Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing’s words truly made Bai Li Xi a bit cautious. He nodded repeatedly and said, ”Yes, yes, yes, we’ve got to hurry into the mountain. This is what’s important. Enough with the nonsense now, everyone listen to me.”

Everyone looked at Bai Li Xi. If they weren’t afraid of him starting to ramble again, they would have already cursed him. Damn it, from start to finish, it’s you who’s been talking nonsense, who else did?

Bai Li Xi cleared his throat and said, ”These eight directions, actually, if you want to find them, are quite simple. At the foot of Medicine King Mountain, there are eight Welcoming Pines. Follow the direction of the Welcoming Pines into the mountain, and that’s the correct direction.”

”That simple?” Ning Qianshu widened his eyes. He had been contemplating where exactly these eight directions were. Unexpectedly, these eight directions were just eight Welcoming Pines, which was easy to find.

”Simple is simple, but there’s a very crucial issue,” Bai Li Xi looked at everyone and said, ”After passing the Welcoming Pines, you must walk forward with your eyes closed for exactly one hundred steps, and then you can open your eyes. If you fall short by even one step, not only will all your previous efforts be wasted, but you’ll also get lost in the great formation, never being able to get out again!”

”Walk with our eyes closed?” Ye Qing looked at the Medicine King Mountain ahead and said, ”There isn’t even a path up this mountain; it’s full of strange rocks, wild grass, and shrubs everywhere. Walking a hundred steps with eyes closed isn’t easy; even ten steps could trip you. Walking a hundred steps might get someone killed!”

”Nonsense, do you think I would set you up?” Bai Li Xi glared and said, ”Walking with eyes closed was instructed by my Master personally. If you don’t have the guts, then don’t go up the mountain. Give me the Divine Doctor’s Order; anyway, many people want to enter this mountain. If I take the Divine Doctor’s Order out, I don’t know how many people would fight for it!”

Ye Qing quickly hid the Divine Doctor’s Order behind him and said, ”Mr. Bai Li, I’m not questioning you; I’m just saying that when Divine Doctor An Shiping left this formation, it was different from now. Back then, the path might have been all smooth, and walking a hundred steps with eyes closed would have been fine. But now, there’s wild grass and shrubs and strange rocks all over the place; there simply isn’t a road. Walking a hundred steps with eyes closed now is just impossible. Isn’t this method a bit impractical?”

”This is a method left by my Master; no matter how many years have passed, it’s the same,” Bai Li Xi said, with unwavering belief in Divine Doctor An Shiping. ”You either walk a hundred steps with your eyes closed or you don’t enter the mountain. It’s up to you.”

Facing someone like Bai Li Xi, Ye Qing could only look at Shen Tianjun beside him without words.

Since Shen Tianjun woke up, he hadn’t said much. At this moment, seemingly sensing Ye Qing’s gaze, he said softly, ”Divine Doctor An Shiping surely wouldn’t harm people. If he says to walk with eyes closed, then we’ll walk with eyes closed. There won’t be any danger!”

”Right, Old Shen still knows what to say!” Bai Li Xi was overjoyed, looked at Ye Qing and said, ”Your master has spoken, now you believe it, right?”

Since Shen Tianjun said this, Ye Qing had nothing more to say and could only nod in agreement. However, he still couldn’t understand the real difference between keeping eyes open or closed.

”Alright, everyone remember, walk one hundred steps with eyes closed. It must be one hundred steps, not ninety-nine. Understand?” Bai Li Xi looked at everyone and said, ”If anyone is bad at math and can’t count, come over and let me know, I’ll replace you quickly. Otherwise, if you get lost in Medicine King Mountain, I won’t be going down to save you!”

No one responded to Bai Li Xi’s words, and he nodded in satisfaction and said, ”If that’s the case, you two groups can go search for the Welcoming Pines from the left and right sides respectively. Remember, each person can choose only one direction, and once someone enters a direction, leave a mark to prevent someone else from accidentally going in. Understand?”

No one responded to Bai Li Xi’s words. Ding Lianshun handed Yin Xianzi over to Ning Qianshu’s two apprentices, asking them to take care of her. Then, he and Ning Qianshu and Liu Ruxiang headed west, choosing that direction.

On Ye Qing’s side, he also made arrangements for Huangfu Ziyu and the Wolf Monk, having them join Ning Qianshu’s two apprentices. This way, they could also enter Medicine King Mountain to hide, and even if they encountered danger, they could look out for each other.

Even though Huangfu Ziyu held a deep grudge against Ning Qianshu, she knew now wasn’t the time for revenge. Therefore, she didn’t oppose Ye Qing’s suggestion and entered Medicine King Mountain along with the Wolf Monk and Ning Qianshu’s people.

Ye Qing watched from outside and saw clearly that shortly after Huangfu Ziyu and the others entered Medicine King Mountain, they vanished like An Hongyuan did yesterday.

”This is the great formation left by my Master. Even if you’re ten meters apart, you can’t see each other,” Bai Li Xi said proudly.

Seeing the marvellous effect of this great formation, Ye Qing felt somewhat relieved. With this formation in place, Huangfu Ziyu and the others would be relatively safer.

”Alright, let’s also enter the mountain!” Shen Tianjun said softly, his mind clearly already set on Medicine King Mountain.

”Okay!” Bai Li Xi took the lead towards the east, saying, ”Old Ghost Ning went that way; we’ll go this way and not eat their leftovers.”

The group followed behind Bai Li Xi, walking along the mountain foot. After about three miles, they indeed found a Welcoming Pine. Although the weather was still cold, the Welcoming Pine stood tall and vigorous, invigorating anyone who looked at it. However, the path behind the Welcoming Pine was piled with stones, obstructing the way. Even for those with their eyes open, it would be difficult to walk this path. Walking forward with eyes closed would surely result in falls.

”Alright, this is the first entrance!” Bai Li Xi turned to the group and said, ”Who will go in first?”

The crowd exchanged glances, and no one spoke. Suddenly, the masked elder stepped out from among them and walked straight to the bottom of the Welcoming Pine. He extended his finger and carved a mark on the Welcoming Pine, then decisively walked forward in the direction of the tree.

”Be careful, elder!” Ye Qing hurriedly warned, but the masked elder didn’t even turn his head, just continued walking forward with his eyes closed. After a few steps, the group was astonished to find that the masked elder seemed to have gotten very far away from them, so far that they could hardly see him.

”What’s going on?” Lin Tianyou was the first to ask in astonishment, turning to Ye Qing in wonder, ”How... how did he suddenly get so far? Am I seeing things?”

Bai Li Xi said, ”Didn’t I say, in here, a ten-meter distance is like a thousand miles apart. Although he hasn’t walked far, it looks very far. Look, you can’t even see him now.”

”This... this formation is really amazing!” Lin Tianyou’s face was filled with excitement and enthusiasm, ”Is this magic?”

Lin Tianyou had no exposure to these things and did not know these matters, thinking this was magic.

Ye Qing also didn’t explain, as this kind of thing was unexplainable. The group walked a distance, finally discovering the second Welcoming Pine.

This time, before Bai Li Xi could speak, Shen Tianjun went over and said, ”I’ll go in this time.”

”Uncle Shen, be very careful!” Ye Qing looked at the path behind the Welcoming Pine, noticing obvious ravines and uneven ground with lots of pits. This path was even harder than the previous one. Walking with eyes closed, one might accidentally fall into a pit, which would be troublesome.

Shen Tianjun waved his hand, walked to the Welcoming Pine, left a mark on it, and then walked straight in. Like the masked elder before him, he disappeared from sight within a few steps, which was very magical.

”Let’s continue!” Bai Li Xi led Ye Qing and Lin Tianyou further on, finding the third Welcoming Pine.

The roads behind the previous two Welcoming Pines had already seemed bad to Ye Qing. However, upon seeing the path behind this third Welcoming Pine, Ye Qing was even more discouraged. Because behind this tree, there was no path at all, just a sheer cliff. Walking a hundred steps forward with eyes closed would surely mean crashing into the cliff.

”Who will go in this time?” Bai Li Xi asked on the side.

”How can we go in?” Ye Qing looked at Bai Li Xi and said, ”Walking a hundred steps forward with eyes closed, how to walk? Do we have to climb the mountain?”

”Whether you climb in or not, I’m asking which of you two will enter this place,” Bai Li Xi said, ”If you’re not going in, then I’ll go in first, and you’ll have to find the road yourself!”

”You go ahead, I’m definitely not taking this path!” Ye Qing replied straightforwardly, joking, there’s no path here at all.

”Alright then, see you later.” Bai Li Xi whistled leisurely, walked to the Welcoming Pine, casually carved a mark, then walked straight in. Before long, he too vanished from sight.

Ye Qing was originally planning to watch him bump into the mountain, but when he couldn’t see him, Ye Qing gave up. At the same time, he was puzzled. The road he saw was simply impassable. Walking a hundred steps with eyes closed was obviously impossible. Why did Divine Doctor An Shiping set things up like this? Could it be that walking a hundred steps with closed eyes here really wouldn’t be dangerous?

With doubts, Ye Qing and Lin Tianyou continued walking forward. This time, they hadn’t walked long before finding another Welcoming Pine. However, upon seeing the terrain behind this Welcoming Pine, Ye Qing was utterly dumbfounded. Because the terrain behind this Welcoming Pine was worse than the combined terrains of the previous three Welcoming Pines.

Not far behind this Welcoming Pine was a cliff!