Chapter 95: Approaching the Enemy
On the fourth day of travel, Wang Xue’er called a stop.
She coated her eyes with a layer of qi and focused on a location one hundred metres on their left.
When she first looked at the place, something nagged at her subconscious, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
Now that all her attention was focused on the place, she naturally realised what was wrong.
"Shadows..." She mumbled and continued to look.
Although she couldn’t see the people hidden behind the huge rock, their shadows were visible.
If she was not mistaken, seven or eight people were behind the rock.
Five of them were standing, and the remaining were crouching for whatever reason.
"Is it them?" Bai Ruyue asked.
Her voice was filled with fear, and the relaxed face, she wore over the last few days was nowhere to be seen.
"It’s impossible to tell from here." Wang Xue’er answered.
"Let’s go before they see us."
Bai Ruyue was a little flustered.
If they had the numbers, maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid, but they were outnumbered.
From her previous experience, she knew that the members of that organisation were very powerful.
She didn’t know why that was so, but it didn’t matter.
The only thing that mattered now was to get as far away as possible.
"Should we leave?" Wang Xue’er asked as she looked at Yu Nianzhen and then Jiang Yue.
After being together for so many days, she naturally had a good understanding of the two’s characters.
Yu Nianzhen was quiet and indifferent.
In most cases, he would not talk unless he had to.
On the other hand, Jiang Yue was talkative.
She didn’t know how long the two had known each other, but she could tell their relationship was very close.
This was because Jiang Yue always understood what Yu Nianzhen meant without words.
At this point, she looked at Jiang Yue because she knew he would be the one to answer.
"I don’t think we should randomly go forward." Jiang Yue finally said.
"Our purpose is to find news, and that group is as good as any."
"Surely you don’t mean we should approach them?"
Bai Ruyue was aghast, and so was Wang Xue’er.
After what she experienced, she was reluctant to risk her life needlessly.
"We don’t all need to go. One person can approach using an invisibility talisman, and the rest can hide here."
"I will go." Yu Nianzhen immediately said.
Jiang Yue was about to argue, but he saw the other’s sharp eyes that dared him to.
He knew Yu Nianzhen was still angry with his recklessness at the rock crack.
If he dared to argue now, it wouldn’t go well with the other, and he didn’t want to be punished in front of people.
When he thought of the punishment he received for his reckless behaviour, Jiang Yue shivered.
A red flush coloured his face, and he felt a little hot despite the cool breeze sweeping the area.
"Alright, Jiang Zhen can go, and the rest of us will hide here."
Bai Ruyue was not happy to hear this conclusion.
As Jiang Yue suspected, she had fallen for Yu Nianzhen at first sight.
It was the classic tale of ’hero saves beauty’, but there was nothing classic about her feelings.
She could tell that the other didn’t like her, but the more he was like that, the more she liked him.
She came from the Bai family.
Together with the Jin family and five other clans, the Bai family was one of the seven prominent clans that controlled the Great Artisan region.
She was a renowned beauty in the region and the only daughter of the main line of the Bai clan.
In her position, what kind of talent couldn’t she get?
Just before she entered the thousand herbs garden, the Jin family had approached her Bai family wanting to betroth her to the Jin family’s second young master.
However, her Bai family had not agreed.
The main reason was that the second young master was known for his promiscuity.
Even before marrying his main wife, he already had a few concubines.
Some of the concubines were random good-looking female cultivators he had come across, but others were side branches of major families.
Even if she became Jin Xuan’s main wife, her life would not be easy.
Although the Jin family was better than the Bai family, the Bai family had decided that marrying Bai Ruyue to Jin Xuan wouldn’t benefit the family enough to make up for the loss.
That said, the Jin family were not the only ones that requested her hand in marriage.
Many such propositions had come from many families and sects in the Cangxing world.
Although she knew that the main cause of this was not her beauty, but her family’s ability, Bai Ruyue was used to being wanted.
She was used to men fawning over her, but this was the first time she liked someone.
Although she didn’t know the other’s background, the fact that he entered the thousand herbs garden meant he had a good position in his own region.
This encouraged her to try harder, but she never had a chance.
Now when she heard that he wanted to place himself in danger, she was resentful.
She glared at surnamed Yu and blamed him for not taking the danger himself.
However, she didn’t glare for too long because she knew it would upset the man she wanted to win.
Instead, she removed something from her storage ring and walked toward Jiang Zhen.
"This is a teleportation talisman; you can use it if something happens."
"Thank you, fellow Daoist, but I don’t need it."
Yu Nianzhen waved his hand, and a teleportation talisman appeared in his hand.
Bai Ruyue frowned and continued, "my Bai family is a family of artisans, and our talismans are better than most in the Cangxing world."
Yu Nianzhen looked at the talisman but didn’t take it.
In the end, his talisman was useful as long as it could take him out of danger when he needed it.
Most importantly, a teleportation talisman was his last resort.
If he used it, he would be separated from Jiang Yue, and he didn’t want that, especially now that the situation in the secret realm was so uncertain.
If it came to it, his first option was a speed talisman.
"Let’s meet at the trade valley if we get separated." He said to Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue was a little reluctant, but, in the end, there was nothing to be done.
He nodded and looked at Yu Nianzhen, "be careful."
"Don’t worry."
After ruffling the other’s hair, Yu Nianzhen nodded at the other two and removed an invisibility talisman from his storage ring.
Unlike before, this talisman was a mid-grade silver rank.
In addition to making him invisible, it would also minimise his effect on the environment.
Although people could still run into him if they collided, at least his footprints were no longer visible on the ground.
"I am going."
"Be careful." Jiang Yue called again, but there was no answer.
’Be careful.’ He repeated in his head and then led the other two to hide.
At the same time, Yu Nianzhen was quickly approaching the group hidden behind the huge rock.
Before he arrived, wisps of conversation floated with the wind.
However, the voices were too low, and he couldn’t make out more than a few words.
When he finally arrived, Yu Nianzhen realised that their previous assumption was wrong.
At first, they thought there were only seven or eight people.
However, now that he could see them, he counted sixteen.
Nine were crouched in a circle, and seven were standing around them.
’We couldn’t tell because their shadows were blocking each other.’ Yu Nianzhen thought as he continued to observe the people.
As told by Bai Ruyue, all of them were wearing hooded black robes and black masks.
They looked exactly like the group that attacked them en route from Fengying city to the Sea Cloud sect more than five years ago.
’What’s their objective?’ He wondered as he took a step closer to listen.
Although he was curious, he didn’t dare to be reckless.
At the moment, the invisibility talisman was working, but a lot of things could go wrong.
If he made a mistake and knocked into someone, the people would know there was an intruder amongst them.
Even if he didn’t knock into someone, there was no guarantee that someone in the group would not notice him.
After all, the invisibility talisman could not completely mask his scent and qi presence.
’I shouldn’t stay here for too long.’
Yu Nianzhen took a deep breath and calmed his mind.
When this was done, he turned his attention to the person who was speaking.
"The list has two hundred people, but we have only dealt with thirteen so far." The person said.
’List?’ Yu Nianzhen felt his blood freeze in his veins.
