Chapter 5: Li River’s Five Elders (2/2)

Qin Mu glanced behind him and saw another person on his tail. To his left, another two people were passing between the mountain ridges, their figures leaping up from the dense forest from time to time to run through the treetops. However, they couldn’t keep that up for very long and had returned to the ground to catch their breath.

In spite of that, they too quickly surpassed Qin Mu and rushed ahead of him.

”I can’t let them cut me off! I need to get ahead of them and reach the village. I need to get Grandpa Ma and the rest to save granny!”

Gritting his teeth, Qin Mu avoided the river bank and dashed into the forest.

He definitely would’ve been caught if he continued to run along the bank of the river. The two people at the center of the river were way too fast. The two dashing through the forest were slightly slower, so going into the forest was his only option.

”Little devil! You and that elk-murdering she-devil can forget about escaping!”

As Qin Mu dashed into the forest, one of the two boys in that area, sped up and passed the other. However, he was still a step too late and allowed Qin Mu in his elk form to gallop past him.

”Don’t worry, he won’t escape!”

The pair in the lead, the boy, and girl who had run atop the river, wore indifferent expressions. With a flip of her sleeves, the girl laughed gently, suddenly increasing her speed and leaping through the treetops as if she were flying. The boy, on the other hand, calmly commanded the other three to chase Qin Mu and outflank him.

Regardless of how much Qin Mu frantically sprinted, he couldn’t shake the five people on his tail. In addition to that, he was forced to run farther and farther away from Disabled Elderly Village, venturing deep into the Great Ruins.

Having lived in Disabled Elderly Village for fourteen to fifteen years, the farthest he had ever gone from the village was only three or four miles. Now that he had gone way past that, the surroundings started to become more and more unfamiliar. At the same time, it became progressively desolate without a path in sight.

As Qin Mu continued running, a valley came into view up ahead. Amidst the peach blossom trees that populated the valley, he could see a herd of elks. He quickly dashed over to them and blended in.

Whoosh—!

A sweet scent swept through the area as the girl landed on the ground, her sleeves fluttering. Looking at the herd of elks before her, she frowned.

”Where’s the devil brat, senior sister?” One of the youths who was around Qin Mu’s age asked as they landed one by one.

The girl pouted her lips and said, ”He has blended into this elk herd.”

”Then let’s slaughter all of these elks!”

The youths rushed into the elk herd, brandishing swords and knives as they mercilessly slaughtered the elks. Even though the elks were fast, they were still slower than the youths.

All five of them possessed Spirit Bodies and were decently strong, full-fledged martial arts practitioners. The elks fled in every direction, but it was still impossible for them to escape the bloodbath. Soon enough, the elks were being slaughtered one by one.

Suddenly, a human voice resounded from the chaotic herd of elks.

”Didn’t you say that elks were also living beings?” He asked. ”Granny killed a single elk, but all of you are slaughtering an entire herd. Why do you claim that we’re the ones following the path of the devil?”

”Over there!”

The girl’s eyes sparkled as she gathered her qi and brandished her longsword. Qi of the White Tiger spread from her to the longsword and it radiated a brilliant gold. The sword flew from her hand and shot towards Qin Mu who was galloping alongside the elk herd.

Qin Mu twisted, changing directions to dodge the incoming sword, but it unexpectedly mirrored the change in direction and continued flying towards him.

”What kind of technique is this?”

Confusion filled Qin Mu’s mind. ”Could it be a divine art? It… doesn’t look like it. Grandpa Butcher said that a divine art can only be achieved when one’s martial path has been cultivated to the extreme. This girl’s martial path is significantly inferior to Grandpa Butcher’s…”

As the sword went in for the kill, Qin Mu changed directions while sticking as close to the ground as possible, barely dodging the attack. The instant he dodged the attack, he caught a glimpse of a fine thread attached to the handle of the sword. One end of the thread was connected to the sword while the other end of the thread was in the girl’s hand.

This thread was as fine as silk, making it especially difficult to notice.