Chapter 89: The Gathering Storm

Qin Feng left Ghostsword Cliff.

As he departed, carrying Zhan Bai’s instructions, he made his way down the mountain.

The journey back weighed heavily on Qin Feng’s heart.

The only person Zhan Bai now kept in his heart was Fang Xinyi. Thus, the task entrusted to Qin Feng was to look after the unconscious Fang Xinyi in his place.

The matter of Zhan Bai’s descent into demonic influence had already been clarified. He had not changed; what had changed was the conviction in his heart.

Yet to abandon one conviction for the sake of another left Zhan Bai’s spirit teetering on an extremely dangerous edge, liable at any moment to make some irrational choice. It was not that Qin Feng did not want to help Zhan Bai; rather, he had yet to think of any good solution.

As for Zhan Bai’s safety, Qin Feng was not worried. The two guards at the mountain pass were not enough to be dealt with by a single sword strike from Zhan Bai. If Zhan Bai wished to leave the mountain, no one could stop him.

He took out the large black cloth and draped it over himself before continuing down the mountain.

Although he was not afraid of those two gatekeepers, it was still best to avoid conflict if possible.

What Qin Feng needed to do now was find a way to move Fang Xinyi out of Green Sword Mountain, and then, at the first opportunity, leave this place that he had already grown to loathe.

That was the only thing he could do for the time being.

The night was deep, and the direction of the pass looked like the throat of a great beast, ready to devour men.

Qin Feng walked slowly toward the pass.

But just as he neared it, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and halted.

He looked around. Beneath the darkness, the dim moonlight glimmered with eerie, uncanny whiteness, and against the howl of the cold wind, it made one’s flesh crawl.

Qin Feng drew in a light breath.

Then his brow tightened.

Something was wrong. There was the smell of blood.

Though the wind was strong, the stench of blood remained thick and heavy. Qin Feng, ever cautious, immediately fixed his gaze on the pass.

The atmosphere was bizarre. Qin Feng found a hidden dark corner and carefully concealed himself.

Fortunately, the large black cloth could hide his form.

Holding his breath, and with his sight sharpened beneath the concealment of the cloth, Qin Feng looked toward the darkness at the pass.

Within the dark stood two figures, but Qin Feng was certain they were not the two guards from before. These were two other extremely peculiar fellows.

One figure was very tall, easily more than two heads taller than Qin Feng. From the hulking, mountain-like mass of his body, he must have been an exceptionally burly giant. What was strange was that many thick, enormous bone spines grew from his body. From afar, he looked like some monstrous hedgehog, an awe-inspiring sight.

The other was a short, thin fellow. His body could not be seen clearly, but his two eyes, gleaming green like ghost fire, stood out vividly in the darkness, like two lanterns floating in midair, chilling the soul. In his hand he held a bizarre giant scythe, and when he walked, he seemed almost to hover above the ground.

As for the two cultivators, Gu and Sun, they were lying on the ground, their deaths hideous beyond description.

At that moment, the figure holding the giant scythe placed a withered hand, claw-like in shape, upon the head of the cultivator surnamed Gu. From the palm, a huge ghostly head emerged, circled once, then split into two and burrowed into the other’s ears.

In an instant, the cultivator surnamed Gu, who should already have been dead, actually began to tremble and rise to his feet. His eyes were utterly vacant as he stood there motionless, as if awaiting orders.

Meanwhile, the body of the portly cultivator Sun was sprinkled with some kind of white powder by the other figure, and then, right before Qin Feng’s eyes, it vanished into nothingness.

Hiss.

Qin Feng drew in a sharp breath.

Just from a glance, these two men’s methods were clearly nothing like those of the righteous sects. And for them to have secretly infiltrated Green Sword Mountain in the dead of night, what could their purpose be?

For now, Qin Feng could not probe their true cultivation.

He was extremely cautious. Before figuring out their background and origins, he dared not recklessly release his divine sense to sense their cultivation levels.

That would be far too dangerous.

So Qin Feng chose to remain hidden.

After the two finished dealing with the corpses, the shorter shadow let out an extremely hoarse, grim voice. “This place the little brat found for us is rather good. He even intentionally left two dead men behind to lead the way for us. Heh. When the chance comes, I should mention this to the Prison Warden.”

“Mm,” answered a muffled, buzzing voice.

Then the shorter shadow swung his scythe and pointed at the cultivator surnamed Gu. “Lead the way.”

The cultivator surnamed Gu immediately nodded woodenly and walked ahead. The two shadows followed close behind, and the three vanished in an instant.

This time, it was Qin Feng’s turn to be astonished.

What exactly were those two? Prison Warden? And what was that supposed to be?

Those two were not only highly cultivated, but their supernatural arts were also extremely bizarre. They were clearly here with ill intent. Fortunately, their target did not seem to be Zhan Bai. From the sound of it, they had merely deliberately chosen a secluded location and used some great art of teleportation to infiltrate this place.

Qin Feng quietly let out a breath.

After the three had gone far away, Qin Feng still lay hidden in the shadows, unmoving.

It was an instinctive habit of his, a special warning sense for danger.

Sure enough, after some time, another slender black silhouette gradually solidified out of the darkness. It merely looked around once, however, before disappearing again.

“This figure... why does it feel a little familiar?”

Qin Feng frowned, but did not take it to heart. After all, it had only been a silhouette and meant nothing by itself.

After both groups had left, Qin Feng lurked in the darkness a while longer before slowly stepping out.

He looked in the direction the three had taken. It seemed to be toward the mountainside of the main peak, where the cave residences of the disciples under Sect Master Li Xinjian were gathered.

It looked like something big was about to happen. Some vast conspiracy was afoot.

After a moment’s thought, Qin Feng let out a cold laugh.

Forget it.

If it had nothing to do with him, why trouble himself? After the matter with Zhan Bai, the lofty image he had once held of Green Sword Mountain had already collapsed in ruins. He had made up his mind to leave Green Sword Mountain when the chance arose. With no sense of belonging to the sect, there was naturally no reason for him to risk his life for some hollow title of outer disciple, or even to pay with it.

The urgent matter now was still to find Fang Xinyi, move her somewhere safe, and then look for an opportunity to leave Green Sword Mountain himself.

That way, Zhan Bai would be able to act without any worries.

After making up his mind, Qin Feng immediately changed direction and headed toward Fang Xinyi’s residence.