A beam of light suddenly shot toward the southeast of the villa. In its glow stood a middle-aged fat man—Gu Zhenqi, seventh-ranked among the Dongyang Sect's inner disciples.
A fist-sized pearl flew from Gu Zhenqi's sleeve. It spun against the flashing incoming light, then instantly exploded into smoke that filled the sky.
"Fine, you scoundrels!" Gu Zhenqi immediately understood the enemy's intent. That strike had not been aimed at him; it was meant to cover the escape of the enemies within the villa.
Understanding was one thing, but there was no way to counter it at once. The smoke spread in all directions, blanketing Jinping Mountain Villa beneath the cover of night. Nothing could be seen more than a few yards away.
Gu Zhenqi shouted, "Junior Brother Ye, Junior Brother Su, withdraw from the villa and each guard a direction. Intercept the scoundrels. Any who resist, kill without mercy!"
Responses came from the due south and southeast. "We obey Senior Brother's command!"
The Dongyang Sect's three Foundation Establishment cultivators retreated through the air. The various heroes within the villa did the same. The Zhang clan elder controlling the villa-protecting formation was dead or alive, nobody knew; the formation had long since stopped functioning. The vine walls, over ten feet high, could not stop the assembled heroes from fleeing. Everyone identified the positions of the Dongyang Sect's three inner disciples, then did the opposite, madly fleeing northwest and charging out of the villa through the smoke.
Liu Xiaolou was fleeing too, but his cultivation was insufficient and he moved too slowly, trailing at the very end of the crowd. If he escaped like this, there was a great chance he would be caught by the Dongyang Sect experts arriving upon the news. Panic, even despair, rose in his heart.
Jinping Mountain Villa had been ruined beyond recognition, and nobody knew how many Zhang clansmen had been killed or wounded. Though he had no blood on his hands, would the Dongyang Sect listen to his explanation when they dealt with the matter? If they did not kill someone, it would not be enough to quell the "public outrage"!
His teacher had attended several Hero Assemblies and once told Liu Xiaolou that accepting a Hero's Invitation meant being prepared to be abandoned. At critical moments, no one would come save you—if you were not willing to serve as a scapegoat drawing the enemy's magic power, why would they invite you along to make a fortune?
Liu Xiaolou had naturally been prepared for that, but receiving his first invitation only to die for it was truly something he could not accept!
Calm down... Calm down...
His cultivation was too weak. Even if he followed the main group out, he would inevitably be left at the rear. Those who escaped could not outrun Dongyang Sect Foundation Establishment experts, but those experts only needed to outrun him. Following the crowd was therefore the worst strategy.
After weighing it for a moment, he gritted his teeth and abruptly turned around, fleeing toward the gap between the southeast and due south. That was the opening between the positions of the two Dongyang Sect Foundation Establishment experts. When they pursued the main fleeing group, they should circle around the villa. That would be his chance.
Of course, he had no way of knowing whether the Dongyang Sect had sent only three Foundation Establishment cultivators, or whether there were others. But by his initial judgment, even if there were others, they were most likely not at Foundation Establishment. No matter what, his choice was far better than facing Foundation Establishment cultivators head-on!
Liu Xiaolou raced through the smoke. At this life-or-death juncture, he pushed his Qi Refining second layer cultivation to its utmost limit. Both his movement technique and senses far surpassed their usual state as he narrowly avoided tree after tree, step after step, pile after pile of rubble, person after person...
"Eh?"
"Who?"
"Ah!"
"You nearly ran into me..."
"Stop him!"
"Where? Where?"
Liu Xiaolou pumped his arms with all his strength, his legs striding like shooting stars. Head high and chest out, he charged all the way to the edge of the villa, where a broken vine wall suddenly appeared before him, some fifteen or sixteen feet tall.
A height that had once required him to kick off the wall halfway up to climb over now took only a little effort before he leapt clean across.
His Qi Refining second layer cultivation, which had not advanced an inch in three or four years, was faintly showing signs of a breakthrough?
Liu Xiaolou had no time to think. After clearing the wall, he continued sprinting. In the blink of an eye, he burst through the thick smoke, breathing in fresh air and seeing the stars filling the sky, along with layer upon layer of black mountain silhouettes beneath the night.
A sharp cry suddenly rang out not far to his left. "Scoundrel, don't run! Surrender at once, or be killed without mercy!"
"You're still running? Are you not afraid of death?..."
"I'll make you run! Give me your life!"
Of course he had to run. How could he possibly stay and submit to being bound?
Liu Xiaolou drew up a mouthful of true essence and sprinted at top speed, swift as a galloping steed. He could tell that the person pursuing him was not one of the Dongyang Sect's three Foundation Establishment experts. This was his chance to escape.
At first, he worried he would soon be caught. Yet after fleeing several miles, his pursuer still had not caught him. He could not resist looking back and saw the man more than thirty yards behind him, pursuing relentlessly.
In that hurried glance, Liu Xiaolou saw what seemed to be a Silk Ribbon of indiscernible color tied around the man's forehead. The man kept angrily demanding that he stop and submit, and he sounded quite young.
Could he perhaps be in early Qi Refining too, just like himself?
After fleeing more than ten miles, they had entered some unknown mountain wilderness. His pursuer still refused to give up, and Liu Xiaolou was growing irritated. Suddenly, an impulse arose in him: should he turn around and kill him instead?
For one thing, it would remove an obstacle. For another, he could see whether the fellow carried anything good.
But his teacher had once said that disciples of famous sects and great schools, even those with feeble cultivation, were best not provoked lightly. If they dared descend the mountain to travel the world, they most likely carried some powerful magical artifact or had some formidable Daoist technique at hand.
Could his ordinary low-grade Three Xuan Sword withstand it?
As he hesitated, he suddenly saw someone sitting against a tree ahead, gulping down breaths. The fellow looked extremely familiar. He was the "suspected ill-intentioned fellow" who had set his sights on Liu Xiaolou's spirit herbs while scavenging for treasures at Jinping Mountain Villa's treasury. Somehow, he had escaped all the way here and was resting on the spot.
Liu Xiaolou swept past him like a gust of wind, immediately startling the man. Before long, the fellow caught up.
The man had clearly recognized Liu Xiaolou too. Running abreast of him, he panted, "Younger brother... huff... Dongyang Sect... huff... caught up?"
Liu Xiaolou replied between breaths, "Yes..."
The man instantly quickened his pace and shot ahead, throwing Liu Xiaolou several positions behind. His cultivation was clearly a notch higher.
Liu Xiaolou gritted his teeth and chased after him. "Brother, don't panic... huff... only one... I reckon... he might be a Zhang clansman... one of the younger generation... his cultivation is mediocre..."
At Liu Xiaolou's explanation, the man slowed down again, glancing back from time to time. But the mountain road was rugged—how could he see anyone?
"Only one?"
"One..."
"Not Dongyang Sect's Seven, Eight, or Nine?"
"No... in any case... his cultivation is nothing special..."
"Younger brother, which branch are you from?"
"The Pai Sect."
"So you're a brother from the sect! Excellent... How have I never seen you before?"
"Which branch are you from, Brother?"
"I'm from the seventh branch. My humble surname is Ma."
"Greetings, Senior Brother Ma, huff... I'm from the ninth branch, surname Li..."
"So that's how it is..."
As they talked, their breath gave out, and the person behind gradually caught up. By then, the sky was beginning to brighten, and his figure and features could already be seen clearly.