The sky had completely darkened around the woods surrounding the mountain valley. A light snow was falling, and the surrounding forest was a pitch-black expanse. Occasionally, the calls of snowy owls and the movements of other nocturnal animals echoed from afar.
In the woods to the north of the valley, fires flickered in the night. It was the second brother, Ma Sai, and the third brother, Liu Hongwei, camping for the night, eating beef from a can.
They were unable to contact their eldest brother, Lei Laohu, and had no idea how things were on his end. Had they already killed Wu Weizi and buried him on the spot?
"Finish eating and get to sleep. We'll go down into the valley when we wake up tomorrow."
After finishing, Ma Sai tossed the empty can onto the snowy ground and stood up to go back to his tent to sleep.
Liu Hongwei shrugged. Although he was reluctant to go down into the valley, he couldn't disobey his second brother's orders.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the valley, inside the stone chamber of the cave…
"How about it, Senior Sister? Have you also broken through to the middle stage of Dan Jin?"
On the ice bed, Wan Yunting embraced Zhou Ruoxi as she leaned against the stone wall. The woman in his arms had a rosy complexion, her previous shy and timid demeanor gone. Her bright, autumn-like eyes looked at the man, her lips curved into a smile that couldn't hide her inner joy as she nodded.
"That's great!"
Wan Yunting was elated. The two of them had cultivated the peerless Yin Yang dual cultivation technique together, and in just one afternoon, they had both broken through to the middle stage of Wu Dao Dan Jin.
Furthermore, Wan Yunting's internal injuries had basically healed. His external injuries, like Zhou Ruoxi's, had not completely healed but were almost there.
This was naturally the result of them taking the Yuan Replenishing Pills and cultivating together on the ice bed, using their qi to heal their injuries, which allowed both of them to recover almost completely in just a day or two.
"This time, if we encounter those two guys from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult again, we'll be able to kill them."
Wan Yunting looked down at Zhou Ruoxi, who was leaning against his chest. The beautiful woman smiled and nodded in agreement. However, she seemed to recall something, and her pretty face gradually turned somber.
"What's wrong, Senior Sister?"
Sensing her distress, Wan Yunting sat up, his hands grasping Zhou Ruoxi's delicate and soft shoulders, his gaze fixed on the woman's autumn-like eyes. Zhou Ruoxi looked up, forcing a smile onto her face and shaking her head slightly. "It's nothing…"
Seeing that she couldn't even lie properly, how could Wan Yunting not know she had something on her mind? But since Zhou Ruoxi didn't want to talk about it, he didn't press further. He playfully tickled her alluring nose with his finger and smiled, "Are you hungry? Shall we go catch another rabbit to roast and eat?"
"Mhm hmm…"
Zhou Ruoxi smiled gently and nodded. The two tidied themselves up and left the stone chamber, stepping out of the cave. They discovered that it was already pitch black outside, with only the circular sky above the valley letting in faint moonlight.
Wan Yunting asked Zhou Ruoxi to wait at the cave entrance while he lit the bonfire, adding plenty of dry wood. The flames instantly illuminated the surroundings, allowing Zhou Ruoxi to come over and warm herself by the fire.
Although it wasn't cold in the valley during the day, it was a bit chilly at night. Thus, Zhou Ruoxi snuggled close to Wan Yunting, resting her head on his shoulder. Her luminous autumn eyes gazed into the dancing flames, a smile of happiness on her face.
As Wan Yunting roasted the rabbit meat, he turned his head to look at Zhou Ruoxi and couldn't help but smile, saying, "I really wish we could stay here for a lifetime."
Zhou Ruoxi looked up and turned to face him, her autumn-water-like eyes gazing at the man. She said softly, "Junior Brother, if, if there were truly no worldly troubles, would you really want to stay here with me forever?"
Hearing this, Wan Yunting's expression froze for a moment. He turned to look at Zhou Ruoxi's beautiful eyes, filled with infinite affection, and felt a wry smile in his heart. He had only spoken a casual remark to match the mood, never expecting her to take it so seriously.
"Of course."
However, Wan Yunting looked sincerely at Zhou Ruoxi and nodded with a smile. "If there were truly no worldly troubles, I would be willing to stay here with Senior Sister for a lifetime, just like Senior Kang and Senior Li, living a carefree and leisurely life like immortal companions."
Seeing the sincerity in his words, Zhou Ruoxi's beautiful eyes shimmered with moisture. Satisfied with his answer, her pretty face lit up with joy. She hugged Wan Yunting's left arm and rested her head on his arm again.
Even though she knew in her heart that it was impossible, Zhou Ruoxi was already content.
After they finished their roasted rabbit, they returned to the stone chamber inside the cave, closed the stone door, and continued to cultivate the peerless Yin Yang dual cultivation technique on the ice bed.
In the blink of an eye, it was the next morning.
In the snowy woods above the valley, the second brother, Ma Sai, opened his tent and crawled out. He woke up the third brother. After eating a simple meal, they packed their weapons, some dry food, and water, and traveled light to the eastern side of the valley. They looked at the steep and perilous cliff face below. For the past two days, they had surveyed the surroundings of this vast valley and found a spot where they could climb down into the valley with their bare hands.
"I'll go first…"
With that, the second brother took the lead, using his feet to step on the protruding rocks on the cliff face, like rock climbing. He had to keep his body close to the cliff, and his hands and feet had to grip and step firmly to take the next step.
"Second Brother, I'm coming…"
Then, the third brother, Liu Hongwei, followed in the second brother's footsteps. He casually broke off a few weeds growing on the mountain wall. The two began to descend slowly along the cliff face, one above the other.
Meanwhile, in the snowy woods to the west of the valley, Lu Feiyue and his group arrived with Tao Zifu.
This was the place where Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi had previously fought fiercely with Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei. However, due to the snow and rain of the past two days, all traces of the fight had long since disappeared.
Lu Feiyue asked Tao Zifu, "Are you sure it's here?"
"Yes, Officer."
Tao Zifu nodded, his attitude sincere and cooperative. He began to point towards a small hillside in the distance and then recounted the events of that night to Lu Feiyue and the other police officers.
"So, they went in that direction!"
Lu Feiyue pointed towards the north. Tao Zifu nodded. "Yes, I saw Junior Brother Wan and Senior Sister Zhou from the Emei Sect run in that direction. But those two also chased after them. Later, I managed to free myself and ran away, I didn't chase after them anymore."
Hearing this, Lu Feiyue waved his hand. "Let's go, let's go and see…"
The group, along with Tao Zifu, headed towards the woods in the north. After walking for about ten minutes, they suddenly saw two tents ahead!
"Everyone, be careful, they might be the perpetrators!"
Lu Feiyue was vigilant and immediately drew his pistol and loaded it. The other nine police officers did the same, startling Tao Zifu, who quickly hid behind a tree.
Lu Feiyue led the officers cautiously towards the two tents ahead. They stopped ten meters away and shouted loudly, "Police! Come out!"
However, there was no movement from the tents, which made the other officers exchange glances. One said, "Captain Lu, there should be no one inside."
Lu Feiyue raised an eyebrow, but his face remained vigilant. His gloved hands gripped his pistol tightly. Then, he told the others to stay put and cautiously approached. He came to one of the tents and looked carefully for a moment. Confirming that there was indeed no one inside, he straightened his back and waved to the officers on the other side, "No one. Come and search it."
"Yes…"
The officers immediately went over and began to search the two tents. There was also a large backpack inside, from which they found many items, such as a military knife, canned food, underwear, and so on.
"Captain Lu, there's a valley here!"
A police officer ran ahead to scout and discovered the valley. Lu Feiyue and the officers quickly followed. Looking at this vast valley, the trees surrounding the valley were covered in snow, making it impossible to see the bottom. Only in the middle of the valley was there daylight.
"Captain Lu, that's strange. Why would these two perpetrators set up tents and camp here? And judging by their living traces, they should have been here for two days!" the young police officer Tan Tiancheng, who was following Lu Feiyue, said with a raised eyebrow, his voice filled with doubt.
"Captain Lu, there are signs of a struggle here, and there's blood!"
Another officer was at the edge of the valley cliff and found a trace of blood. This was where Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi had been forced to the brink and jumped off the cliff during their fight with Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei. The blood was from Wan Yunting spitting it out. However, due to the rain earlier, some of it had been washed away, leaving only a few dried, brownish-red streaks of blood.
"Could it be that those two people from the Wuliang Daoist Temple were thrown down the valley cliff by the perpetrators?" Tan Tiancheng's eyes widened, and he made a bold guess.
"No way."
The other officers exclaimed in surprise. They craned their necks and looked down the valley cliff. Although they couldn't see the bottom, they thought, "If you fall down there, you'll surely die."
"That's not right!"
Tan Tiancheng continued, "If those two disciples from the Wuliang Daoist Temple were thrown down the valley cliff, why would those two perpetrators still be here and not leave? Now, they've only left their tents and important backpacks behind, and the people are gone?"
"They might have gone down to the bottom of the valley!"
Lu Feiyue pointed to the bottom of the valley and inferred.
Tan Tiancheng and the other officers were astonished and asked confusedly, "Why would those two perpetrators go down there? If those two disciples from the Daoist temple were really knocked off the cliff by them, they would definitely be dead. Why would the two perpetrators still go down?"
"What if those two disciples from the Daoist temple didn't die?" Lu Feiyue turned to Tan Tiancheng and said.
"Well, if they didn't die, then it makes sense," Tan Tiancheng shrugged and spread his hands.
Lu Feiyue waved his hand. "Let's go, let's circle around the valley and search carefully to see if those two perpetrators really went down into the valley, or if they went somewhere else."
"Okay…"
Tan Tiancheng and the others nodded. The ten of them split into two teams. One team searched carefully in the surrounding woods, while the other team searched along the edge of the valley cliff. Lu Feiyue shouted, "Be extra careful, those two perpetrators are very dangerous. If you see them resisting, shoot them directly, understand?"
"Yes…"
The police officers nodded and began to disperse into the woods to search.
Lu Feiyue, along with Tan Tiancheng and the others, and Tao Zifu also accompanying them, began to search meticulously around the edge of the valley.