430: Tracking and Tracing
Sect Leader Zhu had personally ventured into the shadow and returned without any abnormality. Jiang Mo rembered the red light she'd seen earlier and specifically scrutinized Zhu Baiyi's eyes for a few monts, but this ti discovered nothing.
Was the red light she'd seen earlier unrelated to the shadow? Or had she been mistaken?
Harboring doubts, Jiang Mo later considered the matter and still decided to tell Yun Qingyue about it. After hearing this, Yun Qingyue carefully reflected but had noticed nothing herself, leaving her uncertain whether Jiang Mo had been mistaken while also unwilling to dismiss the matter.
One thing was certain, though—Zhu Baiyi herself definitely hadn't noticed, otherwise with a Grand Achievent cultivator's control over herself, she wouldn't have shown no reaction.
The situation was becoming increasingly troubleso, but both Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue felt an oppressive urgency like an impending storm. Jiang Mo even suggested, "This Mount Xuanyin feels ominous to . Why don't we persuade the Sect Leader to lead the Crimson Blood Sect people away? Perhaps after leaving this place, everything might return to normal..."
Unfortunately, regardless of how feasible this proposal might be, Yun Qingyue imdiately rejected it: "That's likely impossible. Before we arrived, she had already noticed the abnormalities. If leaving were an option, she would have already led people away."
This made sense. Although Sect Leader Zhu was the leader of her sect and could make decisions for the Crimson Blood Sect, war was never sothing that could be resolved by one side's concession. Leaving aside whether the Nine Abyss Sect would press their advantage, simply being delayed could wear the Crimson Blood Sect down to destruction. Unless both sects reached so kind of tacit agreent to simultaneously withdraw their forces—but was that possible? Absolutely not!
Jiang Mo imdiately deflated, and considering that they actually had no standing to demand the Crimson Blood Sect's concession, she beca even more disheartened.
She slumped forward, collapsing directly onto the table before her, then after a while, lifted her head to look at her Senior Sister: "Or else, let's just take the Sect Leader away directly. I feel this place isn't sowhere to linger, but ultimately, the Crimson Blood Sect has little to do with us."
Yun Qingyue inwardly agreed with this. She had never had much emotional connection to this Demonic Path sect, caring only about Zhu Baiyi. If Zhu Baiyi left this place, she truly didn't care how the conflict between the Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect would end—simply spiriting away the Sect Leader was actually easier than getting the Crimson Blood Sect to withdraw; they just needed to find an excuse to lure her away.
Yun Qingyue's gaze flickered slightly, and in that brief mont, she had already devised a plan to use her master's na to trick Zhu Baiyi away. But lies are ultimately lies, and after thinking of these deceptions, she quickly considered their consequences.
She couldn't envision how to conclude these lies, and she wasn't proficient at lying in the first place!
The montary impulse subsided as quickly as it had arisen. Just as Yun Qingyue was about to say sothing, she suddenly let out a soft "Hmm?"
With most of her attention focused on Yun Qingyue, Jiang Mo imdiately sat upright at the sound, anxiously asking: "What is it? What's wrong?"
Yun Qingyue raised her hand, gesturing for silence. After closing her eyes to sense for a mont, she suddenly spoke: "Do you rember those people we encountered at the tavern in Luoxin Town? I left so signals on them, and now soone who has had contact with them has entered Mount Xuanyin's vicinity."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo imdiately perked up. She knew that Mount Xuanyin had now almost completely beco a battlefield between the two sects. Forget ordinary independent cultivators—even people from the Harmony Sect and Celestial Demon Sect wouldn't casually set foot there. So those who suddenly appeared were either disciples of the two sects or outside spies. Either way, they seed worth investigating.
"Shall we go take a look?" Jiang Mo had been anxiously looking for sothing to do lately, and at these words, she imdiately beca eager.
Yun Qingyue didn't agree, however, shaking her head: "No hurry, we can wait a bit longer."
Jiang Mo acquiesced, though her eyes still sparkled with anticipation.
· · ─────── ·??· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·??· ─────── · ·
Deep in the night, Zhu Baiyi was cultivating in her room, having spent a long ti suppressing the restless spiritual energy within her body.
With cultivation at the Grand Achievent stage, even without Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue's reminders, she had long noticed her body's abnormalities—she couldn't see the so-called shadow in the sky, but she could feel her temper growing more volatile with each passing day. Initially, when contending with the Nine Abyss Sect Leader, she had still been able to consider the bigger picture, but now she increasingly couldn't control her temper, almost wanting to pursue and kill him in his own lair.
Even so, she couldn't leave, knowing the Nine Abyss Sect wouldn't let her and the Crimson Blood Sect go. As the Crimson Blood Sect Leader, despite her profound cultivation, she couldn't possibly abandon her disciples and leave alone.
With these chaotic thoughts surging, after suppressing her spiritual energy, Zhu Baiyi had no heart to continue cultivation. After concluding her practice, she walked to the window.
Outside, the night was deep, with a full moon hanging in the sky, casting a clear radiance below.
Zhu Baiyi hadn't looked at the moon for a long ti, and now a rare sense of lancholy arose in her heart. But before this emotion could further develop, she suddenly sensed movent next door—on the demonic vessel, floors were divided by status, with the top floor historically belonging solely to the Sect Leader. The only ones who could exceptionally reside next to Zhu Baiyi were naturally Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo. The sounds coming from next door were undoubtedly made by them.
In that mont, Zhu Baiyi, for reasons unknown to herself, suddenly shifted to hide behind the window and then peeked out, just in ti to see two familiar figures leap from the neighboring window and swiftly fly away into the night.
Only after their silhouettes had completely disappeared into the darkness did Zhu Baiyi erge from behind the window, murmuring: "So late at night, where are those two going? Surely they're not going out for a date under the moonlight?"
Of course, she was only joking—after all, who would date on a battlefield like Mount Xuanyin now?
But despite her thoughts, Zhu Baiyi still felt uneasy. Although Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue's cultivation wasn't low and they could move about freely on Mount Xuanyin, there were still people who could overpower them. Like that shaless Nine Abyss Sect Leader—playing it safe on the battlefield was one thing, but many years ago, he had the precedent of kidnapping Yun Qingyue!
After much consideration and still feeling worried, Zhu Baiyi ultimately decided to follow them.
......
Under the night sky, the mountains were silent, with layers upon layers of tree shadows.
Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo followed their senses, flying silently at low altitude. Occasionally, high-reaching tree branches brushed against their clothes, producing faint sounds that quickly dissipated in the howling night wind.
The two had been flying for about half an incense stick's ti and were now far from the Crimson Blood Sect's vessel, not in the direction of the Nine Abyss Sect either.
Mount Xuanyin was vast, with the entire mountain range encompassing an area comparable to a small mortal kingdom. Though the confrontations between the Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect continued day and night, both sides mostly fought in the sa area. Fortunately, that area was far from where Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue currently were, so the battles couldn't affect this region, which was also completely dark.
"Ah Yue, how much further?" After flying in darkness for a long ti, Jiang Mo asked.
Yun Qingyue turned her head, about to reply, when suddenly she t a pair of glowing eyes—the eyes of feline animals truly glow in darkness, enough to startle soone unexpectedly.
Just like now, in the darkness, Yun Qingyue's breath paused montarily before she spoke: "Not far now, just ahead."
Jiang Mo, unaware she had startled soone, imdiately perked up at these words: "Then we must be careful not to be discovered."
Finding this quite reasonable, Yun Qingyue raised her hand to cover Jiang Mo's truly luminous eyes. Then she felt a tickle against her palm as Jiang Mo blinked innocently against her hand and asked: "Ah Yue, what are you doing?"
The tickling sensation in her palm eventually made Yun Qingyue withdraw her hand, then explain solemnly: "Your eyes are too bright."
Jiang Mo was montarily stunned, taking a while to realize that as a feline, her eyes naturally gathered light. She blinked awkwardly and covered her eyelids with her hand. When she lowered it, her eyes had returned to normal.
The eye incident was just a minor interlude, and the two quickly resud their journey.
With their high cultivation and excellent skills, even wearing eye-catching white clothes in the middle of the night, they left few traces as they moved through the forest. Conversely, the darkness couldn't obstruct their vision, allowing them to easily spot people moving through the woods.
There was a person completely wrapped in black clothes, whose silhouette suggested a thin man. He was clearly a cultivator but wasn't flying; instead, he traversed the forest on foot, occasionally looking up to check if anyone had discovered him. Though not flying, his speed through the forest was extrely fast, and combined with his agile movents, even soone with a divine movent talisman couldn't catch up with him.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue remained vigilant, completely concealing themselves after discovering this person. Seeing his unfamiliar silhouette, Jiang Mo communicated telepathically to her Senior Sister: "Ah Yue, I don't think we've seen this person before."
Indeed, they hadn't t him before, and he wasn't the one Yun Qingyue had marked at the tavern that day.
However, after her bloodline awakening, Yun Qingyue had inherited several interesting minor techniques, such as the eavesdropping through formations that day at the tavern, and the tracking she had placed on those people afterward. This tracking was particularly interesting—it could not only track the initial targets but even trace those who had contact with them. The shorter the contact ti, the fainter the mark left, and vice versa.
Additionally, this mark transfer had another characteristic: the higher the cultivation of the person making contact, the deeper the mark left. After all, the proud phoenix wouldn't be interested in tracking so low-level, low-status minions, would she?
Yun Qingyue didn't know what this black-clothed person intended to do, so she telepathically replied: "Let's follow him and see."
Jiang Mo naturally had no objection, so the two continued to follow the black-clothed man. After about an incense stick's ti, the man who had been moving rapidly finally began to slow down.
The two followers exchanged glances, and sure enough, several other black-clothed figures soon appeared in the dark forest.
This group of people dressed similarly, obviously acquainted. Even unaware of being followed, they didn't communicate verbally, rely exchanging a few hand gestures whose aning was unclear before dispersing to set up sothing in the forest.
Jiang Mo watched in confusion, secretly tugging at Yun Qingyue's sleeve: "Ah Yue, what are they doing? Setting traps?"
Yun Qingyue observed for a while, then shook her head slightly: "They're setting up a formation, though I don't know what for."
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