Chapter 124: The Hunt Begins

Ever since that night when Ning Xiu was summoned by Leng Ying and learned he was to enter the Divine Temple to undergo the Rite of Enlightenment, he had already formulated a complete plan.

The preparation for this plan was intended to address every possible contingency, including his escape routes.

After emerging from the Divine Temple, Ning Xiu did not hesitate for a moment, setting off at high speed toward the south. As for the others in the Ning household, he had already made thorough arrangements for them as well. Whether he would ultimately succeed, however, he could not be certain. He could only do his best.

On a desolate mountain path, Ning Xiu looked toward the setting sun in the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly.

A yellow hawk, which had been circling high in the sky not far away, let out a sharp cry, streaked across the firmament, and vanished into the boundless horizon.

Ning Xiu had long anticipated the importance the imperial court placed on the temple altar and had prepared accordingly, but in the end, he realized he had underestimated them. The court’s counterattack was swift and brutal.

Ning Xiu had only completed a third of his planned route when the entirety of Lingnan Prefecture was placed under a total lockdown. It was not just the agents of the Six Fan School; the military had been deployed directly to hunt him down.

During his flight, Ning Xiu had once clashed with a detachment of this army. The result, naturally, ended with Ning Xiu annihilating them all. Yet, to Ning Xiu, it was clear these soldiers were no ordinary humans; both their strength and their regenerative capabilities far exceeded those of common men. Even so, their individual prowess was not particularly high, but falling into the encirclement of a large army was a prospect that even Ning Xiu found troublesome.

Even with an organization like the Six Fan School, the presence of the imperial court had previously seemed remarkably weak to Ning Xiu. The prefectural government offices were merely for show, and in the face of spirits and monsters, the shadow of the military was never once seen.

Only when the imperial court truly mobilized did Ning Xiu realize the might of the Great Qian Dynasty. Its ability to suppress all noble families and monsters with its own strength—even if only manifested on the surface—was enough to prove its power.

After all, the land beneath Ning Xiu’s feet was called Great Qian.

...

A hundred miles to the northeast of Ning Xiu, a large army was slowly advancing.

A yellow hawk suddenly swooped down from the sky and perched on the shoulder of a middle-aged man dressed as a general, its cry crisp and resonant.

The man reached out to stroke the hawk’s head, a cold sneer tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Found at last. I want to see if the man who turned the Six Fan School upside down and managed to escape unscathed is truly as formidable as the rumors claim."

His movements while stroking the hawk were incredibly gentle, yet a thick, pungent scent of blood emanated from his entire body, creating a stark contrast.

"Isn't Shen Sanqian supposed to be very capable? Yet here he is, asking the General for help. Once the General captures this rebel with his own hands, I'd like to see who dares claim that Shen Sanqian is the true master of these three thousand miles of Lingnan," a young officer beside him remarked.

Before his words had even faded, a hand suddenly shot out from the side, clamping firmly around his throat. The young officer, secretly pleased with his own flattery, had never anticipated such a turn of events.

Feeling the sheer force in the man's grip, he felt a wave of suffocation, his face turning deathly pale. He struggled to look up at the angry face of the middle-aged general, having no idea what had gone wrong. The veterans who had followed the general for years looked at the young officer with nothing but pity.

"I, Huang Qingcang, have never needed to prove myself to anyone!"

The general’s eyes turned crimson. He tightened his grip on the young officer's slender neck and squeezed with sudden, explosive force. The man’s head burst open, leaving the general’s hand covered in blood.

Huang Qingcang tossed the corpse aside and said coldly, "The vanguard will depart with me. The rest are to head toward Jifeng Town ahead of time. Based on this brat's trajectory, he intends to cross the Desert of Death."

"Hmph, what an ignorant fool."

...

Ning Xiu raced south, barely pausing to rest. Yet, he had not reached the level where he could forgo food, drink, or sleep. Furthermore, to avoid the eyes and ears of the court, he traveled mostly along mountain paths, which further hampered his speed.

Lingnan Prefecture was neither large nor small, but searching for a single person across three thousand miles of land was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Ning Xiu had believed he could safely reach the border, but he had not expected the court’s reach to extend across the entire sky.

At first, Ning Xiu had paid it little mind, but over the following days, he gradually realized that the yellow hawks circling above were the problem. He had managed to kill a few, but once they flew beyond a certain height, there was nothing he could do.

This feeling of being exposed to the enemy’s gaze made him deeply uncomfortable, and his inner unease grew. Finally, as he neared Jifeng Town, he encountered the main force of the imperial court.

There were only twenty or thirty riders, but Ning Xiu could tell they were all elites. The middle-aged general in their midst, in particular, felt even more dangerous to him than Leng Ying.

He could hardly imagine that the imperial military harbored such figures.

To prevent his escape, the twenty or thirty riders slowly spread out, encircling Ning Xiu.

"Are you Ning Xiu?" Huang Qingcang asked, looking down at him, his voice deep and resonant, causing the surrounding air to hum.

"The General asked you a question!" a deputy officer shouted when Ning Xiu remained silent.

Ning Xiu had no intention of engaging in empty pleasantries. His inner energy surged like a flood. In a flash, he moved like a rainbow, transforming into a blurred image as he charged directly toward one side.

"You seek death!"

Seeing Ning Xiu rushing toward him, the middle-aged officer grew angry and roared, raising his long spear to attack.

In the next instant, his forehead was already pressed by Ning Xiu’s palm. With a burst of internal energy, the man’s entire head shattered instantly.

Ning Xiu stepped on the back of a horse, vaulted into the air, and unleashed the "Catching the Wind, Grasping the Shadow" technique from his Wind God Legs, bursting out of the encirclement. His speed was as swift as the wind!

In the distance, Huang Qingcang was still waiting for a reply when he saw Ning Xiu flee like a gale. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished at the end of the mountain path, his movement technique graceful and elegant, yet his speed was terrifyingly fast.

It was already too late to give chase.

Watching the direction in which Ning Xiu had disappeared, Huang Qingcang’s expression turned hideously dark. His right fist clenched involuntarily, emitting a series of crisp, cracking sounds.

"Ning Xiu, let us see how long you can run!"