Chapter 16: The Follower

The moment the sword intent trap erupted, Bai Yue Ning's figure shot backward like an arrow loosed from its string. Countless wild sword shadows grazed past her, shredding the spot where she had just stood into dust; the rocks turned to powder, the ground crisscrossed with deep, jagged sword marks. Having missed their target, the activated remnants of sword intent seemed to lose their purpose, slowing and dispersing, gradually sinking into silence once more. Only a faint glimmer at the heart of the ruins stubbornly flickered, exuding an eerie aura.

Bai Yue Ning landed at a safe distance, her chest rising and falling gently, eyes cold as she stared at the area that had returned to its deceptive “calm.”

How close!

Had she not maintained utmost vigilance, or hesitated even a heartbeat, she would already be gravely wounded.

“That scared me to death!” Ye Ming’s voice trembled with lingering fear and anger. “What the hell is that? A fishing enforcement scheme? Using itself as bait to lure others in and then strike? So cunning!”

Ye Ming’s investigative abilities were sensitive to energy fluctuations, but traps like these—carefully arranged, triggered by the lingering sword intent in the environment—were clearly beyond his warning capabilities.

“That speck of light definitely has something wrong with it!” Ye Ming was still shaken, yet curiosity gnawed at him. “To set a trap like this, it must be either someone’s doing or... that thing itself has some strange intelligence.”

“Too bad—we can see it but can’t touch it.”

Bai Yue Ning gazed for a moment, then slowly shook her head. “We shouldn’t linger here.”

Whether it was a man-made trap or a hidden treasure concealing itself, it was far beyond what she could handle now. Risk did not equal suicide. She decisively turned to retrace her steps and leave the core danger zone.

“Wait! Don’t move. Conceal your presence.”

Bai Yue Ning instantly obeyed, holding her breath and reducing her presence to a minimum, becoming like a shadow melded with the rocky wall.

Moments later, from behind several large boulders not far to the side, came the faint rustle of fabric and suppressed whispers.

“...That commotion just now wasn’t small. Something must’ve triggered a restriction.”

“Should we check it out? Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Be careful—it could be a trap laid by that woman…”

The voices sounded familiar. Bai Yue Ning’s eyes narrowed as she peered through a crack in the stone.

She saw Li Mao and his two companions sneakily poking their heads out from behind the rocks, cautiously surveying the spot where the sword intent had erupted.

They looked somewhat battered, clearly having suffered on their way following her.

“Like ghosts that won’t leave!”

“They actually followed us all the way here? Their greed knows no bounds!”

Bai Yue Ning sneered inwardly. So that’s how it was. The eruption of the sword intent trap, by sheer coincidence, had startled these tailers, making them think she had triggered some opportunity or trap.

---

Li Mao and his companions peered about for a while, but found no trace of Bai Yue Ning. All they saw was the devastated ruins and the residual sword qi still not fully spent, their faces a mix of suspicion and greed.

“Is the woman gone?” whispered Wang, his voice low. “Did she get something and run, or did the restriction finish her off?”

“Search the area. Even if she’s dead, the stuff must still be nearby!” Li Mao gritted his teeth, clearly unwilling to leave empty-handed.

The three began cautiously searching the area, eager for treasure yet fearful of new dangers, their movements bordering on comical.

“Money over life, indeed,” Ye Ming scoffed.

Hidden in the shadows, Bai Yue Ning watched their aimless blundering with calm detachment. A thought surfaced quietly.

“Hm? What are you planning?” Ye Ming sensed the shift in her intent.

“Let’s give them something to occupy themselves with,” Bai Yue Ning replied inwardly with cool indifference.

Her eyes swept over the surroundings, quickly settling on a spot. It appeared calm, but based on Ye Ming’s previous guidance and her own observations, there was a patch beneath the earth where a natural sword qi lay dormant—not particularly strong, but enough to cause chaos.

She silently picked up a sharp-edged stone at her feet, calculating the angle and force.

“Hey, I know this trick!” Ye Ming immediately understood her intention. “Aim half an inch to the left, use a third of your strength, hit the side of that black stone—should stir up the thing beneath without blowing it immediately!”

Bai Yue Ning bent her fingers slightly, quietly channeling her spiritual power.

The stone became a barely perceptible gray streak, striking precisely where Ye Ming had indicated.

A soft thud echoed.

Zhao, who was searching nearby, jumped in alarm, scanning for the source. “What was that sound?”

Before he finished, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled. A pale, fierce sword qi burst from the earth without warning, skimming his trouser leg!

“Ah!” Zhao screamed, leaping back in terror, looking utterly disheveled.

The sword qi, like an enraged serpent, twisted in the air and lunged at Li Mao, who was closest!

“Damn it!” Li Mao, shocked and furious, hastily swung his sword to block.

Sword qi and blade clashed with a shrill screech, numbing his arm. Wang hurried to assist.

The three were instantly entangled by the unexpected sword qi, flailing helplessly, unable to mind anything else.

“Hahahahahaha!” Ye Ming was beside himself with glee. “Look at them! Yes, chop it! Oh, you fools—almost struck your own teammate!”

A barely visible curve touched Bai Yue Ning’s lips.

She lingered no longer. Taking advantage of the chaos, her form slipped away like smoke, swiftly departing the place of turmoil.

---

She slowed her steps only when the sounds of fighting and curses behind her had faded completely.

“Too bad—I didn’t see how it ended for them,” Ye Ming sighed with lingering relish. “Still, I bet it was enough trouble for them. Serves them right for tracking us!”

With this disturbance, much of the fear and frustration from the trap’s eruption had dissipated.

Bai Yue Ning collected herself, regaining her bearings.

After all this, caution was paramount. Within Sword Burial Valley, the dangers of the terrain were matched only by the dangers of people.

“Where next?”

Ye Ming’s senses spread out again, searching for a new target.

“The call from earlier is a lost cause. Now we…”

He suddenly paused, uncertainty in his tone. “Huh? Strange…”

“What now?” Bai Yue Ning was especially alert to his “strange” remarks.

“That black lump—the metal shard you picked up earlier. Just now, it seemed to move slightly. Or was it my imagination?”

Bai Yue Ning immediately took out the black metal fragment engraved with strange symbols.

It lay still in her palm, cold and silent, nothing unusual.

She infused a thread of spiritual power—no reaction.

She probed with her consciousness—still nothing, as if it had sunk into the sea.

“It’s motionless again,” Ye Ming muttered. “So odd… Everything in this Sword Burial Valley is stranger than the last.”

Bai Yue Ning traced the smooth surface and indecipherable symbols, her gaze deep and thoughtful.

Was it an illusion? She doubted it.

She carefully stowed the metal fragment and lifted her eyes toward the deepest part of the valley.

There, ancient sword intent hung like thick fog, shrouding the valley’s greatest secrets.

“We go deeper,” she decided.

Risk and opportunity walk hand in hand; having come this far, there was no reason to leave empty-handed.

Ye Ming’s focus sharpened, setting aside the puzzle of the metal fragment for now.

“Alright, this time let’s pick a safer path!”

“I sense a steady, solid energy to the northwest—it should suit us right now.”

One woman and one sword pressed onward, venturing deeper into the shadowed heart of the valley.