Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Seeing Cheng Feiyu Again Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Seeing Cheng Feiyu Again Editor: Atlas Studios Inside Xuanji Valley, the night was deep.
There was a shadow leaping through the air, not particularly fast, but upon landing, not even a speck of dust was stirred.
This person was none other than Su Mo.
After Lou Jingjing had explained the situation, Su Mo asked her several questions and then had her rest in the room while he proceeded with his original plan to explore Xuanji Valley at night.
Master Cang Ming had provided detailed descriptions of the terrain inside Xuanji Valley, and based on what Lou Jingjing said, Su Mo quickly discerned his direction and verified his location.
The only difference was this place… Master Cang Ming had not mentioned it to him.
Relying on the mountains and rocks, at first glance, it seemed like there was nothing unusual, but Su Mo, from a distance, had already noticed several hidden sentries in the area.
With his Longxiang Wisdom Perfection, he was naturally sharp-sighted and keen-eared. By channeling his Divine Skill, he could clearly see the positions of these people.
He immediately leapt forward, staying out of sight.
The area was filled with bizarre rocks which the hidden people utilized to conceal their figures, and naturally, Su Mo could do the same.
However, when he got closer, Su Mo suddenly halted his steps.
Looking up, the strange rocks formed a stone forest, endlessly stretching as if there was no end.
Inside, an unfathomable mysteriousness prevailed, giving off an intimidating aura.
Su Mo was always cautious, and seeing this, he didn’t recklessly step inside. Instead, he casually broke off a piece from a large boulder, as if he was breaking a piece of tofu.
Crouching down, he rolled it inside.
With the help of his Inner Strength, the stone silently rolled into the stone forest.
However… as the stone went deeper to a certain extent, it suddenly disappeared.
“Array?”
Su Mo’s mouth twitched, feeling somewhat daunted.
While he was comfortable discussing martial arts, he knew nothing about Array.
He understood the Sixty Four Trigram Directions and the movement techniques of the Ziyang Sect involved this aspect, but… knowing the Sixty Four Trigram Directions and understanding how to break Arrays had nothing to do with each other.
He could indeed rely on his powerful Inner Strength to forcefully carve a path through the Array.
But this way, it was inevitable to not alert the enemy, and if Liu Suifeng wasn’t found and ended up drawing the entire Youquan Sect here, then the joke would be on him.
As he was at an impasse, he suddenly heard footsteps.
Su Mo’s heart stirred, and he immediately hid behind the mountain rocks. In just a moment, he indeed saw three people arriving.
Two of them were walking, while the third was being carried by the two.
The carried man was none other than the Qingshan Wanderer, whom Su Mo had met during the day!
Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun had speculated earlier, and Lou Jingjing’s words further confirmed it; seeing the Qingshan Wanderer now didn’t surprise Su Mo at all.
The only curiosity was why Master Cang Ming, who wanted to meet the Qingshan Wanderer during the day, didn’t make a move until the night.
However, this wasn’t important; blocked by the Array, Su Mo found the arrival of these people provided him a guiding light.
Watching the two carrying the Qingshan Wanderer deeper into the rocks, Su Mo quietly followed behind them.
Keeping merely a step’s distance from the person in front.
The Qingshan Wanderer was being carried, facing upward, initially showing a mix of shock and anger in his eyes.
Then his eyes shifted and saw Su Mo.
For a moment, their eyes seemed slightly vacant.
However, this change in gaze was brief, and in the next moment, he displayed a mingled expression of shock and anger again.
Although Su Mo was dressed in black, with his face covered for a nighttime operation, obviously harboring ill-intentions towards Xuanji Valley.
The experience served as a firsthand lesson to Qingshan Wanderer.
Nowadays, those with ill intentions towards Xuanji Valley seem for the most part, to harbor good will towards him.
If he were to reveal the situation of the person behind him due to his surprised expression, that would truly be inappropriate.
Being an old inhabitant of Jianghu, his mind was sharp and his reactions quick; he immediately decided to act as though he saw nothing.
Su Mo, however, was still in high spirits, waving at him as a greeting.
Qingshan Wanderer: “…”
Su Mo didn’t pay him any attention, instead focusing closely on the footsteps of the person in front.
Mentally he counted: “Three…Four, five…thirteen steps, left turn, seventeen steps, left turn, twenty-one steps, walk straight, sixteen steps, right turn…”
He was not very familiar with the mysteries within this Array.
Yet, by staying one step behind two people, he diligently memorized their footwork and directions.
Proceeding according to this method, he never really fell behind.
It was only occasionally that a step’s difference would cause the three figures in front of him to suddenly disappear from sight.
But after that step, these three people would appear once more before his eyes.
From this, it could be seen that the Array indeed possessed some mystical capabilities.
Marching forward, approximately after one pot of tea’s time, the view abruptly opened up.
In sight, there lay a sunken valley surrounded by mountains on three sides with steep cliffs.
A path meandered along the edge downwards, and mounted on the mountain walls were rows of iron branches, embedded deep inside the mountains with no visible end, and hanging from them were several iron cages.
Inside, there were people with their hands locked in chains, nearly frantic with anger.
Some sighed in despair, with no hope for tomorrow.
Others cursed the heavens and earth, their foul language pouring out incessantly.
Initially, Su Mo did not take this seriously, but upon closer inspection, his expression grew more and more troubled.
Meanwhile, during all this, no disciples from the Youquan Sect were patrolling the area, which somewhat surprised Su Mo.
The two individuals carrying Qingshan Wanderer proceeded along the path downwards, then expertly operated the winch to lower down a cage, opening it to send Qingshan Wanderer inside, locked the shackles, closed the door, and then raised it back up.
After completing this task, they turned and left without any additional pause.
Su Mo lurked to the side until these two reentered the Stone Forest Formation, then he followed suit.
He also carefully memorized the two men’s figures and footwork, committing each step to memory.
Eventually, he indeed successfully exited from outside the Stone Forest.
After watching the two leave the vicinity of the Stone Forest, Su Mo finally let out a light sigh:
“Luckily I was extra cautious and trailed them out; the pathways for entering and exiting turned out to be completely different sets of footwork. Had I attempted to reverse the entering method to get out, I likely would have been trapped and died in this Stone Forest.”
At that moment, he hesitated no longer, his figure shifted and he reentered the Stone Forest.
Following the set of directions they used to come in, in just the time of one pot of tea, he had returned to that sunken valley.
Even so, Su Mo did not make his presence known outright.
Though there were no disciples of Youquan Sect patrolling, human nature is unpredictable and must be guarded against.
Su Mo still cautiously remained hidden, but then his eyes brightened, his figure faintly shimmering as he landed upon one of the cages.
He flicked his finger, sending his Inner Strength across the space onto the person inside the cage, who was startled awake.
Startlingly looking up, it was Cheng Feiyu.
But Cheng Feiyu did not recognize Su Mo, appearing slightly bewildered:
“Who are you?”