Encircling the Mountain

The whistle blasts grew more and more frequent.

Zhou Yan carried Sun Wenyao over the second ridge and crouched behind a boulder.

Torches dotted the foot of the mountain. There were no fewer than a hundred people, divided into seven or eight teams that formed a line as they searched upward.

The barking of hunting dogs came from three directions, rising and falling in succession.

Each team was led by a Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator, with several Body-Tempering Realm cultivators following behind.

They intended to turn the entire mountain upside down!

Zhou Yan pulled his head back and sat against the boulder.

Sun Wenyao slid down from his back. Her legs went weak, and she reached out to brace herself against the mountainside.

An unnatural flush colored her face, while her dry lips had begun to crack.

Zhou Yan circled around them on the mountainside for nearly half an hour before finding an abandoned hunter's shack.

Three sides were shielded by wooden boards, making it invisible from below. A mountain wall stood behind it, while dense woods lay before it.

He helped Sun Wenyao inside and seated her against the mountain wall, then crouched to inspect the wound on her calf.

The cloth strips wrapped around it earlier had already been soaked through with blood, sticking to the wound when he untied them.

Sun Wenyao gritted her teeth without making a sound, her forehead drenched in sweat.

The area around the wound was red, swollen, and burning hot. Pus had begun to form around its edges.

Zhou Yan tore a strip of cloth from his hem, dampened it with water from the waterskin, and cleaned the area around the wound.

He then took out a small packet of wound medicine, sprinkled the powder over it, and wrapped it again with clean cloth.

He handed the waterskin to Sun Wenyao. She took two small sips before offering it back.

Zhou Yan waved it away. After hesitating, she took another sip before setting it down.

They could not move during the day.

The two squeezed into the shack. Zhou Yan sat with his back against the mountain wall, watching the forest outside through gaps in the boards.

Sun Wenyao sat beside him, her back against the wall on the other side.

After a while, her head slowly tilted over and came to rest against his shoulder.

Zhou Yan did not move. The girl had a fever, and it had left her dazed as her body trembled faintly.

A mountain wind swept past. She seemed cold, shrinking in on herself as she nestled her head deeper into the hollow of his shoulder.

Zhou Yan continued watching for movement outside.

The sky gradually darkened completely.

The torches of the mountain searchers still shone below, though they had spread out even more than before.

This was exactly what Zhou Yan had been waiting for.

He gently moved Sun Wenyao into a corner by the mountain wall. "I'm going to take care of something. Don't make a sound, and don't move."

Sun Wenyao had no strength to speak. She nodded, then closed her eyes again.

Zhou Yan slipped out of the shack and crouched at the edge of the woods for a moment.

The nearest search party was on the left side of the mountainside, with seven or eight torches, roughly four or five hundred paces away.

He made his way down.

At the edge of a pine forest, a group of men was resting.

Three Body-Tempering Realm cultivators squatted around a fire, chewing dry provisions. Their Qi-Gathering Realm leader leaned against a tree trunk with his eyes closed, resting. A broad-backed saber lay beside him, while a hunting dog was tied to a nearby root, sprawled out asleep.

Zhou Yan crept forward along an old tree.

The hunting dog woke first. The beast suddenly raised its head, and a low growl had barely begun to roll from its throat.

But in the next instant, a fist arrived!

The Mountain-Suppressing Fist smashed down onto the dog's head. With a crack, the hunting dog collapsed straight back to the ground, its legs twitching twice before falling still.

The three Body-Tempering Realm cultivators had not yet reacted.

The nearest one had just dropped his food and reached for his saber when Zhou Yan's instep struck his chin.

His head snapped back, his neck letting out a crisp crack as he fell flat on his back.

The second had just risen when Zhou Yan slapped the short blade from his hand with his left palm, then followed with a punch directly into his chest.

The man gave a muffled grunt, clutched his chest, and crumpled to the ground.

The third turned and ran. Zhou Yan caught up in two steps and kicked him in the lower back.

The Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator awoke, snatching up the broad-backed saber. He had barely shouted the first word of "Enemy!" when Zhou Yan was already in front of him.

Mountain-Breaking Fist!

His fist swept out, the inner qi from his dantian driven into its surface.

The punch struck the Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator in the chest, and internal force exploded within his ribcage.

Seven or eight ribs shattered at once, fragments piercing his heart and lungs.

The Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator opened his mouth, blood surging from his throat as he slid down the tree trunk.

The broad-backed saber fell to the ground with a clang.

Zhou Yan hurriedly searched him, finding several taels of loose silver in his clothes. Then he dragged the corpse deep into the pine forest and covered it with fallen leaves.

He turned and headed uphill in search of the next group.

Another group stood by a stream.

Four Body-Tempering Realm cultivators followed their Qi-Gathering Realm leader, who wore twin blades at his waist. They were searching downstream along the creek, their torches dyeing the water red.

Zhou Yan crept over from upstream. The sound of the water concealed his footsteps.

He used the same method and killed several of them.

He searched the corpses, dragged them away, and continued uphill.

On a scree slope halfway up the mountain, he encountered another six men. Their torches had been planted in a circle, while their Qi-Gathering Realm leader stood in the center lecturing them.

Zhou Yan lay hidden in the brush above the scree slope and listened for a while.

The men below muttered, "Several search teams ahead have already gone quiet."

The Qi-Gathering Realm leader cursed and ordered them to gather their torches together and not spread out.

Zhou Yan did not rush to strike. He waited until the Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator had finished speaking and turned toward the edge of the forest.

A figure suddenly charged down the scree slope. Before the six Body-Tempering Realm cultivators could see who it was, their Qi-Gathering Realm leader had already taken a punch to the chest.

The internal force of the Mountain-Breaking Fist burst through his back, exploding the cloth there and revealing a deep-purple fist mark.

He did not even manage a scream before pitching straight to the ground.

The six Body-Tempering Realm cultivators were so frightened that they dropped their torches.

"Run!" someone shouted.

Zhou Yan gave them no chance.

He scooped up crushed stones from the ground, poured the inner qi of a Qi-Gathering Realm cultivator into his fingers, and flung out a handful of pebbles. Six directions, six screams.

Seven corpses lay strewn across the scree slope.

As dawn approached, the torches of the search parties below gathered into several clusters. They no longer dared to spread out.

Zhou Yan crept up to a sentry post. A broken table stood beneath an old locust tree, where two Black Tiger Hall leaders were discussing a map of the mountain.

"Orders came down that we have to find them before dawn." The speaker was a square-faced burly man. "If we drag this out any longer, none of us will be leaving."

"Find my ass." The other leader cursed. "We lost several teams in the middle of the night. That man is ruthless, and his fist technique has reached great mastery. He's definitely an expert among Qi-Gathering Realm cultivators."

"Even an expert has to be searched for. Someone from the Sun Family came back from Qinghe City with reinforcements and has already broken through the western checkpoint. If we don't catch that Sun girl and secure the precious medicine soon, we'll all be finished."

The square-faced man fell silent for several breaths. "Go. Gather all remaining brothers on the southern slope. If it still isn't done by dawn, retreat. We can't throw all our lives away on this mountain."

At that moment, Zhou Yan withdrew from the brush and silently made his way back.

Sun Wenyao had awakened in the shack.

Her fever had eased somewhat. Her face was still pale, but there was more awareness in her eyes.

Leaning against the mountain wall, she saw Zhou Yan emerge from the edge of the forest, his clothes once more covered in blood.

"You aren't hurt, are you...?"

"I'm fine. Just hold on until dawn." Zhou Yan crouched before her and handed her the waterskin. "Reinforcements will be here soon."

Sun Wenyao accepted the waterskin and watched him for several breaths. "There's more and more blood on you."

Zhou Yan looked down at himself.

Layers of bloodstains covered his clothes. Some were from yesterday, some from tonight. He could no longer tell whose was whose.

Just as a pale glow appeared on the horizon, sounds of fighting and screams suddenly rose from the foot of the mountain.

Zhou Yan slipped out of the shack and looked down from the mountainside.

A force was charging in from the east.

Old Shen led the way.

His left shoulder was still wrapped in blood-seeping cloth, but his palm strikes were fiercer than before.

With one palm strike, two Body-Tempering Realm cultivators were sent flying along with their blades, crashing into tree trunks and falling still.

Behind him came the third young master, Sun Wenyue. He carried that longsword in his hand, its blade chipped in several places, yet its sword force remained sharp and fierce.

Behind them were more than twenty guards in blue, along with several Martial Adepts.

The rabble searching the mountain could not stop them at all and was scattered in all directions.

Zhou Yan returned to the shack and carried Sun Wenyao onto his back.

"Your third brother is here."

Sun Wenyao's body stiffened, then slowly went limp as she fainted.

Zhou Yan carried Sun Wenyao down the mountain, and the two groups met halfway.

Sun Wenyue rushed over first.

Seeing Sun Wenyao on Zhou Yan's back, he planted his sword in the ground and strode over.

He reached out to feel Sun Wenyao's forehead, his brows furrowing slightly.

His lips moved, but in the end, he only said, "It's all right now."

He turned to look at Zhou Yan, then stepped back and clasped his hands in a deep bow.

His waist bent nearly ninety degrees, his head lowered past his knees. "Thank you, Brother Zhou, for coming to our aid. The Sun Family will never forget this great favor!"

Zhou Yan stepped half a pace aside.

Sun Wenyue straightened and swept his eyes over the dried blood covering Zhou Yan's body.

"Rest first," Sun Wenyue said. "Old Shen is clearing the area ahead. We'll leave after waiting a while."

He sat against a boulder. Zhou Yan laid Sun Wenyao down on a flat stone beside him before sitting down as well.

Sun Wenyue was silent for several breaths before suddenly speaking. "Do you know who wanted to kill us this time?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

"The Han Family." Sun Wenyue lowered his voice. "The Han Family of Qinghe City. Qinghe City is three or four times larger than Qingyun County, and the forces within the city are far more complicated. My maternal grandfather's family is surnamed Qin, one of Qinghe City's great families. The other is the Han Family. The Qin Family and the Han Family have fought for decades. They are already mortal enemies."

"This time, my mother sent me back to my maternal grandfather's family. On the surface, it was a family visit, but in truth, I was delivering medicine to my grandfather."

"The Han Family somehow received word and joined forces with Black Tiger Hall. Black Tiger Hall bears a blood feud with our Sun Family, so the two sides immediately saw eye to eye and ambushed us along the way."

Zhou Yan asked, "How did Black Tiger Hall know?"

"They didn't need to know." Sun Wenyue let out a cold laugh. "Black Tiger Hall is like a pack of mad dogs. As long as they have a chance to kill someone from the Sun Family, that's enough. The Han Family provides money and men, Black Tiger Hall supplies the muscle. Each gets what it wants."

"What about your maternal grandfather?"

Sun Wenyue's expression darkened. "He was poisoned. The Han Family bribed someone in the estate and poisoned the old master. Although it was discovered in time, the old master is advanced in years. That poison nearly took his life. This visit was a pretense. Protecting the precious medicine to save the old man was the real purpose."

Zhou Yan considered this. "How is the old master now?"

"He held on," Sun Wenyue said. "But his health is far worse than before. That's why, after Old Shen took me out of the encirclement, he was so eager to bring men back."

Zhou Yan took out the blue cloth bundle from his chest. It was stained with sweat and blood, with some parts rubbed black.

He held it in both hands and offered it to Sun Wenyue.

Sun Wenyue accepted it and untied the bundle.

The Scarlet Blood Lingzhi was completely intact, crimson throughout and still radiating warmth, carrying that sweet yet bloody medicinal scent.

After looking at it for several breaths, he wrapped it up again and glanced toward the foot of the mountain.

"Let's go," he said. "Back to Qinghe City."

The Qin Family's guard commander, Lu Yuanxing, carried a long spear at the front to clear the way, while Old Shen held the rear.