Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter 86: No One Shall Know Peace

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With a dull thud, the lifeless middle-aged man collapsed onto the ground.

Yu Ye slowly turned around.

A few yards away stood two men.

One of them, lean and wiry, was Gan Xing, the same man who had appeared at the Lingjiao Town inn. He recognized the youth in the bamboo hat at a glance, and exclaimed in disbelief, “Yu Ye?”

Yu Ye curled his lips but said nothing.

Gan Xing raised his hand and performed several incantations. Instantly, an invisible force of magic shrouded the area. He looked toward Yu Ye, who was inside the cave, a blade of sword-light forming in his hand. With a mixture of relief and hatred, he sneered, “Boy, I’ve searched everywhere for you, and here you are walking straight into my trap. Last time you escaped in the chaos, but let’s see you try running again today!”

The cave was only four or five yards across. The only exit was blocked by two skilled cultivators.

Yu Ye calmly studied Gan Xing and the other middle-aged cultivator, as well as the invisible magic that sealed the entrance and the surroundings. Suddenly, he asked, “What is Gan Song to you?”

Gan Xing was taken aback. “Just a fellow cultivator with the same surname. What are you getting at?”

Yu Ye pressed on, “What technique did you just use? Do you really think it can hold me?”

“Oh… ha!” Gan Xing couldn’t help but laugh, mocking, “You’ve already slain several adept cultivators, yet you understand nothing of restrictive arts? Fine—”

He shook his head, saying, “I’ve witnessed your cunning, and I know you’re just playing dumb, trying to buy time and figure out a way to escape. Let me give you some advice—give up that hope. This place isn’t like the chaos of Lingjiao Town, where you slipped away in the confusion. I’ve set a seal around the entrance; even if you’re skilled in sword energy and stealth, you’ve no chance of slipping away…”

But then Yu Ye asked, “Why are you so resentful of Nanshan?”

“You—!”

Gan Xing’s expression changed instantly.

Yu Ye’s questions were indeed stalling tactics, but he jumped from one topic to another, each seemingly unrelated, making him impossible to read—yet every now and then, he struck straight at the heart, leaving Gan Xing at a loss for words.

“I’ll deal with you once I’ve caught you!” Gan Xing shouted angrily, raising his hand to point at Yu Ye. His companion attacked as well; two flashes of sword-light shot forth.

A dazzling light erupted, accompanied by a thunderous roar.

In the same instant, a burst of fire exploded, filling the cave with raging flames.

Gan Xing and his companion hastily summoned protective magic and sent their flying swords sweeping side to side. The circling blades struck the rocks, sending sparks and debris flying.

The enclosed space only amplified the power of the Fire Talisman. Moments later, the wild flames finally died out. The surrounding seals had all been shattered by fire and sword-light, and the figure in the bamboo hat had vanished without a trace.

“Hmph!” Gan Xing snorted coldly, slapped a talisman onto himself, and ordered, “The earth-fire is still active, so I can’t use my escape arts. I’ll chase the boy—cut off his retreat!”

With a flash, he disappeared.

His companion understood immediately and turned to run back. Though stout, he moved with agility, and in a few strides he reached the tunnel leading up to the surface. He intended to cut off the boy’s escape route. But as he rushed forward, a murderous aura suddenly swept toward him. He hastily summoned protective magic and dodged aside, but his shield broke apart with a bang, and another deadly force pierced his shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he tried to counterattack with his sword, but his abdomen was struck fiercely, a powerful force shattering his core. He collapsed to the ground, groaning in agony before passing out.

A figure emerged from below—it was Yu Ye.

Yu Ye seized the unconscious cultivator and dashed upward.

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As he was about to burst out of the tunnel, a flash of sword-light struck from behind. Yu Ye flicked his fingers in response, sending a sharp burst of sword energy to deflect the attack with a metallic clang. He seized the opportunity to leap through the opening, but the sword-light circled round and lunged at him again.

With a thunderous crash, Yu Ye was still in mid-air, not yet touching the ground, when a mouthful of blood burst from his lips. Still clutching the middle-aged cultivator, the two of them flew out together.

At that moment, Gan Xing’s figure reappeared inside the cave.

“Hmph, I’ll give you a taste of your own medicine—feinting in one direction while striking from another!” Gan Xing strode out of the cave with a look of smug satisfaction, only for his face to darken.

In the pitch-black night, a pool of blood was visible at the cave mouth, but both Yu Ye and his companion had vanished.

Gan Xing spat angrily and concealed himself again in pursuit.

That boy was badly wounded—he couldn’t have gone far…

…

Underground, it was dark and stifling.

In the blink of an eye, a tremendous pressure pressed in from all directions, making it impossible to struggle or even breathe.

Yu Ye fought desperately upward and finally broke through to the surface, gasping for breath as he staggered to a halt. The unconscious cultivator remained in his grip.

The Armor-Breaking Talisman was miraculous, but lasted only a moment; otherwise, he would have been buried alive and crushed underground.

Where was this place?

The world was still shrouded in darkness, jagged rocks jutting everywhere, dust swirling—a clear sign he hadn’t escaped Chenling Mountain and still couldn’t find a way out.

Gan Xing would not give up easily. He had to keep running!

Yu Ye wiped the blood from his lips, pulled out another Armor-Breaking Talisman and slapped it onto himself, then shielded the unconscious cultivator with his own energy and slipped into the mountain wall ahead…

In the darkness of the great mountain, two figures would sometimes appear atop precipitous cliffs, sometimes at the bottom of deep ravines, and then dart like lightning through the boulders, running ceaselessly.

After more than half an hour, the two figures emerged from the ground once more.

Before them lay a dried-up creek, surrounded by a vast stretch of wilderness. Several miles away, tall mountains loomed, shrouded in dust and mist. Looking back, dusk was falling and the sky was dim.

Had they actually escaped Chenling Mountain underground?

Yet danger was still close behind.

His hands were slick with blood.

Yu Ye nudged the middle-aged cultivator beside him—there was no response. He checked his pulse: the man was still breathing, still alive, and his internal energy seemed intact.

Strange.

Yu Ye slammed his fist into the man’s abdomen.

“Ah—!” The middle-aged cultivator groaned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he remained unconscious.

“I only meant to cripple your cultivation, but my methods were a bit clumsy,” Yu Ye muttered. He tore off a strip of cloth to bind the wound on the man’s shoulder, then pulled out a length of rope and securely tied him up. Afterward, he used another Armor-Breaking Talisman and vanished from sight once more…

An hour later, a black horse burst from a forest, carrying two figures—one upright, one slumped over—as they sped away into the night.

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By noon the next day.

After a wild dash of over two hundred miles, the black horse arrived hurriedly at the back courtyard of the Tianbao family estate. The rider was weary, swaying unsteadily, hat lost, covered with dust and blood.

Tianbao and Ren Liang had been waiting anxiously and were both shocked at the sight.

Yu Ye dismounted, feigning nonchalance with a wave of his hand.

The two brothers hurriedly dragged the unconscious cultivator from the horse and pulled him into a storeroom at the rear of the house.

Beneath the storeroom was a cellar used for miscellaneous goods; now, a thick door had been added, along with shelves, whips, buckets, torches, and other items.

Yu Ye returned straight to his chamber, closed the door, walked slowly to the bed, and sat down. He took out a bottle of pills, but before he could swallow one, a groan escaped his lips and a trickle of blood welled from the corner of his mouth.

A sigh echoed in his mind: “Alas, you brought this upon yourself!”

Yu Ye forced down a pill, crossed his legs, took out a spirit stone and pressed it into his palm, and closed his weary eyes.

The voice of the Jiao’s shadow continued its plaintive complaint—

“With only the third level of Qi Refinement, you dare to challenge strong enemies again and again. If not for the unusual nature of your protective energy, would you still be alive now? Worse yet, you actually captured a cultivator at the sixth level alive. You’re no ‘Grim Reaper’—you’re just a reckless scoundrel…”

The complaints were soon tinged with sorrow—

“Sigh, whether you live or die, what’s that to me? I’m just a pitiable soul, a wisp of a lingering spirit, destined to vanish any day now. No one will know I ever existed, no one will remember my name. I am but a shadow, a fleeting illusion…”

But the sadness quickly gave way to anger—

“Hmph, you really infuriate me. Your Armor-Breaking Talismans can only keep you hidden for a moment; you say they let you pass through walls and earth, but you can’t go more than a hundred yards. Yet you act with reckless confidence, utterly ignorant of the risks. And as for crippling someone’s cultivation—it’s not just a matter of fists and kicks. Why torture and torment a fellow cultivator like this? Aren’t you afraid of bringing disaster onto the innocent…”

Yu Ye needed desperately to meditate and heal his wounds, but his brow was furrowed and his expression bitter, making it impossible to find any peace.

He’d been with the Jiao’s shadow for a long time, but she had never nagged and pressed him so relentlessly.

She was doing it on purpose.

She was angry that he’d ignored her warnings, taken reckless risks alone, and ended up badly injured, nearly meeting his end. Yet she was powerless to stop him, so all she could do was scold him after the fact.

No wonder she was so anxious.

This return to Chenling Mountain had indeed been fraught with peril.

But it was no act of reckless bravado. It was a decision made after much deliberation.

He’d been hunted for reasons unknown, and had long pondered the cause. Now, Nanshan and Bu Yi were redoubling their efforts, gradually seizing control over the entire Daze region. To unravel the truth behind these events, he could not simply flee forever; instead, he had to strike back, even if his wings were still unformed and his cultivation weak. He would make sure Nanshan and Bu Yi knew that Yu Ye of Yujia Village would not be anyone’s victim.

So he made his choice: when they established the North Qi Mountain Immortal Sect, he would cause them no end of trouble.

Of course, he wasn’t foolish enough to take them head-on.

Moreover, Foundation Establishment masters were still far beyond his reach.

He couldn’t stand against such experts, but he wasn’t afraid of Qi Refinement cultivators. If he killed one every few days, he could keep them in constant fear. The so-called North Qi Mountain Immortal Sect would lose all face in the end.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

If Yu Ye could not return home, then none of them would know peace.

But before going head to head with them, he needed to learn exactly how many from Qizhou had come, what their plans were, what rules they followed, and so on.

And the only way to learn the secrets of the Qizhou cultivators was from a Qizhou cultivator themselves. For this, he had planned for many days and finally risked everything to seize a living captive—though he’d also taken a flying sword to the gut for his trouble…