"Mr. Song, there's no road ahead. Please get out of the car." Grace Jing respectfully opened the car door for Ian Song.
After more than two hours on the road, they finally arrived at the edge of a primeval forest northwest of Mount Wu Town.
Ian stored the bronze sword in his storage ring, jumped out of the car, and thanked Grace Jing.
Grace Jing took out a yellowed leather map, glanced at it, and said, "According to the map, the tomb should be more than three hundred li to the southeast."
"How did you get this map?" Ian asked curiously.
Lilian Yue said proudly, "It's quite a story. Tony Zhang kept a mistress in town, and I was waiting for him in Mount Wu Town. Yesterday, I overheard a middle-aged woman chatting and mentioning Tony Zhang, so I made a point to check it out. I found out she was his mistress, snuck into her house, searched around, and finally got this map."
Grace Jing said, "Lilian and Feifei are the most outstanding disciples of our Mystic Maiden Sect."
"Thank you for the praise, Martial Aunt," Lilian Yue replied, feeling especially proud after Grace Jing's compliment.
After gearing up, everyone started heading into the mountains.
At first, their pace was fairly quick, but as they went deeper, the forest's vegetation and thorns grew denser and thicker.
Fortunately, the team was prepared; two outer disciples of the Mystic Maiden Sect led the way with machetes.
By noon, the group had only covered a little over fifty li. At this pace, reaching the destination would take at least three days.
They cleared a small area to rest for an hour, eat something, and then continue on their way.
"Here you go, Mr. Song," Grace Jing earnestly handed Ian canned food and a bottle of water.
"Thank you."
Seeing this, Lilian Yue felt it was strange—why was Martial Aunt trying so hard to please that guy?
Thinking this, she sat down next to Ian and bluntly asked, "Hey, what do you think of my junior sister?"
"She's pretty," Ian said, knowing she meant Fiona Xiang.
"Want to chase her? I can help you!"
"No need," Ian replied coolly.
"Boring." Lilian Yue rolled her eyes in disdain.
After eating, Ian took out the bronze sword to play with, ignoring Lilian Yue, who found it boring and left.
After resting for an hour, the group continued on their way.
At dusk, they reached a creek, set up tents, and lit a fire to cook.
The three outer disciples of the Mystic Maiden Sect weren’t very strong, but they worked hard at chores, quickly setting up four tents.
Three outer disciples shared one tent, Ian had one to himself, Grace Jing another, and Lilian Yue and Queenie shared the last.
After a full day in the forest, everyone was tired despite their cultivation.
After dinner, one disciple stayed on watch while the rest went to sleep in their tents.
Around two in the morning, Ian suddenly woke, hearing a faint rustling like snakes or insects crawling.
He activated Clairvoyant Vision and scanned the surroundings. His face changed drastically when he saw that within a hundred meters, the camp was surrounded by tens of thousands of multicolored poisonous snakes.
Outside the snake formation stood three hideously ugly men in white robes. Two lagged slightly behind, clearly deferring to the short, chubby man in front.
One of them said roughly to the short, chubby man, "Third Senior Brother, we've been ordered to capture poisonous creatures in this forest. It's exhausting! I can't believe fate sent us three women."
When we catch them, the youngest red-haired girl goes to Third Senior Brother, the younger one to me, and the middle-aged Daoist nun to Ninth Junior Brother—he likes the mommy type!
The short, chubby man called Third Senior Brother—Frank Chen—said, "Fifth and Ninth Junior Brothers, stay sharp! This group isn't simple. I think that middle-aged Daoist nun might be an Innate Master! Don't mess this up!"
Fifth Junior Brother sneered, "So what if she's an Innate Master? Under our Ten-Thousand-Snake Formation, she can't overturn the heavens. Besides, aren't you an Innate Master too, Third Senior Brother?"
Ian turned off Clairvoyant Vision and quickly used sound transmission to wake Grace Jing and the others.
Everyone was alert, having traveled in the wild.
Everyone quickly exited the tents.
"Ian, did something happen?" Lilian Yue asked, looking at him.
"There are a lot of poisonous snakes around the camp," Ian said gravely.
"You're making a fuss. Didn't we spread snake-repelling powder around the camp?" Lilian Yue complained.
"No, that's not right!" Grace Jing's face suddenly changed. After a few seconds, she said, "There are probably at least ten thousand poisonous snakes around!"
"What? Ten thousand?"
Lilian Yue cried out in shock, while Queenie ran to Grace Jing and hugged her arm. "Master, I'm scared!"
"Mr. Song, what should we do?"
Grace Jing looked at Ian and asked.
Ian glanced in the direction of the three men and said, "The snakes are clearly being controlled by humans. Kill the snake controllers and the snakes will disperse."
"They're being controlled?" Grace Jing frowned. "Could it be Poison Viper Valley? Only they could control so many snakes!"
"Poison Viper Valley!"
Hearing the name, Lilian Yue's face also changed.
"Master, is Poison Viper Valley really that powerful?" Queenie asked curiously.
"Not powerful, but terrifying," Grace Jing said seriously. "Their valley master is only Innate Third Layer, but every disciple is a master of poisons and controlling venomous insects and snakes. Because they grow up consuming toxins, they're hideously ugly and extremely vindictive. As the saying goes, 'ugly people stir up more trouble.' If you offend them, they'll pursue you to the death. Even top families don't dare provoke Poison Viper Valley."
"Ah, they're so scary! What should we do?" Queenie said, terrified.
Grace Jing said seriously, "Let me try negotiating first. We have no grudge with them. Mr. Song, what do you think?"
"Go ahead and try," Ian nodded.
Grace Jing infused true qi into her voice and shouted, "Is the one who set up the snake array a senior from Poison Viper Valley? I am Grace Jing, sect leader of the Mystic Maiden Sect. As fellow martial world peers, could you please disperse the snakes? I'd be very grateful!"
Hearing Grace Jing's shout, the short, chubby man’s eyes lit up. "So they're from the Mystic Maiden Sect, and she's the sect leader. If I sleep with her and absorb eighty percent of her power, I might break through to Innate Third Layer!"