Rather than fabricate some convenient lie, Yan Kai chose to speak plainly. There was nothing shameful about the truth.
Seeing the curiosity in Lu Sheng’s eyes, he continued, “We happened to encounter Young Master Sheng as soon as we arrived here, and wished to warn you at once. This individual is extremely fearsome and dangerous. If you were to cross paths with him, you must exercise the utmost caution and avoid clashing with him at all costs.”
“Oh?” Lu Sheng glanced at him, a faint smile playing on his lips, yet not quite reaching his eyes.
Though framed as a warning, such words spoken before the Sect Master of the number one sect in the North, the King of Sabers of the Northern Lands, sounded less like caution and more like provocation.
Yan Kai paid no mind to how it might be interpreted and pressed on. “That person is none other than the Deputy Society Chief of the eastern power, the Wandering Heart Society. He is known as the Serpent of the Eastern Seas, Chao Long.”
“Chao Long?” Lu Sheng’s expression shifted subtly. Wandering Heart Society, Chao Long, Chao Hu. The three names linked together in an instant, and he immediately grasped the connection.
“Interesting.” The corners of his lips curled upward. He could see through the trio’s intentions at once. Most likely, they hoped to shelter under his banner and borrow his strength to deal with Chao Long.
“In that case, why don’t the three of you travel with me?” Lu Sheng said lightly. “My Crimson Whale Sect does carry some weight in these Northern lands.” He neither exposed their motives nor rejected them, choosing instead to play along.
Yan Kai let out a quiet breath of relief. Their first step had succeeded.
The risk of being discovered while tailing Chao Long, especially in such desolate terrain, was simply too great. If they followed the reckless Taoist Wan Hezi deeper into the mountains, it would be little more than the blind leading the blind, and they would surely be caught and wiped out.
Now, with the Crimson Whale Sect’s entourage, their safety was vastly improved.
The group set off once more, exchanging occasional words along the way. From their conversation, Lu Sheng learned that Chao Long, too, had come for the Unlaughing Master.
It was indeed strange. Crossing such vast distances for nothing more than an Unlaughing Master suggested there was far more beneath the surface.
The entourage pressed on at a steady pace. Along the way, the men hacked through dense foliage, forcibly carving out a passage for the sedan.
Before long, the vanguard halted abruptly.
Another group had appeared ahead of them.
These newcomers wore pale blue, close-fitting robes, with white handkerchiefs tied around their right arms. Each bore a sharp, penetrating gaze and the vigor of someone in their prime. Coincidentally, their formation also included a sedan, though it was white, in stark contrast to Crimson Whale Sect’s black one.
Xu Chui’s hand slid slowly to the hilt of the saber at his waist as he stared wordlessly at the opposing party.
At the same time, a hulking, bare-chested man from the other side met his gaze with equal calm.
Neither group was weak. In that fleeting moment, both sides sensed that the other was not to be trifled with. Crimson Whale Sect held the advantage in numbers, yet the men opposite radiated more formidable auras.
No one wished to provoke trouble. With unspoken restraint, both parties withdrew upon contact, altering their routes and moving past one another.
“Society Chief, those are Crimson Whale Sect’s men,” the burly man reported in a low voice beside the white sedan.
“Do not lose sight of our objective or invite unnecessary conflict. Find the Unlaughing as quickly as possible, then withdraw. We don’t have the luxury of lingering here,” a deep, steady voice issued from within the sedan.
“Yes, sir,” the burly man replied, bowing his head.
Lu Sheng peered through a narrow gap in the veil of his own sedan as the white sedan passed by. Though several hundred meters separated them, such distance meant nothing to an expert of his caliber. From within that moving carriage, he caught the trace of a familiar aura.
“Wandering Heart Society…” Lu Sheng murmured. They had crossed paths with him before, relying on their exceptional concealment techniques, but never more than that. Even their Deputy Society Chief, Chao Hu, had been slain by Hongfang Bai in broad daylight, and that was with others swarming her from all sides.
“They’re also here to investigate the Unlaughing Master,” Yan Kai said suddenly, stepping up beside the sedan and lowering his voice.
“Then let them be. If that’s the case, we’ll meet them again,” Lu Sheng replied evenly.
Before long, both camps slowed and halted just before their paths would have intersected.
They did not linger. Each side remained on high alert, eyes tracking every movement of the other. Following orders from within their respective formations, both groups passed one another without incident, neither willing to provoke unnecessary conflict. Moments later, they vanished separately into the forest.
Time slipped by.
The Crimson Whale Sect party circled through the mountains again and again, until they finally reached what appeared to be the ruins of an abandoned village.
“This is the place!!” the vanguard shouted. “Reporting to Elder, this is where we saw Elder Xu and his men enter earlier. None of them have come out since.”
Xu Chui fixed his gaze on the village, lingering especially on the small stone house standing at the entrance. A faint aura seeped from it, stirring an instinctive sense of unease in his chest.
He turned to look toward the sedan.
The curtains had already been drawn aside, yet Lu Sheng was not looking at him. Instead, his gaze passed over the crowd and settled on an empty stretch of ground to the right.
Following his line of sight, Xu Chui noticed several discarded torches lying there.
One of the sect members stepped forward and picked one up, inspecting the handle. The mark of the Crimson Whale Sect was clearly imprinted on it.
“This is the place,” Xu Chui said firmly, turning back to Lu Sheng.
Lu Sheng gave a slight nod.
“Search!”
At once, the Crimson Whale Sect disciples scattered, flooding into the village as they began combing through every house in search of clues.
The trio, Yan Kai among them, exchanged glances before making their way to the entrance of the village. They crouched down and began inspecting the walls and ground, searching carefully for any trace of activity.
Lu Sheng stepped down from the sedan and lifted his gaze.
From the woods to the left, the group they had encountered earlier emerged once more.
The white sedan at the center of that formation was slowly lowered to the ground.
“It’s useless. The Unlaughing Master never appears during the day. You can only meet him at night,” a low voice spoke from within the sedan.
“Only at night?” Lu Sheng raised a brow. “May I ask who is speaking?”
“We harbor no ill intentions,” the voice replied calmly. “Now that we’ve found the location, we’ll return tonight.”
The white sedan was lifted once more and began to move away.
Not far off, Wan Hezi suddenly felt a chill crawl over his body. He raised his head and met the gaze of the burly man walking beside the white sedan. The man’s eyes were icy and sharp, like the edge of a blade.
Along with that gaze came an immense, crushing pressure, as though a massive hand had seized Wan Hezi’s heart.
His body shook violently as cold sweat poured down his back. His face turned deathly pale, his breathing growing ragged. His eyes glazed over, and his hands rose instinctively to his throat, tightening.
“Clang.”
A clear metallic sound rang out.
Xu Chui had stepped in front of him, shielding Wan Hezi as he stared back at the burly man without expression. His hand drew the saber at his waist just enough to expose a sliver of steel.
Like a drowning man hauled back from the brink, Wan Hezi sucked in huge gulps of air.
Only then did Yan Kai and Duan Rongrong realize something was wrong.
“Elder Brother!”
“Wan Hezi, are you alright!?”
“Hmph.”
A cold snort drifted back from the distance.
Wan Hezi understood it at once. It was a warning. If he dared continue tailing them, they would kill him.
Wan Hezi felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude toward his junior apprentice brother’s decision. Had they not joined the Crimson Whale Sect’s entourage, he would have been scared half to death by the murderous intent from the other party just moments earlier.
That sensation of being completely unable to evade or escape, of having one’s body refuse to obey its own will, was something he could not forget. Even if he had wanted to flee, he would not have been able to take a single step.
“A very powerful killing intent,” Ning San said grimly as he approached.
After receiving eighty years’ worth of inner Qi from Lu Sheng, his current strength was enough to contend with a Spirit Focus expert. Though his realm was still Intent Proficiency, his combat power already surpassed Xu Chui’s.
After all, Xu Chui was only at the pinnacle of Strength Proficiency.
Of course, that comparison applied only in their normal states. If either of them were to fight with everything they had, their true trump card lay in their semi-demonic mode, a last resort they would reveal only when all other options were exhausted.
Lu Sheng cast a brief glance at Wan Hezi. So this was Yan Kai’s senior apprentice brother. Compared to the junior, he was simply too weak.
The white sedan moved deeper and deeper into the forest before finally disappearing from sight.
Lu Sheng withdrew his gaze and gestured lightly. Xu Chui and Ning San followed the rest of the Crimson Whale Sect disciples into the village ruins to continue their search.
Lu Sheng himself strolled into the village at an unhurried pace and casually stepped into a stone house whose door had already been smashed apart. Inside, thick spider webs hung everywhere. Damp moss clung to the walls, and translucent, melted insect husks filled every corner. Beneath a shattered window lay a pile of withered leaves blown in from outside, some already rotting and mottled with mold, likely soaked by rain.
Lu Sheng walked to the bed and pressed down lightly.
“Thump.”
A corner of the bed collapsed instantly.
“The wood here has completely rotted. There are no signs of anyone living here,” Ning San said in a low voice from behind him. “Your subordinate has some experience in this. Normally, the legs of a bedframe are made from Fengxian wood.”
“This type of wood resists humidity and decay extremely well. For it to rot to this extent, it must have been left for at least ten years, if not longer.”
“You’re certain?” Lu Sheng ran his hand along the head of the bed. The wood was indeed remarkably solid.
“Your subordinate has consulted many master carpenters. All of them came to roughly the same conclusion,” Ning San replied.
“Let’s leave,” Lu Sheng said impassively. At this point, he was inclined to believe the words spoken from the white sedan earlier.
After combing through the entire area, the Crimson Whale Sect found nothing. Every stone house lay in ruin, weathered beyond use, and none showed any signs of recent habitation.
There was no trace of Elder Xu or the others either.
Standing at the entrance of the village, Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes and surveyed the mountain settlement as a whole.
“Sect Master, there are words here!” a disciple suddenly shouted.
Lu Sheng moved over at once. Following the disciple’s direction, he spotted a stone tablet half-buried in the mud near the village entrance, with only its lower portion exposed.
The men quickly dug it out. Several lines of text were carved clearly into its surface.
‘Happiness Village. Everyone can find his own hap—’
The final characters had been worn away, rendered unreadable.
Lu Sheng crouched and traced the words with his fingers.
“Ancient Song script,” he said quietly.
“Sect Master, what does it say?” Xu Chui asked.
Ning San also looked over with curiosity. He knew that their Sect Master had once been a true scholar. From his earlier expression, it was clear he recognized the script.
“This is the script of the ancient Song Dynasty, from its golden age a thousand years ago,” Lu Sheng said as he straightened. “But it’s written in the traditional sacrificial script, which was reserved exclusively for ritual use. These characters shouldn’t have been used for ordinary inscriptions.” A trace of puzzlement crossed his face.
It seemed there was more to Happiness Village than merely the Unlaughing Master, the Anomaly.
“Could it be that this entire village was never meant for humans to live in?” Ning San whispered.
At those words, a suspicion flashed through Lu Sheng’s mind.
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