Early next morning Liu Ying called in a meeting , " I checked up on the patients yesterday , while two of them are doing okay , the other one's condition is gradually worsening , the spread of the infection began again , and he's running a high fever , so we can't really wait till those people decide to come , instead we have to speed up and make them come here soon."
" And how exactly are we going to do that Ms. Liu ? " Li Cheng asked.
" I asked Jin Wei to do some calculations and today is an auspicious day, " Liu Ying stated.
Everyone turned to look at Jin Wei. They had no idea that Jin Wei knew divination .
" My mother taught me how to do it ." Jin Wei simply replied.
Da Xiong nodded , he knew Jin Wei's story , Jin Wei's mother was the daughter of a famous shaman who was executed for perjury , this caused the whole Jin family to be incriminated , all the male members were executed and the female members were sold to brothels or sold as slaves. Jin Wei's mother eventually became a well known dancer, and soon a corrupt minister impregnated her , creating Jin Wei. When that bastard heard about Jin Wei , he wanted to kill the bastard child. But Jin Wei's mother managed to escape with him. Since young she taught him skills like face painting and divination
" Ms. Liu , I've heard before that miasma lifts on auspicious days. Are you planning on using that to lure them in?" Li Cheng asked, rubbing his chin.
Liu Ying nodded. " Jin Wei and Mr. Zhou , go and seal the geysers , seal them one by one to give that illusion of the miasma dispersing gradually. Then please remain by the river for my further instructions. I must also ask you to bring along masks."
Jin Wei and Zhou Zilong nodded before leaving . Liu Ying then turned to Da Xiong.
" Da Xiong , take Mr. Zhang and get started on the sedative smoke. I already asked some juniors to build a fire pit . I spell finally told them to build in on the western edge of the village , so that you can catch the western wind. " Da Xiong nodded and he was about to leave when he was stopped by Liu Ying , " Remember to wear masks , and bring along the sedatives and fans. Also remember , you have to burn a pack every 3 minutes to ensure a constant supply of smoke." Da Xiong nodded and left to get Zhang Anying.
Liu Ying sighed deeply , she stepped outside and waved a junior over. " Da Xiong left the sedatives here , bring them to him , " she instructed him.
The junior quickly took the sedatives to Da Xiong. '
Mo Ling burst out laughing at this. Despite Liu Ying reminding him , he still forgot to bring the sedatives. His laughter was cut short when Li Cheng shot him a warning look.
Liu Ying turned to Mo Ling. " Mr. Mo, I must ask you to get into position now , when the fog lifts it'll be harder to do so without alerting the targets. "
Mo Ling nodded , " But Ms. Liu , how can I notify you ? "
Liu Ying shook her head , ": You just have to let us know when they step inside , Mr. Yang will then activate his skill , and you can just wave to notify us . " Liu Ying explained , she then handed over the death whistle they used yesterday to Mo Ling." Blow on it very softly, otherwise you might scare them off."
Mo Ling happily accepted the whistle .
Li Cheng shot him a nasty look , " You better not play around, just use it once softly to let us know that they're inside the village . If you mess up , I'm throwing you as food for those Crazies we locked up."
Mo Ling felt chills run down his spine at his Senior brother's warning. " Senior brother , I won't mess up. But I completely forgot about Senior Yang's skill , why can't you just use it ?"
Yang Changtian , Li Cheng and Liu Ying glanced at each other , they had discussed this exact problem yesterday.
" Ms. Liu , while it is possible , it drains a lot of my energy ,besides with all the fog , it'll only overwhelm me, " Yang Changtian protested.
" Well I can always replenish your energy , " Liu Ying pointed out . '
Yang Changtian sighed , " Yes Ms. Liu , while that is possible , it still doesn't change the fact that my senses would be overwhelmed with all the fog. Besides who knows how long I'd have to wait with my skill activated , in that case if you constantly keep replenishing my energy , it might cause me some backlash, " Yang Changtian argued back.
" Brother Yang , in that case , why don't we ask Mo Ling to notify us when our targets enter the village , that way the timescope is reduced . " Li Cheng added.
Yang Changtian thought for a while.
" I have another solution , you can simply just focus on certain people right ? So why don't you just focus on our scouts , that way , they'll keep an eye out for the targets , and you just have to notice their signals, " Liu Ying pointed out.
" You mean just focus on the scouts and not the whole village ? That is possible , but I haven't really tried it before, " Yang Changtian stated.
" Then let's try it out. Mr. Li and I will go hide , check to see if you can just focus on us , also just to test your scope , we will hide in the opposite corners , furthest away from each other. "
Yang Changtian nodded and the three of them headed outside.
Li Cheng and Liu Ying quickly went to their respective hiding spots , Liu Ying hid on top of an old defense tower in the South . While Li Cheng climbed and hid inside the old dilapidated temple in the north.
Yang Changtian closed his eyes and activated his skill. He could see the whole village , he saw Da Xiong and Jin Wei arguing about something , Zhou Zilong was tinkering away on something, Zhang Anying was pacing around ,he also saw Mo Ling passed out on his bed , he saw some disciples freshening up for bed , and finally he saw Liu Ying and Li Cheng hiding. Next he tried to just focus on them. He kept trying but he couldn't focus on them , and he was starting to feel a bit drained.
Just when he was about to give up , a memory from his childhood crossed his mind.
He used to sneak out regularly to see Hei Jingyou when they were still kids, on one such outing ,he saw Hei Jingyou practicing her special skills , The dance of a thousand lotuses and Petal Fortress. He watches in amazement as Hei Jingyou conjured up a thousand lotuses around her , each flower was a juxtaposition , its killing ability matchless, able to slice through everything, yet they were captivatingly beautiful and delicate looking. Hei Jingyou spotted him and she reabsorbed the power she used to conjure the lotuses . " Changtian ! I didn't hear you , when did you get here ? "
Yang Changtian had a stupid look on his face , he was still in a daze from witnessing that ethereal scene. Hei Jingyou smiled and went over to patted him on the head. 'The pat brought him back to Earth. " Jingyou , you looked like a goddess. "
Hei Jingyou burst out laughing at this. " Don't joke around , or an actual goddess might hear you and get offended , don't come running to me crying when she tries to punish you," she teased.
Yang Changtian pouted and began to sulk.
Hei Jingyiu spotted his pout and only laughed more , finally after a while she wiped her tears and pulled something from her waist bag. She handed some lotus pastries to Yang Changtian. Yang Changtian wanted to continue his tantrum for longer ,but he couldn't resist the pastries, so he pounced on them immediately.
After he was done eating , the both of them sat in Hei Jingyou's garden. The gardenias were in full bloom , filling the surrounding area with an incredibly sweet yet delicate scent . The scent matched Hei Jingyo quite well.
" So Changtian , tell me why you sneaked away again, " Hei Jingyou finally asked him after he finished eating and washed the food down with some lotus tea she just brewed.
" Master's being a jerk. He kept yelling at me because I can't focus completely on one person when I'm using my special skill , All-Seeing eye, " Yang Changtian began to complain.
Hei Jingyou nodded along to show her sympathy. " How about your other skill , how is it coming along ? " she asked.
" You mean Sword of light ? It's great, I'm actually doing wonderful with it , but Master insists I practice my All-seeing eye skill, " Yang Changtian began to sulk again.
Hei Jingyiou quickly handed over another pastry from her bag , and Yang Changtian began to munch on it . " Changtian don't be too harsh on your Master , he's just making sure you don't have weaknesses. Besides, your All-seeing eye skill is so useful, " Hei Jingyou pointed out, " I think it's really cool ."
" You do ? " Yang Changtian asked incredulously.
Hei Jingyou nodded vigorously.
Yang Changtian began to feel good about himself after hearing what Hei Jingyou said.
" I have a suggestion , to focus on one single person , try to focus on something special about that person. For example , if you want to focus on me in a very crowded setting , just imagine my mask , " Hei Jing You suggested.
" You really think that'll work ? Yang Changtian asked skeptically .
" It won't hurt to try it out , here let's go to the training fields , I'll hide , try to spot me and focus on me ," Hein Jingyou said standing up .Yang Changtian nodded and followed Hei Jingyou.
The two of them reached the training ground and Hei Jingyuou went to hide somewhere. After giving her some time , Yang Changtian began to use his skill , he saw disciples of the Bihou sect training , he saw Master Sun trinang with little Li Cheng and the Huang twins. After a while he still couldn't find her .
Failing to find her ,Hei JIngyou's words echoed through his mind. He tried to give it a shot , he repeatedly thought about the things that made Hei Jingyou unique , her gold mask , and her distinct scent . And after giving it some effort , he finally managed to find her . She was hiding inside a weapons storage. Yang Changtian was even more surprised at the fact he could focus solely on her , without dividing his attention or feeling overwhelmed
Excited he ran to Hei Jingyou , in his rush he startled Master Sun. Shaking his head , he silently waved a disciple over , " Go and inform Master Long of the Guanghui sect that his precious chief disciple is over here playing again. That kid ran and snuck out again for sure , he must be worried for him."
Without a care in the world , Yang Changtian ran over to the weapons shed Hei Jingyou was hiding in. He slammed the door open and ran up to Hei Jingyou. He gave her a big hug. " Jingyou , thank you ,thank you , thank you !" he yelled. " I did it , I could do it , thank you ," he began jumping up and down.
Hei Jingyou broke out from the hug and patted him on the head , " See I knew you could do it. But poor thing you must be tired now , I know your All-seeing eye requires a considerable amount of power from you. How about this, let's go back to my garden . I have more lotus pastries left , you can eat some to replenish your energy."
Yang Changtian nodded eagerly and the both of them returned to Hei Jingyou's garden, on the way back , Li Cheng ran up to Hei Jingyou and whispered something to her. After listening to him . Hei Jingyou shot her master a look.
Sun Xiandong spotted her look and immediately mouthed the word ' Snitch' to Li Cheng . Li Cheng just smiled and mouthed it back. Sun Xiandong almost fainted with anger , he was about to punish Li Cheng when Hei Jingyou who was a considerable distance away from them turned around again and shot him another dirty look. Sun Xianding just gave up on the idea , if he were to punish Li Cheng now he was going to get an earful from Hei Jingyou. Usually a disciple is scared of the master , but over here the opposite was true. Hei Jingyou would've given him an earful , and then she would have cut him off from everything ranging from delicious pastries to his favorite incense, all things Hei Jingyou made.
Yang Changtian and Hei Jingyou arrived at the garden and a plate of louts pastries were waiting for them. Yang Changtian immedialty began to stuff his face with pastries while Hei Jngyiu just smiled and brewed some tea for him.
Yang Changtian just washed the pastries down with the tea when he heard rushed footsteps approaching them , he activated his skill , and he saw his master rushing over. He wanted to hide , but he was too close , so he just resigned to his fate.
His master rushed into Hei Jingyou's garden and spotted Yang Changtian sitting , the corners of his mouth dotted with pastry flakes. " You ungrateful disciple !, you dare to run away and then you dared to disturb Hei'er again , " he yelled , reprimanding his beloved disciple , he was worried sick when he disappeared , but as usual he was just over at the Bihou sect.
Yang Changtian immediately kneeled, " this disciple apologizes to master , I came here to discuss my worries with Jingyou , " Yang Changtian explained innocently.
" Worries ? What worries ? " his master asked confused.
" Answering master , I wanted to consult Jingyou about my recent failures in developing my personal skill. But I am happy to inform Master that our discussion has been extremely fruitful . I successfully managed to find a person using my skill in an extremely crowded place."
Long Dacheng was surprised to hear this , no matter how hard he tried to teach him , Yang Changtian just couldn't get the method , but one conversation with Hei Jingyou made him understand. ' I should thank the gods, it's his luck to have such a good and skilled friend , ' he muttered to himself.
But his previous anger vanished almost instantly , " Let's go back then. Hei'er I apologise on behalf of my disciple for disturbing you. And thank you, " Long Da Cheng thanked Hei Jingyou.
He then turned to Yang Changtian , " Let's go then ."
Yang Changtian hurriedly stopped him, " Master, I left my bag over by Jingyou's wall , just let me go grab it."
Long Dacheng nodded , and Yang Changtian ran to gather his stuff.
While he was gone , Long Dacheng looked around , the garden was maintained by Hei Jingyou , it has always been something old man Sun bragged about
The delicate scent of the gardenias in bloom calmed Long Dacneg down , he felt relaxed. " Hei'er , child , just the look of your garden calms me down. You have done a wonderful job maintaining it, " he complimented.
Hei Jingyou bowed and accepted the compliment. " Martial Uncle Long, I'm having an excess of flowers so I made some incense recently. I gave some to my master , would you like some too ?" she asked.
Long Dacheng accepted readily , Hei Jingyou was skilled in making incense and her incense always calmed him down , last time Old man Sun gave him some as a gift , and for the first time in a while he relaxed.
Hei Jingyou disappeared and soon returned with a bag of incense , a sweet smell wafted from it. Long Dacheng accepted it and thanked Hei Jingyou.
" Martial Uncle Sun , if you like it , I can send you a batch every month."
" That would be wonderful Hei'er , if it's not too much trouble." Long Dacheng accepted instantly.
" Martial Uncle , I usually make alot for my master , so it's no trouble at all, " Hei Jingyou replied.
Their conversation was interrupted by Yang Changtian's yell. " Jingyou, I'm going to pick some flowers for Zhu Ying . "
Hei Jingyou smiled and nodded . Yang Changtian immeidiatly began to pick the flowers.
Long Dacheg sighed deeply , he really envied Old man Sun sometimes , he's got wonderful disciples, yet he was stuck with this brat.
Yang Changtian soon finished picking the gardenies for Zhu Ying and his master dragged him back to the sect .
With a faint smell of gardenias , Yang Changtian finished reminiscing. . " Maybe I can use that method, let's try, " he muttered to himself.
He tried to remind himself of something unique about Liu Ying and Li Cheng. Liu Ying always wore some version of blue , and she was always dressed flashily, while Li Cheng always wore his hair up in a silver crown , and he preferred to dress more simply ,with toned down colours, often preferring grey.
Yang Changtian kept running these similarities in his head and soon all the other figures faded out , only Liu Ying and Li Cheng remind infront of him. He had succeeded !
Yang Changtian quickly walked over to Liu Ying , " Ms. Liu , I succeeded and since it's isolated to just you two , my energy does not run too fast either, " Yang Changtian explained excitedly.
Liu Ying just nodded with a small smile. " Let's go to Mr. Li now Mr. Yang , I'm sure he would be glad to hear this."
This brought Yang Changtian back to his senses , why had he gone to Liu Ying first , if anything he should've gone and told Li Cheng first , heck even Liu Ying's hiding place was further away, but here he was with a person he met days ago instead of being with the guy he knew since childhood.
Yang Changtian nodded and he led Liu Ying to the temple Li Cheng was hiding at.
When they arrived , Li Cheng stepped outside, " How is it ? " he asked .
Yang Changtian smiled and nodded .
Li Cheng's eyes grew wide with excitement . " That's wonderful ! "
Liu Ying let them celebrate for a bit before speaking up ," Now that that's taken care of , let's go back."
Just as the three of them turned around to go back , Yang Changtian felt somewhat lightheaded and he broke out in a sweat , both Liu Ying and Li Cheng noticed this .
" Brother Yang, are you okay ? Li Cheng asked worriedly.
Liu Ying observed him for a while, " He must've used up too much energy."
Yang Changtian shook his head , " When I figured out how to do it , I used up less energy , but before that I did use up a lot. "
Liu Ying approached him and turned him around. She drew a pattern on his back and placed her hand right in the middle. Soon Yang Changtian felt a cool energy enter his body through his back and disperse around. He instantly felt rejuvenated, and he could feel his energy levels rising . Soon Liu Ying was done and Yang Changtian felt as good as new.
They both heard Li Cheng gasp , and they turned to see him with his mouth dropped open. " Ms. Liu , did you just ? " he stuttered.
Liu Ying nodded , " It's my personal skill , " she simply answered and walked off.
Li Cheng rushed up to Yang Changtian , " Brother Yang did you know about this ? "
Yang Chantian nodded and explained what happened last time during their trip to get the Celestrite clay.
" You mean , she can replenish people's energy without having any side effects , That's an extremely rare skill. " Li Cheng gushed.
Yang Changtian nodded back " Her range is good too .But let's put that aside for now , we have a long day ahead tomorrow so let's go back and get some rest for now."
Li Cheng nodded and the both of them headed back to camp.
Liu Ying explained this to Mo Ling who nodded.
" Then I'll ask the others to wave when they see something , that way it'll be easier for Senior Yang to notice us. "
Yang Changtrian nodded back.
Soon Mo Ling left , the trio , Li Cheng , Liu Ying and Yang Changtian also walked outside.
They saw Mo Ling climb the defense tower over at the northern entrance. This tower was the tallest structure in the whole village and while it was in ruins it was an ideal place to keep a lookout . They watched as Mo Ling concealed himself , perfectly blending in with the surroundings.
After giving the others some more time , Yang Changtian activated his skill and tried to focus on all of the scouts , reminding himself of their characteristics , Yang Changtian finally managed to isolate and focus on them all , excluding Mo Ling who was hiding in the defense tower, 4 others were hiding all around the village.
Since the amount of people was slightly greater , Yang Changtian felt his energy draining faster. So he quickly decided to deactivate the skill and wait till Mo Ling gives them the signal.
The trio quickly headed back to camp and wore their masks before coming back and positioning themselves strategically. Liu Ying positioned herself right in between Da Xiong's and Jin Wei's teams , that way it was easier for her to give them instructions.
Li Cheng positioned himself not far from Mo Ling, while Yang Changtian was close to Liu Ying , as he had to pass her the information from the scouts.
After waiting for a while , all of them heard a low growl reverberating throughout the village , they immediately recognised it as Mo Ling's signal. Liu Ying nodded at Yang Changtian and she rushed off to tell Da Xiong to start the fire.
Yang Changtian immediately reactivated his skill and refocused on the scouts. He stayed alert .
Soon enough , a scout positioned over at the southern part of the village waved once , just minutes later , a scout positioned over in the North also waved. Yang Changtian turned to Liu Ying and signaled to her . Liu Ying who just came back from instructing Da Xiong immediately understood and rushed back to start the smoke. Da Xiong followed her instructions and he began to add the sedatives to the fire and the fire began to spit out thick clouds of smoke , tightening their masks Da Xiong , Zhang Anying and their group began to fan at the smoke , soon the wind began to pick up aiding them in dispersing the smoke evenly.
Yang Changtian suddenly saw the scout over at the village center also waving , and just a few minutes later all of them heard 2 shrap whistles sounding consecutively , just seconds later they heard a fainter one break out.
Soon the whole village was covered by a thick layer of sedative smoke , Liu Ying and Yang Changtian tightened their masks , and they waited for a while to make sure their targets fainted . Then Yang Changtian used his skill to spot their targets , and he saw that almost all of them had collapsed , yet one person was still fighting hard. He was surprised at this , because Liu Ying's sedatives were quite strong , this person had to have great endurance to be able to fight it for this long.
Liu Ying approached him, and stood next to him.
" Ms. Liu , they're almost completely knocked out , just one person left." Yang Changtian informed her.
Liu Ying's eyes widened , " Let's go over , I have to see this for myself."
Liu Ying and Yang Changtian walked over to the village center and they saw the man on the ground still fighting hard to maintain whatever miniscule amount of consciousness he had left, but he soon lost the fight and collapsed completely .
" That's how we managed to catch you , " Li Cheng finished narrating , a proud expression on his face. '
Song Lian , Old Jin and the others were speechless at this , they had gone to such lengths to catch them .
" Now that your questions are done , it's our turn now, " Liu Ying interrupted.
" Go ahead , " Song Lian replied.
Yang Changtian stepped forward , " My first question , how many survivors are there ? "
Song Lian looked at him and answered truthfully , " When the Crazy plague and miasma broke out , the majority of the town was killed , most men . So all the surviving women led by the Village Elder , went into hiding. Right now , we're at around 45 individuals , only my group are men , the rest are all women and kids. "
Yang Changtian sighed , while it was indeed tragic , on the bright side it was a miracle that they found 45 survivors.
" My next question , do you know how this broke out ?" Yang Chanbtian finally asked the question that had been burdening everyone.
Song Lian shook his head , " I have no idea , when the army got word of the situation breaking out here in this village , we were dispatched to safeguard the town and its citizens. When we arrived the plague was already spreading. And people were killing each other. If you're looking for the people who did this , it might be best to consult the Village Elder."
Yang Changtian nodded . " I will immediately request an audience with the Village Elder when we meet."
Song Lian nodded back.
Da Xiong and Mo Ling returned . Da Xiong was carrying a small bag , and Yang Changtian spotted him discreetly nodding at Liu Ying, who nodded back. ' Just what are these two up to ? ' he mumbled under his breath.
Yang Changtian just ignored them and he ordered a disciple to untie Ling and Old Jin.
They rubbed their hands after their binds came off. They stood up , still a little wobbly.
Both of them turned to Song Lian. " You two , go and come back soon. Ling, I'll be alright," he coaxed Ling.
Ling just nodded and they went over to stand next to Mo Ling and Da Xiong.
Yang Changtian ordered the discple to untie Song Lian and the others too. And together they walked to the edge of the village to see Mo Ling , Da Xiong , Ling and Old Jin off.
Old Jin was the first to step out the fog wall , followed by Ling , the both of them waved towards their mountain , and Mo Ling and Da Xiong soon followed them and stepped outside.
The others watched as they set off towards the mountain.
After a while Li Cheng invited Song Lian and Kong to have something to eat , and they accepted , they were starving. When they reached the dining area they discovered that Liu Ying had disappeared.
When Song Lian pointed this out , Li Cheng and Yang Changtian just sighed. " Mr. Stranger , you don't have to worry about her , she's like a ghost coming and going ." Li Cheng explained.
Song Lian nodded , ' what a peculiar person' he mumbled before remembering something , " Please call me Song Lian."
" And I'm Kong ," Kong also introduced himself.
Yang Changtian and Li Cheng nodded.
Halfway through their meal , Liu Ying suddenly rushed into the dining area. She spotted the group and quickly walked over to them. She slammed her hand down hard on the table.
" Ms. Liu , what happened ?!" Li Cheng asked panicked.
Instead of answering him , Liu Ying pointed at the thing she slammed down, " Where did you get this ?"
The whole group turned to see the small bone charms Song Lain and his group carried.
" What do you mean Ms. Liu , that is simply a protective charm, to ward of Crazies." Song Lian answered confusedly.
Liu Ying shook his head , " Who told you that , if you didn't fall into our trap today , You would have been mauled alive by the Crazies."
Yang Changtian immediately stood up , " What do you mean Ms. Liu ?"
Liu Ying turned to him , " I had a small hunch , so I went to test my theory out. I threw one of these charms into the cellar ,and the Crazies all started acting much more violent , amidst their struggle , the charm got stuck on one Crazy's clothes and the other Crazies ripped that one apart. So who gave this to you ? This isn't a protective charm , it's essentially a charm that attracts Crazies and makes them more violent towards you."
Song Lian and Kong dropped their bowls. Their hands were shaking. Did Shaman Hu want them dead ?
Suddenly they remembered something . The other's still had their charms !
Song Lian , Kong and the rest of their group ran outside. Yang Changtian and the others were closely behind. Just as they stepped outside the village , everyone spotted a line of smoke rising from the mountain, strange was the fact that the smoke was blue. '
" What is that ?" Song Lian asked.
Nobody had the answer , until Liu Ying's voice broke through the silence. " That is my smoke signal , I had Da Xiong bring some along just in case he came across a situation where he needed back up. "
Yang Changtian remembered the small bag Da Xiong was wearing. But they had no time to lose , " Everyone go grab your weapons , we need to go help them immediately, " he ordered.
Everyone dispersed to go grab their horses and weapons.
After regrouping Yang Changtian ordered Li Cheng , Zhou Zilong ,Zhang Anying and some other disciples to stay behind and safeguard the camp.
Everyone mounted their horses and they rushed towards the mountain led by Song Lian.
As their horses galloped towards the mountain , Song Lian's heart was filled with gloom.
Did Shaman Hu really want them dead ? Why would she do that ? Were the other's safe ? Such questions kept running through his mind. Song Lian shook his head to clear it and he sped up . He had to go help the others immediately.