"This is a Tracking Soul Tool. It has the residual aura of one of the subjects on the experimental roster sealed inside. That subject was once held at the Clear Wind Valley base, and I managed to collect the remnant traces of her soul power from the inner walls of her containment vessel. As long as she is within a hundred miles radius within the Holy Soul Mountain Range, this soul tool will point us in her direction."
Su Chen stared at the tiny soul tool in her palm. The silver thread moved slowly within it, like a little snake trapped in amber. He suddenly realized that Qian Renxue's meticulousness far exceeded his imagination; even amidst the chaotic battle at Clear Wind Valley, she had actually had the presence of mind to collect such a minute clue.
"Then we'll have to rely on it," Su Chen said.
When the tea shed proprietress came to clear the bowls, she cast a few extra glances their way, likely sensing that the four of them didn't dress like ordinary folk, but she didn't pry.
...
By the time the carriage resumed its journey, the sun had already begun its westward descent. The driver cracked a loud whip, and the hooves of the horses clattered crisply against the gravel road. No one spoke inside the carriage; the only sounds were the muffled rumble of wheels crushing stone and dirt, mingling with the wind whistling through the gaps in the curtains. Su Chen leaned against the carriage wall, his left hand resting on the stabilizing brace of his right arm, his fingertips subconsciously tracing the cool touch of the metal surface. He could feel the bone slowly healing; a faint itch welled up from deep within the marrow, as unstoppable as the first sprout of grass pushing through the soil after the spring snow melts, yet so fragile that it had to be protected with the utmost care.
The scenery beyond the window shifted, the undulations of the hills growing steeper as exposed rock faces and dense scrub brush began to flank the road. Chen Hao had woken up at some point; he cracked an eye open and peered through the gap in the curtain, clicking his tongue. "This road is rough enough to shake my old bones to pieces."
Zhang Wan lifted her gaze from the soul array catalog and glared at him. "You're hardly old."
Chen Hao flashed a lopsided grin. "Hey, I just took a sword to the gut. My vitality is severely wounded."
Qian Renxue opened her eyes, her gaze calmly sweeping over the two of them. The look wasn't particularly stern, yet it made Chen Hao immediately drop his frivolous demeanor, sitting up straight with an awkward cough. She unfolded the map in her hands and spread it across her lap, her fingertip tracing a tiny notch along the mountain range's contour line. "Another twenty miles ahead, and we'll enter the outer perimeter of the Holy Soul Mountain Range through this gorge. The cliffs on either side are sheer and steep—a natural choke point. The carriage won't be able to go any further; the rest of the way is on foot."
Su Chen leaned in to study the map. The gorge was marked as a slender, dark fissure, flanked by densely packed contour lines indicating near-vertical cliffs, like a crack in the mountain split open by a giant axe. He quickly mentally simulated the tactical advantages and disadvantages of the terrain before asking, "Is the gorge suitable for an ambush? If there are hostiles lying in wait on the cliffs above, we'd be sitting ducks."
Qian Renxue shook her head. "I sent people to scout it out on the ground three months ago. They didn't find any traces of man-made arrangements inside the gorge. The cliff faces are too smooth, lacking any footholds for climbing. For an ordinary Soul Master to set up an ambush up there, they'd need to be at least a Soul Douluo capable of flight. However, the gorge is only two miles long. If an enemy at the Soul Douluo level really wanted to make a move on us, they wouldn't need to specifically choose that stretch of the gorge to do it."
Su Chen gave a nod of acknowledgment and asked no further questions. He was well aware of Qian Renxue's prudence; if she said it was safe, it was at least seventy percent certain. The remaining thirty percent accounted for the unexpected—and accidents, by their very nature, couldn't be entirely prevented, only reacted to.
The carriage arrived at the gorge entrance just before the sun fully set. The driver pulled on the reins, bringing the black carriage to a halt beside a gnarled, crooked old locust tree. As the four dismounted, Su Chen looked up at the gorge—the cliffs on either side were exactly as Qian Renxue had described: sheer and smooth as if cleaved by a giant axe, the grayish-black rock face gleaming with a cold, hard luster in the twilight. The bottom of the gorge was a dry riverbed, littered with cobblestones of all sizes that felt slippery underfoot, demanding extra caution. The evening wind howled out from the mouth of the gorge, carrying the scent of stone and withered grass. The temperature had dropped significantly compared to the plains, bearing the unmistakable chill of an autumn night in the mountains.
The driver fished out a cloth bundle from beneath his seat and handed it to Qian Renxue, his voice low. "My Lord, the supplies you requested are all inside. I'll park the carriage under this old locust tree and wait. If you haven't returned in half a month, I'll head back to the branch hall to report."
Qian Renxue took the bundle, hefted it briefly, and nodded. "Thank you for your trouble. If we aren't back in half a month, don't wait. Head straight back to the branch hall and tell Li Yang to activate the contingency plan."
The driver didn't say much else. He hopped back onto the carriage shaft, turned the horses around, and quickly vanished into the twilight of the road they had come from. The clatter of hooves grew fainter and fainter until it was entirely swallowed by the wind.
Chen Hao rolled his shoulders and neck, issuing two sharp cracks. "Let's get moving. While there's still some light left, let's at least find a spot to make camp."
Zhang Wan had already crouched down and laid out a palm-sized jade compass on the ground. A wisp of soul power, as fine as a strand of hair, condensed at her fingertip and infused into the device. A circle of pale blue runes materialized on the surface of the compass, slowly spinning for a few breaths before fading away. "No high-energy reactions within a two-li radius," she announced, standing up and brushing the dust from her hands. "We're safe for now, at least."
The four of them followed the dry riverbed deeper into the gorge. The sky darkened at a visible pace; the narrow strip of sky overhead transitioned from pale azure to deep grey, and finally to an inky blue. By the time the first star appeared directly above the gorge, they had just emerged from the other end, and the view opened up before them—a vast mountain basin unfurled, ringed by towering peaks. The basin was blanketed in dense coniferous forests, their dark green canopies rolling in the faint twilight like a frozen, shadowy ocean. The air carried the scent of pine resin and humus, damp and crisp.
"We'll make camp in a sheltered spot at the edge of the basin," Qian Renxue said, scanning their surroundings. Her gaze finally settled on the base of a slight hillock in the northeastern corner. It offered a relatively flat stretch of gravel, backed by a sheer rock face with an open field of view to the front, and flanked by sparse brush that could provide some concealment. She led the three over. Chen Hao and Zhang Wan quickly pitched two small tents while Su Chen patrolled the perimeter. Confirming there were no signs of soul beast activity, he scattered a thin ring of beast-repelling powder around the campsite. The powder was a mixture of three-hundred-year Tiger-Striped Lizard scale dust and Crimson Flame Grass ash, potent enough to drive away most soul beasts below the thousand-year mark.
Night fell completely. The darkness in the basin was as thick as a bowl of ink, but the starry sky overhead was exceptionally brilliant. The Milky Way spanned the heavens, the densely packed stars almost lavish in their abundance. Zhang Wan started a small campfire using the dry tinder and pine branches she had brought along. The flames weren't large; the orange-red glow illuminated only a few paces around them before melting into the boundless dark. The four of them sat around the campfire, eating a simple meal of dry rations and jerky, washing it down with heated water.
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