The night drew in, and within Mount E'Yue, centered on the headquarters of the Tian Yan Main God Cult, more than a thousand people were scouring the mountainside like a carpet searching for Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue.
Yet, a full day had passed, and still, no trace of the two had been found!
"Could it be they've already broken through and left?" Feng Xian, standing on a mountain peak, turned to Han Dongri beside him, speaking with trepidation.
"Impossible." Han Dongri's expression was grim, his eyes sharp, and his tone venomous. "The people Wan Yunting escaped with have already reached international waters by ship, and Wan Yunting wasn't on the ship."
"As for that goddess from the Divine Snake Tribe,哼, the son of their tribe leader is in our hands, so she must still be hiding in the mountains with Wan Yunting."
Jiang Wenhao, along with Zhang Xian'er, Zi Qing, Fierce Tiger, and Savage Dragon, was on a high-speed yacht. They had reached international waters and had not chosen to return to Hua Xia. Meanwhile, Sirius and Phantom were still in Seoul, using their networks to search for Wan Yunting's disappearance!
As for Xiao Li and their Divine Snake Tribe, they had already been captured by the Tian Yan Main God Cult and were currently imprisoned in the headquarters' dungeon.
"Senior Brother Han is right," said Disha, his chest and head wrapped in bandages, with two meteor hammers slung at his waist. "Che Tai Min's people are all over Seoul and its surroundings. If Wan Yunting and that goddess from the Divine Snake Tribe really escaped, they would have been discovered!"
The effeminate Feng Xian nodded, gazing out at the deepening mountain forest under the night sky. "But we've sent so many people to search for a whole day, and we haven't found any trace of them. Where could they possibly be hiding?"
"Increase the manpower. Dig three feet into the ground and find them!" Han Dongri's eyes bulged as he roared.
"Yes." The supervisors behind him took their orders and immediately had Che Tai Min mobilize the cult's outer disciples to search the mountain...
Han Dongri, Feng Xian, and Disha each led a group of people down the mountain, delving into the forest in three different directions to search...
It was already eight o'clock in the evening, and the entire Mount E'Yue was plunged into darkness. However, in the mountain forest, flashlight beams shone everywhere. A search party of over a thousand people was meticulously digging through the forest...
From time to time, helicopters overhead cooperated with the ground search. On the eastern side of Mount E'Yue, on a tall tree, a large, patterned python coiled itself into a ball on a branch.
Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue were inside the snake's body, lying as if in a large bowl. After a day of cultivating and healing, Wan Yunting's serious internal injuries were suppressed, and he now had at least the ability to move.
"Grumble..." His stomach growled loudly. Wan Yunting had to open his eyes, glancing awkwardly at Ji Ruxue beside him, and asked, "When do you plan to break out?"
Ji Ruxue was also uncomfortably hungry, but she was slightly better off than Wan Yunting, as he had consumed a lot of energy by cultivating and healing all day.
"Let's wait a bit longer." Ji Ruxue cast a glance at him with her seductive eyes and stood up, looking towards the mountain forest ahead. The movements of the Tian Yan Main God Cult's search party could be heard, as over a thousand people were searching the mountain with a thorough sweep, creating a great commotion.
"Okay, call me when it's time to break out." Wan Yunting, feeling extremely hungry, closed his eyes again to continue cultivating and healing.
Ji Ruxue turned her head and looked at him askance, a smile playing on her fiery red lips. "You're recovering quite quickly. It seems your cultivation is no simple matter!"
"But your method of cultivating, why does it feel so familiar?" Ji Ruxue watched Wan Yunting cultivate and heal, increasingly feeling like she had seen his martial arts somewhere before!
Wan Yunting opened his eyes and glanced at her, his brow slightly raised. He was currently using the Eight Desolations Divine Skill to cultivate and heal.
"Hmm, are you practicing the arts of the逍遥派 (Xiaoyao Sect)?" Ji Ruxue, finally remembering, widened her seductive eyes and pointed at him, demanding.
Wan Yunting was astonished, looking at her in confusion. "You know of the逍遥派?"
Ji Ruxue was even more surprised, seeing his expression, it was clear she had hit the mark. "Of course, I know. Although the逍遥派 was destroyed centuries ago, our Divine Snake Tribe has a connection to the逍遥派, and I even know the White Rainbow Palm from the逍遥派!"
"You know the White Rainbow Palm?" Wan Yunting's eyes widened, looking at Ji Ruxue with even greater confusion, wondering about the relationship between their Divine Snake Tribe and the逍遥派!
Ji Ruxue narrowed her seductive eyes and asked, "But I am curious, how do you know the arts of the逍遥派, and your current internal cultivation method is of the highest grade, what is it?"
Seeing that she wasn't saying anything, Wan Yunting naturally didn't want to tell her how he knew the arts of the逍遥派, but he didn't mind telling Ji Ruxue the name of the skill. "Should be the Eight Desolations Divine Skill, right?"
"Eight Desolations Divine Skill!" Ji Ruxue was startled and even more excited, her seductive eyes looking at Wan Yunting with astonishment. "The Eight Desolations Divine Skill is a supreme internal cultivation method of the逍遥派, you actually know it?"
"So it seems you have inherited the legacy of the逍遥派, right?"
Wan Yunting closed his eyes and said lightly, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that!"
Seeing him continue to cultivate and heal, and still unwilling to speak, Ji Ruxue rolled her eyes speechlessly. She hadn't expected him to know the Eight Desolations Divine Skill, which meant he must have inherited from the逍遥派! After all, the Eight Desolations Divine Skill was too famous for its ability to absorb others' internal energy and turn it to one's own use, making it incredibly overbearing.
Seeing that Wan Yunting was unwilling to speak, Ji Ruxue didn't mind. However, a sly smile played on her fiery red lips as she thought, "It seems my choice to capture you was correct!"
It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that Ji Ruxue finally woke Wan Yunting. "It's time to break out!"
Wan Yunting immediately opened his eyes. He finished his cultivation and let out a slight breath. His pale complexion from noon had regained some color, and his eyes had become more spirited. He got up to stretch his limbs, but when he pulled his back, the intense pain from his internal injuries caused his expression to change, and he frowned.
"How is it, do you need it to carry you?" Ji Ruxue pointed at the large python. With her ability to control snakes, she could command this ten-meter-long python to go east or west, completely controlling it.
"No need, I'm much better now. Walking is not a problem." Wan Yunting shook his head, indicating it wasn't necessary. Ji Ruxue cast a glance at him with her seductive eyes, then her gaze turned cold and serious. "Then you have to stick close. If you encounter people from the Tian Yan Main God Cult, don't engage in prolonged combat. Our objective is to break out and head towards the east..."
Saying that, Ji Ruxue leaped, using the vines of the large tree to quickly descend to the ground. The patterned python also slid down the tree trunk. Wan Yunting also grabbed a vine and steadily landed on the ground. The two were fully alert, their eyes wide, vigilantly observing their surroundings. About a hundred meters ahead, the sounds of the Tian Yan Main God Cult's search party could still be heard.
"This way is east!" Wan Yunting pointed to the direction on his left. Ji Ruxue glanced at him and, without further words, began to walk cautiously towards the east. Wan Yunting followed closely, and the large python also crawled along behind them...
"Aish..." On the east side, a search party of over thirty members from the Tian Yan Main God Cult, all outer disciples, sat on dry branches and fallen leaves, holding flashlights and complaining tiredly. "We've been searching all day, and haven't seen a ghost. I'm exhausted."
"Ah, I wish I'd brought a bottle of liquor and some fried chicken. I'm starving..."
"So many people searching the mountain all day and can't find anyone, they probably ran off long ago."
"Exactly. They called us up into these mountains without even a drop of water or food, and the mosquitoes are biting us to death..." These outer disciples of the Tian Yan Main God Cult didn't have very strong faith in the cult, so they were all filled with resentment.
"Who told you to rest?" Just then, a core supervisor from the Tian Yan Main God Cult came over. Seeing these few guys resting, he angrily berated them. "If you don't find the people, and the Main God blames us, none of you will escape unscathed!"
"Get up and keep searching, quickly..." The core supervisor went up and kicked a disciple fiercely. The others dared not retort or disobey, and could only suppress their resentment and get up to continue searching with their flashlights...
"You, stop!" Suddenly, the core supervisor heard a movement ahead and immediately told the disciples to stop. He shone his flashlight into the pitch-black forest ahead, with insects dancing in the beam. The core supervisor widened his eyes and cautiously moved forward... The disciples did not follow, but stood where they were, looking at each other, their faces full of tension...
The core supervisor, holding his flashlight, arrived at the location of the movement. His eyes were wide and vigilant as he cautiously looked around, but he didn't see a single ghost, which made him wonder if he had misheard? Just as he was about to turn back, thinking he had misheard, a huge head suddenly appeared before him. It was the patterned python descending from the sky, startling the core supervisor into a scream of "Ah..."
The next second, the sound abruptly stopped. The entire head was swallowed by the python's gaping maw, and its body fell to the ground, coiling around the core supervisor's corpse, accompanied by the cracking sound of bones breaking...
"Ah... a snake..." Seeing this, the few disciples holding flashlights were terrified and screamed in unison, turning and running back...
Immediately after, Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue emerged from behind two trees. Looking at the fleeing disciples of the Tian Yan Main God Cult, Ji Ruxue chuckled with her fiery red lips, glanced at Wan Yunting, and said, "Let's go."
Wan Yunting nodded, and without a word, followed Ji Ruxue as they continued towards the east, plunging into the dense, dark forest... Wan Yunting's eyes were special, as if equipped with night vision, so the darkness could not stop him. Although Ji Ruxue couldn't match him, her eyesight and hearing were superb, allowing the two to navigate the dark mountain forest without light sources...
They had only walked for a minute when a group of disciples from the Tian Yan Main God Cult, armed with flashlights and weapons, ran over, only to see the corpse of the core supervisor, entangled by the python, his body contorted and lifeless... Disha, who was searching in the east, saw the core supervisor killed by the python and knew it was the work of Ji Ruxue, the goddess from the Divine Snake Tribe. "What are you all standing around for? Chase them!"
"Yes..." The disciples scattered and pursued Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue...
"Senior Brother Han, they are indeed in the mountains, right here on my side. Send helicopters and manpower to search the east immediately!" Disha said into the walkie-talkie, reporting the situation to Han Dongri and Feng Xian.
"Okay, I'll immediately have people seal off the eastern mountains. We absolutely cannot let them escape!" Hearing that there was finally news of Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue, Han Dongri was invigorated. He immediately mobilized manpower and helicopters to head towards the eastern direction of Mount E'Yue...
On the eastern coast of Mount E'Yue, Ji Ruxue's target was Jiangyuan Port, as she had already arranged for an escape route and prepared a ship to pick them up at a certain shore in Jiangyuan Port! This was the escape route Ji Ruxue had planned before coming to rescue Wan Yunting.
At this moment, Wan Yunting gritted his teeth and endured the severe pain and discomfort of his injuries, following closely behind Ji Ruxue. The two were vigilant, observing their surroundings while quickly moving towards the east, weaving through the dense forest...
"This way, quickly..." Behind them, Disha led a group of disciples, rapidly searching in the direction Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue were heading. They discovered traces of Wan Yunting and Ji Ruxue's movement, confirming that their escape direction was to the east. Disha immediately contacted Han Dongri and the others, instructing them to send people to completely blockade and search the eastern forest.