An Encounter

An adult red-tailed crane had stayed behind to guard the nest. Qin Sang climbed silently, drawing closer to the fissure. The crane on guard stood at the edge of the crevice, watching the chase below. Catching a faint hint of something amiss, it twisted its neck toward Qin Sang's hiding spot. Qin Sang had long known that the red-tailed crane possessed sharp spiritual senses. Knowing he was exposed, he immediately activated his secret talisman and lunged toward the crevice at top speed. His escape light expanded rapidly in the crane's eyes. The red-tailed crane raised its head and stretched its neck, letting out a shrill cry. Spreading its wings, it had just flown out of the crevice when a ball of black fire hurtled straight toward it. The aura radiating from the fireball filled it with terror. In haste, the crane violently lashed its long tail. Like a blazing feathered fan, the crimson tail swept fiercely forward, trailing a dazzling red glow. *Boom!* The Nine Nether Demonic Fire erupted. With a pitiful shriek, the red-tailed crane was blasted backward. Its red light was shattered by the demonic fire, and most of the feathers on its beautiful tail were scorched away, reducing it to a wretched, bald-tailed bird. Yet, though it looked miserable on the outside, it had not suffered critical injuries. It quickly steadied its body, but as it wheeled around to block Qin Sang again, it found that the beam of escape light was simply too fast, already surging into the nest through the fleeting gap. The crane shrieked incessantly. Down on the ground, the two-headed hou scurried about with its head down, projecting one phantom after another to distract the red-tailed cranes. Even so, several claw marks had been raked across its back, and it was chased into a thoroughly pathetic state. Finally reaching the river valley, it leaped into the water without hesitation. Right at that moment, the flock realized an uninvited guest had broken into their nest. Enraged, they instantly abandoned the two-headed hou and charged toward the nest with piercing cries. Having breached the nest, Qin Sang felt his scalp tingle upon sensing this turn of events. If the cranes cornered him inside, no evasion technique would save him, no matter how superior. Catching sight of the crane chicks tumbling about from the aftershocks of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, he ignored them entirely. His figure flickered as he darted over to the ancient vine—all went remarkably smoothly. The ancient vine climbed across the rock face, its tip drooping down, hung with a cluster of fruits. Five of them had turned red and were nearly ripe, while the rest were small, green berries with little to no medicinal potency. Qin Sang swiftly produced a jade box, plucked the five red fruits, and turned to flee. Even the crane chicks were furious, but they were far too weak to hinder him in the slightest. Repeating the same trick, Qin Sang unleashed the Nine Nether Demonic Fire once more to repel the guardian crane. Flying out of the rock crevice, he saw the adult cranes swooping in. Without a moment's hesitation, he engaged his escape light and shot straight toward the mountain depths. For a time, furious crane cries echoed through the mountains. Qin Sang did not look back. With the flock in hot pursuit, they crossed two lofty peaks in the blink of an eye. The difference in speed soon showed. Even the leader of the red-tailed cranes, flapping its wings wildly, could not match Qin Sang's pace and was gradually left behind. Qin Sang had scouted his escape route well in advance. As he crested the third peak, the instant he broke the cranes' line of sight, his figure swerved, diving into a mountain stream and plunging deep underwater to mask his aura with the river's current. Having lost track of the thief, the furious cranes bombarded the valley in a wild frenzy. By this point, Qin Sang had already drifted downstream to a river confluence, where he sensed the aura of the two-headed hou. *Splash!* Water sprayed in all directions as Qin Sang surfaced in the middle of the river. He saw the two-headed hou sprawled on the bank, licking the wounds on its back. Upon spotting Qin Sang, the creature scrambled up and bounded over, looking at him with eager eyes while continuing to cast wary glances in the direction Qin Sang had come from. "Are you still worried about my speed?" Qin Sang stepped onto the riverbank, spiritual light flashing across his body to evaporate the moisture. The fruit theft had indeed gone surprisingly smoothly. Fortunately, there were not many cranes in the flock, their flight speed was unremarkable, and there were no other ferocious beasts nearby. Otherwise, even with his superior speed, being pursued for too long would inevitably have disturbed other beasts, plunging him into a perilous siege. The two-headed hou stared hungrily at Qin Sang's Qianjun Ring. Qin Sang retrieved the jade box, pointed to one of the fruits, and snapped crossly, "Stop staring, this one is yours! If you're not at ease, put a restriction on it yourself." To his surprise, the hou's vertical pupils flickered, and it actually blew out a gust of green wind that settled over the fruit, forming a teal ring around it. "You really dare..." Qin Sang glared daggers at it. The two-headed hou quickly hopped aside, tucking its tail with a sheepish grin. Resting in the jade box after being brought out of the dim rock fissure, the spirit fruits revealed more details. Beneath their crimson skin, faint threads like spiderwebbed blood vessels seemed to trace through the flesh. Among the five fruits, some had dense thread patterns while others were sparse, clearly reflecting different levels of ripeness. Unfortunately, the fruits emitted no scent at all, though whether that was because they were not fully ripe remained uncertain. Qin Sang searched his memory of ancient records and classic texts, but could recall no spirit fruit resembling this, nor had he ever heard of an ancient vine like that one. He could only wait until he returned to look into it; before understanding its medicinal nature, he dared not consume it. Putting the jade box away, Qin Sang shifted his route and continued skimming toward Heaven Tower. After crossing several more mountains, he came to an abrupt halt, frowning as he looked down at a valley to his left. The valley was lush with green grass, and dense forest had grown wildly along its flanks, almost entirely concealing the vale. Only upon arriving here had Qin Sang noticed there was another valley tucked away. Within the valley stood several thatched huts. These huts were clearly relics preserved from antiquity. A dome of light enveloped them, formed by some unknown spiritual array. Sheltered by the barrier, the huts showed not the slightest trace of decay. At that moment, two people standing before the huts were staring warily up at Qin Sang. Their gazes met. Qin Sang noticed they held strange wooden shuttles, seemingly attempting to unravel the spiritual array. Under their efforts, faint ripples were indeed spreading across the light barrier. Having seen the barrier respond, their momentary lapse in vigilance born of joy had left them unprepared for someone suddenly stumbling upon them. They exchanged glances, instantly raising their guard. Discerning Qin Sang's cultivation, a ruthless gleam flashed across their eyes. Yet the moment they sensed the aura of the two-headed hou, they froze in utter astonishment. To command such a powerful demon beast—could this man be concealing his true cultivation? The two clearly took Qin Sang for an old monster playing the pig to eat the tiger. *One late Core Formation stage, and one slightly weaker than Cui Ji. Both are formidable foes.* Qin Sang assessed their cultivation and keenly caught the shift in their eyes. After a moment of contemplation, Qin Sang slowly backed away, accompanied by the two-headed hou. If the other side tried to silence him, he naturally would not let them off easy. With thatched huts positioned in such a spot, who knew how many times they had already been looted? Whether any treasures remained was entirely unknown, so he would not take the initiative to invite unnecessary trouble. Unless he deployed the fire bead, driving them off would take a considerable amount of time even if he succeeded. The two sides kept their eyes locked on each other until they faded from each other's vision. Neither made a move, and no battle took place.