"Pass through Jian and Caoling, board a ship at Flying Cloud Ferry, and after seven days on the water, we'll reach Xiangzhou."
Ouyang Lan took out a piece of silk from her bundle, narrowed her eyes as she examined it carefully, and smiled.
No eagle's eyes watched from the sky.
They had shaken off another wave of pursuers.
Her heart greatly relaxed. Though the remaining poison in her body still made walking somewhat difficult, it could not dampen her delight at the endless spring scenery of green mountains and clear waters in the wilderness.
Lu Wu-bing gave her an amused glance, but he was not as thick-nerved as his senior sister.
All the experiences of his previous life told him that for one who traveled a hundred miles, ninety miles counted as only halfway.
The safer one felt,
the more likely it was that another tragedy was about to begin.
He raised his head to study the sky, then asked doubtfully, "Senior Sister, are you saying that we'll return to the mountain by the same route we took here, heading to Flying Cloud Ferry and traveling downstream?"
"Of course. The water route may be slower, but we know this road well.
"Besides, Chief Wu of the Cao Gang's Flying Cloud Branch has some friendship with our Celestial Star Sect... With his arrangements, we'll surely have an uneventful journey."
Seeing that Lu Wu-bing's expression remained grave, Ouyang Lan hesitated slightly. "Junior Brother, do you think there's something wrong with this?"
"Not exactly. I just thought of something. Third Senior Brother separated from us—could he also head for Flying Cloud Ferry in advance to meet up with us?"
"Third Senior Brother knows the most people and has a very good relationship with Chief Wu. If he can't find us, he'll definitely go ahead and wait."
"I see. You all think Flying Cloud Ferry is the best way back to the mountain... But Senior Sister, have you considered that Gu Dongting might think the same way?
"As the saying goes, know the enemy before he moves; the greatest warfare attacks strategy. Once Gu Dongting catches up with us alongside the Eastern Sea Sword Sect, I'm afraid we'll have little chance of escaping disaster."
There was something Lu Wu-bing did not say aloud.
As the saying went, one did not drive a wedge between close kin.
He had only joined the Celestial Star Sect not long ago.
But he had heard that Third Senior Brother Wu Yunchong had been under their master's tutelage for eight years. He was deeply trusted by Sect Leader Master in ordinary times, and because he handled matters capably and appropriately, whenever disciples needed to be sent out to do something, Sect Leader Master dispatched him without hesitation.
Of course, Lu Wu-bing did not think Third Senior Brother necessarily had a problem.
He only knew that ever since Wu Yunchong had been by their side, his group's luck had not been very good.
In any case, whenever that Third Senior Brother offered a suggestion or made a choice, something was bound to happen.
Once could still be explained away.
But when it happened every time, it could no longer be called a coincidence.
Of course, all of this was merely subjective conviction, reasoning backward from the result to the cause, with more than a whiff of hindsight wisdom.
The main reason was that Lu Wu-bing always remembered how Mao Mao had refused to let Wu Yunchong pet him when they first met.
Preparedness brought success; lack of preparation brought ruin.
There was no harm in being more careful.
He gently stroked the spine of the little cat in his arms, feeling the little fellow's even, fine, deep breathing. A glint of coldness flashed through his eyes, but his face wore a sunny smile.
"Senior Sister, why not take another look and see whether your map marks any other, safer paths?"
"What other paths could there be? Other than taking the ferry, we can only pass through Ping Shan Pass.
"The official road is easy enough to travel, but if we run into mounted pursuers, there'll be nowhere to hide. With the people the Eastern Sea Sword Sect brought this time, they only need to set up a few lookouts and we'll be exposed."
"Senior Sister has considered it very thoroughly. We truly can't take the official road."
Having received praise, Ouyang Lan blossomed with delight. Shaking out the silk map in her hand, eager to show off her knowledge of mountains and rivers before her junior brother, she pointed at the richly colored drawing and said, "We can't take the water route, and the land route is even more dangerous...
"If we want to catch them off guard and leave the Eastern Sea Sword Sect unable to track us, there's only one choice. We must cross mountains and ridges, traversing the hundred-li Hengshan."
"Senior Sister is right. Then let's cross Hengshan... It'll be tiring, but don't worry. This time, I'll carry you."
Lu Wu-bing spoke with absolute confidence.
"Dream on."
Although Ouyang Lan was still an untouched young woman,
and perhaps a little innocent and simple-hearted, she was not truly ignorant.
Thinking back on what had happened the day before, she finally understood...
what that troublesome sword sheath had really been when her junior brother was lying on her back.
This fellow looked proper and serious, but he was not honest at all.
After deciding to cross mountains and ridges,
the two no longer hesitated.
They simply lived like savages: drinking spring water when thirsty, hunting wild rabbits and roasting them to stave off hunger, sleeping in desolate mountains at night, and diligently cultivating their inner energy and swordsmanship.
That day, as the sky gradually darkened, they gathered dry firewood and roasted a wild boar until their bellies were round and full.
Ouyang Lan sat down by herself to regulate her breathing and meditate, circulating her inner energy to strike at her acupoints.
As usual, Lu Wu-bing swung his sword to clear an open space, then stepped out one pace after another and thrust one sword after another...
meticulously practicing [Inch Step] and [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun].
The sight made Ouyang Lan click her tongue.
She had never seen anyone practice swordsmanship with such diligence, nor had she ever seen anyone cherish the basic thrusting sword form so dearly.
But then again,
the facts proved that with this manner of practice, her junior brother's combat ability improved so quickly that she could only watch his dust from afar.
From that perspective, he seemed to be the one who was right.
Therefore, Ouyang Lan decided to speak less and observe more, no longer interfering with or guiding her junior brother's practice.
Though she would not instruct him, there were still things that needed to be said.
"Junior Brother, perhaps you think practicing just one sword move is enough.
"But among the Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords, every other sword form has its own wondrous use.
"If you practiced the seventh sword, [Clear Wind Flowing Clouds], or the twelfth sword, [Three Rings Encircle the Moon], to the Proficient Realm, then no matter which move you used, those needle-like rays would not have been able to harm you that day."
"Also, you've already practiced [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun] to the Greater Mastery Realm. Further improvement will be extremely difficult.
"My father said that going from Greater Mastery to Perfection requires not only long years of practice for every sword art, but also a flash of inspiration.
"Before the right opportunity arrives, no matter how bitterly you endure the passing years, it will be hard to break through."
Thinking of how both her father and mother had always been stuck at this step, unable to advance, Ouyang Lan felt deeply affected.
"A flash of inspiration?"
Lu Wu-bing nodded to show that he had taken her words to heart.
What he lacked least was a flash of inspiration.
With the [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate in his possession, as long as he kept practicing, any bottleneck would naturally give way.
All he needed was enough practice.
However, that was not something he could mention to Senior Sister Xiaolan.
The reason Lu Wu-bing had kept practicing the thrusting form of [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun] stemmed from his fear of insufficient firepower.
The countless experiences of his previous life had taught him that whether a person could live well or accomplish something great truly did not depend on developing every aspect in lockstep.
The height of one's achievements often depended on the longest stave of the barrel.
After all, life was not about filling a barrel with water. There were no second chances...
In this world, the strong acted without restraint, while the weak were worse off than dead.
Without strength, not only could one not live the life one wanted, one could not even refuse a miserable fate.
After thinking for a moment, he changed the subject. "Senior Sister, you once said that for every higher realm of swordsmanship, one can fight opponents three ranks above oneself.
"Now that I've cultivated this thrusting sword to the Greater Mastery Realm, can I fight a Sixth Rank second-rate swordsman without losing?"
Before you continue