In the snow-covered mountains, three mole-like figures traversed a snowy tunnel.
“Are you sure this will work?”
The speaker was Gu Li. He was currently entirely hidden within the drifts of snow. As the mountains snowed year round, the snow was deep; it was easy to cover themselves in it.
Ye Zichen and Yang Jian were the same. They, too, had burrowed into the snow, and they were slowly advancing on their hands and knees.
The idea had been Yang Jian’s. Even if you took all the imperial lords of the Upper Three Realms, only he could have come up with such an embarrassing tactic.
Other imperial lords could never have done such a thing, if only for fear of damaging their reputations.
“Maybe, maybe not. Aren’t you right here crawling along with us?” Yang Jian glanced at Gu Li. Since he led them as they crawled through the snowdrifts, his hair was caked with snow. So long as he kept his head down, it was almost impossible to see that there was someone hidden in the snow.
“I can almost see it.” They crawled a little further, then stopped before a giant boulder.
Gu Li rose from the snow. From his perspective, their behavior was rather embarrassing.
“Who said you could leave?” Before Gu Li could even move, a hand pushed down on his head, re-burying him in the snow. “We’re practically right beside that big guy. If you really want to become his lunch, fine. Come on and out and run around.
On the other side of the boulder.
The two giant beasts clashed viciously. One was the beast whose footprints they followed. It was indeed terrestrial: it was the ancestor of the snow apes.
Crouching in the snow, they couldn’t see its face clearly. All they could see was its hulking frame, far bigger than they’d imagined. Standing, it was hundreds of meters tall. In comparison, Ye Zichen and his companions were nothing but ants.
The other was an aerial beast, its wingspan in the hundreds of meters. Its feathers were snowy white, without the slightest speck of dirt. From time to time, sonorant cries left its mouth.
“It’s just about what we thought. They’re fighting each other.” Ye Zichen activated his Fiery Eyes of Truth to check on the battle before them. As for which of the beasts had the advantage, it was too soon to say. He couldn’t tell yet.
But the aerial beast had wings, which ultimately gave it an advantage over the terrestrial giant snow ape.
Their battle was the most primitive sort; the ape swung its fists at the bird’s wings, while the bird clawed at the ape with its talents, or pecked with its beak.
It seemed they’d been at it for a while already; the bird’s spotless wings were now smeared with blood, and the ape’s icy coat was flecked with crimson.
“No wonder we weren’t chased out as soon as we entered the ape’s territory. It turns out there was another, even more alarming trespasser for it to take care of! The footprints we saw earlier might be from when it was chasing that bird. It might even have returned to its nest for fear of the bird attacking its fellows,” said Ye Zichen.
“That’s possible.” Gu Li nodded, but they now faced a serious problem. That was…
How to slip out from right under the two beasts’ noses.
They were fighting directly on the path they were following back to their friends. Yang Jian’s burrowing technique had gotten them this far, but they doubted they could get through the battlefield that way.
Even if they weren’t discovered, the ape’s feet could crush them in a single step.
“Hoo!” The ape seemed intent on fishing their fight as soon as possible. Its icy fur suddenly burst with deep blue light. The bird let out a sonorant cry in response, its wings stirring up turbulent gusts, which formed a tornado in the sky.
“That unearthly wind wasn’t because of that bird, was it?” Yang Jian couldn’t help but exclaim, but…
“???” All three of their heads filled with question marks. Based on the way the beasts had been fighting, they should have been on the verge of determining victory, right?
The three of them were just waiting for a victor to emerge. Ideally, one beast would die, while the other would be injured.
Then, they could quickly clean things up and be on their merry way.
But…
Why were both beasts suddenly headed right towards them?
“Hoo!”
The bird was clearly much faster than the ape. It flew overhead, looking down on them. Its destination? Right where they were standing!
“What the-? We’ve been discovered!” roared Yang Jian.
“Don’t just stand there! Run!” They had to go through this part of the mountain. If the beasts refused to leave, they’d have to find some way to break though. Since they’d been discovered, there was no longer any point in hiding. They’d just have to charge on through.
“Run, you two! I’ll stop them!” Yang Jian wasn’t carrying any of the Worry-Alleviating Grass. If the other two escaped, they could go back to deliver it.
So long as either Gu Li or Ye Zichen made it back to Venerate Spirit Treasure and the afflicted, everything would be resolved.
Yang Jian then turned to face the charging aerial beast.
“Let’s go!” This was no time to hesitate. They’d long since discussed the matter.
Yang Jian was their main fighting force in holding back the beasts. What Ye Zichen and Gu Li had to do now was seize the opportunity to escape.
“Come on then! Come play with your Grandpa Yang Jian!”
Don’t be fooled by Yang Jian’s usual tomfoolery; he was a true blue imperial lord. His divine power wove into a net, stopping the aerial beast’s advance.
“Scree!”
Surprisingly, although Yang Jian actively provoked the beast, he failed to draw its ire.
A few seconds later, the divine power net tore, and the beast continued towards Ye Zichen and Gu Li without so much as a second look at Yang Jian.
“Jeez! What’s this supposed to mean? Are you ignoring me!” Yang Jian was really mad now. He burst forth with every last bit of his divine power.
The lustrous white light of his lance was enough to illuminate the entire mountain range. The ape already felt a threat from this seemingly paltry human; the three of them could tell the ape was already preparing to resist if Yang Jian attacked. However, the bird disregarded Yang Jian completely and shot straight towards Ye Zichen and Gu Li.
“Is it going after the easiest targets?”
Although they couldn’t fly here, Ye Zichen and Gu Li’s figures were still robust.
But then, no matter how fast they were, they couldn’t outrace the giant bird.
“Ol’ Yang, what’s going on!?” As the beast chased after them, Ye Zichen roared at the top of his lungs. Yang Jian didn’t know what to say; he’d already lost track of how many times he’d cut at the bird, but it still ignored him. What could he do about it?
The ape had yet to catch up to him, while he couldn’t catch up to the bird.
No, wait!
The ape had disappeared?
Suddenly, its infuriated roar emanated from the valley.
This roar was far angrier than those that came before. The bestial cry even shook the accumulated snow. The entire mountains trembled violently, and it was only getting more and more obvious.
Unless they were mistaken, the ape had just gone back to its nest and discovered the fire.
“Hoo!”
“Ye-zi, that monkey probably discovered what we did back there,” said Yang Jian, feeling the tremors emanating from behind them.
“Never mind the monkey. If it runs into Venerate Spirit Treasure, it’s doomed. you hurry up and do something about the bird. It’s catching up to us!”
As soon as Ye Zichen sent the transmission, he felt a chill from behind him.
When he looked back, he saw that the bird was already above them.
Its wings were huge; when he looked up, he saw no trace of the sky. An enormous shadow enveloped them. Then, its claws reached right for them.
“Peal of Thunder!” Lightning surged forth. The bird shrieked in pain, but the lightning merely numbed it for a few seconds. Then, it flapped its wings and shot towards them once more.
“Ye-zi, the bird is completely ignoring me. It seems you’ve got the thing its interested in.
The thing its interested in?
Ye Zichen suddenly recalled the Worry-Alleviating Grass in his pocket. He pulled it back out. When the bird saw it, it flapped its wings even faster.
It wanted the grass!
Ye Zichen instantly understood. Then, he dashed off in the opposite direction.
“Gu Li, you go back. Tell Venerate Spirit Treasure what happened and have them come save me!” With that, Ye Zichen dashed off into the mountains without so much as a second look.
When he heard that, Gu Li didn’t hesitate. The bird was more than they could handle, and besides, An Lu was waiting for him to come back with the antidote and save her life. All he could do now was hurry back as fast as his legs would carry him, then have Venerate Spirit Treasure and the others take over.
“Don’t you die!”
“Even if you die, I won’t,” Ye Zichen transmitted back with a snort.
When the aerial beast saw Ye Zichen and Gu Li split up, its eyes flickered with hesitation, but it ultimately chose to pursue Ye Zichen, who’d taken out his Worry-Alleviating Grass.
When Ye Zichen saw Gu Li fade into the distance, he seemed gratified. But when he recalled the giant bird behind him, he quickly turned utterly serious.
“Why are you back?” When Yang Jian saw Ye Zichen running back, he called out.
“It seems the bird is after the Worry-Alleviating Grass.” Ye Zichen licked his lips.
“Why not just hand it over?” Yang Jian seemed a bit frantic. The giant snow ape’s roars drew ever closer. Before long, the two of them would be surrounded on both sides.
“Skree!”
The bird suddenly dove. Yang Jian instinctively hacked at it with his lance.
Crimson blood dripped down its wings, staining the snow below.
But the bird completely disregarded its wounds. Its claws ruthlessly seized Ye Zichen by the shoulders. Yang Jian just barely had time to take in Ye Zichen’s shocked expression before the bird carried him off into the skies.
Yang Jian’s eyes went red, and terrifying black gas billowed out of him. He charged towards the bird like a specter, unleashing his divine power without reserve. The sharp light of his lance sliced into the bird without pause.
It shrieked nonstop, but nevertheless made no attempt to fight back. After passing through a stretch of valley, the spectral Yang Jian no longer saw any trace of the bird.
He then crumpled, kneeling on the ground. The bird and Ye Zichen had already disappeared from view, gone without a trace.
“Ye-zi!”
