Chapter Nineteen: Nanshan City

Uncle Zhao had no idea that the “demon mosquito” he coveted was not only intelligent but also capable of understanding human speech, and had already made every effort to distance itself from He County.

His clever search around the battlefield where the bandit horsemen had perished was, in fact, the exact opposite of what he needed; the outcome was already determined.

“Damn it, where is that little creature hiding?”

He searched tirelessly until the daylight flooded the sky, but still found nothing. Frustrated and unable to vent his irritation, Uncle Zhao began to harbor murderous thoughts toward the Black Scarf Bandits.

However, when he returned to the dense forest outside He County, hoping to unleash his anger on the bandits, not a shadow of them remained.

Chu Hong, who had managed to escape with the Black Scarf Bandits under the heavy siege of the magistrate’s forces, was no fool. He had the strategist Zhuge Fan to guide their escape as well.

Yesterday, not long after Uncle Zhao took Hou Tai away, they hastily mounted their horses and began their flight. After more than ten hours, they had already fled nearly a thousand miles; Uncle Zhao could do nothing to find them.

Helpless, unwilling to attack innocent civilians without cause, he decided to return to the Green Mountain Sect.

After all, several days had already been wasted. With no more clues, continued searching was futile, and his prolonged absence from sect affairs would surely invite the sect leader’s reproach.

But since he was already not far from Qiqiao Town in Qing County, Uncle Zhao decided to take a detour to look around.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Xiao Wenzi had enjoyed a good sleep. At dawn, sensing that the couple in fine attire and their son would wait for the carriage to depart, he simply hid beneath the seat.

The seat was draped with brocade, making the space beneath spacious for him, far more comfortable than enduring the strong winds atop the carriage.

The blazing sun made the interior somewhat stuffy.

Thus, as they traveled, both the window and carriage curtains were half drawn. The eight- or nine-year-old boy leaned against the window, admiring the scenery along the way.

Suddenly, he looked up in delight and cried out, “It’s an immortal! An immortal master who can fly and disappear!”

“Quiet! Don’t disturb the immortal master, or we’ll be in trouble.”

The boy’s innocent words came naturally, but the father, dressed in fine clothes, knew that some cultivators had odd tempers, and killing without reason was not uncommon. Fearing the airborne cultivator would hear, he quickly admonished his son in a low voice.

“Yes, Lin’er, your father is right…” the mother chimed in as well.

“Oh, I understand,” seeing his parents’ grave expressions, the boy hurriedly lowered the curtain and dared not shout anymore.

Meanwhile, hearing their conversation, Xiao Wenzi felt anxious, crouching beneath the seat and holding his breath, not daring to make a sound.

My goodness, a cultivator who could fly in the sky was certainly no novice. If discovered, he’d be in serious trouble.

Xiao Wenzi had no idea this was Uncle Zhao, who had been searching for him for so long; if he had known, his anxiety would have been even worse. With his meager cultivation, he stood no chance against a practitioner at the peak of the Qi Refining stage.

Flying atop his sword, Uncle Zhao sensed the caravan and the boy’s exclamation below, but paid it no mind. They were mere mortals, not worth his attention.

Feeling dejected and unwilling to cause trouble, he glanced briefly and then sped off at full pace.

Phew—

After waiting for a long time and seeing nothing happen, Xiao Wenzi finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Nevertheless, throughout the rest of the journey, he dared not expand his senses lightly, keeping his presence hidden to avoid detection by any cultivators.

The carriage continued steadily, encountering no bandits along the way, and finally, before nightfall, arrived in Qing County.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Xiao Wenzi flew toward the city’s southern gate, for according to the map, to reach the distant Southern Sky Mountain Range, he would need to head south.

Today’s encounter with a high-level cultivator left him shaken; he was now determined to find a low-ranking novice practitioner to drain for resources, so he could continue his cultivation and grow stronger.

Moreover, he had not eaten for a day and a night. Even with his second-tier cultivation, he felt hungry and needed sustenance.

Luckily, the city was rich in vegetation, with no shortage of flowers, fruits, and trees.

Selecting at random, Xiao Wenzi found some tasty fruits and feasted until he was full.

Time slipped by, and as daylight returned, carriages leaving Qing County were plentiful, so he easily hitched a ride on one bound for the southern gate.

However, this particular carriage was not heading hundreds of miles to Peng County, but only to a nearby village for business.

With no other choice, Xiao Wenzi switched carriages midway, waiting for a chance to join a caravan heading to Peng County.

The Black Scarf Bandits had fled from the central-southern prefectural city to the north, and now found themselves at the border between Tian’nan Prefecture and Yunlin Prefecture. This stretch of official road was quite safe.

The Blood Spirit Method was a supreme ancient cultivation art, granting its practitioners greater power than others of the same tier. With his strength at the peak of the first tier and his powerful senses, Xiao Wenzi had no trouble finding caravans and rides.

And so, traveling off and on, taking advantage of passing carriages, after more than half a month he finally crossed over a thousand miles, arriving near South Mountain City at the edge of the Southern Sky Mountain Range.

Though South Mountain City was not the prefectural capital, its scale far surpassed that of any ordinary county town, with a population approaching one million.

Supported by the far more powerful Falling Feather Sect—much stronger than the Green Mountain Sect—South Mountain City was the only city within thousands of miles to boast a cultivator’s market.

It was precisely because he’d heard there were cultivators in South Mountain City that Xiao Wenzi left the carriage outside the city.

Not that he lacked courage, but every vehicle entering and leaving the city would surely be inspected by cultivators. If they discovered demon energy within him, escape would be nearly impossible.

As the saying goes, caution is the key to longevity. Even if he needed to drain a cultivator’s blood for resources, he had to plan carefully.

After these twenty-odd days of experience, Xiao Wenzi did not mind continuing to “lie low.” Prudence and discretion would be his guiding principles in the world of cultivation.

Although South Mountain City had a defensive formation, keeping it active at all times would drain vast amounts of spirit stones.

Thus, the city’s great protective array was only fully activated during beast tides; normally, only small formations at the gates were in use, with the rest dormant.

From a distance, South Mountain City looked little different from any other mortal city. Xiao Wenzi decided to linger outside for a few days, waiting for an opportunity; if none appeared, he would sneak in under cover of night, either scaling the wall or slipping through the underground drainage tunnels.

Time flew by like a fleeting shadow. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Wenzi had waited outside South Mountain City for four or five days, but not a single solitary, low-level cultivator had appeared.

Of course, high-ranking cultivators who flew in and out atop their swords were plentiful, but whenever Xiao Wenzi spotted them, he could only huddle in the grass, not daring to breathe.

There was no sense in waiting further, so Xiao Wenzi decided to take a risk and enter the city tonight. He had already located more than one drainage tunnel that could be used for entry.

It hadn’t rained in days, so the tunnels were spacious and filled with mosquitoes. Blending in with the swarm would make entering the city far easier and safer than flying over the tall walls alone.