"It's working, let's go find them!"
Seeing the expression on Yan Shouyi's face, Lin Zhitong knew that the Soul Tracking Technique was effective. She immediately called out to Long Feicheng to search for the赊刀人 hidden around them.
Long Feicheng was quite quick-witted. He snatched an electric scooter from a nearby staff member and said, "Let's split up to search, it'll be more efficient!"
With that, Long Feicheng sped off.
Lin Zhitong wanted to stop him but had no chance. Watching Long Feicheng disappear into the distance, Lin Zhitong said helplessly, "Even if you find him, you have to be able to defeat him..."
That 赊刀人's cultivation was not weak. If Long Feicheng encountered him alone, it was uncertain who would end up being dealt with.
However, Long Feicheng was already far away, and Lin Zhitong couldn't catch up. She had no choice but to choose another direction to search.
Yan Shouyi sat under a tree, catching his breath slightly, and then opened his eyes.
Using the Soul Tracking Technique was not a simple matter; he needed some time to recover before he could act.
After recovering his strength, Yan Shouyi looked around but found nothing. He took out his compass and did a quick calculation.
The 赊刀人 were also part of folk sects and also suffered from the "five losses and three deficiencies," meaning their fate was as tough as Yan Shouyi's.
In other words, Yan Shouyi could not easily pinpoint the opponent's location.
But what Yan Shouyi was calculating was not the location of the 赊刀人, but the surrounding feng shui directions. He needed to choose the most suitable direction to go from the eight directions.
By going in that direction, he was sure to find something.
"Gen trigram, the northeast?"
After the compass yielded a result, Yan Shouyi looked towards the northeast. That was already the exit of West Lake Park.
It was quite possible that the 赊刀人 would run towards the exit.
As he stood up to pursue, he suddenly thought of something. He casually took out a golden mask from his satchel and put it on, then put on a mask and a hat to disguise himself.
He figured that the 赊刀人 might have already seen his appearance. If they met later, the opponent would definitely try to escape beforehand.
Therefore, by wearing the golden mask, he could conceal his aura. Even if he encountered the 赊刀人, the opponent would not be able to react.
...
At the exit of West Lake Park, three young people stood by the roadside with furrowed brows.
Their eyes constantly scanned their surroundings, with a hint of curiosity and caution in their gazes. Judging by their accents, they were not from Jianzhou Province.
"Senior Brother Yan, are you sure there was a feng shui fluctuation in West Lake in Rongcheng just now?"
The person who spoke was a girl who looked only sixteen years old. She was only 1.5 meters tall, with a ponytail and a plush rabbit-ear hat on her head. She had a lollipop in her mouth, and a small backpack on her back. She was smaller than a suitcase, but she looked very cute.
The person she was speaking to was a rather handsome young man in his early twenties, wearing glasses with golden rims. He was holding a compass the size of a pocket watch, seemingly surveying something.
The last person was a young man with a buzz cut who, in the middle of winter, was wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt. He had a scar on his face, but it didn't make him look fierce. Instead, he looked a bit dazed.
While the girl was talking to the man with glasses, the buzz-cut man was just staring blankly.
"Junior Sister Ling, as the saying goes, all feng shui in the world originates from Kunlun. You shouldn't doubt the abilities of us Kunlun Mountain disciples!" said Senior Brother Yan, the man with glasses.
"Alright, alright, you're the best. It's like our Emei Mountain has no skills!" said Junior Sister Ling, the one with twin ponytails, with disdain.
As the two were arguing, a figure brushed past them.
The dazed, buzz-cut man suddenly reached out and grabbed that person.
"What are you doing!?" the grabbed person exclaimed in panic and anger, "Let go of me!"
The buzz-cut man said, "Brother, you're bleeding. Are you feeling unwell somewhere? I know some medical skills. Would you like me to take a look at you?"
"Senior Brother Changshan, let's not bother with such trivial matters..." Junior Sister Ling grumbled.
Before she finished speaking, Senior Brother Yan suddenly said, "Changshan! Be careful, this person is suspicious!"
The person grabbed by Changshan was the 赊刀人 who was fleeing in a panic.
Realizing that the three people in front of him were not ordinary people, the 赊刀人 immediately regarded them as enemies. He used a disarticulation technique, dislocating his wrist joints instantly, and "slid" out of Changshan's grasp, breaking free from his restraint.
Once free, the 赊刀人 immediately fled towards the direction with more people.
"Hey, your injury!..." Changshan seemed to be a simpleton. He didn't feel any threat from the 赊刀人 at all. He only felt that the other party was injured and should be treated as soon as possible.
"Forget it, don't chase!" Senior Brother Yan said indifferently, "He doesn't seem to be the person we're looking for."
"Yes, yes, yes. We're not looking for someone messing with feng shui at West Lake, but the one our elders mentioned... what was his name..." Junior Sister Ling couldn't recall the name for a moment.
It was still the dense Changshan who said, "Yan Shouyi."
"Right! Yan Shouyi, the successor of Lu Ban! The leader of the thirteen guardians, the son of Yan Chou!" Junior Sister Ling shouted.
"Hmm?"
Yan Shouyi, who was chasing the 赊刀人, suddenly heard someone call his name. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at the three people.
Are these three people looking for me?
But I don't know them!
Yan Shouyi quietly observed them, suddenly guessing their identities.
Those old fossils in the "Anti-Yan Chou Alliance Group" had previously said they would send their young disciples or favored students to Rongcheng to find Long Feicheng.
The purpose was to assist Long Feicheng in "capturing" the escaped Yan Shouyi together.
These three should be the juniors of those guys!
They've come to catch me!
Just as Yan Shouyi was about to avoid them, Senior Brother Yan, holding the compass, suddenly looked in his direction.
Although the other party was wearing glasses, his eyes were exceptionally sharp. Yan Shouyi knew that the other party had already noticed his peculiarity just by making eye contact with him.
Senior Brother Yan whispered something, and Junior Sister Ling and Changshan also looked in Yan Shouyi's direction.
Damn it, I can't escape now!
Understanding his predicament, Yan Shouyi's mind raced, and he instantly thought of what to say.
So, he didn't run away. Instead, he walked forward proactively and cupped his hands towards the three, saying:
"You have traveled a long way, and I am truly sorry for not welcoming you sooner!"
Yan Shouyi's proactive greeting caught the three off guard.
Junior Sister Ling asked curiously, "Who are you? Do you know us?"
"I am a young Taoist priest from Shengxian Temple on Kunlun Mountain, named Wu Nian! My master and uncle once said that a group of Taoist friends from other regions would arrive in Rongcheng soon to handle some affairs. However, my master and uncle are in seclusion and cannot meet them. So, they calculated that at this very moment, they sent this humble disciple to welcome you three! Please forgive me if I have been negligent!"
Yan Shouyi, having been around for many years, was adept at telling tall tales. His words left the three stunned.
Senior Brother Yan, Junior Sister Ling, and Changshan were indeed sent to Rongcheng to find the three Taoist priests from Shengxian Temple. However, they didn't have much information and didn't know the other party very well.
When Yan Shouyi said this, they instantly believed him by eight parts and even admired the three deceased Taoist priests from Shengxian Temple, thinking they had "divine foresight" to have predicted their appearance at West Lake at this exact moment and sent their disciple "Wu Nian" to greet them.
Amazing!
Senior Brother Yan first clasped his hands and said, "We have long admired Shengxian Temple's reputation. Although we did not get to see the three masters today, we are already enlightened!"
"You flatter me," Yan Shouyi replied modestly, thinking he had gotten away with it.
Unexpectedly, the clever Senior Brother Yan followed up with another question: "Did your masters mention our identities?"
Yan Shouyi was stunned.
Good heavens, this guy is quite suspicious!
Fortunately, he was prepared. While spouting nonsense earlier, he had also been subtly observing the attire of the three.
Although they were dressed like ordinary people, some details still revealed their identities.
First, this Senior Brother Yan, holding a small compass, was clearly a feng shui master. As the saying goes, all feng shui originates from Kunlun. This person was 80% likely from Kunlun Mountain. However, Yan Shouyi was sure he was from Kunlun Mountain because the compass he held was different from the compasses of other sects; it could only be used with Kunlun Mountain feng shui incantations. This subtle difference was not noticeable without careful observation. Furthermore, on the back of the compass in Senior Brother Yan's hand was engraved the character "Yan," which reminded Yan Shouyi of an ancient family on Kunlun Mountain – the Yan family.
As for Junior Sister Ling, despite her cute and adorable appearance, the hand holding the lollipop had a thick layer of calluses. The location of the calluses, mainly on the index and middle fingers and the tiger's mouth, were traces left from years of practicing the Emei style weapon, the "Emei Thorn." Therefore, it was evident that Junior Sister Ling was a disciple of Emei Mountain.
Finally, this simpleton Changshan, his appearance clearly indicated he was a monk. In fact, Jianzhou Province's monks ranked highly in the country because Jianzhou had a Southern Shaolin Temple.
Besides Southern Shaolin, there were several other well-developed Buddhist temples, such as the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, and the Famen Temple in Sanqin... Each temple, due to its geographical and cultural reasons, had its own characteristics. For example, this simpleton Changshan had fair and tender skin, likely from a prosperous region, and was almost certainly from Lingyin Temple.
Although these were just Yan Shouyi's guesses, the probability of them being correct was very high, so he boldly stated:
"You three are from the Yan family of Kunlun Mountain, Emei Mountain in Xichuan, and Hangzhou Lingyin Temple, respectively."
Senior Brother Yan, Junior Sister Ling, and Changshan exchanged glances, then clasped their fists and said, "We apologize for our earlier rudeness."
Yan Shouyi breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed his guesses were correct.
He smiled and said, "When traveling, it's natural to be cautious of others. It's perfectly normal, no harm done."
Senior Brother Yan then introduced himself: "Yan Nanfei, from the Yan family of Kunlun Mountain."
The twin-ponytail Junior Sister Ling said with a giggle, "Ling Xiaoxiao, from Emei Mountain."
Changshan said woodenly, "Changshan, Buddhist name, from Lingyin Temple."
Yan Shouyi nodded, memorizing the identities and names of the three.
These three "grandpas" were all here to kill him...