Hong Gaitian

A group of shadowy figures raced through the night when someone suddenly called, "Third Chief, look."

A burly man with a red beard and crimson brows raised a hand. The group gradually braked to a halt atop the treetops and looked in the indicated direction, where firelight glowed brightly from a distant mountaintop.

"Building a fire on a mountaintop in the middle of the night—there must be something fishy going on!" a rat-eyed, shifty-looking man said to the red-bearded man.

The red-bearded man shook his head. "Making it this conspicuous, as if they're afraid no one will see it. Those bastards from the Seven Nations are up to no good. This must be a trap meant to lure us in and kill us. We won't fall for it. Keep moving and stay far away from those turtles' sons."

The rat-eyed man gave him a thumbs-up. "Third Chief, brilliant!"

"Move!" The red-bearded man waved a large hand, and the group once more turned into fleeting shadows beneath the night curtain, racing away...

On the mountain opposite the blazing mountaintop, Niu Youdao and the others were concealed amid the crown of a tree, taking turns resting and keeping watch over their surroundings.

Niu Youdao's shift ended, and Wu Zhaoxing took over the watch. After looking around, Wu Zhaoxing glanced back at Niu Youdao, who was sitting cross-legged on a branch and preparing to meditate. "How many days has it been now? There hasn't been the slightest response. Is your method actually going to work?"

Niu Youdao said, "We're treating a dead horse as if it were alive. It's better than doing nothing."

Even Wu Zhaoxing's airs as sixth on the Pill Ranking had been worn away. He sighed. "If we never run into anyone and the year passes like this, then this