Chapter 93: Ambush

"What's going on? Why won't anyone explain?"

Wei Yuning was completely baffled.

He had no time to think further — he still had to worry about the wood spirit of Xu Yan!

After sending a flying bird message to the brute ox, a reply came back very quickly.

"Just finished clearing out the wild beasts in a village. Since you have business, senior brother, I'll return to Cloud Concealment Sect tomorrow!"

Wei Yuning sighed in admiration inwardly — his brother was still the reliable one.

Early the next morning, Wei Yuning went to catch bugs as usual. He had just left the gate of Wind Lotus Court when he suddenly spotted a menial servant dressed in short attire peering toward the entrance; after seeing him come out, the servant pretended nothing was amiss.

Wei Yuning felt the man looked somewhat familiar, yet couldn't recall who he was.

Cloud Concealment Sect had over a hundred thousand people, and Guest Arrival Peak was a place any disciple could visit, so not recognizing someone was perfectly normal.

Arriving at Herb Refining Peak, he had just stepped off the tower frame when he happened to see Qing Fei from the pill refinement room coming up from the valley floor, and the two came face to face. Wei Yuning was just about to raise his hand in greeting, but to his surprise Qing Fei actually gave a cold "Hmph" and turned away.

"What's going on?" Wei Yuning wondered aloud.

When he reached the herb garden, it was quiet all around, with only the mournful howling of the wind.

Wei Yuning walked to a Floating Blossom Herb and stopped. This Floating Blossom Herb grew at the edge of the Pill Peak's summit; one side was a cliff, the other side a sparse grove of trees, with large patches of Sun Yang Grass growing among them.

Because this area sat at a lower elevation and was shielded by the trees, the wind was much reduced.

Wei Yuning sat down, took various tools from his storage ring, and began preparing to catch Moon Lice Bugs. Under the urging of the Plant Growth Art, a Sun Yang Grass quickly matured, giving off a clean plant fragrance reminiscent of barley tea.

Soon, a Moon Lice Bug emerged from underground and crawled rapidly toward the Sun Yang Grass petals. After waiting a moment, Wei Yuning extended the long-handled golden silkworm silk net, carefully reaching it toward the Sun Yang Grass petals.

"Bzzt—" A strange, low whistling sound came from far to near. Before Wei Yuning could even turn around, a hard object had already struck his lower back.

Wei Yuning let out a loud cry of "Ah!" and his body flew into the air, tumbling off the cliff ahead.

"Clatter—" A burst of footsteps rang out, and three figures appeared at the spot where Wei Yuning had just been.

"No way — that despicable person just fell off the cliff like that? What a cheap death for him!" One figure appeared at Wei Yuning's previous position — it was actually Qing Wu from the Sword Hall.

"Seems so. His things are scattered all over the ground — that can't be faked!" A thin middle-aged man walked over. After kicking at a clump of black soil at his feet, he found it was actually sticky and slimy, and disgusted, he retreated several paces.

"Fellow Daoist Wen's Dragon Sinew Divine Crossbow packs a hundred dan of force and has a divine sense locking secret art — enough to slay a stone python, let alone a mere body-tempering Foundation Establishment disciple!" The last person also walked over. This one was dressed entirely in black, his face covered by a mask, revealing only a pair of narrow, elongated eyes.

"Even better, the Mystic Yin Arrow is silent and traceless. Even if they find his body, there won't be any marks at all. Hehe!" Qing Wu laughed darkly.

"What a pity. If we could have captured him alive, we could have fetched an even better price!" The middle-aged man said with slight regret.

"That bounty is best left untouched. I'm certain it's connected to the Demon Assassin — most likely Tai Feng's doing. Last time he had his tongue cut off publicly by Patriarch Dao Min, and he hates Qing Mo to the bone!" Qing Wu said with a dark expression.

"These things on the ground..." The middle-aged man said hesitantly, his eyes fixed on the long-handled golden silkworm silk net on the ground, his face full of greed.

"Don't cause extra trouble. We'll put on winged armor and leave from here. Fellow Daoist Qing Wu, if anyone asks about us, you know what to do, right?" The masked man said with a smile.

"Relax, no one will ask! The guards at the courtyard gate today are my people — your entry records don't exist at all." Qing Wu said.

"Then that's good! We'll cooperate again when there's a chance! Oh, and we must thank that menial steward who provided the information!" The masked man said with a laugh. He took out a pair of wing-like objects — two half-plates of armor, front and back, with a long thin wing on each side — and fastened them onto his body.

"No need for that. He's just a bastard of unknown origin — being able to curry favor with me is already his good fortune!" Qing Wu laughed smugly.

"In that case, we'll be going!" The middle-aged man also took out the same kind of object and began attaching it to his body.

"Wait!" An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out.

The several people jumped in fright and looked in the direction of the voice. A short tree at the cliff's edge suddenly moved.

In an instant, the short tree transformed into a person — it was none other than Wei Yuning.

"You're all guests — how can you just leave like that!" he said with a grin.

"Not good!" The same two words leapt into all three of their minds simultaneously.

Just as the several people were each employing their own methods to leave the scene, they found that large patches of green vines had suddenly shot up from the ground. In the blink of an eye, their bodies were already wrapped by vines up to their waists.

"Don't be afraid, he's only one person! Fellow Daoist Wen, hurry and—ahhh—" The masked man had only gotten halfway through before he let out a blood-curdling scream.

A thin vine covered in red sharp thorns violently thrust into the masked man's mouth, twisting and swelling, and bloody froth mixed with shredded flesh flowed out from his lips.

In an instant, all kinds of colorful lights erupted from the three people's bodies — the glow of defense talismans of various attributes being activated. But the vines were almost entirely unaffected; the thin tendrils, like venomous tongues, burrowed into every crevice they could enter.

"It's the law-breaking Blood Demon Vine!" The middle-aged Daoist let out muffled groans. He was the toughest of the three — he actually didn't scream.

Among the three, Qing Wu's courage was undoubtedly the smallest. The stabbing pain from his backside brought back his painful memories once more, and with even greater intensity.

He kept shaking his head frantically to prevent the vines from entering his mouth, while producing inhuman sounds: "Junior brother Qing Mo, junior brother Qing Mo, Yuning, brother Yuning, I was wrong, I was wrong! Let me go and I'll tell you everything, everything! Ahhh..."

His earlier composed demeanor was gone. His hair had come loose, and the muscles on his face were twisted, making him look like a ghost.

"You can still talk? Looks like the fertilizer isn't strong enough — let me add some more for you!" Wei Yuning reached out and tossed a clump of black, sticky substance, landing squarely in Qing Wu's mouth and muffling his screams.

When the Blood Demon Vine touched this black mud, it rippled with a ring of green light and immediately surged half a foot in growth. The tip of the vine pierced through Qing Wu's cheek and finally thrust into his mouth.

"Ahhh—" A blood-curdling scream rang out. A blue bird gliding through the clouds was so startled it flapped its wings and flew up into the sky.

The vines kept tightening. The several people struggled at first, but before long, they completely gave up resisting. The vines were covered in sharp thorns — the more they moved, the more it hurt, so it was better not to move at all.

Wei Yuning quietly watched the three people before him without saying a word.