Chapter 330: Going Home |
Feng Yuanfa told Liu Xiaolou to track toward the southeast, where he'd eventually link up with the main force of the Qingyuan Sect.
If you look at it cynically, it shows that Feng Yuanfa still didn’t fully trust him. He was worried that if he chased from another direction, things might spiral out of control.
But if Liu Xiaolou really wanted to leave, Feng Yuanfa wouldn’t have much of a way to stop him. The only thing Liu Xiaolou had to think about was the consequences. If the Qingyuan Sect caught him, the price he’d pay would usually be steep.
That said, Liu Xiaolou clearly had zero interest in sticking around for the full-blown war between the two sects. He didn’t have family, disciples, or any assets tied up as leverage with the Qingyuan Sect. And he’d never swallowed one of their poison pills either. He’d only hung around before because he hadn’t figured out what the hell Big White was up to. Now that Big White had taken off, Liu naturally just dusted himself off and walked away.
Heading southeast down the mountain, Liu Xiaolou only made it halfway before he got fed up and changed course. He couldn’t even be bothered to keep up the pretense of going all the way to the bottom.
After spending a few days around him, Liu Xiaolou had a crystal-clear read on how their strengths stacked up. Feng Yuanfa had reached Foundation Establishment two years earlier, so his true qi was noticeably deeper and more abundant. Sure, Feng had poured everything into mastering those Twin Judge's Pens. His control over his life-bound artifact was way more refined than Liu’s handling of the Three-Mystery Sword. But in every other area... techniques, tricks, raw options, Liu outclassed him. If it ever came down to a real fight to the death, Liu figured his odds of winning were still pretty solid.
So it came down to just two words. He wasn’t afraid.
Following the traces he'd wiped away, he continued west and soon stopped in front of a large tree. There, on a leaf, was a glob of yellow-and-white goose shit, still sticky and hanging, just about to drip.
Don’t say that all poultry droppings look the same. Spend years staring at the stuff day in, day out, and anyone can spot the differences. It might seem identical at a glance, but the patterns and shades are all unique; each one tells its own story.
With that, he had a clear picture in mind, and tracking from here on out became much easier.
It wasn’t just the droppings, claw marks, or stray feathers that gave it away. For a spiritual incense master like Liu Xiaolou, who’d spent years honing his nose on fragrances, scent was by far the most reliable clue.
Just as he reached the foot of the mountain, there was a rustle in a nearby bush. A big goose burst out, flapping its wings noisily, then landed right in front of Liu Xiaolou and let out a loud “honk.”
Right on cue, a fierce gust whipped up from behind his head. Liu Xiaolou spun around. A black shadow shoot out from the treetops, vault clean over him, and land on the branch right above the goose’s head. “Meow.”
Liu Xiaolou took two quick steps forward, grabbed the goose by its long neck, and hauled it tightly into his arms. The neck felt especially warm, especially smooth, and incredibly comforting.
Then he called up toward the branch, “Little Black, get down here!”
Little Black jumped down unwillingly, dawdling over with obvious reluctance. Liu Xiaolou scooped it up into his arms just the same. The cat’s head struggled desperately to poke out from under Liu Xiaolou’s arm, its eyes filled with utter resignation.
After rubbing the goose’s neck and the cat’s head for a while, Liu Xiaolou finally lifted his head and loosened his arms. The goose and the cat were both able to breathe again, each letting out a few honks and meows in relief.
Liu Xiaolou laughed. “You two little punks, so you even know how to pull a decoy now? Leave tracks pointing east, then bolt west? Still, the clues are way too obvious. Anyone could see through it.”
“Honk honk!”
“Meow meow.”
“What are you two up to, anyway? What have you been scheming these past couple of days? Did you really wander into the Qingyuan Sect by accident, or were you after something?”
“Honk!”
“Meow!”
As Liu Xiaolou questioned them, Big White spread one wing. From under it, a small satchel dropped to the ground. Using its long beak, the goose undid the satchel and revealed what was inside.
It was a pile of spirit stones.
After counting it up, the total came to 35 spirit stones.
Liu Xiaolou was speechless. It was obvious that even if you added together Feng Family Seventh Young Master and that nephew, the two of them still could not possibly scrape together 35 spirit stones. There was a very good chance that this pile had come from other disciples of the Qingyuan Sect.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?” Liu Xiaolou snapped. “All that, just for a few spirit stones? Huh?” He was angry at their recklessness and at the same time shaken by how close it had been. In the end, though, he did not say anything more. He let out a sigh and quietly tucked the satchel away.
“Do not ever do something like this again. And you two idiots, why did you run so far? This is more than two thousand li from Wulong Mountain, right? What were you thinking? Enough. This is not a place to linger. Let’s head back to Wulong Mountain.”
Feng Yuanfa had ordered them to track for six hours, which meant their guaranteed window of safety while fleeing north was at least twelve hours. So one man, one goose, and one cat slipped through the deep mountains. Big White and Little Black were spiritual beasts to begin with and extremely sensitive to auras. Liu Xiaolou had already reached Foundation Establishment, and his spiritual sense could cover a radius of ten zhang. Traveling together, they perfectly complemented each other. Without making a sound, they managed to escape more than a hundred li in one straight run.
He glanced at the sky. By now, this should be the point where Feng Yuanfa was getting jumpy and suspicious. How many hours would it take before he finally realized Liu Xiaolou had escaped? Or would he end up deciding that something had gone wrong and that Liu Xiaolou was already dead?
By the time night fell, they had already fled more than a hundred and fifty li. Even if Feng Yuanfa snapped out of it and realized what had happened, it was way too late.
A bright moon hung in the sky. Liu Xiaolou led Big White and Little Black out of the dense forest and up onto the ridgeline.
“Big White, be honest with me. If you went head-on against Feng Family Seventh Young Master, could you take him? Is he at the seventh or eighth layer of Qi Refinement?”
“Honk!”
“That confident, huh? What about you, Little Black?”
“Meow.”
“Honk, honk!”
“So can Little Black actually do it or not? Who am I supposed to believe?”
“Meow, meow.”
“Honk!”
“Alright. Next time we run into someone, we’ll test it out and see.”
“Meow!”
“Honk!”
“Come to think of it, I really did let you two down. I was gone for six years… no, seven, wasn’t it? How did you even get through that time? Sigh.”
“Meow meow meow.”
“Honk honk honk!”
“Okay, okay, I know, it was my fault. Don’t be mad at me. It’s not like I did it on purpose. Do you have any idea how miserable things were for me in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains? I almost died. They had me hanging from iron hooks. I nearly got turned into soup stock!”
“...Huh? I’m fine, really. Haha. Knock it off. I’m totally fine.”
“But hey, every cloud has a silver lining. From now on, we won’t have to worry about spirit stones anymore.”
“Honk?”
“Meow?”
“Huh? You two can ask questions now? Not bad, not bad at all. Big White, Little Black, keep it up. Want to know why we won’t have to worry about spirit stones anymore? You’ll find out when we get home this time. Heh. It’ll give you both a good scare.”
“... And no more stealing spirit stones, got it? That stuff is dangerous, you hear me? Oh, and once we’re home, you won’t have to keep hiding either. I’ve thought it through. When it’s time to bow your head, you gotta bow. Don’t worry, I’ll do the bowing. You two don’t have to. Even if you did, no one would understand you anyway.”
“... Huh? North? What are you two doing? Big White, Little Black, come back! That way’s north!”
“…Where are we?”
They'd been on the move all night, and now the sky was finally starting to lighten. Liu Xiaolou looked up. Right in front of him stretched a range of mountains bursting with vibrant green, a rush of lively spiritual energy hitting him in the face.
Gazing deeper into the mountains, wisps of white clouds swirled and drifted like jade ribbons wrapping around the peaks. Between the mist and clouds, birds darted and soared in flight. Way more of them than you'd see anywhere else, easily several times over.
Big White and Little Black led the way, guiding Liu Xiaolou along sheer cliffs and jagged rock faces. Before long, they slipped through a narrow crack in the stone and entered a cave.
Inside, Liu Xiaolou spotted a stone platform covered with thick silk bedding. At last, it clicked. “So this is the nest you two built?”
Big White walked over and lifted the bedding with its long beak. Beneath it was a pile of saddlebags.