054- The Underground Undercurrent
“It’s about time. Let’s go.” Yan Wugui got up.
“Where are we going?” Lu Mingshu hastily asked.
“To the Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horse’s nest.”
Lu Mingshu was greatly alarmed when she heard this. “We are going there just like this?” He had said previously that the pair of Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horses was in the Spirit Realm. These horses may be Spirit Realm beasts, but different breeds display extreme disparities in combat capabilities. The Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horse breed belonged to the rare, precious beast variety, and was ranked at the very top in terms of value out of the various ferocious beasts in Jade West Mountain Forest. If one wanted to capture this Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horse, at least a few Spirit Realm experts would have to be present to besiege it. As for the two of them? Weren’t they just looking to die if they were to run to their nest like this, given their current cultivation?
However, Yan Wugui did not waste any time in explaining. “Just follow me.”
Once they left the mountain top, the two went into the deep forest. It was unknown how Yan Wugui found the route, but after some twists and turns, they reached a cliff that resided in a concealed area. A dark cave entrance came into view after they pushed away a giant stone.
He ignited some tree branches with fire, and threw them into the cave. The fire died out a while later.
“Let’s go.” They had sufficient air inside, and hence they proceeded through unhindered.
Currently, Lu Mingshu’s mind was filled with whys as she followed him into the cave.
There were no regularities in this cave; it was wide then narrow at times, with some areas blocked by broken rocks. This caused the two to proceed at a slow pace.
After walking for awhile, Lu Mingshu could not resist from asking a question. “Brother Yan, how did you know that there was a tunnel here?” She had observed this along the way, and this tunnel did not seem to have been dug by humans. In fact it appeared to be a nest that belonged to the ferocious beasts that lived here. However, the Snow Winged Cloud-treading Horses did not know how to dig tunnels and enjoyed open-spaces more. The direction that Yan Wugui previously pointed out was a flat ground on a summit that was very suitable for them to access through flight.
Is this way a shortcut to the summit? If it is, then isn’t Yan Wugui a little too familiar with this beast cave? It’s literally as if he had lived here since he was young. How exactly did a Seven Truths Platform disciple like him gain knowledge of such shortcuts?
“Don’t you already have guesses in your heart?” Yan Wugui answered her question casually.
Lu Mingshu went silent before she decided to answer him straightforwardly. “It’s because of that senior that left behind the sword technique?”
Yan Wugui let out a brief laugh. “Do you feel like I have taken advantage of Nine Jade Palace?”
Lu Mingshu shook her head. “I am just perplexed.” There must be a reason why the successor of that senior did not search for the place. Instead, Yan Wugui had found it.
“Alright,” Yan Wugui said, “I’d received a personal letter from that senior by chance. There are a few decades of his experiences recorded inside. Once I learned about this secret place, which I thought would be very suitable for seclusion training, I searched for it and found the place.”
“Then you must have superb luck. If it wasn’t for the cooperation between Nine Jade Palace and Seven Truths Platform, then it definitely would not have been easy to enter Jade West Mountain Forest.” Jade West Mountain Forest was surrounded by mountains, and Nine Jade Palace was like its door. With Nine Jade Palace standing guard here, outsiders could not even dream of entering.
Yan Wugui turned around to look at her. “I say sister, how old are you even now? Can you not imitate those old fellows? It’s irritating when you start speaking then stop half-way through!”
“...”
Yan Wugui turned back around to continue leading the way. “Speak your mind, I won’t bite.”
“Then I’ll really say it?”
“Say it.”
Lu Mingshu said, “You had an abhorrent attitude when you brought up Young Master Lianzhen that day. But in my opinion, he had laid out the road for you in regards to this matter.” Without Young Master Lianzhen’s discussion of the cooperation with Nine Jade Palace, disciples of Seven Truths Platform would not be able to enter Jade West Mountain Forest.
“So?” Yan Wugui chuckled coldly, “I should be grateful to him?”
Lu Mingshu found it strange. “Why are you so hostile to him? By right, as he is the clan leader of the fifth clan, he shouldn’t have had any conflict with you, right? Oh right, which clan are you from Brother Yan? Is it because the two clans don’t get along?”
Only after a while did Yan Wugui answer, “The fifth clan.”
“Ah!” Lu Mingshu felt that was even more strange. If he is also from the fifth clan, then doesn’t it mean that Young Master Lianzhen is his superior? But from the looks of Yan Wugui’s attitude, he doesn’t seem to carry even a trace of respect for him … Is Young Master Lianzhen so much of a failure that he can’t even subdue a disciple from his own clan?
She couldn’t help but speak her mind. “Aren’t the two of you are similar in age? Could it be that you were on bad terms since childhood? Speaking of it, he was very young when he became the clan leader. I heard someone bring up that he had a power that backed him up. Is this why you aren’t happy? Oh right, I think he had problems with his legs? Can he still cultivate? Brother Yan, your strength should be counted as top level among your peers right? Could it be …”
Seeing that she was about to come up with thousands of grudges and resentments, Yan Wugui was at his last straw. “Alright! Aright! It isn’t this complicated alright? Can’t I just dislike how hypocritical he is? He loves scheming way too much.”
Suddenly, he felt something was amiss and glanced into her eyes. “You were probing for information? Can’t you learn something well? What’s the point of reading so much into things?”
He had almost been caught like a fish out of the water. Is she trying to scrutinize my situation in Seven Truths Platform by saying so much? To think I’ve been so good to her these few days.
Having been exposed by him, Lu Mingshu whispered in a low voice, “Who told you to be this mysterious? I only wanted to know more …”
Yan Wugui gave her a fake smile. “Ke ke, you speak as if you aren’t mysterious too. Let’s just say how you have ‘no secrets’ with all those strange toys you carry around with you?” Does she think I am blind?
Lu Mingshu went silent. Seems like I have to be be vigilant in future. I was too careless to expose a trail ...
As their path was blocked once again, Yan Wugui sighed. “Forget it, you’re not to blame. Given your current predicament in Nine Jade Palace, your life will be difficult if you aren’t as conscious as you are now.”
He struck out a saber qi and split open a path. Yan Wugui continued, “Speaking of it, we are both fellow sufferers that empathize with each other.”
Lu Mingshu quickly asked, “Do you have a hard time getting by in Seven Truths Platform?”
However, Yan Wugui stopped answering.
The space in front of them gradually widened. It appeared as if they had broken through to the middle of the mountain. There was wind blowing at them up front which brought along water vapor. Not long after, a long undercurrent appeared before their eyes.
When Lu Mingshu thought of the undercurrent at the cave they had lived in temporarily, she asked, “Brother Yan, is this undercurrent linked to the ley lines?”
“Un.” Yan Wugui said, “That senior had once explored this undercurrent and discovered that it links up to the north and south of Jade West Mountain Forest. It is a rarely seen river that moves towards the north and south. Moreover, if you were to wind around the middle, you could travel half the length of the entire Jade West Mountain Forest.”
Lu Mingshu said, “This is actually a pretty good place to hide. If I were to be chased by someone that wanted to kill me one day, they will find it difficult to find me if I hide here.”
“That’s right.” Yan Wugui expressed his approval. “That’s why I intentionally came here to familiarize myself …”
“Hey, Brother Yan, are you secretly concerned about being chased down? You’re a disciple of Seven Truths Platform, even if you are chased down, you should return and hide in your sect!”
“That might not be the case. Let’s say you are hunted down one day, would you hide yourself back in Nine Jade Palace?”
Lu Mingshu thought for awhile. “Probably not. But I am a special case! It can’t be that you also have an awkward status in Seven Truths Platform?”
Yan Wugui only replied with, “Ke ke.”
Since she already knew Yan Wugui would not give her a straight answer, she did not insist further. “How are we going to pass the river?”
Yan Wugui took a piece of board and threw it onto the river surface before jumping onto it.
Lu Mingshu speechlessly looked at this scene. “Will this work?” Two people could barely stand on this board.
“Won’t you know after you try?”
Alright. Lu Mingshu jumped onto the board and stood close to him.
“Hold on tight.” The minute he spoke, Yan Wugui stepped down on the water and they suddenly sped off.
[TL Note: Yan Wugui was basically using mystic force to power the board.]
Lu Mingshu, who almost had flung out, quickly held on tight to his clothes.
In the darkness, the two proceeded on as they went against the water current. When they were midway through the journey, Yan Wugui’s aura suddenly changed. “There’s something up ahead, be careful!”