The barren mountain lay silent. The sunlight gradually dimmed, becoming a half-spent sunset that sank slowly between the peaks, dyeing the boundless wilderness of trees a magnificent gold.
As the sun sank, the golden light stretching across the mountains abruptly came to an end. The lush green woods grew dark and eerie, and the rocks turned a deep, inky black.
From one side of a shadowed mountain hollow came the clatter of hooves. Amid a burst of flying dust and stones and swirling grass, the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders galloped into view. They followed the rugged mountain path, their horses picking their way forward. All the riders wore black armor, making them look like a mass of dark gloom. The one at their head, however, wore no helmet and had a purple-complexioned face.
His real name was Ma Mingsheng, and he led the thirteen riders. He and the other twelve were slave-soldiers specially trained by Chongyang Dao Palace.
Legend had it that the ancient Daoist sects had kept Daoist soldiers in their service. Slave-soldiers naturally could not compare to the divine generals kept by those ancient sects, but they still far surpassed the elite cavalry and fierce troops of the mortal world.
Perhaps only the Nine Palaces Heavenly Guards, directly under the Great You Dynasty's imperial family, could match the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders, trained by the Innate Dao Sect itself.
The black iron armor worn by all thirteen riders was made primarily from Cold Mountain Dark Iron. During smelting, the blood of five kinds of spirit beasts was mixed in, along with red gold, spirit jade, and cold crystal. Every finished plate of armor was covered in densely packed runes.
Even an ordinary villager, too weak to kill a chicken, would become a peerless warrior capable of smashing through enemy lines and sweeping away a thousand troops after donning this rune-etched black armor.
But this trip to Four Peaks Mountain had left Ma Mingsheng and the twelve riders deeply troubled. It was said that Four Peaks Mountain had originally been called Four Tripods Mountain, because four towering peaks stood within it like the legs of a celestial tripod. During the day, with the sun shining, the mountain was manageable. But after nightfall, the woods—once thick with leaves and lush greenery—turned exceptionally dark.
The mountain paths were rugged, too. Even the rare, scaled and feathered steeds beneath the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders struggled to move freely along the narrow trails, let alone use the formation-breaking combined attack for which the riders were famed.
"Boss, the Fu-Cicada Spirit Insect is reacting. It's in the Xun position."
Ninth, one of the thirteen riders, was wrapped in heavy armor. Broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, and burly, he looked like a heedless roughneck. Yet a delicate bamboo cage for crickets hung from his waist, suspended by a red cord and crafted with exquisite skill.
Ninth held the reins with one hand and tapped the bamboo cage with the other. The cage immediately filled with a rapid chirring. The Fu-Cicada Spirit Insect inside the red-corded cage was also known as the Green Fu. It was a spirit insect, and Chongyang Palace had a unique method of communication that used these insects to send messages.
As an insect keeper, Ninth could communicate with spirit insects. Xiao Hao of the Long Wind Society had a Jade Insect Flute. As soon as he blew it, the Fu-Cicada Spirit Insect could sense his location. Even if they were over a hundred li apart, they could still communicate.
"Oh? Could it be that the Long Wind Society really found out where that brat Cheng Zhi is hiding?"
The expression on Ma Mingsheng's purple-complexioned face eased a little.
Four Peaks Mountain's terrain was tangled and complex, with ravines and streams hidden beneath the sky-blocking canopy, and ancient, winding paths that disappeared into the woods. Cheng Zhi the scoundrel was hiding here. Catching him would be harder than ascending to heaven.
There was no helping it. Even the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders numbered only thirteen.
They were the Daoist sect's slave-soldiers and protectors, trained in military tactics and archery, not Daoist arts. They could neither see across the world nor hear across the land, and they had no divine eyes to survey the ground from above. Without ample manpower and resources, trying to find Cheng Zhi hiding somewhere on Four Peaks Mountain was like fishing for a needle in the sea.
"The Xun position?"
A sharp glint flashed in Ma Mingsheng's eyes. He looked toward the indicated direction and said gravely, "It's getting late, and we still don't know where that One-Horned Mountain Demon is hiding. That monster is nocturnal. We'd better find the brat before it leaves its lair to hunt for food."
"Come to think of it, it's strange. Cheng Zhi's been hiding in the mountains for so long. How has he avoided that Mountain Demon?"
Third was tall and thin, clad in Black Iron Rune Armor. An iron mask hung from his beast-horn helmet, leaving only his eyes visible.
"He probably knows some way to evade the Mountain Demon. According to the information Lord Sheng's people gathered, the Cheng siblings should have learned Daoist arts. I wonder who taught them."
Ma Mingsheng was about to continue when the trees to the right of the road suddenly rustled. From the darkness in the distance came a series of ape cries.
The riders looked up into the woods and saw that countless ghostly green eyes had appeared among the treetops. They swayed between the branches like clusters of floating will-o'-the-wisps, watching the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders with ill intent.
"...There are so many."
Qi Huiying furrowed her delicate brows.
"Rock Apes."
Ma Mingsheng's gaze turned cold. He stared at the figures hidden in the trees, and with his astonishing eyesight, made out the strange apes.
"They're a kind of variant species. Their fur is like sharp bristles, and they possess immense strength. Sometimes they capture woodcutters and mountain folk who enter the hills, just for a change of taste. They aren't monsters, but in numbers they're no less dangerous than tigers, leopards, dragons, or crocodiles."
The riders could now see them clearly. A troop of Rock Apes had made its home in the mountains, and their cries rang through the woods as if they were summoning their companions.
The surrounding trees kept shaking. More and more Rock Apes leaped through the treetops in the distance, sending branches and leaves flying. Some even snapped trees in two, their momentum astonishing.
Seventh looked puzzled.
"Are these beasts looking for trouble with us...?"
Suddenly, a strange howl that pierced the clouds and split stone rang out. Several of the spirit steeds beneath the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders stirred uneasily.
"Hard to say."
Ma Mingsheng kept watch. As soon as he heard the howl, his pupils contracted, and his expression shifted.
"A Human-Faced Ape? A Human-Faced Ape has appeared among these Rock Apes?!"
A huge, strange shadow suddenly burst from deep in the canopy. As it appeared, a furry arm clutched at a tree trunk.
Then a bizarre human face emerged. Looking closely, they saw it belonged to a towering giant ape with a human face.
In an instant, the Human-Faced Ape leaped onto the tree and crouched there. Its bell-like eyes glimmered with a fierce light like green flames.
The Human-Faced Ape seemed to be the leader of the Rock Apes. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding apes fell silent, as though a general had stepped forward. A deadly, military air swept over them.
(The ape troop has a Human-Faced Ape—a king among them. We can't let it give the order and lead them in a mass attack, or even we, the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders, will be in trouble!)
Ma Mingsheng sensed danger and the warning bells rang in his heart.
"Fifth!!!"
He made his decision at once and shouted. The only woman among the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders, Qi Huiying, flipped her hand. The long copper case strapped to her back dropped into her grasp. It resembled a zither case, its entire surface engraved with patterns of clouds, thunder, snakes, and serpents.
As soon as Qi Huiying took hold of it, she pressed a hidden mechanism on the case with her fingers. A series of clacks rang out, and a bone-chilling killing intent burst from it.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The front of the copper case swung open, revealing nine holes. Several sharp streaks of light shot out, darting through the air like spirit serpents and twisting along strange trajectories as they formed black lines.
The Human-Faced Ape sensed something. It was a rare variant species, and in that instant, an inexplicable feeling swept over it. Without thinking, it jerked its head back.
The next second, an icy, swift gust swept past its chest, abdomen, neck, and face, moving so fast it hummed through the air. A burning pain flared across its chest, as if it had been scorched.
The Human-Faced Ape was alert and sprang backward, but how could it have known that the black lines would circle through the air before shooting toward it like bolts of lightning?
The Human-Faced Ape was quick, but still a fraction too slow. Several bloody holes were punched through its chest. The variant did not even manage to scream before it died, its corpse tumbling from the tree.
With the Human-Faced Ape dead, the troop fell into chaos. The apes shrieked and immediately fled, scattering into the forest.
"Good work, Fifth. Your Nine Spirit-Serpent Arrows have done us another great service."
Ninth couldn't help praising her.
Qi Huiying said nothing as she held the copper case.
The Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders weren't merely brutes who knew how to ride and shoot. Every rider had a special skill, or had received a secret art from one of Chongyang Palace's immortal masters. Fifth, Qi Huiying, had mastered the Nine Spirit-Serpent Arrows, also known as the Spirit Viper Arrow Box.
The copper case was a demon-slaying weapon, forged by an immortal master from Chongyang Dao Palace who excelled at the art of smithing. It held Blood Curse Iron Arrows, launched by a mechanism. Within a hundred paces, they could be directed freely, near or far, sent out and recalled at will. They also had the special effect of countering the power of the spirit and soul.
Armed with this copper case, the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders had slain several masters who had mastered Daoist arts.
"With Fifth along on this trip into the mountains, even if we run into that One-Horned Mountain Demon, we won't be helpless like last time!"
Ma Mingsheng's mind was at ease, and his eyes gleamed with strong confidence.