Chapter 123: Withdrawal
"It's strange. Someone took out Senior Brother Lawr and the others outside, but there hasn't been a single sound since." After the Evil Valley cultivators withdrew from the cave, they found no ambush waiting for them—not a trace of anyone. It was puzzling.
"Maybe something else happened to them. In this place, there are not only cultivators but demon beasts everywhere. Danger is normal." With the immediate threat gone, Siren's flirtatious manner returned.
"Senior Brother Blade, do we stay or go?" Lou asked.
"We go. We've left the cave. We have no idea what's happening inside now. If we go back in, we might walk right into an ambush from those Palace disciples." Blade's face was grim. The feeling of being watched by an unseen enemy grated on him. They had wasted time and lost men for nothing. It was infuriating.
That bastard is cunning. Leo had been about to reveal himself and slip into the cave to warn Vera's group when he caught a flicker of movement in the shadows. If he hadn't cultivated his dharma seals, making him more sensitive to spiritual fluctuations than the average cultivator, he would have walked right into it.
Hiding in the grass nearby was Blade himself, the gaunt-faced cultivator, having circled back. His eyes swept the area like a snake's, searching. He found nothing. Which only made him more certain something was wrong. Two groups sent out, two groups hit. Coincidence? Unlikely. Either another sect's team was lurking, or there was a single, deadly cultivator hiding nearby. If it was one man, Blade swore he would skin him alive for ruining their plan.
He pretended to leave, then doubled back. Leo cursed silently. Almost fell for it. His men are probably nearby, waiting for his signal to attack again. Sharp. Leo settled in. Fine. Let's see who has more patience. If Vera's people have any sense at all, they'll come out by morning. I just hope they're still in one piece—then the Evil Valley bastards will have something to worry about." Leo's smile was grim.
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"A waste."
Blade found nothing. He cursed, then led his men away.
But Leo, hidden in the treetop, knew Blade hadn't gone far. The moment he realized there was no other sect team, or figured out how to deal with the situation, he would be back.
"Senior Sister Vera, those Evil Valley bastards have gone quiet. Think they left?" Winnie and the other archers had been watching the enemy's position. They had used some kind of screen—it was pitch black, impossible to see more than a few meters even with Mystical Sight. At first, it was unnerving. After a while, the silence became its own kind of strange.
"They wouldn't leave at night. What if they run into a demon beast swarm?" Solon cut down another snake and stepped back. He was more experienced than Winnie. He pressed his ear to the cave wall. "Huh. No sound at all. Did they really leave? Or are they hiding their presence somehow? There were over a dozen of them. They can't hide completely."
"I'll check." Vera, her spiritual power restored, raised her red ring and moved forward.
"Wait, Senior Sister Vera." Quiver pulled her back and nocked an arrow with an oversized head. She fired. It exploded in the spot where the Evil Valley cultivators had been, scattering green phosphorescent light everywhere. If anyone was there, they couldn't hide now.
"No one there." Solon's voice was bright. "What happened? They had us cornered. Why would they just leave?"
"Doesn't matter. Let's get out." The team moved carefully, watching for traps.
Vera glanced back at the net blocking the cave entrance. It had cost her dearly to get it. She would have to come back for it later.
"Fresh air!" Solon shouted as they emerged.
"Someone's coming." Vera's senses were sharpest. A figure broke from the grass.
"Junior Brother Leo!" Angus's face lit up.
"You left when we were in trouble. Now that we're out, you want back in? Afraid to be alone?" Winnie's voice was cold.
Leo's face went dark.
"Hit a nerve?" Frost, close to Winnie and a fan of Lowell, added. She had heard the rumor that Leo had beaten him. Even as a rumor, it left her with a grudge.
"If I hadn't taken out the two groups the Evil Valley sent out for supplies and scouting, made them think another team was waiting for them outside, you wouldn't be standing here running your mouths."
Leo's voice was ice. If this terrain weren't so dangerous for someone alone, if he didn't need a team, he would have walked away already. He didn't need their nonsense.
"You? You did that?" Quiver's mouth dropped open.
"I told you. Junior Brother Leo—no, Senior Brother Leo—has been hiding his strength all along. See? And here I am, calling him Junior Brother like an idiot." Solon grinned and slapped his own cheek.
"Maybe it was him, maybe not." Frost muttered.
"Leo, wait. Where are you going?" Vera called after him. She hadn't seen it, but there was no other reason the Evil Valley team would have withdrawn. She had watched him sense danger before it came, something she couldn't do. He had saved them. She wasn't letting him walk away again.