Hiding in the Mountains

Hiding in the Mountains

The small boat sailed east.

No one knew how far they had traveled from Yellow Ganoderma Mountain when they suddenly entered a stretch of swift, turbulent water. Great rocks jutted up from the riverbed, and there were even more hidden reefs.

"Qingyu, hold on tight!"

Lu Qingfeng called out a warning. Gripping the oar, he focused intently on steering the boat around the rocks.

Splash!

Splash!

The rushing river crashed against the exposed reefs, its clear roar echoing through the air.

A lone little boat carried the three Lu siblings, weaving nimbly through the reefs.

The boat rocked and swayed, as though it might overturn at any moment.

Lu Qingyu clutched the handles on the boat with both hands, pressing Lu Qingshan beneath her.

Sweat beaded on Lu Qingfeng's forehead.

He had only practiced rowing for two or three months in the Primordial Wilderness. He could keep the boat from capsizing, but he was far from an expert. This complicated stretch of water had already exceeded his abilities.

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More and more hidden reefs appeared. The small boat struck them repeatedly and began taking on water.

"Big Brother!"

"It's leaking!"

Seeing river water already wash over her feet, Lu Qingyu cried out hurriedly.

"No!"

"We have to reach shore quickly. If this continues, we'll die in the river sooner or later!"

Lu Qingfeng quickly steered the boat toward the northern bank.

The southern bank was fraught with danger, with demons and monsters roaming about. Even Inner Disciples of the Returning Truth Sect could die there. With Qingshan and Qingyu beside him, Lu Qingfeng did not dare land on the southern shore.

Bang! Bang!

Lu Qingfeng's decision could not have come at a better time. The moment the boat reached shore, it sank completely.

The surging Chengyang River was no less imposing than the Yangtze River Lu Qingfeng had seen in his previous life.

As the Chengyang River passed through Jiuzhai County, it carved a path through towering mountains and ridges, forming a magnificent and unparalleled grand canyon, quite similar to the Three Gorges.

At this moment.

The three Lu siblings stood in a sorry state atop a protruding rock by the shore. Three feet beneath them, the river surged and roared.

"Big Brother, how do we get up there?"

Clutching her eldest brother's arm, Lu Qingyu raised her head toward the nearly vertical cliff wall behind them and asked.

"Qingyu, stand here and don't move. Watch your Second Brother and make sure he doesn't fall."

"Big Brother will climb up first to find some Vines, then come back for you two."

Lu Qingfeng laid the unconscious Lu Qingshan on the rock.

The cliff was far too steep. He could barely climb it himself, but taking Qingshan and Qingyu with him was impossible. He could only go up first and find some tools.

"Alright!"

Lu Qingyu nodded, then supported Lu Qingshan as she sat down on the rock.

Lu Qingfeng knew time was pressing. There was no room for delay.

After picking out his footholds, he leaped into mid-air and landed steadily. Having reached the Fetal Respiration Realm First Layer, his body was light and nimble. After half an hour, he finally climbed to the top.

Only after climbing up did he realize that this cliff was over a hundred zhang high.

Standing atop the cliff, he looked into the distance.

Below, the river surged with impassioned fury, crashing against the banks in towering waves, twisting and turning yet never retreating!

Around him, layered crags and overlapping peaks stood against sheer cliffs, shrouded in smoke and locked in mist!

He had no idea where he was.

Lu Qingfeng had no time to admire the scenery. The moment he came up, he plunged into the forest. A quarter of an hour later, he had torn down more than ten Vines, twisted them together like braids, and slung them over his shoulder.

Then he returned to the cliff's edge.

Lu Qingyu leaned against the rock, one hand gripping Lu Qingshan as she craned her neck toward the cliff top. When she saw Lu Qingfeng appear, delight bloomed across her grimy little face.

One by one, Lu Qingfeng hauled Lu Qingyu and Lu Qingshan up. By the time they were all atop the cliff, two hours had passed, and it was already afternoon.

Since midnight, Lu Qingfeng's nerves had been stretched taut.

Killing Wu Yuan, steering the boat downstream, climbing the cliff!

His strength had long since been drained dry.

After climbing up, he collapsed directly onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Not long after they came up, before they had even caught their breath, several boats stopped upstream from the reef-strewn stretch of river. More than ten people looked around in every direction, yet failed to notice Lu Qingfeng and the other two above the cliff.

After resting for a while, Lu Qingfeng recovered some of his strength.

By then, Lu Qingshan had also awakened.

"Big Brother, Qingyu, where are we?" Lu Qingshan had just woken up. His face was pale, and he still seemed dazed.

"In the mountains!"

"We've already left Blackwood Village and Yellow Ganoderma Mountain!"

Lu Qingyu had been caring for her Second Brother the whole time. Seeing him wake, she answered in a clear voice.

"We—"

Lu Qingshan remembered.

They had killed Wu Yuan, killed five Servant Disciples, and then boarded the boat.

"Big Brother, did we make it?" Lu Qingshan looked at his eldest brother, belated excitement rising within him.

"More or less."

"But we don't know where we are now. We need to cross this forest and climb over several mountain ridges before we can truly be safe."

Lu Qingfeng pointed east.

From high ground, one could see far!

To the east and north stretched boundless forest. The trees were towering, the vegetation luxuriant, and beneath that cover, nothing could be seen clearly. Only ridge after ridge of mountains lay in sight, some high, some low, with no end in view.

They could not go north. They might run into the Returning Truth Sect's forces again.

Lu Qingfeng planned to head east and put as much distance as possible between themselves and the Returning Truth Sect. The forest was dangerous too, but without the Returning Truth Sect's great mountain pressing down on them, even if wolves, tigers, or leopards devoured him the next moment, Lu Qingfeng would accept it willingly!

"Wonderful!"

"Wonderful!"

"Wonderful!"

Lu Qingshan was too excited to say anything else. He could only repeat those three words over and over, his voice growing softer and softer. Sitting on the ground, he buried his head deep between his knees, his shoulders shaking.

The sound of sobbing drifted over.

Lu Qingfeng watched quietly without trying to comfort him.

The pressure Lu Qingfeng had endured in Blackwood Village was nowhere near what Lu Qingshan had suffered in the Returning Truth Sect. The dense spread of wounds over his body alone showed what kind of life Lu Qingshan had lived over the past few months.

Lu Qingfeng even regretted not carrying out his plan sooner and taking Lu Qingshan away from the Returning Truth Sect earlier.

"Second Brother, you can cry today. I cried today too."

For once, Lu Qingyu did not kick her Second Brother while he was down. Instead, she reached out and gently patted Lu Qingshan's back.

Lu Qingfeng led Qingshan and Qingyu deep into the mountains, heading east.

He had originally wanted to quickly pass through the forest, put distance between them and the Returning Truth Sect, and find a place where people gathered.

Reality proved that Lu Qingfeng had greatly overestimated himself and utterly failed to anticipate the dangers of the forest.

Within the dense woods, ancient trees towered into the sky, blotting out the sun.

Once inside, it was impossible to distinguish east from west, north from south. After charging in, they became completely disoriented in no time, with no idea where they were.

Wandering blindly could easily lead them into the territory of savage beasts.

Lu Qingshan's injuries had not yet healed, while Lu Qingyu was only twelve and frail in body.

Under such circumstances, Lu Qingfeng could only lead the two of them to a flat patch of ground and stop there.

"In a dense forest, anyone who enters will lose their sense of direction. Even if the Returning Truth Sect mobilizes everyone, finding the three of us won't be easy."

Lu Qingfeng had lived beneath the Returning Truth Sect's iron-blooded tyranny for a full Sixteen Years. His fear of the sect had sunk deep into his bones.

In truth, leaving aside whether the Returning Truth Sect would really expend so much effort to hunt down the three siblings, even if they did insist on it, they would never find them in a short time.

Rather than rashly stumbling through the dense woods, they might as well rest and recuperate where they were for a while. Once their strength improved, they could leave.

For every day in reality, Lu Qingfeng had a full hundred days in the Primordial Wilderness.

As long as they stayed a few days, his Cultivation might not soar dramatically, but his methods of fighting and preserving his life would surely become far more abundant.

Nameless Cliff Mountain.

Dense forest halfway up the mountain.

Holding a Pudao, Lu Qingfeng found a "small tree" as thick as a man's waist and began chopping it down.

In theory, mountain forests were full of caves, easy to find wherever one looked. But after Lu Qingfeng circled the surrounding area, he found none. Left with no choice, he could only build a simple wooden hut himself to shelter them from wind and rain.

"Big Brother, I'll help you!"

Lu Qingshan struggled to rise, but before he could stand, Lu Qingyu yanked him back down.

"Hiss!"

Caught off guard, Lu Qingshan landed hard on his backside, pulling at the wound on his chest until pain twisted his features.

"What are you showing off for!"

"Your body hasn't recovered yet. Rest properly. Otherwise, when you can't get out of bed, won't I still have to take care of you?"

Lu Qingyu curled her lips and glared at her Second Brother irritably. "Sit properly. You're not allowed to go anywhere!"

Lu Qingshan looked aggrieved as he raised his head toward his eldest brother.

"Listen to Qingyu and recover properly."

Lu Qingfeng wiped the sweat from his face and smiled at Lu Qingshan.

After leaving Blackwood Village, he felt as though four pounds of weight had been lifted from his whole body. From head to toe, he felt incomparably at ease.

As he worked and listened to Qingshan and Qingyu bicker, the sky quickly darkened.

By then, evening smoke rose on all sides, and dusk stretched vast and dim.

A full moon hung from the corner of the mountain, spilling clear light in every direction, bright enough to reflect the eyebrows and hair of those below.

Seven or eight long wooden planks were wedged between the surrounding trees, forming a crude wooden hut only two meters tall.

The hut was open to the wind on all sides, while a bonfire burned outside.

"This is wonderful."

Lu Qingyu sat beside the bonfire, hugging one brother on either side. Her little face blossomed into a smile.

She found this sort of life fascinating. It was so much better than Blackwood Village, where she could say nothing and do nothing.

"Yes!"

"Wonderful."

Since entering the Returning Truth Sect, Lu Qingshan had not smiled for a long time. Yet now, he too grinned without a care in the world.

"Qingshan, Big Brother kept your 'fortuitous encounter' for you these past few days. Now I'm returning it to you intact."

"And your little notebook."

Lu Qingfeng took out a purple-and-cyan jade pendant and a palm-sized booklet from his robes, handing them to Lu Qingshan. When he mentioned the booklet, Lu Qingfeng deliberately emphasized the words.

Lu Qingshan secretly glanced at Lu Qingfeng. "Big Brother, you read it?"

"I did. But it's better to remember this sort of thing in your head. If you write it down and the paper gets lost or falls into someone else's hands, that won't be a good thing."

Lu Qingfeng said.

"I know."

"But I was afraid I wouldn't remember, and then I wouldn't be able to return it!" Lu Qingshan grinned sheepishly.

"Big Brother, what does it say? Let me see!"

Lu Qingyu poked her head over.

"Should we let her see it?"

Lu Qingfeng looked at his second brother.

"I only made this booklet because Qingyu told me to." Lu Qingshan scratched his head, revealing his familiar simple-minded grin.

"Hmph!"

"As if he'd dare refuse to let me see it!"

Lu Qingyu snorted and took the booklet from her eldest brother. By the faint firelight, she began flipping through it.

As she read, she recited aloud in a crisp voice—

"Seventh day of the third month: Zhang Chong, three lashes."

"Ninth day of the third month: Zhang Chong, three lashes, one kick."

"Ninth day of the third month: Qian Han, one flatbread, one punch."

"Tenth day of the third month: Zhang Chong, ten slaps."

"Twelfth day of the third month: Zhang Chong, three lashes."

"Thirteenth day of the third month..."