Chapter 174: Too Cautious

But by coincidence, he encountered True Person Round Mountain.

True Person Round Mountain. (From Chapter 124)

He was the True Person who had blocked He Song and his companions when they first entered the Earth Sect.

At that time, there had been some unpleasantness between True Person Round Mountain and True Person Clear Moon.

However, the previous incidents were mainly due to the underlying power struggles between the two factions.

Now that the two factions had begun cooperating, although the rift had not completely disappeared, it had eased significantly.

At least.

Considering their shared sect membership, when the True Persons from both factions met, they occasionally exchanged a few words, unlike before when relations were so strained.

However.

It was precisely during Wei Fan's encounter with True Person Round Mountain that the latter began discussing matters related to He Song with Wei Fan.

"True Person Bear Fortune, I know you, True Person Severing Soul, and that young Daoist named He Song are close friends. Hearing about the friendship among you three has made me quite envious."

"There are some things I can't say too much about, but if you happen to meet that young Daoist He Song in the future, please pass on a message for me."

"If he ever has an urgent matter and needs to leave the sect, just let me know. Because he is closely aligned with you two True Persons, he won't betray the sect and flee. If it were someone else, they would have likely been treated as spies and interrogated long ago."

As he spoke, True Person Round Mountain shook his head repeatedly, looking quite helpless.

He and several other Foundation Establishment True Persons had been ordered to guard the mountain gate.

During one such occasion, he accidentally discovered He Song leaving the sect through the earth using Earth Traveling Art.

If he hadn't recognized He Song and known that He Song was a close friend of Wei Fan and Meng Guan, and that the Sect Master valued He Song highly—even bestowing two Foundation Establishment Pills to help He Song break through to Foundation Establishment—

he might have immediately captured He Song and subjected him to severe interrogation to uncover his intentions for leaving the sect.

However, considering He Song's special status—being nearly inseparable from the two Foundation Establishment True Persons in the sect and having no reason to betray the sect—True Person Round Mountain decided to turn a blind eye after some thought.

He chose not to expose He Song.

But now, having coincidentally encountered Wei Fan, True Person Round Mountain decided to share this information with him.

He wanted Wei Fan to inform He Song.

In the future, if He Song wished to leave the sect, he only needed to inform True Person Round Mountain; there was no need to use Earth Traveling Art to depart.

Wei Fan was stunned upon hearing this.

After a long silence, he finally understood.

No wonder he couldn't find He Song within the Earth Sect.

So He Song had already left the sect.

But why would He Song leave the sect at this time when the Earth Sect and the Seven Stars Sect were at war?

If it weren't for the decades-long friendship with He Song, Wei Fan might have even suspected He Song's motives.

However, precisely because of this.

True Person Round Mountain knew of the relationship between He Song, Wei Fan, and Meng Guan, so he harbored no suspicions.

If it had been someone else, they would have been captured and severely interrogated upon being discovered leaving the sect through the earth.

Wei Fan awkwardly agreed.

At the same time, he secretly resolved to discuss this matter with He Song once he returned to the sect.

Thus, when He Song arrived earlier, Wei Fan immediately reminded him to be cautious.

However, He Song was unaware of this at the moment.

He also didn't know that during one of his departures through Earth Traveling Art, True Person Round Mountain had spotted him and informed Wei Fan about it.

"Mm, thank you for the reminder, Brother Wei. I'll definitely be more careful in the future."

Nodding toward Wei Fan, He Song expressed his gratitude.

He naturally would take care of his own safety. Even without Wei Fan's reminder, He Song would have done the same.

But since Wei Fan had spoken, He Song could only express his thanks to reassure Wei Fan.

Seeing this, Wei Fan didn't say much more and simply invited He Song into his cave residence.

Inside the cave residence,

Wei Fan and He Song sat facing each other.

Between them, a pot of hot tea emitted a rich and fragrant aroma.

"Today, when I went looking for you, do you know whom I encountered in the Earth Sect?"

After welcoming He Song into the cave residence, Wei Fan, recalling what he had heard today, immediately spoke up.

Without waiting for He Song to respond, he revealed a name.

"True Person Round Mountain."

Upon seeing He Song's puzzled expression, a faint smile appeared on Wei Fan's face.

"To speak of it, True Person Round Mountain has quite a connection with us."

"When we first entered the Earth Sect, the True Person who blocked our way was him."

"Today, when I met him, I learned something interesting."

Looking at He Song, Wei Fan paused mid-sentence, seemingly wanting He Song to ask further.

But after decades of friendship, how could He Song not know Wei Fan's personality?

Seeing this,

He Song kept his gaze steady, pretending to know nothing, and quietly sipped his tea.

Beside him,

seeing that He Song wasn't taking the bait, Wei Fan waited for a while before shaking his head and continuing.

He didn't wait for He Song to ask.

"That True Person Round Mountain said that while guarding the mountain gate, he accidentally noticed a small fish swimming past beneath his divine sense."

"Fellow Daoist, have you ever heard of a kind of small fish that can swim through the ground?"

At this point, Wei Fan smiled but remained silent, gazing at He Song as if wanting to observe his reaction a bit longer before parting ways.

However, upon hearing Wei Fan's words,

a flicker of caution flashed in He Song's eyes.

What small fish could swim through the ground?

Could it be that True Person Round Mountain had accidentally discovered him leaving the mountain gate through the earth?

Otherwise, how could Wei Fan have heard such an "interesting" story from True Person Round Mountain during their encounter?

These two rarely interacted, so how could they have the leisure to exchange such tales?

Moreover, Wei Fan's current demeanor, as if scrutinizing He Song's reaction, gradually gave He Song a clearer understanding.

It seemed.

that during one of his departures from the sect through Earth Traveling Art, he had been accidentally discovered by True Person Round Mountain.

But the number of times he had been discovered should only be once.

If he had been discovered multiple times, Wei Fan would have mentioned small fish swimming back and forth underground, rather than just mentioning one instance of a fish swimming past.

Calculating this way,

He Song's strategy of using Earth Traveling Art to travel underground was entirely correct.

Even with the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment True Person spread out,

they only managed to discover him once by chance.

Yet over the years, He Song had left and returned to the sect numerous times—perhaps not dozens, but certainly more than ten times.

Even so, he had only been discovered once.

And that was when he was still using ordinary Earth Traveling Art.

Nowadays,

He Song mostly used the Mountain-Linking Earth Traveling Art when traveling.

The Mountain-Linking Earth Traveling Art allowed him to dive tens of meters underground.

Even the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment True Person likely couldn't penetrate that deep underground.

Under these circumstances, although He Song knew he had been accidentally discovered by True Person Round Mountain during one of his departures, he felt no panic.

If nothing had happened when he was discovered, then nothing would happen in the future.

He had already upgraded his abilities. From now on, even if he left the sect daily right under True Person Round Mountain's nose using Earth Traveling Art, True Person Round Mountain would remain oblivious.

Thinking of this, He Song looked at Wei Fan, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

His friend was excellent in every way,

but when it came to dealing with him or Meng Guan, he always liked to speak in riddles.

However, Wei Fan's demeanor toward others was completely different from how he acted toward He Song or Meng Guan.

For example, when He Song had asked Wei Fan to kill Chen Zhou, Wei Fan had chased after him and struck without hesitation.

He had even nearly slashed Meng Guan, who had just emerged from the Crimson Spirit Gold Mine.

Fortunately, Meng Guan had been quick-witted and shouted "Brother Wei" at the last moment, saving his life.

Now,

looking at this Wei Fan, who had broken through to Foundation Establishment over a decade ago yet still enjoyed exchanging riddles with him over trivial matters,

He Song couldn't reconcile the two sides of Wei Fan's personality.

But after decades of acquaintance, He Song knew this was the true Wei Fan.

Outwardly, he was decisive and ruthless.

Inwardly, he cherished his brothers deeply.

Contradictory, yet belonging to the same person.

"I haven't seen any small fish that can swim through the ground, but I must admit, I learned a technique called Earth Traveling Art years ago, which allows me to move through the ground."

Shaking his head, He Song didn't reveal everything. Instead, under Wei Fan's increasingly bright gaze, he casually revealed one of his minor techniques.

That's right.

Earth Traveling Art was now just a minor technique for He Song—it wasn't even his trump card.

Currently, the Earth Traveling Art He Song used wasn't the ordinary version but the Mountain-Linking Earth Traveling Art.

If the ordinary Earth Traveling Art was exposed, so be it. After all, True Person Round Mountain already knew, and Wei Fan likely did too.

Revealing it wouldn't just make Wei Fan happy but also conceal his true trump card—the Mountain-Linking Earth Traveling Art.

Why not do it?

"Ahem, True Person Round Mountain asked me to tell you that in the future, if you wish to leave the sect, just let him know. There's no need to use Earth Traveling Art to leave."

"To think that after all these decades, your overly cautious nature hasn't changed at all."

"You even use Earth Traveling Art to leave the sect. Do you also use it to travel when you're outside?"

After conveying True Person Round Mountain's message, Wei Fan's gaze gradually filled with exasperation.

To him,

He Song was far too cautious.

When He Song was in the early stages of Qi Condensation and couldn't defeat anyone, being cautious was understandable.

When He Song reached the middle stage of Qi Condensation and couldn't defeat those in the late stage, being cautious was also understandable.

But now, He Song's cultivation had reached the late stage of Qi Condensation, and he had two Foundation Establishment-stage friends. Wasn't being this cautious a bit unreasonable?

You have powerful backing—two Foundation Establishment True Persons!

And yet you're still this cautious. Are you looking down on these two brothers?

Back then, after reaching the late stage of Qi Condensation, Wei Fan had constantly sought opportunities to fight. But being in the Immortal Market, he never got the chance.

The only time he fought was when He Song asked him to kill Chen Zhou.

And that was just one fight.

(End of Chapter)