Chapter 17: Dare Not Move

Chapter 17: Dare Not Move

Niu Chengdian, blood spraying from his mouth, threw down his broken sword and snapped, "Are you just going to stand there and watch?"

The others finally spoke seriously, asking, "Who is this kid?"

Zhang Yu shouted loudly, "An inner disciple of Taiyuan Sect! You're called Shang... something, right?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Zhang Yu: "If you kill him, aren't you afraid of bringing trouble from the Taiyuan Sect?"

The group exchanged glances. So this was that Shang guy.

He didn't seem very cunning. No wonder Niu Chengdian had been duped.

The tall man at the front laughed, "He's just Qi Refining. Do you think the Taiyuan Sect would care about losing someone like him?"

Now Zhang Yu's expression changed.

"Wait! Wait first!" Shang Yunduo didn't have time to wonder why they thought he was the strongest and wanted him dead. He strained his ears and said, "The main thing now is getting out of here. The Golden Scale Beast is about to pursue us."

Zhang Yu and the other person's expressions darkened. Unexpectedly, the group laughed: "That's right."

The ground was already trembling from the approaching Golden Scale Beast. The group casually moved to a corner and used Mirage Lizard Gauze as a cover: "Good luck to you guys!"

Shang Yunduo: "???"

Would the Golden Scale Beast not see them with this on? Shang Yunduo was a bit skeptical. He looked at Niu Chengdian, who hadn't bothered to hide, and sensed the real key wasn't that cloth.

Zhang Yu hurled ice spikes at them in anger, but they simply endured it, refusing to budge!

Shang Yunduo: "Find the exit first!"

He also took out a Glow Pearl and flew along the dome wall, searching while watching for sneak attacks from those people.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Yu got close to them, a dart flew toward her. Zhang Yu angrily retaliated, and they still seemed unafraid of being exposed, blocking her needles.

Just then, two figures stumbled in, saw them, and immediately asked, "Where's the exit?!"

"What exit?!" Zhang Yu, hearing the Golden Scale Beast's sound, grew anxious and shouted at Niu Chengdian, "Tell us! Where's the exit?!"

Niu Chengdian stood in place, swallowed two pills, and laughed, "How would I know?"

Zhang Yu turned her gaze to the hidden group. If so, she'd just have to snatch their stealth cloak!

She suddenly attacked, her white ribbon shooting straight toward them.

Seeing this, Shang Yunduo followed suit but felt something was still off. Niu Chengdian still hadn't moved. Wasn't he afraid of the Golden Scale Beast?

The two newcomers, startled to see Zhang Yu's "whip" lash out and reveal several people hiding, had no time to ask questions. They began knocking along the wall, trying to find a thin spot.

At that moment, the first Golden Scale Beast chased someone inside. Its horns and head were stained with blood. Its dark-golden eyes swept over them, then it pounced on the two rogue cultivators looking for the exit.

Zhang Yu's heart tightened. She darted toward the group to snatch the treasure: "Let me hide too!"

She was sure they wouldn't dare make too much noise and attract the Golden Scale Beast now. Unexpectedly, one of them actually squeezed over to make room for her.

Shang Yunduo watched in a daze.

Zhang Yu didn't hesitate, squeezed in, and vanished, leaving Shang Yunduo only her voice: "No room!"

"Yes... no room." A female voice suddenly said.

"Uh..."

Zhang Yu clutched her chest, turning back in disbelief. A female cultivator, who had appeared out of nowhere, pulled a short dagger from Zhang Yu's back, "This spot was reserved for me."

She tugged at the white ribbon in Zhang Yu's hand and smiled, "Little girl, I've taken a liking to this ribbon of yours."

Before Zhang Yu could react, the one who had made room laughed darkly and abruptly tossed her out, hurling her toward the Golden Scale Beast.

Zhang Yu twisted in the air, trying to escape, "Save me!"

Shang Yunduo subconsciously reached for her, but it was too late.

The Golden Scale Beast was closer, and it leaped up to catch her in its mouth. Zhang Yu waved her hands, casting a spell as fast as she could. Ice spikes filled the Golden Scale Beast's mouth, but it wasn't afraid. Its sharp teeth shattered the ice and pierced through her body.

Then, as if still bothered by the cold ice, it spat her out along with the ice.

Blood stained the beautiful ice crystals. Zhang Yu stared toward those people, gasped, coughing blood, "White Rainbow City... the Zhang family... won't let you go!"

With her last bit of strength, she pulled at her white ribbon. The ribbon swelled and grew, lifting the item that had hidden them and exposing them.

Zhang Yu smiled triumphantly, then the light faded from her eyes.

But the Golden Scale Beast didn't attack them as she had expected. The other three were chasing the remaining rogue cultivators around the lair. The smaller one beside her lowered its head and licked the blood-stained ice, like a gentle little cat.

Shang Yunduo hovered in the air, not knowing what to do.

He looked left and right, eyes moving mechanically, but his brain was stuck, refusing to process. What should he do? He didn't know. Information overload – his mind was clogged, packed, yet completely blank, like a frozen computer.

The rogue cultivators ran back the way they came, with the three Golden Scale Beasts chasing them into the tunnel. After a while, they returned one by one, carrying the cultivators' bodies in their mouths. They settled near the cave entrance and started eating.

Shang Yunduo, Niu Chengdian, and the others seemed forgotten.

The beasts looked up at Shang Yunduo. He started, snapping slightly out of his numbness. In the blink of an eye, his hair stood on end and cold sweat poured down his body. He didn't dare move an inch.

Those Golden Scale Beasts, for some reason, moved away with the bodies in their mouths, only gazing at him from a distance.

"???"

What was going on?

Had they mistaken him for a rock because he didn't move?

Shang Yunduo heard his own heart pounding wildly. He remembered an online tip about surviving a bear encounter:

Stay quiet, don't move, don't provoke it. If the bear is full, it usually won't attack. Wait for an opportunity to slowly back away, gain distance, then run.

Were Golden Scale Beasts the same as bears?

He didn't know.

Shang Yunduo swallowed barely audibly and took a step back.

All of the Golden Scale Beasts stopped eating and looked at him.

Shang Yunduo didn't dare move.

Things were at a standstill.

It wasn’t until the corpses on the ground were devoured that the Golden Scale Beasts curled up beside the largest one, yawning and falling asleep.

Another long while passed.

Shang Yunduo’s spiritual energy was almost gone.

He gently took a Qi Recovery Pill from his storage pouch and, like he was in a silent movie, brought them to his mouth with an extremely slow motion and swallowed three.

Niu Chengdian and his group began to move as well.

They too moved subtly, eyeing Shang Yunduo with both interest and caution.

No one spoke; in silence they edged along the wall toward a stone platform.

Shang Yunduo’s gaze followed them.

He wasn’t about to fight them to the death.

He was just one person; he couldn’t possibly take on all seven of them.

Li Wuzi still hadn't shown up. Shang Yunduo didn’t know if he was on Team Niu or not. What if he pulled a stunt like that rock-posing woman and jumped out and stabbed him? He’d be dead.

He didn’t want to kill anyone, nor did he want to die, so he continued hovering in the air on his flying sword, watching them climb onto the stone and pull away a dusty cloth that was almost fused with the rock. Beneath it, bones were revealed amidst the swirling dust.

He heard a very quiet but excited laugh.

The group quickly started rifling through the stone platform.

Shang Yunduo didn’t dare fly over. He angled himself a bit to peek.

The box beside the corpse held some sort of artifact, and there seemed to be a fair amount of spirit stones. Not daring to split the loot here, they just passed things around to look at before putting them back into the box, stuffing the whole box into the tall guy’s storage pouch.

Niu Chengdian could only watch.

Shang Yunduo was surprised. So the tall guy was the leader?

Sure enough, after putting the box away, the tall man began inspecting the corpse—cloak, ring, belt, and even the dust-covered storage pouch, leaving nothing unchecked.

They emptied the storage pouch, their faces brimming with excitement: artifacts, talismans, pills, jade slips, and medicinal herbs stored in jade boxes.

Jackpot.

The tall man packed everything away, then looked up at Shang Yunduo, still hovering motionless in place. He said softly, "Let's go!"

Niu Chengdian whispered, "Aren't we going to kill him?"

Shang Yunduo was seething. Would they ever drop it?!

The tall man smiled. "Wait till he gets out."

Shang Yunduo caught a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.

Why wait till he’s out? They’re still scared of the Golden Scale Beasts, right?

Just to gang up on him outside, seven on one?

Shang Yunduo's face was expressionless as he clenched his teeth, fists tight, thinking that if he was going to die anyway, he might as well fight it out here. They could all reunite in the belly of the Golden Scale Beasts!

"Wait!" Niu Chengdian suddenly called out, looking in Shang Yunduo's direction.

Shang Yunduo's anger flared instantly.

Fine. Come on. No need to wait. Let's fight right now!

Kill one and it’s even, kill two and I'm ahead. He had already silently recited half of the sword technique when he heard Niu Chengdian continue, "Look at that wall over there!"

Shang Yunduo paused, thinking, How despicable. Seven against one, and you're still trying to bait me for a sneak attack?

But to his surprise, they were all staring his way with excited expressions.

"Seeking-Spirit Bees! They’re Seeking-Spirit Bees!"

Shang Yunduo hesitated, then turned his head slightly. It took him a few glances before he spotted several bees perched on a rough section of the wall diagonally above.

They must have been brought in by the last two cultivators who entered.

His mouth twitched, speechless, thinking that if he weren't a cultivator with enhanced vision, he wouldn't have spotted them at all!

But the group was thrilled. "I knew it! A Core Formation cultivator's tomb wouldn't be this bare!"

"Let's go check it out!"

Risking waking the Golden Scale Beasts, they all rose into the air on their swords, still eyeing Shang Yunduo warily.

Shang Yunduo rolled his eyes and flew the other way to land on a tall rock.

Seeing that the Golden Scale Beasts showed no signs of waking, and not caring what the group was up to, Shang Yunduo plopped down and rubbed his legs.

He was exhausted.

Standing still on the sword was worse than flying; his legs were numb.

"It's empty!"

"Dig!"

The group pulled out various tools.

Shang Yunduo grew curious too.

He wondered what might be behind it.

But then again, there were too many of them—how could he fight back? He’d better sneak off while they were distracted by the treasure.

Now that the Golden Scale Beasts were all sleeping here, the tunnel entrance was unguarded. Maybe he could break through and get out.

But how would he break the restrictions outside? Or maybe he should find a place to hide, let them look around and find nothing, and figure things out after they leave. His storage pouch still had some pills and food—enough to last a month or two. Hell, he could just cultivate in the valley.

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a faint sigh.

Above the clatter of tools and the beasts’ snoring, it was clear and loud, and way too close.

His hand stopped mid-rub. He slowly turned his head and saw a patch of clean, silvery gray.

"..."

Author's Note:

Yunduo: Fellow cultivator! I totally forgot about you!