The villagers didn't know why their ancestors had left the Underworld Raven Clan, but Feng Luotian believed he could piece together an explanation from what Wu Neng had told him.
Their ancestors had likely committed a grave transgression or a failure of such magnitude that the clan had assigned them to this desolate quadrant of the Warland Thicket as a penance.
To Luotian, a guarding assignment under such conditions amounted to banishment. Cut off from the clan's resources and guidance, the exiles would have little chance to improve their circumstances.
The only narrow bridge back to the clan's grace would have been for a descendant to cultivate enough raw strength without external support to prove their blood was still worthy of the name. But in such a resource-starved environment, devoid of high-grade alchemy or the guidance of the clan's elders, that task was a mathematical impossibility.
Facing the creeping inevitability of their own extinction, those first ancestors must have decided to bury the shameful truth beneath a veil of duty.
He suspected they had chosen to conceal their disgrace, teaching their children to live peacefully and perform Guide of Soul instead. What began as punishment would have become a sacred duty for later generations.
Luotian sighed internally, the air in the hut feeling suddenly heavy with the ghosts of a thousand years of disappointment. While he understood the clan's harsh judgment, he also recognized that this was not a thread he could pull on just yet.
He would leave the matter alone until he had the strength to challenge the clan's decrees. The villagers might eventually discover the reason for their exile themselves.
* * *
Feng Luotian spent half a day talking with Wu Neng and his family. By the time they finished, the sun was sinking below the horizon, coloring the sky violet and orange.
It was time for him to bid farewell.
As the moment of departure arrived, Wu Xin was informed by her parents that her "big brother" could not remain with them. The news devastated the small girl; she broke into fat, rolling tears, throwing a brief but passionate tantrum before fleeing to her room. The muffled slam of her door echoed through the quiet house. Despite the heartbreak, the rest of the villagers could only offer a wry, sympathetic smile at the child's raw reaction.
Later, as Luotian stood at the dusty perimeter of the settlement, ready to depart, the gathered villagers—save for the hidden Wu Xin—stood in a solemn line to send him off. Just as he turned to take his first step into the encroaching shadows of the forest, Tu Lingxi caught up to him, her breathing slightly elevated from her hurried pace.
"What are you going to do next?" she asked, her tone vibrating with a clear, underlying curiosity.
"I'm planning to pay a visit to their hideout. There's still something that bothers me," Luotian replied, his gaze fixing on the distant treeline.
"What is it?" Lingxi raised her eyebrows, her interest visibly piqued.
"Why did Jiu Hao rush back to his base the moment he knew you were attacking it?" Luotian answered with a question.
Lingxi paused, her expression shifting into a thoughtful, focused mask. "Now that you mention it, his actions were indeed suspicious."
The logic did not hold. Unless there was something of vital importance anchored at the bandit hideout, why would Jiu Hao bother traveling back and forth across such treacherous terrain when his primary objective was to crush the village? It might have been a cache of cultivation resources, rare forged weapons, ancient treasures, or something far more clandestine. Whatever the prize, the location was worth investigating—especially with its defenders now fertilizing the village soil.
"Wanna come?" Luotian invited, his tone casual.
Lingxi blinked in surprise, a faint, sudden blush creeping into her cheeks. She had not expected him to suggest they travel together in such a private capacity. Still, she quickly masked the flicker of emotion and replied with apparent indifference, "Okay, I'll tag along until we're sure this bandit matter is fully resolved."
"Are you not going to bid farewell?" Luotian asked.
"Just wait a minute."
Lingxi disappeared back into the village for a brief moment, informing the elders of her plan to scout the hideout before continuing her solitary journey to seek a breakthrough. The villagers, understanding her drive for cultivation and seeing no reason to tether her now that the threat had vanished, offered their heartfelt well-wishes.
Moments later, she reappeared beside Luotian, her posture calm and composed. "I'm ready," she said.
"Which way is their hideout?" Luotian asked.
Lingxi pointed a slender finger toward the north. "It's that way, several miles from here."
A playful thought struck Luotian. "You said speed was your strongest asset. How about a race? Whoever reaches the hideout first gets to pick one item from the spoils."
Lingxi gave him a challenging look. "You want to race me over that distance? You're on. Get ready to lose."
Luotian responded with a chuckle, entirely unfazed by her confidence.
Though she had witnessed his impressive velocity during the clash with the bandits, Lingxi had also noted that his movement relied heavily on a violent expenditure of Theríon and likely could not be sustained over long intervals.
If this were a contest of short-range bursts, she might have hesitated, but a race requiring them to maintain a peak pace over a vast distance? That was her specialty. Unlike him, she could traverse the air with effortless grace, soaring over the obstacles of the forest floor—monsters, tangled roots, and uneven hills.
This wager felt entirely in her favor. To think a peer of the same cultivation level dared to challenge her in her own domain!
On the other hand, Luotian had his own motives. Having recently ascended to Six Fangs, he was eager to test the newfound endurance of his Pinnacle Flash Lightning. Doing so in silence would have been dull, so he had turned the exercise into a wager. Losing did not concern him in the least.
He picked up a smooth pebble from the dirt, holding it aloft between his thumb and forefinger. "We'll start when this pebble hits the ground."
Lingxi waved her hand dismissively, a confident grin blooming on her face. "Whatever you say."
A sharp spark crackled through the air as Luotian activated Pinnacle Flash Lightning, the golden discharge illuminating the twilight. Simultaneously, Lingxi placed a sakura petal beneath her foot, her internal energy readying for flight.
The pebble hit the earth with a soft, final thud, followed immediately by an explosive crack.
Boom!
Both figures vanished in a blur of motion, leaving only twin plumes of churning dust behind as they propelled themselves forward at a punishing pace.
Standing at the edge of the village, Wu Neng watched the dust settle and let out a long sigh. "These youngsters… they'll undoubtedly become great individuals in the future," he murmured, a touch of melancholy in his voice as he lamented his own modest talent.
* * *
A few minutes later, Feng Luotian reached the hideout and collapsed on the dry ground, drenched in sweat. He gasped for air, his Theríon nearly spent after pushing himself to the limit.
Meanwhile, Tu Lingxi stood on a swaying tree branch nearby, looking as fresh as if she had just stepped out of a morning bath. She crossed her arms triumphantly, a melodic laugh spilling from her lips. "Hahaha!! I told you to get ready to lose, didn't I, Big Brother Feng?"
It was her race, without question. Lingxi had arrived a full ten seconds earlier, her breathing steady and her face clear. Her Petal Prance ability had allowed her to glide through the canopy with minimal effort, conserving her Theríon while Luotian had been forced to tear through the undergrowth below.
"Aah, you're good, Little Sister Tu. I'll give you that," Luotian admitted, offering a weary thumbs up as he fought to stabilize his lungs.
The face of Lingxi lit up with a flash of pride, and she began hopping playfully from branch to branch, savoring the victory. After the initial excitement faded, she plopped down in the grass beside Luotian, waiting with a quiet patience for him to recover so they could begin their infiltration.
"Please call me Lingxi. I don't want you to stand on ceremony with me, Big Brother Feng," she said suddenly, her words coming out softer and faster than usual, as if she were trying to outrun her own embarrassment.
Luotian heard the subtle shift in her voice and, catching a glimpse of this timid, vulnerable side, he couldn't suppress a chuckle. "You're just a kid after all, Lingxi."
"You!!" Lingxi snapped, turning sharply to glare at him, her cheeks puffed out in a mask of frustration. "If you call me a kid again, I'll punch you!"
"Hahaha," Luotian burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the silent, abandoned camp.
After a short rest, Luotian's breathing steadied and his Theríon began to recover. He rose and beckoned Lingxi to follow. Together, they searched the hideout for treasure and for whatever had made Jiu Hao so anxious to return.
Their initial search, however, was underwhelming. Most of the camp contained little more than rusted iron, standard leather armor, and crates of salted meat. Finally, they turned their attention to the most prominent structure: the private quarters of Jiu Hao.
The moment they stepped across the threshold, their efforts were rewarded. The room was a sanctuary of ill-gotten gains—glittering monster cores, vials of alchemy pills, and several advanced weapons, all arranged with a surprising sense of order.
"Wow!! They must have plundered a lot of people to gather all this!" Lingxi exclaimed, her eyes scanning the hoard with wide-eyed surprise as she moved toward a chest of gleaming blades.
Luotian, however, did not share her enthusiasm. His expression remained solemn, his eyes reflecting the dark cost of the treasures. "There must have been a lot of innocent lives lost because of them," he said quietly, the scent of blood still seemingly clinging to the gold.
Noticing the cold shift in his mood, the excitement of Lingxi dimmed, and her movements grew subdued. "Yes… It's good that we got rid of these guys," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
Luotian nodded but didn't linger on the piles of coin. Instead, he walked toward the main desk at the center of the room, searching for something with more weight—something that might connect the scattered events of the past few weeks.
As he rifled through the discarded scrolls and maps, his mind began to bridge the gaps. First, the village had been harassed by a Talon monster displaying the unnatural, disciplined behavior of a tamed beast. Second, that creature was at the exact same level as the Wight Wolf that had been dispatched to assassinate Mei Yue'er. Third, immediately following the failed monster strike, the bandits had arrived to seize the Underworld Orb.
The sequence was too tight to be a coincidence. Luotian began to suspect that Jiu Hao was not a mere rogue, but a pawn connected to the same culprit responsible for the attempt on Mei Yue'er.
While he was absorbed in the scrolls, the voice of Lingxi broke his concentration. "Look! They even robbed one of your schools. These two chests of monster cores and pills have your Peacock School's sigil!"
Luotian looked up, and sure enough, the lacquered wood of the chests bore the distinctive, flamboyant crest of the Peacock School. He chuckled softly, a dry and mirthless sound. "They even dared to rob from our school? I can't tell if they were brave or just dumb enough to court d—"
Luotian broke off as he read a document. His face darkened, and his jaw tightened. Without a word, he put the paper into his spatial ring.
"What's wrong?" Lingxi asked, her brow furrowing as she noticed the abrupt change in his aura.
Luotian quickly masked the surge of emotion, shaking his head. "Nothing. It's just that there's nothing important here either. When you raided their hideout, it seems what Jiu Hao was worried about was probably just these treasures."
"Yeah, I guess," Lingxi replied, though her gaze lingered on him, her intuition telling her he was holding back a truth that had just changed everything.