Chapter 56: The Vulture Sect

Yu Qi felt a sharp, violent pain wracking his entire body. He opened his heavy, drowsy eyes and, moving his aching arms, slowly propped himself up. Looking up at the pitch-black night sky, he muttered under his breath, "Has night already fallen? I wonder how Qingnan is doing."

When they fell, his hands had lost their strength and released the other two, and he had blacked out completely upon hitting the ground.

Now that he had regained consciousness, he quickly looked around, searching for the figures of his companions.

Though the night was dark, he managed to spot Dongyun lying not far away, aided by the faint moonlight.

She had also passed out; her pretty face was smudged with specks of dirt, and her once-clean clothes were caked in mud. Even so, nothing could entirely obscure her beauty.

Yu Qi was momentarily dazed at the sight, but he quickly shook his head and gently tapped Dongyun on the shoulder. "Hey, wake up?"

Dongyun frowned slightly before opening her eyes. Seeing a figure suddenly materialize before her, she felt a jolt of panic and hurriedly scrambled backward. Recognizing Yu Qi, she finally let out a sigh of relief. "It's... it's you."

"Who else could it be? Get up, let's look for Qingnan," Yu Qi said, wincing through the pain, before heading toward the dense brush behind them.

Dongyun glanced at the surrounding pitch-black darkness and the rustling leaves stirred by the wind, feeling a sudden chill creep down her spine. She scrambled to her feet and quickly followed Yu Qi.

Of the three, Dongyun had sustained the lightest injuries. Having fallen from a height of several zhang, she had merely suffered from the severe impact.

With her help, Yu Qi's search became much easier. Soon, they had thoroughly scoured a radius of about ten meters around them, yet there was still no sign of Mu Qingnan.

An expression of anxiety surfaced on Yu Qi's face. If Qingnan had gone missing, how could he ever face Mu Wenfeng?

At that moment, some movement suddenly came from directly above their heads. Looking up, they spotted a figure hanging upside down, his ankles entangled in thick tree vines. Although unconscious, his body swayed continuously in the drafting wind.

Who else could this person be if not Mu Qingnan?

Seeing him, Yu Qi finally let out a breath of relief. He reached for the demon seed strapped to his back and handed it to Dongyun. "My injuries haven't healed yet, and I shouldn't exert myself too much. Go help him cut the vines."

Dongyun nodded and took the eerie, broken sword.

The moment she touched the demon seed, a piercing wave of ice-cold energy seeped into her body, making the hairs on her arms stand on end.

Trembling slightly with apprehension, she leaped up and sliced through the vines wrapped around Mu Qingnan's ankles.

She then hurriedly returned the demon seed to Yu Qi. Just holding the hilt of that sword made her feel as though she had been plunged into a ten-thousand-year-old glacial cave—it was intensely cold.

She could not help her curiosity and hurriedly asked, "What on earth is this sword? It's so bizarre!"

"The Sword of Vengeance!" Yu Qi replied coldly. He then went over to support Mu Qingnan, who had fallen to the ground and was now blinking his eyes open.

Mu Qingnan rubbed his eyes. "Big brother, Lady Dongyun, are we dead yet?"

"Dead your head." Having shared such a brush with death alongside Mu Qingnan, Dongyun felt her heart gradually softening toward them.

She pinched Mu Qingnan's arm hard, making him gasp sharply.

Feeling the pain radiating from his arm, Mu Qingnan instantly beamed. "Great, we're not dead! Hahaha..."

Yu Qi placed the demon seed back onto his back and looked into the distance. "Let's go. I'm afraid the men from the Vulture Sect might track us down."

Though they had plunged off a cliff, this place was not overly far from the Vulture Sect. While normally anyone falling from such a height would already be dead, one could never rule out the possibility that the Vulture Sect members might be thorough.

"Big brother, where are we going?" Mu Qingnan asked, looking somewhat lost.

Yu Qi shook his head. "I don't know. We'll take it one step at a time. Returning to Anlong County City is out of the question."

***

This was a towering mountain.

Surrounded by sheer cliffs on three sides, it possessed only a single path leading down the mountain.

Dotted across its upper slopes were numerous buildings, most notably the grandest one situated dead center. In front of it lay a spacious plaza, where a massive stone sculpture of a vulture stood erect.

Guards stood at intervals around the plaza, but each of them had a white cloth bound around their arm—a clear sign that they had just finished holding a funeral.

At this moment, inside the central hall, a coffin lay horizontally.

Two rows of people sat on either side before the coffin, and seated in the primary seat at the front was a middle-aged man with thin lips, a hooked nose, and a pair of piercing, sharp eyes. His facial features bore a striking resemblance to the deceased Ge Peng.

He was Ge Tao, the master of the Vulture Sect.

Ge Tao's face was exceptionally grim. Looking at Elder Wu seated at the front, he said, "Wu Weihe, bring me the portraits of those people. How dare they kill Peng'er—I will tear them limb from limb."

"Wait a moment, Sect Master. I will go right back and have someone draw them," Wu Weihe said, cupping his fists before stepping outside.

Ge Tao waved his hand to dismiss the others, then slowly stood up.

His palms were clenched so tightly that they trembled from the sheer force.

Today, his son had actually been murdered. The more he thought about it, the more furious he became.

Ge Tao walked over to Ge Peng's coffin and looked down at his son, whose entire body lay pale and still inside. Tears welled up in his eyes and trickled down.

"Peng'er, I will definitely track down those three and kill them to accompany you in death. I swear I will!" Ge Tao vowed viciously, his hands gripping the wood of the coffin so tightly that the surface caved inward significantly.

About the time it takes to brew a cup of tea later, Wu Weihe walked back in, presenting three portraits in his hands.

Ge Tao flattened the portraits out on a table. The figures drawn upon them were precisely Yu Qi and his two companions.

As he stared at the three likenesses, the fury in his eyes blazed so intensely it seemed tangible enough to erupt into flames.

Watching the seething Ge Tao, Wu Weihe spoke softly, "Sect Master, among these three, there is one person we need to pay special attention to."

"Who?" Ge Tao demanded coldly.

"Him." Wu Weihe pointed a finger at Mu Qingnan. "This young man is the son of the General of Gods. If we want to kill them, we must uproot them entirely and leave no loose ends. Otherwise..."

Despite being consumed by rage, Ge Tao had not lost his reason. Upon hearing the phrase "son of the General of Gods," his heart skipped a beat.

If they failed to leave no trace behind, the wrath of the General of Gods was something a hundred of their kind could never withstand.

At this thought, he hastily ordered, "You, take men immediately to search the bottom of the cliff. I want to see a body if they're dead, and a living person if they're alive! If they're still breathing, slaughter them—they must die!"

"Understood!"