Capítulo 220: Fairymist Prairie
The group ventured deeper into the valley under Old Niu's lead, with the fog visibly thickening with every few steps they took.
Back at where they had found the grimoire plant, visibility still extended to about three metres away. However, this distance rapidly decreased as they moved, going from three metres to two metres, and eventually to one.
At one stage, it even got to the point where they could barely see their own outstretched hand, and that was despite their enhanced vision as cultivators.
Had it not been for their use of spiritual sense, they would probably suffer numerous trips and falls while traversing this uneven terrain.
"We are here!" Old Niu exclaimed in relief as they exited a rocky path to enter a wide prairie.
Old Niu had not lied to them – the entire journey took less than half an hour. In fact, it only took them around fifteen minutes to get here.
However, the difference in visibility was as extreme as day and night.
"Is this it?" Lou Yuan closed his eyes.
Zhao Yunxiao did the same, and so did Nie Hanchang.
The fog here meant that they could barely see their surroundings, so the only way to find out what this place looked like was through spiritual sense.
That was why the first thing all three of them did was to focus on extending their spiritual sense to scan the area.
It was a wide prairie with plenty of lush vegetation around.
While the thick fog meant that they could not make out anything in the distance, a small amount of light still found its way through to reach the plants, allowing them to thrive.
A gentle breeze constantly caressed their faces, carrying with it a strong floral fragrance that seemed to have come from a mix of flowers.
"So, this is the fairymist flower!" Lou Yuan opened his eyes and walked over to a nearby bush.
Now that he knew about the fairymist flower's characteristics, it was not difficult to identify one in person.
These fist-sized flowers were white in colour, and a thick stream of mist was constantly emitted from the stigma of each flower.
It was basically a prairie that was overgrown with fairymist flowers, with the latter numbering in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Here, these spiritual plants almost seemed to be something as common as grass.
And with each individual flower producing a thick stream of mist, it was no wonder that the resulting fog had been sufficient to cover the entire Ghost Fog Valley!
"This is a form of defensive measure," Old Niu explained as if he was a senior teaching his junior. "By emitting mist like this, the fairymist flower seeks to hide itself in fog, away from the eyes of potential predators."
"How fascinating!" Lou Yuan carefully inspected a flower from up close.
"How is it? Are there any uses for it?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"Hard to say," Lou Yuan plucked a flower and started spinning it by the stalk.
After being plucked, the stream of mist coming from the flower decreased all of a sudden. But rather surprisingly, it did not stop completely.
Lou Yuan plucked another flower, and the same thing happened.
"Interesting! I definitely have to bring some back to perform some tests!" Lou Yuan licked his lips in anticipation. "Dig one out for me!"
"Who are you talking to?" Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow.
"Tch! Who else can I be talking to but you?" Lou Yuan said impatiently. "You are pretty good at this, aren't you?"
"This is my first time seeing these flowers too!" Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes in disbelief. "And even if I knew how to do so, why should I help you?"
"How stingy! Haven't I helped you a lot so far?" Lou Yuan replied. "Why don't you treat this as a form of repayment?"
"And how have you helped me so far?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"Didn't I help you pay that guy to be a guide?" Lou Yuan answered while pointing to Old Niu.
Old Niu: "..."
"I am thankful for that, but it is not like the spirit stones went to me," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "Though if you are willing to pay me to help you, then that's a completely different story..."
"What? So, you are just asking for spirit stones? Are you really poor or something?" Lou Yuan felt the corner of his lips twitch.
"It is a matter of principle!" Zhao Yunxiao insisted. "If you want someone else's help, it is only natural that you provide something of value in return!"
"...Fine, one spirit stone for three plants!" Lou Yuan relented surprisingly quickly.
"Three plants? How do you intend to carry them with you?" Zhao Yunxiao asked sceptically. "Surely you are not intending to ask us to help you carry them, are you?"
The fairymist flower itself was the size of a fist. However, the entire fairymist plant, including the branches and roots, was almost half as tall as a man.
Considering the fact that living plants could not be stored in spatial items, three plants would be quite the troublesome load to carry on a journey!
"You don't need to worry about that. Do you want the spirit stones or not?" Lou Yuan questioned.
"Of course I want it!" Zhao Yunxiao agreed immediately. "But I can only give it a try. Don't blame me if it doesn't work. Here, take this!"
Zhao Yunxiao passed Lou Yuan the bag that was holding the grimoire plant, then turned his attention towards the nearest fairymist flower.
Truth be told, Zhao Yunxiao was rather curious about these fairymist flowers as well, especially since this was the first time that he was seeing them in person.
Even if Lou Yuan had not asked him for help, he would probably also have tried to extract a fairymist plant just for the experience.
But before Zhao Yunxiao could even start working on the fairymist plant, he suddenly furrowed his brows in alert.
He was not the only one either. All four of them turned towards the entrance of the prairie.
Once again, the Iron Sabres were closing in on them.
"They actually managed to follow us here? Or were they headed here from the start?" Lou Yuan thought out loud.
"I have never seen them come this deep into the valley. They must have found a way to track us down," Old Niu rubbed his chin in contemplation.
Zhao Yunxiao glanced at Old Niu, carefully observing the latter's facial expression. However, he could not tell if the latter was hiding anything.
"What do we do? Shall we leave again? Or shall we hide in a corner?" Lou Yuan asked.
With the low visibility in the area, hiding in a corner might really allow them to avoid detection. Of course, that would only work if the Iron Sabres had intended to come this way from the start.
If the Iron Sabres were using some special methods to track them down, hiding in a corner would be do absolutely nothing for them.
"Let's try staying in a corner for now. If that doesn't work, then let's face them directly," Zhao Yunxiao said with a sigh. "I am done wasting time on running."
"Sounds good," Nie Hanchang agreed immediately, his eyes lighting up in excitement.
"Hey, they are ordinary mortals," Zhao Yunxiao had to remind him.
Nie Hanchang had been spending most of his time hunting monsters lately, and Zhao Yunxiao was concerned that he might go overboard in dealing with the Iron Sabres.
It had always been frowned upon for cultivators to kill ordinary mortals, and that was especially so if it was done in large numbers.
Then again, they were currently in the depths of Ghost Fog Valley, where accidents do happen often. If there was no other choice, Zhao Yunxiao would not hesitate to do the necessary as well.
While he believed in the orthodox way, he was not nearly inflexible enough to risk putting his companions in jeopardy just for the sake of mere reputation!
With that, the group quickly retreated to a far corner of the prairie, waiting patiently for the arrival of the Iron Sabres.
They did not have to wait for long.
In a matter of minutes, the Iron Sabres were already marching into the prairie.
Including the four men whom Zhao Yunxiao had met back at Green Bull Inn, there were almost twenty of them in total.
Each of them wore a set of flexible armour over their robes and had a sheathed sabre hanging on their belt. It would appear that this was the distinct uniform of the Iron Sabres.
But rather than that, the small tokens that several of them were holding in their hands were what truly caught Zhao Yunxiao's attention.
These tokens that seemed to be made from copper were constantly emitting a faint light that shot out in a straight line. And wherever this beam of light passed, the fog around it cleared to a certain extent.
While this only applied to a small area around the beam of light, it still created a small window of visibility for the Iron Sabres to see through the thick fog around them.
"The tracks lead here. They must have come this way!" a bald man led the group while closely examining the ground.
It was the same bald man who had offered the Iron Sabres' escort services to Zhao Yunxiao back at Green Bull Inn.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but exchange helpless glances with Nie Hanchang.
Indeed, the Iron Sabres came here by following their tracks.
"There they are!"
It did not take long before the Iron Sabres found the group that was simply standing in a corner of the prairie.
"Hehe, look who we've got here!" the bald man opened his arms as he approached. "Why are you all huddled up in a corner? Don't worry, we are not bad people."
"Why are you following us?" Zhao Yunxiao questioned, not bothering with the pleasantries.
"Why, you ask?" the bald man grinned while continuing to approach. "Since we have been fated enough to meet earlier, we decided that we might as well come and protect you. After all, Ghost Fog Valley is a dangerous place. Who knows if any accident would befall you?"
"Thank you for your kind thoughts, but we don't need any protection," Zhao Yunxiao declined politely. "Why don't you leave first? We would prefer not to be disturbed."
"How harsh! This place is so wide, so how are we disturbing you?" the bald man shook his head in disapproval. "We have your kind interests at heart, so why don't you just accept our protection?"
By now, there was only a distance of ten steps left between the two groups.
"I advise you to stop where you are. If you were to come any closer, I might have to assume that you are trying to cause an 'accident' to us instead," Zhao Yunxiao said coldly.
"Oh?" the bald man let out an amused smile. "And what would you do if that's the case? Would you get your drunken escort to protect you? Just look at him! This is why choosing the right escort is so important. If you had paid us from the start, you would not have found yourself in such a situation right now!"
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but take a glance towards Old Niu, who had already taken his position behind the three youngsters, using them to hide from the Iron Sabres.
His face was pale, and his body was trembling.
His gaze was shaky, unable to look straight ahead.
No matter how one looked at it, Old Niu seemed to be overwhelmed with fear – fear towards the Iron Sabres.
But why?
Why would Old Niu, who possessed the strength and capabilities of a cultivator, be afraid of ordinary mortals like the Iron Sabres?
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but frown.
Did Old Niu know something that they did not?
In that case, was he underestimating the Iron Sabres simply because they were ordinary mortals?
That was improbable, but not impossible.
Considering how they had been resourceful enough to get their hands on those strange copper tokens, it would not be too far-fetched for them to have other tricks up their sleeves as well.
He definitely had to approach this with care and, as far as possible, prevent the situation from escalating!
The next moment, a piercing sound could be heard cutting through the air.
Thud-!
"Wha-?!" the bald man hurriedly took a few steps back, shocked by the arrow that had suddenly appeared on the ground right in front of his feet.
"Did you not hear what my companion said earlier? If you were to come any closer, we will assume that you are trying to cause us harm," Nie Hanchang casually loaded up his bow with another arrow. "And believe me, the next arrow will not miss!"
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