The medicinal power of the Spirit Gathering Pill had yet to dissipate. No matter where he ran now, he was like a massive light bulb—utterly incapable of concealing his tracks.
So this time, Li Qiuchen chose the easiest path to travel, sprinting madly all the way in the direction of Chicken Crown Mountain.
In the blink of an eye, another day passed.
Only when the sun set did Li Qiuchen stop and begin to rest.
The soles of his shoes were worn through.
The good news was that he could now confirm he had entered the three-hundred-li radius of Chicken Crown Mountain.
The bad news was that after Bai He confirmed it once again, the pursuing soldiers behind him still showed no intention of giving up, still biting tightly at his heels.
Li Qiuchen rested for a moment to recover his stamina, then immediately lit sandalwood incense to call upon the Mountain God.
Just like the previous two times, led by the white-clothed maiden, they passed through the mist and arrived at the Mountain God's cave abode.
After listening to Li Qiuchen's report, Jiang Tingyue carefully asked about those cavalrymen's clothing and appearance. After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said, "They shouldn't be troops from the county, but rather prefectural soldiers subordinate to the Garrison Command. These people are indeed rather troublesome. Once that stubborn streak flares up, they won't give face to anyone."
"I'll give you a talisman to paste on your body; just avoid them from afar. When they can't find your tracks, they'll naturally retreat. Once this matter is concluded, I'll find their superiors to settle the score."
Saying this, he instructed the white-clothed maiden to bring cinnabar and talisman paper, wielded his brush with sweeping strokes, wrote a line of text, and handed it to Li Qiuchen.
Li Qiuchen took it and looked; there were only eight large characters on it.
—By Order of the Mountain God, Unimpeded Passage Throughout!
In a daze, he returned to his original spot. The talisman flashed once before Li Qiuchen's eyes, then faded into his body.
In that instant, Li Qiuchen felt as though the mountains and rivers before him had all transformed into level roads, no longer rugged and rough as before.
He tried taking a step forward, and felt the surrounding scenery turn into streams of light rushing behind him.
Wasn't this the divine ability of shrinking land into inches?
Li Qiuchen walked forward a few steps, then turned back to discover that Bai He had already fallen several dozen zhang behind.
Moreover, it wasn't just as simple as shrinking land into inches. Those tree roots, mountain rocks, streams... all seemed to automatically give way to his footsteps, allowing him to pass unimpeded through the mountain forests.
Senior Jiang Tingyue is truly a reliable person!
Although he had already thought it once, Li Qiuchen felt he had to think it again.
This is someone you can get along with.
He doesn't lecture you on grand principles or play petty tricks. When he says he'll give benefits, he gives tangible benefits. When he arranges work for you, he doesn't leave you to fend for yourself—within the scope of his authority, he does his utmost to provide you with all kinds of conveniences.
Where else can you find such a good boss?
What else was there to say? Run! Run immediately!
You say you want to sleep at night?
Young man, why sleep long in life? You'll sleep forever after death.
The greatest advantage of the Medicine Master's blessing was having good stamina and a thick health bar.
After resting for a moment and recovering some stamina, Li Qiuchen called Bai He and traveled through mountains and ridges through the night, leaving dust in his wake.
He spent the entire night sprinting for one hundred and eighty li. He didn't even stop when passing by that familiar village at the foot of the mountain, following the river all the way upstream.
By the afternoon of the next day, Li Qiuchen had returned to his lair. He climbed onto the kang bed, closed his eyes, and began to snore in deep sleep.
He was truly spent.
And at this very moment, on the mountain road over one hundred li behind him, two scout cavalrymen holding hunting dogs stood on a hilltop, looking at each other in dismay.
"Where is he?"
"The Hundred-Li Soul-Chasing Incense has been cut off. How do we chase him? Where do we chase?"
"He couldn't have burrowed underground, could he?"
"Should we... go back and report to the Young Lord?"
The two hesitated for a long time and really couldn't find a way, so they could only ride back.
After traveling two li of mountain road and rounding the mountainside, they saw dots of bonfires burning by the roadside.
Over one hundred elite knights had set up a crude military encampment, solemn and silent.
The leading young general wore black armor. He removed his helmet and sat by the bonfire, absentmindedly toying with a human head in his hands.
That was precisely the broken head of True Lord Mohe. The brain matter had already dried, but the ferocious expression was still frozen on his face.
And on a nearby iron spear, dozens of ferocious and terrifying human heads were hanging. Some of them didn't appear to be completely dead, still wriggling bit by bit and dripping blood.
The brothers Song Gang and Song Yu knelt sitting across from the bonfire, their heads covered in cold sweat, not daring to lift their eyes to look at this terrifying and bizarre scene.
"Report—!"
The two scouts approached, lowered their heads in salute, and said shamefully, "Young Lord, we lost him."
"Lost him?"
The young general turned his head, his sword-like brows rising slightly.
"Yes... the other party somehow escaped over one hundred li away within a day and night. The Hundred-Li Soul-Chasing Incense lost its connection, and the Wind-Chasing Hounds can't sniff out any scent. The mountain road ahead is complex, we..."
"A child of eleven or twelve years old, with cultivation at nothing more than the Qi Refinement realm."
The young general looked at the Song brothers kneeling across from him, not daring to speak, then looked at his scout cavalry, and couldn't help but sneer coldly, "He easily killed this demon who incited the masses to chaos, then slipped away right under the noses of the Garrison Command's most elite scouts?"
The two scouts exchanged a glance and hurriedly said, "We are incompetent and willingly accept military punishment!"
"Foolish."
The young general said coldly, "You still regard him as a child even now. Have you considered the possibility that he might be an old demon in disguise?"
"The remnants of the Medicine Master have never been measurable by common sense. Those old fellows who look white-haired yet youthful, with immortal and dignified bearings—they are all wastes who haven't found the right path and couldn't cultivate anything of note. On the contrary, the deeper their dao, the younger and more beautiful they become."
"If we allow this demon to rest and recover within Yunzhong County's borders, who knows how many innocent commoners will suffer his persecution. In another hundred or eighty years, perhaps we'll have nurtured another 'Immortal Venerable'!"
The deputy general beside him advised in a low voice, "Young Lord, with our limited numbers, wanting to hunt Medicine Master remnants in these old mountain forests is truly insufficient."
"He can't run far."
The young general said coldly, "Since he ran this way, it means his dao field is in this direction. Investigate along the mountain villages, and we'll eventually find his tracks."
The deputy general said with difficulty, "Young Lord, we've already been away from the county town for many days. If we continue deeper, I'm afraid our supplies..."
The young general hesitated for a moment, then frowned. "Not counting the return trip's consumption, we have at least three days of leeway."
"Young Lord, Yunzhong County's territory is not at peace. On our return journey, we must also avoid accidents."
So-called logistics and supplies, put bluntly, are just food for the men and fodder for the horses.
Food for people is easy to handle; if absolutely necessary, we can even hunt.
Fodder for horses is not so easy to manage.
Although there is green grass everywhere in the mountains, you can't have warhorses grazing while they run.
The young general hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Draw up the geographic map of this area's mountains and rivers. Tomorrow, advance another one hundred li deeper. If there are still no results, count it as the demon having escaped by a fluke."