Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilds Chapter Ninety: A Chance to Exploit

At dusk, three swift horses came into view along the great road, growing nearer from afar.

The three riders all wore conical hats and carried sharp weapons. Their bearing was extraordinary. In particular, the two burly men could not conceal the ferocity stamped across their faces even beneath the brims of their hats. Their whole bodies exuded a rough, domineering arrogance, and even the young man traveling with them had taken on a hardened, martial air, like one of the river-and-lake world.

Several li away, a lofty mountain stood towering into the sky.

At its foot and in the nearby woods, carts, horses, and crowds could be seen everywhere.

“Third Brother, is this Black Banner Mountain?”

“It is!”

“Haha, there are already so many people here. Damn, this is lively!”

With so many wandering heroes gathered in one place, the Tianbao brothers were greatly stirred.

You Ye, as always, remained composed, though a trace of wariness lingered in his eyes.

Earlier, when they arrived at Black Banner Town, they had intended to stay for two days and probe the situation, but they could find no lodging. Fearing that the Tianbao brothers would cause trouble, and also wanting to avoid Peach Maniac, he had immediately left Black Banner Town and reached this place at dusk.

This was Black Banner Mountain.

When he had come before, the rain had been pouring down in torrents. Now it was dusk, and a gentle breeze stirred. Though the circumstances differed, the hidden killing intent had only become more perilous and unpredictable.

The three of them settled their horses in the woods and then returned to the great road, heading toward the foot of the mountain.

At Black Banner Mountain’s base stood a stone archway, the site of the mountain gate. More than a dozen men in Daoist robes guarded it, clearly forbidding outsiders to draw any closer.

In the open ground before the gate, more than two hundred people had gathered. Some wandered about, calling out to friends; others clustered in groups of three or five, laughing and talking loudly.

As dusk deepened, several bonfires were lit. The people drank wine and ate meat, the whole scene one of boisterous merriment.

“Haha!”

Tianbao found a spot among the crowd, dropped his bundle, and said excitedly, “It’s rare to see such a spectacle in the martial world. Today I’ve truly seen the world!”

Renliang spread a raincloth on the ground and laid out wine, meat, and dry rations.

You Ye sat down to rest as well. While eating and drinking with the brothers, he looked over the lively scene around him, and it seemed as if he had blended into it, a smile on his face.

Yet his gaze still drifted beyond the crowd, toward the distance.

Everyone gathered here was a man of the martial world; no cultivators had appeared as yet. The dozen or so sturdy young men guarding the gate were likely disciples recently recruited by Black Banner Mountain. Though they were all dressed in Daoist robes, their manner and bearing remained unmistakably those of river-and-lake men.

Past the gate, to the left, there was a winding stone stairway up the mountain, one he had taken before. Farther ahead was another flight of stone steps leading to the summit. At this very moment, perhaps someone atop the mountain was looking down on the scene below.

And a Foundation Establishment expert’s divine sense could reach ten li or more. Did that not mean everyone who had come to the foot of the mountain was already under the control of Southern Mountain and Bo Yi?

You Ye drank a bowl of wine, then lost all desire to eat or drink. He exchanged a glance with Tianbao and Renliang, rose alone, and walked away.

He returned to the edge of the woods and pretended to relieve himself.

The open space before the gate still blazed with lights and rang with voices. That bustling scene made Black Banner Mountain, wrapped in the night, seem even more immense, solemn, and mysterious.

After glancing back for a while, You Ye stepped into the woods.

Horses were tied there, and some wandering fighters who disliked crowds were also resting in its depths.

You Ye walked straight toward the forest’s interior.

After a short while, no one was near.

He put away his conical hat and the long sword in his hand, sprang upward more than ten feet, and used the tip of his foot to tap a branch. Borrowing that force, he rose into the air once more. In the blink of an eye, he was lightly poised atop the treetops.

There was no moon above.

The night was heavy and dark.

A gust of wind swept by, and the forest rolled like waves.

He was like a nocturnal bird amid the surging woods, swaying with the wind while alertly scanning every direction, searching for the hidden peril within the darkness.

Still, nothing unusual appeared.

You Ye spread his arms and skimmed over the treetops.

In an instant he reached the edge of the woods. A sheer cliff blocked the way. He climbed upward from there, and after some hundred feet, a mountain ridge came into view. Following the ridge another few hundred feet, he spotted the winding stone stairway, along with a cave lit by lamps, from which voices were coming—

“Damn it, they talk about immortality and attaining the Dao through cultivation, but it’s all hard labor and barely enough food or drink. I’m done with this…”

“Hush! Don’t let the immortal master hear you, or he’ll kill you on the spot and throw you into the rear mountains…”

“The immortal masters are all in Black Tortoise Pavilion. How could they care about you or me? If not for the guards below, I’d have left tonight…”

“Wait a few more days. Once the immortal sect is truly established, perhaps they’ll teach divine arts and spells. Then immortality, wealth, and beautiful women will all be ours…”

The winding stone stairway looked familiar. He must have been here last year.

Had he already passed through the gate and reached the lower slope on Black Banner Mountain’s eastern side?

As for the speakers—

You Ye leapt down from the ridge and darted into the cave.

“Ah—”

Inside, an oil lamp burned. Two young men sat on the ground. Seeing a figure suddenly rush into the cave, they could not help screaming.

But the cry was cut off at once.

One man fell dead to the ground, pierced by a sword. The other had a cold blade pressed against his throat, and though he trembled violently, he did not dare move.

You Ye stood within the cave, holding the sword in one hand. Beneath its edge was a young man dressed in Daoist robes; the one on the ground had been dressed the same way.

So these were the disciples of the immortal sect recruited by Black Banner Mountain? They were plainly nothing but two shameless scoundrels greedy for wealth and women.

You Ye silently shook his head and said in a low voice, “No shouting.”

“Mmm.”

“Answer my questions.”

“Yes, yes!”

The man nodded repeatedly, a flattering look on his face.

You Ye lowered the sword and asked, “How many immortal masters and how many disciples are on the mountain?”

The man breathed out in relief and collapsed onto the floor, one hand rubbing his neck. “There are over ten immortal masters on the mountain, I think. I can’t say exactly. As for the disciples… the brothers under Boss Hu, along with the river-and-lake fellows recently recruited, there may be one or two hundred…”

You Ye turned his wrist, and the blade flashed with a cold gleam.

The man hurriedly raised his hands in surrender and said helplessly, “The immortal masters come and go without a trace. It’s impossible to count them. The disciples of the immortal sect may look impressive, but they don’t treat people like human beings. Make even the slightest mistake, and they’ll kill you on the spot. That’s why the number changes every day…”

“Didn’t you say the immortal masters are all in Black Tortoise Pavilion?”

“Ah, so you heard that too…”

“What are they doing?”

“I heard they’re setting up a formation to deal with rebellious men…”

“Who are the rebellious men, and what power does the formation have?”

“How should I know…”

“And if something goes wrong, how is it handled?”

“Set fire below the mountain as a warning, and those on the mountain go to Black Tortoise Pavilion to report to the immortal masters.”

“How do you tell friend from foe?”

“The immortal sect token!”

The man removed a bamboo token from his waist and said proudly, “This is something unique to the immortal sect.”

The token was engraved with the words of Black Banner Mountain, along with a Black Tortoise sigil that only cultivators could understand.

You Ye snatched the token away.

The man’s face changed drastically. “If I die, the immortal masters will surely know…”

You Ye lifted his brows and glanced at the corpse on the ground.

The man’s eyes rolled, and he quickly changed his tune. “The paths are unfamiliar, and disciples often slip and fall off cliffs. I’ll report it that way, and no one will pursue it…”

You Ye lowered his head and said nothing.

“Several senior brothers patrol the mountain every day. If no one is here, the matter will surely be exposed. I’m afraid you…”

The man grew more and more agitated as he spoke, then suddenly fell silent, his eyes still wide open, though a sword hole had appeared in his forehead.

You Ye sheathed his sword, stripped the Daoist robe from the man in one motion, then treated the companion the same way and took both the robes and the bamboo token into his storage ring. Only then did he let out a quiet breath.

He had hesitated before because he feared alerting the cultivators from Qizhou. He had intended to spare the man just now, but the fellow was far too clever, and his words were full of contradictions. More than that, he had even dared to threaten him. Such a sly, treacherous person would only become a disaster if left alive.

As for the cultivators of Qizhou, they did not care whether these disciples lived or died. Even if two were missing from here, likely no one would investigate for several days.

You Ye picked up the two corpses and walked out of the cave.

If he remembered correctly, following the stone stairway from here upward would lead to the scripture cave and Black Tortoise Pavilion atop the mountain.

He looked around briefly, then leaped onto the ridge. After a short while, he reached the summit from which he had come. He tossed the two corpses down below, then returned along the cliff into the woods and busied himself with his sword.

He did not dare use a Fire-Flame Talisman to burn the bodies and erase all traces; he could only dig a pit and bury them.

You Ye dug a earthen pit, buried the corpses, then fetched dry grass to cover the place. Seeing no obvious flaw left behind, he turned and made his way back through the forest along the route he had come.

This night’s secret visit to Black Banner Mountain had yielded some results.

The so-called immortal sect observance was indeed a trap. The formation at Black Tortoise Pavilion was a carefully laid snare. As for the formation’s true power and how vicious the trap might be, he could not yet say; he would have to ask Jiao Ying later.

Moreover, Black Banner Mountain, though seemingly heavily guarded, was not impenetrable. Before the day of the observance arrived, there should still be an opportunity to act. Of course, the Tianbao brothers’ help would also be needed…

By the time You Ye emerged from the woods, he had already put on his conical hat and cradled his long sword, strolling back at an unhurried pace as if merely out for a casual walk.

The clearing before the gate remained much as it had been.

A group of martial-world wanderers rarely got together, all of them bold and unrestrained by nature, so such reckless revelry was only to be expected.

Yet the crowd had grown even noisier, with shouts carrying far into the distance.

You Ye paused slightly, then could not help quickening his steps.

Even from afar, he could hear Tianbao’s booming voice roaring—

“What if you’re a disciple of the Daoist sect? I’m hitting you all the same!”

At the same time, another familiar voice barked angrily—

“So you dare look down on a man of the Daoist sect? Yan will teach you, teach you well, you arrogant fool…”

“Damn it, you dare sneak attack me!”

“Blockhead, come on!”

“Big Brother…”

“Second Brother, step aside. So no one can say I won unfairly, I’ll fight him one on one!”

You Ye approached and his expression turned unreadable.

Within the crowd, Tianbao was tangled up with a young man. Though Tianbao was strong and fierce, his opponent was lithe and agile…