Urban Martial Saint

Upon hearing Ye Qing’s words, the crowd immediately burst into an uproar, loudly questioning, ”Then who are you exactly?”

Ye Qing still pretended to not understand the foreign language, after all, these people had just spoken many secrets. If they found out that Ye Qing could understand them, they definitely wouldn’t let him go.

”You disguise yourself quite well, but it’s a pity that at the moment of life and death, you can’t keep it up!” the Great Lord coldly looked at Ye Qing and said deeply, ”Who are you exactly? Why deceive us? Why are you following us up the mountain? What is your plot?”

The old man translated the Great Lord’s words, and Ye Qing frowned slightly, saying in a deep voice, ”I deceived you? I’m following you up the mountain? There’s something wrong with what you’re saying, isn’t there? Before you went up the mountain, I was already on it and walked ahead of you. It’s you who forced me to lead you up the mountain, so how did it turn out that I deceived you and followed you up?”

Ye Qing’s words left those foreigners speechless. That was indeed the case; when they went up the mountain, Ye Qing was already there, and they forced him to lead them up.

”And you said you’re a Hunter—isn’t that deceiving us?” the old man loudly asked, ”Tell me, what is your intention for deceiving us like this?”

”Nonsense, there’s so many of you, and each looking fierce. If I didn’t pretend to be a Hunter, would I still be alive now?” Ye Qing said deeply, ”Moreover, even if I pretend to be a Hunter, you want me to risk my life for you, to pave the way for you. Humph, in the end, I have no intention of harming you; it’s you who want me to risk my life for you. What intent could I have? I just want to survive!”

Hearing the old man translate Ye Qing’s words, those foreigners again exchanged glances. Even the Great Lord had nothing to say. He stared at Ye Qing for a while and said deeply, ”Leave those things aside, just tell us, who are you? Why did you come to Mount Wendao?”

While arguing with these people, Ye Qing had already surveyed the surrounding environment. He was now in a place like a canyon, surrounded by mountains, with a pond in the middle, making it virtually impossible to escape. Not only for him, but even those foreigners were trapped here with no way out. The mountains around were extremely steep, smooth rocks that humans couldn’t possibly climb. Even if these people were masters, they couldn’t climb up, probably only the Great Lord could scale the cliff.

Not far behind him, there was a small stream slowly leading into a basketball-sized Cave. This stream stemmed from the pond, meaning the water in the pond was draining through this small Cave.

There were no routes for escape around, and the small cave entrance was only basketball-sized, making it impossible to escape. This left Ye Qing feeling utterly helpless. It seemed there was no hope of escaping from here. This was also a problem, not to mention how these foreigners might treat him, even the snake swarm pouring in from the entrance was inescapable.

Hearing the old man’s question, Ye Qing just coldly laughed and said, ”Saying who I am, as if you would recognize me. What am I doing on this mountain? Obviously not the same as your purpose; I’m certainly not here to find any monster!”

”You just go on without answering our questions, you’re basically evading them!” the old man angrily said, ”At this point, you still want to hide from us; do you really think we won’t kill you?”

Seeing the old man’s anger, Ye Qing’s heart skipped. If these people really got angry and tossed him into the snake swarm, he’d be in trouble. Should he just make up a name to fool them for a while?

While Ye Qing was hesitating, suddenly the Great Lord waved his hand sharply and said deeply, ”Everyone, be quiet!”

The crowd was pressuring Ye Qing about his identity when they suddenly heard the Great Lord say this, leaving them amazed, not knowing what had happened. However, at this moment, none dared to speak again, all tense as they watched the Great Lord, unsure of what he had discovered.

The Great Lord was frowning deeply, tilting his ear as if listening to something. At this moment, the clearing was utterly devoid of sound, and the surroundings seemed to have fallen into a deathly silence.

Ye Qing looked around; the two Giant Snakes that had been thrashing in the water were now motionless, quietly floating on the surface, seemingly calmer, as if they were waiting for something. Meanwhile, the swarm of snakes pouring from the entrance had also stopped, all like sculptures, staring directly and stiffly towards the pond, as if waiting, as if worshipping something, making the scene particularly strange.

Ye Qing had no idea what was happening with these snakes, but his intuition told him the situation might not be simple. Moreover, seeing the Great Lord’s grave expression, it was clear he had heard something; though what it was, Ye Qing had no clue.

After about two minutes of stillness, those foreigners were growing visibly uneasy. One of the old men leaned closer to the Great Lord and whispered, ”Great Lord, what’s happening?”

The Great Lord didn’t answer but continued to tilt his ear while moving towards Ye Qing.

Seeing the Great Lord approaching, Ye Qing also grew tense, hurriedly stepping back. However, the Great Lord didn’t pause, continuing straight towards him, forcing Ye Qing to retreat continuously until he was near the Cave where the stream led before the Great Lord stopped.

The Great Lord stood about five meters from the Cave entrance, his eyes fixed on it while listening intently, as though something in the Cave was drawing his attention. Yet, standing this close, Ye Qing could hear nothing besides the water’s sound.

The old man also approached, mimicking the Great Lord’s posture as he listened carefully for a moment, and his face suddenly changed, exclaiming, ”Below... what’s below there? It seems about to come out?”

Hearing this, the puzzled foreigners behind all turned pale, staring this way, not knowing what could be below the Cave. However, seeing the concerned looks on the Great Lord and the old man, they certainly dared not take it lightly!

After about half a minute, Ye Qing faintly heard a sound. It was strange, a thumping noise, as if something was striking against the stones, or perhaps something was climbing upwards from below the Cave, creating an involuntary sense of dread.

What could be inside such a Cave, especially below?

The crowd in the mountains had seen so many snakes and the four Giant Snakes earlier; by now, they were jumpy. The idea of something else crawling out of a small Cave entrance left them uneasy.

Ye Qing was equally astonished, instinctively retreating a few more steps to avoid the Cave area. But by now, he was at the cliff’s edge, with only stone walls behind him and nowhere further to retreat, leaving him standing there, back against the rock, quietly watching the Cave entrance.

Soon, the sound grew louder, and everyone around heard it, each person’s face bearing shock.

The surrounding snakes still maintained their previous posture, appearing to be in worship. What was inside this Cave to make the snakes act so submissively?

Though not seeing what would emerge from the Cave, intuition told Ye Qing that whatever it was, it wouldn’t be simple, possibly even more terrifying than the Giant Snakes. Otherwise, why would these snakes be so reverent?

With the noise growing louder and closer, the Great Lord took a deep breath. He suddenly turned, instructing a few people behind him, ”Bring the realgar powder here and cover this area with it!”

”Realgar?” They were surprised, one old man curiously asked, ”Great Lord, what do we need realgar for?”

”I suspect the creature we’re looking for is inside this Cave,” the Great Lord said deeply.

”Ah?” They were even more shocked, one person quietly asked, ”Great Lord, the Cave entrance is so small, even if something comes out, how big could it be? How can it be the creature we’re searching for?”

”Stop wasting time and sprinkle the realgar over here!” the Great Lord ordered deeply, ”I can feel that whatever is emerging has a terrifying power!”

The group was alarmed; with the Great Lord’s kind of strength, if even he described it as terrifying, they dared not delay!

The foreigners hurried over, scattering the realgar powder they had brought with them around. For safety, they sprinkled especially thickly, nearly covering the entire Cave entrance with the realgar powder, showing their own serious demeanor.

Ye Qing also quietly moved further aside; if the monster really emerged, one that even the Great Lord had to handle cautiously, it would be dangerous. Perhaps a single tail swipe could be more than he could handle, so he certainly didn’t want too much contact with it.

Shortly after laying out the realgar powder, the sound from the Cave reached its apex. Every heart was in their throat, each person tensely watching the Cave entrance, waiting for whatever was about to emerge!