The Golden Page (II)

The Han Brothers formed an arrow shaped formation to cloak their auras. Liu Xin was at the front, the three brothers surrounded Wei Ren by forming a triangle and Wei Chen was at the tail of their formation.

The journey to the first Dune Belt was quite uneventful. It took them one whole day to reach this place. As they entered deeper into the territory of Golden Crow Kingdom, the plantation and vegetation completely vanished. A true desert revealed itself. Upon their arrival, they met a pair of soldiers from the Golden Crow Kingdom who were on patrol. The two soldiers were flying on a giant Redbeaked Warcrow.

As soon as they were seen, Liu Xin jumped on his flying sword and returned with heads. They couldn't let anything compromise their mission. Getting rid of loose ends was very important. They ransacked the belongings of the two soldiers but found nothing important.

Wei Ren was having a hard time keeping up with the others. He wasn't able to use Thunder Walk because it was too loud. Thankfully, even Han Brothers and Liu Xin who was at the River Expansion stage couldn't show their full might.

The Aura Cloaking Formation was able to mask all the Elemental Qi disturbances they produced while moving. But if they were to move too fast, they would definitely alert the enemies.

This made their journey longer. If Liu Xin wanted to, he could fly straight to the Minor Base in a matter of minutes. But even with his River Expansion cultivation base, he would still be in danger.

Wei Ren was breathing slowly. The Earth Law was replenishing his Qi as he ran. He was truly worried about his tyrannical red Qi. It started disobeying his orders. Only a tiny connection was left between him and his Qi. He wanted to improve his Qi control before reaching the Minor Base, so he played with the Yin-Yang marbles that Mei Rong gave him. Currently this was the only method he knew that could help him.

"Young Master Ren, we are about to reach the second Dune Belt. But before we enter, we will have to sneak through the WarCrow Posts. How should we deal with them." Liu Xin suddenly asked.

He stopped calling Wei Ren the Devil General after he was ordered by the Wei Ren. This ended up making him revere Wei Ren even more. The latter was so unfazed by titles and formalities. This was the kind of behaviour Liu Xin admired.

"Uh...the WarCrow Posts, they send patrol guards every few hours. We should try to avoid them as much as possible." Wei Ren was caught off-guard but he managed to give a simple answer.

"Wouldn't it be better if we destroy the WarCrow Posts? That way they would be unable to cause us any trouble when we return." The youngest of the Han Brothers, Han Shu asked with doubt.

His eldest brother was not very satisfied when he spoke. What Wei Ren said was wiser than Han Shu's decision.

WarCrow Posts send soldiers on Redbeaked Warcrows to convey intel to eachother and to the Minor Basese. If they were to destroy any one of the WarCrow Posts, the others would be alerted. Although it might make things easier for them when they returned but it wasn't worth it to put the whole mission in jeopardy.

Han Shu smiled apologetically when he saw everyone's weird gazes.

His second and eldest brother glared at him silently.

"We are here." Liu Xin suddenly came to a halt. Rest were also forced to stop.

They were standing at a tall sand dune. Wei Ren slowly walked over and joined Liu Xin at the front.

A hundred foot tall tree was visible a few kilometres away from them. It was a strange scene. A tree with no leaves was growing right in the middle of sand dunes. The actual height of this tree must be a lot more. It's base must be burried deep into the sand.

A giant bird nest was lying on top of the tree. With their sharp eyesights, they were able to see the bird nest and the two giant Warcrows and two Cultivators resting in it.

"We are unlucky. The guards of this Post are not on Patrol. But we should manage to sneak past them if we move slowly." Wei Ren spoke plainly.

"Indeed. Han Ge, set up the formation. If we cross this Post, we should be able to reach the Minor Base tonight." Liu Xin gave the orders.

The three brothers immediately started to set up a new Formation. The formation they used previously was effective against Qi Streams Experts but soon they would enter the vicinity of Cultivators with much stronger cultivation bases. Avoiding their senses is easier said than done.

The two guards sitting in the bird nest were arguing with each other about something. They didn't even feel a thing when a group of six individuals passed right beneath them.

"Elder Cousin Ren…" Wei Chen's shy voice entered Wei Ren's ears.

He turned his face to the shy and young teenager.

"I heard that your master, Grand Healer Lu Sheng is working hard to find a cure for the mysterious venom. How close is he to success?"

"Master is working hard to find the cure. I am sure he will find a way to protect us from the venom."

"I hope he can find the cure as soon as possible." Wei Chen said with a deeply concerned look.

After spending a day with this shy child, Wei Ren learned his true behaviour.

Although he seemed a shy and introverted person, Wei Chen was quite intelligent. His understanding of the war and his actions proved his genuine concern for the kingdom. He was not fighting to earn battle credit, he was fighting to end the war and end the suffering.

"A true king." Wei Ren couldn't help but feel inferior. Wei Chen had all the qualities of a fine ruler. Compared to him, Wei Ren's goals seemed completely selfish.