A Mountain God in black official robes traveled in grand style. Though he belonged to the illicit cult of a spiritual shrine, his retinue was imposing. He sat in an eight-man sedan chair carried on the shoulders of ghost officials. While traveling, he lightly lifted the curtain with a jade ganoderma and saw the flashing sword light over here with his own eyes. Slowly lowering the curtain, Lord Mountain God's expression shifted between light and shadow. If the Mountain Lord's Mansion intelligence was correct, this boy truly was a Middle Five Realms Sword Cultivator. The Zhang Clan of Tiancao Prefecture had truly found a treasure.
Beside him rode a woman in a veiled hat, graceful and lovely in a crimson robe, astride a peach blossom horse. Rider and mount kept pace with the black-and-gold sedan chair.
Unlike the talisman mounts used earlier by the young man and young woman, this peach blossom horse, capable of riding clouds and mist, was a genuine extraordinary spirit steed.
Behind them followed a group of Lishi attendants, each over two zhang tall. Some had living snakes coiled all over their bodies, while others wore strings of white skulls around their chins. They looked neither like beings of the living world nor anything benevolent. Their brows were thick, their hair like awls, and their strangeness made one's hairs stand on end.
The Mountain God softly reminded her, "Fourth Miss, once we reach Ink Wash Peak, please do not start fighting them at the slightest disagreement. That would put this subordinate in a difficult position. Should we accidentally delay Prefect's great undertaking, this subordinate could die a hundred times and still never redeem himself."
The woman replied brightly, "A young sword cultivator with talent beyond all bounds—how would I dare provoke him? Steward Li, rest assured.