After having a meal, they took turns keeping watch through the night just like the previous days, their vigilance undiminished by the surface tranquility of the valley.
The night passed without incident, and the valley remained calm and peaceful until dawn, not even a single roar of a beast was heard.
Noise came from the distant fortress as all the young swordsmen gathered beneath the city walls.
"What are they preparing to do?" Mu Cheng asked, gripping his longsword, thinking something had happened.
"Don’t speak, listen carefully," Mu Hanyan gestured for silence.
"Gentlemen, I’ve called you here so early because there’s a matter I’d like to discuss with everyone," Qu Fengting’s voice carried from afar.
"Brother Qu, there’s no need for such courtesy, just tell us what’s going on," someone from below responded.
"We’ve been trapped in the Exotic Beast Valley for several days now, and Zhengying Academy has made no move to rescue us. If I’m not mistaken, they may have encountered trouble themselves.
As far as I know, these cultivation forbidden lands were established in ancient times, sealed by the peak experts from tens of thousands of years ago. After so many years, not only have much of the Barrier Technique and Sealing arts been lost, but the strength of swordsmen has also declined significantly. It’s unlikely we will break through the Barrier within a short time, and there’s no one who can save us," Qu Fengting said with a worried expression.
"Brother Qu, what should we do then?" Those young swordsmen, who had placed all their hopes on Zhengying Academy, were getting anxious at his words.
"As swordsmen, we have been practicing cultivation for many years; we can’t just sit and wait for death, placing all our hope in others. I have read all the ancient books in my family’s collection and have some understanding of these ancient Barriers.
When those ancient experts established the Sealing Barriers, they would always leave a passage inside. As long as we find the passage, we can escape," Qu Fengting said enigmatically.
The Qu family itself was the premier family of Nanxi County, and its Zong Family was even a wealthy and noble family in the Capital, so their collection was definitely not comparable to that of smaller families, making his words quite convincing.
However, Mu Hanyan snickered to herself after hearing this. She did not know where exactly the Barrier came from, nor could she be certain if there was indeed a passage inside, but one thing was sure, Qu Fengting’s actions were not about escaping the valley, but about finding the ancient palace hidden in the crevices of the rocks.
She remembered Wu Qiuyun mentioning that an ancestor of the Qu family had accidentally triggered the Seal, causing an earthquake and rock collapse, with the palace very likely buried among the mountains. How could he find it alone? Qu Fengting was probably just looking for cannon fodder.
"But, these Exotic Beasts have been quiet these last couple of days. We don’t know where they’ve gone. Isn’t it too risky to wander around? Maybe we should just stay here and wait it out," someone voiced their concern.
"It’s precisely because these Exotic Beasts have been silent that I am more worried. You must know, the intelligence of the Exotic Beasts far surpasses that of ordinary creatures. Perhaps they are also secretly gathering and conserving their strength, waiting to deliver us a fatal blow. Once they’re ready, do you think, with just the few hundred of us swordsmen and this fortress, we would be able to hold them off?" Qu Fengting asked gravely.
The faces of the people below changed, realizing that with their strength, plus this makeshift fortress, a handful of Exotic Beasts wouldn’t be a problem, but if it were as Qu Fengting said, with hundreds or thousands of them launching a fierce attack, they wouldn’t be able to hold off no matter what. Discover more novels at novel-fire.ɴet
Thinking of the eerie tranquility of the past few days and seeing Qu Fengting’s solemn expression filled their hearts with extreme oppression and unease.
"Brother Qu, we will follow your lead. Just tell us what to do," that person no longer dared to mention waiting for rescue, placing all their hopes on Qu Fengting.
"If it weren’t for Brother Qu bringing us all together, we might have already lost our lives. There’s nothing more to say, we’ll follow Brother Qu’s lead," others chimed in as well.
"I think this is what we should do – all of us have gone through life and death together, not an easy experience. Why not form the Unity Alliance, elect Brother Qu as the Alliance Hierarch, and follow his orders in all things? It will prevent us from fighting inconsistively at crucial moments and ruining everything. Once we escape from here, we can also support each other through thick and thin. Wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing? " A henchman beside Qu Fengting said with excitement.
From a distance, Mu Hanyan rolled her eyes and suddenly started to miss her two henchmen. She felt she could let her two lackeys witness the brown-nosing skills of others, but as for learning them – better not. She feared she might vomit every day, wasting food.
(Recently I’ve been so diligent, but you all haven’t been leaving me many comments, huh? Yiyi ying, don’t you love me anymore? Hurry up and give me a kiss, to soothe my wounded heart.)