FIMA Ch78: Positioning

“Ancestor, save us!”

“Ancestor!”

The young disciples with weak powers from the four major families immediately cried out in misery.

These noble family members had just been hiding inside the defensive formation, conveniently gathered in one place, making it easier to sweep them up. The special forces were incredibly precise, hitting legs without hitting hands, and targeting left shoulders without hitting right shoulders.

These cultivators had very robust life forces, a gunshot would only incapacitate them, not kill them, so the special forces showed no mercy.

The ancestors and family heads, with deeper spiritual energy, dodged the spiritual energy bullets.

Hearing the cries for help, they merely cast a deep glance at these juniors they had once valued highly, then turned and fled without looking back.

“Ancestor…” Everyone was shocked.

Was the ancestor going to abandon them?

Gu Siyuan squinted, “Want to leave? No way.”

As soon as he spoke, a barrage of talismans formed a prison, encircling the fleeing people. Gu Beilin also slashed at them without hesitation.

The fleeing ancestors and family heads were forced to stop and defend.

However, among them, three figures stood out.

They seemed oblivious to the attacks behind them, continuing to run without looking back. They casually tossed a spherical magic weapon behind them and then tore open a long-preserved talisman.

In the blink of an eye, the three figures vanished.

“Daoist Han?”

“Where did Daoist Han go?”

Not only were Gu Siyuan and his group puzzled, but the noble families, forced to stop fighting, were also confused.

The three suddenly missing figures were none other than the Han family ancestor, Han Mingye, and Xie Yuchen.

Gu Siyuan walked to the spot where they disappeared and frowned.

There was only a large pit.

“Is this an earth-escape talisman?” Xie Xuanxing’s eyes widened.

Escape talismans were among the most profound of all talismans, involving spatial laws. It was unexpected that the Han family ancestor still had one in this age of declining spiritual energy.

To facilitate the special forces’ operations, the Special Management Bureau members had stayed a bit further away from the noble families. Who knew these three would escape?

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained unchanged as he turned to He Pan, who was cleaning up the aftermath, “Have the special police tech team arrived?”

“Ah…” He Pan was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, “They’re here, waiting outside.”

Gu Siyuan nodded and said calmly, “There should still be time.”

After speaking, he walked out without looking back.

The special police tech team had brought a large vehicle with all the equipment. The person in charge was the same young man from the battle against the half-ghost king at Luojun Mountain.

He obviously had a strong impression of Gu Siyuan. As soon as he saw him, he smiled and approached.

Gu Siyuan directly said, “I need to use your equipment.”

Meanwhile.

The three emerged from underground, dirty and disheveled, by a rural highway in the suburbs.

The Han family ancestor patted the dirt off his clothes and said coldly, “Look at this once good world, ruined by these mortals. The underground is filled with all sorts of pipes and subway tracks. This escape talisman should have taken us a hundred miles, but we were stopped after less than twenty.”

Xie Yuchen nodded, “It’s a pity we didn’t have time to complete the task of spiritual energy revival. If the world returned to its natural state, we wouldn’t be so restricted.”

Han Mingye squinted at a nearby sign and said, “Ancestor, we should still be within Fengdu County.”

The Han family ancestor looked around and nodded, “Yes, I passed by here when I was exploring the spatial barrier in Fengdu. I created a temporary cave residence on a nearby mountain. Let’s hide there for now and make plans later.”

Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen immediately agreed, “Alright.”

The three stood up straight, gathered their energy, and prepared to continue.

However, at that moment, the Han family ancestor suddenly swayed and started coughing uncontrollably, covering his mouth.

Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen’s eyes widened in panic. They quickly supported him, gently patting his back and infusing spiritual energy to check his condition.

But it seemed to have no effect.

The Han family ancestor’s coughing grew worse, each cough bringing up faint traces of blood, as if it were draining his essence and soul.

The two watched helplessly as the ancestor grew more withered and weak with each cough.

For cultivators who couldn’t establish their foundation, their spiritual energy cultivation would slow down significantly after the age of sixty.

He was already over a hundred years old, and to prolong his life as much as possible, he had tried countless ways to absorb spiritual energy over the past few decades. He had barely used any energy, saving all of it to maintain his body’s functions and repair aging cells and tissues.

However, today he was forced to fight repeatedly, especially during the final escape with the two of them, which greatly consumed his spiritual energy.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the coughing finally subsided.

“Let’s go!” The Han family ancestor raised his head slightly and said hoarsely.

Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen looked at his face and their expressions changed drastically, shocked to their cores.

The ancestor’s face was deeply furrowed, and his eyes had become incredibly cloudy. In just a short while, he had transformed from a seasoned, immortal-like cultivator into a decrepit old man on the verge of death.

He looked even worse than the critically ill elderly patients in hospitals who were eighty or ninety years old.

“Help me.” The Han family ancestor extended his hand and said to the two of them, “Let’s quickly go to that cave.”

“Alright.”

The three of them moved through the night, bypassing a small village and heading up the mountain.

After about half an hour, they saw the cave the Han family ancestor had mentioned.

Hidden among the vegetation, it was quite concealed.

“Ancestor, is this the place?” Han Mingye asked.

The Han family ancestor looked at the cave entrance, his cloudy eyes gradually clearing up, and he grabbed Han Mingye’s wrist, nodding deeply, “Yes, this is it.”

Then, he kindly said to Xie Yuchen, “Chener, wait here for a while. Mingye and I need to go inside to discuss some matters.”

Xie Yuchen was momentarily stunned, then quickly nodded, “Alright, I’ll wait outside.”

He wasn’t a member of the Han family to begin with. It was already a pleasant surprise that the Han family ancestor remembered to take him along while escaping with Han Mingye.

The Han ancestor’s withered face forced a smile as he slowly turned his head and said to Han Mingye in a loud voice, “Mingye, let’s go inside.”

“Yes,” Han Mingye responded enthusiastically.

He thought the ancestor, nearing the end of his life, wanted to privately discuss some Han family resources with him.

On this late autumn night, the sky was ink-black, coinciding with the new moon. The thin crescent moon occasionally hid behind the clouds, leaving almost no light.

By the quiet rural highway, a sound of tires screeching against the ground could be heard.

Inside the vehicle, Gu Siyuan looked at the red dot on the computer screen and glanced at the nearby forest illuminated by the car’s headlights, “Hmm, it should be there. Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

The others responded and quickly jumped out of the car.

Xie Xuanxing walked beside Gu Siyuan, grinning, “Technology really changes the world. First, we used technology to take down those fools, and now we’re using tracking to find these stragglers. How did you think to use cellphone tracking to find these cultivators?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained stern as he replied casually, “I’m not sure if other cultivators carry cellphones, but earlier, I saw Xie Yuchen playing with his phone and then casually stuffing it into his pocket.”

After saying these few words, Gu Siyuan suddenly noticed that the atmosphere seemed a bit off.

He turned his head slightly and saw his young assistant staring at him with a plaintive look.

Hmm?

Gu Siyuan frowned lightly and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Xuanxing huffed and muttered, “You paid a lot of attention to Xie Yuchen, didn’t you? Why were you watching him for so long? Is he that good-looking?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

What’s this about?

He just had a good memory, able to remember everything at a glance.

He reached out and pinched his assistant’s slightly puffed cheeks, his voice deep, “Stop pouting for no reason.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

He wasn’t pouting; he was clearly jealous…

Gu Siyuan looked at his assistant, eyes wide and speechless.

After a moment’s thought, he leaned in and asked, “Are you making a fuss because you can’t walk on the mountain path? Want me to carry you?”

Xie Xuanxing was about to retort, saying he wasn’t making a fuss, but upon hearing the latter part, his clear eyes widened with joy.

Hmm, could he really do that?

How come he wasn’t as quick-witted as the usually reserved Gu Siyuan?

So, Xie Xuanxing quickly nodded and said righteously, “Yes, I can’t walk anymore. My feet hurt.”

Gu Siyuan glanced at him with an expression that said, “I knew it.”

Then he crouched slightly and said calmly, “Get on, stop making excuses.”

“Hmph…” Xie Xuanxing made a face at his back.

Who’s making excuses?

The next moment, he eagerly climbed on, wrapping his arms around Gu Siyuan’s neck and clinging tightly to his broad shoulders, “Let’s go, let’s go, hurry up! Come on!”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

You seem quite energetic to me.

Gu Beilin watched the two of them and showed a look of disdain. As a cultivator, getting tired on such a short mountain path meant lacking proper training. They should go back and be thoroughly disciplined.

However, in that instant, he noticed Luo Chuan staring at him intently.

Gu Beilin, who had been straightforward all his life like his swordsmanship, suddenly had a realization under that gaze and quickly changed his tune, “This mountain path is indeed difficult. Luo Chuan, do you want me to carry you too?”

Luo Chuan’s face instantly brightened, his beautiful eyes smiling, “Sure.”

“…” Gu Beilin felt a pang of fear.

Whew, good thing he answered correctly.

Xie Xuanxing, seeing the two approaching, leaned close to Gu Siyuan’s ear and said, “They’re catching up. Let’s go quickly.”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

Do you think I’m a horse?

Be careful, or I’ll throw you off.

However, when he saw the silhouette of Brother Gu approaching from the corner of his eye, he subconsciously quickened his pace a bit.

A man’s competitive nature is truly unreasonable.

In the quiet mountainside.

Xie Yuchen put his nearly dead phone back into his pocket and turned to look at the cave behind him.

He felt quite puzzled. It had been almost half an hour; why hadn’t they finished talking?

Even if there were important matters of the Han family to discuss, it shouldn’t take this long, right?

At that moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from inside the cave.

There were also a few questioning voices.

“You little brat, what did you do?”

“Why isn’t it working?”

“How could it fail?”

Xie Yuchen’s face changed; it was the voice of the Han family ancestor.

A strange unease suddenly filled his heart. After some hesitation, he decided to secretly enter the cave to take a look.

Just then, there was a crisp “crack” sound, like a branch being stepped on.

His body trembled slightly, his mind focused, and he frowned as he looked towards the hillside on the side.

The next moment, two strange figures, each with four arms and four legs, agile like thin monkeys, broke through the dense trees and appeared in front of him.

Xie Yuchen’s eyes widened.

He then realized they weren’t monsters with four arms and four legs, but rather two figures each carrying a person on their back.

But what surprised him even more was that these four people were…

Xie Xuanxing quickly kissed Gu Siyuan’s cheek and then smiled smugly, “It’s indeed here. Boss Gu, you’re amazing. Not only amazing, but also fast.”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

I don’t really want to hear your praise.

He loosened his arms slightly and directly dropped the person on his back.

Xie Yuchen, standing aside, stared at them with his mouth open, about to ask something, when Gu Beilin, at Gu Siyuan’s signal, sent a wave of spiritual energy over, sealing all of Xie Yuchen’s meridians.

Gu Siyuan’s expression turned slightly cold, “Let’s go in and take a look. I wonder who enjoyed the gift I gave Han Mingye.”

…