Chapter 274: On the Trail

The news of an assassination attempt on the young city lord quickly swept through the city. The night was bound to be a sleepless one.

Perhaps it was because of the direction Hai Min escaped in, the guards were sent in a completely different direction from the little courtyard they were in. They only arrived at Shang Xia’s courtyard in the morning.

Amidst a series of rapid banging, Shang Xia opened the gates to the courtyard while yawning loudly. The moment the gates opened up slightly, two guards at the Martial Realm rushed inside.

“Are you the only one here?” The two guards glared at Shang Xia with a frosty gaze. One of them asked while the other examined the courtyard closely.

Shang Xia seemed to be frightened by their ferocious demeanor and he stood rooted to the ground with his mouth wide open in shock.

At that moment, a soft creak came from the main room and Hai Min pulled the coat Shang Xia bought for her tightly over herself before walking out. “Honey, Who is it so early in the morning? Why…”

Before she completed her sentence, she saw the guards standing in the middle of the courtyard and she retreated in apparent fear. She took several steps back, and she wanted to close the door, but one of the guards growled, “Are the two of you new here? This courtyard belonged to someone else before…”

An innocent cry came from behind Hai Min just as the man spoke. “Mummy, I’m hungry! I wanna eat dumplings!” Yuanyuan muttered while rubbing her eyes and her tiny head poked out from behind Hai Min’s legs. Discovering the guards standing in their courtyard, Yuanyuan looked up at Hai Min and asked, “Who are they?”

Grabbing Yuanyuan, Hai Min quickly pulled her back into the room.

After seeing the little kid, the guards seemed to have their suspicions dispelled. They turned back to Shang Xia with a much friendlier attitude and explained the situation. “There have been some suspicious activities going on in the city recently and everyone is on guard. If you discover anything strange going on, do notify the guards immediately.”

“Of course, of course.” Shang Xia replied before sending them off respectfully. He went out after to get dumplings for Hai Min and Yuanyuan.

Halfway through their breakfast, Hai Min turned to look at Shang Xia. “A few of my relatives will be visiting us later.”

Shang Xia didn’t even raise his head while eating. “You’ll have to host them on your own then. I’ll have to leave the city today to hunt. Otherwise, our family will run out of money in a few days.”

Hai Min stared at Shang Xia in shock when she heard what he said. Blood rushed to her face and she felt it heating up slightly. However, she heard what he said about going out to hunt and she muttered, “You… You have to be careful when you go out hunting…”

Yuanyuan tilted her head to the side and she asked with her mouth full, “Mummy, is this my daddy? You said that daddy will buy me lots of good food when he returns! He’ll buy me toys and play with me too! Is that true?”

Hai Min’s eyes turned red after hearing what her daughter said, and she immediately lowered her head.

Shang Xia noticed the change in Hai Min’s mood and a sense of mischief filled his mind. He turned to look at Yuanyuan and he laughed, “Why don’t you call me daddy?”

Coughing once, Hai Min turned to stare at Shang Xia with a strange look on her face. However, Yuanyuan was elated. She yelled happily, “Hehe! I’ll call you daddy when you bring back a little rabbit for me!”

“Finish your food! Don’t talk nonsense!” Hai Min snapped at Yuanyuan before lowering her head in embarrassment. She didn’t dare to look at Shang Xia anymore.

Glancing at the blushing Hai Min, Shang Xia laughed. “Alright. I’ll bring you a rabbit.”

After he spoke, he couldn’t help but lock pinkies with Yuanyuan.

…

After the incident in the morning and when he was done with breakfast, Shang Xia left the city the moment the gates opened.

He slung a new quiver of arrows on his back as he headed straight for the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range.

Not too long after Shang Xia entered the mountains, Chen Sanyang left the city on his Scarlet Scale Horse and headed south.

Chen Sanyang moved quickly, and he crossed the mountain pass quickly. He entered the only route leading into the heart of the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range.

Going in close to a hundred miles, Chen Sanyang made a sharp turn to arrive at another patch of forestry. After traveling deeper and deeper through the forest up till the point where his horse could no longer advance, he continued the rest of the way on foot. Securing his mount to a nearby tree, he rushed through the forest and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When he disappeared, his mount suddenly released a loud neigh and stomped hard on the snow below.

Shang Xia’s figure arrived beside the horse, and he gently stroked the creature’s back. Calming it down slightly, he turned to look in the direction where Chen Sanyang disappeared.

As a chilly breeze swept through the land, Shang Xia’s figure disappeared from where he was a second ago.

Chen Sanyuan traveled deeper and deeper into the mountain range, and even though he didn’t know where he was anymore, he had his general sense of direction. A triangle-shaped flag appeared in his hand all of a sudden.

The bright orange flag started to flutter as Chen Sanyang sent some of his inner qi into it. It started to point in a certain direction of the mountain range.

A look of joy appeared on Chen Sanyang’s face and he quickly ran in the direction it was pointing to.

Not too long after he had left, Shang Xia appeared in the place he once stood. He leaped up into a tree to look at where Chen Sanyang was running towards. His expression turned extremely serious.

Chen Sanyang didn’t notice that he was being followed as he traveled in the direction indicated by his flag, and it didn’t take long before he arrived before the spatial barrier separating the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range and the battlefield between the two worlds.

Walking along the barrier for dozens of miles, the flag in his hand showed some signs of reaction. It pointed straight at the barrier before him. As if he was already expecting such a response from the object, Chen Sanyang heaved a sigh of relief.

Looking around him cautiously, Chen Sanyang pretended as though he was taking a casual stroll around the forest before returning to his original spot.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Since the time he left the city, Shang Xia had been following him, unnoticed.

Standing before the spatial barrier, a small gourd appeared in Chen Sanyang’s hand. Popping open the seal to the cork, several items dropped out.

Shang Xia had seen the formation masters of the Tongyou Institution in action, and he could tell what those items were used for. Indeed. Chen Sanyang placed those items in various spots around him with practiced ease before carving runes in the ground below.

After everything was done, he heaved a sigh of relief before stabbing his flag into the middle of the formation.

Sending his inner qi into the orange flag, the runes he cared into the ground earlier started to light up as the items rose into the skies.

A ray of orange light emerged from the center of the formation, shooting into the grayish spatial barrier up ahead. It tried to split the barrier down the middle.

Hiding behind a tree fifty feet away from Chen Sanyang, Shang Xia noticed everything that was happening. After his divine sense transformed a second time, the range he could extend it to increased to slightly over fifty feet.

After merging his divine sense with the world around him, Shang Xia wasn’t afraid that Chen Sanyang could discover him.

As the orange beam tried to widen the crack it made in the barrier, Chen Sanyang’s face turned deathly pale. It was clear that the consumption of his inner qi wasn’t enough for him to sustain the formation he created. If Shang Xia made his move then, Chen Sanyang would be dead beyond doubt.

When Shang Xia was still hesitating about whether to make his move, another beam of orange light came from the other side. Several shadows appeared as they made their way through the barrier.

Even though Shang Xia had his guesses, he was shocked to the core when he saw them crossing the spatial barrier.

It was too late even if he wished to make his move. A powerful divine sense swept through the area and Shang Xia knew that it belonged to a Martial Extermination Realm expert.

After his initial sense of panic, he quickly suppressed his emotions. He discovered that the divine sense didn’t possess any sense of malice. Instead, it was merely a probe of his surroundings.

Failing to discover Shang Xia’s presence, the divine sense soon disappeared. However, he decided to retreat immediately!

Back then at Kou Chongxue’s secret cultivation grounds, Shang Xia experimented with his divine sense. Not even Shang Lubing could discover his presence when he merged with the world around him.

Shang Lubing might not be able to tell who was spying on him, but he could tell that a divine sense was observing him. If Shang Lubing was able to tell, it only made sense that the newcomer would notice the stray divine sense too.

He had to leave as soon as possible. At the very least, he had to be gone before the other party emerged from the spatial barrier. Only then would he be able to ensure his safety.

Very quickly, the orange beam formed a door on the spatial barrier and Chen Sanyang forced himself to his feet and arranged his clothes despite his haggard appearance. He bowed deeply. “Disciple Chen Sanyang greets Elder Liang!”

“Hmph!” A snort boomed through the air as an old man with thinning white hair stepped out from the orange door. “Little Brat Chen, you messed up!”

Chen Sanyang’s originally pale face turned a grade whiter, but he didn’t know what he did.

The elder didn’t bother to speak to him any longer and his gaze swept across the dense forestry around them. A loud roar escaped his lips. “I wonder which expert is playing tricks on me? I am Liang Shuangren of the Changbai Holy Land and I hope you can show yourself!”