"This bastard really can keep hopping."
Watching the figure still bounding along ahead, Lian Youming held a boiled deer leg and savagely tore off a large mouthful of meat.
The meat had gone cold, but its gamy smell was stronger than when it had first been cooked.
There was no seasoning whatsoever, yet Lian Youming remained expressionless. Like a starving ghost, his facial muscles taut and his canine teeth exposed, he paid no heed to whether it tasted good or bad, simply chewing mouthful after mouthful.
He was too hungry.
Three whole days and four nights-God only knew how he had endured it. Without that box of Yellow Essence sustaining him, he would most likely have died of exhaustion long ago.
Li Da always walked ahead of him, always that same distance away. No matter how hard he pushed himself to catch up, he could never close the gap.
Lian Youming simply slowed his pursuit. When hungry, he hunted and roasted his catch; once full, he resumed chasing, then ate again when the chase left him hungry. Repeating this cycle, he actually managed to run those two thousand-odd li.
But the gains were immense too. His originally burly frame seemed to have drawn inward, gradually becoming leaner and longer, and his legs had grown considerably more nimble.
Lian Youming even felt that another two days of walking might let his Golden Bell Cover break through to the third stage.
The mountain wind bit, cold striking his face.
At last, Li Da's gentle voice brought the long journey to an end. "We're here."
A weight lifted from Lian Youming's shoulders. He stopped and looked around.
Before him were still vast, wild mountains, without a soul in sight.
Strangely, though it was only sometime in the eighth month, waves of cold drifted down from the mountain. He could even make out frost riding the wind, like crushed corn kernels.
Autumn snow.
Lian Youming asked, "Couldn't you have brought a few more people? What if those White Lotus Sect people come too?"
Li Da said with utter certainty, "There's no 'what if.' They'll definitely come. And perhaps it won't just be the White Lotus Sect. They aren't the only power in the martial world... If they didn't come, wouldn't that spoil the fun?"
Lian Youming's expression froze, but he tore and chewed faster. "Are you kidding? Just the two of us?"
Unhurried, Li Da continued up the mountain. "Nobody knows what's inside those underground fortresses. If there's poison gas or bombs hidden there, more people would only get in the way. Besides, it's hard to tell whether your map is genuine. If it's bait put out by the White Lotus Sect, ordinary people would only throw their lives away."
Hearing this, Lian Youming suddenly regretted coming.
Looking at the rolling mountain peaks ahead, Li Da's smile faded a little, a rare sight, and his tone grew weightier. "It might not just be martial-world people like the White Lotus Sect. After Japan was defeated and surrendered, quite a few Japanese soldiers fled into this area. Unfortunately, their whereabouts were never discovered. If this map is real, perhaps it can lift a corner of the veil over the truth."
Lian Youming immediately perked up. "You mean there might be Japanese devils hiding in these mountains?"
The Northeast had plenty of treacherous mountains, perilous waters, and forests. After Japan's defeat, quite a few of the little devils had indeed refused to surrender and hidden deep in the mountain forests, either becoming wild men or hiding year-round in secluded nooks and crannies without seeing the light of day.
Li Da said mildly, "You'd better prepare yourself. Don't get scared to death when the time comes."
Lian Youming raised his eyebrows, snapped the deer bone in half, and sucked out the marrow. "My dad mentioned that kind of thing too."
Li Da gave him a meaningful look. "Did he tell you those Japanese soldiers didn't just flee into the mountains themselves, but also abducted many women and children? Why don't you guess what for? When I traveled through the north with my master, I saw some scenes that defy description. They're still vivid in my mind today... If there really are little devils on this mountain, leave none alive."
Seeing Li Da staring at the bone in his hand, Lian Youming abruptly froze. Then his pupils contracted sharply. "You mean..."
Without waiting for a reply, he drew a deep breath, his tiger-like eyes turning cold. "I understand."
Li Da turned away, his gentle, unruffled expression returning, and spoke easily. "This is a fine place. Legend calls it the land where the Manchu Qing rose to power. The mountains hold countless treasures of heaven and earth, and no shortage of rare beasts. There are even rumors of astonishing secret treasures hidden here, and strange, undecaying corpses buried here... I'll take a walk. You have a look around too, see if you can find anything good."
Before Lian Youming could react, Li Da's figure flashed. His spine contracted and extended, and he swept into the sea of trees in great strides, like an azure dragon soaring into the sky.
"Meet me at fortress entrance number two before dark. If you encounter enemies, fight if you can beat them, run if you can't."
Lian Youming stood there dumbfounded. He was about to speak when Li Da tossed something back, sending it spinning through the air.
It was actually a Type 54 pistol.
Lian Youming caught it and muttered, "You talk about how the wise seek within, but your body's a lot more honest!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Li Da's voice drifted back from afar like a ghost. "I prepared that for you."
Lian Youming jolted. "How did he train those ears? They're like radar!"
But once Li Da had gone far away and vanished completely, Lian Youming's casual grin disappeared, replaced by solemnity and thought.
"Life-prolonging old medicine, Japanese devils, the White Lotus Sect... Hah, this trip certainly is lively."
As for why Li Da was acting alone, that was easy to understand: he must still be hiding something. And since he had designated an entrance, he most likely intended to sneak in somewhere else first.
But since the other man didn't want anyone joining in, Lian Youming couldn't be bothered to make the effort.
He quickly ran through the map's markings in his mind, tested the pistol, and, finding nothing wrong with it, headed the other way.
According to the map's markings, the Underground Fortress should be on Changbai Mountain's northwestern slope, almost over toward Korea. Lian Youming simply went in the opposite direction. Since there was danger, he would stay away from it and find somewhere to recover his strength first.
"If that girl knew there was life-prolonging old medicine here, I wonder if she'd faint from joy..."
Without an expert of Li Da's caliber beside him, Lian Youming grew cautious too. He circled through the woods for quite a while, spotting plenty of weasels and roe deer, as well as golden eagles, sika deer, and the like.
Things that flew in the sky, swam in the water, or ran on the ground-all were edible.
Lian Youming hadn't eaten his fill earlier anyway. Now his eyes shone green, and he was barely short of pouncing on them and gnawing them raw.
But after thinking it over, he went farther into the mountains, only ducking inside when he spotted a solitary wooden cabin.
It looked like a resting place for mountain travelers. Dust covered the interior, along with some animal droppings; he couldn't tell whether it had long been abandoned.
Only then did Lian Youming take off his filthy trousers. Glancing down, he saw that the insides of both thighs were covered in dark bruises, while the veins in his calves bulged, swollen with blood.
Without further thought, he exhaled softly and secretly channeled force into his hands, gently kneading his legs to guide the Qi and blood along the sinews and channels from top to bottom.
Outside, the sky grew darker and darker. The mountain wind rose, and frost actually began to drift through the air in this eighth or ninth month.
After a long while, Lian Youming felt he had done enough and put his trousers back on. He was just about to go out when a glance through the window revealed a figure approaching briskly from below the ridge. As luck would have it, the figure was heading straight for the cabin.
"What the hell? I never get a share of the good things, but every bad thing finds me?"
Lian Youming's mouth twitched. His gaze swept around, and, spotting a pile of straw in the corner, he hurriedly lifted it with one hand and burrowed inside.
The moment he entered, a strange, rank stench hit him so hard that his head swam. Some wild mountain beast had probably bedded down there, and it seemed soaked in urine too. The foul, pungent stink nearly made Lian Youming vomit up everything he had just eaten.
But it was too late to change places, and there was nowhere else to hide.
Lian Youming could only hold his breath and listen as the footsteps outside drew closer.
At last, the wooden door was pushed open. A rough-looking middle-aged man strode inside, giving an odd chuckle. "Heh heh, to think I'd find a girl this pretty up in the mountains. Heaven really does treat me well."
Lian Youming seemed to have subdued even the light in his eyes. Through the crisscrossing gaps between the dry stalks, he watched the man lower a figure from his shoulder.
A young girl, bound hand and foot.
The girl wore a shirt and cloth trousers, her long hair hanging loose. Tears filled her eyes, and her lovely face was deathly pale.
The burly man was already impatiently undoing his clothes.
Watching from his hiding place, Lian Youming knitted his brows tightly.
As luck would have it, the girl turned her head, her eyes filled with despair, and her tearful gaze met his directly. The pleading desperation in her eyes could break a person's heart.
Save her or not?
Thoughts raced through Lian Youming's mind. Just as he was deciding whether to act, two more sets of footsteps unexpectedly sounded in the mountains outside.
The middle-aged man's expression changed. He hastily straightened his clothes and went out.
"Damn it, at a time like this, you're still thinking about screwing?"
An angry woman's voice reached Lian Youming's ears.
"Li Da has already entered the mountains. I told you to follow him-how's that going? We've been chasing him all this way. If you ruin the Vice Sect Leader's plans, I'll castrate you myself."
Vice Sect Leader?
Listening to the conversation outside, Lian Youming blinked at the girl, then suddenly drew a deep breath. His large hand snatched through the air, swept her up around the waist, and, holding her, he turned and smashed a hole through the cabin wall before sprinting flat out toward the woods.
Almost at the very moment Lian Youming gathered his breath, the conversation outside fell silent.
The next second.
The wooden door exploded with a crash. By the time three figures rushed inside, all they saw was Lian Youming's retreating back as he carried the girl away.
"You White Lotus Sect scum, picking on a young girl! You shameless fucking bastards!"
"After him!"
(End of chapter)
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