Ten Thousand Demon Mountain, even deeper within.
"Just now, there seemed to be a fight over there."
On a clearing, more than ten martial artists were gathered around a campfire, roasting a wild rabbit over the flames.
"Judging by the direction, it should be the valley we passed earlier."
"Shall we go and have a look?"
"We rushed into the mountain a bit too quickly, coming in as the ’yellow sparrow behind,’ we might also get more effective information."
After some discussion, they decided to turn back and have a look.
All of them were martial artists in the Bone Refinement Realm, and had come in a group; in these outer regions of the mountain, they felt confident and unafraid.
"Let’s go!"
They extinguished the campfire, packed up quickly, and retraced their steps back the way they came.
A moment after they had left, three martial artists in the Marrow Refinement Realm emerged from behind a tree!
"We should go have a look too. So far, these Lu Family martial artists haven’t revealed any news of the chairman’s death!"
The chairman they spoke of was none other than Xu Yueru!
With Xu Yueru’s death, their Polar Treasure Meeting had lost information regarding the eye beads.
Therefore, although they could easily kill these Bone Refinement Realm martial artists, they still had no choice but to follow behind them.
...
"Young Master, are you alright now?"
Qin Yaotiao slowly regained consciousness and saw Lu Chen sitting in front of her, her face brightening with joy.
"Hmm, next time, you still shouldn’t stray that far from me—not for anything!"
Qin Yaotiao’s face flushed with shyness as she looked down slightly and murmured a yes, barely audible like a mosquito’s buzz.
Lu Chen teased her, "Anyway, you’ve been seen by me already, what’s there to be embarrassed about?"
"Young Master!"
Qin Yaotiao couldn’t help but chide him, overwhelmed with shyness.
At that moment, the sack wriggled a bit, obviously the martial artist inside was also awake.
"Where... where am I!"
Realizing he was bound inside a sack, the martial artist naturally felt intense fear.
Lu Chen made a silence gesture to Qin Yaotiao, then said sternly, "Who are you people, and why are you tracking us!"
Hearing Lu Chen’s voice, a chill immediately ran through the martial artist’s heart, remembering how his elder brother had died in an instant, he dared not conceal anything.
"Senior, senior, we are just ordinary martial artists making a living at the foot of Ten Thousand Demon Mountain... My name is Wu Er, my elder brother..."
Lu Chen coldly chuckled, interrupting him, "I’m not interested in the names of the dead!"
A chill went through Wu Er’s heart, sensing immense pressure from that statement, he hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, my elder brother saw your spear in town and it cost a fortune, so we wanted to take it and sell it to exchange for some cultivation resources, so we wouldn’t have to lead such a hard life..."
This was not far off from what Lu Chen had guessed. He nodded slightly and continued, "Besides you, does anyone else know?"
"No, no," Wu Er shook his head vehemently, saying, "It was just the two of us who knew. Initially, when we stopped you at the foot of the mountain, my elder brother just wanted to make sure if that spear was the one he saw."
Lu Chen asked further, "How did you manage to follow us up here? I’ve been vigilant all along the way and failed to notice you!"
"Senior," Wu Er didn’t dare to hide anything, "We have wandered in these mountains for years, naturally, we know some shortcuts; we took the small paths here!"
A pleased expression appeared on Lu Chen’s face; he was somewhat worried about encountering those martial artists ahead on the trail. If there were small paths that could circumvent them, nothing could be better.
"In that case, are there other hidden paths deeper in the mountains?"
"There are," Wu Er hastily replied, "That path not only allows you to go deeper into the mountain but can also traverse Ten Thousand Demon Mountain! It’s just that this shortcut is challenging to navigate, and it passes through some beast territories..."
Beasts aren’t to be feared; it’s humans that are frightening!
Lu Chen was moved by this idea. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Did you encounter a group of more than ten martial artists in the Bone Refinement Realm entering these mountains together?"
"We saw them, about an hour before you entered the mountain. At that time, my elder brother was even scolded by them, I remember it very clearly!"
Lu Chen had obtained all the information he desired and then struck the martial artist’s neck with his palm, causing Wu Er to pass out once more.
Only then did Lu Chen say to Qin Yaotiao, "Rest well for the night, and when dawn comes, we’ll have him take us to the shortcut."
Before Qin Yaotiao could answer, sounds of more than ten sets of footsteps came from outside the cave!
She quickly closed her mouth, not daring to make a sound, and looked at Lu Chen with a worried gaze!
Lu Chen’s face also turned serious.
Was it just a coincidence that martial artists had come here again, or...
The martial artists from the Lu Family who were ahead?
The cave was well-concealed; it was impossible to spot from the outside, but Lu Chen worried that these martial artists would start probing around and end up discovering the cave!
As he fretted, a martial artist’s voice came from the side of the brook!
"Look, there are two knives here, but no people to be seen!"
Knives?
A shock passed through Lu Chen’s heart; he had dealt with the bodies, but he had forgotten to also throw the knives into the stream, thus leaving a clue for these people and raising their alertness!
Could it be that they would have to take action in this valley?