The two of them pressed on without stopping, traveling day and night. They skirted Dongting Lake, Mount Tianmu, and Wuling Mountain, until at last they reached Wulong Mountain. By the time they arrived at the foot of the mountain, their true qi was so depleted that exhaustion weighed heavily on them.

Tigerheaded Dragon glanced at the winding mountain road ahead. “Do we keep going? Or should we rest a while?”

Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “The sooner the better. We can’t afford any delay.”

Tigerheaded Dragon clenched his fist. “Alright, then. Let’s push through and reach the Zhuoshui battlefield in one go.”

On the evening of the third day since leaving Shenwu Mountain, a wide river came into view, stretching from north to south and blocking their path. “Is this the Zhuoshui?” Tigerheaded Dragon asked wearily. “It seems awfully quiet…”

Liu Xiaolou had been here before and knew the terrain. Pointing north, he said, “The battlefield is fifty li upstream. This is the southern inlet of the Zhuoshui. Rest here for an hour.”

Relieved, Tigerheaded Dragon dropped onto a pile of grass, limbs sprawled, staring at the sunset in the distance. His eyelids grew heavy. Over the past few years, his cultivation had advanced another layer, now at the seventh layer. Two layers above Liu Xiaolou. But since his focus was on body cultivation, his cultivating in spiritual sense was comparatively lacking. His body was fine, but the weariness in his spirit was impossible to resist. He was the first to give in, slipping into a deep sleep.

He had barely fallen asleep when Liu Xiaolou slapped him awake. Blinking groggily, he opened his eyes to see a wooden fork in front of him, with a plucked mountain pheasant skewered on it.

Rubbing his eyes, he got to his feet. “I’ll make a fire.”

Liu Xiaolou stopped him. “What fire? We may be far from the battlefield, but we’re still within the range of both sides. We can’t risk patrols from Gengsang Cave or the Zhanglong Sect noticing us.”

With that, he bit straight into the pheasant’s wing, chewing noisily with it still in his mouth.

Watching him eat raw chicken, Tigerheaded Dragon swallowed hard. For all his burly, rough appearance, thanks to body cultivation, he had grown up in comfort as a scion of the Jiao clan, allied by marriage with the prestigious Cai family of Longhu. He had never in his life eaten raw meat.

But with Liu Xiaolou eating it without hesitation, he couldn’t bring himself to look soft. Gritting his teeth, he shut his eyes and bit into his own pheasant, its pale flesh still streaked with blood. The stench was overwhelming at first, and he forced himself to swallow quickly. After a few more bites, though, he noticed a faint sweetness hidden beneath the gaminess. It wasn’t entirely unbearable.

Night had fully settled in. Liu Xiaolou and Tigerheaded Dragon, stomachs filled, crouched by the riverbank, eyes wide open as they swept their gaze back and forth across the stretch of water before them.

The autumn wind stirred, carrying a bite of chill with it.

“Tigerheaded Dragon, do you see anything?”

“Nothing. Are you sure it’ll be Badong cultivators patrolling here? Why not the western Xian ones?”

“I’m not sure… let’s go.”

They rose and leapt onto the water, using the technique of Treading on Reeds to dart swiftly across. Behind them, the river surface burst into two lines of foamy white spray.

The river was twenty-odd zhang wide, but in moments they were across. No sooner had they reached the far bank than they dropped flat among the reeds, not daring to raise their heads.

From upstream, a streak of sword light glided slowly over the Zhuoshui. The glow stirred up a mist from the river, which drifted down and chilled their necks like ice.

Neither dared to look up. They pressed themselves lower, wishing they could sink straight into the mud.

Someone flying on a sword… that meant at least Golden Core!

The glow continued drifting downstream, gradually fading into the distance. Only then did Liu Xiaolou lift his head and let out a long breath.

“From Gengsang Cave?” Tigerheaded Dragon narrowed his eyes at the sword light, now three or four li away, curiosity written all over his face.

“Who knows?” Liu Xiaolou wasn’t sure either.

That had been far too close. A moment’s delay, even if they had already made it to shore, would have been enough for the sword-rider to spot them if they were anywhere near the river. No matter who it was, discovery would have been disastrous for their mission to rescue Thirteenth Young Master.

They didn’t dare linger. The two immediately set off again, racing westward, putting the Zhuoshui far behind them. By dawn, Tigerheaded Dragon frowned in puzzlement. “Brother, aren’t we supposed to head north? Where exactly are they keeping him?”

“I don’t know where they’ve imprisoned him,” replied Liu Xiaolou. “That’s why we need to find someone first.”

They pressed on westward for another two hundred li, until a marketplace appeared ahead. Liu Xiaolou told Tigerheaded Dragon to wait outside while he went in to ask around. Before long, he returned, and together they set off northwest for another hundred li. After making more inquiries and continuing their journey, they finally arrived at a place called Liu Village.

In the southeast corner of the village stood a manor, clearly the residence of its wealthiest family. When they reached it, Liu Xiaolou said to Tigerheaded Dragon, “"Well, brother Tigerhead, this is it. Now we see if our man is home or not."”

“This is the formation master’s house you mentioned?” asked Tigerheaded Dragon. “Pretty modest…”

Though the manor was grand by village standards, to Tigerheaded Dragon it still looked humble.

A servant came to the gate and, after hearing their purpose, invited them inside. “Please wait here, young masters. I’ll inform the master at once.”

At that, Liu Xiaolou finally let out a sigh of relief. The tension on his face eased into a smile. “He’s here.”

Tigerheaded Dragon collapsed into a chair, and before he even touched the tea the servant brought, he was already snoring. After running eighteen hundred li in three days and nights without sleep, draining nearly all his true qi, and never once stopping to rest, he was utterly spent.

Liu Xiaolou was just as exhausted. Once his guard relaxed, his eyelids grew heavy, fighting to stay open until they finally shut. He drifted in a haze for who knows how long, until a taut string deep in his heart suddenly snapped him awake.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that another person was now seated across from him, smiling warmly as he watched.

Liu Xiaolou sat up at once and clasped his fists. “Brother Daoran.”

The man was none other than Liu Daoran, whom he had parted from less than three months ago.

“Brother, why do you look so worn out?” Liu Daoran asked, curious. “No need to worry... you only slept for an hour... Did something urgent happen?”

Liu Xiaolou gave a bitter smile. “I must ask for your help, Brother Daoran.”

He didn’t hide anything and told him the whole story, then added, “This is my brother-in-law. No matter what, I have to take him back. I really have no other way. Here in Bashu, you’re the only one I know. I have to ask for your guidance.”

Liu Daoran stroked his beard, pacing back and forth in the hall as he thought. “Why don’t you get some proper rest first?” he said after a while. “Whatever you’re trying to do, you won’t get anywhere without recovering your strength. I’ll think it over and see if there’s some path we can take.”

Liu Xiaolou gripped his hand tightly. “I’m counting on you, Brother Daoran.”

A servant led Liu Xiaolou and Tigerheaded Dragon to a nearby guest room to rest. With his mind at ease, Liu Xiaolou fell asleep and didn’t wake until morning. Tigerheaded Dragon was still out cold. Liu Xiaolou hadn’t slept enough either, but with his worries weighing on him, he couldn’t fall back asleep. Just as Liu Daoran came over, he startled awake and waited anxiously for his reply.

Liu Daoran had the servants bring food and said to Liu Xiaolou, “Last night I went to South Aunt Mountain and confirmed some news. A friend of mine was conscripted by Gengsang Cave last month and sent to Zhuoshui. Perhaps we can ask him about a way forward.”