As everyone was preparing to set off, another figure rushed over.
Ding Huan spotted the approaching figure from afar and thought to himself that this was not good.
"Elder Qu," called out Elder Liu of Purple Mist Valley.
Ding Huan could only curse his luck, for if they had left a bit earlier, this man surnamed Qu would definitely not have stayed here; he would surely have headed straight into the opposite jungle.
With that shout from Elder Liu, it was as though he had saved this bastard’s life.
"Elder Liu, Elder Gu…" Elder Qu of the Dual Soul Sect seemed to snap out of his daze and hastily stopped in his tracks.
However, Ding Huan looked down on this bastard — while people from the Purple Mist Valley like Elder Liu had brought five or six disciples, this man had come alone.
If it weren’t for a disciple escaping with the people from Purple Mist Valley, the Dual Soul Sect would have been completely wiped out.
As the elders wanted to chat, everyone else could only continue to wait.
"Elder Gu, do you know what the situation is?"
After his initial panic, Elder Qu from the Dual Soul Sect had calmed down.
Elder Gu Youchang sighed:
"I suspect we’ve encountered a high-level Cold Corpse. We always thought we were on the main road, but in truth, we had been deep in the forest before. This place, now, is the actual main road."
Liu Yinzhu from the Purple Mist Valley also realized this issue not long ago; she felt rather lucky to be alive.
Elder Qu from the Dual Soul Sect hadn’t fully come to his senses until Elder Gu mentioned that they had been in the woods before and only now returned to the road; then, he truly understood.
Looking around, Qu Yueshan breathed a sigh of relief and then suddenly realized:
"It was the Illusion Poison of the Cold Corpse, that was close..."
At this point, as if something struck him, he immediately walked up to Ding Huan and berated him sharply:
"You, a mere cook, knew we were in the woods and didn’t point it out directly? What were you thinking?"
Ding Huan was utterly baffled as he stared at the man before him. Is this guy an idiot?
"Are you brain-damaged? Are you the elder or am I the elder? I’m just a chef, why should I have to remind you? Lao Liu, retreat."
Ding Huan wouldn’t indulge the man, and after speaking, he had already stepped back several paces.
If this man dared to make a move, he would immediately flee with Lao Liu into the jungle.
And he was certain that neither Elder Gu Youchang nor Elder Liu Yinzhu would allow this man to strike.
If these two also remained silent, then he would flee as far as he could.
"Looking for death…" Qu Yueshan was furious and about to strike Ding Huan.
Elder Gu Youchang’s face turned cold:
"Qu Yueshan, the person invited by Yanyue Sect is not for you to strike. Are you from the Dual Soul Sect thinking of starting a war with my Yanyue Sect?"
Qu Yueshan was taken aback, and then looked at Elder Gu Youchang somewhat bewildered.
This was merely a cook, and to a cultivator of the Taoist Realm, not to mention him, Qu Yueshan being an elder, even a newly admitted disciple could easily handle a cook.
"Elder Gu, what do you mean?" Qu Yueshan had a preconceived notion along with the usual practice, which is why he wanted to discipline Ding Huan.
Stopped by Elder Gu Youchang’s rebuke, he then sensed that this cook might not be an ordinary cook.
Wait, wasn’t it mentioned before that Ding Huan was just a regular cook?
Liu Yinzhu also frowned and said:
"We’re able to stand here and talk because of Mr. Ding’s significant contribution. Elder Qu, your words just now were too much."
Deacon Qiong had no desire to let a mere cook, Ding Huan, cause bad blood between Yanyue Sect and the Dual Soul Sect, so he quickly interjected:
"It’s all a small misunderstanding. Let’s hurry on our way; this place always makes one feel uneasy."
Ding Huan glanced at Deacon Qiong, who was also an ingrate. He himself had given a Condensing Star Bamboo, yet this person didn’t side with him, reinforcing his resolution to take back the bamboo.
"Mr. Ding, shall we get moving first?"
Deacon Qiong wanted to remain on good terms with both parties. After placating Elder Qu, knowing that they needed to get moving, he still actively approached Ding Huan to inquire.
Qu Yueshan glanced at Ding Huan, vowing that once they left the Great Ravine Valley, the first person he would kill would be this insignificant cook before him.
Ding Huan, addressing the two elders looking at him, Elder Gu and Elder Liu, bowed his fist:
"Two elders, I’d rather not travel with Elder Qu. Being just a cook, if Elder Qu isn’t in a good mood, I wouldn’t even suffice for a slap from him."
Qu Yueshan’s unmistakably lethal intent was something Ding Huan had long noticed.
He sneered inwardly, this bastard; having him lead the way out yet still plotting to kill him, dream on.
Since leaving Four-direction Star Land, he had been humbly begging for his life, having no choice as he needed others to bring him to an Advanced Civilization Star Land.
Now that these people wanted him to lead the way, yet awaited his death, Ding Huan was not so self-degrading.
He could fight if he must, charging immediately into the jungle. Walking alongside Qu Yueshan was a risk he certainly wouldn’t dare take.
Once Ding Huan spoke out, both Elder Liu and Elder Gu looked at Ding Huan with astonishment.
Speaking such life-threatening words, could this really just be a cook?
Qu Yueshan was so angry his face turned ashen; had it not been for Elder Gu Youchang present, he would have slapped Ding Huan to death already. No, he couldn’t let this mere cook die so easily.
Even Deacon Qiong’s face appeared displeased.
Indeed, Ding Huan had made contributions, but for a cook to blackmail a Sect Elder, wasn’t this simply outrageous? It was practically a mortal offending a celestial.
Seeing that Elder Gu Youchang remained composed, he instantly panicked and quickly discarded his own thoughts.
Ding Huan, whether he’s a chef or not, regardless of his low status, if Elder Gu stands by him, then he as a steward has no right to speak.
Elder Qu felt suffocated as Elder Gu and Elder Liu remained silent.
Could it be that he, a distinguished Sect Elder, must yield to a mere chef?
Yet, recalling the cold fiend, he had no choice but to swallow his pride.
If Ding Huan wouldn’t leave, neither would he.
This old man really has some nerve.
Ding Huan could only say to Elder Gu:
"Elder Gu, let’s set off."
"Alright," Elder Gu commanded everyone to get up and set off without hesitation.
Seeing that everyone was leaving, Elder Qu followed suit.
After walking for about half an hour, Ding Huan stopped.
As Ding Huan was leading, everyone had to stop when he did.
"Elder Qu, which way will you go?" Ding Huan asked brusquely, addressing Elder Qu of the Dual Soul Sect.
Elder Qu snorted coldly:
"How so? Is this road your private property? Only you can traverse it and I can’t? I will take this main road whether you like it or not; do you have a problem with that?"
Ding Huan extended his hand:
"In that case, Elder Qu, please go ahead, we’ll take another path."
Everyone looked puzzledly at Ding Huan, another path? There’s only one road here, right? Are they supposed to cut through the woods?
The reason they had encountered the cold fiend and been poisoned by illusion poison was precisely because they had carelessly left the main road and entered the woods.
If Ding Huan knew what they were thinking, he would scoff.
Is it really safe from the illusion poison of the cold fiend just by walking on the main road? How then had everyone ended up in the woods earlier?
"What a presumptuous chef."
Elder Qu sneered and continued forward.
No matter how thick his skin was, if he swallowed his anger even when Ding Huan, a mere chef, threw those words in his face, he wouldn’t want to show his face in public in the future.
Seeing Elder Qu moving away, Ding Huan indeed started leading the group into the woods from an angle.
"Mr. Ding, Elder Qu does care about his dignity. We can just slow down a bit, and he surely won’t follow us together," Elder Liu Yinzhu from Purple Mist Valley couldn’t help but speak.
Ding Huan smiled:
"Elder Liu, I was merely speaking in anger earlier. If Elder Qu really wants to accompany us, I wouldn’t make any more comments. I am merely a child in front of you both, and occasionally I let slip some heated words. Please don’t mind it, elders.
My intuition is telling me to go this way, although I don’t know why. I have always followed my instincts, and they have rarely led me astray."
At this time, whether it was Deacon Qiong or Han Weicheng and others, they were significantly more lucid from the illusion poison; they could clearly distinguish the main road from the woods.
Seeing Ding Huan entering the woods again, seemingly to spite Elder Qu purposefully, they hesitated.
"Mr. Ding, I shouldn’t be under the effect of illusion poison anymore, right? Are we on the main road?" Deacon Qiong couldn’t help but ask.
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Ding Huan was quite disdainful of him, who took his things but sided with an elder from another sect just because of his status as a chef.
Despite his internal contempt, Ding Huan still hesitated and responded:
"I am not sure either, I just feel we should head this way. Whether it’s correct or not, I really can’t guarantee. Everyone should make their own choice. After all, I’m just a chef, a mortal with human eyes; I can’t take responsibility if something goes wrong."
Everyone knew that Ding Huan’s decision to enter the woods might be due to a quarrel with Elder Qu, but such a joke was dangerous.
A joke like this could cost lives.
Deacon Qiong decided not to follow Ding Huan into the woods; what a joke, bickering with an elder over a chef’s grudge is one thing, but dying over it is quite another.
As Ding Huan himself said, he was just a mortal chef, whose life wasn’t worth much.
"I am planning to accompany Mr. Ding."
Elder Liu from Purple Mist Valley declared without hesitation.
This left Deacon Qiong puzzled; Elder Liu Yinzhu from Purple Mist Valley actually planned to follow Ding Huan into the woods?
Han Weicheng didn’t want to enter the woods again either, but seeing Elder Liu from Purple Mist Valley endorsing Ding Huan, he hesitated.
"Elder Gu, which way are you planning to go?" Han Weicheng couldn’t help but ask Elder Gu Youchang.
Elder Gu Youchang laughed:
"I naturally will follow Mr. Ding, so I don’t need to state my position; I’ll go wherever Mr. Ding goes."
"Then I will also follow Mr. Ding."
Han Weicheng immediately changed his mind.
He hadn’t anticipated the trouble the first time; if the same issue arises again due to this, it would be his own fault.
Seeing Ding Huan turning into the woods, Deacon Qiong hesitated for a moment but had no choice but to follow.
He couldn’t possibly be the only one taking the main road while everyone else took the woods, right? If the main road had been safe, they wouldn’t have been lured into the woods previously.
"Hmph, all trickery and deceit." From a distance, Elder Qu saw Ding Huan leading people into the woods and disdainfully snorted.
As if Ding Huan’s little tricks could fool him, Elder Qu would not be foolish enough to follow him into the woods just because Ding Huan did.