Chapter 336: First Run Away Is Best

While they were infiltrating and forming an encirclement on one side, You Mu, who had circled a good distance around on the other side, was discovered by Shudaoshan's hidden sentries.

It was hard for You Mu not to be noticed, as he had revealed himself openly and conspicuously. There was nothing he could do about it, since he couldn't shout a warning.

Those who spotted him didn't alarm him directly. Instead, they stealthily went back to report, immediately alerting Shudaoshan and Shi Chun's group.

Only one person? Shi Chun naturally felt suspicious. He activated his right eye's special ability again, and this time, because Wu Shanshan's group had drawn near, he immediately spotted their infiltration and encircling formation.

This situation startled him. How could so many people infiltrate and completely bypass the surrounding hidden sentries?

His right eye's special ability clearly showed that the hidden sentries had been bypassed.

"Let's go see who they are." Gu Lianni, who had climbed to a vantage point and surveyed the surroundings, waved to her nearby fellow disciples and turned to leave.

"Wait." Shi Chun, in his urgency, reached out and grabbed Gu Lianni's arm, pulling her back. To him, the atmosphere had instantly become tense.

As men and women traditionally shouldn't touch, Gu Lianni immediately glared at his hand gripping her arm.

Yuan Yao and Pang Hou watched silently, wide-eyed, holding their breath and observing with unusual attention.

"Take your dirty paws off me!" Gu Lianni erupted with extreme disgust. That hand, which had been pulling and embracing Zhen'er, was now on her, and she felt repulsed.

Shi Chun didn't give it much thought and didn't even look at her reaction. He remained vigilant of his surroundings, urgently declaring, "No, it's not just one person. Let's go, everyone follow me this way immediately." He pointed in a direction.

He didn't recognize You Mu, nor did he know that You Mu had survived the fire bats in the underground passage. Furthermore, he was unaware that You Mu was coming to deliver a message. To discern things like demonic energy within bodies, he needed to be even closer, otherwise, the swirling vital energy would obscure his vision.

Having often led forces into battle in the land of exile, Shi Chun would never confront such an encirclement lightly, especially when the enemy's true strength was unknown. Who knew what other tactics the enemy had? Avoiding their immediate assault was the best strategy.

Moreover, in his view, it was no simple feat for them to keep up, and to dare to encircle Shudaoshan's forces meant the approaching party certainly couldn't be underestimated.

At the same time, he felt fortunate to have acquired his right eye's special ability. If this had happened back in the land of exile, with the enemy having approached so close undetected, a bloody battle would likely have been unavoidable.

Now that he possessed such an ability, it was only natural for him to pursue advantages and avoid harm.

However, as soon as Gu Lianni heard his commanding tone, she felt a surge of irritation. Subconsciously annoyed, she wanted to retort with sarcasm, but then she recalled the incident at the Heavenly Pit and the dozen or so disciples lost previously because they hadn't listened to Shi Chun. Feeling ashamed, she dared not speak carelessly and rationally said, "Pang Hou, tell the hidden sentry disciples to withdraw and leave quickly."

"Yes."

As soon as Pang Hou agreed, Shi Chun immediately cut him off, saying, "It's too late. We're retreating first. If we can't get out, they won't fare any better. Go, quickly!"

Abandoning their fellow disciples when the situation was unclear was unthinkable. Not just Gu Lianni, but even the other Shudaoshan disciples found it hard to accept.

"No." Gu Lianni naturally objected vehemently, turning her head to signal Pang Hou to proceed.

Shi Chun raised an eyebrow. He couldn't easily reveal what his right eye's special ability had shown him. To put it bluntly, the lives of Gu Lianni and the others weren't worth him exposing this secret. He would never reveal it unless absolutely compelled.

He knew very well that this secret could either propel him to success or enslave him to others, and even that was a relatively better outcome; there could be far worse fates.

The most critical thing at the moment was that he could see the movements of the encircling forces, and there was simply no time to come up with an explanation.

This matter was currently unsolvable. He couldn't concern himself with the lives of Shudaoshan's group; his best strategy was to look out for himself and observe the aftermath.

So, without a word, he immediately turned and left, waving for the Mingzong group to follow. He also instantly took Zhen'er's hand, leading her to run with them.

Firstly, Zhen'er possessed the strength of an Immortal Human realm practitioner, making her a powerful asset for clearing a path against forces blocking them without artifacts.

Secondly, Zhen'er was familiar with the environment, clearly knowing where danger lay and where it was safe. At this moment, only a fool would choose not to bring her along.

"Let's go." Wu Jinliang also waved, beckoning the others. He was aware of Shi Chun's right eye's special ability, so he knew such urgency meant a dangerous situation had been discovered.

"Let's go, let's go!" Chu Jingting also waved, reinforcing Shi Chun's urgent call.

To some extent, this demonstrated the cohesion of the Mingzong group.

Immediately, right under the noses and wide-eyed gaze of Shudaoshan's group, the Mingzong group ran off without hesitation, completely vanishing from the scene.

They didn't escape by riding wind scales or leaping high to soar away. Instead, under Shi Chun's lead, they took to lower ground, quickly slipping away using the cover of the terrain, running like thieves.

The Mingzong group didn't know why this was necessary, but past events were vivid in their minds. While they could pursue their individual interests in peacetime, when danger arose, it was always best to follow what their leader said.

They had followed their leader during the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Assembly and had personally witnessed that his decisions consistently led to the best outcomes.

The current Divine Fire Covenant was no different. Many things that had previously confused and troubled them now proved that their leader's decisions were still the most profitable. They had likely found the most divine fires.

Before they were told to enter the Divine Fire Realm, who would have believed they could find more divine fires than those artifact-forging sects? They wouldn't even dare to imagine it. Even the few who cultivated fire-attribute techniques, despite their aspirations, worried they were dreaming and truly didn't dare to imagine collecting one divine fire after another. Before entering the Divine Fire Realm, their leader had said it was just for fun, but looking back now, it was clearly a deception.

The thing is, they no longer felt there was anything wrong with being deceived. Thinking about it, perhaps only through deception could everyone have been brought in; in such a dangerous place, would reasoning have been effective?

From their current perspective, the deception wasn't pure deception, but a method for progress and advancement. Weren't the Qiankun bags at their waists proof? Before they entered, would they have dared to believe they'd ever use something as advanced as a Qiankun bag in their lives? And wasn't the extra wind scale in the bag also proof?

They had also been deceived by their leader at the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Assembly, and later, when they were imprisoned, it was he who bailed them out and even granted them numerous benefits.

In short, their senses of caution in this regard had become numb. With all the repeated deceptions, everyone had gradually grown a bit too lazy to care whether they were being tricked or not.

If their leader wanted to trick them, then so be it.

And earlier at the Heavenly Pit, it was also their leader who sensed danger and was the first to decisively lead everyone to escape.

It hadn't been long since that happened, and the lessons from that past experience were still fresh, once again proving their leader's keen ability to perceive danger.

Now that their leader was saying there was danger and they should run, why wouldn't they quickly follow suit?

Although Chu Jingting and the others who followed were completely bewildered by the situation, this didn't stop them from occasionally glancing back at Gu Lianni's group who remained behind. Some scoffed, while others sighed and shook their heads, feeling that woman was quite foolish; she had just lost disciples for not listening, and still hadn't learned her lesson!

In fact, they had still run a bit too slowly, as the Jihuo Sect's forces had already formed an encirclement before they could get out.

But for the moment, it didn't matter.

Firstly, the Jihuo Sect was unfamiliar with the local terrain, preventing them from immediately occupying the best surveillance positions. Furthermore, with their limited numbers, it was impossible to densely encircle an entire area.

Secondly, Wu Shanshan dared not openly use her demonic eye, so she couldn't see the movements of the trapped forces.

Just as Wu Shanshan could infiltrate with her people by following pre-planned routes, Shi Chun could use the same method to lead his people out before the enemy forces could complete their encirclement.

Gesturing to go this way, waving to bypass that way, and pressing his hand down to signal everyone to lower their bodies, Shi Chun swiftly led them in a breakthrough through the dark terrain under the brilliant starry sky. Only after putting a significant distance between themselves and the enemy's line of sight did he feel confident enough to proceed in a straight line.

Wu Jinliang, who knew Shi Chun relatively well, saw this and understood they had likely escaped danger. He immediately walked alongside him and asked, "Chuntian, what's going on?"

"Something's not right."

Shi Chun, with a slight look of confusion between his brows, shook his head slightly and answered somewhat vaguely.

The truth was, it wasn't convenient for him to openly say he had seen the encircling forces, especially since others weren't blind.

But this matter truly made him suspicious. Due to insufficient manpower, Shudaoshan's forces could only rest in shifts, with nearly half their personnel deployed for outer perimeter vigilance. So many people approaching undetected was already alarming; what was even stranger was that they dared to boldly infiltrate.

This was no longer just boldness, but precise evasion.

Recalling how they had already shaken off their pursuers and made several turns after passing through the fire bat tunnel, yet were still being targeted, he had vaguely realized something.

Seeing that Chuntian wasn't explaining clearly, Wu Jinliang didn't press further. Having been together for so many years since childhood, he naturally understood. He looked back at where they came from and asked, "Should we wait for them?"

After all, they were allied with Shudaoshan and might still need to rely on them to pass the exit point when leaving. This had been Shi Chun's original plan.

However, Shi Chun seemed to have been startled awake. He suddenly looked up slightly and commanded, "Leave here as quickly as possible, get as far away as possible. Wind Scales!"

So the group immediately activated their wind scales and swiftly flew away.

Yuan Yao, still on the original hilltop, also hesitated slightly and reminded Gu Lianni, "Martial Aunt, the previous confirmation that the Jihuo Sect harbored malicious intent proved that Shi Chun's judgment and perception of danger far surpass ours. It must be admitted that the top talent from the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Assembly truly has extraordinary qualities. We must not be careless!"

Gu Lianni, somewhat stunned by the Mingzong group's sudden departure, was speechless. Having dealt with various matters, both big and small, recently, she naturally recognized Shi Chun's abilities. Her irritation at seeing Shi Chun and Zhen'er's intimacy was, in itself, a form of acknowledging Shi Chun's excellence.

Regardless of their respective factions or ultimate stances, excellent individuals could always garner some degree of admiration from the opposite sex.

She simply hadn't expected Shi Chun's group to be so fluid; without even an extra word of advice, the moment she hesitated, he immediately slipped away with his people, vanishing in an instant. Was this how their partnership worked?

She felt as if she had been clubbed senseless, completely caught off guard and unable to react.

She actually wanted to ask Shi Chun, "Am I such an unreasonable person in your eyes?"

Thinking of her stubbornness at the Heavenly Pit earlier, she seemed to understand Shi Chun's actions again. Perhaps he thought it would be useless to try reasoning with her further.

Because of this, she shivered slightly and quickly looked around. Her level of vigilance had rapidly increased by several notches.