Chapter 147: Each Shows Their Skills

Countless small footprints were visible nearby, some clearly belonging to mountain dwellers.

Pei Xinyong and Lu Yao, each harboring their own ulterior motives, walked for a long while in silence.

Finally, Pei Xinyong broke the silence: "So, according to you, General Wu fell for a ruse by someone named He and was then killed by you?"

Wu Shaoyi wasn't the only one who fell for it; you did too! Of course, Lu Yao kept this thought to himself. After all, Pei Xinyong currently had more than twice his numbers, and their top priority was pursuing the imperial soldiers.

"I didn't kill him; the Alligator God did it himself!"

"Speaking of which, why would the Alligator God accompany you to Immortal Spirit Lake?" This was something Pei Xinyong deeply feared. General Wu Shaoyi, despite his combat prowess, had fallen into Lu Yao's ambush, making Pei Xinyong concerned about the danger to himself.

What did that scoundrel Lu Yao intend by bringing the Alligator God to Immortal Spirit Lake?

"I asked it to be our witness!" Lu Yao sighed. "After the Saint Master passed away, it also sought a new lair. When I told it about the abundance of fish and the extensive waterways in Immortal Spirit Lake, it decided to come."

Pei Xinyong nodded, not believing a word of it. With so many lakes and rivers in the Kites Kingdom, why would the Alligator God choose this place specifically? He knew the Alligator God was from the Northern Kingdom and wasn't very familiar with the Kites Kingdom's waterways. How would it have come along if Lu Yao hadn't tricked it?

So, Lu Yao had originally planned to use the Alligator God to coerce the other two forces into recognizing him as their leader when their armies met?

Now that Wu Shaoyi was dead, his subordinates had either dispersed or defected to Lu Yao. How should Pei Xinyong handle his own position?

Should he kill Lu Yao and seize all the troops?

Pei Xinyong sneered inwardly, thinking Lu Yao was probably plotting the same thing!

Lu Yao turned his head to look at him and suddenly said, "Wu Shaoyi lacked ambition. I knew he just wanted to go back south, find a mountain, settle down, and be a petty warlord. Now that he's dead, we don't need to go through the trouble of a full army rendezvous or alliance. I, Lu Yao, will pledge allegiance to General Pei. Only by working together with one heart can we find a way to survive!"

Pei Xinyong was stunned: "You... you want to pledge allegiance to me as the supreme commander?"

"Precisely!" Lu Yao gave a hearty laugh. "From now on, this body of mine will be at your disposal, Commander Pei!"

Pei Xinyong was moved: "You're too kind, Brother Lu!"

Yet, he didn't utter the polite refusal, "How could this be?"

The two exchanged smiles and clapped each other on the shoulder, secretly cursing each other in their minds.

Further ahead, several broken cypress trees blocked the path.

With such thick tree trunks piled up, their mounts certainly couldn't leap over them. The bandits, having no other choice, dismounted to clear the way.

He Chunhua had deliberately chosen to fell massive trees at the time. These fallen logs were incredibly heavy and lay haphazardly. Although the combined forces of Pei and Lu had many men, it still took them over thirty minutes to move these giants aside, leaving them panting and exhausted.

Neither Pei nor Lu had the arrogant habit of official generals who stood aloof; they both dismounted and participated directly. Pei Xinyong picked a splinter from his palm, then turned to Lu Yao and asked, "Are you alright?"

Lu Yao had previously fought Wu Shaoyi, sustaining multiple bleeding injuries, and his wounds had already reopened, causing him to limp. He had also led his men to attack the West Mountain carriage formation, then galloped continuously to this spot, only to now perform heavy labor. Even an iron man would be weary. At this moment, he was not only breathing heavily but also felt his temples throbbing and a slight dizziness.

However, facing Pei Xinyong, who commanded twice his forces, he knew he couldn't show weakness. Thus, he smiled nonchalantly and said, "I'm perfectly fine." Then, pointing ahead, he added, "It's getting foggy; we need to hurry and catch them, or we'll lose them."

While Pei Xinyong turned his head, Lu Yao secretly slipped two pills, meant to boost energy and replenish blood, into his mouth.

The mountain fog descended without warning.

As soon as the bandits mounted their horses, the white mist enveloped them. Everyone felt their faces and heads dampen slightly, like the faint, fine spring rain of March.

Although the open country looked like a fairyland, their clothes were soon drenched. All around them was a vast expanse of white, making it impossible to see anything beyond ten feet.

Both commanders grew somber. The heavy fog severely obscured their vision, hindering their horses' speed.

"This fog has certainly given the imperial soldiers a great advantage."

The bandits hastened downhill in pursuit, passing a gnarled locust tree.

Just like that, a quarter of an hour passed.

Within the misty realm, only upon drawing close did they realize the surroundings looked familiar.

And so, another quarter of an hour passed.

Their horses trudged along, coming to a halt beside the locust tree. Lu Yao looked at the knife marks on the old tree's trunk: "We've come back here again, for the third time!"

A subordinate brought over a villager they had captured from Immortal Spirit Village to serve as a guide.

"What's going on?"

The villager, pale with fear, stammered, "I don't know either, my Lord—oh, no, General! I've walked this road for decades; I should be able to navigate it with my eyes closed."

"A ghost wall," Pei Xinyong said, his expression darkening. "This is a bewildering formation laid by the imperial soldiers."

Simply put, it was a maze.

The way to escape pursuit was actually simple: if you couldn't move fast enough, you found a way to slow down your pursuers.

"Such mazes always have a central point, or 'eye of the formation.' Finding it will break the spell, but it takes time."

Lu Yao pondered, "I recall the Saint Master once battled someone in Little Southern Heaven. The opponent set up a Thousand Lantern Formation, which should have been incredibly complex to break. But the Saint Master found a different approach, do you remember?"

Pei Xinyong nodded: "By following scents."

An able man among his subordinates stepped forward and said, "We'll need an old item belonging to the person being tracked. Otherwise, we can't specify the target."

"An old item?"

Hearing this, a bandit presented Lu Yao with a piece of cloth: "General, this was torn from the clothing of that dog official He's youngest son. You were in the water at the time, and he tried to ambush you, but I punched him back. Afterward, I casually tucked it into my sleeve, thinking the material was good, perhaps for when I had to relieve myself in the wild... uh, I never expected it to come in handy now."

Fortunately, he hadn't had an upset stomach since last night.

Lu Yao was delighted: "Well done! Ten taels of silver as a reward!"

With He Yue's cloth in hand, they could continue the spell. Pei Xinyong's subordinate poured some yellow powder onto the small piece of cloth, carefully rubbed it, and murmured incantations.

After reciting the incantation, he held up the cloth and shook it a few times. The yellow powder dispersed into the air, forming a misty, yellowish cloud.

The wind here was light, so the yellow powder spread but didn't dissipate, only drifting forward.

It worked.

If all went well, this small amount of guiding powder would lead them directly to He Yue.

Pei Xinyong ordered them to follow it!

Two thousand men marched forward in a grand procession.

Just like that, another quarter of an hour passed.

The dense fog still permeated the surroundings.

Lu Yao frowned: "This isn't right, is it? If we had exited the formation, the fog should have cleared! The imperial soldiers rushing ahead surely wouldn't be bothered by this mist."

A bandit suddenly pointed at a locust tree and exclaimed, "General, we've passed this spot again!"

For the fourth time!

They still hadn't escaped the bewildering formation; even the Saint Master's method had failed? Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, greatly disheartened, unsure of what to do.

Pei Xinyong muttered, "That dog official He actually has such a capable subordinate, one who can even distort scent trails?"

Just as everyone was at a loss, a clear cry echoed from the sky, followed by the white mist stirring as something descended with a flapping sound.

Lu Yao's face lit up with a wide smile: "Pidan is back!"

He puckered his lips and blew two sharp whistles.

The creature seemed to be pinpointing his location. After a few breaths, a brown shape darted out of the thick fog and landed on his arm.

It was indeed the Red-tailed Peregrine Falcon.

Lu Yao said triumphantly, "This might just be the key to breaking through!"

He asked the falcon: "Did you find the imperial soldiers?"

The falcon nodded.

"Can you show us their direction?"

The falcon spoke: "Not from here. I can see from above."

The bandits rejoiced.

Yes, no matter how powerful a bewildering formation was, it was still confined to the ground. A peregrine falcon soaring in the sky, looking down from above, how could the formation blind its eyes?

The falcon continued, "The location I see clearly from high up changes when I descend."

"As soon as you get close to the ground, you're affected by the formation," Lu Yao mused. "That's not hard to fix. I'll tie a red thread to you, and you can fly higher, just guiding us in the direction we need to go!"

In fact, the mountain path from here to Qianteng Town wasn't complicated; it was just that the light and scents within the formation were distorted, causing them to unknowingly take detours, wrong turns, or even backtrack.

As long as the peregrine falcon flew high in the sky, guiding their way, the formation's obstacles would be as good as nothing.

"Bring me some thread!"

Awkwardly, there was no silk thread available.

Ultimately, the bandits could only find a few unlucky individuals to contribute their clothes, which were then torn into strips and tied together, end to end, with the final piece secured to the falcon's claw.

The falcon immediately flapped its wings and took flight.

After flying for a while, it sensed something was wrong; even flying upwards, it couldn't break through the dense fog.

Could this formation adjust itself at will?

Who was monitoring this place?

However, this did not deter it. The falcon briefly folded its wings, letting its body drop naturally, then flapped them in a seemingly counter-intuitive direction, and this finally propelled it upwards.

Yet, within its own field of vision, it was still flying straight ahead.

Such was the power of the formation.

The falcon simply closed its eyes and relied on its sense of gravity to fly. Before long, it broke through the dense fog, once again seeing the mountains and rivers.

From an altitude of fifty zhang, looking down, the area below was clear and crisp, with perfect visibility. Not to mention the forests, even caterpillars on leaves were clearly discernible. Where was the dense fog?

It flew a short distance forward. "Hmm, the imperial soldiers are... in that direction!"

However, the falcon noticed an arc-shaped cliff directly in front of its master. Leading them straight would certainly result in a disastrous fall, so it would have to guide the entire group on a detour first.

Seeing the cloth strip in his hand move, Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief and burst into hearty laughter: "That dog official, he thinks a mere bewildering formation can stop us? Men, let's go!"

The direction indicated by the cloth strip changed in real time, and the group followed, pursuing their quarry out of the formation.

Lian Deng was from Qianteng Town and knew the local geography well. He led He Lingchuan along a small path for three to five *li*, finally returning to the main road.

Naturally, the road was now completely empty.

"From here, head west to Zhumapo." He then pointed east: "The other direction leads to Immortal Spirit Village."

He Lingchuan turned his horse eastward: "If Pei Xinyong received General Wu's message via the mechanical bird, he should be waiting for us at Thousand-Year Cliff."

The two rode side by side, and soon after, they reached Langming Cave.

Tire tracks were clearly visible on the ground.