Chapter 194: Chapter 184: Night Terror (Part 1)
As dusk fell, night descended.
Deep within Yuanze Mountain, in a secluded patch of woods.
Five burly men, dressed head to toe in black with their faces obscured by black cloths, were scattered about. Some leaned against trees while others sat on the ground, all silent, as if waiting for something.
One of them, a tall man, suddenly rose. He glanced at the crescent moon on the horizon, then snapped his fingers.
"The time is now. Let’s move!"
His every movement stirred with surging Qi and Blood, creating an oppressive aura. His cultivation was clearly deep within the Blood Realm.
Hearing this, the other four gathered around him.
The tall man surveyed their surroundings and said in a low voice, "We’ll split up. Number Two and Number Three, you’re one team. Number Four and Number Five, you’re the other. Sweep the area as you go..."
He grinned, revealing a mouth of stark white teeth. "Root out the Xingyun Sect disciples hiding in these mountains. Kill every last one you find!"
"Yes, sir!" the four replied in unison, cupping their fists.
One of them, a short, stocky man, began, "Brother Hong—"
Before he could finish, the tall man cut him off. "No names. Use our numbers."
His voice was low, but his tone was exceptionally stern.
The short, stocky man lowered his head in shame. "You’re right."
The tall man’s tone softened slightly. "Go on. What is it?"
The stocky man asked, "When do we retreat?"
The tall man slowly shook his head and said in a low voice, "Use your own judgment. The more you kill, the better. As soon as someone sounds an alarm and alerts the Primordial Realm elders down the mountain, we get out. Immediately."
"One more reminder: if any of you get caught, the rest of us won’t intervene. You’ll be on your own."
Another man asked, "All the Xingyun Sect disciples on this mountain are Qi Realm, right? No one in the Blood Realm?"
The tall man nodded. "Of course. I’ve already scouted it out. The Wuxiang Institute contains the Xingyun Sect’s most elite Qi Realm disciples. Only after they break through to the Blood Realm are they transferred to the inner sect."
"The Xingyun Sect is one of the three great sects of Great Yue. The more disciples we kill, the more we’ll damage their Primordial Qi. It could take them ten or twenty years to recover."
"And then we’ll have one less rival at the martial tournament!"
He paused, then added a warning, "Remember, do not expose your identities under any circumstances. Fight only with generic Cultivation Techniques. Even if it means death, do not use our sect’s martial arts. Understood?"
"Understood!"
"Don’t worry, First Brother. Against a bunch of Qi Realm disciples, it’ll only take a few moves to finish them. We won’t need to use our sect’s arts."
The four men chorused their agreement.
...
Zhao Lin leaned back against the thick trunk of a White Fruit Tree. His throat vibrated at high speed, sending ultrasonic waves rippling outward.
From his high perch, the ultrasonic waves met no obstruction, traveling over a li before reflecting back.
He used to be able to send and receive ultrasonic waves only up to about two hundred meters. But after absorbing the Essence Soul of a Silver-Winged Bat, his detection range had more than doubled!
And that was just his active detection range; his passive hearing extended even farther!
Normally, Zhao Lin didn’t keep his hearing fully engaged. The sheer volume of sound would be mentally exhausting.
He typically scanned his immediate surroundings every few breaths.
But with his Essence Soul newly upgraded, he wanted to test its limits. And since it was night and relatively quiet, he decided to push it.
The footsteps of nocturnal animals on the move, the low chirping of insects, the whisper of a light breeze through the grass—he heard it all.
’Not bad at all. It seems that even the most unremarkable mutated beast’s abilities far surpass those of an ordinary animal.’
Zhao Lin silently savored the experience, thoroughly pleased with his enhanced hearing.
Just as he was about to stop emitting the ultrasonic waves and lie down to rest, he suddenly heard a faint rustling sound.
The sound was faint, like someone moving quickly through the grass on tiptoe.
’It’s already dark out. Who’s being so industrious?’
Puzzled, Zhao Lin focused his hearing.
At first, he thought it might be a disciple tracking a mutated beast. But after listening for a moment, he felt something was off.
’A disciple couldn’t possibly be this light-footed. And if it were an elder or a deacon, they’d have no reason to be so stealthy.’
’So if it’s not a disciple, and not an elder or deacon, who else would be on one of the Xingyun Sect’s medicinal mountains this late at night?’
With that thought, Zhao Lin grew wary and directed his ultrasonic pulses toward the source of the footsteps.
There were two sets of footsteps, moving quite fast. They seemed to be searching for something, pausing every so often to scan their surroundings.
A moment later, two figures appeared not far from the White Fruit Tree.
By the faint light of the moon and stars, Zhao Lin saw two shadowy figures approaching stealthily.
’Hiding their faces and skulking about... they’re up to no good.’
Zhao Lin reached into the pack on his back, pulled out a signal flare, and clutched it in his hand.
When he’d jumped into the pool to track the Thunder Catfish that afternoon, he had left his pack on the shore, so it was still dry.
He placed his finger on the cap of the signal flare and hesitated. ’What if it’s just a deacon on patrol? Am I overreacting?’
"Damn it, where did these little brats hide? I can’t find a single one," one of the masked men grumbled.
"Shhh..."
The other masked man put a finger to his lips. "Keep your voice down," he whispered. "Just search carefully. They’re either up in the trees or in a cave."
Hearing that, Zhao Lin’s doubts vanished. He popped the cap off the signal flare and blew sharply into it twice.
A moment later, a puff of smoke emerged.
Zhao Lin wedged the signal flare into a fork in the branches, then slid silently down the tree and found a place to hide.
’I don’t know how strong these guys are. Calling for an elder is the right move.’
’One thing’s for sure, these two are up to no good, and their cultivation is likely above the Qi Realm.’
Zhao Lin had just taken cover when a shrill whistle shot up from above. It was followed by a BANG as a brilliantly colored firework exploded in the night sky.
The two masked men froze, staring in shock at the firework. "Damn it, who set that off?" they blurted out simultaneously.
"Who tipped them off?"
They exchanged a look. One of them said, "What now? First Brother said to pull back if we’re discovered."
The other, calmer one, hesitated. "We just got started. We haven’t even killed one yet. What if it’s just a prearranged signal between their own disciples? Maybe just a safety check-in that has nothing to do with us?"
The first man said, "How about we hide for a bit and see what happens?"
"Fine..."
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, the five elders saw the firework Zhao Lin had set off, their faces showing surprise.
"There are no dangerous mutated beasts on Yuanze Mountain. Why would someone be setting off a flare?" Elder Cyan Wood sighed.
"It might be something else. We should go and see," said Elder Lütu.
"I’ll go!"
Elder Huoyu called out to stop Elder Lütu, chuckling. "I’m bored to tears. This will be a good chance to stretch my legs."
Elder Goldstone added a reminder, "Fine, but call for us if there’s trouble."
Elder Huoyu waved a dismissive hand. "All the mutated beasts on this mountain put together couldn’t take a single punch from me. What trouble could there possibly be?"
With that, he leaped into the air and shot toward the mountain peak where the signal flare had appeared.
