Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilds Chapter Ninety-Four: Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers

Twilight had fallen.

The glow of dusk was red as blood.

At the gate of the northern mountain, Yu Ye stood with his head raised, gazing into the distance.

In his eyes danced the red light of the evening clouds, crimson as fire, burning at the edge of the sky and searing his heart.

Behind him, Zhong Jian, Yan Chi, and the two Tianbao brothers had only moments ago been full of ardor. Now their faces too were clouded over, though not because of the sorrowful dusk, but because of the sword light that filled them with despair and dread.

Two Foundation Establishment experts were circling overhead upon flying swords, searching relentlessly in all directions. They left no patch of woods, no hillside, no stream, no thicket unchecked, and drove every person within a ten-mile radius down to the foot of the mountain.

Not only that, but a stern order had been issued: with the grand ceremony approaching, and to prevent trouble from petty malefactors, all honored guests from every quarter were to gather at the mountain gate and await the auspicious day and hour.

"Brother, go. Once you enter the gate, it will be hard to get out again..."

"Two cultivators have died. How could the mountain simply let this pass? Today's sudden change is obviously aimed at you. As for the rest of us, we may yet be all right; our lives are not in immediate danger. But you..."

"Third Brother, go hide in Pear Blossom Valley for a few days..."

"Damn it, there will be time enough in the days to come..."

The four of them were trying to persuade Yu Ye to leave.

It was plain enough that the cultivators of Qizhou already knew someone had broken into Northern Mountain by night. Now they were holding everyone from the various factions in one place in order to find the hidden troublemaker.

And that troublemaker, of course, was Yu Ye. The moment he stepped through the gate, his identity might be exposed at any time, and what awaited him would surely be a furious thunderbolt of wrath and an unbearable trial of life and death.

As for the plan he had relied upon before, it had become empty talk; his lofty ambitions had turned to smoke. The calamity over Great Marsh was no longer something he could reverse.

At the same time, a voice of persuasion echoed in his sea of consciousness:

"Alas, even the strength of man has its limits. Why make things hard for yourself? Go. You can start over later..."

Ever since the jest about the head of the household, the dragon shadow had deliberately or inadvertently spared his feelings. In other words, it was he who was overestimating himself and refusing to yield.

And if he were to leave today, how could he ever start over?

"Do not linger here!"

Yu Ye withdrew his gaze from afar.

Several men in Taoist robes were shouting for people to move along, while more than a hundred disciples of the immortal sect were arrayed on both sides of the gate, standing guard.

"Northern Mountain has founded an immortal sect. This is a great event in Great Marsh and must not be missed!"

Yu Ye lowered the brim of his bamboo hat with his hand and led the way toward the gate.

His companions looked at one another.

Night fell, and the gate was closed.

People from all sides gathered in the courtyard at the mountain's base, but none were allowed to leave at will, nor to light bonfires and drink and amuse themselves. The laughter and bustle were gone; only clusters of shadows stirred restlessly in the dark.

After Yu Ye entered the gate, he found a place and sat down.

Zhong Jian and Yan Chi squeezed in with him together with the two Tianbao brothers. There were people in front, behind, left, and right; there was nowhere else to go.

"My more than ten brothers have all been driven here, and they did not even have the heart to throw away the lamp oil. If they search us, we're in big trouble..."

"Hand it over to Brother Yu and put it into the ring..."

"Brother, you're really going to stay here, and you're not afraid of..."

"Ha! I suppose it will be all right. My third brother is bold and not afraid..."

"If my brother is speaking, Tianbao, keep your mouth shut..."

"Yan Chi, you want a beating..."

The few of them whispered among themselves.

Yu Ye took out two jade slips and quietly slipped them into Yan Chi's hands.

"This is... ah! The deposit before was far from enough. Let me make it up to you later..."

"No need! Brother Zhong, where are your men?"

"Wait a moment!"

Zhong Jian got up and left.

Yan Chi carefully put away the jade slips, his face still lit with a smile. The deposit from before had not been wasted after all; it had even been exchanged for immortal sect techniques. He was still basking in delight when he looked toward Yu Ye again. Yu Ye sat quietly with his head lowered, as if sunk in silence. Yet Yan Chi kept nodding and murmuring under his breath, "I know the mountains and waters of Northern Mountain inside and out. Of course I know the Scripture Cave. So you're saying... ah... I see... I see..."

After a while, Zhong Jian and fifteen or sixteen men came gradually over. They were all carrying weapons and burdened with packs. And in each pack there were, astonishingly, four wine jars.

The jars did not hold wine, but lamp oil.

Yu Ye stood and greeted each of them in turn. In the blink of an eye, dozens of jars had been stored in his iron storage ring. While he feigned polite conversation, his eyes swept the surroundings.

Everywhere were shadows, and more than a hundred so-called disciples of the immortal sect were patrolling vigilantly in the distance. Yet no one was paying attention to this side, and even the two cultivators who had been flying overhead on swords had vanished without a trace.

Suddenly, Yu Ye thought of something and began wandering through the crowd.

Six or seven hundred people had gathered at the foot of the mountain. The easygoing atmosphere of before was long gone. Now they stood in clusters of three or five, some imagining the immortal sect ceremony soon to come, others worrying over their own safety. Every face was tangled with conflicting hopes and fears.

Yu Ye circled the area once before slowly coming to a stop.

Among the crowd he saw a few familiar faces, but he did not find the old man who had been gambling.

The reason he had thought of that gambler was because he suspected the old man had moved the corpses. And because he had moved the corpses, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators had found nothing when they searched the woods. Looking at it now, that expert had not only meant no harm, but had actually been helping from the shadows...

"Brother Yu—"

A voice sent by transmission called out, "If you have a change of heart, Tao will be waiting at any time!"

Yu Ye acted as though he had not heard it and wandered away with his arms folded.

Another day passed.

At daybreak, the mountain had people carry down several baskets of cakes and a few vats of vegetable soup to serve the guests. But the people from every faction were all heroic men accustomed to wine and meat, and they inevitably looked down on such meager fare. The disciples of Northern Mountain did not insist, and simply had the cakes and soup carried away again. Who could have expected that by noon, then dusk, no more food would be brought? Nor were they allowed to leave to fetch their own dry provisions. The hungry crowd gradually grew dissatisfied.

According to the disciples of the immortal sect, eating once a day was a rule of strict observance. Since that was the custom, guests should follow the host's arrangements; otherwise it would be contempt for the immortal sect and might bring punishment.

Zhong Jian, Tianbao, and the others had their provisions stored in the woods, and they too had no dry rations to stave off hunger. At first they could still bear it, but after a day they were also listless and weak.

When night fell, several men from the martial world were truly unable to endure their hunger and simply brandished knives and swords and rushed outward. But as soon as they broke out through the gate, they were blocked back by a circling streak of sword light. At some point, a cultivator had sat down on the open ground before the gate, plainly forbidding anyone from stepping beyond it.

An empty stomach made the long night hard to endure.

At last dawn arrived, and the mountain finally sent food again, still the same hard cakes and clear vegetable soup. The crowd, starved for a day and a night, surged forward at once, chaotic as beasts scrambling for prey. Some came to blows over a single cake, while others drew blades for one mouthful of soup.

The Tianbao brothers joined the frenzy but grabbed nothing at all. They returned in dejection, cursing as they flopped to the ground.

The watching disciples of the immortal sect laughed uproariously, mocking them to their hearts' content...

Noon.

The foot of the mountain was strewn with bodies, those former heroes of the martial world having long since lost all their old bearing. Even Yu Ye, Zhong Jian, and Yan Chi lay slanted and listless on the ground. Yet more than thirty people remained unharmed: a group of Taoist disciples led by Tao Feng, all sitting cross-legged in meditation, each one appearing aloof and exceptional.

Yan Chi stretched and said in confusion, "Brother Yu, how have you and I come to this pass? With my cultivation, I could go three to five days without food or drink and still be fine!"

Yu Ye leaned to one side, took out two pills, and slipped one into each of the Tianbao brothers' mouths. Then he handed over a handful more and whispered, "These are fasting pills. Share them with the brothers."

Yan Chi said excitedly, "If you had such pills, you should have brought them out earlier!"

Zhong Jian, taking the pills beside him, praised in a low voice, "Brother, you are not as you once were. There is always deeper meaning in what you do. If the brothers had taken the pills too early, it would surely have exposed a flaw..."

Just then, a middle-aged cultivator came riding a flying sword.

On the stone steps up the mountain appeared three more cultivators: one was a thin middle-aged man, the other two were burly men in their thirties.

No one understood what was happening.

The middle-aged cultivator hovered on his sword in midair, lowered his head slightly to inspect the scene, and said to Tao Feng and the others, "You are fellow Daoists from the Great Marsh Taoist sect, are you not? We were previously discourteous. Please come up the mountain at once so we may properly receive you!"

Tao Feng and the others did not dare delay and hurriedly rose to thank him. "Many thanks, Senior!"

"Heh heh!"

The middle-aged cultivator gave a faint smile and said, "Gan Xing——"

The thin man was Gan Xing. He called out, "Thirty-two fellow Daoists from Great Marsh, please come this way——"

Tao Feng and his companions nodded, each with solemn expressions. The Taoist disciples who had come to Northern Mountain happened to be thirty-two in number.

They walked toward the stone steps leading up the mountain, and the immortal sect disciples guarding the steps stepped aside at the right moment. The two cultivators beside Gan Xing followed them up, while Gan Xing himself descended the steps into the courtyard.

The middle-aged cultivator hovering on his sword spoke again: "This place is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Do not slight these fellow experts!"

The various people in the courtyard rose from the ground one after another, though they were unsteady and listless, their exhaustion and hunger plain to see.

Gan Xing strode through the crowd, his sharp gaze sweeping across face after face.

Twenty or thirty zhang away, Yan Chi was hiding behind Zhong Jian. He secretly looked toward Yu Ye, his face showing anxiety.

As far as he knew, that expert named Gan Xing recognized Yu Ye. If the two of them met face to face, a catastrophe of overwhelming proportions was inevitable.

Yu Ye knew all too well how dangerous it was, yet he kept his head lowered, standing quietly in place, as though already trapped beyond escape and merely waiting for the final arrival of doom.

Still, what he was thinking about most at that moment was the armor-breaking talisman.

He had only sixteen armor-breaking talismans left on him. With these last sixteen talismans to preserve his life, could he truly survive?

In the blink of an eye, Gan Xing had come to within two or three zhang. A powerful sweep of divine sense came crashing over them, making one shudder in soul and spirit.

Yu Ye's brow twitched, and he slowly raised his head. His right hand had already formed the sword seal, with the Seven Kill Sword Qi poised and ready to strike.

Yet to his surprise, Gan Xing did not even glance at him. He passed straight through the crowd. After a moment, his voice sounded: "Senior, forgive me. My eyes are poor!"

"Enough!"

With a sweep of his sleeve, the middle-aged cultivator left on a gust of sword light and vanished into the distance.

Gan Xing also turned and walked back toward the stone steps. When he had climbed to the top, he suddenly looked back. His gaze fell precisely upon the young man wearing the bamboo hat...