Chapter 124 – Entering the Mountains

A luxurious coach was speeding along the highway, filled with drowsy passengers. By three in the afternoon, even the onboard TV had been turned off for a while. The slight swaying of the vehicle and the warm sunlight only added to the drowsiness. For such a monotonous journey, there seemed to be nothing to do but sleep.

In a window seat at the back, a young man with gold-rimmed glasses remained awake, staring intently out the window, though it was unclear whether he was admiring the scenery or simply lost in thought. Beside him sat two men of different ages, both strikingly handsome and the kind of people who naturally drew attention. The older of the two was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, seemingly in a light doze, while the younger one suddenly opened his eyes and reached out to grasp the hand of the person next to him.

The gesture was subtle but immediately caught the other’s attention. The bespectacled young man turned his head and smiled softly, asking in a low voice, “Brother Qi, are you awake?”

Zhang Xiuqi didn’t respond verbally but nodded slightly, his gaze filled with a hint of worry as he tightened his grip on the other’s hand. Wei Yang chuckled softly and explained, “We’re almost there. I just wanted to take a look at the mountain range.”

Indeed, they were nearing their destination. Early that morning, the three of them had boarded the coach, heading straight for Mount Xian. Surprisingly, Master Zeng hadn’t chosen to travel by train or plane but had instead booked a spot on a tourist bus. However, this made sense considering the amount of contraband they were carrying, including the rather large Lao Ye. Taking a tourist bus that didn’t require strict inspections was much more convenient. Plus, the seven to eight hours on the road allowed them to rest before their nighttime venture into the mountains.

Despite all the preparations, a sense of unease lingered. In the past two days, Wei Yang had only managed to draw five talismans, and only two of them had elicited any reaction from the Bone Formation. Worse still, both were primarily defensive in nature, with no offensive capabilities. This was a far cry from the power the Bone Formation had displayed in his dream. But time was running out. Rather than wasting more effort on this, it seemed better to focus on defense, especially since Zhang Xiuqi, due to his missing Heavenly Soul, had been trained from a young age in offensive spells, which would complement Wei Yang’s defensive focus.

While the uncle and nephew were satisfied with this arrangement, Wei Yang couldn’t shake a lingering anxiety. Merely not being a burden wasn’t his goal. However, he couldn’t let this unease show, so his smile remained as calm and composed as ever.

“Have you noticed anything unusual about the mountain’s energy?” A voice chimed in from the other side. Zeng Jingxuan had opened his eyes and was now looking over at them.

Wei Yang was momentarily startled but couldn’t help glancing back at the distant mountain range. He hesitated before answering, “The mountain’s energy is undulating and lively, like a living dragon. But it’s too close to the Han River, and the water energy is overpowering. It’s not the ideal ‘jade belt encircling the waist’ but more like ‘water flooding the gold mountain.’ Also, from what I can see, there’s an excess of Yin energy in the mountain’s aura, which doesn’t seem favorable.”

Although Wei Yang’s original training in “golden touch” had been mostly fraudulent, he had read many books on feng shui. Moreover, as his Wu Family Bloodline abilities began to manifest, the world had started to appear differently to him, especially in places with strong Yin and Yang energies. To others, the mountain range might have looked like a picturesque landscape of green hills and clear waters, but to Wei Yang, there was a layer of misty, water-like energy in the mountain valleys—what was commonly referred to as Yin evil energy.

Zeng Jingxuan smiled faintly. “Not bad. Although Mount Xian’s Purple Canopy Peak is one of the ancient Ten Great Grotto-Heavens, it has also been a strategic military site since ancient times. Over time, the evil energy brought by warfare has disrupted its spiritual aperture. As a result, the original spiritual heritage of Purple Canopy Peak was relocated elsewhere. While there are many temples around Mount Xian, none of them house true spiritual power. However, apart from Sun Yunhe, few could have predicted that the spiritual aperture would transform from Yang to Yin and revive.”

Wei Yang nodded. He had seen the diagram of the spiritual aperture, which clearly depicted Mount Xian with the annotation: “Yang spirit trapped, evil energy ensnared, transformation occurs.” Previously, he hadn’t understood what this meant, but now he had some clue. It seemed that when Sun Yunhe had visited this place, the spiritual aperture hadn’t yet transformed, so he had merely noted it and moved on. Now, after a thousand years, the spiritual aperture had revived, becoming a Yin land, just as Sun Yunhe had predicted.

However, no one could have guessed that their enemies would also discover the spiritual aperture.

Hesitating for a moment, Wei Yang asked softly, “Master Zeng, should we gather some information after we get off the bus?”

After all, Mount Xian was a mountain range spanning hundreds of miles, divided into upper, middle, and lower sections, with the highest peak reaching over two thousand meters. Finding a spiritual aperture that was at most a hundred meters wide within this vast mountain range would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, even with two feng shui experts and Wei Yang’s half-baked Yin-Yang vision.

Zeng Jingxuan, however, shook his head. “No need. Someone will come to pick us up.”

As Master Zeng had said, half an hour later, the bus pulled into the travel agency’s parking lot, where an inconspicuous minivan was already waiting. The person who came to meet them was a man with a thick beard that made it impossible to guess his actual age. He was dressed in a neat hunting outfit, looking like an experienced hiker.

When he saw Zeng Jingxuan, the bearded man immediately walked over and said, “Brother Xuan, you’re finally here.”

From the way he addressed Zeng Jingxuan, it was clear that this man was younger, though his beard made it hard to tell.

Zeng Jingxuan nodded in response. “Thanks for keeping an eye on things for so long. Were you spotted?”

“No, they’ve set up a bunch of messy formations along the way, but I just avoided them. They were probably in a hurry to set up the formations and didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings,” the man replied with a smile. His beard covered most of his expression, but his eyes were unusually bright.

Hearing this, Zeng Jingxuan seemed to relax. He turned to the two behind him and introduced, “This is Yao Wei, a good friend of mine. I asked him to help keep tabs on that group and track their movements.”

When Zeng Jingxuan mentioned “good friend,” Yao Wei’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he quickly regained his composure and smiled at Zhang Xiuqi. “You must be Xiao Qi? I’ve heard a lot about you from Brother Xuan. I didn’t expect you to recover your Heavenly Soul. And this is…”

“His name is Wei Yang,” Zhang Xiuqi answered bluntly, but after that, he fell silent, showing no intention of explaining their relationship.

Caught off guard by this response, Yao Wei paused for a moment but quickly recovered and chuckled, “Since you’re here, let’s head into the mountains. It gets dark early there, so we shouldn’t waste too much time.”

However, Zeng Jingxuan shook his head. “This time it’s too dangerous. You should stay behind. Just give us the map.”

As if he had anticipated this, Yao Wei grinned and said, “Sorry, Brother Xuan. You know my skills—I’ve been busy scouting for traps and didn’t have time to draw a map.”

His beard was so thick that when he smiled, it looked like a few white teeth were poking out from a mass of hair, giving him a slightly silly and innocent appearance. Zeng Jingxuan gazed at him expressionlessly for a few seconds, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. If Zeng Jingxuan had been staring at Wei Yang like that, Wei Yang might have felt a bit overwhelmed, but Yao Wei showed no signs of backing down, standing there boldly.

After a while, Zeng Jingxuan finally spoke. “You’re from the Yao Family…”

“Enough, Brother Xuan,” Yao Wei interrupted him. “Right now, I’m just a guy who eats alone and has no family to worry about. I’m not afraid to take a risk with you. It’s going to get dark soon. Are we going or not?”

Looking into Yao Wei’s bright eyes, Zeng Jingxuan finally uttered a single word. “Going.”

As if he had never doubted his success, Yao Wei chuckled and patted the dusty minivan. “Then what are we waiting for? Get in!”

With that, everyone got into the car and headed toward the mountains along the provincial highway. However, as if dissatisfied with the outcome, Zeng Jingxuan remained mostly silent after getting into the car. Wei Yang, of course, noticed the tension between the two, but the little fox wasn’t about to meddle. Instead, he struck up a conversation with Yao Wei. “Brother Yao, you look like a professional. Are you into outdoor survival?”

Despite his somewhat serious appearance, Yao Wei was quite talkative. He scoffed lightly. “You’re saying I look like a hiker? Well, that’s just a hobby. My real job isn’t about that. I run a private detective agency in Shanghai, specializing in marital disputes. If you ever need my services, let me know.”

As he spoke, he somehow produced a business card and tossed it over.

Wei Yang was genuinely surprised. Someone Master Zeng knew and had asked to help track down those Jiangtou Masters should have been a practitioner in the field. A private detective seemed far removed from that.

At this point, Zeng Jingxuan let out a cold snort. “Only you would use your family’s inherited skills to spy on people’s private lives.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s about saving people from desperate situations. It’s painful when you’re stuck in an abusive relationship and can’t get out. It’s just a small talent, and it’s useful wherever it’s applied,” Yao Wei replied nonchalantly, even proudly explaining to Wei Yang, “Our Yao Family has some heritage. Have you heard of the Laoshan Sect? Our family is a branch of the Laoshan lineage, specializing in minor spells like the Five Ghosts Carrying, Walking Through Walls, and Transforming Beans into Soldiers. Although we’ve lost a lot of our techniques, there’s still plenty we can use. Plus, the Yao Family has Spiritual Vision, which is great for tracking people and uncovering secrets…”

After listening to Yao Wei’s lengthy explanation, Wei Yang finally understood. The reason Master Zeng had sought out Yao Wei was precisely because of his Spiritual Vision ability. While it was called “vision,” it was more like a sixth sense, allowing him to perceive things others couldn’t—whether it was danger, Yin-related phenomena, or even whether someone was cheating and where their mistress lived. It was an incredibly useful skill. This was how Yao Wei had managed to enter the mountains during the day, bypass most of the traps set by their enemies, and keep track of their movements without losing them.

Zeng Jingxuan, for once, didn’t interrupt or mock Yao Wei, instead sitting quietly in the front seat, seemingly deep in thought.

Although Mount Xian had undergone significant development for tourism, making the roads relatively accessible, there were still areas where vehicles couldn’t go. As the sun began to set, the car finally stopped at the foot of the mountain. There was no road ahead. Yao Wei, unfazed, got out of the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out two large backpacks. “We’ll have to hike from here. It’ll take at least a day and a half to reach the destination. I’ve prepared sleeping bags. Let’s get going.”

It was clear that Yao Wei had come prepared. Zeng Jingxuan glanced at him and sighed. “You know this isn’t going to be an easy job.”

Yao Wei’s expression grew serious as he replied, “Of course I know. Sister Yunyi even predicted three great dangers. This time, it’s finally a case of the unknown. How could I not come?”

With that, he picked up one of the backpacks and tossed the other to Zhang Xiuqi, then smiled at Wei Yang. “Xiao Wei, let’s go!”

Master Zeng had never mentioned the great dangers, but Wei Yang glanced at the uncle and nephew and suddenly smiled as well, following without hesitation. A moment later, a voice could be heard up ahead. “Huh? Why is your bag moving? Wait, why did you bring a turtle? Are we going to cook it? Ow, it bit me!”

Zhang Xiuqi glanced at his uncle but said nothing and followed. The mountain forest was dense, and within a few steps, they were out of sight. Zeng Jingxuan hesitated for a moment but ultimately followed as well.

A few minutes later, the four figures completely disappeared into the mountain forest.