Chapter 112: Going Out

Chapter 112: The Journey

The group had no idea there was an extra member. Since it was still early, they weren't in a hurry to set off and instead gathered around to study the map in their hands.

"In another two or three days, we'll cross the center of the Boundary Mountain Range, and we'll be halfway through the journey."

Hmm? Shang Yunduo thought, so they really are heading to the demon territory?

"Once we reach the demon territory, we'll have to stay vigilant."

"Right, then we'll need at least three people standing watch together."

Shang Yunduo thought, even with four of you standing watch like that, it wouldn't be of any use.

"Brother Ou, are the demon cultivators there really in the midst of internal strife?"

"Indeed," said the middle-aged man leading the group. "If we hadn't received reliable information, we brothers wouldn't dare bring you all here."

The young man who'd been holding the map explained in a soft voice, "Here's the full story: that place is right at the edge of the Boundary Mountain Range and doesn't belong to any clan. The demon tribes have always liked expanding their territory—whoever can hold it gets it. Two demon tribes both wanted the surrounding area as a hunting ground. Decades ago, the Flying Ape Clan drove out the Red-Eyed Clan that originally occupied the area, but the Ape King died two years ago. The new Ape King couldn't command the allegiance of the group, and the whole Flying Ape Clan split into three or four factions fighting fiercely among themselves. For now, they can't spare attention for the border mountains."

"I see."

"But we still need to move quickly. I heard the Red-Eyed Clan has already started making moves. If they also want to take advantage of the chaos to reclaim their territory, it will be difficult for us to get in."

But the more Shang Yunduo heard, the more unreliable it seemed. Was this kind of commotion, which sounded like it could lead to a fight, something for a few Foundation Establishment stage cultivators to get involved in?

Fortunately, they also had some self-awareness. "Are the Flying Ape Clan really not going to be there?"

The middle-aged man surnamed Ou laughed. "No, to us it's an ancient relic, but for them it's just a pile of ruins."

The young man also said, "That's right. My ancestors have explored that place several times. There are no demon cultivators guarding the ruins, but the nearby mountainous area, used as a hunting ground, is often contested and has demon cultivators stationed for defense."

The middle-aged man said, "Actually, there are no treasures inside the ancient site, only some remaining inscriptions. Unfortunately, my ancestors didn't understand ancient script, and only made a few rubbings. Over the years, they secretly found people to decipher them, and only then did they learn that it was the old site of the Xiaoyao Sect."

Shang Yunduo was startled. Huh?

Xiaoyao Sect?

"That's good."

"Everyone, rest assured. The route has been fully explored by our ancestors. We're only going to make rubbings of the inscriptions this time; there's no real danger. The reason we invited everyone along is also because we're worried there might be problems when making the rubbings."

Everyone nodded again.

This was easy to understand. Many techniques and inscriptions were carved using special methods. Unless you see it in person, even a full copy won't let you understand it.

The Ou family was so persistent simply because they were unwilling to accept discovering such an ancient relic but gaining nothing from it. They could only hope that the broken inscriptions contained records of some ancient techniques or the like.

The Ou brothers refused to give up, and the others felt the same.

Even if there were no peerless techniques, ask anyone who's into ancient legends and scripts—how could they resist going themselves upon hearing that ancient inscriptions had been discovered?

Shang Yunduo finally understood what they were up to. If it was just to make rubbings, it was indeed relatively safe. He couldn't help thinking about Lou Dengge, whom he had met in the secret realm. Since parting, there had been no news. He wondered how Daoist Lou was doing.

"Is that really where the Xiaoyao Sect used to be?" one person couldn't help but ask.

Several people immediately retorted, "How could it be false?!"

"We may not recognize other stuff, but the characters 'Xiaoyao Sect' are easy to recognize."

"That's right, we've all seen it. It is indeed the Xiaoyao Sect."

Younger Ou said good-naturedly, "I get your concerns, Brother Li. Although the Xiaoyao Sect is widely known, you rarely hear they had a cultivation mountain gate."

The honest-looking cultivator surnamed Li said, "That's exactly what I mean! The large characters are indeed 'Xiaoyao Sect,' but that doesn't mean that's where the sect was."

Young Ou: "That makes sense."

Older Ou: "That's why we also invited a Xiaoyao Sect fellow cultivator to come along this time."

Hmm? Shang Yunduo became interested again. Someone from the Xiaoyao Sect?

"Xiaoyao Sect?" Zhang You frowned and couldn't help but click his tongue. "Anyone I've met who claimed to be from the Xiaoyao Sect was a damn liar."

"Right, Brother Ou, are you sure he's really from the Xiaoyao Sect?"

Older Ou: "Rest assured, he is indeed a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect. Without him we never would have known that the Xiaoyao Sect originally had a mountain gate. Before the border was drawn, the mountain gate was in the demon territory. After moving to the human territory, the different branches scattered, so they couldn't set up a new mountain gate."

The others exchanged glances. They really hadn't heard that before.

Shang Yunduo also listened, a bit stunned.

A moment later, they were about to set off. Shang Yunduo followed them west for a while. Seeing that they had stopped chatting, he went back to share the day's gossip with Pei Jie. Big news! Big news about his own sect!

"So our Xiaoyao Sect used to have a mountain gate! And it's over on the demon side!"

Pei Jie looked puzzled. "Who said that?"

"Those few people!" Shang Yunduo repeated the whole thing. "I didn't even know. I bet Senior Sister doesn't even know. Hey Senior, you didn't know either?"

Pei Jie shook his head. "Don't take it at face value."

Shang Yunduo: "I think it's fishy too. Even if it's true, it's been so many years since the division between the two races; it would have all rotted away by now."

Besides, the Xiaoyao Sect was so poor. If there really were any relic treasures, it wouldn't have been left for outsiders. Disciples, real or fake, would have combed through it dozens of times already.

But then again...

Pei Jie: "Curious?"

Shang Yunduo: "Not curious, not curious!"

He didn't have the guts to go to the demon territory.

And it was still a battlefield.

Pei Jie: "But we could go check it out there."

"Ah?!" Shang Yunduo exclaimed in surprise. "You actually buy what they said?"

Pei Jie: "Of course not. It's just that if we want to form a Core, we'll need to head to the demon territory eventually."

Shang Yunduo: "Why?"

Pei Jie: "We need to find some materials."

"Oh." But they were only at the early Foundation Establishment stage; they could completely wait until the late Foundation Establishment stage to go. Shang Yunduo thought about it but didn't ask. Since Pei Jie wanted to go, then they would go. Surely he had his reasons.

Shang Yunduo: "How many days will we go for? Will we come back?"

Pei Jie: "Maybe we'll come back, maybe not. Pack whatever you want to keep."

Shang Yunduo: "Oh, okay."

He looked around and scratched his head. As the saying goes, "a poor man's home is worth a fortune." He wanted everything. If possible, he would have liked to move the entire house as it was.

Unfortunately, he couldn't move it.

Not just the house—many things couldn't be packed.

After thinking it over, Shang Yunduo left behind anything without spiritual energy or that he could make himself, as well as furniture unsuitable for the ship. Considering they might return, they didn't dismantle the entire defensive array; they left a small formation to protect the house. The plants outside the formation didn't need care—the nearby beasts had no interest in them. Shang Yunduo also harvested all the spiritual plants. In case they didn't come back, he could trade them for spirit stones at the next place to buy new furniture.

Still, leaving so suddenly made him a bit reluctant. Every brick, every stone, every blade of grass here had been built or planted by his own hands. Even though he knew from the start that this was only a temporary dwelling, he had grown attached after living here for nearly a year.

After all, even the place where he often buried ashes had plants growing more lushly than elsewhere; perhaps if a suitable seed drifted over, it could even grow into a spiritual plant.

As he was about to leave, there were still some food items he couldn't take. Shang Yunduo just tossed them all into the swamp.

The Sticky Mud Beasts saw him and the airship and didn't even bother to hide. As the things fell, a small Sticky Mud Beast raised a large bone and swam to the shore.

Shang Yunduo: "No need. We're leaving. You keep it yourselves."

The two small Sticky Mud Beasts that brought the bone tilted their heads, looking at him, then at Pei Jie who rarely showed up, as if they didn't understand what was happening today.

"Oh, right, and a fish." Shang Yunduo threw them the "grilled fish" he had caught from the lake yesterday and forgot to give them. The small Sticky Mud Beasts offered the bone again, but Shang Yunduo refused once more. This time they seemed to get it—he didn't want it.

Even the large Sticky Mud Beast, still in the middle of the swamp, swam over.

Shang Yunduo waved, a bit reluctantly: "Goodbye."

Pei Jie found it amusing. "Let's go."

"Mmm." Shang Yunduo did one more check, making sure he didn't have anything else to give them, then boarded the ship.

The airship rose higher. The Sticky Mud Beast family looked up at them, still looking confused. They chirped at each other, then all chirped at Shang Yunduo together.

Passing by the territory of the Dark Armor Ox, the Ox, which was crouching in the grass again, counting the leaves of its spiritual herbs, looked up and mooed toward the sky. Seeing that the airship didn't land and even headed west, it stared confusedly at the ship, as if it was wondering why Shang Yunduo was out early, before afternoon and hadn't come down to pick the tender grass it had been growing.

Shang Yunduo waved at it too. The wild vegetables the Dark Armor Ox grew were tender and crisp—perfect for wrapping roasted meat, like lettuce. After leaving here, where could he find greens this fresh again?

Moreover, he had become friends with this good-tempered big ox. Of all the neighbors nearby, only the Dark Armor Ox would let him get close and even play head-butting games to test strength.

He hoped they could come back someday.

"Hey?!" Shang Yunduo quickly stood up.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot something important. Senior, can we outrun that sixth-order beast?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Burn the Silverwing Butterfly!" Consider it a good deed for the neighbors before leaving.

Just to be safe, they had already cloaked the airship and fully extended their spiritual sense to confirm the sixth-order beast was not nearby, then followed the trail where Shang Yunduo had chased it last time deeper inward.

In the vast mountains and forests, even if the Silverwing Butterfly kept its size at one meter, it was extremely hard to spot, let alone its skill at hiding.

Only because Shang Yunduo had chased it for so long could he roughly predict its preferred activity area. By finding the carcasses of beasts that seemed to have died from its scale powder along the way, he finally tracked it down.

"Found it, over there!" Shang Yunduo pointed to a branch. "Let's circle around to the upwind side!"

Pei Jie looked at the bare branch, squinting, but still saw nothing.

Shang Yunduo was itching to try and was about to start a fire, but Pei Jie suddenly said, "Wait, can you catch it?"

Shang Yunduo: "Huh? Catch?"

Pei Jie: "Safety first. If you can't catch it, forget it."

Shang Yunduo: "I can catch it!"

It's just a butterfly I'm catching.

He rolled up his sleeves: "Watch me!"

Author's note:

The nearby beasts: The troublemaker is leaving! That troublemaker is leaving!!

Yunduo: How ungrateful, huh.

Silverwing Butterfly: I don't want to leave! Help!