352: cat

After a day of rushing, Zhou Yan finally escaped the range of the Embers.

At first, saying it had eyes was just a joke, but after a full day of probing, Zhou Yan was certain that this thing definitely had eyes!

The speed of the Embers was sometimes fast and sometimes slow; as long as he didn't head north, it would gradually catch up.

But as long as he followed the border between the Eastern Extreme and the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, heading north, the Embers would maintain a constant speed.

Zhou Yan used this method to get rid of it.

But this unusual phenomenon also sounded an alarm for him.

"Someone must be playing tricks. The Embers couldn't appear here out of thin air; someone intentionally brought it... It keeps driving people north. Is there something up north?"

Although he was very worried, he had no choice but to head north.

"Hey, stop pretending you're asleep. If you keep it up, I'll dump you."

Zhou Yan swooped down, landed on a relatively flat slope, and casually tossed Long Tianxing onto the ground.

"You already dumped me. You didn't give me any time to react."

Long Tianxing first groaned, managed to sit up and complain, then looked at Zhou Yan with vigilance.

"Why did you save me?"

Zhou Yan clapped his hands and replied casually.

"Because I am your father."

Long Tianxing was choked by that sentence, unable to utter a word he had intended to say.

"The way you ask that question... I saved you, and instead of thanking me and offering some gold coins, you question why I saved you."

Long Tianxing rubbed his left shoulder, took out a red Medicinal Pill and consumed it. His injuries quickly recovered. After standing up, he first bowed to Zhou Yan, then took out two hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones.

"I only have this much cash on me. I also set aside 150,000 for travel expenses; I can give that to you too, if you want."

Seeing his smooth, flowing movements, Zhou Yan's eyes widened.

So practiced?

Seeing Zhou Yan stunned and not accepting the Spirit Stones, Long Tianxing suddenly seemed to realize something, revealing a wicked, charming expression.

"I'm not interested in women, in-in-in-in..."

Zhou Yan electrocuted him to the ground again, but this time, the control was proper. Long Tianxing didn't pass out, he was just completely numb.

Zhou Yan's face showed disgust as he casually pocketed the Spirit Stones.

"Speaking of which, how did you get so injured? Do you have any idea about those Embers?"

"Don't tell me you're heading to the Eastern Extreme without even knowing what the Sea of Quiet Embers and the Embers are."

The two temporarily partnered up and continued heading north through the jungle. Zhou Yan occasionally questioned Long Tianxing, who was trailing behind him.

Long Tianxing, however, was full of surprise.

What is wrong with this woman? Why is she so temperamental? One moment she electrocutes me and takes my Spirit Stones, and the next she's asking questions like an old friend?

Annoyed by the questioning, he decided to reveal everything.

"I had originally reached the border of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and was preparing to enter, but a group of Truth Cult members stopped me for inspection."

"It wasn't a big deal initially, but as soon as they heard I was from the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, they wanted to report it to their superiors, so I had to fight my way out. Not long after, I ran into a strange cat."

"A strange cat?" Zhou Yan looked back at him. "Why bring up a cat now?"

Long Tianxing shook his head.

"I don't know, but that cat was certainly strange. It could walk in the air, but it was upside down, as if the sky was the ground."

"Its strength was also immense. One swipe forced out my protective measures, and I was injured as a result, falling to the spot where you found me. If it weren't for this strange injury preventing me from flying, I wouldn't have needed your rescue."

Ignoring the slight arrogance in his tone, Zhou Yan felt a headache coming on. Could this sudden appearance of the Truth Cult be the same one Shi Suiyan mentioned?

They actually created such a massive setup.

Ahead, there's a strange cat with unknown strength lying in wait, and behind, the Sea of Quiet Embers is blocking the way. By the way, which staff passage did Shi Suiyan take?

How did she get around them?

Given this obvious targeting of Qingxu Grotto-Heaven Disciples, the Sect shouldn't ignore it. But the fact that Long Tianxing, traveling so late, still ran into them indicates they haven't targeted ordinary Disciples.

Who they are waiting for is self-evident.

Ma Hao, your parents... Wan La!

Ma Hao himself died and came back to life, living a second existence. Now he can't be selected. No wonder he dared to block me like this!

Zhou Yan was brainstorming, his brow slightly furrowed, his expression serious. Long Tianxing watched him from the side, suddenly finding the woman quite pleasing to the eye when she was acting normal.

She really seems different... "What are you staring at?" Zhou Yan turned his head, meeting Long Tianxing's gaze directly.

Long Tianxing's mouth twitched.

Fine, I was deceived by appearances after all.

I actually judged a book by its cover today?

The two walked a bit further, discussing the Truth Cult blocking the road, but they couldn't come up with a good solution.

Long Tianxing could only hope that the other side wouldn't dare touch him, a True Disciple. As Zhou Yan said, if they were truly targeting the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven like this, the Elders would have shown up long ago, and they wouldn't have been allowed to block the road for so long.

Zhou Yan, on the other hand, figured that since he was using the name of Taiyi City and had changed his gender, he should be able to slip through.

Thus, they decided to head to the nearest Truth Cult outpost.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought about bypassing the Truth Cult and entering directly, but as soon as they tried to deviate, those damned Embers would start chasing them again.

Truth Cult Outpost.

"This is so boring. When will it end?" A Young Woman draped her long legs over a small table, complaining bitterly.

The Young Man next to her occasionally stole glances at her fair legs, swallowing his saliva.

Just then, a senior Elder put down his thermos cup.

"Stop complaining. It's not like blocking the road here is a glorious task."

"A while ago, another outpost was violently breached. If you ask me, the best outcome is for us to safely wait until the end without anyone showing up here."

The Young Man wiped his mouth and quickly agreed.

"Yes, those beautiful legs... ah, no, isn't it better if no one comes?"

The Young Woman glanced at the Young Man but said nothing, continuing to lie back lazily.

The Young Man blushed and shifted his position, but his gaze remained fixed.

The Elder shook his head and lay back in his chair.

But the next second, a shadow enveloped him.

He opened his eyes in displeasure, about to ask who was blocking the light, but as soon as he saw the newcomer clearly, he scrambled to his feet.

"Greetings, S-Sir!"

Hearing the sound, the Young Woman and the Young Man turned their heads, awkwardly tumbled to the ground, and hastily got up to salute.

The newcomer was tall, dressed in a black cloak and wearing a black cowboy hat. The wide brim obscured his face, revealing only a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Get up. Do what you're supposed to do. I don't eat people."

An elegant male voice came from beneath the cloak, seemingly possessing the power to soothe people. The three quickly returned to their posts, but no one dared to slack off again. Even though no one had arrived, they sat ramrod straight, their eyes sharp.

Finding it boring, the Cloaked Man lay down on the reclining chair the Elder had just occupied to rest.

But as soon as he lay down, those blue eyes opened again.

"Oh dear, I was planning to find a quiet place to slack off, but I didn't expect an unexpected gain."

"It's that kid who breached the checkpoint earlier, and a... Female Cultivator?"

Hearing the Cloaked Man's whisper, the three immediately became busy. Before long, their targets appeared.

As soon as Long Tianxing saw the outpost, he wanted to flee. Just as he turned around, he bumped into a tall figure.

"Little Brother, what's the rush? Weren't you quite good at running away before?"

Zhou Yan also saw the person who suddenly appeared behind them and subconsciously scanned him using the panel.

[¿¿¿]

Holy cow? What kind of panel is this?

That person looked at Zhou Yan, wrapped one arm around Long Tianxing, and took out a handkerchief with the other hand, gently placing it on Zhou Yan's shoulder over the cloth.

"Don't be nervous, both of you. Just follow the proper procedure. Even if this Little Brother breached the checkpoint earlier, as long as you pass the inspection, I won't make things difficult."

"The Truth Cult is technically in the wrong here. We are just trying to capture a specific enemy. As long as you are not that person, nothing will happen."

His tone was gentle, but to Long Tianxing and Zhou Yan, it felt incredibly heavy, as if they were facing those few unreliable Elders back in the Sect.