Chapter 00148: Each Displays Their Divine Abilities
# Each Displays Their Divine Abilities
Chapter 148
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 148: Each Displays Their Divine Abilities
There were countless fragmented footprints nearby, some of which were clearly the shoe prints of mountain folk.
Pei Xinyong and Lu Yao each harbored ulterior motives, walking for quite a while without speaking.
Finally, it was Pei Xinyong who broke the silence: “According to what you said, General Wu fell for the schemes of that He fellow and was killed by you?”
Not only General Wu Shaoyi fell for the trap, but you did too! Of course, Lu Yao would only keep this thought to himself; after all, Pei Xinyong currently had more than double the number of men, and their primary task was to hunt down the officials.
“I didn’t kill him; it was the Crocodile God who personally took action!”
“Speaking of which, how could the Crocodile God come to Xianling Lake with you?” This was also something Pei Xinyong deeply feared.
Wu Shaoyi was formidable in battle; even after falling into Lu Yao’s ambush, Pei Xinyong couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.
What was Lu Yao planning by bringing the Crocodile God to Xianling Lake?
“I asked it to come as a witness for us!” Lu Yao sighed, “After the Saint Master passed away, it wanted to find another lair. Hearing me say that Xianling Lake has abundant fish and a developed water system, it was tempted to come.”
Pei Xinyong nodded, not believing a word.
With so many lakes and rivers in the Yuanguo, why would the Crocodile God choose this place? He knew that the Crocodile God came from the Northern Kingdom and wasn’t familiar with the waters of Yuanguo.
If it weren’t for Lu Yao’s deception, how could it have come along?
So, Lu Yao originally planned to use the Crocodile God to coerce the other two factions into submitting to him during the gathering of the three armies?
Now that Wu Shaoyi was dead, his subordinates either scattered or submitted to Lu Yao.
How should Pei Xinyong position himself?
Kill Lu Yao and seize all the troops?
Pei Xinyong sneered inwardly; it was likely that Lu Yao was also calculating these things!
Lu Yao tilted his head to look at him and suddenly said, “Wu Shaoyi lacked ambition; I knew he only wanted to return to the south, find a mountain to settle down, and become a local tyrant. Now that he’s dead, we don’t need to go through the trouble of forming an alliance. I, Lu Yao, will recognize General Pei as our leader. From now on, we will unite as one for survival!”
Pei Xinyong was taken aback: “You, you want to recognize me as the commander?”
“Exactly!” Lu Yao laughed heartily, “From now on, this two-hundred-jin body of mine will be at General Pei’s disposal, to command as you wish!”
Pei Xinyong was moved: “Brother Lu is too polite!”
Yet he didn’t say a word about “how can this be?”
The two exchanged smiles, embracing each other, while inwardly cursing one another.
As they moved forward, several broken water fir trees blocked their path.
With such thick trunks piled together, their mounts certainly couldn’t jump over.
The bandits had no choice but to dismount and move them.
He Chuanhua had specifically chosen to fell giant trees, and the fallen wood was heavy and awkwardly stacked.
Although the Pei-Lu coalition had many people, it still took them over two quarters of an hour to move these massive objects aside, leaving them panting and exhausted.
Pei and Lu did not have the arrogant demeanor of high-ranking official leaders; they both jumped down to lend a hand.
Pei Xinyong picked a splinter from his palm and turned to Lu Yao: “Are you alright?”
Lu Yao had fought with Wu Shaoyi earlier, sustaining multiple injuries and bleeding, and his wounds had reopened.
Now he was limping; he had led his men to attack the Xishan chariot formation and then galloped here, still needing to work as a laborer.
Even an iron man would be exhausted; at this moment, he was not only panting heavily, but his temples were throbbing, and he felt slightly dizzy.
But facing Pei Xinyong, who had double his numbers, he knew he couldn’t show weakness, so he smiled nonchalantly: “I’m doing great.” After saying that, he pointed ahead, “It’s getting foggy; hurry up and chase. If we’re late, we won’t catch up.”
Taking advantage of Pei Xinyong’s turn, he quietly stuffed two Qi-replenishing and blood-replenishing pills into his mouth.
The fog in the mountains came suddenly, without warning.
Just as the bandits mounted their horses, the white mist rushed towards them.
Everyone felt their faces dampen, like the spring rain in March, hazy and fine.
Despite the wilderness appearing like a fairyland, in no time, their clothes were completely soaked.
All around was a white expanse, and they couldn’t see anything even a zhang away.
The two generals felt heavy-hearted; the thick fog obscured their vision, affecting their speed.
“This fog has indeed done the officials a great favor.”
The bandits hurriedly chased down the slope, passing by a crooked-necked locust tree.
Just like that, a quarter of an hour passed.
In the fog, one had to get close to recognize the familiar scenery around them.
So, another quarter of an hour passed.
The horses trotted to a stop beside the locust tree.
Lu Yao looked at the knife marks on the trunk of the old tree: “We’ve come back here again, for the third time!”
One of his subordinates brought over a villager they had captured from Xianling Village to act as a guide.
“What’s going on?”
The villager was pale with fear: “I don’t know, my lord, oh no, General, I’ve walked this road for decades; I shouldn’t be wrong even with my eyes closed.”
“Ghost wall.” Pei Xinyong’s expression darkened, “This is a maze set up by the officials.”
In simple terms, it was a labyrinth.
The way to escape the pursuit was actually quite simple; if one couldn’t walk fast, then one had to find a way to slow down the pursuers.
“Every maze has a focal point; once found, it can be unraveled. But it takes time.”
Lu Yao pondered: “I remember the Saint Master once fought against someone in Xiaonantian, and the opponent set up a Thousand Lantern Formation. It should be extremely complicated to break, but the Saint Master found another way; do you remember?”
Pei Xinyong nodded: “Using scent to find the way.”
He had capable subordinates, and one of them stepped forward: “We need an old object belonging to the pursued.” Otherwise, there would be no way to specify the target.
An old object?
One bandit, hearing this, presented a torn piece of cloth: “General, this was torn from the clothes of that He dog official’s son. At the time, you were in the water, and he tried to sneak attack but was punched back by me.” Afterward, he casually tucked it into his sleeve, thinking it was good material for when squatting in the wild… uh, he didn’t expect it would come in handy now.
Fortunately, he hadn’t had an upset stomach since last night.
Lu Yao was delighted: “Well done, here’s ten taels of silver as a reward!”
With the piece of He Yue’s clothing, they could continue casting spells.
Pei Xinyong’s subordinate poured a bit of yellow powder onto the piece of cloth, carefully kneading it while mumbling incantations.
After finishing, he shook the cloth, and the yellow powder scattered into the air, forming a yellow mist.
The wind here was light, and the yellow powder dispersed without escaping, drifting forward.
It worked.
If all went well, this small amount of guiding powder could lead them to pursue He Yue.
Pei Xinyong ordered them to follow!
Two thousand men marched forward grandly.
Just like that, another quarter of an hour passed.
The fog remained thick all around.
Lu Yao frowned: “This isn’t right, is it? If we had walked out of the formation, the fog should have dissipated!” The officials ahead should not be affected by the mist.
Suddenly, one of the bandits pointed at a locust tree: “General, we’ve passed here again!”
The fourth time!
They still hadn’t exited the maze, and even the Saint Master’s method had failed? Everyone looked at each other, greatly disheartened, unsure of what to do.
Pei Xinyong muttered: “That He dog official’s subordinates actually have such capable people; can even scent tracking be distorted?”
Just as everyone was at a loss, a clear cry rang from the sky, followed by the swirling white mist, and something descended, flapping.
Lu Yao broke into a wide smile: “The Pidan has returned!”
Saying this, he pursed his lips and whistled twice.
The creature seemed to be identifying his position, and after a few breaths, a brown figure sprang out from the thick fog and landed on his arm.
It was indeed the Red-tailed Falcon that had returned.
Lu Yao said triumphantly: “This might just be the key to breaking the situation!”
He asked the red falcon: “Did you catch up to the officials?”
The red falcon nodded.
“Can you indicate their direction?”
The red falcon spoke: “Not from here; if I fly up high, I can see.”
The bandits were overjoyed.
Indeed, no matter how powerful the maze on the ground was, it was still just on the ground.
The red falcon soared in the sky, looking down from above; how could the formation obscure its eyes?
The red falcon continued: “The position I saw from high up is different when I land.”
“As soon as you get close to the ground, you’ll be affected by the formation,” Lu Yao pondered, “It’s not difficult; I’ll tie a red thread to you. Fly a bit higher and guide us in the right direction!”
Actually, the mountain path from here to Qianteng Town wasn’t complicated; it was just that the light and scents within the formation were distorted, causing them to unknowingly take detours, crooked paths, or even backtrack.
As long as the red falcon flew high in the sky to guide them, the obstacles of the formation would be rendered meaningless.
“Get the thread!”
The awkward part was that there was no silk thread.
In the end, the bandits could only find a few unfortunate souls to contribute their clothes, tearing them into strips and tying the ends to the red falcon’s claws.
The red falcon immediately flapped its wings and took off.
After flying for a while, it felt something was off; even flying up didn’t break through the range of the thick fog.
Could this formation adjust at any time?
Who was monitoring this place?
But this didn’t stump it; the red falcon folded its wings, and its body naturally fell, then flapped its wings in the opposite direction, which meant it was flying upwards.
And in its own field of vision, it was moving forward parallelly.
This was the power of the formation.
The red falcon simply closed its eyes, relying on its sense of gravity to fly, and soon broke through the fog’s blockade, seeing the mountains and rivers again.
From fifty zhang in the air, looking down, everything below was clear and bright; not to mention the mountains and forests, even the caterpillars on the leaves were clearly visible.
Where was the thick fog?
It flew a short distance forward.
Hmm, the officials were in… that direction!
However, the red falcon noticed that right in front of its master was a curved cliff; leading straight would definitely cause a fall, so it had to lead the entire team to detour first.
Seeing the cloth strip in his hand moving, Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief and laughed heartily: “That dog official thinks a mere maze can stop us? Brothers, let’s go!”
The direction indicated by the cloth strip changed in real-time, and everyone set off, chasing out of the formation.
连登 was from Qianteng Town and was very familiar with the geography of this area.
He led He Lingchuan along a small path for three to five li, finally returning to the main road.
Of course, the road was now empty, with not a single person in sight.
“From here to the west, to the Zhumapo.” He pointed east again, “In the other direction, Xianling Village.”
He Lingchuan turned his horse’s head eastward: “If Pei Xinyong receives General Wu’s mechanism bird message, he should be waiting for us at Qiansu Cliff.”
The two rode side by side, and soon they arrived at the Langming Cave.
The tracks of carts were still visible on the ground.
Today is September 1st, and there will be an additional update at noon.
(End of this chapter)