Chapter 259: Twenty-Nine People
The mountain fog hadn’t lifted, not really. Just a thin, clingy veil now. Bodies were hauled forward, one after another, and dumped in front of the tomb like trash.
Meng Chengchang held a list in his hand, walking slowly past the corpses. He read each name aloud, and beside him, Dai Shenggao confirmed them one by one.
“Li Fuchen?”
“Yes.”
“Gu Laoda?”
“Yes.”
“This one... Qi Laoqi.”
“Yes.”
“Ji San? Fish Moon Daoist?”
“Yes.”
“Tang Huan, Zhang Zixu, Zhou Tong.”
“Yes.”
“Old cripple?”
“Yes.”
“This one, Gu Lao Liu?”
“It’s Gu Lao Wu.”
“Cang Yuntian?”
“Yes.”
“Gu Shangfei and Cao Shangfei... those two brothers?”
“Uh… no.”
Meng chuckled. “You guys from Wulong Mountain sure have some names on you.”
Twenty-three bodies were laid out in a straight line. Once the count was confirmed, the stewards of Tianmu Mountain began stuffing them one by one into burlap sacks.
Dai Shenggao was starting to look away, unable to bear it. His eyes flicked to Fairy Huang Ye Xian sitting under a tree. She had her face buried in her hands, head pressed deep into her knees, body trembling slightly.
A few steps away, six people knelt on the ground, each bound with Eightfold Restriction Cords. Their eyes were blank and empty.
Meng Chengchang went on with the roll call. “This one... Daoist Hu Du?”
“Yes.”
“Li the Swift Blade?”
“Yes.”
“Dragon Mountain Wanderer and Li Busan?”
“Yes.”
“And there’s Wan Liming, and this Mu guy... he’s cultivating the Healing Path, right?”
“Yes, that’s Mu the physician.”
Once the count was finished, Meng Chengchang walked over to Lu Boqi and reported, “Martial Uncle, we’ve confirmed twenty-nine so far. But the tomb raider Hu, the bandits Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang, Gu family’s Sixth and Seventh, and one called Lingling Traveler... those six are still at large.”
Lu Boqi snorted. “Where could they run? The Yellow Wind Ravine is sealed tight. They’ve got to be hiding somewhere nearby. Tell everyone to keep searching!”
Meng Chengchang nodded and hurried off to give the orders.
Lu Boqi called Dai Shenggao and Fairy Huang Ye over with a warm smile. “From now on,” he said kindly, “you’re both inner disciples of Tianmu Mountain. Focus on raising your two children well. Little Dai, you’ll be ranked twelfth, and Huang, you’ll be thirteenth. Once you’re back on the mountain, Little Dai, you can start taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. As for you, Huang, don’t worry, our sect is known for alchemy. When your cultivation’s ready, you’ll have your pill too.”
Dai Shenggao quickly bowed low. “Thank you, Elder!” Then he tugged on Fairy Huang Ye’s sleeve and whispered urgently, “Come on, thank the Elder.” Turning to Lu Boqi, he added, “My junior sister is a bit shaken. She’s softhearted; after seeing so many people die, she’s having a hard time. Please forgive her.”
Lu Boqi chuckled. “No harm done. It’s good to have compassion and loyalty. Once you enter Tianmu Mountain with that kind of heart, you won’t ever stray, will you?”
Dai Shenggao knelt, head to the ground, swearing with every fiber of himself. “We’ve been wandering loners all our lives, drifting through the martial world without a single day of peace. To be accepted into Tianmu Mountain and serve under the Lu Sect is the greatest honor we could hope for. From now on, we can stand tall and proud; how could we ever harbor disloyal thoughts again? Elder, rest assured. If we betray your trust, may lightning strike us down, may a thousand arrows pierce our hearts!”
Huang Yexian struggled to speak and finally managed, “I, too, swear loyalty to the Lu Sect and to you, Elder. If I betray that… do with me as you will.”
Lu Boqi nodded. “You’ve done our Tianmu Mountain a great service by eliminating a major threat. As long as you remember your oaths today, I’ll see that you’re well rewarded.”
He paused, then asked, “By the way, why isn’t Liu Xiaolou on the list? Didn’t he come?”
Fairy Huang Ye jumped in. “He was here, but when he found out the plan was to strike against Tianmu Mountain, he refused to take part and left early.”
Lu Boqi raised his brows in surprise and turned to Dai Shenggao. “Oh? He left before it started?”
Dai Shenggao nodded. “Yes. We called him in like the others, but he didn’t want to make an enemy of Tianmu Mountain, so he walked away.”
Lu Boqi nodded slightly, lost in thought for a moment.
Dai Shenggao quickly changed the subject. “Elder, about the three Huang brothers under me... they have always admired the sect and contributed a great deal this time. I was wondering…”
Lu Boqi waved a hand casually. “Let them serve as stewards in the outer sect. But you’d better keep them in check. Tianmu Mountain is a righteous sect; we walk the proper path. If they ever dare to abuse their power or cause trouble, they’ll be punished severely.”
Later, a full search was carried out through Yellow Wind Ravine. Just as dawn was breaking, someone finally discovered something unusual. A hidden mechanism beneath the main tomb. It opened into a secret passage leading to a long, narrow tunnel. Meng Chengzhang led a team to follow it, only to find that it stretched for four or five li and emerged outside the valley. From the signs, it looked like Captain Hu, along with Zuo Gaofeng, Tan Bajhang, and the Gu brothers, as well as Lingling Traveler, had used it to escape when the mountain fog spread.
When Dai Shenggao heard the news, he turned on Fairy Huang Ye in private. “You were guarding the tomb that whole damn time. Don’t tell me you didn’t see them going down into the burial chamber!”
Huang Yexian said flatly, “So what if I saw it? So what if I didn’t? And besides, how was I supposed to know there was a secret tunnel down there?”
“You’re mad,” Dai Shenggao was furious. “How can you still hesitate at a time like this? How can you still care about some so-called brotherhood? Once you did this, they became your enemies. Don’t you get that? You think you let an old friend go? You just let your future killer walk free!”
“The invitation came from Boss Wang,” she replied. “Everyone showed up because they trusted him. So if they want revenge, they can go after him.”
Dai Shenggao shouted, “But I’m the one who sent the invitations! They don’t even know who Boss Wang is... they only know me! And soon enough, they’ll know about you too!”
Fairy Huang Ye sighed. “Let them come if they want revenge. I don’t care. Maybe death would be a relief.”
Dai Shenggao glared at her. “What about the children? You not going to think about them? Do you want them to be motherless? Why do you think we’re doing all this? Have you forgotten?”
She buried her face in her hands, sobbing. “I hate Boss Wang... Who is he, really?”
Dai Shenggao stood there, stunned for a long moment, then said, quietly, “I hate him too.”
After they discovered the secret passage, the Tianmao Mountain group immediately spread their net wide again and fanned out in every direction. They pursued for seventy, eighty li, but still, there was no sign of the six fugitives.
The secret passage had been discovered four hours too late. Far to the southwest, a hundred li away, Tan Bajhang was dragging Liu Xiaolou through the dense forest in a desperate, life-or-death sprint. As they ran, Tan kept darting glances through the gaps in the trees, eyes wide with fear, as if any moment a Golden Core cultivator from Tianmu Mountain might descend from the sky and end them with a single sword strike.
After dragging themselves another few dozen miles, they finally ducked into a hidden nook to catch their breath. Tan Bajhang stared at Liu Xiaolou in terror. Liu Xiaolou, feeling the heat of that gaze, shivered but kept trying to reassure him. “Bajhang… relax. We’ve run over a hundred li. Tianmu Mountain can’t catch us now.”
Tan Bajhang went still for a moment, then suddenly slumped to the ground. He wept uncontrollably, pulling at his hair and muttering over and over, “Damn that Wanderer Dai... damn Dai Shenggao… betraying your own brothers… sob… sob…”
Tears streaming down his face.
Liu Xiaolou scooted closer and cradled his head in his arms. “Shhh, it's okay, brother, it's okay," he soothed, "Don’t cry. You're alright.”
Tan Bajhang choked back tears. “Only me, Brother Zuo, Captain Hu, Sixth Gu, and Old Seventh Gu got out. No one else made it. I tried to pull Huang Ye away, but she just… stood there, staring into nothing. I saw Old Cripple die with my own eyes. And Qi Laoqi too... killed by people from Tianmu Mountain. They sent so many Foundation Establishment cultivators. Surrounded the valley like an iron cage. Old Hu Du got kicked down, started begging for his life, but they tied him up with an Eightfold Restriction Cord. Only Dragon Mountain Wanderer was still fighting, but he was completely surrounded by Tianmu people. They said they wanted to take him alive.”
“What about Li Busan?” Liu Xiaolou asked quietly.
Tan Bajhang shook his head. “I don’t know… I really don’t know. The whole place was covered in thick fog; you couldn’t see a thing. No one could. I think I saw Lingling Traveler heading toward the eastern ridge, but I’m not sure.”
Liu Xiaolou stared for a long moment. “Why did Wanderer Dai betray us?”
Tan Bajhang shook his head, voice trembling. “I don’t know… I don’t know!”