292: The Right Prey

The Right Prey

We managed to get out of the bed before too much time slipped away, and we made our way to the woods where my twin sword spirit's symbol hid. I held Bai Ye's hand our entire way, too reluctant to let go.1

There was no sign of anyone from Mount Hua yet when we got there, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Taking a stroll around the perimeter of that spell symbol drawn in the snow, I examined its spiritual power to make sure that nothing had changed since the last time I made my modifications. Luckily, everything remained the exact same way it was.

"She seems to have stopped meddling with this spell ever since we found it," I said as I returned to Bai Ye's side. "I hope that's a good sign."

Bai Ye, on the other hand, stared thoughtfully at the stack of antlers and stones, which he had explained to me before as power amplifiers for the ritual. "She's not in the vicinity," he said, a slight concern edging his voice. "The traces of her power on these amplifiers are too weak. If she's nearby, these artifacts should be picking up her spiritual power just as well as everything else around us."

Not in the vicinity? I frowned a little. That explained why Wen Shiyin couldn't track her whereabouts after she got away last time. But where could she have gone? Was there some other place where she had set up similar dark spells to threaten innocent lives?

"She's too good with space manipulating spells," I sighed. "It's almost like she can be in multiple places at the same time. Makes it too difficult to chase her down."

Bai Ye gave me a reassuring smile then. "That is why I told the master at Vermillion Shrine that she might be the spirit of a demonic sword. He should have already spread the news to other sects by now, and if I guessed right, they would take the news seriously and keep an eye out for her. That should be enough to deter her plans elsewhere. We might not be able to follow her to multiple places at the same time, but we can certainly make use of strength in numbers and force her to come back to us."

So that was his plan when he told the master the other day about the sword spirit. "You foresaw it then already?" I gasped in wonderment. "Even before—"

A stir of spiritual power from a distance made me silence the rest of my words. Following the direction of that stir, I turned to find the vague outline of a few people on flying swords moving in our direction. It appeared to be … the disciples from Mount Hua?

"Master Bai Ye! Senior Yun!" Qi Lian was the first to wave at us as always.

Well, I suppose we couldn't avoid them any longer. Hopefully, they didn't come bearing any news of Teng Yuan joining us soon. Now that Bai Ye had finally agreed to me taking on the sword spirit, the last thing I needed was Teng Yuan to take the matter into his hands and deal with her before giving me a chance to.

The disciples landed in front of us, each giving Bai Ye a bow. "We weren't expecting to see you here, Master Bai Ye," Qi Lian exclaimed excitedly. "I showed the drawing of this spell to my master after we returned to Mount Hua. He couldn't decipher the purpose of the ritual hidden behind this symbol either, so he promised to join us in a couple of days to help. But now that you are here with us …"

The expectant look on Qi Lian's face was almost too much to refuse. I glanced at Bai Ye, wondering what excuse he'd come up with this time. Though he only nodded. "Let's take a look," he said. "I have some time today, and I'll see what I can find. But mind you that the focus of my cultivation path has always been the sword, not spells. Teng Yuan might be disappointed if he expects me to be of the most help in that regard."

My jaw almost dropped to the ground. It must be the first time in this life that I heard Bai Ye claim he had a weakness when it came to the mastery of skills. Although I knew he was just making it up as an excuse, that still didn't make it any less shocking on the ear.

The rest of the crowd, however, didn't seem to know him well enough to catch the irony. They dispersed obediently, scattering into different directions as they started examining the symbol.

I fell to Bai Ye's side, darting him an incredulous look. "Did you really just suggest that Teng Yuan is better than you at spells?" I whispered in a low voice.

He gave me a sharp glance back. "I never suggested that. I only said I'm not the best in that field, because you are."

"…" Well, I suppose he had never hesitated to admit in my past life that I was better than him in every way. The thought tugged on something in my heart, and I smiled.

"Master Bai Ye," one of the disciples called to us. "What specifically are we looking for in this symbol? How should we start?"

"Any fluctuations in spiritual power where you stand," Bai Ye said, making up more things as we went. "Especially yin power. Pay particular attention to—"

A scream cut off his words. It came from the disciple who was just talking, and my eyes snapped in his direction. But I saw nothing. The disciple who had been standing not far from us a moment ago … had disappeared.

"Lin Zhe!" someone from the group shouted. "W-What happened? Where is he?"

Everyone looked at each other, confusion and shock in their eyes. I rushed to the spot where he vanished, and I wasn't surprised to feel a familiar pulse of spiritual power right beneath my feet, circling the ground like a viper ready to pounce on the right prey.

That disciple … had fallen through the sword spirit's portal.

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