Chapter 1757 — Someone Was Following

"And who'd dare go there? That place is a mountain within a mountain—a natural chasm at the heart of Night Mountain, a ring-shaped ravine with no bottom in sight. Who could climb across?" Wang Laoba shook his head. "And it's shrouded in mist day and night. Go in, and chances are you won't come back out!"

"So that's how it is." Wei Zhao nodded. "Then this black phoenix must have flown over from there?"

"That's right! You should've seen how high it flew—tremendously high! Lucky for me I'm a veteran hunter, or I'd never have caught it!" Wang Laoba boasted smugly.

"Anyone can brag," the woman couldn't help but mutter again.

"Haha, fine then. In that case, I'll buy it and have a taste." Wei Zhao nodded, pulled a stack of banknotes from the pack he carried, and handed it to Wang Laoba.

"You... you actually bought it?" Wang Laoba could scarcely believe his own eyes. Just like that, he'd made ten thousand yuan?

"Bought it. A little something new to taste on one's travels, haha!" Wei Zhao laughed. In truth, he himself had no idea what use a so-called black phoenix bought for ten thousand yuan could possibly be. But the moment he laid eyes on it, the jade pendant seemed to send him a powerful hint, urging him to buy it.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Wang Laoba was overjoyed. He hurriedly wrapped up the black phoenix and handed it to Wei Zhao, pocketing the ten thousand yuan as though afraid Wei Zhao might change his mind.

After buying the black phoenix, Wei Zhao did not linger. He led Tang Yun, Gu Mengyao, and little Shu back to the hotel.

And Wang Laoba, under the envious gazes of the crowd, tucked away that ten thousand yuan! To the townsfolk, this was no small sum, and the woman at the neighboring stall was consumed with jealousy—though fortunately the onlookers had dispersed, and her business had picked up somewhat.

Just as everyone was sighing over Wang Laoba's dumb luck, Wei Zhao had already been marked!

"Brother Arrowhead, this doesn't look like the road back to the hotel. Did you take a wrong turn?" Shen Yushu noticed that Wei Zhao seemed to be wandering farther and farther, until they reached a remote stretch of open country with no village ahead and no inn behind, surrounded by dense fields of crops.

Wei Zhao stopped and turned around, shielding Tang Yun, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu behind him. Then he spoke: "You've followed us long enough. Time to come out, don't you think?"

On the path behind Wei Zhao, previously empty, three figures suddenly whisked out—all dressed alike in black with faces masked. Their leader seemed startled that Wei Zhao had spotted them: "How did you find us?"

"You've been tailing me since the market. If I hadn't noticed by now, wouldn't that make me a bit too dull?" Wei Zhao did not answer directly, but countered with a question.

"You knew even that?" The leader was astonished. "Boy, so you noticed—fine, then hand over your valuables! Tsk tsk, ten thousand yuan for a wild pheasant—you're rich indeed. Not sharing a little with your brothers here would be an outrage against heaven itself!"

"You've got me here, and instead of running, you're still asking for money. I've never seen anyone as foolish as you." Wei Zhao shook his head with something like pity.

"What do you mean by that?" The man was slightly taken aback.

"Don't you see what kind of place this is? You think a tourist from out of town would come to a desolate wilderness like this in the middle of the night? Three Yellow-Rank adepts?" Wei Zhao asked mildly.

"You... just who are you?" The more the leader heard, the more wrong it felt. Yes—what would tourists like Wei Zhao and his companions be doing, suddenly coming to a desolate wilderness? And when Wei Zhao named their cultivation level, the leader finally understood: this man was certainly no innocent, and had likely lured them here on purpose!

Otherwise, knowing full well they were Yellow-Rank adepts, why would he dare draw them to this place? He must have something to rely on!

"A tourist," Wei Zhao answered mildly. "And you? Highway robbers? The robbers around here really are formidable—Yellow-Rank adepts!"

Generally speaking, Yellow-Rank adepts went to serve as bodyguards for the wealthy. Highway robbery like this had no skill to it and was dangerous besides—how could it compare to the comfort of guarding a mansion? So Wei Zhao was quite puzzled about their identities.

"We are members of the Mad Horse Gang. Is the honored sir also a **practitioner**?" The leader's tone toward Wei Zhao had clearly changed.

Wei Zhao subtly circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, letting his early Earth-Rank strength flicker forth for an instant—this was to intimidate these men and keep them from acting rashly! Otherwise, from their tone, they seemed to belong to a local gang of the bandit sort, and one that apparently counted quite a few **practitioners** among its ranks!

Then again, it made sense. There was a spirit mountain nearby, rich in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and it was hardly surprising that some **practitioners** would gather in the area to **cultivate** off that energy, robbing traveling merchants on the side. So long as they did not disturb the local residents, the townsfolk would bear the Mad Horse Gang no particular grudge.

But Wei Zhao did not want to stir up trouble on his journey. He himself was not afraid, but with three girls of no cultivation in tow, if these bandits were to launch a coordinated ambush, things would stop being amusing.

That was why Wei Zhao revealed his strength. With the intimidation of early Earth-Rank power, these men would not dare act up again, no matter how bold! Unless their heads were full of water and they had no idea of the gulf between Yellow-Rank and Earth-Rank.

"An early Earth-Rank adept..." Sure enough, just as Linyi had expected, a flash of shock crossed the leader's eyes, and his manner grew markedly more respectful: "Could the senior be a guest of the Night Palace?"

"You know of the Night Palace too?" Wei Zhao countered without betraying any emotion. He had heard the name more than once now, but had no idea what the Night Palace actually was, so he could only fish for information from this bandit's mouth.

"My Mad Horse Gang scrapes out a living in these parts, so naturally we know something of the Night Palace, the local strongmen," the man said. "We only **cultivate** on the outer edges of Night Spirit Mountain and never cross the Night Palace's warning line. I beg the senior not to breathe a word of today's business to the Night Palace—if it brings trouble down on the Mad Horse Gang, I'd be the guilty one! But rest assured, senior, I will prepare a generous gift for you. I only hope the senior will not make things hard for my gang..."

After seeing Wei Zhao's strength, this man had not the slightest thought of opposing him. The Mad Horse Gang's grand chief was only an early Mystic-Rank adept—before Wei Zhao, that was nothing but suicide. As for their **cultivating** in this area, the Night Palace had tacitly permitted it before; so long as they did not cross the warning line of Night Spirit Mountain, the Night Palace would not trouble them.

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