Do you know the way to the exit?

Ah, that explains it… Bai Ke thought to himself, realizing why Junxiao had almost instantly dealt with the last wave but this time, with Yu Xian, lingered a bit longer—it had been to gather clues. “What did you find that was suspicious?”

“These vines at first glance seemed to burst up from the ground without any roots or source, as if Hengtian Sect pre-positioned them beneath certain areas to spring a trap,” Junxiao began, shaking his head. “But from what my master and I just observed... that may not be the case.”

Bai Ke was taken aback. “Not the case? Then they—?”

“They have roots,” Junxiao said decisively.

“Roots?” Bai Ke was puzzled. “Having roots counts as unusual?”

“Not the kind of roots we initially assumed,” Junxiao replied.

Bai Ke found himself more confused the longer he listened.

“At first, we thought these things went straight up and down, but he and I noticed that they seem to originate from a single source,” Yu Xian interjected. His sleeves gathered around him as he strolled along in a leisurely, almost weightless manner. Even though he wore the face of a young man barely eighteen, his mannerisms and demeanor were nothing like that of an average youth.

After the recent fight, the other disciples from the Xuanwei and Changling sects also began suspecting that Yu Xian and Junxiao might not be as ordinary as they seemed. But, having just been saved by the pair, they felt indebted and chose to keep their questions to themselves, observing in respectful silence rather than voicing suspicions.

Enjoying their compliance, Yu Xian seemed to relax even further, dropping any pretense and acting less like the ordinary disciple of Hengtian Gate he appeared to be.

“A single source?” Bai Ke frowned, thinking it over. “So when you say ‘roots,’ you mean this source?”

Junxiao nodded. “As my master and I observed, these vines seemed to lean slightly in a specific direction when attacking and withdrawing. If they were truly random, spread beneath an area without any origin, we wouldn’t see that kind of consistent lean.”

Imagining this, Bai Ke realized Junxiao was right. On the surface, the vines appeared to shoot up haphazardly, as if they were merely scattered across the ground like bamboo after a rain. But if they all truly shared an origin underground, they would naturally tend to lean in that direction when in motion—particularly when they recoiled or lunged, even if the tops twisted and waved independently.

Most of the group had been confined within the protective formation and hadn’t noticed this detail from their limited view below. And earlier, when Junxiao and Bai Ke encountered the vines alone, Junxiao had dispatched them so swiftly that he hadn’t had time to think about these nuances; his main goal had been to keep Bai Ke safe and end the encounter quickly.

But when confronted again by these vines, and without immediate concerns for the others’ safety, Junxiao had made sure to take note.

From a position above, where he and Yu Xian observed the writhing vines across a wide area, the pattern became obvious. Even though the direction deviation was subtle in each vine, hundreds of vines sharing the same origin made it far more noticeable.

“This forest is irregular—the direction of sunlight and landmarks don’t follow normal patterns. It’s better to orient ourselves by a fixed point,” Junxiao explained. “Using the entrance from the Sanqing Pool as our base, the source of the vines should be somewhere to the northwest.”

Northwest...

Bai Ke thought over the direction Junxiao indicated and was startled by the realization.

He’d assumed that since Junxiao and Yu Xian had pinpointed the source of the vines, they were adjusting their path to avoid further dangers, logically steering clear of the northwest.

But after calculating, he realized they were heading directly towards it...

“Aren’t we supposed to avoid that direction?” Bai Ke couldn’t help but ask.

Junxiao shook his head. “No, if we know where these vines originate, then that’s precisely where we should head. Hengtian Sect only set up these traps to kill off these disciples. Lacking sufficient manpower for larger schemes, they had to resort to this tactic. But, constrained by other factors, they could only target the disciples from Xuanwei, Changling, and their own sect, which already limits their numbers. If a few teams here and there manage to break away and find an alternate route to the exit, evading their traps, then the final number they capture would be even smaller—a real loss for them.”

“Mhm... I—cough—agree,” Yu Xian chimed in, accidentally slipping up, though he didn’t seem bothered. After all, the Xuanwei and Changling disciples couldn’t hear their exact words, and the only person within earshot who wasn’t in on the secret was Meng Xi, whose soft and easy-going nature meant that even if Yu Xian dropped his disguise completely, Meng Xi would likely just stare in awe for a moment before obediently following along.

“What do you think Hengtian Sect would do to keep people from avoiding too many of their traps?” Yu Xian winked at Bai Ke.

Bai Ke quickly caught on, not even needing the next hint.

To minimize the number of escapees, the best approach would be to ensure that, no matter where they went, they’d all end up right in front of the tiger.

Everyone knew that historically, once various sects entered the forest, it was common for differences of opinion to cause each sect’s disciples to split into smaller teams, each exploring a different path. Some preferred to follow established trails, while others would stray down less obvious routes.

With so many variables, it would be difficult for Hengtian Sect to lay traps on every potential path, even with advance planning.

Therefore, the best way to ensure all the “little fish” eventually fell into the net would be to designate a final “destination” that, no matter which path they took, they would instinctively converge upon. Hengtian Sect would only need to set a final trap at this destination to capture them all at once.

And in this case, that “destination” would be the exit.

All the disciples from the three sects that had entered through the Vermillion Bird Gate, regardless of how they navigated the forest or divided into smaller teams, would eventually search for that designated exit linked to the gate.

The mere branches of these vines were already enough to overwhelm the newcomers—what about their “roots”? Placing those roots near the exit was undoubtedly the most reliable setup.

“So you’re saying that if we find the roots of these vines, there’s a good chance we’ll find the exit as well. Is that right?” Bai Ke asked.

Junxiao nodded. “And perhaps even a path to the Ice Soul.”

This time, Bai Ke didn’t need further prompting from Yu Xian. After a brief pause, he worked it out himself:

Hengtian Sect, though mainly interested in harvesting these new disciples for its own use, had certainly not anticipated anyone actually seeking the Ice Soul. However, given the measures they had put in place, it was logical to use them for dual purposes.

The traps and kill arrays in this part of the forest near the Vermillion Bird Gate could both deal with the disciples and conveniently add a layer of defense for the Ice Soul.

Therefore, the location of these vines’ roots might not only lead to the true exit of the Vermillion Bird Gate, but also to the actual path to the Ice Soul.

Although this forest was filled with restrictions, these primarily affected the new disciples, preventing them from flying or using many of the talismans and formations that would typically help them. For Junxiao and Yu Xian, however, these limitations had minimal impact.

As a result, they were able to move quickly.

Yet, despite covering a considerable distance, Bai Ke and Lin Jie still saw no indication of anything unusual up ahead in the northwest. Along the way, they did cross paths with another team of Hengtian Sect disciples, but their paths diverged just as quickly, the encounter brief and without incident.

If they could indeed locate the “roots” of those vines and eliminate them at the source, then the branches that spread out from underground into the various paths would also be extinguished, preventing further harm. In doing so, they would be saving not only their own lives but also those of the disciples traveling on different routes.

With Junxiao and Yu Xian accompanying them, Bai Ke and the others assumed that before they found the source of the vines, nothing especially dangerous would come their way. After all, obstacles like those vines posed little challenge for Junxiao and Yu Xian—just occasional delays at most.

But not long after they had this thought, they noticed something unusual.

Among the disciples of Xuanwei and Changling trailing behind them, some began to feel drowsy. Initially, it didn’t seem strange; they had been struggling to keep up, exerting every effort to avoid being left behind by Junxiao and his group. Feeling weary after such exertion was natural.

The trouble was, this drowsiness seemed to spread. At first, only a few disciples were murmuring about feeling tired, but gradually, it rippled through the whole group. Despite their legs continuing at pace, their minds grew sluggish and muddled, with some even starting to yawn.

And once it started, it was unstoppable: one yawn turned into five, five turned into ten, and soon, even Bai Ke and those leading in the front were affected.

It wasn’t until Bai Ke himself felt his mind inexplicably fogging up, his reactions growing slow and his thoughts drifting aimlessly, that he sensed something was wrong. After all, with Junxiao leading, he hadn’t exerted himself in the slightest, so there was no reason he should be feeling so tired.

 

Translator : DarNan