190: Chapter 190 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (138)

Qiu Yang stared at that small hole, his pupils constricting slightly, and the last bit of hesitation in his heart vanished in an instant.

The two brothers were never the type to be content with hiding on the sidelines; they had merely been lacking a leader capable of carrying the situation.

He immediately set down the fish skewer in his hand and nodded solemnly. "Fine, then we shall fight for it. It's better than sitting here, exhausting our supplies, and wasting an Opportunity for nothing."

"Right. We won't dive straight into the core; we'll take a roundabout path." Chu Shi nodded in satisfaction, then traced a line on the ground with his fingertip.

"Tomorrow, we'll set out from the secondary forest on the west side, follow Spirit Creek, and advance steadily until we reach the fruit grove, avoiding unnecessary combat as much as possible. Once the timing is right, we'll rush out together to seize the spiritual fruits; this will prevent us from being discovered too early by those teams locked in the chaotic battle."

"The distribution rules we agreed upon remain unchanged," Chu Shi added.

Qiu Feng, who had been eavesdropping, perked up immediately upon hearing that the distribution would remain the same. Casting his previous concerns to the back of his mind, he gnawed on his fish and nodded repeatedly. "Deal! With Senior Brother Chu here, we'll definitely be stronger than that rabble! At worst, if we can't win, I'll just run—I'm the fastest at running away!"

Qiu Yang slapped him irritably, then turned to Chu Shi to verify the route, watch rotation, and contingency plans for an ambush for the next day.

The campfire crackled, and the aroma of roasted fish, wrapped in warmth, spread through the cave. As night slowly crept over the cave entrance, the three of them gathered around the fire, carefully sorting out every detail of their next steps.

… The next morning.

At the first light of dawn, thick white morning mist still heavily blanketed the mountain forest, and the horizon was only just beginning to glow with a faint, pale light.

Chu Shi and the others extinguished the campfire and concealed the cave entrance before hunching over and slipping into the secondary forest on the west side. Their footsteps were as light as three shadows, and they glided into the depths without a sound.

The secondary forest was much denser than the trees in the outer river valley. Ancient trees as thick as a person's embrace blotted out the sky, their interlocking branches blocking out the light completely. The ground was covered in half a foot of rotting leaves, making it soft and silent to step on—perfect for stealth.

The Spiritual Qi in the forest was noticeably richer than outside; even the dewdrops on the tips of grass leaves carried a faint, glowing halo of Spiritual Qi. However, the further they went, the more glaring the signs of human scavenging became.

The patches of Spiritual Plant on the slopes had been dug up into pits, and even the tender seedlings that had just sprouted had been uprooted entirely. The branches of the low-lying wild fruit trees by the path were broken and stripped of leaves, their bare twigs swaying in the wind; it was clear they had been picked over repeatedly, leaving nothing of value behind.

Chu Shi's gaze swept over the broken branches by the roadside, his eyes calm and undisturbed. This situation was much as he had expected; two months had passed, and the meager resources on the outskirts had long since been carved up. Everyone was crowding toward the depths, so it was no wonder that there was a bloody battle raging over at the spiritual fruit grove.

The three of them had a very tacit understanding of their roles. Qiu Feng walked in the lead, carrying a short blade, his figure as agile as a wild fox darting through the woods. Every dozen steps or so, he would freeze, listen for a moment, then push aside the bushes to check the terrain before turning back to give a safety signal and continuing forward.

He had been out scouting every day during this period, and he was as familiar with the terrain in this area as he was with his own backyard.

Qiu Yang brought up the rear, his right hand resting lightly on his sword hilt, his gaze sweeping over the mist behind them from time to time. At the slightest unusual sound of swaying leaves, his knuckles would immediately tighten, and his entire body would tense like a bow drawn and ready to fire.

After walking for about half an hour, the crisp sound of weapons clashing suddenly drifted from the mist to the front left, followed by two gruff shouts. Although they were far away, the sounds were exceptionally clear in the silent forest.

The three of them stopped instantly, all of them flashing behind a thick tree trunk, even lightening their breathing a little.

Qiu Feng poked his head out to peek in the direction of the noise, then pulled back and whispered in a low voice, "It's two lone wolves fighting over the remaining purple-flowered corydalis on the slope. They're still a hundred zhang away and aren't heading this way."

Chu Shi nodded slightly, listening quietly. When the clanging sounds gradually faded into the distance, he lifted his chin, signaling for them to continue their journey.

They pushed more than two li deeper into the forest, where the trees gradually thinned out, and the sound of rushing water grew closer and clearer.

Passing through the last patch of thicket covered in vines, Spirit Creek lay before the three of them.

This was the middle section of Spirit Creek, where the current was much more turbulent than downstream. The clear, cold creek water crashed against the grayish-brown reefs, splashing up fine, snow-white foam, while the water vapor, mixed with the scent of grass and trees, rushed toward them.

The slippery bluestones on the bank were covered with footprints of varying depths, extending in all directions toward the upper reaches. It was clear that quite a few people had been following this waterway to sneak deeper.

"We'll go through the water; that way we won't leave footprints," Qiu Yang said in a low voice, stepping onto the reefs by the creek first.

The three of them didn't take the existing paths on the bank but instead traced the reefs in the creek upstream. The further they went, the more remote the creek banks became, and the bushes on both sides grew denser. The footprints beneath their feet gradually thinned out until, in the end, there was almost no trace of human activity.

The sound of the water slowly slowed down, the creek surface gradually widened, and the smooth pebbles at the bottom of the water could be seen clearly. Unknowingly, they had reached the latter section of Spirit Creek.

Qiu Feng, who was walking in the lead, suddenly stopped. He crouched down, pushed aside the wild grass hanging from the bank, and stared at a few reefs under the water with special patterns for a moment. He then looked up to observe the flow of the water, and after confirming everything was correct...

He then tiptoed back to Chu Shi's side and carefully tugged at the corner of his garment with his fingertips, his voice pressed so low it was like a gossamer thread, almost blending in with the sound of the water. "Senior Brother Chu, we've arrived. We'll enter the water here; there's a karst cave underneath that leads directly south. If we swim through, we'll come out at the edge of the fruit grove."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a deep breath, hunched his shoulders, and dove into the water, splashing only a palm-sized amount of water—looking just like an otter sneaking into the water.

Chu Shi and Qiu Yang exchanged a glance. Without a word, they held their breath and dove in after him. The creek water was biting cold, causing their skin to go numb the moment they entered.

The karst cave at the bottom of the creek was more spacious than they had imagined, with the water flowing slowly south along the passage. The three of them swam along, guided by the faint light filtering in through the crevices in the rock. In less than the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, warm daylight lit up ahead.

"Pfft!" Qiu Feng was the first to surface from the spring eye. He wiped the water droplets from his face haphazardly, then gripped the edge of the spring and peered around like a thief.

After scanning left and right three times and confirming that there wasn't even a ghost in sight, he waved to those behind him and darted into the nearby bushes with his waist hunched.

Chu Shi and Qiu Yang leaped out of the water right after him, their dripping hems sinking into the damp soil. Before them lay a vast, continuous fruit grove, its branches and leaves blotting out the sky. A faint, sweet fragrance drifted in the air, and a forest path, worn white by all sorts of footprints, wound forward, leading straight into the depths of the fruit grove.

The fruit trees along the path grew thick with leaves and branches, but the branches themselves were bare, not even a shriveled fruit stem remaining.

Chu Shi's gaze swept over them, a trace of regret passing through his eyes. Judging by the vitality of these trees, there must have been a bountiful harvest of fruit this year, yet now they had been picked completely clean—not even the most remote or hidden branches had been spared. It was clear just how crazily the people ahead had been fighting for them.

Subsequently, the three of them lightened their steps and crept inward along the path. After walking for about half a li, the commotion ahead suddenly grew louder.

The crisp sounds of weapons clashing, the roars of Yao Beasts, and the angry shouts and curses of people blended into a chaotic mess that made one's eardrums buzz. Qiu Feng immediately made a hush gesture, and the three of them crouched down behind a thick, ancient tree, poking their heads out to look into the clearing.

With just one glance, Chu Shi's brows furrowed slightly.