A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248

by Translator: Johnchen

  His visage became very unsightly and gloomy. Not far within his vision, the mountain seemed to be filled with flames that reached the skies, people rushing around, and sword flashes gleaming nonstop. Moreover, there were sounds of close combat everywhere. The warning sounds that rang out merged with angry shouts in a frenzied mass of noise.

  Hearing the wind moving behind his back, he asked without turning his head: “Li Feiyu, is it the Feral Wolf Gang?”

  “Yes. Who would have thought that they had planned so meticulously? After practically annihilating the negotiation team, they immediately moved up the mountain to slaughter the remaining survivors.” The dusty informant with long and unruly hair was precisely Li Feiyu, who had left four days prior. His current voice was dripping with pent up rage, unwilling to accept the Feral Wolf Gang’s actions.

  Chapter 77: Countermeasure

  “But what is strange is how they broke through the sentry outposts surrounding mountains. When we retreated back up the mountain, we clearly called out to the sentries to be on high alert,” Li Feiyu said to himself, full of doubt.

  “There is nothing strange about this. The Feral Wolf Gang already made plans for this massive assault a long time ago. Secretly inserting spies within the sentries is an easy matter. It would be normal for the undiscovered spies to silently take over the sentry posts,” Han Li lightly said.

  “But if the Feral Wolf Gang wanted to easily take over the different divisions, that would be impossible. I reckon that they plan to surround all the division halls on the mountain but not attack them. Then, they will gather all their experts to concentrate their attacks on the main division located at Setting Sun Summit. They only need to capture or kill the Sect Leader, and the rest will follow suit.”

  “So what should we do now? Should we go to Setting Sun Summit?” Li Feiyu’s questions impatiently followed one another.

  Han Li was speechless. After quite some time, he suddenly turned his body towards Li Feiyu and gravely said:

  “You still haven’t told me something crucial. The negotiation team had so many highly skilled experts, so how could they be completely wiped out? Logically speaking, the Feral Wolf Gang shouldn’t have that much strength.”

  Upon hearing these words, Li Feiyu’s facial muscles tensed for a moment, and he couldn’t help but stick out his tongue to lick his cracked lips. Revealing a hint of a bitter smiling expression, he said:

  “They fired large quantities of crossbows in rapid succession. These crossbows happened to be military-grade.”

  “Military-grade rapid fire crossbows?”

  “That’s correct”

  “It was our second day since we left the mountain. We were walking in a field, and since we were still in our own territory, everyone was pretty relaxed. In that moment, countless Feral Wolf Gang members appeared from all sides, and in each of their hand was a stiff crossbow. Soon, the sky was covered by a rain of crossbow bolts. The sneak attack caused those disciples with lacking martial art skills to die on the spot amidst the chaotic rain of bolts. Only a few martial art experts or the extremely lucky ones were able to dodge this first wave, but many carried injuries, which weakened their martial art skill by quite a bit. I am also one of those who were lucky; otherwise, I would not have made it back.”

  Speaking up to this point, Li Feiyu still had some lingering fears, his eyes unconsciously revealing traces of dread. It seems like the image of a volley of crossbow bolts provoked quite a big reaction from Li Feiyu.

  “After the volley of arrows, the others experts appeared, and everyone took part in a bitter battle. The remainder of our forces decided break apart our formation, going in separate ways in order to increase our chances of survival.”

  “My luck was also good. In the enemy’s’ eyes, I was not high on their kill list, so only a few people followed me, and their martial arts skills were not very profound, allowing me to slaughter my way out. But as I was rushing back, I discovered that the Feral Wolf Gang had overrun our checkpoints one by one in quick succession. They were waiting for those who escaped the ambush to walk into their trap. After falling for the trap two times, I no longer dared to go seek help.”

  “Because I wanted to know about the situation of other sect members, I later steeled my resolve and straightforwardly ambushed a Feral Wolf Gang Law Enforcer wearing blue clothes. From him, I found out that Sect Leader Wu and several other Elders have all died in battle at the hands of the countless experts that surrounded them, leaving only those who fled like me, who was not considered neither too important nor too weak.”

  “After learning of this news, I did not dare to dally any longer and rushed back up the mountain with all the strength I could muster. Halfway up, I coincidentally met two other people who, like me, had managed to escape death. Together, we continued to escape for one day and one night, finally returning back to the mountain.”

  “Once we returned, the other two left for Setting Sun Summit to notify Sect Leader Wang that the negotiation team had been completely wiped out. I fabricated an excuse that I had to heal my wound and secretly came to meet with you in order to discuss our counter-attack.”

  “Although Sect Leader Wu and countless others died during the ambush, a few disciples managed to escape. Our status within the sect is neither high nor low. Who knows if the higher ups will be driven by fury and place all the blame on us, making us scapegoats.”

  “Even though I have not finished telling you everything, the Feral Wolf Gang is slaughtering its way up the mountain. You must tell me what we should do right now!”

  Li Feiyu said all this in a single breath with a helpless expression.

  Hearing this, Han Li wrinkled his eyebrow and tilted his head to think.

  At this moment, the sounds of slaughter became all the more intense, and from time to time, the mournful sound of people dying would ring out, making those who hear it do nothing but tremble.

  “Do you still have subordinates on the mountain?” Han Li asked, his voice becoming extremely solemn.

  “Yes, I still have twenty some subordinates located in several houses near Elder Li’s residence. I originally planned to take them out to settle some matters after the negotiation team returned.”

  “Okay then, we’ll first go to Elder Li’s residence to gather the others as well as to take the opportunity to meet up with Lady Zhang Xiuer and Elder Li. As for our next step, we will make a decision after we learn more about the situation,” Han Li calmly said, appearing to be extremely rational.

  “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

  “Right now, it’s chaos outside, I am very worried about Xiuer!” Li Feiyu exclaimed with a bit of worry.

  Han Li glanced at Li Feiyu, completely at a loss regarding his thoughts. On one hand, Li Feiyu was extremely worried about Zhang Xiuer, but on the other hand, he clearly understood that he did not have long to live yet he still adamantly wanted to marry her, clearly knowing that she would become a widow!

  “This contradictory fellow!” Han Li secretly gave his good friend a not so pleasant evaluation.

  Han Li lightly jumped and descended from the rooftop. Shortly afterwards Li Feiyu followed him down.

  “Let me go gather some things, then we will leave immediately.”

  “Alright, but you have to hurry. I’m really worried about Xiuer’s safety.”

  Hearing this, Han Li could only remain speechless.

  The other was constantly muttering “Xiuer”, sounding extremely sappy and making Han Li feel a bit of despise mixed with jealousy.

  Han Li no longer continued to pay attention to the love-stricken Li Feiyu. He minded his own business and proceeded to enter his own house, starting to swiftly collect all sorts of different yet essential items.

  Chapter 78: Forest Massacre

  “Are you done?” Unable to hold himself back, Li Feiyu hurriedly asked Han Li upon seeing him walking out from his residence.

  Han Li glared at Li Feiyu before walking to another smaller residen
ce, closing the door, and coldly stating:

  “Crooked Soul, come out. Tonight will all depend on you.”

  Even before the sound of Han Li’s voice faded away, a “Peng” sound rang out. The wooden door was like a piece of paper, disintegrating into dust as the shadow of a huge body walked out.

  Both of Li Feiyu’s eyes somewhat straightened as he froze. He gazed at that huge giant in front of him that was emitting an demonic aura. However, a hood was wrapped around its head, obscuring its features.

  The huge giant silently walked behind Han Li.

  “Let’s go!” Han Li smiled. Now, it was his turn to urge Li Feiyu along.

  “Oh!” Li Feiyu gasped, as if he just awoken from shock.

  He had a strange expression as he gazed from Han Li to the giant before closing his mouth and silently leading the way out of the valley.

  Han Li stared at the back of Li Feiyu and he snickered before walking faster, catching up with his friend. The giant Crooked Soul followed closely behind.

  Han Li was extremely pleased with Li Feiyu’s discreteness. This was because the both of them had mutual respect of their privacy. This was also one of the reasons why they became such close friends

  Their walking speed was extremely quick, and in the blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the entrance of the valley. Just as Li Feiyu raised his leg to step into the forest, Han Li abruptly extended his right hand and caught Li Feiyu’s shoulder, stopping him from moving any further.

  “What are you doing?” Li Feiyu asked, bewildered and dissatisfied. One must know that his heart was very anxious, akin to a raging fire.

  “There’s someone coming, and there’s more than just one of them,” Han Li gently explained.

  Li Feiyu was shocked and immediately focused his senses to listen, but even after a long while, there was nothing to be heard.

  Suspicion apparent in his eyes, he stared at Han Li, but Han Li disregarded his gaze and did not provide an explanation to him.

  “You……” Just as Li Feiyu opened his mouth, Han Li abruptly raised a finger, placing it upon his lips and signaling for Li Feiyu’s silence.

  Li Feiyu furrowed his brows. Although he was extremely unwilling, because of force of habit, he decided to listen to Han Li and stayed silent.

  Quite a while passed by. This time around, Li Feiyu’s expression grew heavy as he turned his head in amazement to gaze at Han Li. He had finally heard the sound of many footsteps ringing out; it seemed like there truly was a group of people.

  “Enforcer Sun! Beside this forest, there’s both a huge bell-shaped valley and a small road. Seems like this is the God Hand Valley that the Vice Commander informed us of.” A brash sounding voice rang out from the direction of the forest.

  “Right. According to the map and this huge bell shaped valley, there’s no mistake. This is the place. You all better remember, the Commander has issued an absolute order: we are to abduct the divine doctor alive. No one is allowed to hurt him; otherwise, that person will be dealt with according to rules of the gang. Understood?” Another sharp sounding voice rang out, akin to that of a mother hen commanding her little chicks.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  …….

  A series of confirmations sounded out at the same moment, and judging from the voices that replied out loud, there should have been over 10 people. Their breath-control seemed pretty strong, making them all seem like martial arts experts.

  “Other than that blue-robed Enforcer, the rest of the Feral Wolf Gang are all Elites. The blue-robed Enforcer is akin to the Protectors from our sect, while the Elites were akin to the Inner Disciples,” Li Feiyu mumbled in a low voice, explaining to Han Li.

  Li Feiyu knew that his good friend had never once shown the inclination to care about their sect’s matters, so he couldn’t be bothered to continue asking Han Li how he was able to notice the sound of the footsteps that far away. Instead, he opted to use the time to explain the situation and what their identities were to Han Li, intending to warn Han Li not to be careless.

  The moment Han Li heard Li Feiyu speak, he instantly understood what Li Feiyu was trying to convey. He lightly smiled and said nothing. From the look on his face, it appeared that Han Li was extremely unconcerned.

  Li Feiyu was growing increasingly more anxious.

  “Based on my current strength, there’s no way to clash directly in a one-on-one fight with that blue-robed Enforcer, not to mention their Elites surrounding him. I know that you would usually have a lot of cunning plans, so quickly list whatever ideas you have! If not, it will soon be too late to take action.” Li Feiyu’s sentence was enunciated extremely quickly because the group of people had already entered into the forest and started to walk towards them.

  “If not, let us temporarily hide first, evading the vanguard of our enemies.”

  Li Feiyu suggested a seemingly excellent idea, but what was lamentable to Li Feiyu was that Han Li had no intention to heed his advice.

  “Crooked Soul, other than that blue-robed Enforcer, I want you to annihilate everyone in that forest.” Han Li turned his head, looking at the giant man as he commanded in a cold tone.

  “What?” Li Feiyu was thunderstruck after he heard the words that Han Li had uttered.

  But even before he recovered, that huge giant behind Han Li moved with the speed of a hurricane, rapidly dashing away in the pitch-dark forest. Almost immediately, the voices of the Feral Wolf Gang members cried out. “Ai Ya!”

  “Ah!”

  “Who is it?”

  “Sh*t, there’s an ambush.”

  “This…… what is this monster! Arghhh……”

  “Run, quickly! Arghh!”

  ………..

  Mournful cries of shock rang out in the forest, turning into a cacophony of miserable shrieks before they slowly faded away. Before long, there was only silence.

  Li Feiyu blankly stared in the direction of the forest with a face full of disbelief.

  Chapter 79: Questioning

  Similar to grabbing hold of a little chick, the huge giant carried the blue-robed man with a single hand and rapidly walked out of the forest. Its body, covered with blood stains coupled with the sight of its green robes, was similar to the brilliance of a blossoming peach flower.

  Li Feiyu sucked in a breath of cold air.

  As the huge giant walked in front of the two, it tossed the blue-robed man onto the ground. Shortly after, Li Feiyu could smell an acrid smell of blood wafting towards him.

  Li Feiyu’s expression underwent a tremendous change as he unconsciously stepped backwards, making a warding gesture with his hands.

  The huge giant did not concern itself with Li Feiyu’s actions; instead, it strode forward and stood behind Han Li, becoming silent and motionless as if it had never left that spot.

  Only then did Li Feiyu let out a breath of air. He suddenly let out a laugh as he looked at the blue-robed man on the ground while surreptitiously stealing glances at the calm Han Li.

  “I say, how can you still be so calm and collected! So the reason was because of the expert behind your back! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? You caused me to panic this whole time.” Although appearing very relaxed on the surface, Li Feiyu’s heart was wildly trembling as he started to guess at the relationship between the green-robed giant and Han Li.

  Han Li could tell what Li Feiyu was thinking, but he had no intention to explain anything to him. An enigmatic smile broke out on Han Li’s visage as he calmly said:

  “This blue-robed Enforcer should know plenty of information. Who among us is going to interrogate him? I feel that you, Division Head Deputy Li, should have more experience in this than me. Shall I leave him to you?”

  Noting how Han Li dodged the question, he knew that Han Li had no intention of introducing the huge giant to him; as such, he couldn’t help but feel worried in his heart.

  However, regarding the interrogation of the Enforcer, he was extremely interested. After he hear
d Han Li’s suggestion, he swiftly accepted the proposition like a boat flowing along with the current,.

  Li Feiyu lifted the blue-robed man, lightly dashed into the forest, and started his interrogation while Han Li leisurely sat down on a nearby grass patch.

  After a while, Li Feiyu came out of the forest with a gloomy look on his face.

  “Why are you so fast? Is there any news that we could use?” Han Li didn’t stand up; he merely twitched his brows as he asked.

  “Hmph! That craven coward, I haven’t even done anything to him, and he already told me everything. As for news, there are two pieces of information. One good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear about first?” Li Feiyu replied in a depressed manner.

  “Give me the good news first! At least we would be happier after hearing it,” Han Li indifferently said.

  “The good news is that your guess regarding the Feral Wolf Gang’s plan was right.

  The auxiliary forces have no intention of initiating the attack instead want to surround the valley by taking possession of the other mountain peaks. Meanwhile, their main force is mobilizing towards the Setting Sun Summit to launch an aggressive attack. He said that they have already gained control of many important outposts.” Li Feiyu sounded calm as though he did not care about the safety of those with high level of authority.

  “If that was the good news, there’s no need to ask. The bad news must be truly terrible.” Han Li rubbed his nose as he said this with confidence.

  “Crow mouth, you are spot on. The bad news is that several small sects, such as the Metal Spear Association and the Broken Water Sect, have joined the Feral Wolf Gang’s attack against the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. It Seems like our Seven Mysteries Sect is going to face an imminent catastrophe.”

  (TL: “Crow mouth”: a person who always says pessimistic things)