Chapter 37

The mutated swift is an extremely alert bird!

As Qingque cautiously approached the large tree where the mutated swift was located, taking cover behind rocks and trees, he tried to recall the habits and characteristics of the mutated swift.

Usually, mutated swifts are a social species...

But now, there was only one mutated swift on the surrounding trees!

This was clearly a lone mutated swift, unless...

Just as a hint of doubt arose in Qingque's mind, the mutated swift on a nearby tree branch seemed to have sensed the approaching danger. It flapped its wings restlessly on the branch and then leaped up, preparing to fly away.

Qingque's heart leaped to his throat...

However, he soon realized that the mutated swift, after leaving the branch, did not soar into the sky but instead plummeted sharply, almost crashing to the ground.

The mutated swift struggled to flap its wings, emitting a series of mournful cries. It wobbled and managed to lift its flight path slightly, eventually landing on the branch of another large tree about twenty to thirty zhang away.

"Ha, as I thought, it's injured, no wonder it's alone!"

Qingque felt a surge of excitement: "It's my turn to receive this great gift. If I can capture this mutated swift alive, I will have a chance to purify the spiritual blood in my body. Then, the name 'Qingque' will no longer suit me. I will be given the surname 'Yan,' symbolizing pure bloodline, and 'Yan Qing' will be a very suitable name..."

Qingque, lost in thoughts of the future, did not notice that as he followed the mutated swift, he was getting farther and farther from the valley entrance.

...

On the mountain ridge, Shang Xia saw Lingque, who was sitting on the roof of the brocade cloud carriage and seemed to be the leader in both status and strength, walking out of the valley entrance.

Shang Xia was overjoyed, not expecting that Leiniao and Yan Nie'er could truly understand his intentions.

But now the question was how long Yan Nie'er could delay them!

No, it had to be a quick battle. A bird could only do so much!

Shang Xia seized the opportunity, starting from a blind spot of the yellow oriole in the valley, and slowly approached his back, taking cover behind rocks.

In the valley, the yellow oriole was unaware of the approaching danger.

He seemed to be a heavy drinker, having been somewhat restrained in front of Lingque.

Now that Lingque had left, he quickly finished the strong liquor in his leather bag.

Then he walked to one of the brocade cloud carriages, skillfully lifted a wine barrel from inside, opened the lid, and inserted a funnel hanging on the side of the barrel into the mouth of the leather bag. He used a bamboo spoon to scoop a full spoon of wine, first gulping it down himself, and then pouring it into the leather bag.

The strong aroma of the wine immediately spread throughout the valley, the scent of Hundred Herbs Brew.

Unlike the pot of Hundred Flowers Dew that Shang Xia carried, Hundred Herbs Brew had healing properties, especially for internal injuries, while Hundred Flowers Dew simply helped to restore the energy of martial cultivators.

By this time, Shang Xia had descended from the mountain ridge and was only twenty to thirty zhang away from the valley entrance.

The terrain that could conceal him was becoming scarce, and Shang Xia even saw that many of his classmates had already noticed him and were looking over, their eyes filled with excitement and hope.

Fortunately, they all understood that they must not make a sound, not wanting the martial cultivators in the valley to discover Shang Xia's approach. They could only signal with their eyes, urging each other not to speak or even look at Shang Xia.

Despite this, the young students, still in their teenage years, could not help but become slightly agitated at the prospect of being saved.

The yellow oriole suddenly turned around, baring his large yellow teeth and spitting out alcohol, saying, "What, now that only Lord Yellow Oriole is left, do you think you have a chance to escape?"

Seeing the dozen or so young men and women squatting on the ground, all lowering their heads and not daring to respond, the yellow oriole felt even more pleased. His face, full of wrinkles, twisted into a sinister smile, and he said, "Now, let's play a game. Don't say Lord Yellow Oriole doesn't give you a chance. You can start thinking of ways to escape now, and I won't chase you until I finish this bag of wine. How about that?"

"Let's start now!"

As the yellow oriole spoke, he shook the leather bag and was about to turn his head to drink from it.

"Don't listen to him, he just wants an excuse to beat us up!"

The yellow oriole grunted, turning his head back to look at the speaker, his eyes filled with menace, "Boy, you dare to question Lord Yellow Oriole?"

Huang Zihua, who had been staring at the yellow oriole, suddenly lost his courage, his eyes darting away as if recalling some painful memory.

But as his eyes subtly glanced at the yellow oriole's back, Huang Zihua found some unknown courage, lifting his head to meet the yellow oriole's fierce gaze and saying, "You're a pervert! Our people will find us eventually, and then you..."

"Boy, don't wait for that. Do you think I can't break your bones right now?"

The yellow oriole grabbed Huang Zihua's collar and lifted him up with one hand.

Huang Zihua turned his face away to avoid the spittle from the yellow oriole's mouth and coldly said, "You won't have the chance!"

The yellow oriole was taken aback, then suddenly realized something and turned his head to look behind him.

But the last thing he saw was a familiar willow-leaf saber!

"Isn't that Miss Ming's weapon?"

With his final doubt, the martial cultivator yellow oriole's consciousness plunged into darkness.

"Brother Shang!"

Huang Zihua, ignoring the blood splattered on his face, excitedly called out to Shang Xia, who was approaching.

But at this moment, his appearance was truly terrible, looking like a ghost.

"Shh!"

Shang Xia made a gesture to be quiet, then nodded to his classmates, handing one of the willow-leaf sabers to Huang Zihua and throwing the other to Jiao Haitang. He then quickly and silently headed towards the valley entrance.

At this moment, everyone realized they were still in danger, with two more martial cultivators outside the valley, and it seemed that only Shang Xia had come to rescue them.

"Wow, it's actually a low-grade weapon!"

Huang Zihua's eyes lit up as he held the willow-leaf saber, speaking without thinking.

"Hurry up, I remember there were a few Cloud-Piercing Crossbows in one of the brocade cloud carriages. Although we are not yet Extraordinary Martial Cultivators, those Cloud-Piercing Crossbows might help Chief a bit!"

Jiao Haitang had already used the willow-leaf saber to cut the ropes on his hands and feet and was now helping the other classmates.

Huang Zihua responded with an "Oh" and quickly followed suit, and soon everyone was free from their bindings.

Holding the saber, Huang Zihua looked at the decapitated corpse on the ground and whispered in amazement, "How did Chief do it? This yellow oriole had shown the cultivation of the late Wu Yuan realm, yet Chief managed to approach him silently from behind and cut off his head without him even knowing how he died."

At this moment, a Cloud-Piercing Crossbow was thrown to him, and Huang Zihua caught it hurriedly.

"Maybe Chief Brother is already at the Wu Ji realm," Jiao Haitang's voice came from beside the brocade cloud carriage, "Of course, your reckless behavior in drawing his attention also made it easier for Chief Brother to strike from behind."

Huang Zihua burst into silent laughter, as if he had been waiting for this comment, and whispered with a hint of pride, "That's right, of course!"

Just as he finished speaking, a thunderclap echoed at the valley entrance.

The students in the valley looked up to see flashes of light and a series of screams and curses.

"Quick, let's go!"

Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang instinctively shouted, running towards the valley entrance with their Cloud-Piercing Crossbows in hand.

...

"...A lone mutated swift? Even if what you say is true, do you think you have the ability to catch it? If it were that easy, why would we have failed to capture any mutated swifts despite our large-scale efforts? Wouldn't that make us all useless fools?"

Lingque did not believe Qingque's claim about finding a lone mutated swift and had been scolding him for leaving the valley without permission.

"I really found a lone mutated swift, and it looked injured, having difficulty flying. I thought it was a rare opportunity, so I..."

Qingque tried to defend himself.

"Fine, even if what you say is true! Even if there is an injured mutated swift, can you guarantee that you can capture it alive?"

Lingque looked at Qingque with a face full of disappointment.

Qingque was speechless. He had only felt the opportunity was rare and rushed to follow it, forgetting the fierce nature of the mutated swift, which would commit suicide if captured.

Seeing Qingque not arguing, Lingque felt a surge of satisfaction and decided to use this opportunity to impart some of his experience and advice as a senior.

Qingque, helpless, could only listen with his head down.

By this time, they had reached the valley entrance. Lingque continued to lecture, while Qingque nodded absentmindedly, looking up to see how far they were.

However, as he looked up, Qingque was terrified.

Lingque, noticing something was wrong, turned to look at the valley entrance and saw only a golden-red glow.

"Ah—"

Lingque only had time to instinctively raise his arm to shield himself. The rapid lightning struck his arm, turning it into a charred stump, and the remaining lightning severely injured his face, followed by a powerful force that sent him flying and crashing to the ground.