Cave Entrance

By the wall beneath the bed was a narrow crack. If not for the direction of the water flow giving it away, it would have been almost impossible to notice.

The three exchanged glances. Wei Hongqing took out several iron darts, Zuo Gaofeng gripped twin axes, and Liu Xiaolou drew the Three Xuan Sword. With a turn of his right wrist, he slightly extended the Misty Incense Tendon.

Once they were ready for battle, Wei Hongqing half-lay down and shifted over to the corner. He gently inserted an iron dart into the crack, hoping to pry up the floor tile exposed by it, yet he did not dare exert force. After several attempts, he still failed.

After pondering for a moment, he reached out and felt around nearby. Sure enough, he found a spot that protruded slightly and pressed it down.

Two foot-square floor tiles suddenly sank, revealing a hole in the ground.

The space beneath was pitch-black, and they could not see what lay below. Wei Hongqing pointed at the unconscious woman. Zuo Gaofeng grabbed her and handed her to Wei Hongqing.

Wei Hongqing held one of the woman's arms and lowered her feet first, then her body, then her head, until she reached the bottom of the hole.

Using that woman as a shield, Wei Hongqing followed her down. The entrance was very small, and getting through took quite some effort, making a few noises in the process. He tried several times because of it, yet nothing below responded.

Soon, firelight appeared beneath the hole. Wei Hongqing had lit a fire starter, and Zuo Gaofeng followed him down shortly afterward.

After a while, Zuo Gaofeng returned and said to Liu Xiaolou, "The tunnel is very long. Lu Zi'an does not seem to be inside. He and I will go in and investigate. Stay here and cover us."

Liu Xiaolou waited silently by the hole. After waiting nearly half an hour, just as his patience was about to snap, Zuo Gaofeng poked his head out again. "Quick, we found him! Get the Hermit and Tan Bazhang down here too. Prepare to make a move!"

Liu Xiaolou's heart immediately leaped into his throat. He rushed out of the residence and called Western Mountain Hermit and Tan Bazhang into the house. The two were both excited and nervous. They each took out their magical implements and descended into the tunnel one after another.

They were about to fight an expert at the Qi Refining tenth layer. How could they not be nervous?

The tunnel was narrow. Zuo Gaofeng ran ahead in small steps, holding a lit pine branch, while the others followed behind. They did not know how many turns they made or how long they ran before they emerged above ground. A chilly breeze swept over them, extinguishing the flames that had risen in their hearts.

Zuo Gaofeng had already put out the torch. He pointed at a patch of black shadow ahead, where a broken cliff could vaguely be seen. They crept closer on tiptoe, rounded the cliff, and the scene before them suddenly brightened.

At the foot of the cliff was a stone cave, firelight flickering within.

Wei Hongqing stood seven or eight zhang from the cave entrance, crouched behind a dense thicket. Beside him was the woman, who had already awakened. Her Meridians had been sealed, leaving her unable to speak, and her eyes were filled with despair.

Liu Xiaolou whispered, "Is he there?"

Wei Hongqing nodded.

Liu Xiaolou asked again, "Is it him?"

Wei Hongqing nodded once more.

The firelight inside the cave continued to flicker, and everything appeared normal. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Wei Hongqing pointed to the cliff top above the entrance and gestured with his chin at Tan Bazhang. Tan Bazhang nodded and took a roundabout route upward.

Zuo Gaofeng lay in ambush to the left of the entrance, while Western Mountain Hermit climbed into a tree diagonally opposite it. Liu Xiaolou saw him take out a mechanism that looked like a crossbow case.

Wei Hongqing motioned for Liu Xiaolou to join him. They went to the right side of the cave entrance and carefully inched forward, still carrying that woman in hand.

Tan Bazhang had already reached the area above the entrance. He made a hand signal to Wei Hongqing below, and Wei Hongqing nudged Liu Xiaolou, telling him to begin.

Liu Xiaolou slowly crouched down and extended his palm along the ground. His hand was concealed by the weeds at the entrance, making it difficult for anyone inside the cave to spot it. The Misty Incense Tendon extended from his wrist beneath his sleeve. Stirred by true essence, it released a colorless mist invisible to the naked eye, which drifted into the cave.

The cave was far larger than a room, and its entrance was wide open. With a bonfire burning inside, the effects of the Bewitching Incense would be noticeably weakened. Of course, there was also an advantage: because of the bonfire, its scent became even harder to identify.

His movements were light, and the Bewitching Incense was hidden by his sleeve. Aside from Wei Hongqing, the other three did not know the ambush had begun. They continued staring at Wei Hongqing, awaiting his order to attack.

The Bewitching Incense continued to be activated. Liu Xiaolou could sense that the incense tendon had already shortened by one-third. Though it pained him deeply, he knew this was no time to be stingy. The opponent was an expert, nothing like the woman at his feet.

Earlier, he had joined Wei Hongqing on a job involving another expert at the Qi Refining tenth layer. At the time, there had been little Bewitching Incense left, and even after they activated all of it, the effect had not been especially good, leading to a fierce battle. Fortunately, they had many companions; otherwise, the target might truly have escaped.

He also knew that, with his current cultivation, the Bewitching Incense he refined could not possibly be good enough, and the power with which he activated it was far too lacking. Even if he activated the entire incense tendon, he feared it still would not knock out Lu Zi'an in the cave. But as long as it had some effect, their surprise attack would be much more secure.

He had maintained this strange posture the whole time. By now, Zuo Gaofeng, Tan Bazhang, and Western Mountain Hermit had also realized that Brother Liu was casting a spell and administering poison. When they had drugged the woman in the room before, none of them had witnessed it personally, so they had not thought it remarkable. Now that they saw it with their own eyes, they only found it utterly inconceivable.

Where was the blowpipe they had been promised? Where was the medicinal smoke?

It had begun just like that, without a sound?

The few of them could not help but shudder.

Lu Zi'an truly was inside the cave. His feet were hooked into a crack in the ceiling, his body pressed tightly against it like a gecko, his full attention fixed on the entrance.

There was a breath to the left of the entrance, nearly impossible to detect. That meant the person lying in ambush there was at least at the Qi Refining sixth layer, but definitely not at the ninth. There were three people to the right of the entrance: two breaths were steady, while one was weak. He suspected they were one of the small groups commonly found among Rogue Cultivators, likely quite practiced at coordinating during magical combat. There should also be another person in a tree some distance outside the cave, because he had just heard the sound of a branch being bent beneath weight. It had been faint, but it still could not escape his senses.

Lu Zi'an had concealed a short sword barely an inch long beneath his tongue. This was a secret art he had cultivated bitterly for many years. So long as an enemy dared show their head, he believed he could certainly kill one by surprise. As for the remaining four, even together, he did not fear them.

What he needed to consider was how to keep even one from escaping. Otherwise, if word leaked out, he would face Tianmu Mountain's endless pursuit. In truth, even if he killed every last one of these petty rats who dared not show themselves, he could no longer remain here. What he hated was that half a month of secluded cultivation had gone down the drain. He had failed to break through to perfection, and everything would have to begin anew. The day he could take the Foundation Establishment Pill was even farther beyond the horizon.

Hmm. When he left, he would have to take Ping Gu with him too. He wondered whether Ping Gu was in danger.

At the thought of Ping Gu, a graceful body suddenly sprang into his mind, swaying before his eyes and making his mouth run dry in waves.

Damn it, so restless...