Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wild Chapter Ninety-One: Fear in the Heart

North of the forest stood a rocky knoll. It was ringed by thickets, and compared with the bustle before the mountain gate, this place was remote and silent.

In this lonely corner, several figures had gathered.

Among them were Yu Ye and the brothers Tian Bao, as well as a few old acquaintances of Yu Ye’s. An unexpected reunion among old friends ought to have been a joyous occasion, yet each face wore a different expression; one man clutched his cheek in sullen resentment.

Yan Chi, once handsome and free-spirited, now cut a miserable figure with a bruised and swollen face, even his robe torn open at the seam.

Zhong Jian stroked his beard, grinning broadly, though without a sound. Plainly he was forcing himself to restrain his delight, while his face brimmed with schadenfreude.

His two kinsmen, Zhong Quan and Zhong Yi, held the blades at their chests and silently watched the movement in the distance.

Tian Bao glanced at Ren Liang beside him, and the two of them lowered their heads in unison. Clearly they knew they were in the wrong and did not dare speak.

Yu Ye sat alone off to the side. His face was half hidden beneath a bamboo hat, making his moods impossible to read. Yet none of the others’ expressions escaped his notice, and he could only shake his head inwardly.

Tonight’s reunion with old acquaintances was, in one sense, unexpected, and in another, inevitable. With all manner of people gathering at Northern Qi Mountain, how could the disciple of the Daoist sect, Yan Chi, be absent? And how could Zhong Jian, once a Daoist disciple himself and now a regional power in his own right, not be here as well? No one had expected the two of them to arrive at Northern Qi Mountain together in the evening. That alone would have been enough, but Yan Chi’s Daoist robe and his frivolous manner had actually angered Tian Bao. A few words were exchanged, neither willing to yield, and before long, amid the crowd’s jeering and goading, they had come to blows. As a disciple of the Daoist sect, Yan Chi had the upper hand, and his methods were underhanded. Tian Bao was fierce and combative, but in the end he still suffered the loss. Zhong Jian, for his part, took Yan Chi’s side and was pleased to hide in the crowd and watch the spectacle. Fortunately, Yu Ye returned in time and halted Yan Chi through voice transmission, but since it was not fit to make a public affair of it, he could only suppress his anger and walk away.

How could he not be angry?

He knew Tian Bao and Ren Liang’s temperaments, and had repeatedly warned them in secret, yet the two had once again courted disaster, even coming to blows with others at the foot of Northern Qi Mountain.

And on the summit, a group of cultivators from Qi Prefecture had already taken root, watching every stir below. Any mishap could bring consequences beyond imagining.

Alas, these two brothers never ceased to cause trouble.

As for Yan Chi, since he had chosen to associate with men of the martial world, why did he still put on the airs of a Daoist master, and flaunt himself so ostentatiously before so many eyes? More than that, it was only a brawl; yet he had resorted to poisonous, treacherous tricks, nearly causing a death.

And Zhong Jian too—last time he had been coaxed into making a trip to Magpie Spirit Mountain, and now that they had met again he was bullying the brothers Tian Bao once more.

Alas, dealing with clever men was no less troublesome!

“Brother Yu, I’m the one who got beaten. Why do you look so glum?”

Seeing that Yu Ye did not speak, Yan Chi grew curious. Rubbing his cheek, he went on, “If you feel bad about it, then apologize to me, and I’ll let your two brothers off…”

Tian Bao instantly glared wide-eyed.

“Oh?” Yan Chi waved a hand dismissively and said with disdain, “If Brother Yu had not stopped me, how could I have let you beat me? For his sake, let this matter end here. Brother Yu…” He nodded, then continued, “I know why you’re displeased. You blame me for striking too hard. But when it comes to ruthlessness, who can compare with you? There are surely not a hundred, if not fifty, martial-world men who have died by your hand. Yet now that this concerns your brothers, you put on a false show of mercy. Hmph!”

He snorted in dissatisfaction, then suddenly realized something and said, “Ah… are you taking your anger out on me because this Daoist robe is too conspicuous? And as a disciple of Northern Qi Mountain, now that I have returned to the sect gates, must I shed my old appearance? Tell me, where is the backbone in that?” He thumped his chest twice and declared in a solemn voice, “I wear my Daoist robe and ascend once more to the Black Tortoise Pavilion, to tell the world that my Daoist lineage is not extinguished, nor shall its inheritance ever cease—cough, cough…”

Perhaps he had struck his chest too hard; his breath seized, and he could not help coughing. His ardent fervor immediately vanished.

“Haha!”

Zhong Jian waved a hand and stood up.

“Brother, step aside with me for a word!”

More than thirty paces away lay a patch of grass.

Yu Ye followed Zhong Jian over, and the two sat side by side.

“How did things go at Magpie Spirit Mountain?”

Zhong Jian asked the question, then laughed heartily and said, “Speak only three parts of what you know when meeting people; never cast your whole heart away. That is the rule of the road, and also the way to preserve oneself.”

Yu Ye removed his bamboo hat and smiled helplessly.

After a brief pause, Zhong Jian said, “Brother Yu, your deeds have long spread throughout the jianghu. I assumed you had gone into hiding, never expecting you would return here. Shall the two of us join forces once more?”

Yu Ye remained silent.

Zhong Jian went on, “To tell the truth, I have come this time not only with Yan Chi, Zhong Quan, and Zhong Yi, but also with more than a dozen brothers hidden in the shadows.” Lowering his voice, he added, “Though I do not know the true purpose behind the founding of this immortal sect, I will not allow outsiders to seize Northern Qi Mountain. I intend to strike during the viewing ceremony and set the Black Tortoise Pavilion ablaze. I have already purchased lamp oil for the purpose, and I mean to catch that lot completely off guard…”

“Burn down the Black Tortoise Pavilion and ruin the viewing ceremony?”

Yu Ye cried out in surprise, then said bitterly, “That was exactly my own intention as well, only—”

“Haha!”

Zhong Jian clapped his hands and laughed, beaming.

“Brother, no one knows you better than Zhong Jian. I knew you would come with ill intent…”

“To go to the Black Tortoise Pavilion for the ceremony would likely mean going with no return.”

“Oh? What do you mean by that?”

“Before I met you, I already made one trip up the mountain…”

Knowing of Zhong Jian’s entanglement with Northern Qi Mountain, and understanding his purpose in coming, Yu Ye no longer concealed anything. He told him truthfully of his nocturnal scouting of the mountain.

“According to the disciples on the mountain, the Qi Prefecture cultivators are setting up a formation in the Black Tortoise Pavilion. I did not dare act rashly, and will investigate again tomorrow night. By my reckoning, the Black Tortoise Pavilion must be a trap. This so-called viewing ceremony is nothing more than a feint, meant to lull all sides into lowering their guard!”

“Good heavens, how vicious!”

Zhong Jian suddenly understood and said, “Nanshan and Bu Yi are trying to lure all the heroes into a formation. By then no one will be able to escape; they will only be able to kneel and beg for mercy, left entirely at the mercy of those fellows. Damn it, this is a scheme to wipe us out root and branch!” After his astonishment, he could not help but feel relieved. “So long as I meet Brother Yu, my luck turns good!”

Zhong Jian was thinking of luck, while Yu Ye could only think of misfortune.

After a few murmured words, the two rose and went their separate ways.

Yan Chi had rarely found Yu Ye, and had wanted to follow him closely and make himself friendly, but Tian Bao blocked him, so he could only give up in frustration.

Yu Ye did not return to where he had been. Instead, he led the Tian Bao brothers into the woods.

Though there were many people and much commotion before the mountain gate, danger lurked everywhere. Better to keep their distance and avoid inviting more trouble. Besides, the forest could obscure divine sense and made it easier to conceal one’s form and traces.

The three first went to check on their horses, then found a clearing in the woods.

The Tian Bao brothers spread out an oilcloth on the ground and sorted their baggage, preparing for the night.

Yu Ye climbed a nearby large tree with hands and feet together.

The tree was more than thirty feet tall, its branches dense and its canopy vast as a dome. About twenty feet above the ground, a fork in the trunk formed a natural perch for a person.

Yu Ye lay on the branch fork, casually drew down his bamboo hat to cover his face, and before he had even caught his breath, thoughts were already surging in like a tide.

One head may be short of wisdom, but two heads are better than one.

After discussing matters with Zhong Jian, they had roughly inferred the true aim of Nanshan and Bu Yi.

Use the pretext of the viewing ceremony to lure all parties to the Black Tortoise Pavilion, then massacre or imprison them with a formation and force them into submission. From then on, the Daoist world of the great swamp and the martial world would all fall under Qi Prefecture’s control, and Nanshan, Bu Yi, and the others would be able to search recklessly for the lost treasures overseas.

As the saying went, this was a scheme to cut off the great swamp’s path to survival root and branch!

How could such a poisonous plot be allowed to succeed?

Burning the Black Tortoise Pavilion to the ground and utterly ruining the immortal sect’s ceremony—he, Tian Bao, and Zhong Jian had all thought of it. How could Nanshan and Bu Yi have failed to foresee the same?

Drive everyone to leave Northern Qi Mountain?

With all the factions mixed together, how could he persuade them? People’s hearts were different; who would trust Yu Ye?

Perhaps sensing his distress, the voice of the dragon shadow echoed in his sea of consciousness—

“Using more than a dozen cultivators to set up a formation is no small matter; it may be a mountain-sealing grand formation. In my opinion, you must proceed with caution!”

“Northern Qi Mountain is several hundred feet high. How would they seal it?”

“Even a mountain ten thousand feet high can be sealed. What are a few hundred feet worth?”

“Do not try to scare me.”

“Heh. Where the heart fears, the feet halt. With Nanshan and Bu Yi’s abilities, laying out a formation a hundred feet across should not be difficult!”

“The Black Tortoise Pavilion itself is about a hundred feet in diameter. If the formation is truly laid out there, how would it be broken?”

“Those with great cultivation can break it by force; those skilled in formations can undo it by method.”

“Undo it by method? You mean…”

“Even if I know a little of formations, I cannot help you. So many restraints depend on hand seals, and the transformations of talismanic arrays also require divine-sense calculation…”

“Enough.”

Yu Ye closed his eyes.

The dragon shadow could not help him. He would have to find a way on his own.

Since the formation in the Black Tortoise Pavilion could not be broken, what other method remained?

Just then, from beneath the tree came Tian Bao’s startled voice—

“Who is there?”

Yu Ye stirred, lifted the bamboo hat from his face, and looked down.

In the clearing among the trees, Ren Liang was already fast asleep, while Tian Bao had been startled awake and sat bolt upright, reaching for the long blade beside him.

In his sleep, it seemed someone had kicked him. Yet after waking, there was nothing at all. After shouting once, he lay back down again, full of suspicion.

And several paces away, behind a large tree, a figure was now hiding.

It was an elderly man, holding a wine jug he had just stolen. Drinking with smug satisfaction, he looked upward and smiled.

Yu Ye was slightly taken aback.

It was the old man from the betting room at the Jubao Inn in Chengling Town. He had once gone to Chengling Mountain, and after the eruption of the earth fire he had vanished without a trace. Who would have thought he had come here, and had even quietly made a fool of Tian Bao. When he had looked up just now, it seemed he had seen Yu Ye. The woods were so dark—how could he know someone was in the tree?

The old man raised his head, took a mouthful of wine, then turned and hurried toward the depths of the forest. The direction he was heading in was exactly the same as the route Yu Ye had taken during his own nighttime scouting of Northern Qi Mountain.

Yu Ye’s heart gave a jolt. After a brief hesitation, he put away the bamboo hat, flipped down from the tree trunk, and landed lightly on the ground.

The Tian Bao brothers were still sound asleep, utterly unaware.

Yu Ye sprang up from the ground and shot away like the wind.

In an instant he reached the depths of the forest, but the old man was nowhere to be seen.

Yu Ye searched onward.

At the foot of a stone wall at the far end of the woods, a pit of earth came into view.

Yu Ye descended in a graceful drop.

The pit was empty. The two corpses buried there before had disappeared without a trace.