Yi Yang, Yan Wuyuan, and Ning Xiong rushed through the open hidden door, one after another.
Ahead lay a narrow stone passage sloping upward, only wide enough for one person.
Along both stone walls, they could see traces of spent traps. Broken crossbow bolts still lodged in the cracks, and several crushed poison needles lay scattered on the ground.
Clearly, Wu Jiu and Blood Trace had fled in such haste that they had not even had time to clear their escape route.
Yan Wuyuan led the way.
Her Mental Power spread like an invisible net, enveloping the area dozens of yards ahead and confirming that no traps or ambushes remained.
Only their hurried footsteps and heavy breathing echoed through the long, narrow passage.
A little over a hundred breaths later.
At the end of the passage, a sliver of cold white moonlight shone through, fragmented by the shadows of trees.
The exit!
Seeing the moonlight spilling into the passage, Yi Yang pushed off hard and shot forward like an arrow, leaping out first.
His feet landed on a soft layer of decaying leaves with a faint rustle.
Overhead stretched the dense canopy of Clearwind Ridge. Night wind swept through the pine branches, stirring the needles carpeting the ground.
Yan Wuyuan and Ning Xiong followed close behind, leaping out in turn.
Two distinctly different traces of True Astral Force still lingered in the air.
One led east, the other north.
They had gone their separate ways.
Yan Wuyuan stood beside the loose stones at the exit, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed their surroundings for a moment.
When she opened her eyes again, their pale amber depths had regained that languid yet assured air as she said:
"They split up."
"Both took my sword strike head-on. Between the backlash from their