Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 948 - Chapter 948 Chapter 948 Dont Touch the Head

Chapter 948: Chapter 948: Don’t Touch the Head Chapter 948: Chapter 948: Don’t Touch the Head The Liao Family Brothers did not know, someone had already spotted them and were cautiously moving forward.

But as they walked, they could no longer proceed, Elder Liao Brother stopped in his tracks, even retreating a dozen or so steps.

His sensitivity to vital energy was strong, and he spoke gravely, “Cultivators… so many of them.”

The cultivators he mentioned, of course, referred to those who practice cultivation, Martial Cultivators… could they even be called cultivators?

At this time, Second Liao Brother would not start an argument with his elder brother, also quietly retreating, even further back.

The two brothers exchanged glances, then slipped away over a mile in silence before picking up their pace, continuing to retreat another four or five miles.

They found a small grove, and after hiding there, they still appeared a bit unsettled as they watched the brightly lit area.

After a long while, Elder Liao Brother muttered, “Why are there so many cultivators here, could there be some reason?”

When cultivators encounter each other in The Secular World, it is not necessarily a good thing, and it is hardly safer than meeting in the wilderness.

What Second Liao Brother considered, however, was different, “Regardless of the reason, nine times out of ten… the Gu King is here.”

“Maybe it’s moved on,” Elder Liao Brother instinctively argued with his brother, “We can feel the Gu King through the Spirit Beast Bag.”

“Who said it had to move on?” Second Liao Brother argued back, “Maybe it’s dead… once we get confirmation, we can return.”

“I won’t argue with you, idiot!” declared Elder Liao Brother arrogantly, “Dead or alive, we need proof of the body.”

“That’s, ‘alive we must see the Gu, dead we must find the body’,” Second Liao Brother snorted contemptuously, “If you’re uneducated, don’t use proverbs.”

While they bickered, they did not know that someone had already begun to search for them, the old man and old lady from Pine Cypress Peak had quietly got up and stealthily made their way toward the direction from which they’d felt the Divine Sense.

Elder Liao Brother was very alert, releasing a Divine Sense that was not only extremely faint but also receded rapidly–such caution is quite common among Gu Cultivators.

The two from Pine Cypress Peak, however, because they were hidden in the shadows, could not respond openly and with high-profile, therefore missing the chance to capture that burst of Divine Sense.

So they had no choice but to slowly endure the hardship, but luckily, they were quite certain that the other party was unlikely to detect them.

In the later half of the night, the two had no choice but to return dejectedly, communicating through shared thoughts, “Those who come are up to no good ah, their aura is well-concealed.”

For ordinary cultivators, there was no need to conceal their aura to such an extent.

They were also not aware that the ones who had come were the notoriously cautious Gu Cultivators, which made them even more vigilant.

Not long after they returned to the house, their son and daughter-in-law went out to work odd jobs, while the old couple pretended to boil water and make dry pancakes.

By dawn, the two had made quite a few dry pancakes, stacking them up, waiting for passers-by to take.

Around ten o’clock, while the old couple was basking in the sun, two men who looked identical approached from a distance.

The old man picked up his pipe, gently tapped it twice, which was the code phrase they had agreed on–this time, the right people had arrived!

The old lady also guessed it was these two, raising her hand and rubbing her forehead a few times–were these two the leaders?

The old man could not guarantee this, for the other party had concealed their aura very well; he could only judge from common sense that there was something off about these men.

What was the issue? It was simple; given the location of their thatched hut on the road, apart from a few nearby huts, people rarely passed by in the morning. Even those who came from afar to work would typically be familiar faces.

These two were not familiar faces. If they were travelers from afar, they would generally push on the previous night to reach Feng Jun’s territory to rest–where there were lights and conditions were much better.

Those who couldn’t make it that far would have had too great a distance to cover and would not be appearing on the road at this time.

Such insight could only come from a seasoned veteran; the old man knew to analyze these details, while the Liao Family Brothers, despite their cautiousness as Gu Cultivators, really had no such experience.

Seeing the old couple sunbathing, the brothers exchanged glances, boldly walked over, asked for two bowls of tea, and took a few pancakes, eating while they inquired about local happenings.

In recent days, the brothers had been gathering information in this manner, finding a place to eat and drink, and in the process, learning about the surroundings–otherwise, with their Cultivation Level of transcending worldly needs, they would not eat such crude dry pancakes.

They were now very close to the brightly lit area and needed to inquire with more subtlety–anyway, they had to ask.

Elder Liao Brother casually asked, “Old man, does this road lead to Yangshan?”

It was the old lady who served the tea and pancakes, while the old man was still sunbathing by the wall, which fitted the normal rural setting.

The old lady had soporifics, and it was no problem to drug someone in the Qi Refinement Realm, but to drug someone in their Cultivation Level, would depend on luck.

Because it was uncertain how many people were in the other party, she did not take the risk, but instead shook her head and answered leakily like a draft, “This road doesn’t lead to Yangshan, only reaches the bottom of Mount Zhige, there’s no way forward from there.”

“You’re lying to my brother, aren’t you?” Second Liao Brother slammed the table with a dark face, asking unhappily, “How can such a wide road be a dead end?”

Elder Liao Brother, although drinking the tea with loud gulps, cast a sidelong glance at her.

He was not worried that the tea might be poisoned; the Gu Insects would warn him. For a Gu Cultivator to be knocked out by poison, now that would be the joke of the century.

The old lady’s wrinkled face tightened, and she replied unhappily, “Young man, if you have something to say, say it nicely. If you’re going to keep up this attitude, you might as well ask someone else.”

“Alright, my little brother just has this problem,” Elder Liao Brother put down the teacup, interrupting, “He’s naturally foul-mouthed… Excuse me, old madam, which way is it to Yangshan?”

The old lady had been living here for a while and was quite clear about the nearby roads, “Go back the way you came for about forty or fifty li, then take a right turn at the fork…”

After she finished speaking, Elder Liao Brother thanked her and then pointed forward, “This road is so wide; does it lead to somewhere worth going?”

The old lady explained with a smile, “That’s a jade mining field, and the Mountain Master there trades many rare items. It’s a place busier than the county city with guests from all directions coming to make purchases.”

She clarified everything clearly, as if gauging what the other party might be up to.

Elder Liao Brother asked a couple more questions, and the old lady answered each one candidly. However, before she could say much more, the old man by the wall shouted displeasedly, “What nonsense are you spouting? Those are matters for the big shots, not for an old woman like you to chew over!”

Furious, the old lady turned around and started scolding the old man, “Then you do the work! Always talking but doing nothing… How did I ever go blind and settle for an old coot like you?”

The Liao Family Brothers didn’t stoop to acknowledge the quarrel with the two Mortals. It was easy to understand why the ordinary folk didn’t want to attract trouble; especially in remote closed-off areas where the local powers could be overwhelming.

On the contrary, in places like the royal capital, the common people had much bolder spirits, daring to speak of even the most scandalous matters.

In any case, since the old couple had started arguing, if the brothers continued to pry further, it would only arouse suspicion.

So after eating a couple of cakes and drinking two bowls of hot tea, they got up, “Let’s go take a look over there, there might be some business opportunities.”

They had walked about two li ahead when the old man suspiciously spoke up, “Qionghua, did you spread the tracking powder?”

The old lady replied with pride, “Of course, I did it just as I turned around to scold you!”

“Brilliant!” the old man exclaimed, giving a thumbs up, “Your scattering technique is so fast, I can barely see it.”

After speaking, he stood up and went into the house. Shortly after, a middle-aged man with a weathered face emerged.

This man had an actual counterpart; he was a laborer from the county who lived right next door. A few days earlier, he had received a letter from home asking him to come back and help build a brick kiln, so he had left.

The old man’s disguise as the laborer didn’t quite match, but it wouldn’t be recognized by those unfamiliar with him.

He didn’t follow too closely, just staying a little over two li away, trailing the brothers at a distance.

When the brothers got near the sect’s gate, they immediately recognized the Tiantong courtyard and were taken aback, “Tiantong?”

Gu Cultivators didn’t usually mix with the mainstream of the Cultivation World, but the Tiantong Commerce Alliance’s reputation was illustrious; who wouldn’t know of it?

In fact, compared to the Four Sects and Wutai, Gu Cultivators were even less willing to provoke the Tiantong Commerce Alliance–after all, these merchants did not shun doing business with Gu Cultivators, unlike those Major Sect Disciples, who would leap at any chance to kill them on sight.

Seeing the Tiantong flag there, the brothers felt their situation grow tricky–this place was definitely not ordinary.

Glancing not far from Tiantong, they saw two lonely small courtyards. After exchanging a look, they understood each other’s thoughts: These were definitely two other powerful factions.

The Wuyou Platform and the Crimson Pheonix Sect didn’t have plaques at their gates as they, unlike Tiantong, didn’t have dealings in the Mortal Realm. Even if they were temporarily staying there, they wouldn’t fly their own flags, not out of fear, but to avoid unnecessary hassles.

The Liao Family Brothers were aware of the lofty airs of the prestigious Sects and knew better than to underestimate these two courtyards.

“That’s just fantastic, isn’t it,” Elder Liao Brother couldn’t help muttering, “are there any Detachment Realm Cultivators there too?”

Second Liao Brother, being contrarian by habit, retorted, “Isn’t that obvious? Why else would we be sent if there weren’t Detachment Realm opponents?”

Elder Liao Brother snorted softly, “I mean, I wonder if there are Detachment Realm Cultivators from major powers here.”

They had come prepared to face off against Detachment Realm Cultivators, but obviously, an ordinary Detachment Realm Cultivator and one from a major power posed completely different levels of mission difficulty.

To kill an ordinary Detachment Realm Cultivator was one thing, but facing one from a major power was quite another matter–putting aside whether they could even win such a fight, if they did prevail, they had to consider the subsequent vengeance that could follow–unless… they could silence everyone present.

Just yesterday, they had sensed at least four or five Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators; to madly take them all out would essentially mean the Snake King would have to silence them too, right?

In truth, just the thought of involving someone from Tiantong Commerce Alliance in a silent kill made their “pressure soar.”

But this mission was given by the Snake King, and since they had come this far, they couldn’t simply retreat without trying, could they?

The brothers exchanged looks and continued forward, but didn’t go much further before stopping again. A not-too-tall stone stele stood ahead with seven characters engraved on it–“Detachment Realm, Do Not Enter Without Invitation!”

The Liao Family Brothers looked at each other, their faces simultaneously paling: Could it be inside… Golden Core?

(Updated here, calling for monthly votes.)