Qin Wushuang understood profoundly that he should not remain in one place too long, especially after so much action had taken place. Or else, to an elite warrior, leaving behind too many traces could be a huge mistake.
Through the Observant Jade Finger Plate, Qin Wushuang could see that Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang had not entered the water zone below 1200 metres.
He decided to draw the battle field to the water area beneath 1200 meters. After Qin Wushuang had killed Hu Qiulan, in order to not raise suspicion, he let Wu Dingyuan take the initiative to make contact with them. He would inform them that Hu Qiulan was together with him.
This way, it would prevent them from making sudden contact with Hu Qiulan and to avoid unnecessary suspicion if they had not received the response they needed.
…
In the blink of an eye, almost a month had pa.s.sed. There was still not the slightest of reactions from the surface of the Black Dead Sea. It seemed as though all communication had ended the moment they descended.
Besides Mu Rong Xu, the one that was the most anxious should be the two leaders of the Vase Mound Venerable Clan and the Hundred Swords Sect. This time, they were purely forced to come here. If two young men lost their little lives because of this, it would not have proved worth it. Therefore, they did not even disguise their anxiety.
For the people of the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Villa and the Sound of Thunder Sect, although they were somewhat puzzled, they were unlikely to be concerned. They had experienced it many times beforehand. Regardless, it would be impossible for Qin Wushuang to hide from Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang"s blockade.
For the Supreme Dao weapons, Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang also had them.
On the other hand, Qin Yunran was the most unperturbed. For the month that had pa.s.sed by, almost everyday he was calm and composed as if on vacation vacation. It seemed as though Qin Wushuang had anything to do with him.
"Brother Guinan, they have been down for a month. There should be some news by now right?" Lei Ming could not refrain himself from asking.
Yan Guinan had also felt hesitant to some extent, for Qin Yunran"s mannerisms had appeared too abnormal. It had created a form of unpleasant feeling to him.
Yet, he spoke comforting words, "Brother Lei, do not worry. You see how we cannot even see the limit of this Black Water. The world underneath the water is gigantic. What can you do in a month?"
Although he had said it this way, Yan Guinan still felt unsure.
Qin Yunran, in the far distance, laughed. "Everyone, it"s getting late. I am going back to the Floating Snow House to rest. Are you guys waiting until dark to leave?"
"Madman Ran, you should stop pretending to be calm. Anyone can see that you are more nervous than everyone." Lei Ming was incredibly annoyed. He wondered how Qin Yunran deserved to be so joyful?
He truly hoped Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang would come up soon with information on Qin Wushuang"s death. They would use it to strike Madman Ran"s face firmly.
Unfortunately, despite their hope and expectations, the past month had not proven to give any results.
Qin Yunran laughed. "Alright, I don"t bother to babble with idiots. Who is nervous, and who is not… What"s the use in deceiving others and yourselves?"
After he had finished, Qin Yunran cupped his hands in a salute to Xin Wuji. "Your highness, I will be going first."
As Xin Wuji saw from the color of the sky that it was getting late, he also said, "It seems that they will not be coming back today, everyone go back to the Floating Snow House."
At first, they had been leaving early everyday and returning later on to wait for any sign of a result. For your information, Xin Wuji was also a sophisticated figure who possessed great patience.
In this lengthy situation, ordinary people would have been unable to remain calm and composed. However, for the past month, Xin Wuji was the most self-composed and did not utter even the smallest complaint.
"Miss, let"s go back too," Little Bamboo advised as she saw that everyone else was also preparing to leave.
Mu Rong Xu nodded unconsciously, yet she did not move her eyes at all. As she looked at the water"s surface of the Black Dead Sea, her heart had already dropped into this Black Dead Sea.
"Miss, don"t worry. Young Master Qin promised you that after three months he would return for sure. Young Master Qin is not someone who breaks his promises." When Little Bamboo said these words, she still felt uncertain. After all, they were not going out to play, but to enter this dangerous Black Dead Sea to face enemies that conspired to get rid of him.
Mu Rong Xu gave a light sigh. "Little Bamboo, I am not worried. I had only hoped that the time would go faster."
"Ha ha, Miss, why I do feel that you don"t believe your own words. I heard that love can make a woman irrational, which seems believable to me. My exceptionally intelligent miss, now she"s truly somewhat sentimental."
Little Bamboo shared a harmonious relations.h.i.+p with Mu Rong Xu. Naturally, the jokes made between master and servant were harmless. She only wished to make Mu Rong Xu happy.
Mu Rong Xu revealed a happy smile, then left reluctantly.
…
"Master, don"t you wish to nurture your strength and bide your time? Why are you taking the initiative to seek Lei Jiao right now?" Wu Dingyuan was somewhat confused.
He felt that the risk would be much smaller waiting for Lei Jiao to come to him.
Qin Wushuang said with a leisure smile, "This tactic varies from person to person. Dealing with Lei Jiao is different than dealing with Hu Qiulan. The relations.h.i.+p between Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang is clearly different than the relations.h.i.+p between you two. He shared a close relations.h.i.+p with Yan Zhuiyang. When we wait for him to come, he will take leaders.h.i.+p. He will most likely come with Yan Zhuiyang. If we go to him, we will take the upper hand."
Looking pensively, Wu Dingyuan was incredibly impressed. Now, he finally understood why the great Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect took such a tragic fall before this master. There fall was well thought out.
One would say that even though his Master had come from the human countries, he was not inferior in any aspect when compared to the most exceptional young people of the Xuan Yuan Mound. He was even more outstanding than many of the young people of the same generation!
"Per my a.n.a.lysis, Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang have already reached the water zone at 1200 metres to look for me. Fortunately, this compet.i.tion forbids one to bring a.s.sistants. if the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk of the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Villa had come, it would"ve been a great disadvantage to my plan."
Qin Wushuang had experienced the ferocious power of the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk before. If they had the a.s.sistance of the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk, the situation would become incredibly difficult for Qin Wushuang.
Of course, Qin Wushuang did have the Observant Jade Finger Plate. It may match up to the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk and at best, it could be even more useful than the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk.
Upon seeing the continuous changes inside the jade plate, suddenly, Qin Wushuang laughed. "Good, finally Lei Jiao is within one mile of us."
As Qin Wushuang looked at the changes of instruction from the Observant Jade Finger Plate, without a doubt, Lei Jiao was heading in their direction.
"Try to make contact with him and tell him our location. However, do not tell him that you have discovered my tracks or he will inform Yan Zhuiyang instantly."
Wu Dingyuan nodded and he said suddenly, "Master, I can tell him that we have seemed to discovered some sign of the Phantom Dragon. This will surely be attractive. Lei Jiao is a selfish person. If it"s truly the bloodline of the Phantom Dragon, he would surely not be happy to share it with others."
Qin Wushuang said with a light smile, "That"s for the best!"
Exactly as Wu Dingyuan had said, when Lei Jiao heard mention of the Phantom Dragon, he immediately asked for the details. Naturally, Wu Dingyuan told him the nonsense story he had made up beforehand.
After some inner struggles, Lei Jiao still decided to take a look. Then, he would decide whether he should inform Yan Zhuiyang of the situation.
In any case, Yan Zhuiyang was within two miles. Even if he were to encounter a situation, it would be easy for them to regroup within two miles.
For someone like Lei Jiao, two miles would not take any time at all to cover. Before long, Lei Jiao had arrived in the surrounding area.
However, Lei Jiao"s degree of vigilance would not lose to that of Hu Qiulan. One could say that his sense of alertness surpa.s.sed his.
After all, Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang could be referred to as their own little group. They were not close to Wu Dingyuan and Hu Qiulan.
Although they belonged to the same trench and had come for the same goal, within this boundless water of a several thousand metres, there was no knowing what was inside this man"s heart. How could he know if these two had possessed some alternate intentions?
When he saw Wu Dingyuan from the far distance, Lei Jiao did not let down his guard. Wu Dingyuan waved at him. "Brother Lei, this way."
Lei Jiao asked, "Didn"t you say Hu Qiulan is with you? Where is he?"
"Brother Hu Qiu was attacked by a group of giant crab monsters and suffered some minor injuries. He is now resting inside a reef pile before us. By the way, where is Brother Yan?"
Lei Jiao said, "He hasn"t yet looked at an area over on his side, so he went ahead to look. Soon he will come to join us."
These two were harboring ulterior motives. Clearly, they had not spoken the truth.
"Since Brother Yan is not here, this matter will not be easy to do…" Wu Dingyuan said it deliberately.
"What?" Lei Jiao asked with confusion.
"Brother Hu Qiu and I saw that in the waters before us, there seemed to be an abandoned cave dwelling. Surrounding that abandoned cave dwelling, there is a group of vicious spiritual beasts wandering around it. It will not be easy to breakthrough it. If Brother Yan is here, perhaps the four of us would have a better chance if we worked together."
"Abandoned cave dwelling? How big is it?" Lei Jiao was moved inwardly.
"I cannot even grasp the size of it, but vividly, I sensed a form of powerful immemorial presence. I feel that it is the presence of the Immemorial Phantom Dragon!"
Lei Jiao mumbled, "Immemorial Phantom Dragon? Could it be this Immemorial Phantom Dragon is still in this water?"
Wu Dingyuan said with a bitter smile, "I have no clue. Brother Lei, have you guys found the tracks of Qin Wushuang?"
Lei Jiao gave a long sigh. "Indeed, that kid is cunning. After a long search, from beginning to end, we could not find the slightest trace. Unfortunately, Brother Yan could not bring the Heavenly Punis.h.i.+ng Hawk down here, so we"ve had to waste our efforts searching."
Clearly, a month of mindless tracking had made Lei Jiao lose his cool. After all, the longer the battle is delayed, the greater the strike to their morale.
"Brother Lei, then what should we do? I see that the waters further down are getting more dangerous. To tell you the truth, even I do not wish to keep going down," Wu Dingyuan said while intentionally displaying his ignorance.
"Brother Wu, could it be that you are looking to give up?" Lei Jiao asked with some slight dissatisfaction.
Wu Dingyuan said with a bitter smile, "Brother Lei, it will not work if we keep being ignorant. This place is full of danger. I have been attacked by spiritual beasts a dozen times in the past few days. The spiritual beasts above this water zone are already so domineering, if we keep go further, I am afraid I cannot take it. You see, Brother Hu Qiu is already injured, fortunately, not too seriously. It would not be worth it if only three out of four return, after we had all come down together."
Lei Jiao said with cold sneer, "Brother Wu, things have just started and you are speaking of discouraging words. When tougher battles come later on, how will we fight it?"
Wu Dingyuan gave a long sigh. "Brother Lei, I am only sighing with sorrow at the moment. Let us go see Brother Hu Qiu first!"
In order to wear down Lei Jiao"s guard slowly, he had deliberately revealed his timid side.