Chapter 193: A Mossback Tortoise
They followed the disturbance another few hundred meters before they found it—a concealed cave behind a waterfall, sealed by a faint illusory array.
Fatty Kui number two activated a detection talisman, and with a few trembling gestures and some help from Wu Shuan, managed to disable the outer veil.
He had barely gotten a few lessons in foramtions so far, so all this was still new to him. Even though he was focused on Body Cultivaiton, the elders still drilled some basic formations into him as they were a necessity for all missions.
Inside, they found the missing disciples—four young herb gatherers, unconscious and bound, guarded by a spirit beast with mottled stone skin and mossy growths on its back: a Mossback Tortoise, mid-stage Qi Refining, and deceptively fast.
Han Yu grinned.
"Round two."
The Forestback Tortoise turned its moss-covered head slowly toward the intruders. Its eyes glinted faintly with dull yellow light, and the ground trembled as it took a single step forward.
"Okay," Fatty Kui said slowly, backing up. "I’m starting to think this wasn’t ghosts after all."
"It’s just a tortoise," Kui Number Two said, though his voice cracked.
Wu Shuan drew his blade. "Don’t let your guard down. That shell can block even mid-grade spiritual weapons."
The tortoise suddenly hissed and its back glowed with greenish light. It stomped forward—and then, unexpectedly, rolled.