Spicy Grass, Misdirection

The White Rock Valley in the Python Mountains was named after the white rocks everywhere in the valley. 

A bonfire was burning. Three Mystical Warriors sat facing each other around the fire with dark expressions on their faces. 

They were all dressed in Mystical Warrior outfits with a burning flame pattern on their belts. They were the three guides of the Fire-Cloud Dojo—Hong Xi, Lu Zhuo, and Wei Haoshan! 

The flickering firelight reflected on their faces, revealing their gloomy expressions. 

After a while, Lu Zhuo said, "What should we do now? The rascal is as slippery as an eel. We are always one step behind when we arrive at the spot where our disciples ignited the flare."

Hong Xi said indifferently, "Don't worry. The three teams of disciples we sent have blocked his way out of the Python Mountains. Now he is a fish in the barrel and he will be caught by us sooner or later."

Wei Haoshan coughed and asked, "What if the kid is not willing to come out? He may also do exactly the opposite by returning to the same route he came from, and our plan will be useless."

Hong Xi shook his head and said, "No, he only has a limited amount of food with him. He can't sustain that long. He would need many days' worth of time whether he chooses to hide or return to the same route."

Although Hong Xi was not the strongest, he seemed to be the leader among the three. He was cunning and smart and his words were well-founded and convincing. Hence, even Wei Haoshan who was unruly and fierce trusted Hong Xi's analysis unconsciously. 

Just as the three were sitting around the bonfire, a flare rocket was shot not far from the west. It suddenly burst into the night sky and turned into a blaze of burning flames! 

"There it is!" Hong Xi said excitedly, "Let's go!" 

Wei Haoshan was an impetuous person. He quickly stimulated his Mystical Power and rose from the ground, dashing toward the direction of the flare rocket, with Hong Xi and Lu Zhuo following closely on his heels. 

The three were masters with cultivations from Advanced Mystical Warrior onward. Their speed was extremely fast and they arrived at the spot within half an hour. 

"Where is that kid?" Lu Zhuo asked in a deep voice. 

Hong Xi's thoughts were more meticulous. His face was pale when he realized that there were only three disciples present. He asked, "What's going on, where is the other person in your team?" 

The three disciples were huddled together. They were finally relieved when they saw the three instructors approaching. They said, "Instructor, Liu Can… was killed by that person!" 

"What?" Hong Xi frowned and asked for details.

The three disciples were shocked and there was only one of them who said boldly, "We were patrolling in a party and the distance between each of us was only ten steps apart. Three of us turned back quickly after hearing a scream but only saw a dark shadow flashing into the woods on the side. Everything happened so quickly, we couldn't see a thing... When we stepped forward to investigate, Liu Can was already dead. That's when we quickly released a rocket to get help." 

"Did you see which direction he went into?" Wei Haoshan snorted, "You guys are hopeless!" He really wanted to slap these useless guys. 

Hong Xi's face darkened. He formed an imprint with both hands. A trace of Liu Can's blood was captured and then turned into a mist of blood. 

The Blood-Binding Technique was used once again. 

Wei Haoshan, Hong Xi and Lu Zhuo followed immediately, watching the faint bloodline spread forward. 

The bloodline soon faded after less than a hundred feet. Wei Haoshan identified the direction and said, "The kid didn't take the opportunity to break through the line of defense and return to Lin Yuan City, but instead he is fleeing into the deeper areas of the Python Mountains?" 

The direction that this blood line was pointing to was the deeper areas of the Python Mountains from where they came. 

The three Mystical Warriors looked at each other with frustration. All of a sudden, a flare rocket lit up again not far away and the shadow of the flame illuminated the sky. 

"Sh*t, hurry up!" The three of them had a tacit understanding. They immediately shot toward the direction of the rocket using their maximum speed. It was as fast as wind and lightning. 

"That area is where Zhu Fan's party is located. They are far away from Liu Can's party!" Hong Xi said with his breathing well-controlled despite their haste. 

"What is going on? Does he want to kill all of our disciples and avoid confronting us?" Wei Haoshan's cultivation was higher than Hong Xi's. His breathing was even more stable, thus he was able to speak with much ease. "Such a daring one! Once I get a hold of him, I must make him feel that it is better to die than to live!"

Lu Zhuo did not say a word, but from his worried expression, the whole situation was bothering him as well. 

The three Mystical Warriors once again rushed to the area where Zhu Fan's team was located. They found out that the situation was even more serious as Xu Yang had killed two disciples! 

"What's going on?" Wei Haoshan growled. "You have four people in your team, all of you have cultivations of Intermediate to Advanced Mystical Learner. You can't even handle a kid whose cultivation is only at the Early tier of a Mystical Learner. Moreover, two of you were killed!"　 

The disciple named Zhu Fan was slightly plump, and he was panting continuously, "Instructor, does that guy really have the cultivation of an Early-tier Mystical Learner? I saw with my own eyes that he crushed Fei Long's sternum with a punch and cut Ma Heng's throat with his palm… the whole process didn't take more than ten breaths… It was horrible!"

Hong Xi slapped Zhu Fan. The force caused him to spin and stagger, falling onto the ground dizzily. 

"The situation is serious now," Hong Xi said with a grim look. "The boy is making a fool out of us. The three of us being together has caused the situation to escalate as he is aiming for the disciples. We should not stay together."

"How did your Blood-Binding Technique fail?" Lu Zhuo asked, "The direction we saw was clearly going toward the deeper areas of the Python Mountains but now the enemy has appeared in the outer region, and killing our disciples!"

Hong Xi was slightly puzzled as he said, "I'm sure that the boy has found a way to avoid the Blood-Binding Technique but I'm not sure how. However, now is not the time to play the blame game! We must divide and conquer, and guard the disciples secretly. Kill the kid once he appears!"

Out of helplessness, they had no choice but to wait in hiding for an ambush. 

Neither Lu Zhuo nor Wei Haoshan had any objections. In their opinion, any Mystical Warrior could easily kill Xu Yang regardless of whether they were together or apart. This was not arrogance. It was because there was a huge gap between a Mystical Warrior and a Mystical Learner. 

Mystical Learners could only fight with their body strength but not able to cultivate Mystical Skills. Their strengths were not much stronger compared to ordinary people. Mystical Warriors were strong as they had turned virtual into reality and formed the Mystical Turbine. They were not only much stronger in terms of body strength but they also have the ability to control rich Mystical Qi and cast Mystical Skills. That was why there was a huge strength gap between both realms. 

"Now, I'll play your game!" Hong Xi had lost his calmness and reasoning abilities. "As long as you dare to show up, I will hang you and peel off your skin!" 

At the same moment, Xu Yang was already on his way to Lin Yuan City in the darksome night. 

"The speed of the three Mystical Warriors is faster than mine but definitely not by much," Xu Yang thought while dashing using the Running Horse Stance of the Dynamic-Static Combined Qi-Introducing Technique. "When they realize what has happened, I would already be half a day's journey ahead of them. It will be difficult for them to catch up to me since they have to bring along the group of Mystical Learner disciples."

The Mystical Energy in the surroundings flowed into Xu Yang's body as he was using the Running Horse Stance constantly, working their magic with every breath he took.　　 

The Dynamic-Static Combined Qi-Introducing Technique was the fruit of the wisdom of Mystical Cultivators in ten thousand years' time. Its effect could be compared with those divine scriptures. Xu Yang's stamina had been highly improved as he was utilizing the Mystical Qi as he ran for his life. If an average Mystical Learner were to run at full speed like Xu Yang, his Mystical Energy would be drained within twenty miles. 

There was some light blue grass juice on Xu Yang's body. He had actually used this herb called Spicy Grass to interfere with the Blood-Binding Technique. 

Spicy Grass had a pungent smell that causes disturbance to dead souls. Xu Yang read about this from a medicine book in the Scripture Pavilion, and it actually came in handy today. 　 

"Although rushing at night can attract beasts easily, I have no other choice. I can only hope that no Mutants will be attracted!"　 

Mutants were beasts that had consumed certain divine herbs. They were much stronger than ordinary beasts. Some of the Mutants could even cultivate Mystical Energy and evolve into higher leveled Savages.

The current Xu Yang could not even fight with the weakest of Mutants. 　 

With half the night gone, Hong Xi still had not seen any rocket signals. Zhu Fan and the other disciples he was protecting secretly had no signs of being attacked. His anxiety was gradually lowered and his reasoning abilities were back in place. 

"Xu Yang is a ruthless character. He can kill Mystical Learners of the Intermediate and Advanced tiers with his strength of an Early Mystical Learner, the likes of slaughtering chickens and dogs. It is difficult to deal with him because of his cunning mind and intelligence." Hong Xi analyzed. "Will he continue to assassinate our disciples with what we have set up?"

Hong Xi's thin eyebrows furrowed slowly and he murmured, "D*mn, I'm afraid my analysis is off. The kid is not an impulsive person. He will definitely take the opportunity to escape. Our plan has given him time to run away."

With this thought, Hong Xi was no longer hesitant. He jumped down from the tree. The disciples were shocked when they saw someone there and straightened their faces with respect. 　 

Hong Xi was not bothered to tell them much. He said, "Launch your flare rocket!" 

A rocket was shot and burst into the night sky. It turned into a cloud of flames and slowly dissipated. 

Wei Haoshan and Lu Zhuo arrived with expectant faces after half an hour. 

"Where's the rascal?"　　 

Hong Xi waved his hand and expressed his thoughts solemnly. He said, "Let's hurry up and chase after him! The closer we get to Linyuan City, the fewer trees there are, and the flatter the terrain. We will definitely be able to capture him as he has nowhere to hide. After all, we can run much faster than him as we are in the realm of a Mystical Warrior."

"This is just your speculation," Wei Haoshan hummed. "Why did you ignite the flare if you didn't catch the kid? Don't you know what will happen to the disciples I'm taking care of if he misdirects us again?" 

"I agree with Brother Wei," Lu Zhuo, who had always been silent said, "No one knows where the kid is hiding. Maybe it is another deception strategy he has planned. Five disciples have died in our team. We will be disqualified if one more turns up dead! What will the Chief think of us if we return disqualified?"