Chapter 40: Peril

Seven days later.

Qingyu City, one of the cities in the southern region of Mangzhou closest to the Cangmang Mountains.

Outside the city.

Xu Zhiji sat on horseback, gazing into the distance at the mountains upon mountains, range after range, winding and twisting like dragons and snakes, an endless expanse of the Cangmang Mountain Range that seemed to have no end. He pointed toward the northeast and said to Xu Shixiong, who was riding alongside him, "Let us split into two groups today. You take a batch of men toward the northeast, and I will take a batch toward the southwest."

"Understood, Grand-Uncle!" Xu Shixiong nodded, then quickly selected a group of men, including that seventh-rank Great Wu Shi, and rode off together.

Liang Jingtang and his disciple remained to join Xu Zhiji's team, and Xu Shisen also stayed behind.

Watching Xu Shixiong's team quickly disappear at the end of the mountain road, Xia Daoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At first, he had thought everyone would act together, but later he learned that there were two destinations, requiring them to split up.

Now that Xu Shixiong had finally left with a group of men, the sense of oppression that had been hanging over Xia Daoming's head dissipated along with them.

If an octogenarian eighth-rank Great Wu Shi were to have some sort of accident, Xia Daoming was confident he could still handle it.

As for Xu Shisen, who had only just advanced to a sixth-rank Great Wu Shi, Xia Daoming did not even take him seriously.

In fact, if the opportunity were right, he would not mind secretly taking action to eliminate him.

"Let us move out as well!" After watching Xu Shixiong and the others depart, Xu Zhiji raised his horse whip, pointed toward the southwest, and gave the order.

"Yes!" The group responded in unison, then crowded around Xu Zhiji and headed toward the southwest.

Five days later.

The western range of the Cangmang Mountains.

Towering giant trees blocked out the sunlight.

Dead branches and fallen leaves covered the ground in a thick layer, emitting a damp, rotting scent.

A group of people was walking cautiously through this gloomy forest.

Stepping on the decaying branches and leaves in the quiet mountain ridge produced a rustling sound that made one's heart inexplicably race with fear.

Five factions, totaling twenty Martial Masters, spread out to form a loose perimeter, protecting the seven Xu family Martial Masters in the center.

And the Xu family elder, the most powerful Xu Zhiji, was protected at the very center by six Xu family Martial Masters.

Xu Zhiji held a tiger-head saber in one hand and a map made of unknown animal hide in the other, occasionally issuing orders to Liang Jingtang and his disciple, who were scouting at the very front of the team.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a sharp scream pierced the quiet forest.

A fifth-rank Great Wu Shi in his prime collapsed to the ground, his hands clawing wildly at his body.

Crawling on his neck and face were centipedes, three to four inches long, pitch-black all over except for a blood-red line on their abdomens.

"Dafu!" An old man cried out upon seeing this. Just as he was about to step forward to save him, he saw the ground where the Wu Shi was rolling emit a rustling sound. More centipedes of the same kind were crawling out from beneath the decaying leaves, dense and numerous, making one's skin crawl.

"Run, run, it's blood-line centipedes!" Someone grabbed the old man, eyes filled with terror as they retreated repeatedly.

The others, seeing this, also quickly moved away from the screaming Wu Shi on the ground.

In just seven or eight breaths, the Wu Shi's voice abruptly ceased. When the group looked back from afar, his face was pitch-black, and he was motionless.

Xia Daoming's expression was grim, his spirit becoming increasingly vigilant.

They had officially entered the mountains two days ago.

But in just two days, their team, including that Wu Shi just now, had already lost two men.

One of them had accidentally walked into a patch of mist that refracted dreamlike colors under the sunlight yesterday; the moment the person entered, their muscles began to rot.

It turned out that the mist was a foul miasma formed by the evaporation of mud and swamps created by the rotting corpses of countless poisonous creatures and dead leaves in this deep mountain forest when hit by the sun.

At the time, it had made Xia Daoming's entire body shudder with horror.

"Whew!"

Dazzling sunlight suddenly shone down without obstruction, and the Martial Masters subconsciously squinted their eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief.

They had finally walked out of that damp, dark primeval forest.

Presented before everyone was a spacious canyon with steep cliffs on both sides, the ground covered in scattered gravel, colorful wildflowers, and wild trees, with a rushing mountain stream in the middle and giant waterfalls in the distance hanging down like an inverted Milky Way.

The view ahead was wide, the surrounding scenery novel and spectacular, and the air fresh.

The gloom in everyone's hearts seemed to be washed away all at once.

"Liang Jingtang, Xia Daoming, you two continue to scout at the front." Xu Shisen barked at Liang Jingtang and his disciple.

Liang Jingtang's face showed a trace of indignation, but he still nodded silently and led Xia Daoming to walk in front.

Xu Shisen had leapt to become a sixth-rank Great Wu Shi at a young age and had already become one of the Xu family's key disciples under cultivation.

Not only that, but the person in charge of this trip, Xu Zhiji, was his own paternal grand-uncle.

Among this group of Xu family members, it could be said that Xu Shisen's weight was second only to Xu Zhiji's.

Even though Liang Jingtang knew clearly that Xu Shisen was using public office to settle a private grudge, he could only endure it.

In fact, he was even worried that Xia Daoming, being young and hot-blooded, would not be able to take the insult, and had specifically warned him twice in private.

As it turned out, Liang Jingtang later discovered that the one who had almost lost his composure once was actually himself; that time, it was fortunate that Xia Daoming had gently nudged him with his elbow, causing him to wake up.

Liang Jingtang and his disciple quickly continued to lead the way at the front.

The unobstructed, wide view and the novel, spectacular scenery made Liang Jingtang gradually relax his vigilance.

Most of the others were the same.

Xia Daoming remained highly tense, his keen senses, far exceeding those of ordinary people, guarding against every subtle change in the surroundings.

"Master, watch out!"

Suddenly, Xia Daoming felt his hair stand on end. Without a second thought, he grabbed Liang Jingtang's arm and swept to the left.

Just as the two swept to the left, a jade-green shadow flew up from the rushing mountain stream. It was a ferocious creature, entirely jade-green, covered in hideous scales, and shaped like a crocodile.

Seeing that Liang Jingtang had moved away, the creature did not pursue him but instead opened its mouth and spat a green ice blade at a fifth-rank Wu Shi who had been following behind Liang Jingtang.

The incident happened suddenly, and the green ice blade was extremely fast. The fifth-rank Wu Shi did not have time to dodge and hurriedly drew his saber to block.

"Clang!" A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

Sparks flew everywhere.

The horizontal saber in the fifth-rank Wu Shi's hand was knocked out of his grip, and blood flowed endlessly from the web between his thumb and index finger.

The man himself stumbled backward.

"Whoosh!"

As the fifth-rank Wu Shi stumbled backward, the creature opened its mouth again and spat out another green ice blade.

"Elder, save me!"

The fifth-rank Wu Shi turned his head to look at Xu Zhiji, who was not far behind him.

But Xu Zhiji's expression was cold; he held his saber in one hand to guard himself and grabbed Xu Shisen beside him with the other, flying off to the side.

"Pfft!"

The green ice blade pierced through his body, and the fifth-rank Wu Shi collapsed to the ground, fresh blood flowing out along the ice blade.

The creature smelled the scent of fresh blood, its eyes turning green. It flew forward, pinned the fifth-rank Wu Shi's corpse down with its claws, opened its giant mouth, and began to tear into it.

"Run!" Xu Zhiji ordered coldly, not a trace of pity in his eyes.

The group did not say a word and quickly moved away from the creature.

It was not until they were twenty or thirty zhang away that they dared to turn their heads and look back from afar.

Under the sunlight, they could still see the creature tearing at the fifth-rank Wu Shi, blood splashing everywhere.

"Elder, you are an eighth-rank Wu Shi. You clearly could have saved him just now, so why didn't you save Xiong Qi?" A sixth-rank Great Wu Shi nearing sixty years of age looked at Xu Zhiji with a face full of grief and indignation.

"That is a Jade Water Crocodile, with thick, tough armor, impervious to blades and spears. It is a first-rank high-stage demonic beast, and by nature, it is ferocious. If I had taken action, I would surely have been targeted by it!

My Xu family summoned you all here to help us clear obstacles and perils along the way and to hunt Ice Rabbits, not for me to turn around and risk my life to protect you!" Xu Zhiji said coldly.

"No matter how powerful the Jade Water Crocodile is, it is just a demonic beast without intelligence. As long as you help block it a little, with so many of us, we could surely eliminate this beast!" The elderly Great Wu Shi's expression grew even more grief-stricken and indignant.

"Fine!" Xu Zhiji nodded upon hearing this, but he suddenly shot into the sky. While in mid-air, the tiger-head saber in his hand flashed with a cold light under the sun and slashed toward the elderly Great Wu Shi.

"You!" The elderly Great Wu Shi was shocked and drew his long sword from its black scabbard, attempting to block.

"Clang!"

The elderly Great Wu Shi's long sword was knocked to the ground by the tiger-head saber in a single blow, and the tiger-head saber, after a slight pause, continued its slash.

The elderly Great Wu Shi's head fell to the ground, and fresh blood shot into the sky from his severed neck.

The surroundings were deathly silent.

"Is there anyone else who thinks I should have taken action to save him just now?" Xu Zhiji landed, holding the tiger-head saber still dripping with fresh blood, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as sharp as a blade.

Sweat broke out on everyone's foreheads, and they all lowered their heads. Deep within their lowered eyes, fear and hatred were intertwined.

Xia Daoming also lowered his head, his heart secretly trembling.

"An eighth-rank Great Wu Shi is indeed powerful. Even at an octogenarian age, his saber is still so fast, and his strength is still so fierce. I just don't know how his stamina is." ===== CHAPTER 41 =====