Checkmate

  There was a commotion outside the door. Someone ran upstairs and heavily knocked on one of the doors.

  Someone was shouting loudly: "Open the door! Open all the doors!"

  After a moment, several doors opened one after another. Someone spoke in an unfriendly tone: "Who are you? Why do you disturb my quiet?"

  "What instructions does senior have?"

  A loud and arrogant voice shouted: "The Purple Mist Sect is searching for traitors, everyone come out!"

  Someone shouted: "This is not the territory of the Purple Mist Sect, how dare you be so arrogant?!"

  His response was a deep "Hmmm!" followed by an aura of pressure unique to Foundation Stage cultivators.

  The stranger's song gave him a shock, he turned his head to look at Second Uncle.

  Ye Jiang also opened his eyes at this time and furrowed his brow.

  "Second Uncle?" Mo Tian Ge called out in a low voice. Searching for the traitor... At present, among the three factions under the name of Zi Xia Sect, there hasn't been any turmoil, most of them came for her.

  Ye Jiang shook his head slightly: "Don't be nervous, outside there is only one foundation-building early-stage cultivator and a few Qi-refining cultivators. If they are really coming for us, we can just run away then."

  Moy Tian Ge nodded, but her heart was still uneasy. Although she disguised herself as a woman and Er Shu rarely appeared in public, if it were really the Yun Wu Sect coming to capture her, they wouldn't have difficulty recognizing her...

  "Open up! Open up!" They finally knocked on their door.

  Under Second Uncle's hint, Mo Tian Ge pretended to be disturbed and very displeased, went to open the door: "Who is so rude?"

  As soon as the door opened, it was indeed a disciple of Yunwu Sect wearing a blue robe. Because the name of Yunwu Sect no longer exists today, they call themselves Zixia Sect.

  "Meng Tian Ge looked at the knocking cultivator and said coldly: 'What brings this fellow daoist here?'"

  The disciple of the Refining Qi Sect who was knocking on their door was about to speak, when the leader, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, said: "Young ones, we are disciples of the Purple Mist Sect's Cloud and Fog Mountain, and have been ordered by our sect to search for traitors. You should go and inform your master, so as not to cause any misunderstandings."

  He spoke politely, but with an arrogant tone, and it was clear that he only spared a search because there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator present.

  Mò Tiān Gē saw him and pretended to be respectful, bowing slightly, then returned to the house to report to his elders.

  Who would have thought that as soon as she returned home, her second uncle's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately pulled her hand out of the broken window.

  "Second Uncle?!" Mo Tian Ge was shocked. As they moved, those Yun Wu Pai disciples had already rushed over. Once they saw the two of them clearly, that Jie Dan cultivator immediately snorted and activated his flying magical tool to chase after them.

  "Second Uncle, what's wrong?" She didn't understand, as these people hadn't even noticed yet.

  Ye Jiang said lightly: "You dress up as a woman and pay respects, but your mannerisms haven't changed."

  The stranger's song made him pause for a moment, and he suddenly felt regret. Normally, only men would use the gesture of clasping their hands together as a greeting, and if others thought about it carefully, their identities would undoubtedly be exposed.

  "Don't be stunned!" Ye Jiang shouted, as he and Moke Tiansong flew westward on their flying artifact.

  The Foundation Repairman who was chasing after them chased for a while. Unable to catch up, he stopped in frustration, took out several transmission talismans and sent them out before continuing the chase again.

  One chased and one fled, instantly flying away from this small town.

  Ye Jiang gritted his teeth and swallowed a small pill, then flew away with all his might.

  Mò Tiān Gē nervously looked at him, then glanced back.

  Although Second Uncle is in the middle of the foundation building stage, his cultivation is higher than some others, but after all, he has injuries on his body and is close to sitting and becoming a Buddha, so his cultivation has been discounted. Compared with this early-stage foundation building cultivator, there isn't much advantage, let alone that his flying tool doesn't take speed as its victory.

  Half an hour later, Mo Tian Ge tensely discovered that their distance was gradually getting closer.

  Ye Jiang exerted himself once more, but it was a chest-piercing pain, and his whole body went numb for an instant. He took a deep breath with great effort and swallowed another dan pill.

  "Second Uncle. You..."

  "Shut up!" Ye Jiang handed her a talisman, "This is the Ding Shan Talisman, when we start fighting later, you just stick it on yourself and hide to one side!"

  Moy Tian Ge grasped the token in his hand, understanding that Er Shu was planning to confront him head-on. If they continued chasing each other like this, he would eventually be caught up with. It was better to directly eliminate the opponent and hide his tracks once again.

  She clenched her fists, unable to express how much she hated herself. She finally realized that compared to Second Uncle, she was far too inferior! Without real power, what use was a little cleverness? She was still far from true greatness! For now, she could do nothing but let Second Uncle take the risk and fight for his life with others...

  Two rays of light flashed by, the one in front finally fell down, and the one behind stopped for a moment before catching up.

  Ye Jiang stopped in a clearing between the trees and pushed Mo Tian Ge behind a boulder, coldly staring at the approaching cultivator.

  This man in his thirties, with a proud and arrogant expression, seemed to be a favored person within the sect. As soon as he descended, he raised his chin and said: "You are the senior of that Ye Xiaotian?"

  Ye Jiang didn't answer, he just waved his hand and took out a palm-sized jade plate.

  Seeing his reaction, the cultivator's face changed and he coldly snorted: "Are you looking to make an enemy of the Purple Mist Sect?"

  Yue Jiang said: "Your Excellency has been ordered to capture people, I will never let the younger generation be taken away, what else is there to say?"

  He's so arrogant. This made the monk very unhappy, and he sneered: "Do you know who Ye Xiaotian offended? You're just a foundation-building monk, yet you've declined to this point, do you still want to fight to the death with a master of the Congealing Dan stage?"

  "Cut the nonsense, if you want to stop us, just try it!"

  As soon as his words fell, his hand shook, and the jade plate was already flying in mid-air. At the same time, he probed into the Qiankun bag, and a thin flying knife flew out silently.

  Yu Pan took action, and immediately enlarged, Ye Jiang's several spiritual incantations were printed on Yu Pan, only to see Yu Pan quickly spinning around, instantly emitting a strong sense of pressure.

  He saw that his opponent was not hesitant in the slightest, with multiple techniques connecting seamlessly. In an instant, he knew that this opponent had extremely rich combat experience. Any loose cultivator or those who were impoverished and defeated would not be able to withstand a single blow, or their techniques would be sharp and far surpassing their peers. The one before him was clearly the latter. Thinking of this, his heart grew apprehensive. Suddenly, he became flustered.

  Ye Jiang showed no mercy, the final spiritual key was released, and the Yu disk had grown as large as a mat, shining brightly. With a loud "Boom", it struck the cultivator's body.

  He hastily dodged to one side, barely avoiding the blow, but was knocked off his feet by the powerful force, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

  Ye Jiang succeeded with one blow, but he was not much better off either. His face turned even paler and his aged face gradually turned cyan-gray. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

  "Second Uncle!" Mò Tiān Gē hastily stepped forward to support his swaying body.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, the monk regained his composure, a look of murder flashed across his face, and he swiftly drew his sword to stab at the two.

  Ye Jiang opened his eyes, using his last bit of strength to push Mo Tian Ge away. He fell back into the palm of his hand, and the two strands of spiritual energy entwined together, struggling against each other.

  Blood kept flowing from the corner of his mouth as he stared at his gruesome opponent, Ye Jiang struggled to resist.

  At this time, Mo Tian Ge also couldn't help but take out all the talismans on his body and throw them at the cultivator.

  But it was useless, the opponent simply raised a protective shield, and all her attacking methods were ineffective.

  That's the difference between refining Qi and building foundation, she can't help at all.

  "Pffft!" Another mouthful of fresh blood, Yu Pan's voice let out a crisp sound, and the flying sword shattered at the same time as his opponent's.

  Yu Pan and Fei Jian's fragments fell down, Ye Jiang also exhausted at the same time.

  The other party saw this, took out another flying sword, and was about to kill him with one sword. However, just as he was about to release the flying sword, he looked down at his own chest in disbelief. Just a moment ago, without him noticing, a flying dagger had entered it, taking his life.

  The two fell down simultaneously with a loud thud.

  "Second Uncle!" Moke Tiansong rushed over, frantically searching for the healing medicine, and fed it to him.

  Ye Jiang managed to swallow the medicine with difficulty, but then spat out a mouthful of blood.

  "Second uncle, hold on a bit longer, there's still medicine here, and..."

  After a while, Ye Jiang finally stopped vomiting blood and opened his mouth with difficulty: "Quickly, let's hurry up..."

  Moy Tian Ge shed tears and nodded, cleaning up the scene to temporarily cover up the traces of the fight. He helped Er Shu up and they stumbled down the mountain.

  After several hours, Mo Tian Ge and his companion arrived at a small village at the foot of the mountain.

  This small village was home to many ordinary people. Mo Tian Ge didn't dare disturb them, so he quietly settled down in a broken hut outside the village.

  "Second Uncle, Second Uncle!"

  Ye Jiang finally woke up, he struggled to open his eyes and took out a Yu Bei from the Qian Kun bag with difficulty, handing it over to her.

  Mò Tiān Gē dazedly took over: "This..."

  Ye Jiang's voice was as gentle as a wandering thread: "Crushed...".

  This... is a Wanli Transmission Symbol! Mo Tian Ge hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed Second Uncle's orders and crushed the Yu card.

  The jade pendant shattered and a burst of bright light exploded from within, lasting for a while before extinguishing again.

  In a daze, Mo Tian Ge felt that the aura in this jade pendant seemed very familiar...

  She saw her pinch the jade slip, Ye Jiang breathed a sigh of relief, and with her help sat up cross-legged, swallowing an elixir pill to heal his wounds.

  At the same time, in the sky above Yunwu Mountain, many foundation-building monks flew back and forth, slowly gathering towards this side.

  Another half hour passed before Ye Jiang finally opened his eyes.

  "Second Uncle!" Meng Tian Ge exclaimed in surprise, "Are you better now, Second Uncle?"

  Ye Jiang gently shook his head, his breathing still weak: "Xiao Tian... Second Uncle, can't hold on anymore..."

  The sky is singing a silly song, can't hold on? Is...is saying...

  Ye Jiang leaned against the wall, weakly gasping: "It's no use... Dan Yao is of no use anymore... Second Uncle just forcibly stimulated his spiritual energy, triggering his injury..."

  "Second Uncle..." Tears fell uncontrollably as she muttered, "Second Uncle, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all because I was too stupid..."

  Ye Jiang smiled and held her hand: "Kids... will always make mistakes, can watch you grow up, Second Uncle is very happy..."

  He looked up at the sky outside and sighed: "Just hope... just hope it's not too late..."

  The song of the wild sky did not alleviate her self-blame in the slightest. If it weren't for her, Second Uncle wouldn't have had to flee from Xikunwu; if it weren't for her, Second Uncle wouldn't have been severely injured by the Thunder Beast; if it weren't for her, Second Uncle wouldn't have had to force himself to take action...

  It's all because of that detestable physique, if only I had known... If only I had known it would be like this, why not go to the Xuanqing Gate back then? Second Uncle said there might be a chance to form a dan, and Tianqiao wouldn't be implicated by her either. Compared to the life and death of loved ones, what's losing the freedom of marriage?

  Time passed minute by minute, and those monks finally found the hidden traces of Doufa in the forest. With this as the center, they began to search step by step.

  At this time, in the sky above Yunwu Mountain, a magnificent and shocking light appeared, hundreds of times stronger than the foundation-building cultivators, sweeping towards the west.

  Thank you for your reward of 5,000 years without regret, Liyan. Thanks a lot @