Chapter 66

(Zhizhunbao: Everyone, please give me evaluation votes and recommendation votes — thank you, thank you! Please support me more, so Liu Yun won't always have me wandering alone in the world. I need a female lead too~~

Liu Yun: Uh~~ You're only twelve or thirteen, what are you thinking about...)

The six people followed Baihe into the backyard, bypassing the area where the disciples lived, and then directly arrived at the small courtyard of a few second-generation disciples. Without much talk, Baihe led them to the last empty room.

Many of the second-generation disciples who lived here had also come. They all knew that the last room was the old residence of Shi Zhu Mei Hua and his fellow disciples, which was always locked and kept as a memory. They were puzzled as to why he had come here. Baihe stood in front of the door, looked around, and then sneered, "Others have their backup plans, do you think our Wulun Sect is lacking? This is the secret passage of the sect, leading directly to the waist of Wanmang Peak. If we go this way, who can catch up!?"

Only then did everyone realize, feeling fortunate that they had not fled with the main group. With this secret passage, their chances of survival had greatly increased.

Baihe turned to the door and reached out to touch it, but unexpectedly, there was a click! The firelight illuminated the scene, revealing that the lock had fallen to the ground, with fresh marks on it, as if it had been forcibly pried open!

Baihe hurriedly entered the room and saw that the cabinet, which usually leaned against the wall, had been moved away, leaving a dark, empty hole on the ground. Before he could understand what had happened, a disciple timidly asked, "Uncle, were we discovered by the enemy?"

"Not necessarily!" Zhizhunbao, who was squatting on the ground, carefully examined the handprints on the dust of the cabinet: "This cabinet is so heavy that one person could never move it. It must have been done by two people. Look at the handprints here, one large and one small, clearly left by Miaofeng and Miaoshuang. So..."

"Exactly!" Baihe said solemnly: "Miaofeng, as your master's eldest disciple, knew more. He must have known about this secret passage leading down the mountain. Hmph! No wonder he escaped so smoothly, he must have planned this in advance!"

"The footprints on the ground are only from the two of them," Zhao Feng observed, confirming the statement.

Time was pressing, and since Baihe deduced that the enemy had not set this up, he boldly entered the cave. They followed the stone stairs down for several dozen feet, the further they went, the colder it became. When they reached the bottom, they found a dark river flowing, with a constant sound of trickling water, a natural passage.

Baihe pointed to the dark river: "This was discovered by the ancestor when he was repairing the foundation of the house. It is a constant underground river. Later, it was modified for emergencies. The slippery stones here are extremely sharp, but fortunately, the water is not deep now, so you can follow me!" He then stepped into the stream, holding the stone wall and moving forward.

The water in the dark river was extremely cold, and everyone shivered when they stepped in. Only Zhizhunbao was unaffected, and seeing Baihe struggling, he quickly stepped forward to support him, making the journey much smoother.

The temperature of the dark river was so low that after a few steps, everyone felt a numbing coldness in their feet, which then turned into a slight pain, and finally felt like needles pricking. Despite this, the disciples knew the situation and gritted their teeth, following Baihe without a word.

After an unknown amount of time, Baihe suddenly stopped, reached up, and pushed. A patch of white light shone down.

The sky was already bright!

One by one, the group crawled out of the cave and saw that they were indeed at the waist of Wanmang Peak. The area was filled with large piles of rocks and overgrown weeds, and no one would have thought there was an exit here.

"We made it! Finally made it!" "We escaped..." "Great..." Although everyone was pale and shivering from the cold, they still burst into cheers, celebrating their lucky escape. Looking up at the iron chains in the misty clouds, it felt like a different world, as if in a dream.

Zhizhunbao helped Baihe sit on a rock and asked softly, "Uncle, should we start a fire to dry our shoes and socks, and rest before moving on?" "No!" He waved his hand: "The fire will produce smoke, which the enemy can easily detect. It's too risky. We'll rest here and then head down the mountain to make plans!"

The pile of rocks was a good place to rest, and the others didn't need to be told. They all removed their shoes and socks, grabbed some dry grass, crushed it, and stuffed it into their shoes. They then tore strips of cloth from their clothes to wrap their bare feet, making them much warmer. Baihe watched their actions and reminded them, "The mountain path is difficult to walk on, don't wear them for too long, or your feet will be rubbed raw, making the journey even harder."

Everyone responded affirmatively, saying, "We know."

Baihe felt much more relieved to have escaped, but when he looked up at the peak through the morning mist, a sense of melancholy gradually arose in his heart. He thought to himself, "If I had put more effort into practicing magic when I was with my master, perhaps I wouldn't be in this situation today... Sigh! It was all because of my foolishness back then, focusing too much on martial arts and neglecting the sect's skills..." As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed the iron chains and had a thought!

He quickly called out, "Ding Qi, Zhao Feng, when you left with the disciples, did you go to Siguoyan and see Kong Feng?"

At this question, both of them changed color, indicating without words that they had not gone, or perhaps had even forgotten about it!

"Ah! You..." Baihe immediately understood and sighed, putting on his shoes and socks: "Then, you two take the other disciples down the mountain to find your third uncle. I will go up the mountain alone to rescue Kong Feng, and then meet you at the bottom..." "Uncle!" Ding Qi was very anxious and interrupted, "You must not go back up the mountain!"

"You can't go back!" Zhao Feng also advised, "We barely escaped, and if you go back, it will be like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth!" "Yes, Uncle, please don't go back..."

"How can you go up the mountain through the dark river? If you take the main path, the enemy will definitely find you..."

"Now it's daylight, Uncle, it's too risky..."

The disciples gathered around to persuade Baihe, using emotional appeals and weighing the pros and cons, all trying to dissuade him. Zhizhunbao, however, remained silent, watching coldly from the side.

Baihe, having made up his mind, would not change it. He chuckled, "No problem! I have my own plan for going up the mountain, and I won't be so easily discovered—remember, the most important thing is the ancestral tablet. Even if only one of you remains, you must bring it safely to the third uncle."

He put on his wet shoes and socks, tested the strength of a wooden stick, and got up from the rock: "Alright, I'm going up the mountain now..."

Seeing Baihe really going up the mountain, Ding Qi became very anxious and suddenly blocked his path, "Uncle, you really can't go! I and Master Feng are not capable of leading all the disciples down the mountain. If we encounter the enemy on the way, we'll all be captured!" His lips twitched, and he struggled to say, "Moreover, there are six or seven of us here, and only one on the mountain..."

Ding Qi's words were sincere, and the meaning was clear. In terms of numbers, bringing the six people down the mountain and going up to rescue one person on Siguoyan, the priorities were obvious. He hoped Baihe would prioritize this... Hearing this, Baihe's expression changed several times, and he suddenly said:

"Good and evil have no inherent nature, and actions have their own regularity; good and evil have no weight, and the urgency is hard to describe! Now, Kong Feng is in danger, and although he is fewer in number, we must go up the mountain to rescue him, otherwise, he will surely fall into the hands of the enemy! If we know what is good but do evil, and judge by the weight and urgency, how are we different from ordinary people, and what is the point of practicing on this mountain—being disciples and members of the sect, in my eyes, you are all the same. I will not abandon you, and I will not abandon him... This is something I must do, and it must be done!"

He scanned the faces of the disciples and slowly said, "To go down the mountain, we will not take the main path of Wanmang Peak, but instead, we will go to the waist of the mountain. There is a suspended path that can lead to the side peak, and then follow the stream down the mountain, which is safe... I have been this way with your great-grandmaster. Along the way, wherever there are peach trees, there are also sweet potatoes, about thirty to fifty places, enough for you to eat until you reach the Kunlun Mountains. Once you are away from the enemy, food will not be a problem, and you can safely reach the bottom of the mountain... Do you understand?"

Although his words were a question, his eyes were on Ding Qi and Zhao Feng, and seeing their clear expressions, he couldn't help but smile... Suddenly, someone interjected, "Uncle, you can't go!"

Baihe had been talking for a long time, and all the disciples had stopped persuading him, but unexpectedly, someone spoke up again. He was a bit annoyed and was about to scold, but when he turned around, he saw it was Zhizhunbao!

Although Zhizhunbao had not stood out on the mountain, he had noticed the signs of the lost souls and bravely seized the poison during the escape, and was the first to discover the drug in the dried vegetables... Seeing him speak, Baihe guessed that Zhizhunbao had his own plan and patiently asked, "Bao'er, do you have something to say?"

Zhizhunbao nodded, "Uncle, you absolutely cannot go up the mountain! It's not that you shouldn't go, but that you absolutely cannot go up the mountain to find your senior brother!"

"Why?"

Zhizhunbao counted on his fingers, "First, the enemy used poison on you first, showing that they consider you very important. Your every move will attract their attention, and the poison might have a way to track your movements..." He raised his first finger, "So, although you are skilled, it is not suitable for you to go up the mountain!"

"Oh? What else?"

Zhizhunbao raised his second finger, "Second, the enemy attacked you first, showing that you are their clear target. Now that they can't find you on the mountain, they will surely search along Wanmang Peak, leaving the mountain much emptier..." He smiled, "Actually, the mountain is not dangerous now, or there might not even be any enemies left!"

This statement caused a stir among the disciples, who all nodded in agreement, and Baihe also frowned in thought...

Zhizhunbao then leaned close to Baihe and whispered, "Uncle, since the enemy can remove souls, they might also have a way to track people. I don't have that... Actually, it would be better for me to go up the mountain. At least I am not injured or sick, and it's not so easy to find me even if I hide!"

Seeing the hesitation in Baihe's eyes, he added, "Uncle, don't worry, I'm really fine!—I'll be back in a day, you'll see!"

Baihe thought for a long time but still felt uneasy, shaking his head, "No, this is too dangerous! You should go down the mountain with your fellow disciples, and I will go..."

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the nearby grass!

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