Chapter 111: Threats
"Fellow Daoist Bai?" Wang Xue’er called.
She looked at the other woman in confusion and then turned to Yu Nianzhen.
However, her eyes also widened in horror when she saw black smoke crawling from his left sleeve.
"Fellow Daoist Yu." She called to attract Yu Nianzhen’s attention.
Before this, all his focus was on Jiang Yue who was speaking to some fellows from the BlueStar Treasure pavilion.
When he heard her call, he took a last look at Jiang Yue and then turned to the woman.
"We seem to have forgotten something." Wang Xue’er said when she had his attention.
Yu Nianzhen frowned and then noticed the black smoke emerging from his robe sleeve.
’Bloody hell.’ He cursed.
In everything that happened, he forgot about the five tainted corpses they took back from the Corpse Yin sect cultivator.
When he saw the black smoke, he knew the seal talismans on the five tainted corpses had come undone.
"Brother Ke, are you able to purify tainted corpses?" He asked.
At the same time, he waved his hand, and a storage bag came out from his robe sleeve.
The tie on the storage bag was loose, and the black smoke was coming from within.
"Corpse qi..." Xuan Ke frowned when he saw what was happening.
"I can purify it, but it takes some time and items." He said.
He then coated his hands with qi and grabbed the storage bag.
With the storage bag between his palms, he began to chant in a low voice as he injected his qi into the bag.
Soon after, the black qi escaping from the bag began to thin, and what had escaped was forced back into the bag.
When all the corpse qi was dealt with, Xuan Ke was sweating profusely.
His face was pale, and he staggered a little before he righted himself.
"That will hold it for a while. I will perform a proper cleansing when there is an opportunity." He said after taking a deep breath.
"Brother Ke has worked hard. Take this and quickly recover your strength."
Yu Nianzhen gave him a bottle of qi replenishing pills, and the monk took it without arguing.
Normally, he wouldn’t forcibly restrain the corpse qi, but now was not the right time to perform a cleansing.
Not only did they not have the time, but they also didn’t have the required treasures to perform a proper ritual.
"Thank you, brother Yu."
Xuan Ke sat cross-legged to cultivate, and Yu Nianzhen stood beside him to protect the law.
While this happened, Bai Ruyue recovered her senses and tried to walk toward Yu Nianzhen.
However, Wang Xue’er glared at her in disgust, and she was too embarrassed to continue brushing her presence in this situation.
After that, the group of four fell into silence.
Yu Nianzhen’s attention was half on Xuan Ke, and the other half was on Jiang Yue.
At this time, Jiang Yue had already been led to the central tent where Meng Zihua was staying.
After waiting a few moments, the tent flap opened, and he entered the tent.
In the tent were Meng Zihua, Song Qiufeng, and a few others.
Some he recognised from the fight, but others were not familiar to him.
"Fellow Daoists." He called and made a few quick bows.
He paid particular attention to Meng Zihua and the young man who led the border guards.
"What do you want?" This was asked by Song Qiufeng.
His tone and face were not good, but Jiang Yue didn’t care.
He wanted to group up with the two factions for the journey, but this was just a want, not a need.
If they had to, his group of five could also find a way to make the journey.
Only that the journey would take longer and would be less safe.
"I have heard that the BlueStar Treasure pavilion and the border guards intend to join the allied forces." He said.
"What of it?"
This time, Jiang Yue frowned.
He didn’t care about Song Qiufeng, but the other was beginning to annoy him.
However, he got over it quickly and ignored the person.
"I was wondering if you mind walking together until there?" He addressed himself to Meng Zihua and the young man from the border guards.
"We do mind this." Song Qiufeng said with a sneer.
His voice was full of schadenfreude.
No doubt imagining what would happen to Jiang Yue and his group if they had the bad luck of encountering a group of death flower ascension front members.
"You can leave."
Jiang Yue looked at Meng Zihua and the border guard.
Both had listened attentively, but neither showed any reactions on their faces.
After studying them for another moment, Jiang Yue noticed that Meng Zihua was a little conflicted.
She looked like she didn’t mind having them along, but something was holding her back.
’Is she worried we will find out about the guardian box if we travel together?’ He wondered.
He then smiled and turned his attention to the border guard.
The man was looking at him closely, but Jiang Yue couldn’t read him.
After waiting a while, he concluded that both sides would not agree to his request.
’Looks like we will have to make it through alone.’
"I wish fellow Daoists a safe journey." He cupped his hands and made to leave the tent.
However, before he could leave, the young man from the border guard spoke.
This was the first time Jiang Yue heard his voice, and he was a little shocked when he heard the high-pitched voice.
"Your group may follow." The man said and looked away.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist." Jiang Yue once again cupped his fists and left the tent.
After he left, the tent erupted in noise.
"Border guard Wei, why did you allow them to follow?" Song Qiufeng queried.
Meng Zihua also looked at the man, but she wasn’t against the idea.
"They are strong fighters." Wei Ge said and shrugged.
Like Meng Zihua, he also considered the possibility that the contents of the guardian box would be exposed.
However, their lives were more important.
Even if the secret was exposed, they could deal with the consequences after they joined the allied forces.
"Let’s not dwell on it for the time being." Meng Zihua interrupted when Song Qiufeng was about to say something else.
"Border guard Wei, what do you think our chances are?" Meng Zihua asked.
Wei Ge didn’t answer, but his brows creased in focus.
Since they entered the secret realm, he had been monitoring all the forces.
Initially, he thought they could easily deal with the death flower ascension front, but he was losing confidence as the days passed.
This was because the death flower ascension front was more organised than he thought.
They didn’t act recklessly, and everything seemed to be following a predetermined plan.
Even if they had suffered a loss this time, the loss wasn’t enough to cripple them.
What Wei Ge was worried about was that the death flower ascension front would continue to whittle away at their numbers.
If it continued like this, the allied forces would not have enough people to resist.
"We need to find a way to gather everyone in one place." Wei Ge said.
"We will fail if we can’t do that."
Meng Zihua also understood this reasoning.
At the moment, they were losing the battle because the death flower ascension front was grouped up while everyone else was scattered.
From her estimations, most of the people were still ignorant of the situation in the secret realm.
Without a clue of what was going on, those people were easy pickings for the enemy.
Although this didn’t affect her directly, it would weaken their ability to resist in the long run.
"Our BlueStar Treasure pavilion has a way to gather our members. I also know your border guards and those of the Great Zhu empire have their own methods."
"There is also the Celestial Sky sect and the clans from the Great Artisan region."
"For the time being, we can ignore the safety of those groups, but everyone else is in danger."
Everyone fell silent after that.
They all knew the best way to survive, but they didn’t know how to go about it.
If they couldn’t gather everyone, people would continue to die, and the end result would be miserable for them.
"Let’s head to the allied forces as soon as possible." Meng Zihua said, and a frown creased her face.
"Are you worried about something else?"
"Bei Chengling knows where the allied forces are located. I am worried he will take action before we get there."
As her deputy, Bei Chengling was privy to a lot of secrets.
What she was most worried about was that he would lead the death flower ascension front to attack the base.
If that happened, those in the base may be forced to scatter to protect their lives.
After that, it would be even more difficult to gather again, which would allow the death flower ascension front to slowly kill them.
