Chapter 31: Night at Yao Pass
I aimed for a swift victory, going all out.
Chasing the ape-like mutant, I struck with both palms, winds howling, intent on overpowering him.
Just one fountain opened…
Push forward, crush him.
The mutant didn’t dare clash, using his spine bow to block.
He thought this kid had more than three fountains, maybe four. With the silver-threaded gloves, I could likely spar with a five-fountain cultivator.
A four-fountain realm could make a magical artifact glow silver— likely no low-grade item.
A Yongquan realm with a magical artifact?
Who was this kid?
Unable to fathom, after blocking several palms, his bow shattered, hands bled, organs aching.
He turned to flee.
I couldn’t let him escape.
He had to be silenced.
Catching up, I used my hand as a blade, unleashing Taiyi Sea-Splitting.
A silver palm-qi blade struck his back, severing his spine.
His massive body collapsed, burning.
“Thud!”
A final palm crushed his skull.
Confirming his death, I hurried back, retrieved the Yellow Dragon Sword, and wrapped it in cloth.
Zhao Zhizhuo thanked me: “May I know my young savior’s name? I, Zhao Zhizhuo of the Cangli tribe, will remember it forever.”
“Old sir, go get help— that’s the priority,” I said.
Pale, eyes anxious, he endured his wound’s pain: “I’ve a presumptuous request… Could you see this through? In my state, I’d fall off the horse in dozens of miles.”
The iron arrow had torn flesh and bone.
I didn’t want to get involved, fearing Shi Jiuzhai’s retribution.
But if the bronze ship’s crew disembarked, they’d need a place to settle. Helping now was a risk worth taking.
I’d ridden horses but wasn’t skilled.
With two foot fountains opened, my body was extraordinary, handling a horse easily.
Three of us on one horse.
Zhao Zhizhuo lay forward, Gao Huan clung to my waist.
The horse, fed Zouwu blood, had tough bones, strong muscles, tiger stripes, far larger than normal. Carrying three, it galloped like lightning, covering a thousand miles daily.
…
Yao Pass, nearly three hundred miles from Immortal Burial Town, housed over two hundred thousand people. No walls, gates, or moat, it was like a vast, open market town.
Spread like a pancake on the fertile plains west of the Sui River, it bordered the rugged Mang Mountains.
Night had fallen.
Bone lamps lit the streets, glowing like ghost fire.
Gao Huan and I stayed at Yao Court, the city’s third-largest inn. After hot baths, we ate noodle soup and a dozen delicacies.
That afternoon, Zhao Zhizhuo had gone to the city lord’s mansion for help.
Soon, roars of beasts echoed from Mang Mountains. Some cultivators rode giant birds with ten-meter wingspans, others tiger-like, elephant-like, or rhino-like beasts, rushing to Immortal Burial Town.
A grand spectacle.
Leizhou, the Jiuli tribes’ domain, had been peaceful for centuries, never facing such a heinous event.
Despite rivalries, the tribes united in crises.
Bound by generations of intermarriage, they were inseparable.
Zhao Zhizhuo returned to Yao Court, thanking me again, trying to kneel but steadied by me.
In gray-white cloth, in his sixties or seventies, with frosted temples but strong muscles, he’d clearly been imposing in youth.
“Without your heroism, my Cangli tribe would’ve suffered greatly. Tomorrow, the young chief will thank you personally. Whatever you need, just ask.”
His shoulder was cleaned, bandaged, treated with secret medicine.
“They’ve been rescued?”
I was eager to know if the battle at Immortal Burial Town was over, wanting to return to the bronze ship.
Zhao Zhizhuo nodded: “The young chief hasn’t reached Yao Pass, but word came— the Buddha Ferry thieves retreated.”
“Buddha Ferry thieves?”
I was puzzled— wasn’t Shi Jiuzhai’s group the Earth Wolf King Army?
Zhao Zhizhuo knew we weren’t thieves, just refugees in Leizhou, mistaken due to our monk robes.
He’d learned this on horseback.
With the world in chaos, refugees flooded Leizhou. He trusted me, his savior, completely.
Eyes burning with hatred, chest heaving, aggravating his wounds, he rasped, “Southern Barbarians, Northern Di, Eastern Yi, Western Rong. In our southern states, the most hated, most feared are the three barbarian thieves: Xu Fodu of Coffin Mountain, Yuwen Yan of Night City, Shi Na’er of the Earth Wolf King.”
“They say Leizhou’s ruled by the Jiuli, peaceful for centuries.”
“But who knows the cost? The Jiuli pay tributes yearly to Coffin Mountain. Xu Fodu’s hundred thousand Buddha Ferry thieves only extort lightly, avoiding major conflicts.”
“This time, their brutality is abnormal— what’s their aim?”
My mind raced: “What about the Earth Wolf King Army?”
Zhao Zhizhuo said, “Their influence isn’t in Leizhou— no ties to us.”
“Have you heard of Shi Jiuzhai?”
His expression tightened: “Shi Jiuzhai’s a big deal, Shi Na’er’s adopted son, one of the Earth Wolf King’s ten law kings, rising in the last twenty years, listed in the Jiazi Record. Why ask?”
I sensed his fear of the three thieves— even the Jiuli paid them tribute.
I didn’t dare confess!
It’d thrust me into the spotlight, and the Cangli might not protect me. I could become a pawn in greater conflicts.
Stay low.
I was already too involved.
“His name’s renowned, like thunder.”
I changed the subject: “Old Zhao, clear up some cultivation doubts. I’ve been fumbling blindly.”
“Blindly reached three, even four fountains?”
Glancing at my silver-threaded gloves, he warned, “I won’t ask where you got that artifact, but don’t use it publicly. An innocent with treasure invites trouble.”
His sincerity touched me: “Are artifacts that precious?”
Zhao Zhizhuo believed I knew little of martial arts: “Let’s say, if I weren’t old and ambitionless, I’d be tempted by it. Not betrayal, but human nature.”
“Or, a heavenly beauty walks naked in the street, defenseless— any danger she faces is her fault, not others.”
“Got it!” I removed the gloves, hiding them: “Please keep it secret.”
He assured me, adding, “Don’t mind my bluntness. Few are purely good or evil— most fear being too good or too bad.”
“Rest easy, even in youth, I’d never betray a benefactor. I’ve seen too much, so I warn more.”
“Thanks!”
I asked more cultivation questions.
Outside, the night’s calm broke with rushing winds and beast roars.
The Beast Li tribe had returned!
Zhao Zhizhuo left to greet the young chief, asking if I’d join. I declined— tonight, the Cangli leaders were busy, not the time for meetings.
Such encounters could bring trouble.