I had already made up my mind to take a drastic measure.
Being in the ascendancy did not allow me to relax my vigilance.
The man slanted his hand upwards, lifting the Ten Thousand Pole, which deflected the spinning wheel of mantra at the same time. His hand, making a gesture to suppress land mines, was scattering as it swept past his waist. A bronze sword suddenly shot out.
The Ten Thousand Pole was both heavy and hard, instantly splitting the prayer wheel into four or five pieces.
The old man let go, and the last remaining bone rod shattered to the ground. His fingers immediately reached out for the bronze sword, suggesting he intended to catch the blade with his bare hands!
It seems as if I barely have the upper hand, but in reality, this is nearly the limit of my reaction speed. Just a few special symbols and sky-thunder-triggering spells remain unused.
Yet the old man's face was not flushed, nor was he breathing heavily.
A faint click sound, his fingers grabbed the bronze sword and aimed to flick it towards me.
I blocked the sword with a horizontal strike of the Ten Thousand Pole. At the moment of impact, the old man's body suddenly flashed to the right in a bizarre motion, and his hand slapped a spot on his waist.
A dull sound, like a wailing cry in someone's ear, a sense of inexplicable fear rose from the bottom of my heart, dragging my entire consciousness downwards!
I gritted my teeth and reached for the White Jade Pendant, gently maneuvering my fingers to make the two broken bones drop to the ground. The direct front of the White Jade Pendant shone directly onto the old man's face!
He was ready to make his next move, but he stood frozen in place, motionless. His eyes appeared unfocused and disoriented.
I felt a faint sense of joy.
The Tianshuo Sage himself could only endure for a moment, much less an ordinary person like this old man!
I raised the Ten Thousand Pole again, my breathing becoming exceptionally rapid. However, I didn't hesitate for a moment and with all my might pushed the Ten Thousand Pole towards his chest!
"Manifest the divine, stop..."
Before my father's last word could fall, the Ten Thousand Pole had already struck the old man's left chest, seemingly hitting his heart!
A dull crack was heard, indicating a broken rib.
Blood began to ooze from the old man's mouth, but he still had not come to his senses. His eyes were utterly confused and unfocused.
My father's face revealed an indescribable complexity, accompanied by a strong sense of torment.
As for my mom, she was tensed to the max and gripping my dad's arm tightly.
Crouching down quickly, I picked up the finger bone segments of Gao Tian Dao and once again sealed them with the White Jade Pendant.
Looking at the old man again, his breath became increasingly shallow, as if he could expire at any moment. However, his cultivation level was not on par with that of Tianshuo Sage, and he had yet to regain consciousness.
"Ah..." I let out a long sigh before quickly saying, "Dad, the Black City Temple won't spare us the whole family. Old Gong spoke the truth; unwarranted mercy can be fatal. If he doesn't die, once he comes to his senses, he'll continue chasing us. The commotion here is not small. Even if the Black City Temple has any internal turmoil, they're sure to notice us here. We must leave as soon as possible! The perimeter and the guards from the Luo family outside are also alerted! We need to be careful!"
I spoke with absolute certainty, my words resounding with conviction.
My father's face finally managed to regain a semblance of composure.
"Follow me." he whispered, and surprisingly, he began to walk in another direction.
That was not the direction from which I had come, but a path that circumvented this towering mountain from the opposite direction.
Of course, theoretically speaking, we can still return to the area near the Luo family from this direction. We can follow the landmarks from there to turn back. I remember the way.
But unexpectedly, after walking a certain distance—presumably along a curvy path that encircled the mountain—my father did not stop. He continued to walk straight ahead, moving further away from the mountain.
Without the obstruction of the mountain, the sun shone on us three, casting our long shadows that felt soothing and warm.
As we walked further on, we encountered more yak herds by the roadside, and the grassland was becoming more lush.
I checked the time, and it had been at least three to four hours since we began our journey without taking a single break.
The grassland started to become sparse, and the yaks became fewer and farther between. The hill that we had climbed earlier was nowhere to be seen.
My father's face slowly regained a semblance of calm. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and then told me that he did not allow me to kill that man because of his high status within the Black City Temple. He was a "Mountain Trekkers"—a group dedicated to praying for the temple's peace and prosperity at all times.
If he died, there would be chaos in the Black City Temple for sure. Moreover, the various fetish objects on his body might possess souls and potentially invite something terrifying to possess him!
As long as it is a human being, it can be controlled. However, when it is no longer human, it might be even more ruthless than a ghost.
I took a slight breath of relief, feeling slightly more composed.
Actually... before, I had some guesses. The old man with white hair from the Luo family sent his wife to the Black City Temple. After giving birth, she came out and gave birth to my father. My grandfather, my father's father, must be someone in the Black City Temple. Moreover, he might have very strong cultivation!
I was afraid that the old man we had just fought was my father's father...
Fortunately, that was not the case.
Otherwise, killing my grandfather with my own hands would be hard for me to accept emotionally.
I set aside my thoughts and told my dad that previously, I had no choice but to do it. Furthermore, even if I had given the key to that woman, the Black City Temple would still be severely shaken. All the prisoners who were detained would escape. They all harbor a deep hatred towards the Black City Temple. This kind of shakeup would certainly not be smaller than someone dying.
The more chaotic the situation, the less likely they will be able to come after us in time.
My dad remained silent for a moment before continuing on his way.
About half an hour later, my mom was already too tired to continue walking, so I suggested we take a short rest.
However, my dad refused with a stern word, saying we couldn't rest. He explained that anyone on this grassland could find us if we stopped.
I originally thought about carrying my mom on my back, but he acted first and started to walk with her on his back.
The ancient Qiang blood Dan proved to be quite effective, as my father showed no signs of fatigue. We had a simple meal on the way, which included compressed biscuits, meat shops, and meat snacks.
It may be because we walked quickly, or perhaps my father knew a shortcut, but by nightfall, we had managed to leave the grassland and return to Da County!
I originally thought about going to the bus station. However, Da County is located in a plateau and doesn't have high-speed trains or trains, otherwise, I wouldn't have spent so much time on my journey from the Official Warehouse City.
Hire a car and leave in the middle of the night. By the time Ro Family and the Black City Temple find their way to Da County, we would probably have already returned to the plain area.
By then, the sky is vast for birds to soar and the sea is wide for fish to leap. If they try to find us, it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!
However, I didn't expect my father to take a different direction. Instead of heading towards the bus station, he walked along the main road in a different direction, even going in the opposite direction of the one I took when I went to Da County.
What was even more bizarre was that we were back on the grassland, taking advantage of the cover of night to continue our journey forward.
Old Gong appeared on my shoulder, his head swaying, looking rather relaxed.
His rotating eyes kept staring at us three, as if he was mulling something over. He then chomped his mouth and said, "Huh, huh! This old man has some skills. How come his death is almost exposed?"
Old Gong's words made me feel a chill run down my spine. The term "death countenance" was a term used by the Shamans in the Yin and Yang. Naturally, we three of us had potential problems, and now it seemed like that possibility had been broken?
My father has been in a highly tense state, his expression tense. In a low voice, he said, "It's not that easy; we need to keep moving faster..."
I didn't speak to express my opinions. However, Old Gong kept on chattering away. There were some things I didn't understand, but there were some things I could make sense of. He had appeared once during the middle of the day when the sun was at its height, and had seen our "death countenances". However, since it was too short to change anything, he had thought he would deal with it when night fell. Little did he know that we managed to avoid it!
He continued to chatter about directions, hinting that certain places were deadly. I couldn't help but shiver in fear.
Because the locations he mentioned were exactly within Da County!
We passed through Da County, which was equivalent to brushing shoulders with death...
Finally, when my father stopped, we had already moved away from the city area and could see a group of higher hills ahead, much larger than the ones where the Black City Temple was located.
The red houses on the hill were densely packed, one next to another, arranged in a very tight pattern.
As the night deepened, the windows of those red houses were aglow with lights, which did not make one feel dark, but rather peaceful.
