The group said no more and carefully made their way through the fog.
Zhou Li also became extremely vigilant. He had initially thought You Su was far superior to him, but after all, she was blind. In this situation where her Divine Sense could not be fully utilized, she would inevitably be limited. However, he had overlooked a blind person's sensitivity to sound, smell, and other senses. After thanking him, he no longer dared to underestimate You Su.
Before long, the group arrived at one side of the City Lord's Mansion. The mansion was shrouded in mist, revealing only the faint outline of its ancient City Lord's Mansion.
"Who!"
A voice shouted from within the mist, followed by the sounds of swords being drawn.
Zhou Li replied, "Sect Master Lu! It's me! Zhou Li!"
Then came the sound of swords being sheathed, and six composed cultivators emerged from the mist. The leader was Lu Yang, who had been entrusted by Lu Muchun to be the sect leader that morning.
His demeanor has changed completely. He could have been considered a refined scholar before, but now he has become a cold-faced sect leader.
"Did you bring all of these back?" Lu Yang asked coldly, one hand on his sword.
"Yes, sixteen people in total."
"Good, you've worked hard these past few days. After you bring them in, give the servants their names, then you and your men can rest for a while. Let Liang Hong take over your shift," Lu Yang instructed methodically.
Zhou Li nodded, bowed, and then led the group forward.
Behind the thick fog was a side door. Zhou Li instructed everyone to enter quickly and in an orderly manner after opening the door to avoid entering too much fog, and everyone did as he said.
After entering, there were still cultivators patrolling the mansion. Zhou Li greeted them one by one and then walked to a flower bed. After turning some kind of mechanism, the carp pond in front of him suddenly rotated, revealing a fairly large hole in the ground. He quickly directed everyone to jump in one by one, and then the carp pond returned to its original position on its own, blocking the spreading mist.
You Su sighed inwardly, impressed by the City Lord's Mansion's effective emergency measures.
The group continued down the slope. You Su opened his Divine Sense and realized that this was a giant underground cave, which was already densely packed with many people.
Several servants approached and asked each of them their names. After tallying their names, they were taken to a designated area to receive water and rations. Finally, they found an open space and settled the group of sixteen. Zhou Li also told You Su about his resting area before leaving.
Seeing that there were so many people in the Auspicious Cave, the crowd felt much more at ease and kept popping their heads out to search for acquaintances among the people of different sizes.
You Su and Ji Lingruo sat in a secluded corner, leaning against each other. You Su that Ji Lingruo remained silent, You Su reached out and gently took the girl's delicate hand in his.
"How is my junior sister?"
"Hmm." Ji Lingruo nodded and moved closer to You Su.
The two remained silent, their close shoulder to shoulder conveying a thousand words.
It was now late in the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), and the moonlight was no match for the sunlight, making the dark fog appear even more profound.
Every two hours, members of the six major sects would take turns guarding the side gate, forming the first line of defense for Auspicious Cave.
Lu Yang's shift for the day was over, but he did not go to rest.
Although he divided his sect's forces into two or three teams to take turns fighting, just like other sects, he would always come out to accompany his own sect members whenever it was their turn, leading by example.
His grandfather's fate remains unknown, and before his death, he entrusted the position of sect leader to him, which many within the sect disagreed with. He then personally attended to every matter, hoping to prove himself through his actions.
The night was deep, and it was almost impossible to see anything except for his and others' breathing, which was extremely clear. One advantage of the impenetrable darkness was that anything dirty or obscene appeared exceptionally clear.
These evil spirits in the fog were different from those he had read about in books, because so far the evil spirits he had found in the fog had all emitted a fluorescent glow, like the owls in the deep sea that use light to lure their prey.
With a swift movement, he brought his sword down, and a spider-like creature with an eerie green glow emanating from its abdomen fell dead beneath his blade.
"Sect Master, it's past midnight. We should go and have the Sky Guard Sect relieve us," a subordinate reminded him.
"Um."
Lu Yang sheathed his sword, feeling helpless. Very few people would willingly stand here to protect others; most were forced to. They were probably worried about sudden attacks from evil spirits while keeping a close eye on the time, wishing they could be replaced immediately.
Even though he was about to be rotated to another post, Lu Yang did not let his guard down. He vigilantly scanned his surroundings, and the slightest sound of footsteps on leaves broke the silence like a pebble falling into a pond.
"Who!"
With a loud shout, Lu Yang's men immediately drew their swords.
There was no light coming from the area where the sound originated. Lu Yang was filled with suspicion: Could it be something other than an evil spirit? But the patrol team sent out for search and rescue today had all returned without incident; how could there possibly be anyone outside at this hour?
"Lu Yang, it's me, Wu Cheng."
Lu Yang and Wu Cheng were quite familiar with each other, and he recognized the voice immediately; it was indeed Wu Cheng's voice. As they drew closer, he heard soft footsteps... and more than one person!
"Who else?"
"Wu Ping, and my master."
Lu Yang did not order the others to sheathe their swords; instead, he cast a fire spell and immediately lit the torch in his hand.
The firelight shone brightly, and three figures appeared in the mist. They were none other than the brothers Qi Daodong and Wu Cheng Wu Ping, who had been missing for four days.
Wu Cheng walked ahead, limping, his tattered clothes unable to conceal his calm and composed expression.
Wu Ping walked alongside his brother, his expression panicked, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, as if he had not yet escaped the fear of the perilous situation.
Qi Daodong followed behind the two, his disheveled white hair obscuring most of his face, and his tattered Daoist robe was stained with blood, clearly indicating that he had experienced many fierce battles along the way.
When everyone saw that it really was these three people, they were overjoyed. After all, Qi Daodong was one of the city's top combatants, and his long-awaited return was like a shot in the arm, which would surely put everyone at ease.
"It really is Sect Master Qi!" The guard at the door exclaimed excitedly.
Qi Daodong remained silent, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
Wu Cheng Lu Yang was still holding his sword, Wu Cheng weakly said:
"Master has slain countless evil spirits along the way and is utterly exhausted. Please, Sect Master Lu, allow us to proceed. I am in a hurry to take Master to heal his wounds."
The guards dared not disobey, so they sheathed their swords and prepared to step aside. Wu Cheng pursed his lips, then turned around, took Qi Daodong's arm, and led Qi Daodong forward.
"Wait!"
Lu Yang's booming voice stopped the three in their tracks. Wu Cheng frowned and coldly retorted:
"What does Sect Master Lu mean by this?"
Lu Yang remained unmoved. He did not answer immediately, but instead walked up to Wu Cheng and blocked his way. His eyes were sharp as he scrutinized Sect Master Qi, who was standing behind the two brothers, and felt an inexplicable strangeness about him.
As Wu Ping approached, he trembled even more violently, constantly stealing glances with his narrow eyes at the righteous-looking Lu Yang. Seemingly unable to bear it any longer, he cried out in alarm and charged directly into the crowd, screaming at the top of his lungs:
"Help me! This old man is an evil spirit!"