Aftermath of the Ordeal
There were lots of things going through Mu Yu’s head after he left the elemental demons’ hideout. He wasn’t sure if he genuinely liked the punctured present, especially when thinking about how to fix the holes. He could just have left it as it was; however, its potential would be capped as a consequence. In turn, his spiritual herb plan was a bust. The wood demons couldn’t bear to see him go – because he was taking the wood spirit, needless to say.
After Mu Yu flew off, the wood demons activated the formations again. The wood demons outside could continue luring trespassers away if needed be.
Bai Lang’s team stopped above Mount Crouching Dragon. “Is everyone all right?”
It was a pointless question. Many of the cultivators present were still dripping blood, unconscious or unable to support their own weight. They had to stay in the air in case they were ensnared in the trap again. Had Cheng Yan not notified them when the formation was dismantled, they’d be supper already.
Mu Yu was already back before Bai Lang. In all fairness, the wood demons’ hideout was within the forest. They were just led into believing it was far away owing to the formation.
Mo Xiong asked, “Senior Brother Bai Lang, who dismantled the flying restriction formation?”
“Senior Brother Bai Lang, of course. He’s the most advanced cultivator here, stupid.”
Bai Lang shook his head, brushing off the blatant flattery. His team never fell to any ambushes, but it was true they couldn’t fly, either. Like the other teams, his team was just as ignorant.
“I cut down a bizarre tree that released a tremendous volume of spiritual energy after I cut it. I believe the tree was the cause of the restriction,” proclaimed Ju Wenxing.
The ignorant thanked Ju Wenxing sincerely for a deed he never did. Mu Yu shot Ju Wenxing a glare for an understandable reason. Yet, Ju Wenxing shook his head as if he was expressing regret. “I was merely lucky enough to bump into the tree. Had I found it sooner, I, perhaps, could’ve saved a few more lives. I’m sorry.”
The ignorant shared their thoughts to comfort Ju Wenxing.
Ju Wenxing went with the fib when Bai Lang denied his involvement so that he could try and get ahead of Bai Lang, who had also been considered superior to him.
Mu Yu wanted to throw a shoe at Ju Wenxing’s face for robbing all of his credit but had to swallow the bitter pill.
“Hmph, every team must’ve suffered losses in this rash operation. We’ve lost eleven people in total. We entered the forest before getting a grasp on the terrain. Nobody found elemental demons, but we sure had hordes of fiends slaughtering our forces. This failure is clearly the result of an error of judgement!” assertedMo Xiong, upset over the death of his junior and suspecting the mission since their chances of survival would’ve been markedly higher if everyone stuck together.
Ju Wenxing: “What sort of nonsense are you spouting? Did you just question our elders’ decision? We came here to search for elemental demons. We expected to run into them. Their sacrifices were not in vain. They will go down in history. They shouldn’t be leveraged to cast blame!”
Mo Xiong grinned sarcastically. “Oh, really? Your two teams are the only two without any deaths because you two have Golden Core Realm cultivators. Search for elemental demons, you say? Where did you find one?”
Despite Mo Xiong hitting the nail on the head, Ju Wenxing adamantly disputed, “So what if we didn’t encounter any? Is it our fault their skills were lacking? The mission was a training experience for the future. How are you going to combat them in the future if this is enough to break you?”
Some concurred with Ju Wenxing since he wasn’t wrong per se. Still, there were bitter feelings among those who lost their siblings, especially because Green Pine Sect provided inaccurate intelligence. Further, the signals they were supplied with were useless. Last but not least, Green Pine Sect made the call to arms. They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t called.
Bai Lang finally spoke up. “Forget about it, Brother Wenxing. We can’t absolve our fault in this matter. Can I confirm again if you only encountered fiends and no elemental demons?”
“We came across wood element demons.” Hao Yingjun’s small group didn’t speak up until then out of guilt as they left Cheng Yan behind to escape despite it being the right call under those circumstances.
“Your team spotted them?” Ju Wenxing ran his gaze over fearless Hao Yingjun, who made eye contact head on. Ju Wenxing then queried, “How come nobody in your team is hurt?”
“Hang on. Why does it sound as though you’re hoping everyone got hurt?”
“Hmph, had their team’s Cheng Yan not came to our aid and slaughtered the fiends with his Golden Core Realm cultivation, we’d be history,” added Mo Xiong, sick of Ju Wenxing’s unequivocal shamelessness.
“Cheng Yan? Who’s that? Golden Core Realm?” Ju Wenxing swept his eyes over the team of five. He recognised Hao Yingjun, Xue’er, Gu Yitian, Hong Yan and Mu Yu. None of them were Golden Core Realm cultivators. Finally, he looked to Cheng Yan, who was gazing into the distance and zoned out.
Mo Xiong pointed to Cheng Yan and, in a grateful tone, stated, “He is Cheng Yan from Dustfallen Sect. He has always kept a low profile and rescued us. I bet you never imagined that happening.”
All eyes were instantly trained on Cheng Yan. It was still hard for them to believe he was a Golden Core Realm cultivator at his age.
“First Brother, we need to head back,” Mu Yu reminded.
Cheng Yan patted Mu Yu on the shoulder. “You should hurry and report back to your sects. Let them decide what the next course of action. You can also put your fellow siblings to rest.”
Bai Lang gave Cheng Yan a palm and fist salute. “You are absolutely right. Since you were directly involved with the rescue, you must know a fair bit. How about sharing what you found out so that we can prepare for the future?”
Cheng Yan reciprocated the salute as his eyes met with Qing Mei, who was behind Bai Lang. His concern for his shifu constantly reminded him he needed to hurry back to Mount Dustfallen. In the end, he averted his gaze and replied, “You know what I know. There is nothing I have to hide.”
Qing Mei could tell Cheng Yan was deliberately avoiding her but unsure why all of a sudden. Neither of them did anything wrong. Fate just wasn’t so kind to them.
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