Goo goo…
It was already past two in the morning. The Kunlun mountain range was bitterly cold, with snowflakes drifting in the dark sky. Small flames still flickered from the campfire in the camp, where Li Zihang and Lu Bao sat, propped up on their hands, dozing off…
Just then, Chen Bin and Lin Jie emerged from their tent and called out to them, "Junior disciple Zihang, Senior disciple Lu, you should go to sleep."
"Oh, okay…"
Li Zihang and Lu Bao awoke groggily. They told Chen Bin and Lin Jie to guard the night, and Lu Bao was the first to return to his tent to sleep. Li Zihang, however, turned towards the woods, intending to relieve himself before sleeping.
Holding his phone with the flashlight function on, Li Zihang stopped in front of a tree and began to urinate. Suddenly, his drowsy eyes caught a glimpse of something different on the tree trunk. Li Zihang's eyes lit up. Shining his phone on the trunk, he discovered a carved mark!
"Why is there a mark here?"
Li Zihang's sleepiness vanished instantly, replaced by alertness. He carefully examined the arrow mark carved into the tree trunk with a knife. The arrow pointed north!
"There really is a spy!"
Li Zihang narrowed his eyes, his heart pounding. He quickly pulled up his pants and ran back. Seeing Chen Bin and Lin Jie sitting by the campfire, Li Zihang calmly asked them, "Senior disciple Chen, Senior disciple Lin, have you two gone to urinate over there?"
Chen Bin and Lin Jie turned, looking in the direction Li Zihang was pointing into the woods behind him. They shook their heads and said, "No, we urinate behind the bushes over there. After all, Senior disciple Zhishan and Senior disciple Yingying are here, so it's better to go further away."
Li Zihang narrowed his eyes and said, "So, you haven't been over there?"
Seeing the direction Li Zihang was pointing, Chen Bin and Lin Jie shook their heads and asked, "What's wrong, Junior disciple Zihang? Is there something wrong with that area?"
Li Zihang's expression turned grim. Without a word, he turned and went to Uncle-Master Wuwei's tent, calling out softly, "Uncle-Master, Uncle-Master, wake up, something has happened."
Wuwei Zi, who was inside, immediately woke up. He unzipped the tent and poked his head out, looking at Li Zihang and asking, "Zihang, what is it?"
This scene also left Chen Bin and Lin Jie, who were sitting by the campfire, full of confusion as they exchanged glances.
"Uncle-Master, we have a spy among us!" Li Zihang said with a serious and solemn expression.
"What, a spy?"
Wuwei Zi's old eyes widened, and his entire being instantly became alert, losing all sleepiness.
"Over there, I found a mark on a tree. It seems to have been carved not long ago. The arrow on the mark points north, which is the direction we've been heading!" Li Zihang pointed towards the tree where he had just urinated and said to Wuwei Zi.
Immediately, Wuwei Zi emerged from the tent. Led by Li Zihang, they arrived at the tree and looked at the mark on the trunk. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was a new mark, carved not long ago!
Although in these mountains, hunters from nearby areas often entered the mountains to hunt or gather dried goods, and they would also make marks on trees to avoid getting lost.
However, in recent years, the country had prohibited hunting in the mountains, and with the cold weather now, it was unlikely for nearby hunters to enter the mountains to gather dried goods. Therefore, it was impossible for such a new mark to exist.
Even if it were marks made by hunters and villagers gathering dried goods, they would not use an arrow pointing in a direction as a mark!
The mark on this tree was clearly not made by those hunters and villagers, as it was recently carved, and it was obviously an arrow mark for guidance!
"What is this?"
Chen Bin and Lin Jie, filled with curiosity, also shone their flashlights on the mark on the tree trunk. Wuwei Zi's old face was grim and solemn. He said to Li Zihang, "Wake everyone up."
"Yes."
Li Zihang nodded and turned away, ignoring Chen Bin and Lin Jie. He then went back to wake up Xu Lingwei, Jiang Tingxia, and Duan Yingying, as well as Lu Bao and Peng Lei.
"Why are you waking us up in the middle of the night?"
Duan Yingying stuck her head out, yelling indignantly.
Jiang Tingxia, Xu Lingwei, Peng Lei, and Lu Bao also looked at Li Zihang with confused expressions. Then, Wuwei Zi returned and said sternly, "Everyone, get up. I have something to ask you."
"Uncle-Master, can't you say whatever you need to say tomorrow morning? You have to wake everyone up in the middle of the night." Duan Yingying pouted her small lips in dissatisfaction.
"Yingying, this is a matter of life and death. Get up." Wuwei Zi's old eyes hardened, and he glared at Duan Yingying sternly.
"A matter of life and death?"
Jiang Tingxia, Peng Lei, and Lu Bao were even more bewildered. Everyone quickly got up.
"Junior disciple Zihang, what happened?"
Jiang Tingxia asked Li Zihang in a low voice. He had a solemn expression and said, "Senior disciple Jiang, we have a spy among us!"
"Ah, a spy?"
Jiang Tingxia's eyes widened in shock.
A spy…
Immediately, Lu Bao and Peng Lei looked surprised. Chen Bin and Lin Jie, having seen the mark earlier, now understood that there was a spy among their group!
"Zihang, you explain."
Wuwei Zi asked Li Zihang to speak.
"Yes."
Li Zihang nodded, then looked at Peng Lei, Lu Bao, Chen Bin, and Lin Jie, pointing to the tree in the woods. "Just now, I found a freshly carved mark over there. It's an arrow symbol, pointing north, a guidance mark. So, I suspect that there is someone among us who is a spy, constantly making marks to expose our whereabouts!"
"Who did it?"
Duan Yingying's eyes widened, and she glared angrily at Lu Bao, Peng Lei, Chen Bin, and Lin Jie.
Because apart from these four, it was absolutely impossible for it to be Xu Lingwei or Jiang Tingxia, much less Wuwei Zi and Li Zihang.
Therefore, if there was indeed a spy among them, it had to be one of Lu Bao, Peng Lei, Chen Bin, or Lin Jie!
"It wasn't me, I'm not a spy…"
Chen Bin and Lin Jie were the first to deny it. Then Peng Lei said angrily, "Zihang, what do you mean? We asked to leave before, but you wouldn't let us. Now you suspect one of us four is a spy. If you keep this up, are you afraid we won't cooperate?"
"Exactly…"
Chen Bin and Lin Jie also nodded in agreement.
Lu Bao, however, put his hand up, telling Peng Lei and Chen Bin not to rush. He was very calm and composed, smiling, "Junior disciple Peng, Junior disciple Chen, don't get agitated. Perhaps there's a misunderstanding. Besides, Junior disciple Zihang is also considering everyone's safety."
"Senior disciple Lu, don't speak up for them."
Lin Jie said angrily, pointing at Li Zihang and the others, and said to Lu Bao, "They suspect one of us four is a spy now. Are you still siding with them?"
"Exactly, Senior disciple Lu. Why don't the four of us leave now? It's better than them being suspicious of us every day." Peng Lei glared, casting a fierce look at Li Zihang, Wuwei Zi, and Xu Lingwei's group, and snorted.
"Let's go, we'll pack up and leave here…"
Lin Jie snorted, turned, and was about to return to his tent to pack and leave. But Duan Yingying pointed at him and shouted, "Lin Jie, if you're in such a hurry to leave, aren't you the spy?"
This statement made Lin Jie stop in his tracks. He turned and glared fiercely at Duan Yingying, saying, "Duan Yingying, don't slander me. I am not a spy."
Duan Yingying glanced at him with her almond-shaped eyes, snorted, and said, "Guilty conscience, afraid we'll expose your identity, so you want to run, right? Am I right?"
"You…"
These words completely enraged Lin Jie. He pointed at Duan Yingying, gritting his teeth and cursing, "Duan Yingying, I've tolerated you for a long time. Aren't you the sect leader's precious daughter? It's one thing that everyone indulges you, but you really think we're afraid of you? Do you know what we call you behind your back?"
"What is it?"
Duan Yingying's almond eyes widened, and she asked.
Lin Jie glared with angry eyes and said, "Everyone calls you a slut, a slut who deserves to be punished!"
"Bastard, how dare you insult me? I'll kill you…"
Enraged, Duan Yingying lunged forward, intending to fight Lin Jie.
"Yingying…"
Jiang Tingxia and Xu Lingwei quickly pulled Duan Yingying back, while Lu Bao and Chen Bin also pulled Lin Jie back, preventing them from fighting…
"Enough!"
Wuwei Zi, with a grim and old face, roared. Then, Li Zihang said to Lin Jie, "Senior disciple Lin, I haven't suspected you of being the spy. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Exactly, exactly. Everyone calm down first…"
Lu Bao quickly tried to pacify Lin Jie and Peng Lei, smiling, "Can't we talk things out properly? Must we fight and hurt each other's feelings…"
"Senior disciple Lu!"
However, the next second, Li Zihang's narrowed eyes stared directly at Lu Bao, directly interrupting him and saying, "You are the spy, aren't you?"