Chapter Ninety-One: Caiyao’s Clues

“Yes, if this is a formation, then we can find a way out. And formations that confuse the senses are divided into illusion arrays and killing arrays. We have been walking this long without encountering any killing move, so it should be only a simple illusion array. Let’s keep going and see. This time, we’ll stop following this trail. Maybe we’ll run into something different,” Li Sibai analyzed.

Clan Leader Zhang nodded at Li Sibai, and the two of them moved on, one in front and one behind, taking a different path from before.

As they continued forward, the path here was a little wider than the one they had just come from. Li Sibai kept his Purple Light Divine Eyes alert at all times.

Even though he had just advanced and his true energy within him was abundant enough to sustain the Divine Eyes for longer than before, it still was not enough to meet his consumption.

Fortunately, while in the Dark Forest he had learned from the Old Tree Spirit how to cultivate battle qi. Li Sibai now circulated the Qi-Guiding Art within his body as he walked, drawing in vast amounts of pure energy and rapidly converting it into battle qi. Once that battle qi was sent into his mind, its cooling nature actually made the Purple Light Divine Eyes even sharper, extending the distance he could see.

Li Sibai felt a quiet surge of delight.

Moreover, the battle qi circulated within him without leaking out, so outsiders could not detect it.

In this way, after walking another dozen or so meters, Li Sibai had pushed the Qi-Guiding Art in his body to its limit, and then he suddenly stopped again.

“What is it, Young Hero Li? Have you discovered something?” Clan Leader Zhang asked hurriedly.

“I seemed to hear the sound of a zither just now. Did you hear it?” Li Sibai asked. With the lesson from earlier, the moment he heard the music he immediately began circulating the true energy of his Heaven-Suppressing Art, so as not to be bewitched. But the sound vanished at once.

“No, I didn’t,” Clan Leader Zhang said, looking puzzled.

“All right, perhaps I heard wrong. I can’t hear it now either.” Li Sibai shook his head helplessly and went on. Could it be that the illusion from earlier had not fully cleared? Why was he so off today?

After another dozen meters, still wandering within the bamboo grove, Li Sibai heard the zither again.

He immediately turned and plunged into the bamboo from another direction where there was no path.

“Young Hero Li!” Clan Leader Zhang thought he had been struck by the illusion again and hurried to call after him.

Li Sibai glanced back at him to show that he was fine. He walked a few more steps, then stopped again.

Clan Leader Zhang hurried after him and asked, “Young Hero Li, are you all right?”

Li Sibai smiled. “I’m fine. I heard the zither again. It’s coming from this direction.” He pointed ahead.

“The zither?” Clan Leader Zhang quickly strained his ears to listen, but there was nothing at all.

Could it be that this Young Hero Li had hearing beyond the ordinary? By rights, my strength should be about the same as his. In principle, I ought to hear it too. How strange.

Li Sibai had no mind to consider what he was thinking. He had already vaguely guessed that this zither music seemed to be related to the movement of battle qi within him. Only when the battle qi in his body circulated wildly could he hear it. Clan Leader Zhang definitely did not have battle qi in his body, so it was only natural that he had heard nothing.

That was why Li Sibai had walked forward a few steps and stopped again: he was testing whether his judgment was correct.

Li Sibai then recalled the rustling of bamboo leaves he had heard when he first entered. Even that had been able to confuse him, while Clan Leader Zhang had heard nothing and shown no reaction. It was probably also related to the battle qi in his body.

But was this zither music friend or foe? Li Sibai could not tell.

Still, it was better than being trapped in this maze forever, he told himself.

With the mystery in his heart resolved, Li Sibai no longer hesitated. He followed the direction from before and walked another dozen meters. Sure enough, as the battle qi within him surged wildly, the zither music rose again.

Li Sibai adjusted his course slightly and continued onward in the direction of the music.

Though Clan Leader Zhang found it strange, he kept close behind. He knew the two of them could not be separated. Even if danger lay ahead, they had to face it side by side. Only then could they support one another in the face of peril, and their chances of success would be greater.

And so they pressed on. Aside from the path being much harder to traverse than before, they encountered no trouble.

Clan Leader Zhang continued to follow closely behind, but Li Sibai in front suddenly stopped, nearly causing Clan Leader Zhang to crash into him.

“What now, Young Hero Li?” Clan Leader Zhang had originally held this young hero in very high regard. Yet after entering, he had found him a little erratic and utterly unreliable, leaving him only to hurry along behind in a panic.

Now that the other suddenly stopped again, Clan Leader Zhang’s expression darkened somewhat, unsure what fresh fit he might be about to throw.

Li Sibai did not notice his mood. His eyes were fixed intently on the traces on the ground.

Following his gaze, Clan Leader Zhang looked down. “This is...!”

“That’s right. The zither music stopped here. We should have made it out,” Li Sibai said.

“These traces here were not something we saw before, and there seem to be signs of a struggle. Let’s search this place and see whether we can find any clues.”

With that, Li Sibai bent down and carefully examined the footprints on the ground, searching for any possible lead.

Though Clan Leader Zhang felt a little displeased, it sounded as though the other was correct, so he nodded and joined in the search.

Li Sibai was still looking when he heard Clan Leader Zhang cry out, “Young Hero Li, come quickly and look at this!”

Li Sibai hurried over and saw a single feather, brilliantly multicolored, half-hidden beneath the bamboo leaves, only a small portion exposed.

“This is...!”

Seeing that colorful feather, Li Sibai felt both excited and afraid.

He was excited because this should be Caiyao’s feather, which meant she had probably been here before. It seemed they had come to the right place after all. But he was frightened because if a feather had been left behind here, it meant she might have encountered some danger. Could something have happened to her?

Damn it, I’m not even at her side right now!

The more Li Sibai thought about it, the more anxious he became. Before he knew it, his hands had clenched into fists.

“This should be Caiyao’s feather. Let’s look and see whether there are any others,” Li Sibai said, growing anxious enough that he accidentally let it slip.

“Caiyao? Is Caiyao not your younger sister?” Clan Leader Zhang did not catch on at first. “Were you not looking for your sister? Why would there be a feather?” He looked at Li Sibai in confusion.

“Yes. My sister keeps a seven-colored bird, and its feathers are all seven-colored as well, so it is easy to recognize,” Li Sibai explained quickly. Caiyao’s secret could not be revealed to anyone else. Even though Clan Leader Zhang and the others had once saved his life, this was not his own matter alone; it involved Caiyao’s secret, so he naturally could not say more.

“Oh.” Though Clan Leader Zhang still had some doubts, he did not dwell on them and continued helping Li Sibai search for clues.

Swish, swish... swish, swish...

Li Sibai seemed to hear something. The sound was very faint, hidden within the rustling of bamboo leaves stirred by the wind.

After a brief hesitation, Li Sibai hastily shouted, “Be careful!”

The instant the words left his mouth, a flash of cold light appeared, followed by a wet stab and then a dull thud. The torch in Clan Leader Zhang’s hand fell to the ground, and the bamboo leaves there were instantly ignited in a crackle of fire. Clan Leader Zhang let out an “ow” as blood flowed from his left arm, as though something had bitten into it, and his entire body collapsed.