Chapter 16: Chapters Sixteen to Twenty - The Cowardly Old Turtle (2000 Characters)
Yes, Ye Yang did not go to Shaoyang Cave immediately.
Instead, in the Wind and Snow Tavern, he found a crowded place to gather information, so as to deal with things that had not yet happened.
The shopkeeper had long been accustomed to it.
He smiled, subtly sweeping away the scattered Spirit Stones Ye Yang had placed on the table, and secretly whispered something into Ye Yang's ear.
Ye Yang nodded, picked up his satchel, and was about to ride away.
Suddenly, Ye Yang heard a voice from inside the tavern.
"Among the younger generation of our Five Poison Sect, the strongest is certainly Great Master Gai Tian, but when it comes to killing the fastest, it's our Lu Qi. How else would he get the nickname 'Killer Seven'?
"That's right, do you still remember what happened at Shaoyang Cave? What did that scoundrel say? 'As long as you, Lu Qi, crawl around on the ground once, I'll let you go.'
"But unexpectedly, before he even finished speaking, Seventh Master's soft sword had already shattered his throat."
"These brats from the Flying Heaven Gate are all scum. Wang Sandao is also an old bastard. He doesn't even remember that twenty years ago, the Flying Heaven Gate was beaten into a cowardly turtle by the Five Poison Sect."
"Last year, they even compensated us with countless Spirit Pills and medicines, and Spirit Stones piled up like mountains. What can Wang Sandao do even if he goes in? He'll just be an old cowardly turtle."
Someone echoed.
"Why don't they come to our Five Poison Sect?"
"Why come to the Five Poison Sect? We lack talent, not old turtles."
"That Flying Heaven Gate is a nest of turtles and bastards. They like old turtles and old bastards, but our Five Poison Sect doesn't."
...
Ye Yang was about to leave, but suddenly hearing this voice, he paused and looked inside.
In a corner of the hall, several men wearing Five Poison Sect robes had put their swords aside and were eating and drinking heartily.
These few people also had a person tied up, like a pig, with white ropes binding the young man tightly.
The man's hair was disheveled, and he seemed not to have had food or water for many days. His eyes were unfocused, and his lips were cracked.
The big man who was speaking at the moment poured a bowl of wine into a ceramic cup. The youth stuck out his tongue, wanting to drink, but the big man deliberately poured it into a spittoon.
"Want to drink? If you want to drink, go lick it."
A group of people burst into laughter, then carried the youth out of the house.
"Looks like they're from the Five Poison Sect."
Ye Yang pondered for a moment, led his Tuo Yun Horse over, and followed the group out.
A young waiter was about to remind him that he hadn't paid yet, but the shopkeeper pulled him aside, motioning him not to meddle.
Ye Yang hid in the crowd, secretly following. The direction this group was heading was precisely Shaoyang Cave.
...
Ma San threw the bound youth to the ground and chuckled, "Aren't you thirsty? I'll quench your thirst right now."
A hideous centipede was crawling on his left cheek, paired with his ferocious face, making him look even more fierce and terrifying.
With that, Ma San unbuckled his belt and urinated.
The remaining people immediately applauded.
"Head Ma is truly generous, even willing to give this person a mouthful of urine to drink. His dying Master, upon seeing this, would probably kneel on the ground and... thank us."
But the next moment, before the person could finish speaking, a knife mark appeared on his throat. It was a fine knife mark, but what was even more shattered than the knife mark was the person's shattered throat.
Immediately after, sword light crisscrossed. Before these people could react, they were all cut down by the cold and precise sword light.
Ma San stuck out his tongue, momentarily dumbfounded.
A figure held a knife to his neck: "You are Ma San?" As soon as the words fell, the voice sounded again: "You are also worthy of using a knife?"
"You despicable and shameless fellow, you ambushed us at the most relaxed moment when we were urinating, you... you..."
Before he could finish speaking, a bright, light-like knife mark suddenly appeared. The moment this knife mark appeared, Ma San had already fallen.
Only his shattered throat and constantly twitching body still showed that he had once lived.
Ye Yang untied the clothes of the group, originally thinking he could find something valuable, but he didn't expect there were only a few scattered Spirit Stones, making them poorer than him. He cursed under his breath, what bad luck!
Ye Yang used his knife to cut the ropes binding the man, not minding the urine stains all over him.
"Tell me your background."
After a brief conversation, Ye Yang coughed, looking at the youth's soaked clothes with a strange expression.
"So, Wang Sandao is your Master?"
According to what the youth had just said, his name was Wang Huan, and he was the third Disciple of "Shao Yang Sword" Wang Sandao.
Now that Shaoyang Cave was besieged by the Five Poison Sect, he and his Senior Brother encountered the bandits while breaking through, and his Senior Brother was killed on the spot, while he was captured.
Ye Yang then asked if he had seen any elders from the Flying Heaven Gate, but Wang Huan shook his head, indicating that he had not seen any.
However, he stated that during a private conversation with his Master, his Master reminded him that a noble person would assist them in the next few days, so there was no need to be nervous.
After speaking, Wang Huan looked at Ye Yang.
Could it be that this person was the noble person his Master spoke of?
Ye Yang pondered for a moment, thinking of the previous battle between Sword Vajra Ge Canhong and Wall Gecko Envoy, fearing that the battle between the two sides had already begun.
Ye Yang didn't mind the strong smell of urine on Wang Huan's body. He stripped off the clothes of a Five Poison Sect Disciple and had Wang Huan change into them.
Afterward, he pulled Wang Huan along and rode the Tuo Yun Horse towards Shaoyang Cave.
The Tuo Yun Horse was slightly smaller than ordinary horses, but its strength was astonishing, its speed was fast, and its endurance was top-notch.
Although it was a bit crowded with two people on horseback, the speed was not affected at all.
With Wang Huan, who knew the way, leading them, in a short while, the two arrived at the base of the mountain ravine of Shaoyang Cave.
...
Shaoyang Cave was hidden deep in the mountain valley, perpetually shrouded in mist. On both sides of the valley were withered vines and ancient trees.
At this moment, melted snow from the high mountain peaks flowed down from above, and the mountain stream was already gurgling with water.
The Tuo Yun Horse followed the mountain stream, treading through muddy paths, heading towards the cave.
As soon as they reached halfway up the mountain, Ye Yang immediately felt something was off. Earlier, at the foot of the mountain, there weren't many poisonous insects or beasts.
But once they reached halfway up the mountain, many poisonous scorpions, poisonous toads, and poisonous spiders appeared all around, and the closer they got to Shaoyang Cave, the more numerous these poisonous insects became.
The Tuo Yun Horse trampled many poisonous insects along the way and accidentally got stung in the knee by a poisonous scorpion the size of a bowl.
Although it wasn't seriously injured, it cried out in pain, whinnying loudly, and kept shaking its leg every few steps, greatly slowing down their speed.
"It seems the Five Poison Sect has already begun their attack."
Shaoyang Cave was located halfway up the mountain.
There wasn't a single bird chirping on the massive mountain, revealing a quietness before a storm.
Ye Yang applied pain medicine to the Tuo Yun Horse and urged it forcefully, and the Tuo Yun Horse's speed gradually increased.
Shaoyang Cave was located next to the mountain stream. At the entrance of the cave was a large vertical stone, round at the top and narrow at the bottom, with its tip slanted, resembling a torch, only the flame's direction was skewed by the wind.
At this moment, three to five men holding steel knives were standing, sitting, or squatting on that torch-like large stone.
These people were either wearing green robes embroidered with wall geckos or red brocade clothes with toad patterns.