Chapter Thirty-Seven: Thieves Among Thieves

The five wolves of the Wang clan darted swiftly through the forest, yet in these endless mountains, searching for a single person was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Ge Qian sped along for some distance, feeling uneasy, as though a heavy stone weighed upon his heart. He thought to himself, "At my speed, even if I go all out, I won't cover a hundred miles before being caught. I must find a place to hide."

With that, his flying sword descended, and he landed on a hillside thick with wild grass. Surveying the verdant mountains and clear waters around him, he saw nothing unusual.

He took out five array flags, and, using the principles of the five elements and eight trigrams, placed them into the ground one by one. Next, he produced five low-grade spirit stones. According to the positions of the flags, he threw them out, then took a formation plate in hand and quickly cast several incantations.

In an instant, mist billowed around him, and the scenery transformed into a dense thicket of shrubs.

Sitting cross-legged, Ge Qian drew out ten fireball talismans and hid them up his sleeve. Should any enemy break in, he was prepared to strike with all his strength. Unbeknownst to him, however, the five wolves of the Wang clan were closing in, spreading out like a net to hunt him down.

Zhang Yang, the Blue Wolf of the Wang clan, though he found no trace of Ge Qian, did spot a lone cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Absorption, hurrying towards Five Peaks City. Zhang Yang himself was at the fifth level and had slain countless people over the years. This solitary cultivator was quite the catch.

He rubbed his nose, then briskly rubbed his hands together. A wicked gleam flashed in his eyes; like a hungry wolf spotting a tender lamb, he unleashed his Wind Control Art and gave chase.

The fleeing cultivator's ears twitched; his brows furrowed and a chill ran down his spine. He thought, "What rotten luck! To run into a murderous thief. I must find a way to shake him off. For my sister to advance quickly and escape these fiends, I have to reach Five Peaks City and exchange for a Water Spirit Pill."

Summoning his strength, he increased his pace. Zhang Yang sneered, his eyes wide as he called out, "Fellow Daoist, wait! I have something to ask you!"

The young cultivator, handsome and youthful with fine features and crimson lips, ignored him entirely and fled even faster.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he muttered, "An Illusion Trap Array, though only a broken one. I don't have time to set up a proper formation, but this will have to do."

He darted into a patch of dense shrubs. Ge Qian instantly stood, his expression relaxing a little. Seeing the newcomer was at the same cultivation level, he felt somewhat confident and said, "Since you press so close, don't blame me for being rude."

The newcomer clasped his hands in greeting. "You misunderstand, fellow Daoist. We are both being hunted. My name is Liu Jie. Only by working together can we hope to survive this peril."

Ge Qian’s eyes narrowed, his tone cold. "And how do I know you aren't working with him? Or that I'm not? Why should I trust you?"

Without pause, Liu Jie replied, "You are cautious, as you should be. When you fled past earlier, I saw you—I was hidden in a formation and had a clear view. Proving I am not with them is simple: look, he’s here."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Blue Wolf burst in, his face turning the color of pig’s liver as he warily scanned the swirling mist around him.

He sneered, "You two think that just because you’re both at the fourth level you can double-cross me? Surely you've heard of the five wolves of the Wang clan? It’s best you let me go."

He took Ge Qian and Liu Jie for fellow bandits trying to pull off a double-cross. Inside this formation, he had no confidence he could kill them both.

Ge Qian immediately responded, "So you are one of the illustrious five wolves of the Wang clan? My apologies. Since we all live by the same trade, let’s not cross each other. Please, after you."

With that, he made several passes over the formation plate, and the mist shifted, revealing a path.

Zhang Yang nodded in satisfaction, thinking, "Just wait till I get out and call my brothers. Not one of you will escape with your lives."