Chapter 996: Tracking

Someone had taken a club to a pair of mandarin ducks, forcing husband and wife apart. Though even that was somewhat overstating it. No one had truly broken the couple apart; they had merely been made to separate temporarily.

Dong Jinhuan was taken away by people from Liuxian Sect. Zhao Dengxuan had no idea where they took her.

Liuxian Sect repeatedly reassured Zhao Dengxuan that nothing would happen. They claimed everything was being done for Dong Jinhuan's sake. They feared Zhao Dengxuan might abandon her, so they wanted her to give birth to the child. Afterward, they would consider allowing Dong Jinhuan to return with him to Xiaoyao Palace. For the time being, however, they did not want Zhao Dengxuan publicizing the matter.

Of course, Zhao Dengxuan could also divorce Dong Jinhuan outright for the sake of his own future. As for the child, Liuxian Sect would help him raise it properly.

Or Zhao Dengxuan could report the matter to his own sect. But even if Xiaoyao Palace stepped forward, it would accomplish nothing. Liuxian Sect was handling its own disciple according to sect rules, and no outsider could object. Liuxian Sect could consider letting Dong Jinhuan and the child in her belly die together. Or it could consider letting Dong Jinhuan appear in the future holding the child in her arms. Zhao Dengxuan could choose to deny his own flesh and blood, but Liuxian Sect would certainly ruin his reputation and thoroughly destroy his future in Xiaoyao Palace.

In short, for now they did not want Xiaoyao Palace learning that Dong Jinhuan was pregnant.

As for Dong Jinhuan, Liuxian Sect still had the same message: nurture the pregnancy properly and give birth to the child in peace. If she lost her head and anything happened to the child in her belly, she would not live either.

In the end, Zhao Dengxuan returned alone, the grief and fury in his heart with nowhere to vent. He cursed Niu Youdao more times than he could count...

Someone outside was cursing him, but Niu Youdao knew nothing of it. He remained beside the campfire, occasionally lifting the map in his hands to study it. Most of the people from the various factions were sitting cross-legged in meditation, regulating their breathing.

Nor would he have cared about a little infamy. As he himself had once said, he could no longer tell whether he was black or white. Beneath the firelight, he frowned in thought.

From time to time, a desolate wind lifted the hem of his robe. His expression remained unchanged.

Ke Dingjie, taking his turn on guard, was extremely vigilant. Detecting something unusual, he crouched beside Niu Youdao and murmured into his ear, "Elder, beneath that big tree behind us."

Niu Youdao abruptly looked back. He saw the tree, and he saw the thing beneath it: a black fox, seemingly the same black fox they had seen during the day. It was acting furtively, apparently hiding there and spying on them.

Niu Youdao gave a quiet "Mm" to show he understood, then turned back to continue studying the map in his hands.

Ke Dingjie lowered his voice. "Elder, should we have them..." He gestured toward the people of the other factions. The meaning was clear: if Niu Youdao did not want to act, they could tell someone else to do it.

"Don't create unnecessary trouble," Niu Youdao said indifferently.

Seeing his attitude, Ke Dingjie could only let the matter drop and continue his watch, guarding against a possible Demon Fox ambush...

Before dawn, Niu Youdao opened his eyes from meditation and looked at the sky. He slowly rose and stood with his sword planted before him. Beneath the pitch-black heavens, the firelight cast wavering shadows.

When he looked back again, the furtive black fox had already disappeared.

"Elder!"

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie, who had been taking turns watching the surroundings, were alerted. One rose while the other came closer, neither knowing what he intended.

"Come with me," Niu Youdao said.

Qin Guan asked, "Where?"

Niu Youdao did not answer. Instead, he walked toward the Western Sea contingent and stopped before Fuhua.

Fuhua, seated cross-legged, opened her eyes and glanced at the sky as well. Unsure why he had come over at this hour, she stood and asked, "What is it?"

Niu Youdao tilted his head and led her aside. Glancing toward Kunlin Shu, he instructed, "Big Sister, I'll trouble you to put in a little more effort. Do your best to protect him for me."

Fuhua teased, "Protect him? When you dumped him on me, didn't you say he was supposed to protect a woman like me?"

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Big Sister isn't such a petty woman."

Fuhua said, "Enough nonsense. Let me ask you something. There's a rumor outside that he went to Zijin Cave to challenge you, wagered himself, lost to you, and became your slave. Is that true?"

By now, this was no great secret. Tianhuo Sect naturally had no desire to spread such a humiliating affair. The problem was that it could not control Zijin Cave's mouth. Zijin Cave had wanted to extort benefits from Tianhuo Sect, but Tianhuo Sect refused. Since Zijin Cave gained nothing, it naturally released the news to make Tianhuo Sect lose face.

Niu Youdao nodded. "Something like that happened."

Fuhua seemed doubtful. "You really defeated him?"

She asked because she had seen Kunlin Shu's ability over the last two days. It was anything but ordinary. His fire-control arts were extraordinary. Any Demon Fox he encountered found it almost impossible to escape. Even fleeing into the swamp seemed useless. Once Kunlin Shu cast his arts, fire could erupt from beneath the marsh and force a Demon Fox hiding below to leap back out.

Such relentless pursuit inevitably triggered Demon Fox traps. Once, hundreds upon hundreds of tentacles had burst from the swamp and tangled around them. Kunlin Shu's fire-wielding swords rained down, shredding the chaos of tendrils apart. Even the Demon Fox trying to escape under cover of the countless tentacles failed to get away. A vast stretch of the swamp was nearly scorched black.

The sight of fire-swords raining from the sky, the tremendous momentum sweeping everything aside, had genuinely shocked Fuhua. She estimated that if the two of them truly fought, she might not necessarily be Kunlin Shu's match. His fire-aspected cultivation art in particular somewhat suppressed her own abilities.

Kunlin Shu possessed such formidable strength that she had begun to wonder whether the rumors were true. Could Niu Youdao really have defeated him?

Niu Youdao smiled faintly and answered vaguely, "I was lucky, that's all."

After giving her his instructions, Niu Youdao was about to leave. But the others were hardly decorations.

They all appeared to be sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed in meditation, but they had noticed Niu Youdao moving around long ago. He had made no attempt to hide his movements, so everyone had been quietly paying attention.

Seeing that he intended to leave, Chao Jing suddenly called out, "Elder Niu, where are you going?"

He rose. The Elders from the other factions opened their eyes one after another and stood as well, all walking over.

Once they drew near, Chao Jing asked again, "Elder Niu, dawn is probably still one or two hours away. Why are you so eager to leave in the dark?"

Niu Youdao said, "Precisely because dawn is still one or two hours away, I need to leave now. I'm going over to Misty Pavilion's people. If I go too late, they'll scatter. Then we won't know their next stopping point, and finding them again will be troublesome."

Shen Yidu asked strangely, "Why are you running over to them?"

Niu Youdao said, "Our hunting efficiency isn't very good at present. If this keeps up, it won't work. I'm going to observe how they hunt Demon Foxes, or perhaps make contact with them and see whether I can pick up some useful experience."

Chao Jing said, "If that's the case, why don't we all go together? We can look after one another."

Niu Youdao said, "The two sides are competing right now. Do you really think it's appropriate for all of us to swarm over together? Too many people shouldn't go. I have my own considerations for how to make contact with them. There are advantages to having fewer people."

Everyone thought about it and found the reasoning sound enough. Even so, the claim that he was going over to Misty Pavilion to learn from them still felt somewhat unreliable. None knew what method he could possibly use.

Chao Jing hesitated, then said, "Very well. We'll hear what happened when we meet tonight."

Niu Youdao shook his head. "I'm afraid I won't be able to meet everyone tonight. I may not have time for the next several days either. Since I'm going there, if I can remain around them, naturally I need to observe for a while. It may take ten days or half a month. If I can return tonight, I'll naturally hurry to the next rendezvous point. If I can't, then continue hunting according to the plan. I've left Fuhua a location where we'll meet later. We'll regroup there when the time comes."

Everyone looked toward Fuhua. She raised the small handbook in her hand and nodded, confirming that this was indeed the case.

With the matter settled, Niu Youdao led Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie away.

Although everyone still had doubts, Niu Youdao was determined. They all needed something from him now, so they could only watch as his figure disappeared into the darkness.

Once outside the woods, Niu Youdao's group of three determined their direction and sped away.

Mist drifted over the swamp beneath the starry sky as three figures rose and fell, gliding forward without pause.

They traveled from deep night until the first pale light before dawn and finally reached the vicinity of the woods they were seeking.

Flying continuously for one or two hours had consumed a fair amount of spiritual power. Niu Youdao did not approach immediately. Instead, he found a concealed place where the three could recover their strength and ordered the two men to take turns watching the target area.

Qin Guan was curious. "Elder, weren't you going to make contact with them?" The question in his heart was obvious: if they had already found the people, why were they now skulking around in hiding?

"Ask less. Watch more," Niu Youdao replied.

The two could only suppress their doubts and remain hidden.

Only after full daylight did a group of Misty Pavilion personnel emerge from the woods. They advanced onward in pairs, spreading in a fan-shaped formation.

Niu Youdao watched for a while. Once Misty Pavilion's people had dispersed far enough that the pairs could no longer see one another, he turned and asked, "A lot of the terrain here is open, so anyone being tailed can easily notice. Monkey taught you what to do when tracking someone, didn't he?"

He had.

The two looked down at their conspicuous red clothing, then rolled directly into the mud. In the blink of an eye, both had become mud-covered figures.

Niu Youdao did the same. Then the three mud-covered men set off after the outermost pair.

They had followed for less than half an hour when sounds of fighting came from ahead. The three drew near and immediately flattened themselves in the mud. From a distance, they could vaguely see two Misty Pavilion cultivators hunting a Demon Fox.

Niu Youdao raised a hand, pointed left and right, gave a hand signal, then pointed toward the targets.

The two men understood. It was one of the hand signals Yuan Gang had taught them, ordering them to scout the targets' left and right flanks. They nodded and quickly slipped away toward both sides.

The targets successfully took down one Demon Fox and resumed moving. Niu Youdao rose again and followed furtively from far behind, knotting grass along the route to leave markers.

He followed them for quite some time. When the targets finally entered a small wooded hill to rest, Niu Youdao stopped as well and hid, lying among the marsh grass.

After waiting a while, Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie crept back and reported that there should be no one else within several li around them.

"Come. Let's go meet them."

The words had barely left Niu Youdao's mouth when he shot upward. While airborne, he circulated spiritual power and blasted the mud and water from his body, revealing his true appearance.

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie exchanged a glance. Neither knew what he intended, but both rose into the air as well, clearing the mud and water from themselves with spiritual power before following him toward the wooded hill.

The moment the three landed among the trees, the Misty Pavilion personnel inside were startled into shouting, "Who's there?"

[End of Chapter 996]