"Junior Sister, we stayed by the riverbank too long earlier. Our remaining aura hasn't fully dispersed there, so these golden pheasants must have sensed our presence and avoided the trap we set."
Yu Yuanhai thought for a moment and realized the problem.
Yu Jiajia listened to Zong Fan's explanation and understood their rookie mistake. She scratched her head and asked,
"Senior Brother, what should we do now? Should we cast a formation to disperse our aura?"
"No need. Several waves of wild beasts and spiritual beasts have already passed here, diluting our lingering aura. Let's just wait a bit longer."
The group continued to hide in the grass, waiting for a golden pheasant to fall into their trap. After about fifteen minutes, a late-stage first-grade golden pheasant appeared in their view.
A late first-grade spiritual beast is roughly equivalent to late Qi Refinement stage. All ten held their breath, carefully suppressing their aura. If they revealed even a bit, they would not stand a chance against this golden pheasant.
The pheasant stood about one meter tall, with sharp claws on sandy yellow feet and sleek black feathers. A large, bright red comb on its head gave it an imposing look.
It carefully strode toward the river, scanning its surroundings vigilantly. After confirming no other spiritual beasts were nearby, it cautiously moved closer to the water.
The young disciples' eyes gleamed with excitement. This time, they might succeed.
Sure enough, in the next moment, the golden pheasant fell into the pit trap. A loud clucking echoed, making everyone's ears ache. They all covered their ears with their hands.
Zong Fan reacted first, drawing his sword and rushing to the pit's edge. He swung his sword at the trapped pheasant, causing feathers to fly everywhere. The juniors quickly moved forward to assist Senior Brother, but things took an unexpected turn. The pheasant flapped its wings and flew out of the pit.
Once on the ground, it spread its wings and pecked fiercely at the approaching group. Feathers scattered like a storm, and the children screamed.
The hidden guards had twitching lips. From this rookie behavior, they knew these kids had never really hunted spiritual beasts before. Luckily, numbers were on their side. With swords and talismans, the golden pheasant soon realized it was outmatched. It flew out of the battle circle and vanished into the grass.
"Chase!"
Someone shouted. The juniors raised their swords and gave pursuit.
"Senior Brother, if we follow behind it, can we find its nest? There must be more golden pheasants there."
Yu Jiajia's hope sounded optimistic.
"That's uncertain. Let's follow and see."
They chased the golden pheasant deeper into the outskirts. After about five more li, they were about to enter the inner region. The guards were about to warn them when Zong Fan noticed the danger first and immediately called a halt.
"Everyone stop. Going deeper leads to the inner region. Our cultivation is insufficient. The inner region is too dangerous."
Yu Jiajia stomped in frustration but obeyed and stopped the others who wanted to continue chasing.
"Listen to Senior Brother. The inner region has second-grade and above spiritual beasts. We can't handle them."
The group felt downhearted. They had found a large golden pheasant but ended up letting it escape.
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, look over there—is that glowing?"
The youngest disciple pointed to a gap among piled rocks.
Everyone looked where he pointed and saw a faint, lustrous glow coming from the gap between the stones.
"Is there treasure inside?"
They all asked each other uncertainly. Yu Jiajia, braver than most, cautiously stepped closer to the stones. Zong Fan immediately pulled her back and said carefully,
"We don't know what's inside. It's better not to enter."
The juniors huddled together cautiously but remained very curious about what might be inside. Finally, wealthy Yu Jiajia pulled out a talisman from her storage pouch.
"This is an exploration talisman, used to inspect places we cannot enter. The Ancestor gave me two."
She proudly showed it off. The others crowded around to see the special talisman. Only Zong Fan kept a vigilant watch around them.
After examining it, Yu Jiajia formed a hand seal. The talisman transformed into a spirit bird that flew into the gap between the stones in the direction she pointed. She then took a palm-sized mirror from her pouch, tapped it with her finger, and a live image appeared.
Through the spirit bird's eyes, they saw a pitch-black cave inside. Many objects hung from the ceiling, but it was too dark to see clearly.
Yu Jiajia rubbed the mirror hard. Suddenly the image flickered and became intermittent. The talisman seemed to be attacked by something and fell.
During its fall, Yu Jiajia saw an unbelievable scene that left her speechless for a long time.
Zong Fan also saw it and turned pale. He told everyone,
"Retreat."
He immediately called his Martial Uncle for reinforcements.
Without Zong Fan's orders, the hidden guards had already revealed themselves, quietly lifting the juniors and silently withdrawing from the rock area.
At that moment, Yu Yuanhai sent a message to Jian Wu Jūnshàng, then escorted the group to the rendezvous point while sending word to the other team to retreat quickly.
Jia Yushu and Zhao Yunhai's team, upon receiving the news, knew something had happened. Without asking, they led their remaining eleven members to swiftly leave the Putuo Mountain outskirts.
Less than fifteen minutes after the teams merged, Jian Dan Zūnzhàng arrived by teleportation light. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Jian Lu Zūnzhàng. Yu Jiajia ran over.
"Zūnzhàng, Jia Jia and the team found that terrifying place."
She patted her small chest nervously.
"Good. Are you all safe?"
Jian Dan touched Yu Jiajia's bun and asked the others.
"All safe."
In fact, the moment she landed, Jian Dan's divine sense scanned everyone. This was just a routine inquiry.
Obediently, Yu Jiajia handed Jian Dan the small mirror and explained everything from start to finish. Zong Fan supplemented the details. The mirror's image was frozen on screen.
The spirit bird talisman had fallen, and the image was upside down. Inside was a cultivator wrapped in reddish-brown vine-like branches. His face was withered, looking like a skeleton draped with human skin. Bones lay scattered around him.
A fierce light flashed in Jian Dan's eyes. She passed the mirror to Master Jue Song.
"Amitabha! I never expected such a place existed in Putuo Mountain."
"Master Jue Song, have you not returned to the sect yet?"
Jian Dan asked directly. Since this involved evil cultivators, she was shocked the culprits dared to bury a blood pool cave right beneath the Buddhist Sect's mountain gate.
Master Jue Song immediately understood. During his absence, something serious had happened. Without beating around the bush, he asked Jian Dan,
"I have just returned from an expedition and have not yet returned to the sect. Jian Lu Daoyou, what do you know? Could you tell me?"
"Of course. Heavenly Sword Sect has warned other sects. I believe the Buddhist Sect has recently received our flying sword letter."
With that, Jian Dan handed Master Jue Song a jade slip.