Chapter 9: 断尾

"If that's the case," Wu Jinliang said, looking at their seemingly normal route, "it does seem a bit unusual. But perhaps the treasure in the mine is more important than us. For them, securing the treasure first isn't abnormal, is it?"

Shi Chun solemnly informed him, "That shimmering purple nebula is on me."

"What?" Wu Jinliang was shocked. He hadn't expected Shi Chun to be so daring as to take the treasure right under everyone's noses. It was truly astonishing. He immediately reached out to prod Shi Chun's crotch. "Where is it? Where is it? Let me see..."

*Slap!* Shi Chun slapped his hand away. "We'll talk about it later."

Wu Jinliang retracted his hand with an awkward chuckle. Glancing at the darkening sky, he pieced together a reason. "You're right, it's dark now. If that glowing thing comes out, it'll easily give us away." Then his expression turned grave. "Yes, you've taken their painstakingly acquired treasure, and they don't even seem intent on getting it back, especially since they have the upper hand. That's definitely a bit abnormal."

It wasn't just a little abnormal; it was extremely unusual. Shi Chun, his face vigilant, scanned his surroundings again, convinced that the situation was far from simple. The shadowy environment seemed to conceal something terrifying, and the less he understood, the more his mind tightened with unease.

He wasn't afraid of a direct confrontation, but the unknown and unpredictable made him nervous. It was a truism that open attacks were easy to avoid, but concealed ones were difficult to defend against.

Just as his nerves peaked, he suddenly let out a muffled groan, no longer able to mind the knife in his hand. He abruptly clutched his head as the familiar searing pain returned—as if his skull were tearing into a thousand pieces and countless insects were gnawing at his spine.

This time, whether he had adapted somewhat after the previous experience or if the intensity was milder, the pain didn't reach the point of near unconsciousness as before. Yet, it was still excruciating.

What remained unchanged was the appearance of those bizarre, incomprehensible images before his eyes. It was as if he were once again in a world of illusory light and shadow.

This peculiar world seemed unaffected by any light source; the lamps within the mine and the natural light outside had no impact on its illumination or darkness.

Closing his right eye, he saw the normal world; closing his left, he saw strange and fantastical images. He couldn't fathom the nature of these pain-induced visual hallucinations.

Such a clear abnormality couldn't escape Wu Jinliang's notice. Startled, he reached out and took hold of him. "Chuntian, what's wrong?"

However, Shi Chun, trembling with pain, pushed him away, rolled over, and lay gasping on the slope. With gritted teeth and fingers dug tightly into his palms, as if making a great decision, he forced himself to sit up, closed his left eye, and tremblingly turned his head to scan his surroundings.

Wu Jinliang dropped his weapon and knelt to support him, about to check his pulse. "Chuntian, don't scare me. What exactly is wrong?"

Shi Chun elbowed him in the chest, forcing a few words through his trembling teeth: "Shut up, lie down, don't block."

Knocked over, Wu Jinliang was about to get up, but hearing the command, he simply lay back down. His eyes blinked as he stared, eager to ask what it meant to look around with one eye closed.

Shi Chun had only just remembered the group of people he saw around a corner while escaping the mine after being afflicted.

A strong premonition of unease, combined with the fleeting images of the mine in his mind, made him force himself up. He closed his left eye and tried looking with his right.

His breathing remained erratic. His right eye slowly scanned the bizarre, fantastical images, and his head, which had been slowly turning, suddenly stopped.

He was merely trying it, yet he truly saw two hazy white, misty forms floating in the void. They weren't together; one was slowly moving towards the other.

As his attention shifted, he felt less uncomfortable.

He closed his right eye and opened his left; the hazy white, misty forms vanished. Their corresponding location wasn't floating in the void; one was situated on the hilltop in the direction they intended to go.

He closed his left eye and opened his right again. Comparing the two views, they were indeed in that location, and the other hazy white, misty form had already merged with it.

This shift in movement, compared to the group he had seen earlier in the cave, made him realize that he might genuinely be seeing two people in ambush. Why this was happening, he didn't understand.

Indeed, two figures, masked in black cloth, were ambushed on that hilltop, also watching Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang.

Fortunately, the area was barren and open, making any movement easily discernible. If they had been in a dense forest, even a cultivator's extraordinary eyesight would struggle to detect them. However, with the darkening sky and the slight distance, the two figures couldn't be clearly identified unless they passed closer.

The masked figure who had climbed to the hilltop from the opposite ambush point whispered to the other, "What's the situation? Why are those two just sitting there resting?"

The one already there quietly replied, "How should I know?"

The newcomer asked, "So, does this count as them having left the area, or not?"

The one already there retorted, "You don't seriously think they came here for fun and might turn back, do you?"

The newcomer chuckled softly, evidently realizing the question was somewhat redundant.

The masked figure untied a fist-sized woven cage from his waist, opened the lid, and pulled out a small bird. Faint markings that read "47" were visible on its body. He then tossed it into the valley behind them.

The small bird immediately soared through the valley.

Shi Chun's right eye detected the departing bird, though it appeared only as a small, hazy white, misty form. Yet, from its shape and movement, he could vaguely discern what it was and likely guess the purpose of releasing a bird at this particular moment.

His eyes flickered, the pain momentarily forgotten, as he scanned his surroundings again, searching for other humanoid, hazy white, misty forms.

He vaguely saw some, but their location seemed quite distant. Comparing with his left eye's vision, they were indeed far, several hilltops away. From their position, they appeared to be arranged along the same line as this spot. He tried to look further with his right eye, but he didn't know how far this vision could extend. In any case, he didn't see any other misty forms.

Meanwhile, the strange phenomenon in his right eye was slowly fading, and his vision was gradually returning to normal.

He quickly cast a spell to assess his body, finding that he was fine; this bout of pain hadn't significantly impacted his physical functions.

Wu Jinliang, who had been waiting patiently for a while, finally couldn't help but speak, whispering, "Chuntian, what's going on?"

Shi Chun looked toward the hilltop where the people were concealed. "There are people ambushed on that hilltop."

"What?" Wu Jinliang turned his head to look. Given the dim light and the distance, how could he possibly see concealed figures? His eyes nearly bulged, yet he could discern no clues.

"I'm sick..." Shi Chun said, then lay down, casually pulling Wu Jinliang's ear closer to whisper something for a moment.

Wu Jinliang nodded occasionally, then untied the bundle of Shi Chun's clothes, covered Shi Chun with them, then used his greatsword as a stretcher. He placed Shi Chun on it and carried both the person and the sword horizontally away.

As they passed the base of the ambushers' hill, Shi Chun's hand, beneath the covering clothes, gripped his knife hilt tightly, ready to draw his blade at any moment, preparing for any potential sneak attack.

He was also feigning illness and weakness, hoping to provoke the two into a direct attack.

Having navigated Dongjiuyuan until now, neither of them would easily flinch from a one-on-one fight or a two-on-two confrontation.

The outcome was not as they hoped. As they passed, the two ambushing figures showed no intention of attacking.

However, Shi Chun, lying in Wu Jinliang's arms and taking the opportunity to observe behind them, noticed the two ambushing figures emerge and begin trailing them. He immediately whispered a few words to Wu Jinliang.

Wu Jinliang immediately altered their course slightly. After all, Dongjiuyuan was their territory, and they had come here with specific plans, so they were familiar with the terrain.

The two figures discreetly following them dared not get too close, fearing they would alert their prey. They occasionally pressed a glowing fingerprint onto stones by the roadside.

Before long, Wu Jinliang disappeared from their sight, turning and slipping into a narrow gorge.

By the time they caught up, Wu Jinliang had already emerged from the gorge, but he had stopped advancing, standing there, looking around with someone in his arms, seemingly searching for something.

The two followers dared not emerge, so they took the opportunity to hide inside the gorge entrance, remaining still and observing secretly.

Suddenly, a whoosh echoed, and the two turned back in alarm. A figure lunged from a recess in the rock wall, and the masked man facing him hastily drew his sword.

Figures intertwined, and with just two resounding clangs of metal, the masked man who had engaged in combat looked down at his chest, which had split open and was gushing blood, before collapsing.

The attacking figure was Shi Chun himself. As he stood shaking blood from his blade, the head of the other masked man, who hadn't even had time to draw his sword, just dropped from his neck, and he slumped sideways.

The power of Dongjiuyuan's leader was no exaggeration. Although his body wasn't fully recovered due to the previous pain, he still cut down the two opponents with the ease of scything straw.

Outside, Wu Jinliang immediately turned upon hearing the sounds of fighting. With one hand, he tore off the clothes covering the 'person' and threw them around his neck. With the other, he flipped his greatsword, causing a long, large stone on its blade to fall to the ground. He then dragged his sword as he charged towards the gorge entrance, eager to join the fray.

It turned out that what he had been carrying was not a person at all, but his own greatsword with some items placed on its blade.

By the time he reached them, he didn't get a chance to act.

Seeing that the two followers had been eliminated, Wu Jinliang immediately tilted his head and gestured. "The tails have been cut off, you can run now without worry. There's no time to lose, hurry and run."

Shi Chun, who was picking up his sheath and returning his knife, said in a deep voice, "We have to go back to the mine!"

"What?" Wu Jinliang's eyes nearly bulged. "Go back to the mine? Did I hear that correctly?"

Shi Chun explained, "These two tails weren't just after us, but after everyone who left the mine."

Wu Jinliang, puzzled, asked, "What do you mean?"

Shi Chun explained, "The reason Shen Youkun didn't pursue us was twofold: first, he was a step too slow and might not catch up. Second, and more importantly, he had ambushers positioned in the outer perimeter. However, these weren't set up specifically for us, as they didn't know we were inside the mine beforehand. Otherwise, we would never have escaped the mining area."

He casually put his knife behind his back. "Only after confirming that these two had truly followed us did I realize we had been neglecting something all along."

Wu Jinliang, trying hard to follow his train of thought, asked, "What is it?"

Shi Chun turned his head and stared at the corpses on the ground. "Shen Youkun was engaging in illicit activities, but so many people witnessed it. Could he possibly rely on that rabble to keep a secret?"

"Silence them?" Wu Jinliang blurted out, then was instantly startled. "Kill all those people at once?"

Shi Chun explained, "Precisely because so many people were involved, we didn't consider that possibility. Now it seems we, as locals, were too shortsighted, unlike those who have seen the world."

Wu Jinliang quickly glanced around, realizing that the people stationed in the outer perimeter were there to intercept any escapees. But he still didn't understand. "They're silencing their own witnesses, so why should we run back? We've finally escaped danger; you don't mean to save that rabble, do you?"

Shi Chun replied, "Are we truly out of danger? I took the treasure they were excavating, and our identities are likely exposed. From now on, they'll pursue us relentlessly, wherever we go... If Shen Youkun is preoccupied with silencing witnesses and has few people guarding him, don't you think this is our chance to completely erase any evidence of our presence here?"