227: Chapter 227 Pure Profound Cave Heaven

Before she could finish her sentence, a wolf-Yao under E Kuang's command turned its gaze toward her. It eyed the woman for a moment, licked the corners of its mouth with the tip of its tongue, and bared half of its fangs, as if it had seen something quite appetizing.

"This one is not bad."

The wolf-Yao reached out its claw, and with a snap, grabbed the woman by the neck.

Before the woman's last word had even faded, her neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, emitting a barely audible crunch.

It tightened its grip, as if wringing the neck of a freshly plucked chicken, and twisted off the head that was still trembling slightly. It turned the head over to examine the severed edge, as if checking whether the fascia had been cut cleanly, then brought it to its mouth and took a bite. The crunching sound of chewing was distinct and crisp in the dim cave.

"Truly delicious."

The child was still curled up in the woman's arms, his body not yet reacting, his hand still clutching the woman's now-cold hem. After a few breaths, he slowly lifted his head.

Staring at the body that would no longer move, he seemed not to understand what had happened, or perhaps he already did, but simply didn't know what to do...

The Yao were having a great time.

Taking pleasure in the fear of Mortals, the entire Immortal Cave was in a frenzy.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the entrance of the cave.

A sturdy-looking Yao general strode in, his entire body covered in dark brown scales, with uncleaned bloodstains still remaining on his shoulders.

He walked up to E Kuang, knelt on one knee, lowered his head, and said in a low voice, "Great King, I have investigated clearly."

"Yesterday's disturbance was caused by Cultivators of the Human Race entering the mountain and clashing with that group of Yao from Qingfeng Ravine."

E Kuang's chewing slowed down, his E Kuangs slowly closing with a dull grinding sound.

He spat the chewed-up bone fragments onto the ground and straightened his body. "Fighting with Human Race Cultivators—that kind of commotion is definitely at the Golden Core level. What are those Yao from Qingfeng Ravine up to?"

The Yao general continued, "According to the minor Yao who saw it, those Human Race Cultivators were all killed by that great crow-Yao; not a single one escaped."

E Kuang was silent for a moment before asking, "Did you find out the reason?"

The Yao general shook his head. "Not yet."

"The defenses at Qingfeng Ravine are very strict. There are crows patrolling the perimeter, all of which have achieved some level of cultivation. If one gets too close, they will be discovered. The minor Yao dare not get too near."

Upon hearing this, E Kuang couldn't help but say, "Could it be that news of the Grotto-Heaven here has leaked?"

After saying that, E Kuang fell silent himself. What he didn't notice was that the Yao general before him, who was keeping his head lowered in a kneeling position, had a flash of strange emotion in his eyes the moment he heard the words 'Grotto-Heaven'.

But quickly... he lowered his eyelids, hiding that fleeting emotion, and immediately resumed his previous submissive posture. His tone was steady, as if he were just casually adding, "Is the Great King referring to the rumored Jingxuan Grotto-Heaven?"

E Kuang's gaze was still fixed outside the cave. Upon hearing this question, he seemed to have his attention pulled back slightly and replied casually, "Otherwise what? But that shouldn't be. The matter of that Grotto-Heaven should only be known to me and Horned Dragon. As for the rest..."

At this point, E Kuang realized what he had said, and his voice trailed off. He turned his head, his gaze falling on the Yao general, lingering for a moment.

E Kuang watched him for two breaths, his expression showing no obvious change. He simply turned his head back and waved a claw. "Alright, I know now."

"You may withdraw."

"Yes."

The Yao general stood up, retreated two steps, turned, and walked toward the cave entrance. His pace was steady, neither fast nor slow, and he soon disappeared into the night outside the cave.

E Kuang sat in his beast-bone chair, looking in that direction, without making a sound.

Outside the cave, after the Yao general walked out of E Kuang's line of sight, the respectful look on his face vanished completely, as if a thin layer of skin had been peeled away.

His pace was fast as he passed through the torch-lit passageway outside the cave, brushing past several patrols of Yao soldiers.

When those Yao soldiers saw him coming, they stepped aside to make way and bowed their heads in salute, saying, "General Qiuya."

He did not respond, nor did he pause, simply nodding slightly as a greeting.

Qiuya. One of the Yao generals under E Kuang, his true form was an Iron-Scaled pangolin with a cultivation of Early Stage Third Rank, ranking him among the top of E Kuang's subordinates.

He usually didn't speak much, and he always handled the tasks E Kuang entrusted to him cleanly and efficiently, which was why he was quite trusted.

He passed the last torch-lit intersection and turned into a small path leading to the side of the mountain. The moonlight shone on his dark brown scales, casting a cold gleam.

Confirming there were no other Yao soldiers around, he stopped and leaned against the stone wall, as if waiting for something.

A moment later, a rustling sound came from above the stone wall, and three figures dropped silently from the shadows, landing beside him.

The three figures were not of the Human Race, and their auras were all different, but they were all suppressed very low; if one didn't look carefully, one wouldn't notice them at all.

The figure on the left was thin and long, covered in grayish-white feathers with a slender neck. A pair of vertical pupils gleamed with a pale golden light, reflecting in the dark like an owl's eyes. When it spoke, its voice was unhurried: "Did he let it slip?"

Qiuya nodded.

"Just as we expected, E Kuang has such cultivation yet refuses to head to the Ten Directions Yao Kingdom, instead fighting Horned Dragon here for so many years, all because he is plotting for the Jingxuan Grotto-Heaven."

"From his tone, we can roughly guess that both he and Horned Dragon knew the location of the Jingxuan Grotto-Heaven, but the two of them fought for so many years and neither dared to make the first move. Now that Horned Dragon is dead, E Kuang definitely won't be able to hold back."

At this, the figure on the right spoke up, "What about those crow-Yao? They appeared suddenly—could it be that they are also...?"

Qiuya shook his head. "Not sure, but probably not."

"That group of Yao offended the Yuexuan Guard of the Youyue Dynasty and killed quite a few of them. The people from the Yuexuan Guard certainly won't let it rest, so we don't need to worry about them for now."

As he finished speaking, the three figures nodded in succession.

"But, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Hanjie, after you go back, just have someone keep an eye on that group of Yao from Qingfeng Ravine."

Hanjie, whose true form was a Cold Water Lizard with a cultivation of Early Stage Third Rank, was responsible for espionage and communication. Having operated in the water systems around Black Stone Ridge for a long time, he rarely missed a target.

Hanjie immediately replied, "Understood."

Afterward, he slid back into the shadows, like a snake moving silently, disappearing into the night along the crevices of the stone wall.

Qiuya's gaze turned to the figure on the right crouching on the rock. "Shilin, what about your side? Have you found a target yet?"

"Found one."

"The Xuanqing Sect, sixty miles to the north. It's a small Sect with no more than a hundred people. The Sect Master is at the Early Stage Golden Core, and the rest are all Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining. There are no tough nuts to crack."

Qiuya nodded slightly. "That's good."

"The Jingxuan Grotto-Heaven is said to be filled with Buddha Power. The things left behind by those bald donkeys are specifically designed to suppress our Yao Race. We can't break in with brute force alone; we need to prepare a large amount of blood and bone to weaken the Restriction at the entrance."

"The flesh and blood of a few hundred people from a Sect should be enough."