Chapter 505

Splash—

In the night, the huge lotus pond held five or six strange small boats remodeled from lotus-root stems, shuttling through lotus thickets like a forest, gliding forward; the people on the boats, including Heng Xian, moved very gently.

They not only had to guard against people from the Flower Pavilion and Gongsun Family chasing them, but also against mountain-sized water bugs and monsters that occasionally appeared around them.

They glided on like that for a full two hours, and there seemed to be no movement behind them.

Bu Fan let out a long sigh of relief and asked, "How far ahead are we?"

No one paid attention, and they even got a few eye-rolls.

Bu Fan, realizing he'd spoken nonsense, rubbed his nose and joked, "I thought you were locals!"

Old Man Dao cursed, "You fat monk, your words are damned lowly—I don't know who's local, but I know you might be a local corpse!"

"Damn! You lecherous old geezer, I've put up with you long enough! Give me an explanation—how am I a local corpse?" Bu Fan retorted.

Old Man Dao pointed ahead: "Look ahead!"

Everyone followed the direction of his finger and looked.

In the moonlight filtering through gaps in the lotus leaves, they saw ahead what seemed to be a dragon dam, with two rows of toads lying on the backs of the dikes on either side.

Each was the size of a house, covered in bumps, and facing the people's bellies was an expanse of feces-yellow.

A foul stench blew right at them!

This momentum, this scene, was both terrifying and disgusting!

They involuntarily felt like sheep walking into a tiger's den, walking into a net, and hurried to stop the forward-rushing lotus-stem boats, but the nearby current sped up, and they still uncontrollably charged past.

They simply gave up!

Soon, several lotus-stem boats entered the toads' encirclement.

Up close, the feeling of being surrounded by a bunch of giant toads was even more creepy!

Even if they weren't afraid of being eaten, the feeling of countless tongues rolling over them was still unpleasant.

"Really exciting!" Bu Fan whispered.

"Shut up!" Zhou Zhan Yi barked.

"Shut your egg!" Bu Fan objected.

Su Ji said, "These toads are poisonous, and highly poisonous!"

Bu Fan obediently shut his mouth.

Gurgle—

At that moment, the toad swarm seemed to notice them, and a large group of toads with washbasin-sized eyeballs began to rotate.

Their hearts leapt to their throats, and even their breathing stopped.

However, at that moment Su Ji noticed what Heng Xian was busy with and couldn't help asking, "Junior Brother Heng, what are you doing?"

Everyone looked over and saw Heng Xian holding several medicine bottles, crushing the medicines and mixing them together.

Heng Xian casually said, "These toads are just ordinary first-grade toads; it's rare for them to grow this large. They have nothing they especially fear, but hurricane stalk, three-leaf kui, and spirit hemp have a restraining effect on them—let's try!"

Saying that, he poured the mixed medicinal powder onto each person.

For a moment, a strange fragrance assailed their noses, as if each person had sprayed perfume.

The giant toads felt it and indeed recoiled, shuffling back one after another.

Seeing that, Bu Fan felt great excitement, put his hands on his hips, and shouted, "You stinky toads, come on, damn it!"

A group of mangy toads retreated again.

"You scared?" Bu Fan laughed loudly.

Meanwhile, Su Ji and the others all looked at Heng Xian, and Zhou Zhan Yi remarked, "Junior Brother Heng, though young, you're surprisingly well-informed—unexpected!"

Si Tu Nan Fei said, "In your early twenties, to be so well-read and knowledgeable is truly admirable!"

Seeing their flattering praise, Heng Xian waved his hand: "No, no, I just spent the time everyone spent bullshitting on reading; my world can't lack books—if I don't wander in the ocean of books for a day, I feel uneasy all over."

"Pfft!" Su Ji couldn't help laughing out loud.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The lotus-stem boats quickly passed through the toad pile and entered a deeper, more secluded lotus pond.

After another half hour, while they were chatting idly, a miserable cry and dense rebukes suddenly came from far behind.

Everyone startled, and instinctively turned to look back.

Si Tu Nan Fei's face changed: "It's the direction of the toad swarm!"

Zhou Zhan Yi said in a low voice, "It's the Flower Pavilion and Gongsun Family people catching up—they startled the toad swarm!"

He Bu Zhi wondered, "The lotus pond is so huge—how did they know our whereabouts?"

Lin Shuyu said, "The bright light we saw in the lotus bud ahead was especially conspicuous in the dark; they must have spotted it. Moreover, this lotus pond has never been visited before, so our traces are naturally hard to conceal."

Huangfu Tai Qing added, "The key is that bastard Shen Kai leading the way, using the Divine Blade Sect's Blade-Seeking Spell, which is as effective as a dog's nose!"

Everyone fell silent.

Heng Xian frowned slightly and asked, "What's the deal with that Shen Kai?"

Su Ji countered, "You met him outside, right? What did he say?"

Heng Xian nodded: "We met him; he said he's the childhood fiancé of Gongsun Li'er."

"He's full of shit!" Wan Baolu's hair stood on end, "That bastard and Gongsun Li'er are clearly in cahoots, a lustful couple—out of our many people, half have been ambushed by him!"

He Bu Zhi also exclaimed angrily, "Day and night we guard against thieves, but a family traitor is hard to prevent—if it weren't for him being an insider, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state!"

Heng Xian asked, "What I want to know is why he defected—was it his own idea, or did the Divine Blade Sect have a problem?"

Lin Shuyu said, "It's still unclear; he began to defect after we entered the Nine Palaces Mountain City, and he seems very familiar with the place—obviously he's been there more than once!"

Su Ji frowned and said, "This is actually also our biggest worry—he's the top genius disciple of the Divine Blade Sect's earth ranking; such a person wouldn't lightly defect, but once he does, it's hard to say what stance the Divine Blade Sect takes; if the sect also defects, then the Dongyu cultivation world will fall into chaos—unfortunately, we're trapped in prison and unable to notify the sect."

Bu Fan said boldly, "It won't come to chaos—just a measly Divine Blade Sect; the other thirteen sects will rise up and attack it!"

Si Tu Nan Fei shook his head and said: "The Divine Blade Sect has accumulated foundations over thousands of years, its disciples are countless, experts like clouds—how could it be so easy to deal with?"

Su Ji said: "I recall an incident from six hundred years ago; at that time, Happy Reunion Valley was a first-rate sect, its disciples all handsome and spirited, with extraordinary talent, yet they allied with an evil sect and rebelled!"

Other sects surrounded and attacked; that great battle raged for seven days and nine nights, with blood flowing like rivers and casualties without number!

Finally, the sect leader, supreme elder, and seven great elders of Happy Reunion Valley died in battle, but when the sect faced destruction, they unleashed the Mountain-Protecting Divine Artifact, in one strike killing 361 experts of the other sects; yet they were not annihilated. Therefore, any sect with a foundation of over a thousand years is not so easy to deal with!

Everyone's hearts swayed as they listened, and even Sun Bufan became obedient.

The "Lotus Stem Boat" continued onward; unnoticed, dawn light appeared, and day broke.

A hint of bluish-green and gold shone through the gaps in the lotus leaves.

Dao Ye stretched lazily and said: "If the morning rosy clouds don't appear, one can travel ten thousand miles; today the weather won't be too good!"

"Our situation doesn't look good either!" Heng Xian suddenly said.

(End of chapter)