Journey to the West: The Mountain Shaker

Chapter 95 Infiltration

After leaving the inner room, the old Taoist was hit a few times in a corner and suddenly embedded in the wall. He fell directly into a hidden compartment in the earthen wall and landed in a steep, downward-facing passage. After turning a few corners, the terrain suddenly opened up, and he had reached the outer edge of the trial ground.

At the entrance, a young female cultivator stood with her arms crossed against the wall, seemingly waiting for the old Taoist priest.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to risk your lives." The old Taoist waved his hand at the female cultivator.

"That's good." The female cultivator also breathed a sigh of relief. This woman, who looked somewhat like Kong Fande, was none other than Kong Xiangyun, the only one among his children to have entered the Dao. "But, if you're not going to risk your life, why call so many people?"

"Xu Ping'an didn't intend to come out alive, but we still have to save a few ordinary people," the old Taoist replied.

"Is that so?" Kong Xiangyun finally breathed a sigh of relief, giving a thumbs-up and praising, "Everyone says my brother-in-law is amazing, he truly is a hero! This afternoon I'll do everything in my power to bring those thirty-odd Xu clan members out, no matter what!"

To face death calmly is certainly remarkable.

The old Taoist priest glanced at Kong Xiangyun, then opened the door, looking dejected.

As Kong Xiangyun entered, her face had changed to one of sympathy. From afar, she called out to Old Madam Xu, who was rubbing herself in the cave, "Seventh Sister! Seventh Sister!"

He ran there shouting all the way.

Fortunately, the old man still has a long life ahead of him—the old Taoist thought to himself, but he did not go inside. Instead, he pressed a stone wall to the side of the door.

The stone wall opened, and the old Taoist priest strolled inside, closing the stone wall behind him with a wave of his hand. Inside was a small room containing talisman-making tools such as stone mortars and millstones; it was essentially a storage room. At that moment, a young man was sitting cross-legged on one of the millstones.

Upon hearing the sound, the man immediately got off the ground, cupped his hands in a fist salute to the old Taoist priest, and bowed deeply in greeting.

The moment the man stood up straight, he immediately caught everyone's eye. Although his movements were still somewhat immature, and he was only wearing the most ordinary black Taoist robe, surrounded by a mess of miscellaneous items, his handsome and extraordinary air was written in his eyes and brows, making him instantly captivating. However, one thing that disrupted the harmony was that a huge spider was crawling on the young man's shoulder.

This spider was the size of a bowl, its body was black with red tinges, its entire body was covered with pinkish down, and its eyes were strange and cold.

"Is this the monster you captured, male or female?" the old Taoist asked after staring at the spider for a while.

"It's a female, Chun Sanshi Niang." The boy patted the spider's pincers that stretched all the way to his chest, signaling it to greet the old Taoist.

But the spider ignored him completely, simply staring coldly at the old Taoist priest.

"Chun Sanshi Niang, what a strange name." The old Taoist laughed. "Nephew, you should eat something to replenish your energy. These fruits are high in wood and earth spirit, which is perfect for you. You've worked hard these past few days."

The old Taoist priest took out a small basket of spiritual fruits and handed it to the young man, gesturing for him to sit down and eat slowly.

The young man was none other than Chu Zhiyin, the hope of the Chu family for this generation. He didn't stand on ceremony with the old Taoist, sat down, took a spirit fruit, fed one to the spider, and then picked up another to eat slowly while listening to the old Taoist speak.

"After you finish eating, I'll take you upstairs to see your uncle. But there's one thing I have to reiterate: of course we'll hold Wujialing. Forty years ago, it was my uncle who single-handedly preserved the Xu family's bloodline, and we'll do the same this time. But you know how much pressure we're under this time—Blood Hand, Ghost Sail, and our own Wind and Rain Tower… these are all things we can't withstand… So, we can't protect Xu Ping'an anymore. We can only protect the common people of Wujialing and hold off the thirteen families."

"Master Kong's righteousness is known to all in Sushanfang." Chu Zhiyin spoke slowly, but each word was forceful. "Now that Xu Ping'an has come to our Chu family, his life will naturally be protected by our Chu family. I am here only hoping that Master Kong can buy us some time."

Is Xu Ping'an's life in the hands of your Chu family?

The old Taoist expressed his doubts. As far as he knew, the Chu clan was currently in turmoil. Ordinary people felt that this was an undeserved disaster, while cultivators were filled with anger and fear. Several elders had already contacted Blood Hand and Wind and Rain Pavilion, waiting for the white flag to be raised at dusk today—to hand over Xu Ping'an and draw a clear line between themselves and Wujialing.

The chieftain, Chu Huihui, has not yet made a statement, but sources say she has been urging Xu Ping'an to escape—which at least indicates that Chu Huihui has no intention of resisting.

So when Chu Zhiyin came to see him alone, the old Taoist found it very strange—what were the two of you doing, one old and one young? Chu Zhengshan was going around asking people to plead for him, and the young one was here trying to fool the Kong family?

However, he didn't stop Chu Zhiyin from seeing Kong Fande—after all, with his uncle there, he would make his own decision. The old Taoist priest thought to himself, then led Chu Zhiyin out of the door and up the steps leading to the gambling den.

The old Taoist priest walked ahead. The stone path was narrow and the stone steps were steep. In the dim light of the fluorite, the short man unconsciously hunched his head and bent his back. Behind him, the tall and slender Chu Zhiyin stood tall and straight, his gaze looking over the old Taoist priest's head with composure.

The mother spider named Chun San Niang had long since disappeared, and in the stone path, a few thin, fluttering threads had appeared, barely visible.

Chu Family Village.

Bao Xingqian, the founder of the Thirteen Families, was inspecting the southwest area when he saw that the Chu family's defenses were lax and the people had no will to fight, which made him feel relieved.

Everything will end today.

The remnants of Wujiazhai, who have plagued Shisanjiafang for nearly a century, will be completely wiped out in blood and dust after tonight. The Xu family of Wujia—a surname that has caused so much heartache for Shisanjiafang—will be permanently buried.

Bao Xingqian firmly believed this.

Although there will still be some minor setbacks—Kong Fande comes every day to bail out a few people, first his daughter, then several of Xu Ping'an's direct descendants' children, and today he may take away several more.

This was expected. The Wind and Rain Pavilion had already given instructions—Kong Fande would protect the person, but not Xu Ping'an. This was a red line drawn by the Star Moon Sect.

The primary objective of the Star Moon Sect is to kill Cai Fei. If that brat doesn't dare to come, then kill Xu Ping'an, disband Wujialing, and sever Cai Fei's foundation.

It would be best to wipe out the Chu family as well, so that death and bloodshed can intimidate Ao Lai.

But while Xingyue thought this way, the four companies actually carrying it out each had their own agendas.

The Chu family has tens of thousands of people, with at most one or two thousand living in Chu Family Mountain. The rest are scattered around the market, in the forests and mountains. How could they possibly kill all of them, with only a hundred or so people?

Besides, Fengyulou is a brothel and gambling den, and bloodshed is not their style; the Thirteen Families have their own territory and families, and they have many concerns. They only target Wujialing and are unwilling to participate in the others; Guifan and Xueshou are paid to do things, and killing too many people will arouse public anger, which is also disadvantageous for them.

Destroying Wujialing is enough; the Chu clan has no intention of fighting, so it would be best to avoid a battle if possible.

Just as he was pondering this, two flying swords suddenly flew from the direction of Sushanfang. Judging from the figures of the cultivators on the swords, it was Manager Zhang and Kong Fande again. Just as he was about to go forward to meet them, the two made a sharp turn and flew north.

That's the area guarded by the Blood Hand!

Should we go and take a look?

Just as they were hesitating, two Foundation Establishment cultivators flew up from the east and west sides and headed north as well.

The only one who doesn't know is me!

Bao Xingqian cursed under his breath and turned to head north.

After Bao Xingqian's figure completely disappeared into the northern sky, a wisp of white smoke rose leisurely from the spot where he had just been patrolling.

However, the sentries around were already used to it, because the Fengyulou disciple who was sentry there was a glutton and would occasionally grill some wild game, turning the sentries into open sentries. However, since the Chu family had no intention of fighting, everyone turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it.

However, today the smoke was a bit thick and straight, rising dozens of feet high before slowly dissipating.

In a dense forest in the southwest, white smoke rose straight up in the distance. Chu Zhiyin jumped down from a tall tree with a "whoosh" and clapped his hands.

Suddenly, more than thirty cultivators stood up from the shadows. They were all masked, but their exposed spiritual power showed that they were all at the late stage of Qi Refining, and there were even two Foundation Establishment cultivators among them!

"Keep up close." Chu Zhiyin waved his hand and led the way, hurrying towards the direction of the white smoke. Above them, a huge spider was also moving among the branches and leaves.

The group traversed a dense forest, passed through a canyon, and after a quarter of an hour, hurried to the top of a stream.

On a high, protruding rock, a sentry from the Wind and Rain Tower wearing a wide-brimmed hat was enjoying his meal, sipping wine and eating roasted chicken, occasionally smacking his lips, completely unaware of the group that was hurrying past in the woods not far away.

Even when someone deliberately circled around the area under the rock, the person seemed not to be seen.

Only after the group had silently disappeared into the depths of the dense forest did he lazily stretch, look around warily, lean out from behind the giant rock, and gently beckon with his finger.

A small package fell into his hands. When he opened it, he found a pot of fine wine and two spirit notes with a face value of fifty thousand.

With another flick of his wrist, the package vanished. The sentry pulled his hat down and lay down to sleep.