Chapter 20 Encounter
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Early the next morning.
Three people set out.
Three cloud lark birds, the size of palms, each perched on the shoulders of the Lu Qingfeng siblings.
Lu Qingyu picked a yellow chestnut pill the size of a fingernail from the small cloth bag at her waist and placed it in her palm.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
The cloud lark on her shoulder let out a happy cry, circled around and swallowed the yellow chestnut pill, its little face beaming with satisfaction as it returned to its spot on Lu Qingyu's shoulder.
"Good girl, Little Nine."
Lu Qingyu played with the cloud lark, which made the tension of approaching the city dissipate significantly.
"Chirp chirp!"
"Chirp chirp!"
Seeing their companion enjoying a yellow chestnut pill, the cloud larks on the shoulders of Lu Qingfeng and Lu Qingshan became anxious and chirped incessantly.
"Qingyu, cloud larks are so small, you only need to feed them two yellow chestnut pills a day. Don't keep feeding them, you're making Little Eight cause a fuss too!" Lu Qingshan complained, but nonetheless he had to feed 'Little Eight' on his shoulder a yellow chestnut pill.
"They work so hard, what's wrong with eating a bit more!"
Lu Qingyu retorted, and Little Nine on her shoulder tilted its head defiantly at Lu Qingshan.
Lu Qingfeng, who was accustomed to such scenes, shook his head helplessly.
A few months ago, during their escape, they had found a nest of cloud lark eggs and a fatally poisoned adult cloud lark in a tree.
Lu Qingyu took the eggs and carefully hatched them.
After discovering this, Lu Qingfeng had an insight and spent some time in the Primordial researching the Beast Taming Skill. Although it was only scratching the surface, it wasn't hard to train a few cloud larks.
The nine hatched cloud larks were raised on Yellow Chestnut Pills infused with a trace of Spiritual Energy by Lu Qingfeng. The birds themselves developed a bit of Spiritual Wisdom, could understand human speech, and were quite agile.
[Elixir Pills: Yellow Chestnut Pills]
[Grade: Low-level]
[Derivation Technique: Five times enhancement]
[Explanation: Bird food, used for feeding cloud larks]
In the deep mountains, they would unexpectedly encounter wild beast attacks, stumble into the territory of ferocious animals, or be caught up by the pursuing troops from the Returning to Truth Sect, even losing peace of mind while sleeping.
However, since taming the cloud larks, their situation had greatly improved.
Cloud larks, the size of a palm, had no combat power, but their speed was fast and they understood human speech, which made them ideal for scouting.
Once any danger was detected, the cloud larks would alert them first, allowing the three to deal with it calmly.
The rough map in Lu Qingfeng's hands was also completed with the help of the cloud larks.
"Chirp chirp!"
As the trio made their way, a scouting cloud lark returned, tracing a beautiful arc in the sky before landing in front of Lu Qingfeng and shaking its little head.
Shaking its head meant there were no humans or large wild beasts ahead, and they could pass safely.
With the cloud larks leading the way, Lu Qingfeng and his siblings avoided wild beasts as they continued northeast.
After about ten days.
Finally, there was a change!
"Human beings?"
"Five?!"
Lu Qingfeng's heart skipped a beat as he observed the cloud lark reporting excitedly in front of him.
"Big brother, what do we do now?" Lu Qingshan spoke up.
"Let's approach them and get an understanding of the situation nearby. If they are from the Returning to Truth Sect, we'll kill them on the spot! If they're too strong, we'll use the Earth Tunneling Talisman to escape!"
[Talisman: Earth Tunneling Talisman]
[Grade: Low-level]
[Derivation Technique: Five times enhancement]
[Explanation: Used for Earth Escape]
Rushing out of the mountains and into human settlements also posed risks. If they could gather some basic information from these five people, it would be decidedly more prudent.
With the Earth Tunneling Talisman at hand, they could advance or retreat on solid footing, and it was unlikely that they would make any major slip-ups.
"Make sure the talismans are prepared and placed in the most accessible position," Lu Qingfeng reminded Qingshan and Qingyu as he looked at them.
"Don't worry, big brother, they're ready!"
Lu Qingyu patted the area around her waist and replied.
Lu Qingshan also nodded.
With preparations complete, the three of them followed the guidance of the cloud lark towards the location of the five people.
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"Are we already within the borders of Lanjiang County?"
"About there. Go around the mountain ahead, then head straight east, and you'll reach the border of Lanjiang County. If you go north, you'll enter the territory of Heng Mountain County."
In the mountain forest, five men dressed in coarse linen clothes, disguised as villagers, moved nimbly through the jungle.
From the conversation among the five, it seemed they were headed towards either Heng Mountain County or Lanjiang County.
It was just unclear to which Earth Realm these two counties belonged.
Suddenly.
The hook-nosed man leading the group, who was about thirty years old, gestured with his hand and said in a low voice, "Something's moving!"
The other four immediately stopped, silent.
In a short while.
Thump!
Thump thump!
Thump thump thump!
A series of heavy footsteps sounded, and the hook-nosed man Yan Zhang's face changed as he exclaimed in alarm, "Bears!"
Such footsteps could only mean a bear, no other possibility!
Yan Zhang held his breath.
"Chirp chirp!"
However, a lark's call from overhead broke the silence.
Rumble!
The footsteps were getting closer!
"Damn it!"
"Run!"
Yan Zhang cursed and, with a push off a tree, dashed away hastily. With the bear's powerful defensive strength and immense force, even though he had a sharp blade and was skilled in martial arts, he dared not confront it directly.
"Run!"
The other four men were also startled and, seeing Yan Zhang flee, followed in a desperate sprint.
Anyone who lagged even a half step would end up as bear food!
Boom boom boom!
Sounds from behind them, Yan Zhang looked back to see a nearly ten-feet tall black bear leaping several meters at a time, pouncing towards them with ferocious momentum.
A truly frightening scene!
The five men fled in panic!
At that moment, three figures appeared up ahead—two teenagers and a girl around eleven or twelve years old.
Their presence in the depths of the mountains was quite odd.
"Locals from the nearby village?"
"Use them to divert the bear!"
Yan Zhang's thoughts raced, and he immediately reacted. He changed direction, running straight towards the trio. The other four understood and also followed suit.
Lu Qingfeng looked at the five people running towards them and breathed a sigh of relief.
He was worried about how to extract information about the Earth Realm from these five without cause, unwilling to resort to violence. Now that the five had shown malice, there was no need to hesitate about the methods used.
"Qingshan, Qingyu, take good care of yourselves."
Lu Qingfeng used his Heavenly Eye Skill to scan and found that the cultivation level of the five men was roughly the same as that of the periphery enforcement team of the Returning to Truth Sect, with the strongest, the hook-nosed middle-aged man, being at the Third Level of Fetal Breathing Realm.
With his current strength, even if there were three to five times more of them, he could easily take them down.
"Alright!"
Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu responded, holding a Golden Light Talisman in hand, ready for any enemy.
Meanwhile, Lu Qingfeng stood at the forefront, gripping a glimmering Nine-Ring Saber in his hand!
A True Sect Level "Qing Yuan Sword Technique," coupled with the Cloak Saber Technique enhanced five times, was more than enough to deal with these fellows who even feared a black bear!
"Brats! Move aside!"
Yan Zhang charged forward, not only leading the black bear towards the direction where Lu Qingfeng and the others were but also shouting loudly. He even tried to pass directly through the middle of Lu Qingfeng and the others.
In his hand, a short blade with a flickering cold light was partially unsheathed.
A murderous aura loomed!
Clearly.
This man did not take Lu Qingfeng and the others seriously.
After all, they were just two teenagers and a little girl, what could they possibly do?
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