Chapter 7: Fugitives (Part 2)

The team had approached the center of the dark mist area. Zhou Xiaoling raised her hand, signaling for everyone to stop and gather together. She whispered, “We can’t go any further in—it’s too dangerous!” Faint howls could already be heard; it was unclear whether they came from mutated talisman beasts.

Zhou Xiaoling said, “Let’s rest for a while, cross through from here, then head outside to find a place to continue training.”
Guo Shier nodded. “Okay!”
“Not okay!”
The voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it clearly. A person stepped out of the thick mist, his face filled with anger. Guo Shier and the others were stunned—this guy had followed them here. It was unclear how he had done it.

Zhang Yaojin staggered over, waving his hand. “Why be so nervous?”
Guo Shier, Zhou Xiaoling, and Eagle Demon stood in a triangular formation, on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy. Everyone knew they must not fight here—any battle would surely attract fierce mutated talisman beasts.

Zhang Yaojin tilted his head, ran his hand through his messy hair, and asked Guo Shier, “Kid, are you their leader?”
Guo Shier breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Yaojin didn’t seem hostile. He asked, “What do you want?”
Zhang Yaojin replied calmly, “You must have met the inspectors before—those signal talismans to report any discoveries, right? Heh, since you haven’t sent any signals, that proves… we’re not enemies!”
Peng Yuanwang whispered, “How… how do you know?”
Guo Shier explained, “We called out his name as soon as we saw him. Of course, he knows we’ve met the inspectors.”
Zhang Yaojin gave a thumbs-up. “Smart!”
Peng Yuanwang’s face turned slightly red. Eagle Demon said sternly, “What are you here for? Isn’t one betrayal enough?”
Guo Shier thought for a moment and understood. He said, “We have no connection, so… I won’t take you out!”
Zhang Yaojin looked at Guo Shier with new respect, clicking his tongue in admiration. “Kid, being too smart isn’t good! Tsk tsk, you could figure this out… I’m really impressed.”
Guo Shier replied coldly, “What’s so hard to figure out? You’re at your wits’ end. You can’t live forever in this bloody secret realm. Besides, you’ve been caught cheating by the inspectors, so your talisman sect is sealed. Unless someone takes you out, you’ll die here eventually… You know this well, and so do I.”

Zhang Yaojin clapped softly and said, “Very good! You’ve hit the nail on the head! Gaha, do you really have to reject me?” He added stubbornly, “We… can’t fight here, gaha. If a fight breaks out, none of us will survive, and then I won’t have to worry… about whether to go out or not, gaha!”
Guo Shier said disdainfully, “Your laugh is really ugly… Even the spirit beasts laugh more pleasantly than you!”
Zhang Yaojin choked out a “gaha” and pointed at Guo Shier angrily, “You…”
Guo Shier replied, “What’s wrong with me? I’ve never met someone like you—not only shameless but also utterly unscrupulous!”
Surprisingly, Zhang Yaojin didn’t get angry. He paused for a moment and said, “Forget it, I won’t argue with you! Hey, is there any food? Give me some; I’m starving!”
Everyone stared in shock at this guy. When it came to thick-skinnedness, he could be considered number one.
Zhou Xiaoling narrowed her delicate eyes and after a long while said, “You’re a Holy Master… and yet you’re so… so…” Given her bold personality, she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Zhang Yaojin said nonchalantly, “I’m just a nominal Holy Master. Without real strength, I’m only slightly better than a Mad Master. I can’t even beat a Mad Master with a legacy… Damn it!” He cursed angrily.
Guo Shier asked curiously, “How did you get away just now?”
Zhang Yaojin rubbed his face vigorously and said, “Give me some food, don’t be so stingy!”
Peng Yuanwang took out a piece of cold cooked meat and glanced at Guo Shier. Zhang Yaojin darted over, snatched it, and said, “This kid is nice, gaha. He knows Old Zhang is hungry.” He bit into it greedily, mumbling, “Damn, I’m starving… Mm, it’s delicious! Is… is there any more? Give me another piece!”
Guo Shier waved his hand helplessly, signaling Peng Yuanwang to give him another piece of meat. Faced with such an unscrupulous scoundrel, he didn’t know what to do.
Peng Yuanwang said, “Elder, we… we should belong to the same sect. I’ve heard… I’ve heard of you!” He finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
Zhang Yaojin froze holding the meat. He stared at Peng Yuanwang and said, “You too…?” He shook his head and continued eating the meat. After a while, he added, “The sect must think I’m dead!”

Peng Yuanwang hesitated for a moment and said nothing. Zhang Yaojin said self-mockingly, “Us worthless disciples thrown in by the sect have never been taken seriously. It doesn’t matter if we die; it’s no different from those elite disciples… There’s nothing strange about it. Hey, give me another piece of meat.”
Guo Shier asked curiously, “Since you’ve reached the rank of Advanced Mad Master, why haven’t you left?”
Zhang Yaojin replied, “Why should I leave? If I go outside, with my potential, it would be hard to quickly advance to Saint Master—maybe even a hundred years. Here… I can advance at the fastest speed. Damn it, I originally planned to advance to Great Saint Master before leaving, but those bastards betrayed me and reported me to the inspectors…”
Sun Min’er asked, “Why would they report you?”
Zhang Yaojin said, “A bunch of elite disciples thinking they’re so great… I, Old Zhang, wiped them out completely. Ha ha!”
Zhou Xiaoling snapped, “Don’t talk so loudly!”
Zhang Yaojin rolled his eyes and said, “New here, right? It’s fine to speak loudly here.”
Zhou Xiaoling was so angry she wanted to hit him. She knew this guy must be very familiar with this place, but his tone was simply infuriating. She said, “Hmph! What’s the use of being familiar? You’re still chased around like a dog!”
Zhang Yaojin snapped, “If I were like those elite disciples, even if I reached Saint Master, those inspectors would pretend not to see me. Damn it! Just because I’m an ordinary disciple, those idiots are shouting and fighting over me!”
Guo Shier took out a pouch of talismans and said, “There’s clean water and cooked meat here, enough for two months. We’ll be leaving!” He didn’t want to keep dealing with this guy; if the inspectors found out, it would affect their entire team.
Zhang Yaojin took the pouch without hesitation and said with a smile, “I want to join your team!”
“Impossible!”
“No way!”
Zhou Xiaoling and Eagle Demon almost shouted at the same time. Guo Shier shook his head and said, “Our team can’t let you join. If you weren’t wanted, joining wouldn’t be a problem, but since you’re under inspection, we can only pretend we haven’t seen you… If you join, it will put all of us in danger.”
Zhang Yaojin said, “Let’s make a deal!”
Guo Shier pondered for a moment and asked, “What kind of deal?”
Zhang Yaojin said, “I can find a few great places to train—no powerful people or mutated talisman beasts. At least I can stay there for dozens of days, then move to another place where I can advance quickly!”

Guo Shierou shook his head and said, “As long as we’re careful, we can still advance smoothly. This… isn’t attractive to us!”
Zhang Yaojin scratched his head vigorously, looking distressed, and said, “These times… it’s really hard to get by. Fine, I’ll use this in exchange. Let’s agree first… I don’t necessarily have to stay with you. Just make sure to take me with you when you leave! I’ll hide on my own at other times. If I get caught, then it’s over. If not… I hope you’ll keep your promise!”
Peng Yuanwang whispered, “When we get out, I can take you with me.”
Zhang Yaojin shook his head. “I won’t go back. There’s nothing to hold me there anyway. Why go back? I’ll go with you!” He pointed at Guo Shierou.
Guo Shierou pointed at his own nose in surprise. “Go with you? That’s impossible!” He didn’t even know where he would go himself, so how could he take him?
Zhang Yaojin said, “Why impossible… I don’t care where you go. Just take me out, and then we go our separate ways. Is that not okay?”
Guo Shierou hesitated for a moment but thought it wasn’t a big deal and said, “Okay! But if your exchange condition isn’t met, then it’s none of our business.”
Zhang Yaojin muttered, “Little rascal!” He said, “Alright, it’s settled then.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked curiously, “What will you exchange with?”
Zhang Yaojin said proudly, “There’s a place where there are plenty of Blood Soul Stones!”
Instantly, golden light flashed in everyone’s eyes—this was extremely tempting. They had searched many places along the way but never found any Blood Soul Stones. Guo Shierou didn’t even know what they looked like. Zhang Yaojin’s words moved everyone.
Zhang Yaojin said, “There are so many Blood Soul Stones there… tons of them.”
A spark of insight flashed in Guo Shierou’s mind. He said, “That’s not right!”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “What’s not right?”
Guo Shierou said, “If there really are that many Blood Soul Stones, why haven’t you collected them all? That place must be extremely dangerous! We’d never be able to dig them up!”
Everyone’s gaze turned fierce again. Zhang Yaojin was at a loss and said, “You… what’s your name? How old are you… That’s too clever! How could you guess that? Actually… you guessed half right, and the other half wrong. Just because I tell you there are Blood Soul Stones doesn’t mean you’ll definitely be able to get them!”
Guo Shierou couldn’t help but laugh. He said, “My name is Guo Shierou. I’m thirteen years old, and I’ll be fourteen soon. So first, tell me… where are the Blood Soul Stones… and who are the strong guys there?”

Zhang Yaojin smiled bitterly and said, “A typical elite disciple.” He added, “There is indeed a level-9 mutated ferocious dog there, but it’s not very big… only about eight meters long and three meters high. The only problem is that it can use tearing void runes to shatter anything in its path.”
Hiss…
Everyone gasped in shock. Guo Shier said, “A level-9 mutated ferocious dog? An eight-meter-long dog? Are we just going there to die? Not to mention level-9—even an eight-level mutated rune beast is beyond our power to defeat.”
Zhang Yaojin showed a hint of pride and said, “I have a plan!”