Chapter 36

"Sure enough, they're here!"

Shang Xia stood on the mountain ridge, peering down into the valley, feeling greatly invigorated.

Although this valley was secluded, it was actually quite small.

Apart from a dozen or so young men and women standing back-to-back in a circle, there were six intact Jin Yun carriages in the center of the valley, which must have been plundered from the convoy that day.

On the roof of one of the Jin Yun carriages, a Cang Ling cultivator was sitting in meditation, seemingly in the midst of cultivation.

On a boulder taller than a person, facing the cultivator, another Cang Ling cultivator was crouching, looking down at the dozen or so students who had yet to advance to the Extraordinary realm.

"Only two people?"

Shang Xia carefully observed the situation in the valley and did not rashly take action.

"It seems my guess was right," Shang Xia thought to himself. "Some of the Cang Ling martial cultivators discovered the pursuit by the patrol riders and deliberately left a trail to lure them here. They pretended to be discovered, engaged in a fierce battle, and then broke through the encirclement, leading the patrol riders elsewhere."

"The other part of the group, who were escorting the plundered goods and students, then re-entered the valley."

"Since this place has already been searched, no more patrol riders would pass by. At this time, hiding here is the safest."

"As for the wheel tracks outside the valley, they were probably deliberately covered up by the Cang Ling martial cultivators in the valley, while other signs of a battle were left behind. This way, even if other patrol riders passed by, they probably wouldn't think that a place already searched would still have Cang Ling martial cultivators hiding in it."

"If it weren't for the thunderbird spotting the trail in the sky, I might have thought the same way!"

Shang Xia chuckled to himself, thinking, "This is probably what they call 'the light under the lamp is the darkest.'"

Just as Shang Xia was pondering how to rescue the classmates held captive in the valley, a voice from the valley caught his attention.

"Still no news?"

Shang Xia looked over and saw that the speaker was the one who had been meditating on the roof of the Jin Yun carriage.

The Cang Ling martial cultivator on the Jin Yun carriage seemed to have a higher status. When he spoke, the one crouching on the rock stood up and said, "Brother Ling Que, there's still no news from Miss."

Ling Que, who was still sitting on the roof of the Jin Yun carriage, glanced at his companion with a dissatisfied look and said, "Qing Que, you don't have to keep defending her. She's always so任性. If it weren't for her, we would have withdrawn from this area long ago, and Chief Ying Que and the others wouldn't have to risk dealing with the patrol riders from the Mystic Peak."

Qing Que, the young man on the rock, smiled and explained, "Miss was trying to capture a mutated rain swallow, which is for the benefit of our family's bloodline."

Ling Que snorted coldly and said, "As a pure-blooded descendant of the family, if she really cared about the family's bloodline, she should find more men and have more children!"

Qing Que looked embarrassed, stood up awkwardly, and found an excuse, chuckling, "I've been squatting here for so long that my legs are numb. Huang Que has been watching outside the valley for a long time. I'll go and relieve him."

With that, he hurriedly jumped down from the rock and ran towards the valley entrance.

Ling Que looked at Qing Que's panicked back with disdain and said coldly, "Coward!"

...

On the mountain ridge, Shang Xia was somewhat surprised. "There are still people hiding? It's a good thing I was cautious and didn't enter from the valley entrance, or I would have been discovered. Then it wouldn't just be about rescuing these classmates; I might have been ambushed by the enemy."

After a moment of thought, Shang Xia quietly retreated from the mountain ridge, then called back the thunderbird and Yan Ni'er from the sky. After giving them detailed instructions, he returned to the edge of the mountain ridge.

Shang Xia was also somewhat anxious, wondering if the two birds could understand his instructions.

...

In the valley, a short but sturdy young man in a coarse, earth-colored robe soon walked over from the valley entrance.

Even before he was close, his hoarse voice could be heard: "Brother Ling Que, are you criticizing Miss Ming again? I'm not saying this to criticize you, but by age, Miss Ming is our junior. Why argue so much with a girl?"

Ling Que said seriously, "This is no joke. We are now within the territory of Mystic Peak, and we could be discovered and attacked by the martial cultivators of the Cang Yu Realm at any time. Although the martial cultivators of the Cang Yu Realm are not very strong, their numbers are vast. Staying here for too long, we will eventually be discovered. We are risking our lives for Miss Ming's adventure!"

As Huang Que listened, he pulled out a deer skin bag from his chest, uncorked it, and a strong aroma of alcohol immediately wafted out.

He took a satisfying sip, a look of contentment on his face, then recorked the bag and offered it to Ling Que, "Want a drink?"

Seeing Ling Que wave his hand to refuse, Huang Que put the deer skin bag back and said, "Don't worry. You know, now that a part of the capable fighters on Mystic Peak have been tied up, they can't break free in the short term. The number of people they can spare is limited. With Chief Ying Que and the others' vigilance, the patrol riders can't do anything to them."

Ling Que still looked worried. "How reliable is the information from the Rose Society? Liu Jitang did indeed lead a part of the people away from Mystic Peak, but do you believe the news about Kou Chongxue being seriously injured? That guy is devious and ruthless. In the past twenty years, the four major spirit-blood families have suffered greatly at his hands. Who can say he's not faking his injury, preparing to strike from the shadows?"

The name Ling Que mentioned seemed to have a unique power. Even the seemingly carefree Huang Que fell silent for a moment, even with a hint of unease.

He subconsciously pulled out the deer skin bag from his chest again, took a big gulp of alcohol, and then said loudly, "Who cares? We have the leverage!"

He pointed to the circle of students on the ground and said, "As long as they are in our hands, even if Kou Chongxue doesn't care about us, if he really comes, he'll have to deal with us on our terms!"

Huang Que's face flushed, and he became excited. "Moreover, they would never expect that we haven't left and are hiding right under their noses."

"We will extort a large sum from Mystic Peak. When we return to the Four Spirit Mountains, we'll tell them that the person they were looking for was actually in their own backyard all along!"

At this point, Huang Que seemed to be in the moment, waving his hands and laughing loudly, "At that time, the faces of the people on Mystic Peak will be very interesting. Just thinking about it makes me feel good to the bone!"

On the mountain ridge, Shang Xia's expression was somewhat strange.

He naturally knew the name Kou Chongxue.

Not only him, but the entire Mystic Academy was familiar with this name, though they were unfamiliar with the person.

Kou Chongxue, the founder of Mystic Academy, the Chancellor of Mystic Academy, and the highest decision-maker of Mystic City, was also the top expert in the entire Youzhou!

However, this person was also mysterious, as he was rarely seen in the Mystic Academy.

Many students, from entering the outer dormitories to becoming upper dormitory students and eventually leaving the academy, had never seen the Chancellor of the academy.

Even the faculty, when mentioning the name of the Chancellor of Mystic Academy, would react with awe but know nothing about him.

Some upper dormitory students even joked that Chancellor Kou was not unseen; it's just that sometimes he passed by you, and you didn't recognize him.

Mysterious, low-key, and elusive—this was the impression the Chancellor of Mystic Academy left on most students.

The valley echoed with Huang Que's arrogant laughter, but at that moment, a voice from the valley entrance, slightly surprised, called out, "Hey? Come quickly, come quickly!"

When he said the first "come quickly," Qing Que's voice was still at the hiding spot at the valley entrance, but by the time he said the second "come quickly," his voice seemed to be outside the valley entrance.

Huang Que's laughter abruptly stopped, and he turned his head sharply towards the valley entrance.

"What happened?" Ling Que stood up from the Jin Yun carriage and called out to Qing Que.

However, Qing Que did not respond, as if he had already moved away from the valley entrance.

"I'll go check!"

Huang Que stood up, but Ling Que stopped him, his expression serious. "You stay here and watch. I'll go check!"

...

After replacing Huang Que, Qing Que had been hiding in a secret spot near the valley entrance, idly watching the movements outside the valley.

Although they were confident that the patrol riders from Mystic Peak had been lured away by their companions, this was still within the territory of Mystic Peak. In this area, there were not only patrol riders but also some wandering knights and lone wolves from the Cang Yu Realm, known as scattered cultivators in the Cang Ling Realm.

Therefore, although the three of them had been staying in this valley for several days, they did not dare to be the slightest bit careless, and the mental pressure made them all feel exhausted.

Previously, chatting with Ling Que from time to time didn't seem so bad, but now, being alone, Qing Que had already opened his mouth to yawn for the third time after just a short while.

He barely suppressed the sleepiness in his yawn and forced his blurry eyes open, almost thinking he had fallen asleep and was dreaming.

That was... a mutated rain swallow?

He rubbed his eyes hard and pinched his thigh, the sharp pain making him instantly alert.

When he looked out of the valley again, he finally confirmed that it wasn't an illusion or a dream.

A mutated rain swallow, really a mutated rain swallow!

And it was a lone mutated rain swallow!

"Hey, come quickly..."

Qing Que called out to his companions in the valley and darted out of the valley entrance.

"Come quickly!"

After leaving the valley, Qing Que called out again.

But he immediately noticed that the mutated rain swallow on the nearby treetops seemed to be on alert. He quickly shut up and cautiously approached.

Qing Que was excited. They had risked entering the territory controlled by Mystic Peak to capture a mutated rain swallow and enhance their family's bloodline.

And now, a lone mutated rain swallow was right outside the valley. Wasn't this a sign of divine favor for the Wind Swallow Clan?

No, no, it was more like a sign of divine favor for him!

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