Chương 63: Spoils

'There actually are cultivators of Immortality! And I just fought with one!' Unfortunately, the situation wasn't suitable for enjoying the discovery. The battle was ongoing, and Shu Yang had to help. He put the book back in the pouch, closed it, and tucked it into his shirt. Then he called for Xiaorong, and the two hurried toward where he had spotted Shen Ye.

'There might be other cultivators around; I need to stay alert so I don't get caught unaware.'

'Hopefully, thinking they are invisible is a common theme among them. They should be a lot more sloppy in their approach that way.' Shu Yang didn't think he would have had much time to react if the man who attacked him had sneaked up on him; the man had been moving incredibly fast.

"You're here!" Shen Ye called out when he saw Shu Yang running toward him.

"Sorry, I was delayed by an enemy," Shu Yang said. Shen Ye wasn't participating in the battle himself. He had occupied a small hill in the middle of the camp where he could overlook the situation and issue commands.

"An enemy?" Shen Ye asked, looking into the distance behind Shu Yang, "Are they coming from the back too?"

"Not that I could see. The one who attacked me was…" Shu Yang hesitated slightly; there were other people around, so he didn't want to reveal too much. He wasn't planning on hiding the incident from Shen Ye, though. He needed to be aware of the potential danger. So he took a step closer to Shen Ye and continued in a low voice, "He should be from the Land Beyond the Mountains."

"What are you talking about?" Shen Ye asked with a frown.

"You haven't heard stories about the Immortals?" Shu Yang asked.

"Of course I have. You're telling me someone from those stories is here?" Shen Ye asked, looking a little irritated.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Shu Yang asked, rolling his eyes. He knew that most people only thought those stories to be just that, stories. But Shu Yang had always believed they held some truth to them, and now he was more certain than ever.

"I'll show you his body later, and you'll know. His body is much weaker than that of an Innate warrior, but he could move faster than a Master. He also…whatever, we'll talk about it later. What you need to know is that he came straight to me, going for the kill. I'm guessing he was planning on taking out the Masters before helping out in the battle. I don't know if there are others, so keep your guard up."

"Why would an Immortal care about us?" Shen Ye asked, looking deeply at Shu Yang to see if he was making some kind of joke.

"Whatever! Just be careful! Trust your sens-... your senses," Shu Yang finished speaking, slightly dazed. He knew Shen Ye wouldn't be able to see through their invisibility, so he had to stay alert and trust his instincts. That had made him remember the letter he had received earlier in the day from Tianhu.

'He said someone was watching him…Could it be that it wasn't a love rival, but a cultivator?'

'But why would they be watching Tianhu?'

"Right. We'll talk after the battle is over; stick around and be prepared to take action. Things are looking a bit grim," Shen Ye said, disengaging from the conversation and turning his attention to the battle once again.

"Yeah," Shu Yang answered absent-mindedly, still thinking about the cultivator.

'Perhaps they weren't targeting Tianhu; they are targeting everyone! I really don't know if I would be able to tell if I was being watched or not, but Tianhu has comprehended sword intent; it's not strange for his senses to be stronger than normal.'

'Perhaps they were originally looking at Xiaoshi, but Tianhu's vigilance made them pay attention to him. The cultivator who came here seemed pretty quick to assume I had a trait that let me see him. Perhaps they are planning on taking Tianhu away as well!'

'But… why watch us? Why not take action?' The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Shu Yang thought hard about it, but he couldn't be sure about the reason. He wasn't even sure he had been watched beforehand. It's not certain that it is a cultivator targeting Tianhu either. Still, that was the best theory he had. As for why they didn't attack immediately, Shu Yang realized that these cultivators might have some strange tricks, but they were actually quite weak.

It might be too dangerous to attack without an army backing them up.

'Besides…If they are targeting Masters all across the battlefront, they wouldn't want the news to spread before they had a chance to take action.'

'Does that mean this isn't the only attack? Is the same thing happening all along the border?' Shu Yang felt a chill run down his spine at the thought. There had been news of a large enemy force gathering for a long time now, but there hadn't been any big battle so far. If there were more cultivators than the one he had just encountered, and if they all were targeting the Masters… Wouldn't the frontline completely collapse? That was a terrifying thought.

It would really be hard for the Yan Kingdom to hold on if the Luo Kingdom were overrun.

'There is not much I can do about it now, unfortunately.' Tianhu was weeks away, and there was no way to warn him in time. Shu Yang looked out over the battlefield. He felt a little useless not helping, but he was used to it by now. He knew that a Master couldn't risk his life just to kill a few martial warriors.

'I should rest for now and leave everything to Shen Ye.' Shu Yang had just finished his morning practice not long ago, and then had a near-death encounter. He could use some time to recover. He walked away a bit, getting some distance from the others. He could still clearly see Shen Ye, though, and would be able to help if called for.

"Xiaorong, can you keep an eye on things for me? Warn me immediately if you see someone like that man approach," Shu Yang said to the black fox on his shoulder. He was quite at ease leaving things to Xiaorong; she should be able to make out these people just as well, if not better, than he could. Besides, if no other cultivator had attacked by now, he doubted there were any around. So Shu Yang took the opportunity to look through the spatial pouch he had taken from the cultivator.

He was still amazed when he looked inside it. It was just too strange that such a large space could be contained within such a small pouch. He moved his hand under the pouch but couldn't feel any obstruction.

'This is incredibly practical. I wonder how they are made. Are they rare in the Land Beyond the Mountains?' Shu Yang felt more curious than ever about this world and couldn't help but imagine what kind of place these people came from. He reached into the pouch and took out the things inside one by one. Some clothes and weapons were there, but Shu Yang couldn't tell if there was anything special about them. Then, he noticed a small glass jar with pills. He pulled it out of the pouch and examined it closely.

'I don't recognize these. They shouldn't be from here.'

'Trying one without knowing what it does seems a bit risky, but it would be a waste to just leave them be.'

'He wouldn't carry anything poisonous with him, right?'

'Whatever, I'll think about it later.' Aside from the pills, the other items in the pouch seemed to be mundane travel essentials. But just as he was disappointed that there was nothing else, he noticed a few small pieces of paper in a bundle.

'Isn't this what he threw out at me before freezing me?' The papers were about the size of his palm, and there were 12 in total. They seemed to be of three different kinds, judging by the patterns drawn on them.

'Talismans?'

'These are true treasures! If I can figure out how to make these things work, it could be life-saving.'

'But experimenting myself might be dangerous, and it would be a shame to waste even a single one.'

'If more cultivators are around, perhaps I can capture one of them and question him about these things.' Shu Yang put the talismans back into the pouch and brought out the book he had taken a quick glance at earlier.

'Or perhaps this thing will have some answers for me.'

"Shu Yang!" Shen Ye called out.

"What do you need?" Shu Yang called back, hurriedly stuffing the book back into the pouch and running up to Shen Ye.

"Were you injured in your fight earlier? Or do you think you can go down to help?" Shen Ye asked.

"I'm fine," Shu Yang answered. He saw the situation too; even without that cultivator, this wasn't an easy fight. The battle wasn't as chaotic now that Shen Ye had taken charge, and some sort of line of defense had been established. But their forces were still being overwhelmed; if things continued like this, he and Shen Ye would likely have to abandon the army soon and make a run for it. Shu Yang doubted there wasn't a Master or two at the back issuing commands.

'I'll think about everything later; there is nothing I can do about it now either way.' Rushing down the hillside to help, he quickly felt his connection to Tianhu, making sure he was still alive.

'With his senses, he should be okay, right?'