Chapter 60: I'll Drain You Dry

The dark waters of the Profound Water Black River rippled with ink-green waves. Along both banks, jagged rocks jutted out while stranded, rotted wooden boats were covered in thick moss. From time to time, small snakes slithered out from stone crevices. Amidst a chorus of hissing sounds, a small white snake darted down. Its tiny triangular head touched against another, its green eyes flickering with light. Ling Xuan listened intently; within the Profound Water Black River, there was no such thing as a Seven-Star Demonic Soul like the Profound Water Black Serpent Soul. Instead, deep within the Profound Black Mountain Range, there lay the Valley of Ten Thousand Snakes. High-grade serpentine demonic souls had once appeared in that valley. As for whether they were the Profound Water Black Serpent Soul, these little snakes had no way of knowing. However, from the hissing of the small snakes, Ling Xuan gathered that Goguryeo scouts had been appearing densely in this area, once even stirring up the Ten Thousand Snakes. Wherever they passed, piles of skeletons remained, green fires drifted, and rivers of blood flowed. This imagery brought the scene at the bottom of the Luo River vividly to mind for Ling Xuan: the Profound Water Black Serpent Soul had condensed into a skeletal demon to conceal its identity. If Yang Xuangan, Chief Imperial Physician Chao, and the others had not come to the rescue, beating the skeletal demon soundly to force the Profound Water Black Serpent Soul into spitting out the power of the nation's destiny dragon and revealing its true form, everyone would likely still have been kept in the dark. A crisp "crack" echoed into his ears, and Ling Xuan instantly raised his head. A few dark figures were approaching not far away, dressed in the uniforms of Goguryeo scouts. The corners of Ling Xuan's lips curled upward as he looked up and greeted them, "See anything unusual?" "Why are there only two of you?" The five men in the lead spotted Ling Xuan and Ye Ziyan, noticing it was only a two-person team, and doubt flashed in their eyes. Although they had changed into Goguryeo scout uniforms, Ye Ziyan could not understand their language and could not offer an explanation. Ling Xuan feigned a look of lingering fear, his eyes flashing with a trace of trauma, "We ran into a Burst Black Bear, got scattered, and barely managed to escape here." "You're lucky; five squads have already been killed by them," the other side hastily replied. The emergence of the Burst Black Bears had scattered quite a few Goguryeo scout squads. However, the Burst Black Bears were not solitary; they moved in packs. These Goguryeo scout squads avoided them whenever possible and would never provoke them lightly. After all, this was one of their defensive lines, meant to prevent scouting squads from the various military farms of the Great Sui Divine Dynasty from coming over to gather intelligence. Little did they know that the Divine Emperor was about to arrive at the Demon-Conquering Camp, and Prince of Beiping Luo Yi and Prince of Yue Yang Xuangan, after consultation, had issued new orders to ensure the decapitation strike did not seem too abrupt. The reward for military merits had been doubled, prompting scouting squads from all the major military farms to cross the Three Thousand Mountains and enter the Profound Black Mountain Range. With heavy rewards comes brave men. Countless military farm scouting squads had received this mission by now. To facilitate their entry into the Profound Black Mountain Range, the Demon-Conquering Camp had even set up tents specially in the Three Thousand Mountains, and the Imperial Heavenly Artisan Pavilion had constructed a transit station overnight.

The Valley of Imperial Physicians responded to the call, sending acupuncturists and pharmacists, while also dispatching Sun Tianxin ahead of time to scout the path into the Three Thousand Mountains. Upon receiving the mission from the Valley of Imperial Physicians, Sun Tianxin immediately modified her plan to rendezvous with Ling Xuan. She instructed Hou Junji to act alone and rush to meet Ling Xuan upon realizing the plan had changed. However, Sun Tianxin left Cheng Yaojin behind to serve as a temporary assistant, utilizing his bottomless appetite to secretly observe individuals with special talents. Operating alone, Hou Junji moved at lightning speed. Seeing the markers left behind by Ling Xuan, Hou Junji was once again struck with astonishment when those very markers led him straight to Yuwen Ni and her party. Not even Ling Xuan could have anticipated such a turn of events; he had instructed Ye Ziyan to leave the markers, but in doing so, she had inadvertently left behind her own aura. As it happened, Yuwen Ni had a particular obsession with Ye Ziyan's aura, enabling her to easily distinguish it amidst so many chaotic traces. Had Ling Xuan known this, he would have cried out in surprise: another one with a dog's nose! However, once inside the Profound Black Mountain Range, stripped of the Great Sui Divine Dynasty's national destiny, their identity plaques were utterly useless for transmitting messages. Not only was Ling Xuan unaware of the changes transpiring in the Three Thousand Mountains, but he also knew nothing of Sun Tianxin's altered plans, nor that Yuwen Ni was pursuing them. Even with the logs captured from the Goguryeo scouts, he lacked any intelligence on these latest developments. At that moment, he was still playing cat-and-mouse with the Goguryeo scouts. He had no inkling that Yuwen Ni had entered the Profound Black Mountain Range and had already located the site where they had fought the Burst Black Bears. On the ground, the blood of the Burst Black Bears had already dried. Yet Yuwen Ni possessed unorthodox methods; she scraped off the dried black blood, gave it a light sniff, and a cold smile touched her lips. "Three days ago. It seems they aren't far now." Yuwen Chengxiang let out a loud laugh, "Let's catch up with them and show them the consequences of offending this young master." "It's getting late, no need to rush," Yuwen Ni said coldly, her voice sharp. "Pitch camp and make dinner. This young lady is hungry." Hou Junji followed far behind, his figure leaping up and down among the tree branches like an agile ape, though profound anxiety gripped his heart. "The Pavilion Master and his wife have actually been targeted by the Yuwen family." Glancing at a few leisurely Burst Black Bears nearby, Hou Junji hatched a plan. Taking advantage of the gathering darkness, he continuously hurled ghost-head nails. Ominous roars immediately rang through the air. The Burst Black Bears instantly charged forward. Utilizing his superior footwork, Hou Junji dashed toward the Yuwen family's campsite. Campfires crackled, and figures moved about. As the ghost-head nails whistled through the air, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Great Sui spies, prepare to meet your doom!" By the time Yuwen Ni and Yuwen Chengxiang bolted out of their tents, the charging Burst Black Bears were already upon them. "Enemy attack!" Yuwen Chengxiang roared. The guards accompanying the Yuwen family rushed forward without hesitation.

"Burst Black Bears?" Yuwen Ni, however, was ecstatic. If Ye Ziyan could kill them, could she possibly be any weaker than that woman? Without caring whether these Burst Black Bears were three-star or four-star demonic souls, nor whether they were large or small, she whipped out her Emei piercers instantly and without a single moment of hesitation. Seeing that his plan was succeeding, Hou Junji's eyes lit up. The Burst Black Bears he had lured just now were merely three-star yellow-glow and four-star green-glow beasts; he hadn't yet drawn over the two five-star cyan-glow ones. His figure flashed repeatedly in the shadows as he continuously fired more ghost-head nails. "Awoo..." The five-star cyan-glow Burst Black Bears finally reacted. Standing at over two zhang tall, one of them caught sight of the struggling bears in the firelight. It snapped a thick tree trunk with a single sweep of its massive paw, roared toward the heavens, and charged straight down. "Hehehe, let you keep staring at the Pavilion Master and Madam," Hou Junji muttered with a smirk, "Even if it doesn't kill you, it'll give you plenty of trouble to deal with." Little did he know that the Goguryeo scout squad, which had been suffering from the rampage of the Burst Black Bears, heard the angry roars and frantic movements, and poured into the area wave after wave. Under the cover of night, it was entirely impossible to see who was actually surrounded. The Burst Black Bears had already wreaked havoc on five scout squads; faced with yet another squad seemingly under siege, how could the others possibly stand by and watch? In a split second, crossbows were drawn, strings pulled tight, and arrows rained down like a storm. Attacked from both sides, the Burst Black Bears abandoned the corpses of two three-star yellow-glow bear cubs and retreated in a panic. Yuwen Chengxiang laughed heartily, "Who comes to our aid?" His voice drifted out, immediately alerting the Goguryo scouts to the anomaly. After a rapid burst of chattering gibberish, they shouted, "Great Sui scouts, kill without mercy!" With continuous pops, a fresh rain of arrows descended. "What?" Yuwen Chengxiang froze in astonishment. How had they run into a Goguryeo squad so quickly? In his panic, a black-tipped arrow pierced straight through his chest, and he fell stiff-backed to the ground. Yuwen Ni's eyes blazed with fury, "Third Brother..." Hearing this from afar, Hou Junji chuckled coldly, "True teachings of the Pavilion Master—I'll trap you until you're dead!"