Chapter 127: The Mysterious Pill of the Spirit Cauldron

He Zhixing dug down with all his might. Many people gathered near the pavilion at the foot of the mountain and by the cableway stopped to watch. They couldn’t clearly see what he was doing under the tree, as most of his body was obscured by dense leaves and branches. Li Wuxin and the other two stood by the cableway at the cliff’s base, watching him from below. He Zhixing hadn’t called them up, so they waited down there.

The spot where He Zhixing was digging was generally inaccessible except to expert climbers—those like ‘Spider-Man’—or individuals with high martial cultivation. Suddenly, a flash of blue light appeared. The sable in Li Wuxin’s arms swiftly flew up to the tree beside He Zhixing’s digging site. He saw the adorable little creature, petted its head, then resumed digging.

After twenty minutes of effort, part of the spirit cauldron was finally revealed. The lower half was still buried in the earth. It was a dark golden bronze, over ten centimeters wide, with a lid. The edges of the cauldron bore inscriptions—mysterious characters he could not decipher. At that moment, He Zhixing sensed a strong aura of spiritual energy emanating from within the cauldron. He was certain it contained spiritual herbs or elixirs; otherwise, the aura wouldn’t be so intense.

The soil was hard. He Zhixing didn’t care if his hands bled from using a file as a makeshift shovel—he was determined to unearth it. At last, he pulled it free.

He grasped the spirit cauldron firmly, straightened the small tree he had knocked over while digging, and used his foot to fill the soil back in. Then he heard Yufang and the others shouting from below: “Zhixing, hurry! The park’s administrators and security guards are coming!”

Startled, He Zhixing looked down and saw what Yufang had said was true. Several administrators and security personnel were climbing the stone steps of the cableway. They were only a few steps from reaching the mountain pavilion. About ten meters above the climbing path stood Yufang and her two companions, and He Zhixing was positioned on the cliffside ledge above them.

He quickly stuffed the spirit cauldron into his large pack, hoisted it with one hand, and leapt down, landing before Yufang and the others. “Let’s go, quickly!”

He led them, unfolding their lightness skill, racing down the dangerous, winding rocky cliff—not using the cableway at all. The administrators and security guards had just reached the spot where Yufang and the others had been when they suddenly realized that the group had flown down the steep, jagged rocks from above, escaping toward the exit of Shentan Grand Canyon.

Watching the agile figures descend, they thought their eyes deceived them. Upon focusing, they recognized the very people they had been searching for and coordinating to capture. Seeing them employ lightness skill to swiftly flee, the guards felt helpless. They wanted to pursue but lacked such abilities, so they called the gatekeepers and security personnel stationed at the mountain entrance to intercept them.

They hadn’t clearly seen what the fugitives carried, but it must have been a precious treasure; otherwise, they wouldn’t have fled so frantically using lightness skill.

Because He Zhixing and the others descended so quickly, by the time reinforcements arrived to block their path, they had already emerged from the mountain’s mouth.

Suddenly, Yuncheng was stirred into chaos. The police dispatched numerous officers to hunt down the four of them, believing the treasure had been found in Shentan Grand Canyon and thus belonged locally. He Zhixing and the others dared not return to the city; instead, they turned back and climbed into the mountains near the canyon. Their fugitive life in the Zhongtiao Mountains had officially begun.

They entered the primeval forest and fled to Lishan, pursued by many armed police officers. With no other option, they jumped into the Su River, escaping along its course, following the waterway toward the Yellow River...