Among the high mountains, where only rugged paths stretched out everywhere, continuing their journey on horseback was especially challenging. After circling for a bit, the group of people led by Niu You Dao sought a cave where they could take shelter.
They had originally intended to press forward, but now they found themselves in peril.
Someone had ordered Niu You Dao's death. Niu You Dao had not foreseen such a turn of events. He did not know where the danger originated from, so he did not press further. The unknown is the most terrifying thing. And now, Niu You Dao had encountered a danger that surpassed his expectations!
The group stopped in the cave. No one was as wary as Niu You Dao.
Niu You Dao stood, leaning on his sword. He raised his head and looked at the solitary moon hanging in the sky.
Yuan Fang approached him and asked:
"Lord Dao, will we be taking shelter here?"
Niu You Dao stood unmoving, and a moment later, he spoke:
"Give fifty thousand to Hei Mudan."
"... Yuan Fang was speechless. He knew it was better not to speak with Lord Dao.
However, Hei Mudan approached and said:
"Lord Dao, there's no need."
Niu You Dao leaned on his sword, lost in thought.
Yuan Fang took out fifty thousand and handed it to Hei Mudan.
Looking at the banknotes, Hei Mudan glanced at Niu You Dao. She was starting to understand him a little, so she did not disturb him.
Suddenly, the sound of birds chirping rang out, causing the startled Niu You Dao to regain his senses. He immediately turned his head:
"There's a cave here."
Duan Hu immediately dashed towards the chirping sound and indeed found a cave there. Inside, it seemed, were sparrows that had settled there for the night.
Several people entered and saw a mountain cave with a slanting passage. It was small and extended about two to three zhang deep.
Once they entered the cave, Niu You Dao said:
"The map!"
Duan Hu immediately took out a map from his bag, and with Wu San Liang, they spread it out in mid-air. A Little Moon Butterfly flew over and illuminated the map for Niu You Dao.
Niu You Dao, leaning on his sword, stared at the map. His gaze darted back and forth, eventually settling on Flowing Clouds Mountain.
Who wanted to kill him? His enemies could mainly only be people from the Song Family. Furthermore, he had killed Song Yang Qing, the envoy of the Yan Kingdom. Besides these two influential forces, who else could be tracking him and trying to kill him?
Moreover, the enemy had identified him and had been tracking him along his entire route.
Who was tracking him? How were they tracking him? If he had fallen into someone's net, he wouldn't dare to take another step!
Previously, only the Liuxiang Sect, Floating Clouds Sect, and Subtlety Mountain Sect had identified him. Among the others, Flowing Clouds Mountain was the most likely to know him.
Little time had passed since he had come into contact with Yun Huang, and judging by Flowing Clouds Mountain's reaction, they could be ruled out. They clearly did not know who he truly was. Otherwise, they would not have let him go, but rather kept him captive, harboring ill intentions.
Moreover, Hou Qing Tian had clearly stated that after he left, someone had hired them to kill him.
The three sects were also unlikely to have hired Flowing Clouds Mountain. If they themselves had known Niu You Dao's whereabouts, they would have taken the shortest route to reach him and dealt with him themselves.
Someone else had definitely tracked him down.
And there could only be two possibilities here: first, an opponent who was unable to deal with him personally. Second, an opponent who was at a great distance from him and would not be able to arrive in time to capture him.
It should also be noted that this opponent was most likely not connected to the Liuxiang Sect and the others. Otherwise, there would have been no need for them to enlist Flowing Clouds Mountain.
But how did the opponent determine his route?
They first determined his location and then established surveillance on him.
Zhaixing City could be ruled out. For if he had been identified there, it would have been as difficult for them as it was for the three sects.
This meant he was identified when he left the Gobi Desert. He was identified when they were traveling on the road.
But who would know him here? It was strange. After all, few knew him in the Zhao Kingdom, and he knew few people there. Moreover, in such a remote area with few people, the probability of him meeting someone who knew him was very low. It couldn't be a repeat of the incident with Cheng Gui Shuo, could it? Although, the Liuxiang Sect had his portrait, didn't they? Could it be that he encountered someone carrying Niu You Dao's portrait on the road?
"Did you notice anything strange on the way? Think carefully, every small detail is important."
Niu You Dao paced back and forth, pondering. He only thought of the postal station. After all, in this remote area, one rarely encountered travelers on the road; most people gathered at the postal station.
Several people thought, but remembered nothing.
Hei Mudan asked:
"Lord Dao, you didn't think that after we visited Yun Huang, he would want to kill us, did you?"
Niu You Dao: "I didn't!"
Hei Mudan: "Then there was nothing strange. After we left Zhaixing City, besides these stops, we only had one more. At the postal station where we changed horses."
"Where is the postal station located? Show me on the map. Also, Yun Huang's lair and the place of the three turns where we were stopped, point them out to me precisely." Niu You Dao instructed her, then turned his head and, looking at Yuan Fang, said: "Give me the charcoal pencil."
After Yuan Fang learned that one could simply draw a picture with a charcoal pencil, he now constantly carried a pencil with him and handed it to Hei Mudan.
Hei Mudan and Duan Hu consulted with each other and began to locate the postal station. The postal station was the largest here, and it would naturally be located in the best place, where there would be the most forks in the road. As for Yun Huang's lair, they simply needed to find the largest mountain and everything around it. That would be Yun Huang's lair. As for the crossroads with three turns, it was even easier for them to find.
"Lord Dao, we've found it," Hei Mudan turned her head and said.
Niu You Dao walked over, took the pencil, and stared intently at the map. Of course, the maps here were not as precise as those in his previous life, but they were much more accurate than the abstract maps of ancient times. It seemed that in this world, maps were drawn with the assistance of cultivators.
He drew his sword, traced it across the map, and calculated something to himself. Then, with the pencil, he drew a ruler on his sword and began to measure distances on the map with it. Hei Mudan and the others did not understand what he was doing.
Afterward, Niu You Dao looked at the map again and asked them:
"Where do you think the person who hired Flowing Clouds Mountain to kill me is from?"
Hei Mudan smiled bitterly:
"How would we know?"
Niu You Dao, looking at Chizhou City, slowly said:
"You two, spread out the map."
Duan Hu and Wu San Liang spread out the map.
Niu You Dao used his sword to compare the distances from Chizhou City to Yunxiao Cave, then, using the speed of a Bird King, he calculated the approximate time. He wrote all this down on the map with the pencil. Only a few people understood him.
Then, using his magical power and the charcoal pencil, he slowly began to outline the route from Chizhou City to Yunxiao Cave. Afterward, he silently calculated the time from the postal station to Flowing Clouds Mountain and multiplied it by the approximate speed of a Bird King. The result was precisely the distance to Chizhou City.
From all directions, all distances pointed to Chizhou City. All the circles converged there.
Niu You Dao took the pencil and, circling the postal station, noted a small margin of error.
However, this was not important; in fact, if there had been no margin of error, it would have been dangerous. After all, one also had to account for the time it took to receive news, make a decision, and dispatch people. Moreover, if map inaccuracies were added, these errors would simply be unavoidable.
And he had only calculated approximately.
Then Niu You Dao again marked points on the map and circled the locations. More and more circles appeared. Niu You Dao occasionally wrote down incomprehensible numbers on the side and calculated something. After quite a long time, he placed his sword before him and said:
"The problem seems to have arisen at the postal station. That's where we were discovered."
Several people exchanged glances.
Then Niu You Dao slowly said:
"It seems everything started from the postal service. From there, a message was sent to Chizhou City. The news was delayed in the city for about half an hour, and then a middleman was dispatched from the city to Flowing Clouds Mountain. This indicates that both the middleman and the commissioner are in Chizhou City."
Several people were speechless. He spoke as if he had witnessed it all himself.
Hei Mudan attempted to speak:
"Lord Dao, did you suspect this city from the very beginning?"
Niu You Dao: "I surmised it was Chizhou City. The commissioner must be an important figure. And they most likely hold a convenient position, allowing them to easily contact everyone at any moment. And it's not a single person, but an organization. I don't know how many people they have. But this organization is certainly not located among the humble villages around here. They must have an advantageous location so they can communicate with everyone from a distance. If my calculations are correct, Chizhou City fits this best. That's why I assumed it was that city. Then I simply estimated the distance, time, and calculated the speed. Most likely, it's Chizhou City."