Looking at the mess around the area, especially that giant python’s carcass, made the vice captain of the Black Blood Mercenary Corps trembled uncontrollably. The thought of going to Ziyue Cave Heaven to assist their captains was also dismissed. He then switched to employing a falcon courier and wrote a letter to warn their captain to retreat from there.
A falcon courier could fly up to 20,000 kilometers within a day, so it was the most mainstream communication method in the Arcana Land.
“Would Captain retreat after reading the letter?” a member of the Black Blood Mercenary Corps asked in suspicion.
“He probably wouldn’t. He used to be a disciple of the master of Ziyue Cave Heaven and was expelled by him personally. He really hated his ex-master a lot and has been thinking about destroying Ziyue Cave Heaven ever since. If not, he wouldn’t have expanded the Black Blood Mercenary Corps to a large organization consisting of a thousand people. Now he knew that the old man is very sick. It would be the perfect opportunity to wipe out Ziyue Cave Heaven now. He wouldn’t give up this chance so easily,” the other person said.
As everyone heard their conversation, they all showed a complicated look, and the vice captain also heaved a sigh.
******
******
After Xiao Luo and the gang had left the Forest of the Infinity Edge, they continued to travel north for a dozen kilometers and finally saw a mountain before them. It was a majestic mountain as its peak was taller than the clouds with many exotic boulders and gorgeous rock walls. The cliff was stiff, and the entire mountain was covered in lush green forests with colorful flowers and bushes, which made the entire mountain resembled a secret sanctuary.
“Sir, this is the blessed land of our Ziyue Cave Heaven.”
Zuo Xiangming introduced the ground to Xiao Luo generously that the mountain scene at Ziyue Cave Heaven was the most beautiful within the vicinity of tens of thousands of kilometers. The scene here looked like a reflection of a Chinese mountain and river painting, which was extremely exquisite. He always felt proud about it when he introduced that to other people.
“This is indeed a blessed land. I want to dedicate a song to such a scene personally.” Duck Emperor was mesmerized by the breathtaking view and felt the urge to sing. It had a very strong self-healing capability, and the wounds on its body had long been healed completely.
As the people of Ziyue Cave Heaven heard that it wanted to sing, their faces all turned awkward.
Xiao Luo knocked on its head directly and commented, “Haven’t you created enough trouble? If it wasn’t for your banshee-like singing last night, that giant python’s cultivation wouldn’t be interrupted and it wouldn’t come to fight.”
“What the hell! How was I responsible for that?”
Duck Emperor was not convinced and added, “I can guarantee that that useless python had failed in advancing its cultivation, so he was just finding an excuse to vent his anger. Fortunately, we are not easy to be messed with. If not, that would be too unlucky.”
Xiao Luo was not interested in bantering with it, so he just gave it a deadly stare to shut its mouth.
Zuo Xiangming smiled and tried to break the awkwardness, “Sir and Venerable Sir, let’s go up.”
Xiao Luo nodded and followed him subsequently.
When they were halfway up the mountain, a giant gate made of expensive wood appeared before them. It looked like a three-story high tower and was 3 feet wide. There was an enormous plaque on the center of the gate, which read “Ziyue Cave Heaven” in golden paint. The characters were written in bold calligraphy, which was solemn and powerful.
“Junior brother Sung and Junior Brother Lee aren’t guarding the gate here. Where have they gone to slack off again?” A female disciple ranted when she saw that there was nobody at the gate.
“We have to report this to our master. Although Ziyue Cave Heaven is just a small clan, there are also rules to be adhered to strictly. Both Junior Brother Sung and Junior Brother Lee are simply too ill-mannered,” The other female disciple told Zuo Xiangming. Obviously, she hoped that Zuo Xiangming would report this to their master.
Zuo Xiangming’s expression was very uncertain as it was obvious that he too had issues with the two junior brothers who were supposed to guard the gate.
“Senior Brother, look! There’s bloodstain here!”
An observant male disciple discovered some bloodstain near the gate, but there was only a trace amount of it, and it was covered by many leaves. It was rather difficult to notice.
Blood?
Everyone was shocked, and a bad feeling arose spontaneously.
A few of them ran over and examined the ground carefully, concluding that it was indeed human blood. Following the trace of the blood for a dozen meters, they discovered two men lying in the bushes with blood oozing out of their mouth and nose. Their faces were pale.
“It’s Junior Brother Sung and Junior Brother Lee!”
The six people of Ziyue Cave Heaven rushed there in the shortest possible time.
A man checked their breathing and pulses, then he got up and shook his head at Zuo Xiangming, declaring in great sadness, “They…are dead.”
Zuo Xiangming squatted down and checked where the fatal injuries were. He finally discovered that both of their chests had a pitch-black palm. His eyes widened and shouted, “It’s Wind Cloud Palm. It must be Xiang Qing the traitor!”
Xiang Qing?
The other five all looked shocked as Xiang Qing used to be part of Ziyue Cave Heaven, but he was expelled by the master due to his monstrous deed of raping a girl beneath the mountain. Their master also scrapped half of his cultivation progress. Since then, he had hated Ziyue Cave Heaven to the core and had created the Black Blood Mercenary Corps, which was a group of villains who only commit harmful crimes. He must have known that their master was seriously sick now, so he took advantage of it and attacked them.
“What the hell! He’s merciless! He had shattered all of the internal organs with one palm!” Duck Emperor examined the bodies and was shocked.
Xiao Luo did not waste more time and flew towards the mountain peak. He must use the transmitting formation, and it would be a big problem for him if the master of Ziyue Cave Heaven was killed.
“You rascal, wait for me!”
Duck Emperor flapped its wings and caught up with him immediately. He also turned to Zuo Xiangming and the rest and said, “Youngsters, come along quickly. If you are late, you would miss all the good shows.”
The six of them were deeply grieved and could not appreciate Duck Emperor’s joke. Two of them stayed to prevent any kind of beasts and insects from tampering with the bodies of Junior Brother Sung and Junior Brother Lee. Zuo Xiangming then led the other three people to rush to the mountain peak.
*******
*******
At the peak of the mountain, there was a variety of buildings including high lofts, a fine tower, a pearly palace, and also a zen-themed residence.
Within the main palace, some 600 Ziyue Cave Heaven disciples were tied up and controlled by a bunch of burly dudes with swords and bows. More than a dozen of the elders were grievously wounded, too, as they all sat at one corner. There was blood on everyone’s mouth.
A big man was sitting on the high seat of the clan master.
That man only showed his right eye as his left eye seemed to be blind and covered with a black eye-patch. He rested his right leg on the clean seat, and his entire body was almost leaning on the seat. He just finished reading the letter brought by the falcon courier from the vice captain.
“What kind of nonsense was he talking about? Even the old man of Ziyue Cave Heaven had become my prisoner now. Was he actually suggesting that there is a man who’s stronger than the old man in this land? Did a donkey kick his already stupid brain or something?” Xiang Qing passed the letter to one of his trusted men as he cursed.
That man looked at the letter and reacted indifferently, too. “The entire Ziyue Cave Heaven was taken by the Black Blood Mercenary Corps, and he’s actually asking you to retreat. The vice captain’s probably out of his wits.”
“Ignore him!”
Xiang Qing sat up from the seat, and his vicious sight fell on an elder not far away. He smirked. “Master, have you ever thought of an instance like today when you expelled me out of Ziyue Cave Heaven? Are you regretting that you did not scrap all of my cultivation progress away?”
