NOVPUBLou Yi promptly nodded in agreement.
Li Yingfu looked around uneasily and then pinched his fingers together. Streaks of light fell upon the horse carriage, quickly cloaking it from sight.
Only then did he enter the carriage.
Lou Yi dropped the carriage curtain, his expression turning more solemn.
He spurred on the Triangular Rhino once again.
Under Lou Yi’s urging, the carriage swiftly flew towards the distance.
Meanwhile, beneath the endless expanse of forest.
A figure stood within the dark canopy.
Through the leaves, a pair of dull, lightless eyes quietly observed the distant sky.
Though apparently blind, he seemed to perceive the world outside.
Behind this figure, on the densely packed branches, seven people stood.
The seven were dressed in varying styles.
Five of them exuded the aura of Foundation Establishment, ranging from mid-stage to late-stage.
The other two, positioned at the front of the seven, were at the early and middle stages of Golden Core, respectively.
The leading middle-stage Golden Core cultivator, covered in burn scars, said impatiently,
"Blind Ba, have you spotted any activity? Any lone travelers?"
The one with dull gray eyes, Blind Ba, didn’t turn around as he spoke in a dry, hoarse voice:
"No."
"Damn it! The fish are getting scarcer by the day!"
Hearing Blind Ba’s reply, the burn-scarred cultivator cursed in annoyance.
The early-stage Golden Core cultivator beside him, who resembled a wealthy noble, gently waved his fan and shook his head, saying,
"Boss Dai, we chose to come here for this very reason… The south is busy now, and if we were still there with our measly two taels of bone, we’d probably have been eaten by now."
"I’ve never seen so many Golden Cores in one nation, let alone a fair number of Nascent Souls."
"True, but alas, times are getting tougher. We fled from Wei State to Qiao State, then from Qiao State to Yan State, and now we’re in Sen State… Second Brother Pan, when the hell will the Kingdom of Immortals face divine retribution, damn it all!"
The burn-scarred cultivator cursed again, unable to help himself.
Hearing his curses, the others also showed expressions of shared concerns.
The noble-like Golden Core cultivator ’Second Brother Pan’ looked somewhat downcast, but soon offered words of comfort:
"It’s good we didn’t stay in the south. I’ve heard the number of missing cultivators there is increasing…"
"Missing… Hah, they’re all after that lucky Rogue Cultivator, but end up being easily slaughtered along the way, right?"
The burn-scarred cultivator’s expression was rigid, revealing no emotion, but his eyes betrayed deep envy:
"Dao Secret… We can’t use it, but if we sell it to the big sects… This Rogue Cultivator, I wonder what his background is, snatching a cooked duck from the hands of the big sects."
"I heard the guy has a freakishly big head… Don’t know if it’s true."
Second Brother Pan frowned slightly:
"How many big sects or powers can you really trust? Neither the Primitive Demonic Sect nor the Kingdom of Immortals is reliable; we can likely only sell to the sects of Jin."
"As for that Rogue Cultivator… Boss Dai, I’m going to speak frankly. We are merely minor Rob Cultivators; it’s not worth taking such risks. If we really get involved, we might not even leave ashes behind!"
"We shouldn’t meddle with this. Please don’t be rash."
The burn-scarred face scowled:
"Fine then, we’re out of luck and can only drool outside the pot… Blind Ba, damn it, have you seen anything yet?"
Blind Ba didn’t speak.
The others weren’t surprised by his silence.
After some time, Blind Ba’s low, hoarse voice finally broke the silence:
"There’s a carriage!"
"A carriage?!"
Boss Dai and Second Brother Pan both were startled, exchanging glances.
Boss Dai exclaimed, unable to contain himself,
"Who would be so reckless in Sen State these days?"
Second Brother Pan, however, started to fan himself thoughtfully, pondering,
"So openly bold, it’s either a reckless fool unaware of the situation, or a powerful figure who doesn’t care at all… Blind Ba, can you see what’s inside?"
Blind Ba fell silent for a moment before replying:
"Can’t see… The carriage is shielded by a prohibition. But the one driving outside is an early-stage Golden Core cultivator, moving very fast. It won’t be long before they fly past here. Should we act?"
"Early-stage Golden Core?"
Boss Dai and Second Brother Pan both tensed up.
Second Brother Pan couldn’t help but say, "If even an early-stage Golden Core is merely driving the carriage… the person inside must be at least at the late stage of Golden Core!"
He then looked at Boss Dai:
"We can’t mess with this one, Boss Dai."
Boss Dai hesitated, conflicted:
"We can’t touch this, we can’t touch that… What if there’s a young and weak junior inside the carriage?"
"And what if there’s a late-stage Golden Core?"
Second Brother Pan countered.
Boss Dai fell silent again.
After a brief hesitation, he finally said, resigned,
"Forget it, damn it, another day’s work for nothing!"
Still somewhat resentful, he moved forward to part the leaves and looked through the lush canopy toward the distant sky.
Indeed, at the edge of the sky, he saw a small dot swiftly approaching in their direction.
Although he couldn’t make out the specifics of the tiny dot, he didn’t doubt Blind Ba’s word.
The other may be blind, but he truly could see far.
Suddenly, that small dot rapidly enlarged, and in the blink of an eye, it was about to fly over their heads.
