One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

Dusk was falling on the southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains.

The setting sun dyed the rolling mountains a blood red, as if they had been splashed with a thick layer of oil paint.

On the edge of these vast mountains, a remote town that should only be visited by a few backpackers is now unusually crowded.

Deep in the no-man's-land, a few kilometers away.

I said…

Zhang Taichu stood under an old pine tree, looked down at the bright yellow T-shirt he was wearing with the words "I love Qinling" printed on it, and then looked at the green sun hat on his head. The veins on his forehead throbbed.

He raised his eyelids, his gaze turning sinister as he stared at Zhang Chulan, who was squatting on the ground tying his shoelaces.

"Is this your prepared... low-key disguise?"

"Do you think it's appropriate for someone my age to dress like this to go square dancing?"

Zhang Chulan's hand froze, and he quickly stood up with a forced smile, adjusting the large sunglasses on his nose.

"Oh, my dear advisor, you are unaware of this."

"That's called integrating into the community!"

He pointed to the brightly lit town in the distance:

"Look over there, young people these days dress like this when they travel! That's called 'Guochao' (national trend)! That's called fashion!"

"Since we're here as adventurous hikers, we should act like hikers."

"If you go in wearing a Taoist robe, you'll be like a firefly in the dark, making it hard to avoid being noticed."

Wang Ye, who was standing to the side, had already changed into a loose-fitting tracksuit, taken off his signature Taoist hairstyle, and tied it into a casual ponytail.

Looking at Zhang Taichu's forced "trendy" outfit, he couldn't help but smile wildly, his face turning red from holding it in.

Zhuge Qing adapted well, dressed in a light-colored casual suit. Although he no longer carried a folding fan, his flamboyant style was still impossible to hide.

"Alright."

Zhang Taichu, his face dark, ripped off his green hat and tossed it into the nearby bushes.

"Walk."

"If someone recognizes you, I'll rip off your trendy Chinese-style outfit and stuff it in your mouth."

The four of them followed the winding mountain road toward the small town called Qingmuchuan.

As soon as you step into the town's main street, a strange atmosphere hits you.

Although the streets were lined with red lanterns, the signs of various guesthouses and restaurants were dazzlingly bright, and shouts rose and fell, making it look like a bustling tourist destination.

But there was a faint smell of rust in the air.

That was the scent of weapons.

Several shirtless burly men were sitting in a roadside food stall.

Beer and kebabs were laid out in front of them, but the hands holding the bottles were covered in thick calluses.

"That's interesting."

Zhang Taichu walked at the front with his hands in his pockets, seemingly unconcerned.

His gaze swept over an old man shining shoes on the street corner.

The old man's hands were very steady, but the boning knife hidden under the shoe-shining cloth was pointed directly at the customer's ankle.

"They're all trained fighters."

Wang Ye lowered his voice, his hat brim pulled low, revealing only a pair of wary eyes:

"There are at least a hundred people carrying Qi along this street."

"And the approaches are quite varied."

Zhuge Qing adjusted his non-prescription glasses and glanced discreetly to his right at a hotel called "Backpackers' Home":

"That's a member of the Quanxing sect. I saw him at the Luotian Grand Ceremony."

"And over there, those blond-haired, blue-eyed guys don't look like tourists, they look more like mercenaries."

"Some of them even had a cold and obscure aura, making them look like some reclusive cultivators who have been living in seclusion for many years."

Zhang Chulan shrank back, looking like a naive college student, and followed closely behind Zhang Taichu:

"Good heavens... this has attracted all the demons and monsters in the entire world of supernatural beings."

"It seems the path pointed to by the rattle drum was correct; these people are definitely after Wugensheng's treasure as well."

Zhang Taichu ignored this.

He acted like a true tourist, ignoring the hostile and inquisitive stares around him, and walked straight into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that looked fairly clean.

"Boss, four bowls of oil-splashed noodles, extra chili."

Zhang Taichu found a corner seat and casually pulled out a few tissues to wipe the table.

The restaurant was quite crowded.

The sounds of noisy conversations and drinking games mingled together, amidst swirling smoke.

But the moment Zhang Taichu and his three companions sat down, the noise from the surrounding tables noticeably decreased by several decibels.

Countless streaks of light, like fine needles, pierced through the distance, barely perceptible.

Zhang Taichu didn't even lift his eyelids. He picked up a clove of garlic from the table, peeled it, and threw it into his mouth, chewing it with a crunching sound.

Have you heard?

At the next table, a burly man with a full beard lowered his voice and said mysteriously to his companion:

"This has blown up a lot."

"Not only did those lunatics from the Quanxing Sect come, but I heard even Granny Jin Feng, who had long since retired from the martial world, was captured!"

"Grandma Jin Feng?"

His companion, a young man as thin as a monkey, gasped upon hearing this, nearly dropping his chopsticks.

"Is that... Mei Jinfeng, who had an ambiguous relationship with Wugensheng back then?"

"Shh! You fucking want to die!"

The bearded man slapped the skinny monkey on the forehead, then looked around in alarm:

"Dare to address that person by their given name? Are you out of your mind?!"

He leaned closer, his voice extremely low, as if squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Let me tell you, the ones who arrested her were none other than that mysterious group that's been making headlines these past few days."

"I heard that old woman holds the key to Tongtian Valley!"

"If we capture her, we can find the place where the Thirty-Six Thieves swore their brotherhood, and perhaps even obtain the secret of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques!"

"hiss……"

The skinny monkey let out a greedy inhale, his eyes instantly turning red:

"The Eight Extraordinary Skills... If we could get our hands on a copy, what would we brothers ever have to worry about for the rest of our lives?"

in the corner.

Zhang Chulan was pretending to play on his phone, his fingers swiping rapidly across the screen, but his ears were perked up like antennas.

He looked up and exchanged a glance with Wang Ye opposite him.

Wang Ye nodded almost imperceptibly and mouthed:

"Golden Phoenix".

Zhang Chulan's heart skipped a beat.

really!

The reason this group of people gathered here is because of Granny Jin Feng!

That was the most senior member of the Quanxing sect, and the only one who might know where Wugensheng was hiding!

If Granny Jin Feng is really arrested, then the nature of this matter will change.

This is no longer a simple treasure hunt.

This was a premeditated hunt!

Just then.

Om-! ! !

A strange tremor came from deep underground without warning.

This tremor is not a physical earthquake.

The bowls and chopsticks on the table didn't move an inch, and the chandelier above didn't sway either.

But at that moment, all the strange people in the restaurant had a sudden change in expression.

That was a vibration targeting Qi!

It was like a giant heart that pounded violently deep in the mountains, several kilometers away.

That low-frequency humming sound penetrated the flesh directly, exploding in the eardrums and dantian of every superhuman, causing their blood and qi to surge and their heart to beat faster.

"Hmm!"

The skinny monkey clutched his chest, let out a muffled groan, and a trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

Even Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing frowned slightly, subconsciously circulating their Qi to resist the discomfort.

"That commotion..."

Zhuge Qing put down his teacup, gazing intently at the fine ripples spreading within it, his expression grave.

"This is a signal that some kind of large-scale formation has been forcibly activated."

"Or... some kind of barrier has shattered."

"It's open! It's open!!"

Suddenly, someone on the street let out a hysterical roar.

That shout was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a boiling oil pan.

The small town, which had been barely maintaining a semblance of peace, was instantly thrown into chaos.

Splash! ...

The sound of countless chairs being overturned rang out.

The diners in the restaurant, whether they were eating, drinking, or just bragging, all rushed out like madmen with red eyes.

"Charge!!"

"The Valley of Heavenly Passage is open!!"

"Whoever grabs it keeps it!!"

"Get out of my way! I'll kill you!!"

The streets instantly turned into a chaotic torrent.

Hundreds of extraordinary individuals no longer concealed their aura, and various colored lights shone in the night, like a procession of ghosts.

They jostled and pushed each other, some even resorting to violence, with flashes of swords and spears appearing in the crowd.

Everyone has only one goal.

That's at the edge of the town, where the majestic Qinling Mountains, shrouded in night, stand like a monstrous beast.

The direction from which the tremor came.

"this……"

Looking at the frenzied crowd outside the window, Zhang Chulan felt a chill run down his spine.

"They've gone mad...they've all gone mad..."

"Is this what they call... people dying for money?"

He turned his head and looked at Zhang Taichu, who was still sitting in the corner.

Just then, the four bowls of oil-splashed noodles were served.

The shop owner, looking at the empty shop, trembled with fear. He put down his bowl and crawled into the kitchen, too scared to come out.

Zhang Taichu did not rush to make a move.

He slowly broke apart a pair of disposable chopsticks, paused on the table, picked up a mouthful of wide noodles, and put it in his mouth.

"Slurp—"

Amidst the deafening shouts of battle, he calmly finished a mouthful of noodles and then took a bite of garlic.

They ate every last bit of noodles in the bowl, even drinking a sip of the soup.

Zhang Taichu then took out a tissue, elegantly wiped his mouth, and stood up.

He walked to the window and looked through the glass at the strange people swarming into the deep mountains like ants. A hint of undisguised mockery was revealed in his indifferent eyes.

"Tsk."

"A swarm of flies drawn by the smell of fish."

Zhang Taichu casually tossed the wad of tissue into the trash can. The sound wasn't loud, but it rang clearly in the ears of Zhang Chulan and the other two.

"Did you really think it was filled with honey?"

"Is this the kind of trash that deadbeat Wugensheng left behind that you can even touch?"

He turned around, hands in his pockets, his yellow T-shirt glaringly bright under the light, but his domineering aura completely overshadowed his attire.

"I'm gone."

"Now that the stage is set up, it's time for us to enter."

"If you go too late, you might not even be able to collect the body in time."

After saying that, Zhang Taichu took a step and disappeared instantly at the entrance of the restaurant.

Only one sentence remained, echoing in the air:

"I've got it."

"Stay close."

"If they get lost, I won't have time to come back and rescue them."