"Sect Leader, we've heard."
Lei Tianhu gazed sharply at Sima Boyong. "What do you need us to do?"
Second, Third, and the others also looked at Sima Boyong. As the Ten Great Protectors of the Heavenly Eye Main Divine Sect's China branch, they were notorious for their evil deeds. Wu Lao Si, in particular, had over a dozen murder cases on his conscience.
Yet, he had managed to evade the police's tight net, slipping through like a fish. He had even altered his appearance and now presented a mild demeanor with a stiff, plastered-on smile, a lingering side effect of plastic surgery.
"It's simple. Go and kill Wan Yunting and his entire group for me!"
Sima Boyong's small eyes glinted with malice as he gritted his teeth and spoke coldly, "Without the Phoenix Tail Grass to detoxify, Duan Wuyu won't live much longer. If I can't have it, then I'll destroy it!"
"Sect Leader, where is that brat Wan Yunting?"
Seventh Elder Qi Dazhuang's eyes bulged as he gritted his teeth. "I want to avenge Sixth Brother and Fifth Brother!"
"That's right! I want to capture that kid and torture him to death!" Third Elder Liu Hongwei also said viciously.
Sima Boyong said faintly, "Let Wen Tang tell you. I'm tired now and need to rest."
Sima Wentang, who was standing by, nodded. Lei Tianhu and the others bowed slightly. "Sect Leader, please rest well. We'll bring you good news."
As Sima Boyong lay down again, Sima Wentang led Lei Tianhu and the group of Second Elder and the others out to the living room outside. Sima Wentang produced a mobile phone and handed it to him. "Wan Yunting and the others have entered the Kunlun Mountain range behind Wuliang Mountain to find the herb. However, there's someone from our side in their team. This phone is connected to our person's tracking software. You can locate Wan Yunting and the others based on the positioning on it."
Lei Tianhu took the phone, tapped the screen, and opened the tracking system software. A moving red marker immediately popped up, indicating their location as they moved towards the Kunlun Mountain range…
"Remember!"
Sima Wentang's square face was solemn. He said to Lei Tianhu and the others, "You absolutely cannot let Wan Yunting and his group come out of the Kunlun Mountain range alive!"
"Don't worry. This isn't the first time we've done something like this. We guarantee that we'll kill that kid," Second Elder Ma Sai nodded and said.
Sima Wentang nodded and said, "Then we'll count on you all. We await your good news."
Lei Tianhu nodded without a word and turned to leave. Second Elder, Third Elder, and the others also nodded to Sima Wentang and then quickly followed him out…
At this moment, Wan Yunting, Zhou Ruoxi, and the others had been following Wu Weizi for about two hours. The group finally passed through the forests on the left side of Wuliang Mountain and truly entered the western mountain range of Kunlun Mountains.
Kunlun Mountain, also known as Kunlun Void!
It is China's foremost divine mountain, the mountain of all ancestors, the great mountain system in the center of Asia, and the main trunk of the western mountain system of China.
This mountain range begins in the east of the Pamir Plateau, stretches across Xinjiang and Tibet, and extends into Qinghai Province. It is narrow in the west and wide in the east, with a total area of over 500,000 square kilometers.
The location where Wan Yunting and the others were now was on the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang, only along the narrow western part of the Kunlun Mountain range.
"We've finally reached Kunlun Mountain."
Wu Weizi panted and turned back to Wan Yunting and the others. "Alright, everyone, rest here and eat something. We'll enter the mountain later."
"Okay…"
Thus, Wan Yunting and Jiang Tingxia, Zhou Ruoxi and Xu Lingwei with Duan Yingying, Li Zihang and Lu Bao, the six of them sat on clean rocks, each taking out dried food and water from their bags…
"Uncle Wu Wei, here…"
Wan Yunting also handed his dried food to Wu Weizi, who was sitting beside him. Wu Weizi then began to eat, washing it down with a sip of water…
"Uncle, where in the mountain do we need to go to find the Phoenix Tail Grass?" Duan Yingying asked.
Wu Weizi nodded and said, "We have to go into a mountain valley to look for it!"
"A valley?"
Wan Yunting, while eating his dried food, asked him curiously, "Is it the place where you discovered the Phoenix Tail Grass before?"
"Yes."
Wu Weizi nodded and said, "I've recalled it carefully. When Uncle Ren and I entered the mountains to find medicine back then, we happened to discover the Phoenix Tail Grass in a small valley. However, I don't remember the route to enter the small valley very clearly anymore."
"Is it far?" Li Zihang asked.
Jiang Tingxia and her senior sister Zhou Ruoxi sat on a rock nearby, eating their dried food while carefully watching them chat…
Wu Weizi's old brows furrowed as he tried hard to recall. "Before, every time Uncle Ren and I went into the mountains to collect herbs, we would stay for one or two days and live in the mountains. I estimate it would take one to two days of travel to reach that small valley, and the route is unclear. We can only try to find it."
Wan Yunting and Li Zihang nodded upon hearing this. Duan Yingying looked over with her large eyes and said, "Hey, what does the Phoenix Tail Grass look like?"
Wan Yunting continued to eat his dried food, pretending not to hear.
"Hey, I'm talking to you."
Duan Yingying's large eyes widened, and she threw her half-eaten dried food directly at Wan Yunting. Wu Weizi immediately chided Duan Yingying, "Yingying, be polite."
Wan Yunting lowered his head to look at the dried food that had fallen on the ground, picked it up, and said to Duan Yingying with a stern face, "My name is not 'Hey.' You can call me Senior Brother Wan, or call me by my full name, but I am not called 'Hey'!"
"Also, do not waste food. This dried food is our sustenance for the next few days. If you don't want to eat it, you can't just throw it away and waste it. Take it and eat it!"
Duan Yingying's eyes widened, and she glared at Wan Yunting. Pouting her chin, she said arrogantly, "So what if I call you 'Hey'? So what if I waste dried food? This young lady just likes to throw things. What can you do about it?"
Wan Yunting's gaze turned cold as he looked at the unreasonable and arrogant Duan Yingying, wishing he could slap her twice.
"Tsk, Yingying, don't be rude."
Wu Weizi chided her. "Little Wan is right. We only brought a few days' worth of dried food into the mountains. If you waste it like this, then when we haven't found the herb yet, all the dried food will be wasted. How can we search for the herb if we're starving?"
Being reprimanded by Uncle Wu Wei, Duan Yingying angrily pointed at Wan Yunting and said coquettishly, pouting her lips, "Uncle, he was the one who was rude to me first."
"That's because you were wrong first," Wu Weizi did not indulge her.
"Hmph, Uncle, you're biased towards him. I'm not talking to you anymore."
Duan Yingying felt wronged, glared at Wan Yunting fiercely with her large eyes, huffed, and turned away, no longer speaking.
Wan Yunting couldn't be bothered to talk to her anymore. He handed the half-eaten dried food that Duan Yingying had thrown to Li Zihang, asking him to make sure that girl ate it later and didn't waste it at all.
After all, they were going into the mountains to find medicine, and they didn't bring much dried food. With the heavy snowfall sealing the mountain, although there were wild rabbits and other game in the mountains, it wasn't something that could be caught easily.
If their dried food ran out before they found the medicine, it would be a difficult choice…
"Alright, we've rested enough. Everyone, let's enter the mountain."
After everyone had rested for about twenty minutes, Wu Weizi stood up. Wan Yunting and Li Zihang nodded. Jiang Tingxia, Zhou Ruoxi, and the others also got up, gathered their things, and followed Wu Weizi, who pointed in a direction. "We'll go in from here…"
"Okay, Uncle, take your time…"
Wan Yunting held his long sword and baggage in one hand and reached out to help Wu Weizi, but the latter waved his hand and smiled. "No need to help, Little Wan. Although I'm old, I'm still a martial artist, and my stamina can hold up."
Wan Yunting nodded and said, "If you get tired, we'll stop and rest more."
"Okay."
Wu Weizi smiled and nodded.
"Hmph, really trying to be helpful."
Duan Yingying, who was walking beside them, cast a malevolent glance at Wan Yunting and snorted coldly.
Wu Weizi gave the girl a scolding look but knew that this was a habit she had developed from being spoiled. She wouldn't listen to anything now.
As for Li Zihang and Lu Bao and the other disciples, they were more afraid of Duan Yingying. Xu Lingwei was in a state of aloofness, as if everything around her was mere air, never caring about anything, so naturally, she wouldn't bother with Duan Yingying.
Although Zhou Ruoxi also called Duan Yingying's mother "Senior Aunt," she had met the girl only a handful of times and wasn't very familiar with her.
Therefore, at this moment, no one could truly control the spoiled and willful Duan Yingying. If her mother, Yang Jingyi, hadn't agreed to let her come along, Wan Yunting would never have agreed.
"Everyone, pay attention to the grass around your feet. The Phoenix Tail Grass belongs to the grass family of Phalaris arundinacea. Its color is dark red, and its leaves are long, resembling a phoenix's tail. The leaves are fifteen to twenty centimeters wide and about thirty centimeters tall. It blooms in winter, and its flowers are red, shaped like orchids. Everyone remember?" Wan Yunting turned to Zhou Ruoxi and Jiang Tingxia, as well as Li Zihang and Lu Bao and the others.
"We remember, Junior Brother Wan."
Li Zihang nodded and said, "Perhaps we'll find the Phoenix Tail Grass soon and can head back."
"Yes, that would be best," Wu Weizi nodded and smiled.
Wan Yunting also nodded and smiled. "It depends on our luck. If we're lucky, we'll encounter it. If not, we'll search carefully and pay more attention to the grass around our feet. There isn't much snow now, so it's easy to spot."
Everyone nodded, and following Wu Weizi, they ventured into the dense forests and bushes…
It was winter, and some of the trees on the mountain had lost their leaves, so they could see the sky above. It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was still warm, shining on people and feeling very comfortable.
The surrounding forests also had blocking bushes and thorny vines, with patches of snow hanging on them. It wasn't much snow, so everyone could still clearly see the grass around their feet and identify the plants.
Therefore, as long as they saw the Phoenix Tail Grass looking as Wan Yunting described, everyone should be able to recognize it…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lei Tianhu and the group of Second Elder and Third Elder were driving two off-road vehicles from Buxida County towards Wuliang Mountain. Before Wan Yunting and his group arrived at the Kunlun Mountain range, they had already reached the western forests of Wuliang Mountain, and the two vehicles slowly came to a stop…