Chapter 1636: Losing the Target

The true origins of Li Yan and Mu Guyue were known to very few, even within the Broken Army Sect.

If Kong Qianchu and his companion had known that Li Yan’s greatest specialty was stealth and tracking, or that Mu Guyue was a high-level expert from the military, they might have approached the situation with far more seriousness.

In their hearts, although they valued the abilities of Li Yan and Mu Guyue, they had already formed a preconceived notion.

The only reason Li Yan and Mu Guyue were able to enter the Beacon Camp, aside from their combat prowess, was that their superior had taken an interest in Mu Guyue. Thus, they had been brought in as an exception.

When they tracked Li Yan and Mu Guyue, they were sufficiently careful, exerting seventy percent of their strength. However, they still lacked accurate data on their targets.

Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu also possessed keen intuition.

Once they realized that Li Yan and Mu Guyue seemed to have sensed something was wrong, the two exchanged a single voice transmission and immediately understood what to do next.

Upon discovering that Li Yan’s duo had changed direction, Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu did not follow the turn. Instead, they continued flying along their predetermined path.

Half an hour later, Li Yan and Mu Guyue had flown above a certain mountain valley.

“Perhaps I was being overly suspicious. Not only did they not follow us, but they haven’t even scanned in this direction with their Divine Sense.”

There was a hint of doubt in Li Yan’s voice.

Mu Guyue did not speak immediately. Their speed had slowed down. She only spoke after sweeping her Divine Sense around and withdrawing it.

“But the fact that we came out certainly cannot be hidden from Zhao Haiyang. If he harbors ill intent, this is a perfect opportunity!”

“Mm, indeed! If he didn’t come looking for us, that would be truly abnormal. I wonder if one of those two, the old and the young, was Zhao Haiyang in disguise!”

Li Yan immediately agreed, his vigilance sharpening. If those two were indeed tracking them, and there was a high possibility that one of them was Zhao Haiyang himself.

That was a mid-stage Void Refining cultivator; thus, they were in grave danger.

However, Li Yan also grasped one point: they were near Ghost Sound City, so Zhao Haiyang certainly wouldn’t dare to act with too much fanfare.

He was here to kill Li Yan, yes, but he wasn’t here to perish together with him.

“There is one problem here that cannot be explained.

Our departure this time was planned in secret. It was a sudden task we accepted. Zhao Haiyang certainly shouldn’t have known in advance. How could they possibly find us?

Not only did we swallow Ghost-Transformation Pills, but we also altered our appearances once more. Unless Zhao Haiyang conducted a meticulous investigation at close range, it shouldn’t be possible.

Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t recognize us. Yet, neither you nor I felt ourselves being probed like that. We only sensed something was off about those two, which led to our suspicion…”

Although Mu Guyue felt that the analysis she and Li Yan had made was highly probable, and they indeed harbored doubts, how did the other party find the two of them?

If they had been seen through like this, could they still enter Ghost Sound City?

As Mu Guyue spoke, Li Yan’s brow also furrowed.

“Are you saying that a tracking marker was placed on us, and we are completely unaware of it?

However… your words explain one thing. After we realized something was off, those two didn’t probe us again at all.

Does this… suggest that our sudden change in direction also caught their attention? One must know that whether it is Zhao Haiyang or his subordinates, they are all experts in tracking.

Not only are they experienced, but through long-term missions, their perception is equally keen.

It is only reasonable that they would instinctively react if their target showed even a trace of anomaly.

But if that’s the case… wouldn’t they have… lost the target?

No, this might also suggest another situation: they aren’t afraid of losing us because they can find us at any time…”

As Li Yan’s thoughts spun rapidly, he continuously analyzed the various doubts in his heart. By the time he finished speaking, his expression shifted, and his words came to a sudden halt.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue quickly exchanged a look, and the two spoke almost in unison.

“The items given by the Supreme Polarity Dao Sect!”

More than three hours later, a hundred li from the valley Li Yan and his companion had flown over, two nearly transparent silhouettes were lurking in a patch of grass.

“They have stayed there this entire time. Have they received news of Hong Luo Dao and are setting an ambush for her here?”

Kong Qianchu cautiously and continuously probed the surroundings.

After finding a place earlier, they had once again sacrificed the Bronze Ring Pendant, and a faint resonance appeared immediately. This allowed their hearts to ease.

This indicated that Li Yan’s duo was still within a thousand li. However, after the two waited for two hours, that faint resonance neither increased nor decreased.

This lack of movement caused Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu, despite their specialized patience, to begin feeling a sense of urgency after waiting so long.

They prided themselves on being scouts; if it were a contest of patience, they were very strong. But they faintly felt that something seemed wrong.

That faint resonance was consistently the same. Did this mean Li Yan and Mu Guyue were staying perfectly still in hiding?

After Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu discussed it, they finally decided to quietly approach and investigate.

But once they reached the location and observed for another half-hour, the situation remained unchanged.

“The situation is wrong. Although this is near Ghost Sound City, the surroundings are quite remote. What would that Hong Luo Dao be doing here?

This is the area they govern. Even if there were secret talks, they could find a more suitable place in the city.”

Min Bufu quietly withdrew his Divine Sense and spoke the doubt in his heart.

In over half an hour, only three cultivators had passed by, and all of them were far away, flying past rapidly without any intent to linger.

“That’s hard to say. Perhaps Li Yan’s information was incorrect, or perhaps Hong Luo Dao really would unexpectedly appear here?

Regardless, since these two haven’t entered Ghost Sound City and have appeared in such a remote place, I think this is a good opportunity!”

Kong Qianchu pondered for a moment, a sharp light flickering in his eyes.

“Mm, we’ve also probed for over half an hour. The cultivators nearby are indeed pitifully few. Let’s do it!”

“Absolutely do not let Mu Guyue die!”

Kong Qianchu nodded and reminded him once more.

Immediately, the two figures vanished into the grass.

Inside the valley, two illusory and transparent figures were quietly closing in on a section of a mountain wall. There, dense thatch stood as tall as a man.

In the previous perception of these two, the resonance was coming from right there, and it hadn’t moved at all.

Several breaths later, at that section of the mountain wall in the valley, an extremely low cry of shock and fury suddenly rang out.

“This… this is… how did they know this secret?”

That was the voice of Kong Qianchu. At this moment, his figure was already revealed, and his Divine Sense was rapidly probing the surroundings.

To his side, Min Bufu, who was in a semi-encirclement formation with him, also had a grim expression.

Soon, the two exchanged a glance. The current surroundings they probed were exactly the same as before; no cultivators were present nearby.

But right in front of the two, against the mountain wall, a storage bag was placed on the grass.

Around this storage bag, they could sense an array that was only a zhang wide. However, the function of this array was merely to isolate Divine Sense.

Thus, when they approached in stealth, they could see the contents within the array with their naked eyes.

Given the current situation and the empty environment, Kong Qianchu and his companion naturally knew they had been tricked.

Initially, to avoid startling Li Yan’s duo, they had intentionally not deviated from their path and had not scanned in this direction with their Divine Sense.

Even later, after stopping at a certain location, they still hadn’t scanned over with Divine Sense, but had instead used the Bronze Ring Pendant.

After they first discovered Li Yan’s duo, although they had been tailing them from a distance, the route Li Yan and Mu Guyue took was toward Ghost Sound City, and there were many cultivators traveling on the road.

Thus, they could only do as they usually did on missions: tail the targets from a distance.

They had been trying to find a suitable opportunity to strike, intending to complete one kill and one capture with the greatest speed.

Li Yan and his companion were cultivators ascended from the Lower Realm. On the point of combat prowess, Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu agreed that they needed to be handled seriously.

They wouldn’t strike until a perfect opportunity presented itself. As long as there was no opportunity, even if Zhao Haiyang came and was dissatisfied with the result, they would not act.

They would only keep tracking the targets’ trail without doing anything they weren’t certain of.

Therefore, even when they arrived near the valley half an hour ago, Kong Qianchu and his companion were still extremely careful.

If Li Yan and Mu Guyue had become suspicious, they would certainly pay special attention to Divine Sense probes.

Thus, they continued to use the Bronze Ring Pendant to sense Li Yan’s group. Once the location was confirmed, even if they used Divine Sense, they were only probing the surrounding conditions.

Only just before they were ready to launch the attack did they quietly and rapidly conduct a probe, but they did not find the silhouettes of Li Yan and Mu Guyue.

But because the Bronze Ring Pendant had sensed them first, they guessed that Li Yan’s duo, like themselves, must be using concealment techniques.

That was why they hadn’t been easily detected. It was only when the two closed in near the mountain wall and were about to exchange voice transmissions on how to find Li Yan and Mu Guyue.

Their eyes directly fell upon the scene before the wall: a storage bag within a Divine Sense-isolating array.

In an instant, the two understood. Li Yan and Mu Guyue already knew the secret of the identity tokens. This was a deliberate act of discarding items to lure the two of them out.

After the initial shock, Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu felt a wave of fury. The other party had actually played with them for several hours.

However, the two maintained calm expressions, which further heightened their vigilance. The more this was the case, the more they needed to be cool-headed.

By using this method, the targets were firstly shaking off their pursuit, and secondly, perhaps intending to deal with them.

In this situation, the greatest possibility was that Li Yan and Mu Guyue were setting an ambush nearby.

At this moment, they knew that Hong Luo Dao would not appear here at all.

Therefore, there was no need to consider that person. Instead, they had to guard against a sneak attack from Li Yan’s group.

However, they didn’t know that Li Yan and Mu Guyue were completely unsure if Zhao Haiyang himself had come, so they didn’t dare to easily decide on an ambush.

“At some point, they found out the secret of the identity tokens. Thus, our previous tracking—which we thought was a casual scan—had already aroused their suspicion!”

Kong Qianchu quickly sent a voice transmission, giving his judgment.

Immediately, the two exchanged a look and did not touch the array in front of them. Instead, their figures suddenly vanished into thin air…

Four hours later, before that mountain wall, two silhouettes abruptly appeared once again.

By now, it was already late at night, in the early hours of the morning. The night wind howled through the valley, making the wind here feel even colder and more piercing.

“They must have escaped. We must find them as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, we truly won’t be able to report back to the Lord!”

One of the silhouettes spoke; it was Kong Qianchu’s voice. His voice was already bone-chillingly cold, more piercing than the cold wind in the night.

They were veteran scouts, yet they had been discovered after only tracking the party for a few thousand li, and the targets had successfully shaken them off.

If Zhao Haiyang found out about this, he would certainly be extremely displeased. They had fumbled the matter this time, “successfully” alerting the targets in advance.

Since the afternoon, Kong Qianchu and his companion had been meticulously searching the surrounding area for Li Yan and his companion. The two felt the targets should have taken the opportunity to ambush them; that was the most likely scenario.

However, such a search could easily lead them into an ambush and into danger.

But this was also their chance to find the targets again.

Yet the final result was that they couldn’t find the other party, nor were they subjected to any attacks.

After gradually expanding the search range until late at night, they still had no harvest.

Finally, they returned to this stone wall.

“Check the situation!”

Min Bufu’s equally cold voice rang out. The hatred in his heart had also increased greatly, and his face felt somewhat hot with shame.

Kong Qianchu nodded.

He knew what Min Bufu meant. They needed to see exactly which items Li Yan’s duo had discarded. They could judge many things from these items.

A few breaths later, a light “pop” sounded.

The small array that had existed for several hours before the wall simply dissipated and collapsed, turning into a screen of light that rapidly scattered into the surrounding night.

Kong Qianchu and his companion were not surprised. The other party only wanted to isolate Divine Sense, so they hadn’t set up any complex restrictions.

After the array was destroyed, the two stood where they were, not approaching by even half a step. They even dodged the scattering screens of light.

The two didn’t immediately investigate either, but instead stayed standing still after moving back a distance.

Only after dozens of breaths had passed, with nothing but the mountain wind howling in the night and everything returning to its previous state.

At this time, Kong Qianchu’s Divine Sense probed toward the storage bag left on the grass.

Simultaneously, Min Bufu remained vigilant of the surroundings. The cooperation between the two was a matter of a single glance, requiring no words.

In the next moment, light flashed from the mouth of the storage bag, and a pile of items fell onto the grass.

There was no Divine Sense brand on the storage bag; breaking it was extremely simple, which was as they had expected.

If someone left a Divine Sense brand, once it was erased, the owner of the sense would suffer a backlash. Naturally, no one would do such a foolish thing.

While on guard, the two saw two sets of green armor, some jade bottles, and identity tokens appear on the grass. Their Divine Sense swept over these items.

“These should all be items issued by the Supreme Polarity Dao Sect. They left them all here. Do they not intend to return?”

The moment Kong Qianchu saw these things clearly, he frowned.

Not only did Li Yan and his companion abandon their identity tokens, but they even discarded things like the green armor. It gave the impression they were not going back.

“Not necessarily. They didn’t know the secret; they were just suspicious!”

Min Bufu immediately chimed in.

By leaving behind all the items bestowed by the Supreme Polarity Dao Sect, Li Yan and Mu Guyue had indirectly explained one thing.

The other party only suspected that there was some kind of tracking marker in these items, but they weren’t sure where the marker was exactly.

Upon hearing this, Kong Qianchu immediately agreed and said no more.

However, the two still did not take the items on the ground into their hands to inspect them closely.