it with their direction, and silently memorised it.
The group of five travelled under the cover of night. Baili Xin had good eyesight and was responsible for leading the way at the front, while Mu Aotie was in charge of guarding the rear.
Xiang Lanxuan, however, remained playful. She occasionally leaned over Yu Qing’s shoulder to tease and joke, asking questions like whether she was pretty and if he had any improper thoughts while carrying her.
This made Yu Qing extremely annoyed with her. It was the specific annoyance of knowing he had to kill her but having to endure and continue placating her. Yet, before openly falling out, he did not dare to offend her too much.
Xiang Lanxuan seemed to have read him perfectly and carefully controlled the extent of her teasing.
They did not travel for too long before the silhouette of the “Divine Tree”, still striking under the starry sky, appeared in their field of vision ahead.
That coordinate was exactly their destination, which surprised Xiang Lanxuan somewhat and made her wonder even more what these fellows were trying to do.
It seemed close, but the actual distance was still very far.
The group hurried along for quite a while longer. When they were still a few miles away from the area covered by the “Divine Tree”, Yu Qing suddenly spoke up. “That is far enough. Let us stop right here.”
He pushed and gently lowered Xiang Lanxuan to the ground, feeling relieved, and took several deep breaths.
Carrying a living person and running for seventy or eighty miles was a bit tiring even for his level of cultivation.
Seeing his disgusted demeanour towards her, Xiang Lanxuan snorted to express her dissatisfaction.
Yu Qing had no mind to pay attention to her attitude. He first checked if his mouth and nose were properly covered. The others did the same. Xiang Lanxuan was quite perceptive and, seeing this, quickly adjusted the cloth covering her own mouth and nose.
After taking these precautions, Nan Zhu took off the makeshift small pouch from his body. It was the bag filled with pollen, bulging and roughly the size of a watermelon.
“You have good eyesight, so you are in charge of keeping watch.” Yu Qing instructed Baili Xin, while simultaneously gesturing towards Xiang Lanxuan.
Baili Xin knew he also wanted her to keep an eye on Xiang Lanxuan. She nodded slightly to show she understood, then smoothly unslung her bow and arrow and began to guard the surroundings.
The three martial brothers divided the pollen into three portions under the cover of night. Carrying the small bags, they plunged into the flower bushes and sprinkled the pollen bit by bit into the flowers they could reach.
Each of the three was responsible for a specific area. They all looked furtive yet highly motivated, occasionally glancing around.
Xiang Lanxuan watched with shock and suspicion, not knowing what these fellows were doing. However, she was certain it was no idle act and must hold some deep meaning, yet it was inconvenient for her to pry too much.
Casting her gaze towards the source of the light on the “Divine Tree”, she felt somewhat hesitant in her heart. Once tonight passed, the deadline set by the Bee King would arrive. They were now right by the “Divine Tree”, so should she take this opportunity to offer Yu Qing to the Bee King?
However, after thinking it over repeatedly, she dismissed the idea. Firstly, her own cultivation was restricted, making it hard to take action. The woman with the bow was also watching her like a hawk. Even if she could alert the Bee King, it would be difficult for her to escape danger before the Bee King arrived.
Secondly, the current actions of Yu Qing and the others were clearly methodical. They must have some grasp of the situation inside the immortal mansion and likely had a way to escape.
Under normal circumstances, making a choice would not be difficult.
What truly made it hard for her to decide was her knowledge that once Yu Qing and the others had no more scruples, there was a nine in ten chance they would kill her. Perhaps defecting to the Bee King could temporarily preserve her life instead.
However, the biggest problem right now was that she was still under their control and could not make her own decisions.
Above the abyss of Spirit Valley, over a dozen figures arrived. Sect Master Zhao Dengzi had come in person once again. Looking at the moonlight in the sky, he asked Lu Youming beside him, “The time from yesterday has already passed. Is there still no response?”
Lu Youming replied respectfully, “No.”
Zhao Dengzi took two steps forward, stepped directly into the abyss, and flew downwards.
Lu Youming quickly waved to signal the others to jump down together. Inside the abyss, the damp air was filled with thick mist, making it hard for the moonlight to penetrate. Everyone gradually took out glowing stones for illumination.
Zhao Dengzi landed in front of the Vine Demon’s lair. Standing on a damp iron chain, he stared for a while before lifting his chin. “Get to work.”
Lu Youming immediately waved his hand to signal. “Chop it down.”
A group of Kunling Mountain disciples immediately drew their swords and scattered around the Vine Demon’s lair, beginning to swing their weapons and chop at the thick vines.
Although the vines covered a relatively large area, how could they withstand the tossing about from a group of cultivators armed with blades? In less than half an hour, the connected vines were chopped completely clean, leaving only a bare, massive trunk. It looked like a twisted giant tree, with many iron chains piercing through its body.
Lu Youming glanced at the Sect Master’s reaction. Seeing him remain indifferent, he waved his hand to signal again. “Chop it down. Eradicate the roots completely, uproot it, and burn it thoroughly later.”
Thus, a group of Kunling Mountain disciples surged forward, casting spells with their swords to hack away. The Vine Demon’s trunk was very tough, but it was still felled section by section. “Blood” seemed to be oozing from the main trunk.
Zhao Dengzi suddenly spoke up at this moment. “Alright, everyone stop.”
The crowd naturally stopped chopping.
Zhao Dengzi floated down in front of the Vine Demon’s trunk. He reached out, dipped a finger into some of the “blood”, and sniffed it near his nose, muttering to himself, “It seems the true key still lies with those few people… Sigh!”
With his hands behind his back, he looked up at the misty, dawn lit sky and fell into deep thought, wondering how the situation inside the immortal mansion was going.
Just as he was distracted, a figure suddenly broke through the mist and landed. Zhan Yunqi flew down beside him and reported in a low voice, “Master, people from the Great Enterprise Department have arrived.”
Zhao Dengzi was startled. So fast? He immediately said to Lu Youming, “Keep a close watch on Spirit Valley.”
Having finished speaking, he immediately flew off in a hurry, and Zhan Yunqi followed him and left.
Lu Youming quickly urged the people before him to return to the outer Spirit Valley first, lest the people from the Great Enterprise Department discover a large group of people gathered here in the middle of the night.
Not long after the group disappeared, the heavily scarred trunk of the Vine Demon stirred, and the face of Du Niang emerged once again. Looking up, she actually began to sob softly.
She had truly been terrified just now, genuinely believing Kunling Mountain was going to eradicate her completely. It had almost forced her to reveal herself and beg for mercy.
The reason she could persist and hold on was because she was gambling. She gambled that Kunling Mountain was not yet clear about the situation regarding the opening of the immortal mansion and would not dare to easily destroy her, the currently known bridge to the immortal mansion, as that would be unreasonable.
It seemed now that she had gambled correctly. She also realised that Zhao Dengzi had suspected her and was bluffing, almost allowing that cunning sect master to succeed.
Two hands stretched out from the trunk, touching the bloody gashes chopped into her body. Her face was full of pain and sorrow. Even a fool could tell she had suffered a massive loss of vitality from this ordeal.
But she quickly stifled her sobs, caressing her wounds and comforting herself. “It is fine. As long as I get the ‘Earth Origin Immortal Dew’, I can recover in an instant. Once I restore my strength from back then, this whole world will tremble beneath my feet. What is Kunling Mountain? Just you all wait…”
It was precisely because she kept in mind that there was something that could restore her that she could force herself not to reveal herself. Otherwise, facing the display just now, no one could have held it together.
Outside the main hall of the Kunling Mountain sect, a bald, cold faced old man in black stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the mountain, looking out at the night view of Kunling Mountain. Several Kunling Mountain elders who had arrived one after another accompanied him, along with dozens of personnel from the Great Enterprise Department.
The bald old man was named Qiu Xia, and he was also one of the Grand Executors of the Great Enterprise Department.
He had rushed over this time because Xiang Lanxuan’s side had suddenly cut off routine contact with the Great Enterprise Department. Routine contact would not be interrupted unless an anomaly occurred, so the Great Enterprise Department immediately dispatched people to fly across countless mountains and rivers to investigate the situation.
Moreover, they directly dispatched another Grand Executor to lead the team personally. The reaction of the Great Enterprise Department could not be called slow.
Soon, a figure flashed over, and Zhao Dengzi landed and hurried over. He stepped forward quickly, cupped his hands, and greeted, “Grand Executor Qiu.”
Qiu Xia turned around and, without any nonsense, asked directly, “They say Grand Executor Xiang suddenly took away all her accompanying personnel, and no one knows what they went to do. What is going on?”
Zhao Dengzi hurriedly replied, “I do not know what is going on. They left in a rush, and I do not know what they were going to do. Because of this, Elder Huan and Elder Qu of our sect even took some disciples to go and check. Now there is no news from them either, and I do not know where they followed them to. We were planning to contact the Great Enterprise Department after today to ask what happened, but I did not expect Grand Executor Qiu to have already graced us with your presence and arrived a step ahead.”
After a round of careful questioning, Kunling Mountain stated they knew nothing, giving the reason that they did not dare to interfere in Xiang Lanxuan’s affairs.
Since no clues were found regarding the matter, an investigation was naturally required, and Kunling Mountain naturally arranged accommodation for the honoured guests.
Shortly after settling in, while Qiu Xia was pacing and pondering in the courtyard, his trusted attendant returned in a hurry after taking a stroll outside.
Before the attendant could salute, Qiu Xia asked, “Did you find out anything?”
The attendant still saluted first before replying, “I found the hidden contact in Kunling Mountain and asked. The situation is roughly the same as what Kunling Mountain said. The people brought by Grand Executor Xiang suddenly assembled and left last night. It seems there was some matter, and they did not cause any commotion in Kunling Mountain.”
Qiu Xia paced hesitantly and said, “So you are saying it was not Kunling Mountain playing tricks?”
The attendant said, “It is highly unlikely. Leaving aside whether Kunling Mountain would dare, it is very difficult to make so many people disappear silently. If a fight had truly broken out, our hidden contact in Kunling Mountain could not have failed to hear any commotion. The possibility that they left Kunling Mountain is indeed very high.”
Qiu Xia stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the moon. “Even if they left, they should not have cut off daily contact. There has been no news until now. I fear something has gone wrong.”
The attendant asked, “Does the Grand Executor suspect that Kunling Mountain has done something?”
Qiu Xia replied, “Kunling Mountain would not have such great audacity, but we cannot let it slide. Report the situation and strive to get the list of all lurking personnel in Kunling Mountain. Contact them secretly one by one to see if we can uncover any clues.”
“Yes,” the attendant agreed.
Leaving a portion of personnel here to handle this matter, Qiu Xia did not linger too long in Kunling Mountain. Deciding that the matter brooked no delay, he set off that very night, leading his people to track down the trail along the direction pointed out by Kunling Mountain where Xiang Lanxuan and the others had gone.
Zhao Dengzi and the others, standing on the mountaintop to see them off, still felt that the violent storm had not stopped. They still felt as if they were on a small boat in terrifying surging waves, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.