Chapter 568 The Frightening Venture in Mount Huangshan
With the incapable-of-flying trio, Kris, John, and Alba, weighing them down like anchors, Su Chan and Zhou Qin didn't arrive at Mount Huangshan until dusk.
Fortunately, with the help of Su Chan and Zhou Qin, the three newbies successfully slipped into the closed tourist attraction.
It was the first time that Kris, John, and Alba had ever been to Mount Huangshan, which was known as the greatest mountain in the whole world. Although it was getting dark, the magnificent mountain seemed to be covered with a layer of red gauze by virtue of the blood-red sunset, displaying a different kind of charm and boldness.
Kris and the others were so full of praise that they almost forgot their reasons for traveling. They all widened their eyes, holding up their cameras to take photos everywhere.
However, Zhou Qin and Su Chan did not feel at ease about the journey, especially Su Chan. She looked around and asked Zhou Qin, "Sister Zhou Qin, where is Pine Valley Cottage?"
Zhou Qin looked up and saw a scenic map sign not far away. Walking quickly over, she glanced at it and said, "We are now in the Yuping Scenic Spot, while the Pine Valley Cottage is in the Songgu Scenic Spot, which is quite far away from here. Let's hurry up while there's still a little daylight. Once it's dark, it'll be hard to press on."
Su Chan nodded. "Yes, good point. Let's go now!"
Zhou Qin turned her head and said to Kris, "We'll hurry toward the Pine Valley Cottage. You're going to have to speed up to follow us. Can you do that?"
Before Kris could say anything, John promised loudly, "No problem, I'm sure we'll be able to match your pace!"
Zhou Qin smiled patronizingly and said, "We'll see."
Saying this, she nodded at Su Chan. Immediately, the two girls hopped up and reappeared a few meters away.
John, Alban, and Kris were stunned. Alba said with amazement, "Good God, are they spirit monkeys?"
John widened his eyes and said, "No, they are superwomen!"
Kris was shocked, but then suddenly an incomparable excitement arose in her mind. A firm gleam shone in her eyes as she said, "They are challenging us. Let's go, we'll catch up, we can't give up!"
Immediately, John let out an excited yelp and rushed out. Kris and Alba followed.
Both Zhou Qin and Su Chan moved extremely fast. Zhou Qin usually ran crazily, like a cheetah on the stone steps of the mountain, while Su Chan had a lithe figure and would jump and climb from time to time. Su Chan enjoyed jumping the shortest distance between two points, looking just like a nimble fox.
At first, Kris and the others could just about keep up, but before long, all they could do was sigh at the sight of Su Chan and Zhou Qin's backs getting further away. Alba in particular, as the school cheerleader in Pennsylvania, was still a delicate girl. After running a few miles, she was out of breath and feeling as if her lungs were on the edge of collapse. In the end, she couldn't catch up with Su Chan and Zhou Qin at all.
Alba gasped intensely and sighed in pain. "God, they are not even human. How can we catch up with them?"
Kris was also out of breath, but she still turned her head to cheer Alba up. "Come on, girl! Hold on for a while. We're nearly there!"
Alba only replied forlornly, "I can't run anymore, really!"
Seeing that Alba was almost about to fall to the ground, Kris had no choice but to turn towards Zhou Qin in the distance and shout, "Zhou Qin, wait a minute!"
Kris' clear voice traveled far away, sounding especially ear-piercing in the quiet valley at night.
Zhou Qin stopped and ran back quickly. Although she was running at full pelt, she still kept her breath steady and her face normal. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Kris flashed a bitter smile. "Alba can't run anymore. Would you mind slowing down a bit?"
However, Zhou Qin said seriously, "If you really want to learn cultivation, you must remember that cultivation affects every part of your life and living! If you can't hold on for such a small thing, how will you be able to cultivate? Ask Alba, does she really want to cultivate? If she says no, then it's not too late to go back. If yes, she'll have to follow us. No matter what difficult things are waiting ahead of you, you must grit your teeth and overcome them!"
Kelisa showed a conflicted expression, and said, "But..."
However, before she could finish speaking, Zhou Qin turned around and ran off without saying another word.
Kris and John looked at each other helplessly. Shrugging his shoulders, John helped Alba up and said, "Forget it, I'll take her. Hopefully, they'll slow down a little so that we can catch up."
Kris sighed and glanced at the Mount Huangshan, watching it become gradually shrouded in darkness. Suddenly, she felt as if she had entered a completely strange world. She muttered in a low voice, "I hope I'm doing the right thing..."
A moment later, she reluctantly cheered herself up and said, "Let's go. We can't have them looking down on us!"
Under John's encouragement, Alba managed to grit her teeth and follow.
Seeing how slowly the three were moving, Zhou Qin and Su Chan had to slow down. Even so, John and Kris were almost exhausted by the two leaders' speeds. Stumbling all the way, Alba almost cried out in pain, making her way at a snail's pace.
The five of them walked for a while, and gradually, it became completely dark. Alba couldn't stand it anymore. She sat down on the cold stone steps and cried, "Jesus, who will come to save me? I really can't move! Just kill me!"
John and Kris were also drenched in sweat, as if they had just clambered out of a swimming pool. Even John with his strong figure was so exhausted that he was gasping for breath, expecting to lay on the ground forever.
At this moment, Su Chan used some fire magic and found herself a torch to light up, while Zhou Qin walked up to them and said to Kris, who was panting wildly, "Can you carry on?"
Kris didn't put on any show of strength. She declined Zhou Qin's quest with a wave of her hand and wanted to say something, but found herself so thirsty that she couldn't even utter a word.
Zhou Qin frowned and said, "is this all you're capable of?"
John said with a sad face, "Is this the way you cultivate? This, this is too intense, isn't it?"
At this time, Su Chan came over with a torch and said, "Is this painful? Do you know what kind of suffering Sister Zhou Qin underwent during her cultivation? She almost lost her life several times! But hasn't she done well? Cultivation requires constant challenges so you can push past your limits. You can't overcome it even with such a few difficulties, and you still want to be disciples of my Yundong? Dream on!"
John and Kris looked at each other in dismay, and John said in a low voice, "Kris, can you go on? Or should I help?"
Kris shook her head stubbornly. "No, I'll walk on my own. You can support Alba."
Alba cried out, "No, no, I will never take a single step again!" She simply laid herself on the cold ground, as if she had determined that she would stay there.
Su Chan saw this and said to Zhou Qin in a low voice, "Sister Zhou Qin, we can't waste too much time. If it were only the two of us, we would have arrived already! I'm worried that by the time we get to the Pine Valley Cottage, Yundong will already be gone!"
Zhou Qin pondered for a while before saying, "Let them wait for us here. We'll leave a mark and come back to find them later."
When Kris and John heard this, they were immediately shocked and hurriedly said, "No, we have to go together! It's already so late. Won't you be afraid for our safety if we stay here?"
Zhou Qin looked at Alba and said, "What about her? The one who refuses to leave?"
Kris smiled bitterly and said, "I'll persuade her." Then, she turned her head back and softly spoke to Alba. However, no matter how Kris cajoled, Alba simply covered her ears and frantically shook her head, refusing to stand back up.
Seeing this, Kris could only grit her teeth and say to John, "John, let's go. Leave her be."
John yelled, "Ah? You want to leave Alba alone here?"
Kris sneered, "Who told her to come with us? This is due to her own choices! She won't walk around here. We'll come to find her later."
John was angry and about to argue, but he saw Kris winking at him. He took the hint and shut his mouth, then turned to Alba. "Alba, wait for us here. We'll find you later", He left some luggage and dry rations for her, then headed off into the night with Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and Kris.
At first, Alba couldn't believe that the two of them would leave her alone, but after a while, it got so dark that she couldn't even see her hands, and the chirping of birds and insects in the forest filled her ears. It seemed like some hiding beasts were secretly staring at her from the darkness, making her thoroughly creeped out.
Alba couldn't help but think of John and Kris's joke on the plane. She was shocked and thought, "Are they really going to leave me behind like this?"
As social animals, human beings are most afraid of loneliness, especially in the dark. Alba held on only for a short while before almost breaking down. She couldn't help screaming, crying, and had to stumble to follow them.
It was not long before she saw Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Kris, and John looking at her with faint smiles playing around their lips. Although Alba knew that she had been fooled, she still cried from her fear and continued to climb the mountains with them. After that, she didn't dare to complain anymore.
They walked for a while. Just as they were about to reach the Songgu Scenic Spot, Kris violently gasped. She watched as a few blue lights flashed across the sky, pointing to them excitedly and crying, "Look, meteors!"
John and Alba looked up, panting. Before they could even laugh, they heard Su Chan say in surprise, "Cultivators?"
Zhou Qin then said seriously, "Yes, but I can't figure out which sect they belong to."
Kris and John looked at each other. They didn't know what they were talking about so they just listened with confusion.
Su Chan released a sigh. "How far are we from Pine Valley Cottage? Why does it look so close but is actually far away?"
Zhou Qin also sighed slightly. "Should take just a few minutes to arrive, but I think what should worry us more is the issue of who came here just now?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Chan asked, "Could it be Sister Zi Yuan?"
Zhou Qin subconsciously shook her head and said, "I don't think so. If it were her, she would either have already arrived or would not have come at all. She wouldn't have arrived at a time like this."
As soon as she finished her words, she heard a snort coming from the dark forest not far away.
Kris and John immediately looked nervously in the direction of the voice and shouted with hostility, "Who's there?"
But Zhou Qin and Su Chan were extremely familiar with this voice. "Zi Yuan?" they exclaimed in unison.
Then, a woman in a white dress slowly walked out of the moonlight, faintly discernable as Zi Yuan's figure. The cold moonlight shone over her face, making her countenance look very cold, completely different from her usual gentle and peaceful appearance.
Su Chan and Zhou Qin looked at each other. Like two kids who had done something wrong and been discovered by their parents, they smiled embarrassedly.
"Sister Zi Yuan, why are you here?" Su Chan smiled awkwardly.
Zi Yuan glared at her angrily, then quickly looked at Zhou Qin. She scolded in a low voice, "Why am I here? I should be asking you that! Didn't Li Yundong tell you not to follow him? Why haven't you obeyed him?"
With a flash of inspiration, Zhou Qin commented shamelessly, "Well, aren't you here too?"
Zi Yuan said angrily, "Only to get you back!"
Zhou Qin braced herself and said, "The result is the same as. Anyway, you're here."
Zi Yuan scolded, "You..."
Seeing that the conversation was not going well, Su Chan quickly came to the rescue and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, don't be angry. We know we're in the wrong, but it comes to this. Let's leave the topic alone. By the way, have you found Yundong yet?"
Zi Yuan snorted, turned her head, and said, "No!"
When Zhou Qin saw Zi Yuan no longer reproaching her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she followed the trend and took the opportunity to change the topic. "Just now, were there a few cultivators flying in the sky?"
Although Zi Yuan was unhappy, she didn't want to have a bad relationship with Zhou Qin, so she said, "Maybe. I think these cultivators are heading in the direction of the Pine Valley Cottage. I've been to the Pine Valley Cottage and met Lin Xueqing, the disciple of the master of the cottage, but he said that Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan were not there."
"What?" Su Chan and Zhou Qin exclaimed.
Zi Yuan frowned slightly. "I also think it's strange. I've always felt that they are trying to hide something."
Su Chan gave it some thought and said, "Why don't we go to the cottage again? Perhaps that was Yundong and Sect Master Wan flying by just now?"
Zi Yuan thought about it and said, "Well, I agree. Anyway, this place is not far from the Pine Valley Cottage." She then looked at Kris and the others and said with a kind smile, "It'll be difficult for you to get there. Can you continue?"
John, Kris, and Alba looked at each other. Kris clenched her teeth and said, "No problem!"
Zi Yuan nodded, then took the lead to continue walking forward.
They walked for about half an hour before finally coming to a place near Pine Valley Cottage. Kris and the others felt worn out, collapsing to the ground like a pile of mud.
When Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin were about to help them up, some voices suddenly rang out from the Pine Valley Cottage.
The three of them were shocked. All of them looked at each other and jumped to the side of the building to watch from under the cover of the dense forest and the cold moonlight.
At the gate, Zhong Qingsong looked at Zheng Yuan who went back and asked in surprise, "Zhenren Zheng, why have you returned?"
Zheng Yuan chuckled. "Brother Zhong, you are too dishonest!"
Zhong Qing asked strangely, "Zhenren Zheng, what are you talking about? I'm too dishonest?"
Zheng Yuan looked at Zhong Qingsong with a faint smile. "Master Wan is refining alchemy on Tiandu Peak. But you wouldn't tell me about it. You are a liar!"
Zhong Qingsong instantly exclaimed, "Zhenren Zheng, what did you say? How could Master Wan be there?"
Zheng Yuan roared with laughter. "Why are you still refusing to tell me? Humph, I've been so foolish to trust you!"
After that, he suddenly took out a Ruyi Jade from his long sleeves and shouted, "Zhong Qingsong!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several ferocious Ghosts flew out of the Ruyi Jade and pounced on Zhong Qingsong with thunderous roars!
Zhong Qingsong was in great shock. Just as he was about to turn and flee, he found Lin Xueqing looking at him in horror from behind.
Zhong Qingsong only had time to shout "Run!" at Lu Xueqing, and then his three transcendent components and seven material components were dragged out of his body by Zheng Yuan's Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade.
All of a sudden, Zhong Qingsong's soul was absorbed by Zheng Yuan. Looking ferociously at Lin Xueqing, who was petrified, Zheng Yuan was about to chant a murderous spell again, but suddenly he could see Lin Xueqing ecstatically looking behind him, as if he had found a trace of hope in this desperate situation.
Zheng Yuan was inspired. He turned his head and saw three beautiful women with terrifying faces hiding in the forest. Naturally, it was Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin.
At the sight of the three of them, he was shocked. He knew that these three women followed Li Yundong everywhere, so since they had appeared, Li Yundong also had to be nearby!
Among the three women, Su Chan and Zhou Qin had the closest relationship with Li Yundong. He could use them to threaten Li Yundong. As the strongest, Zi Yuan was here. As long as he defeated her in one fell swoop, he could capture the remaining two with ease!
Thinking of this, Zheng Yuan sneered and ignored Lin Xueqing, then yelled Zi Yuan's name.
Then, the ghosts from the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade all roared and rushed toward Zi Yuan!