While Del Mo and Meng Bo were discussing, a gate slowly began to open, and from there, Yang Zhai came out step by step.
She is an intelligent woman, and I am sure she will not attack me blindly without reason. If she does, I can simply teleport away from here. Yang Zhai thought carefully. Eleca hung quietly by his waist, as though ready to get him out of this place at any moment.
"This disciple greets Elder Del Mo. I was wondering if you needed something from me…"
Yang Zhai came out of the gate saying this with a slight bow.
"Oh, it's you…" Del Mo was surprised to see Yang Zhai appear out of the gate that just opened.
"Yes, Elder, I am Yang Zhai, disciple of Elder Yu Hao," Yang Zhai replied politely and respectfully.
"What are you doing here? If I am not mistaken, Yu Hao and the others should already have reached the Iron Clad Sect," Del Mo inquired in a calm tone.
"About that… we encountered the Cloud Serpent and became separated from one another more than a month ago."
"I see… but how did you manage to survive for so long? For a mere rank five cultivator, it should not be possible to survive even a single day in the ocean, let alone an entire month," Del Mo asked with a composed expression.
I expected her to ask this question right away. This should take her thoughts in the direction I want and keep her from thinking otherwise. Considering my rank, I am no threat to her, so I doubt she will kill me directly. However, I must make her curious about me in order to increase my chances of getting out of this situation alive. After that, I will need to prove my usefulness to her so that she will let me go.
"It is because of the gate behind me…" Yang Zhai said as he pointed behind him.
"And what is that supposed to mean…"
"It is a storage space that I found when I was out exploring the world."
"Can I enter it as well?"
"Yes, Elder Mo, you can."
"Good, then let us see how this storage space of yours is supposed to look."
As Del Mo said this, she descended, broke the barrier around the sealed gate, and entered inside, followed closely by Meng Bo.
Yang Zhai followed after them.
When Del Mo and Meng Bo entered, they were shocked at the sight. Even though Del Mo managed to keep her composure, Meng Bo could not, as his eyes widened in disbelief.
What they saw was a huge army of hounds. That was not all. There were also thousands of hound corpses lying there, and it looked as though they had only just died recently.
"You… are you sure you are just a rank five cultivator and only a boy of around sixteen years old…" Meng Bo muttered.
It is not that nobody can control an army this large. Cultivators can control armies hundreds and thousands of times greater in both number and strength than this. The problem is that he is only a mere rank five cultivator, and he is not even that old. Controlling an army this big requires immense willpower, and at his age, it should not be possible.
Del Mo thought carefully as she looked at the army ahead of her.
"You… are you really just a rank five cultivator…" Meng Bo said again as his eyes remained fixed on the army.
He could not believe that someone at rank five could control so much.
"Elder, this is the space I used for the past month to hide and travel slowly toward my destination," Yang Zhai said after entering the inheritance space.
"Interesting…" Del Mo muttered as she looked toward Yang Zhai.
"But I still do not understand how you managed to travel so far without being detected by even a single beast?" Del Mo asked.
"About that, my body was born with the ability to hide my presence for a while. I used that ability to travel while remaining hidden."
"I see. For how long would you travel each day?"
She is too clever, asking about every detail. Even the smallest mistake and I am sure she would use it as an excuse to pressure me. If that happens, I will have no choice but to act as though I have been subdued and listen to her commands, losing my freedom. She might even use control methods on me. I cannot use Eleca unless the situation becomes so severe that it reaches the point of life and death or no other choice is left.
"More than half a night."
"More than half a night? Considering you are only a rank five cultivator, including your pace without encountering beasts along the way, you should already have been far ahead of this place… Did you fight beasts along the way? Is this why there are so many corpses of the water hounds lying here?" Del Mo analyzed everything quickly. She realized that Yang Zhai's pace did not match with his current location.
And even if he had, he should not have been delayed this much. This is the ocean, and such a low-ranked army of hounds does not have the ability to fight many battles here. Not to mention, this is just a weak army, and since he still has so many left, it means he did not have more than a few fights, at most two.
"About that, I rested on the island on the way here," Yang Zhai replied.
"Hmm, but there is no island on the way here…" Del Mo said in a casual tone.
No island? How could that be possible? Could she be lying? But it does not seem so… what is happening here…
Yang Zhai appeared confused as he said,
"No, Elder Mo, I did encounter it on the way here. Perhaps you missed it."
"Are you sure you are not lying to me?"
"No, Elder Mo, why would I lie to you? I am certain it was there, as I stopped to rest upon it."
"How far is it?"
"It has barely been two days since I left."
"Fine, then it should not be far. Meng Bo, go with someone and check whether there is an island we missed."
Meng Bo nodded and left.
After a while, he returned.
"Elder Mo, I could not find any island," Meng Bo said when he came back.
Damn, Del Mo will use this against me no matter what. Whether they found the island or not no longer matters. Yang Zhai thought silently. Outwardly, however, his expression was that of confusion, as though even he could not believe that the island had disappeared or whether it had ever been there at all.
!<-<-<-§!§->->->!