Chapter 79
Although Sheng Hao agreed to cooperate with Mei Liangyu and the others, the team factions were clearly divided. Like they hadn't gone through a breaking-in period yet, everyone was somewhat polite and guarded at first.
This politeness and wariness could be seen from the personnel positioning.
Sheng Hao and Mu Mengbai stood in front, Yu Sui and Yan Xiaochuan were protected behind them. The four maintained a neither distant nor close distance from Mei Liangyu's group, occasionally conversing in lowered voices.
Mei Liangyu's group didn't say anything about it.
Su Tong would directly ask Sheng Hao: "If you're uneasy, that's fine, but why are you bringing Sui Sui along to guard against us too?"
Sheng Hao completely couldn't understand: "What do you mean guarding against you? I'm protecting my little sister."
Yu Sui mediated between them to prevent arguments.
Instead, it was Xue Mushi standing in the middle who served as the connecting link between the two teams.
Though he himself wasn't very willing.
Xue Mushi also wanted to find a chance to chat with Yu Sui, but there was no opportunity at the moment. The Class A Students told him, Yu Sui, and Yan Xiaochuan to rest well, then began discussing the next route and actions.
This group of Senior Brothers and Sisters consciously took on the responsibility of protecting Junior Sisters and Brothers, telling them to just stay back and watch without needing to take action.
Su Tong already believed in Xue Mushi's divination abilities, so she recommended everyone follow Xue Mushi's divinations.
When they gathered to discuss, Xue Mushi slowly walked to Yu Sui's side. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Xiaochuan came over, pointing at the stone pile at the end of the shallow beach, familiarly sharing interesting stories and thoughts with the two of them.
Yan Xiaochuan talked nonstop. Yu Sui would cooperatively show surprise or amusement, and would praise people, making Yan Xiaochuan scratch his head and laugh foolishly.
Yu Sui gave Xue Mushi a look across Yan Xiaochuan, indicating he shouldn't be anxious and that there would be a chance to talk properly tomorrow.
Xue Mushi closed his mouth and waited patiently.
After Sheng Hao and the others finished their discussion, deciding to depart at dawn tomorrow, he turned back to find Yu Sui crouched against the mountain wall, staring at the fire in a daze, speaking softly with Xue Mushi who was similarly gazing at the fire.
Yan Xiaochuan was leaning against the mountain wall, snoring loudly in sleep.
Sheng Hao glared at the already sleeping Yan Xiaochuan. This unreliable guy, he completely didn't dare imagine what kind of days Yu Sui had been having.
Could it be that my sister has been keeping watch all night?!
As soon as Sheng Hao came over, Yu Sui and Xue Mushi immediately fell silent, both looking up with obedient expressions.
"Sleep," Sheng Hao said. "We'll travel at dawn. There's still a long distance to Dragon Head."
Yu Sui nodded repeatedly.
Mei Liangyu, who was walking by, moved his eyes. Did Sheng Hao not know his sister couldn't sleep well at night?
Sheng Hao truly didn't know. No one at the manor knew either.
Only Zhongli Que had noticed. Over the years, only she would occasionally stay up chatting with Yu Sui until dawn, accompanying her through the night until daylight before sleeping.
Yu Sui closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. After Sheng Hao left, she opened her eyes again, only to unexpectedly meet Senior Brother's gaze fixed on her.
Seeing Yu Sui open her eyes, Mei Liangyu showed an expression of "you were indeed pretending to sleep."
Yu Sui quietly gestured "shh," indicating he shouldn't expose her.
Standing at the transmission point cave entrance, Mei Liangyu silently looked away, wanting to chat with Zhongli Shan. But seeing Zhongli Shan and Su Tong whispering to each other, he turned to the other side, wanting to ask Shi Yuezhen about Five Elements Energy matters, only to see Shi Yuezhen lowering her head and whispering to the Agricultural School Transmission Beast in her palm.
"......"
Looking at Xing Chun again, he was already asleep.
Mei Liangyu expressionlessly looked back at Yu Sui below the opposite mountain wall.
Yu Sui saw his "caught in a dilemma" scene and found it somewhat amusing. Her bright dark eyes curved slightly, overflowing with traces of laughter.
Mei Liangyu lightly raised his head and pointed at her with his gaze, seemingly telling her not to laugh.
Only then did Yu Sui turn her face away, pretending not to look at him.
Her Soul Control secondary consciousness was watching the Five Elements Light Core. After Gu Qian left, he had returned to his own team.
Xun Zhiya and the others were still waiting for him by the river.
Seeing Gu Qian return, Ji Meng, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up and asked: "How serious is the Princess's injury?"
Among this group, only Ji Meng was from Qingyang, also a student from Qingyang National Academy. He had seen Yu Sui frequently at the National Academy. When Gu Qian caused trouble in Qingyang Imperial Capital, it was basically Ji Meng and Yu Sui who accompanied him.
Although Ji Meng was cautious not to get too close to her due to Yu Sui's Third Brother Sheng Hao, their daily interactions were polite. But having known each other for so many years, hearing that Yu Sui was injured and struck by Taoist School Heavenly Mechanism Arts Golden Thunder, he would still express concern.
Gu Qian frowned and didn't answer, only shaking his head.
Li Jin Shuang watched and couldn't help but frown too. What did shaking his head mean?
Gu Qian suppressed the anger in his heart, making himself stay calm, only saying: "Let's travel. We must reach Dragon Belly's Twelfth Section by the fifteenth."
Seeing him say this, the others tactfully didn't bring up Nangong Sui's topic and focused on this Inverted Moon Cave expedition, beginning their night journey.
Yu Sui took these words to heart. It seemed they were heading to Inverted Moon Cave and had a date restriction.
Leaving Wen Yanghui and Princess Shangyang at Dragon Tail, were they planning to get the Floating Pagoda at Dragon Belly, then transmit back to Dragon Tail before leaving?
There were too many Class A Students at Dragon Belly. If they accidentally entered a melee and the Floating Pagoda was exposed, it would indeed be quite dangerous.
The further forward, the more Thirteenth Realm instructors patrolled, plus Saints standing guard. If they still wanted to go to Ye Pool, they definitely couldn't bring the Floating Pagoda along.
Yu Sui pondered, adjusting the light core's angle to look at Li Jin Shuang, who was silently walking at the back of the group.
Seeing that Li Jin Shuang hadn't returned to male disguise and was still wearing the jade hairpin she had given her, Yu Sui blinked lightly, feeling satisfied.
Yu Sui felt that Li Jin Shuang following Xun Zhiya and the others was quite awkward.
She dared guarantee that Li Jin Shuang initially didn't know about Xun Zhiya's plan to seize the Floating Pagoda. Rather, the Saint Maiden of Nanjing Kingdom might want to win over the Li family's influence.
Not everyone in Nanjing Kingdom acknowledged Xun Zhiya as Saint Maiden, and not everyone hoped the future heir would be her.
Xun Zhiya revealing this matter to Li Jin Shuang was actually dragging the Li family into muddy waters.
The Saint Maiden might promise Li Jin Shuang that once she ascended to the imperial throne and became Nanjing Kingdom's Empress, she would help Li Jin Shuang restore the Li family's glory.
It depended on what Li Jin Shuang was thinking.
Fortunately, the night wasn't long anymore.
Near dawn, Yu Sui finally endured the Strange Fire's burning and closed her eyes to rest briefly.
Perhaps because she was still sleeping, the people who had planned to depart at dawn also waited patiently. With Sheng Hao there, no one dared rush Yu Sui.
When departing, Su Tong had Xue Mushi divine, and everyone followed his divination.
Xing Chun stroked his chin, somewhat curious: "Is it really that accurate?"
Yu Sui had just finished washing her face with clean water and was rubbing her eyes, her voice soft and gentle as she praised: "He's the most accurate diviner I've ever seen."
Xue Mushi kept a wooden expression and said nothing.
Hearing Yu Sui's words, Xue Mushi only felt like his heart had a hole torn in it, leaking wind and feeling cold, because Yu Sui hadn't told him which direction to go from Dragon Belly's Ninth Section.
How was he supposed to divine?
Divine randomly?
Xue Mushi's hand holding the copper coins was steady, but his heart and mind were trembling.
Coincidentally, everyone was watching him, waiting for his divination results.
Yu Sui's gaze at Xue Mushi seemed to say "it doesn't matter, just divine randomly."
She wanted Xue Mushi to divine incorrectly, encounter other disciples and fight, then change the terrain during the chaos to take Xue Mushi away for a conversation.
Unfortunately, Xue Mushi was afraid of really divining incorrectly and causing trouble, so he kept a wooden expression and put away the copper coins, saying: "I haven't recovered the strength consumed in last night's Military Formation. I can't divine yet."
Yu Sui was somewhat surprised but said nothing.
Yan Xiaochuan was the first to say: "He led us all day yesterday, divining frequently, nearly a hundred times. The consumption was indeed great."
Su Tong and Mu Mengbai, as Technical Arts School disciples, knew that frequent divination consumption was indeed great, so they also nodded: "Then rest more. We'll still follow the known routes."
The others had no objections either.
They still knew the public transmission array routes. For Xue Mushi's divination, it was more curiosity from seeing it for the first time.
Xue Mushi pretended to be aloof, hanging his head as he followed behind the team.
……
The daylight was bright, but walking in the towering forest still felt dim. Sunlight was blocked by the high canopy, with very little able to penetrate through gaps to reach the ground.
With everyone using Wind-Riding Techniques to travel, they progressed quickly, encountering many teams along the way, sometimes avoiding, sometimes fighting.
Yu Sui never found a suitable opportunity, and just like that, they smoothly followed along to a new transmission point.
Transmission points were almost all in various strange caves.
Before arriving, Yu Sui saw dense red dots nearby and thought a battle was inevitable.
Due to insufficient lighting, the area was cool and damp with towering forests. Green vines were everywhere, with many poisonous creatures hidden within, camouflaged beyond defense.
Going further, they could see large rocky areas near the cliff edge. The pitch-black cave entrance was hidden behind giant stones. More than ten figures were flying back and forth between the giant stones and trees with Wind-Riding Techniques, various schools' Nine Schools Arts attacking each other.
Mei Liangyu led the charge. Observing that they could win, he and Zhongli Shan took action first.
Xing Chun tactfully activated Shadow Swallow, finding a relatively safe place on the battlefield to hide. Black shadows spread across the ground.
Su Tong had just recovered from injury, so Mu Mengbai didn't let her act. Instead, he cast divination himself, with Sheng Hao's protection ensuring no one could approach to interrupt him.
As a Medical School disciple with an external reputation, Shi Yuezhen became the target of others' concentrated attacks. The others knew Mei Liangyu could use various schools' Nine Schools Arts and was formidably strong, so they chose to defend rather than attack, waiting for opportunities.
But Shi Yuezhen was different.
If they left her alone, once her poison formation was released, everyone would be finished.
Seeing the Class A Students fighting intensely with perfect coordination among all sides, where irrelevant personnel could be instantly eliminated if they accidentally entered, Yu Sui indicated for Xue Mushi to retreat with her.
Yan Xiaochuan's body was surrounded by burning Five Elements Energy, blocking in front of the two, still chanting: "Little Princess, Divine Calculator Xue, you two can rest assured. With me blocking in front, no one can step over my corpse to eliminate you!"
Just as he finished speaking, disciples hidden in the shadows indeed launched sneak attacks.
No one knew anyone else, but since they could reach this point, they were enemies. No one expected there would be below-Class A disciples reaching here.
When Yan Xiaochuan entered combat, Xue Mushi had just reached Yu Sui's side.
The two stood with their backs to the cliff in a relatively safe position, still far from the cliff platform. But Yu Sui altered the terrain runes of the Number Mountains, directly crushing and destroying the runes in this area. The ground trembled and cracked with long fissures.
The mountain stones shook, the surrounding Five Elements Energy went chaotic, strong winds rose, shaking down all the disciples who had been suspended in air with Wind-Riding Techniques.
The ground was trembling. From the transmission point cave entrance, an abyssal crack split open. Yu Sui and Xue Mushi happened to be standing on the separated ground. The moving stone blocks fell toward the bottom of the cliff.
Sheng Hao had just grabbed the nearest Mu Mengbai and pulled him away. When he turned back to look behind, not seeing Yu Sui's figure, his face darkened.
"Little Princess!" Yan Xiaochuan saw Yu Sui on the opposite side and cried out in panic. But he was too close to the dividing point. Affected by the wind force, he nearly fell directly into the abyss. Shi Yuezhen flashed over to take him away from the storm.
Sheng Hao shouted for Yu Sui to return with Wind-Riding Techniques, but in the blink of an eye, the abyssal crack grew larger and larger, already exceeding the range Wind-Riding Techniques could cover to return.
When Mei Liangyu used Wind-Riding Techniques to rush to the opposite side, the change happened in an instant. The seemingly solid falling ground was torn apart by fierce winds wrapped in Five Elements power. Everyone lost their footing and fell from great height.
Yu Sui was stunned for a moment seeing Senior Brother chase after her during the fall.
She had trapped the other Class A Students in this area, making them unable to use Five Elements Energy in the fierce wind, falling together with the shattered giant stone ground, letting Mei Liangyu and the others have less trouble and advance faster. But she hadn't expected him to come over.
Rubble and disciples fell together into the clouds.
The cliff was too high and deep. Without being able to use Five Elements Energy, falling would mean certain death, the kind where bodies would be completely destroyed.
Many disciples made their decision after assessment, self-destructing their Mechanism Exquisite Hearts and directly exiting.
Yu Sui's body ignited with golden Five Elements Energy. She grabbed Xue Mushi's collar from behind, using the cover of clouds and rubble to flash downward during the fall.
She restricted the Five Elements Energy in this area, so Xue Mushi couldn't use it either and could only let Yu Sui take him away.
As for Senior Brother.
Yu Sui hesitated for a moment. After she flashed around Mei Liangyu's falling direction with Xue Mushi, she lifted the restriction.
At the very bottom of the cliff was a surging river, water rushing loudly. Standing on the undulating riverbed, they could see the distant evening sunset.
After Yu Sui lifted the Five Elements Energy restriction, she released Xue Mushi, letting him use Wind-Riding Techniques to land himself.
Xue Mushi landed with a staggering form, supporting himself against a giant rock by the riverbank with one hand. He turned back to look at Yu Sui as if seeing a ghost: How did you do that?
He could be certain that the earth-shattering collapse just now was Yu Sui's doing.
But Yu Sui stood in place, slightly raising her head to look up at the empty space above.
She had changed the landing point. Even if Mei Liangyu fell down, he wouldn't land here.
As for whether Senior Brother fell down alive or encountered fatal injuries midway and destroyed his Mechanism Exquisite Heart to exit... Yu Sui checked the red dots near the map. Besides her and Xue Mushi, only one red dot was still moving at the bottom of the cliff.
She had marked the red dots of people around her and could identify who was who.
Seeing that the red dot belonging to Mei Liangyu was still moving, Yu Sui withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Xue Mushi.