Chapter 639 - 363: Northern Desert (Part 3)
What is the concept of the Saint Wheel of a Saint Wheel Realm expert?
The stepping-stone to becoming immortal. If you could acquire it, you could save at least a hundred years of arduous cultivation.
Who could endure this? Various sects and gangs began searching across the land for the whereabouts of the Bitter-faced Monkey, determined to seize the treasure from him and achieve their own great ambitions.
The Common People’s District is a renowned intelligence network. In most cases, the information you want can be purchased within this influence.
The Common People’s District recruits a large number of disciples every year and then sends them out to collect all sorts of information.
Meaningful or insignificant, important or trivial, they gather everything. You never know what information you might need; this substantial stockpile is the reason why the Common People’s District can become a famous force across the land.
The Bitter-faced Monkey had also once bought information from the Common People’s District and benefited greatly, but he never imagined that one day, his closest people would sell him out as intelligence. It’s truly an immense irony.
In a helpless situation, the Bitter-faced Monkey had to go into hiding, fleeing to the Northern Desert with the Saint Wheel. This place is the sparsest in human population under the heavens; escaping here makes it exceedingly difficult for others to find him.
At the far horizon, vast swaths of clouds began to darken, rendering the entire sky ominously shadowed.
Simultaneously, the yellow sands in the distance churned, and under the force of the gale, three tornadoes carried thousands of catties of sand skyward, forming the natural disaster most dreaded by the Northern Desert residents.
Sandstorm.
"Better find a place to hide; this is ferocious and hard to resist." The Bitter-faced Monkey scratched his head, then began digging in place, attempting to dig a large hole to bury himself in.
In the face of a sufficiently powerful natural calamity, even a Grandmaster can only succumb, not daring to resist.
As the Bitter-faced Monkey was digging, a sudden melodious bell sound started resonating, approaching steadily from afar.
The Bitter-faced Monkey’s body instantly tensed, fully alert, as he drew the saber from his waist and looked toward the direction of the bell’s sound.
In the gray sky, a large figure was approaching. As it neared, it was revealed to be a toweringly sturdy man sitting on a camel’s back, with an axe strapped to his back. He appeared to be a martial artist.
"Hey, friend, do you know how far the nearest oasis is from here?" the man on the camel asked in a deep, muffled voice.
This man was Qin Yuesheng’s first incarnation, earlier sent north to deal with a rebel incident, known as Qin Killer.
"I don’t know; find it yourself." The Bitter-faced Monkey, having no idea if the opposite party was there to hunt him, replied coldly, with a tone full of refusal.
Qin Killer looked at the Bitter-faced Monkey, "Friend, the sandstorm is coming. The Northern Desert’s sandstorm is far more severe than you think. Digging a pit to hide in won’t work; I suggest you quickly find an oasis, that’s the only way to survive."
"I know myself; you needn’t bother." The Bitter-faced Monkey continued in a cold voice.
Qin Killer shook his head, then patted the camel’s hump, signaling it to continue forward.
Watching Qin Killer’s departing figure, the Bitter-faced Monkey resumed digging the pit.
As a Grandmaster, his ability to withstand natural disasters cannot be compared to ordinary people, so the Bitter-faced Monkey did not take Qin Killer’s words to heart. He soon dug a pit large enough to conceal two people, covering it with Inner Strength to prevent the surrounding sand from filling it.
Lying in the pit and sealing the opening, the Bitter-faced Monkey began waiting silently for the sandstorm to pass so he could crawl out and continue his journey.
In the distance, three figures appeared, three black-clad individuals wearing black bamboo hats wielding knives traversing the desert. Ahead of them, a hairless, slender-boned black dog sniffed earnestly at the sand.
In the nine provinces under the heavens, there are Grandmasters who choose anonymity and focus on arduous cultivation, and there are also those whose fame spreads far and wide.
The Xiao family brothers belong to the latter.
As time passed, no one remembered the real names of the Xiao family brothers; everyone universally referred to them as: Soul Chaser, Life-taking, and Soul Lock.
The three brothers of the Xiao family were exceptionally fortunate, being three Grandmasters from one family. This achievement was unique across the nine provinces, although they hadn’t established any power, their deterrence and notorious reputation kept the top ten sects of the Central Plains from easily provoking them.
As their nicknames suggest, these three were highly adept at killing. Once someone was targeted by them, unless possessing overwhelming strength, their outcome was invariably tragic.
Once the news spread that the Bitter-faced Monkey had a Saint Wheel, the Xiao brothers took immediate interest and, along with an exotic beast black dog, pursued the Bitter-faced Monkey’s trail northward.
This was something the Bitter-faced Monkey never anticipated.
"The Bitter-faced Monkey is truly cunning. Others thought he was hiding in the Central Plains, but no one expected him to have already fled to the Northern Desert. Without our dog, finding him would be harder than reaching the sky," Soul Chaser said.
"The Northern Desert is vast, and the sand is constantly blown by the wind. Even with the help of the black dog, finding the Bitter-faced Monkey isn’t easy," Life-taking shook his head.
As a Grandmaster, the Bitter-faced Monkey naturally possesses extraordinary means, making him not so easily found as imagined.
"Howl, howl, howl! Howl, howl, howl!"
Just then, the black dog, which had been sniffing the ground, suddenly raised its head and howled, its ears standing erect as it barked loudly toward a sandy pit not far away.
The Xiao family brothers’ eyes instantly gleamed with excitement as they rushed toward that spot.
Upon hearing barking outside, the Bitter-faced Monkey hiding in the pit immediately sensed something was amiss.
Where in this desolate desert would there be a dog, and where did that dog come from?
In a flash of inspiration, he understood.
Someone must have caught up!
In an instant, the Bitter-faced Monkey pressed his palms against the ground, the tremendous Palm Force propelling his body to soar skyward.
At that moment, under the dim light of dusk, the Bitter-faced Monkey saw the figures of the Xiao family brothers, and his face darkened: "Damn, it’s those three! This is trouble."
The Xiao family brothers were adept at combination techniques. Facing them alone was not simple or easy; at the slightest mistake, his life today might end here.