Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 20 – Trap

“Senior-apprentice Sister Ning.” Qin Yu bowed as he gasped for breath.

Ning Ling revealed a complex light in her eyes.

Originally, in order to avoid any unwelcome surprises, she knew that the best decision would have been to stay within the Eastern Mountain Sect. But she also knew of the grudge between Xu Wei and Qin Yu. After learning that Xu Wei would be leading this Foundation Establishment trial, she wavered for a long time before finally deciding to meddle in it.

If she were to speak up, there was no one throughout the entire Eastern Mountain Sect that would refuse her.

As she looked at Qin Yu, scenes from the incident of East Stream Town began to constantly run through her mind. At that time Qin Yu had been discreet, steady, and calm. That past image of Qin Yu overlapped with the current image in her mind, leaving her puzzled and sighing.

“Here are several pills. Take them.”

Qin Yu felt helpless in this situation. In particular, as he swept his eyes to the side and saw Xu Wei’s man-eating gaze on him, he couldn’t help but inwardly shake his head. But, as he looked at the fair hands holding the jade bottle, he revealed a surprised and happy expression as he accepted the bottle and bowed repeatedly to express his thanks.

Ning Ling turned and left, not looking back again.

Qin Yu ‘impatiently’ swallowed these pills. As he lowered his head, faint traces of downheartedness appeared in his eyes.

A misunderstanding was a misunderstanding; they weren’t people from the same world to begin with.

But this was fine!

At sunset, the group of seven people from the Eastern Mountain Sect smoothly arrived at Western Pass City. The most miserable looking one was still Qin Yu.

Although Xu Wei was not satisfied when Ning Ling offered Qin Yu pills on her own initiative, he didn’t dare to express his displeasure. He smiled and said, “Senior-apprentice Sister, how about we take a short break and begin tonight?”

Ning Ling nodded.

Without alerting anyone, the seven people leapt over the city wall and checked into an inn.

Ning Ling seemed to have a great deal of experience in these matters. She put on a veil before entering the city to cover up her flawlessly beautiful appearance, but even so, moving about still attracted a great deal of trouble.

But, with a flick of his sleeves, Xu Wei sent several large fellows flying away and no one dared to look at them again.

The group loudly and brashly made their presence known as they directly booked all the best rooms on the third floor. Their demeanors overflowed with pride.

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Immortal cultivators were originally existences that surpassed the common people. When they journeyed through the world, this sort of performance wasn’t surprising at all.

At the very least they were easy to distinguish.

Qin Yu swept his eyes around. As he saw that even Ning Ling didn’t seem to feel that anything was wrong, he secretly shook his head.

The Zhu Family was a family of evil cultivators that had taken root in Western Pass City over 200 years ago. Their influence spread out far and wide and it could be imagined just how many secret informers they had hidden round. In addition, they were undoubtedly aware that the evil deeds they committed would eventually be punished, so there were definitely some matters that they were extremely sensitive about. Soon, the Zhu Family would know that a group of extremely strong characters had come to Western Pass City and they would react accordingly.

Of course, it could be that Ning Ling, Xu Wei, and the others had also considered this but simply didn’t care. Beneath the suppression of absolute strength, the Zhu Family wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.

As night arrived, the entire Western Pass City was lit up with torches and lamps, brightly illuminating everything around them. As a large mortal city located in the Southern Empire, Western Pass City could be called bustling and prosperous. For these relatively young cultivators who spent their years in their mountain sect, it was impossible to withstand the city temptations.

Lin Lin was the first to knock at Xu Wei’s door, asking him to bring her out for a stroll around the city. Perhaps it was because Ning Ling had given him the cold shoulder or perhaps it was that he was depressed because Qin Yu hadn’t suffered enough, but he nodded in agreement after a moment of hesitation.

After greeting Ning Ling, he went out with Lin Lin, Zhang Ze, Fan Ping, and Lu Feng. As Xu Wei found himself surrounded by people once he left, he immediately began to perk up.

Of course, no one bothered paying attention to Qin Yu. Even the simplest and most honest Lu Feng tactfully kept his mouth shut.

But an hour later, Xu Wei and his group returned, a furious rage in his eyes. Lin Lin and the others still had panic coloring their expressions. Lu Feng was carried back by Fan Ping. He had a black gas covering his face and had fallen unconscious; he had clearly fallen into a trap.

“It’s poison!” Xu Wei coldly seethed. As the most beloved disciple of Huang Dangui, he had a little bit of experience in this aspect. “There is only a single cultivator family in Western Pass City. It seems that the Zhu Family has already discovered us and they have taken the advantage with the first strike!”

He gnashed his teeth. But, he never considered that if he hadn’t been so loud and arrogant in his actions, how could he have been easily discovered by the Zhu Family?

A brief moment of regret flashed in Ning Ling’s eyes, but it was too late to do anything about it. They had been negligent and there was no point in saying anything anymore. She coldly said, “Someone will stay here and look after Junior-apprentice Brother Lu Feng. The others will follow me to the Zhu Family and search for an antidote!”

Thinking, she turned around and said, “Junior-apprentice Brother Qin Yu, you stay behind.”

Xu Wei wanted to object, but Ning Ling didn’t give him a chance to; she directly flew out from the third floor.

“What are you all waiting around for? Follow Senior-apprentice Sister Ning. We’re going to flatten this Zhu Family!”

As Qin Yu saw the dark night swallow the figures of the departing, anxiousness flashed in his eyes. Since the Zhu Family took the initiative to strike first, they had likely prepared themselves for the counterattack. He only hoped that Ning Ling and the others would be more steady this time and wouldn’t fall into a trap.

Qin Yu placed Lu Feng on the bed and looked over him, hesitation on his face. After acquiring the power of the poison pill and also staying in the disposal department for a year, he had gained a deep understanding of poisons. He could see at a glance that Lu Feng’s poison was extremely cruel and ruthless.

Even if Lu Feng was at the Foundation Establishment realm, it would be difficult for him to resist the poison. It wouldn’t be long before it entered his marrow, and once that happened then he would be beyond rescue.

Should he save him?

It was nighttime. He didn’t doubt the power of the foot-wide sea-blue light.

As Qin Yu was hesitating, he heard a sudden popping in his ears. His expression didn’t change, as if he didn’t sense anything at all. Soon, several wisps of light gas blew into his room, and with a stuffy cough, he slumped to the ground.

After several breaths of time, four figures entered through the window. The man and woman that came in first tugged down their bandannas to glance over the room. A sharp light glinted in their eyes.

“What sort of great sect disciples are these? They are so mediocre that they were defeated just like this!” A youth said with deep satisfaction.

The woman frowned. “Stop wasting time. Kill them.”

“Yes, miss.”

Two servants behind her diabolically grinned. They held Vorpal Edge blades in their hands as they moved towards Qin Yu and Lu Feng.

But in that moment, the sound of splitting air rang out and the heads of the two Zhu Family servants flew into the air, blood springing from their severed necks.

The youth was horrified. As for the Zhu Family miss, she ran out without hesitation. But soon something black landed in front of her and she fell to the ground, paper white. It was the head of her brother, his eyes wide with fear.

Qin Yu stood up, glaring at her with icy eyes.

The Zhu Family miss screamed, “Don’t kill me!”

Qin Yu coldly said, “What traps did the Zhu Family prepare? If you speak then I’ll spare you death, otherwise you will share their fate.”

The Zhu Family miss hesitated. “You really won’t kill me?” She suddenly thrust out her large chest, saying, “If you don’t kill me, I am willing to serve you in bed.”

Qin Yu’s lips twitched. He roared out, “Speak!”

The Zhu Family miss said in a soft voice, “My father laid down a Mother and Child Soul Seeking Array at our home…” Before she could finish speaking, her head tumbled down. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and the tiny needles in her mouth were unable to shoot out.

Qin Yu revealed a hint of worry. When he first saw that Lu Feng had been poisoned, he had guessed that the Zhu Family had left him alive on purpose. He speculated that they had done this in order to divide the force from the Eastern Mountain Sect, and now it seemed his guess was correct.

The Zhu Family were well aware that these people from the Eastern Mountain Sect had come with ill intent towards them. But not only did they not run away, they took the initiative to strike first. If they did this it was likely because they had something they could rely on, and it was likely this Mother and Child Soul Seeking Array. Although Ning Ling and the others were strong, they didn’t have the correct mentality to take advantage of the situation. He had to go and take a look himself, otherwise if something were to occur to them then he wouldn’t be able to escape either.

Qin Yu hesitated for a moment and then tightly closed the windows and door. He moved to the side of the door and a foot of sea-blue light quietly bloomed. All the poison in Lu Feng’s boy was quickly forced to his finger. Qin Yu slashed a nail across his skin and saw that the previously black blood had turned bright red.

It wasn’t as if he could just let him die. He could make up an excuse that he had found an antidote on the bodies of the Zhu Family people. After all, the dead couldn’t testify against him.

Without further hesitation, he carried Lu Feng on his back, shoved open the window, and leapt out into the night, vanishing into the darkness.

…

Zhu Mansion!

This was a typical wealthy residential compound. With 200 years of history, it was filled with a grandiose aura. On the door facing outside, 16 torches of wrapped cowhide illuminated the night, making it seem as bright as day. But past the courtyard doors, everything was pitch black, as if it were the maw of a giant beast. And the most bizarre thing was that the entire Zhu Mansion was deathly silent at this moment, so peaceful that it left one horrified.

Qin Yu carefully hid Lu Feng on the roof of a nearby house. Then, he looked towards the Zhu Mansion. His first thought was that…something had gone wrong!

Reasonably speaking, now was the best time to turn around and flee. If he did then he would surely be able to leave unscathed. However, he wouldn’t be able to return to the Eastern Mountain Sect. Moreover, there was a completely unreasonable voice deep in his heart that was telling him he couldn’t just stare blankly on as something happened to Ning Ling.

Qin Yu ruefully smiled. He took a deep breath, revolving the aura restraining law formula with the pendant to their limits. Then, he quietly fluttered into the Zhu Mansion like a feather.

As he fell to the ground, he almost didn’t make any sound at all. He carefully looked around. The entire Zhu Mansion seemed to be shrouded in a strange darkness that was as thick as ink. Even with Qin Yu’s amazing eyesight, he could still only barely make out his surroundings.

Waves of cold aura rushed past him from all sides, flowing across his body. Qin Yu felt hairs rise all over his body. But besides making him feel afraid, this aura didn’t attack him at all.

Thinking about it, Qin Yu quickly reacted. This cold aura was being dragged somewhere else and wasn’t aimed at him.

It was aimed at Ning Ling and the others!

It seemed that the Zhu Family hadn’t yet succeeded.

Qin Yu composed himself. He gathered magic power into his eyes. As his surroundings became a bit more clear, he moved forwards with his eyes locked to the ground.

The Zhu Mansion was extremely large and it wouldn’t be easy to find Ning Ling and the others in this thick darkness. But, Qin Yu didn’t stop, instead directly moving southwest. This was because the more he approached that area, the stronger the cold yin aura became. That place was likely the location of the battlefield!

As he moved forwards, he didn’t see a single figure. The giant Zhu Mansion seemed to be completely empty, causing Qin Yu to feel even more restless in his heart. But at this moment he heard a few faint sounds in the air, causing his steps to be a little bit faster.

In front of him was a small courtyard. There was a well, an acacia tree, and three blue-tiled houses that didn’t have windows or doors.

A ring-like magic tool flew high above everyone’s heads, gushing out a circle of golden light. Ning Ling and the others were pouring their magic power into this magic tool to force back the surrounding fog. Sad and mournful screams constantly rang out from the fog and the cold yin aura rushed forwards like a tide, tumbling without end!

Between the ancient well and acacia tree stood a cultivator. He was tall and sturdy with firm features. His eyes were filled with a deep dignity. He was Zhu Hai, the head of the Zhu Family and also the man that the Eastern Mountain Sect wanted dead.

He held a golden pendant in his left hand and a round bowl in his right. The golden pendant swung left and right, and although it didn’t emit sound it was able to control the ghosts to attack. To suppress five people from the Eastern Mountain Sect by himself, including elites like Ning Ling and Xu Wei, it could be seen how powerful he was!

Within the golden light, Xu Wei was enraged. He roared out, “Zhu Hai, if you dare to touch us then the Eastern Mountain Sect’s Golden Cores will definitely take action! There will be no path to heaven and no gate to hell for you!”

Zhu Hai had an indifferent expression. “Since I moved against you, I didn’t leave behind an escape route for myself. And, did you think that everything that happened tonight could be arranged in a mere several hours?”

Xu Wei’s eyes popped open, “What do you mean?”

Zhu Hai said, “It’s simple. The reason that the Eastern Mountain Sect obtained news of my evil deeds is because I deliberately spread out this information. If I didn’t do that, how could I draw you in?”

Xu Wei paled.