FIMA Ch78: Positioning

“Old Ancestor, save us!”
“Old Ancestor!”
The young disciples of the Four Great Aristocratic Families, who possessed meager magical power, immediately shrieked miserably.

Because these aristocratic family members had been hiding inside the defensive array just a moment ago, they were conveniently gathered all in one place, making it even easier to sweep them up. The Special Police’s hands were incredibly steady; if they aimed for a leg, they definitely wouldn’t hit an arm, and if they aimed for the left shoulder, they absolutely wouldn’t hit the right.

These cultivators possessed extremely vigorous vitality. Taking a bullet would only make them lose their mobility without claiming their lives, so the Special Police didn’t hold back in the slightest.

Those Old Ancestors and Family Heads, however, possessed much deeper spiritual energy and managed to dodge the attacks of the psionic bullets.
Hearing the cries for help, they only cast a deep look at these younger generation members whom they usually valued so highly, and then, without looking back, turned and fled toward the outside.

“Old Ancestor…” Everyone was greatly shocked.
Is the Old Ancestor abandoning us?!

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes: “Trying to leave? No way.”
As his words fell, an overwhelming prison of talismans surged forward to surround and trap those people, and Gu Beilin didn’t hesitate either, slashing forward with his blade.

The Old Ancestors and Family Heads who wanted to flee were forced to stop and turn back to block.
However, among these people, there were three extremely abrupt figures.
They acted as if they couldn’t feel the attacks from behind. Without slowing their steps or turning their heads, they casually tossed a pearl-shaped magical artifact backward, and then tore open a long-treasured talisman.

In the blink of an eye, these three figures vanished completely without a trace.

“Fellow Daoist Han?!”
“Where did Fellow Daoist Han go?”
Now, it wasn’t just Gu Siyuan and his group who were puzzled; even the aristocratic family members who were forced to stop and fight were extremely alarmed and doubtful.

The three figures who suddenly vanished were none other than the Han Family Old Ancestor, Han Mingye, and Xie Yuchen.

Gu Siyuan walked over to where they had disappeared and frowned.
There was only a large pit here.

“Is this an Earth Escape Talisman?!” Xie Xuanxing’s watery eyes widened.
Escape talismans had always been the most profound and difficult among all talismans because they involved the laws of space. He didn’t expect that in this Dharma-ending Age, this Han Family Old Ancestor actually still kept one in his hands!

Just now, to make it easier for the Special Police to act, the few of them from the Special Control Bureau had distanced themselves a bit from the aristocratic family members. Who knew that it would actually allow these three to run away!

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained unchanged. He turned around and spoke directly to He Pan, who was cleaning up the mess on the side: “Has anyone from the Special Police Tech Team arrived?”

“Ah…” He Pan was momentarily startled, then immediately said: “They’re here! They’re waiting right outside.”

Gu Siyuan nodded and said faintly: “We should still be able to make it in time.”
After speaking, he walked toward the outside without looking back.

The Special Police Tech Team had driven a separate large vehicle, bringing all their equipment along. The person in charge was still the same young officer from when they fought the half-Ghost King at Luojun Mountain.
He clearly had a deep impression of Gu Siyuan. As soon as he saw him, he immediately beamed with joy and came over.

Gu Siyuan said directly: “I need to borrow your equipment.”

Meanwhile.

Three figures covered in dirt and grime drilled out from underground beside a suburban national highway.

The Han Family Old Ancestor patted the filth off his body and said with a cold face: “Look at what these mortals have done to destroy this perfectly good human world! They built a bunch of messy pipes and some subway tracks underground. Originally, this Escape Talisman could have sent us at least a hundred miles away, but now we got blocked after less than twenty miles!”

Xie Yuchen nodded: “It’s a pity we didn’t have time to complete the grand enterprise of spiritual energy revival. Otherwise, the human world would return to its former natural state, and we wouldn’t have to suffer these shackles anymore.”

Han Mingye narrowed his eyes and looked at the station sign not far away: “Old Ancestor, this should still be within Fengdu County.”

The Han Family Old Ancestor looked around and also nodded: “En. Previously, when I came to Fengdu to investigate the spatial barrier, I happened to pass by here and carved out a cave in the mountains not far away as a temporary residence. Let’s go hide there for a while first, and we can make plans later!”

Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen immediately responded: “Alright.”
The three stood up straight, gathered their spirits, and were immediately prepared to set off again.

However, right at this moment, the Han Family Old Ancestor’s body swayed, and he covered his mouth, unable to suppress a deep, violent fit of coughing.

Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen’s eyes widened. They immediately and nervously supported him, gently patting his back and transferring spiritual energy to check his body.
But it seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

The Han Family Old Ancestor’s coughing grew heavier and heavier. Every mouthful he coughed up carried a faint scent of blood, seemingly bringing up his vital essence and divine soul along with it.
The two could only watch helplessly as with every cough, the Old Ancestor’s entire person became noticeably more haggard and frail.

If a cultivator couldn’t reach Foundation Establishment, after passing the age of sixty, their spiritual energy cultivation speed would become slower and slower.
He was already over a hundred years old this year. To extend his lifespan as much as possible, he had thought of countless ways over the decades to absorb spiritual energy and had basically never fought again. All his spiritual energy was used solely to maintain his bodily functions and repair the aging of his cells and tissues.

However, today he had been forced to fight several times in a row, especially at the very end when he took two people along to escape, which vastly depleted his spiritual energy.

After an unknown amount of time, the coughing slowly ceased.
“Let’s go,” the Han Family Old Ancestor slightly lifted his head and said in a hoarse voice.

Looking at his face, Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen’s expressions drastically changed, and both were internally shocked.
Not only were the wrinkles on the Old Ancestor’s face deeply furrowed, but his eyes had also become incredibly murky. In just this short amount of time, he seemed to have gone from a senior cultivator with an immortal and transcendent bearing to a withered old man with one foot in the grave.
He looked even worse than those severely ill eighty- or ninety-year-old men in hospital beds.

“Come, support me.” The Han Family Old Ancestor reached out a hand and said to the two: “Let us quickly head to that cave!”
“Alright.”

The three walked through the night, bypassing a small village, and headed up the mountain.
After about half an hour, they saw the cave the Han Family Old Ancestor had mentioned.
It was well hidden, concealed among the trees and grass.

“Old Ancestor, it’s right here,” Han Mingye asked.

The Han Family Old Ancestor looked at the entrance to the cave. His murky eyes seemed to gradually clear up. He grabbed Han Mingye’s wrist and nodded deeply: “En, good.”
Then, he spoke amiably to Xie Yuchen on the other side: “Chen-er, you wait here for a while. Ye-er and I will go in first; there are some matters I need to instruct him on.”

Xie Yuchen was slightly startled first, then hurriedly nodded and said: “Alright, I’ll wait outside.”
He wasn’t part of the Han family to begin with. The fact that the Han Family Old Ancestor remembered to bring him along when taking Han Mingye away was already an extremely pleasant surprise.

The Han Old Ancestor squeezed out a smile on his withered face, then slowly turned his head and said loudly to Han Mingye: “Ye-er, let us go in!”

“Yes,” Han Mingye responded proactively.
He only thought that the Old Ancestor probably didn’t have much time left in this world and therefore needed to privately instruct him regarding some of the Han family’s resources.

In the late autumn night, the sky was as pitch-black as ink. Coincidentally, it was the first day of the lunar month; the thin moon was like a hook and frequently hid behind the clouds, making it almost impossible to see a single trace of light.

By the quiet suburban national highway, screech…, came the sound of tires rapidly grinding against the ground.

Inside the car, Gu Siyuan looked at the red positioning dot on the computer, then used the light from the car’s headlights to sweep a glance at the mountain forest not far away: “En, they should be right there. Let’s go!”

“Alright.”
The others responded one after another and immediately jumped out of the car.

Xie Xuanxing walked beside Gu Siyuan and chuckled playfully: “Technology truly changes the world. Just now we relied on technology to take down those idiots, and now we’re relying on GPS tracking to find the ones that slipped through the net. Hehe… how did you think of using mobile phone tracking to find a few cultivators?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained as cold as ever, and he said casually: “I wasn’t sure if the other cultivators would carry their phones on them. But earlier, I saw Xie Yuchen take out his phone to play with it, and then saw him casually stuff it into his jacket pocket.”

However, after saying these few words, Gu Siyuan suddenly noticed the atmosphere seemed to have become slightly off.
He slightly turned his head, only to see his little lackey staring at him with a resentful gaze.

En?
Gu Siyuan frowned slightly and asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong?”

Xie Xuanxing gave a hmph and mumbled: “You sure observed Xie Yuchen very carefully! Why… why were you looking at him for so long? Is he very good-looking?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
Where did this even come from?
He just had a good memory; a casual glance was enough for him to remember.
He reached out, pinched his little lackey’s slightly puffed-out cheek, and said in a deep voice: “You’re not allowed to act spoiled at the drop of a hat.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.
I wasn’t acting spoiled! This is clearly me being jealous!

Gu Siyuan looked at his wide-eyed, speechless appearance.
He thought for a moment, lowered his head, leaned in close, and asked: “Finding faults for no reason and acting spoiled… is it because you can’t walk the mountain path anymore? You want me to carry you on my back?”

Xie Xuanxing just wanted to retort that he wasn’t finding faults!
But when he heard the second half of the sentence, his clear eyes widened with joy.
Tsk, I can do that?!
How is my brain still not as clever as this mensao Gu Siyuan?

So, Xie Xuanxing hurriedly nodded and said with righteous confidence: “Yes! I can’t walk anymore, my feet hurt so much.”

Gu Siyuan shot him a glance with an “I knew it” look.
Then, he cleanly squatted down halfway and said faintly: “Get on. I’m surprised you went to such lengths to find so many excuses.”

“Hmph…” Xie Xuanxing made a face at the man’s back.
Who made excuses?

But in the next moment, he very honestly, joyfully, and eagerly climbed onto the man’s back, firmly hugging Gu Siyuan’s neck and pressing tightly against his broad shoulders and back: “Let’s go, let’s go! Walk, walk! Faster! Go get ’em!”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
You seem very energetic to me.

Watching these two messing around, Gu Beilin’s eyes revealed disdain. He’s a cultivator, for crying out loud, yet he gets tired from just this little bit of mountain walking? His cultivation is still lacking. After we go back, I should properly hammer and beat him into shape.

However, as he turned around, he found Luo Chuan beside him staring at him intently with burning eyes.

Gu Beilin’s brain—which had been as straight as his blade techniques his entire life—suddenly took a sharp turn under this gaze, and he swiftly changed his tune: “This mountain path is indeed difficult to walk. Luo Chuan, do you want me to carry you on my back too?”

Luo Chuan’s expression instantly changed, his beautiful peach-blossom eyes curving into a smile: “Okay.”

“…” Gu Beilin felt a lingering fear in his heart.
Heavens, thank goodness I answered correctly.

Watching the two behind them catching up, Xie Xuanxing lowered his head close to Gu Siyuan’s ear: “They’re catching up! Walk faster, hurry up!”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
Do you think I’m a horse?
Careful I don’t throw you off.

However, when he caught sight of Gu the Eldest’s approaching figure out of the corner of his eye, he still subconsciously quickened his pace a bit.

A man’s competitive spirit was just this unreasonable.

On the quiet mountainside.

Xie Yuchen stuffed his nearly dead phone into his pocket and turned to look at the cave behind him.
He felt quite puzzled in his heart. It’s been almost half an hour; why aren’t they done talking?
Even if there are grand Han family matters to instruct on, it shouldn’t take this long, right?

Right at this moment, a shrill, miserable scream suddenly echoed from within the cave.
It was also accompanied by a few interrogations.
“Brat, what did you do?!”
“Why isn’t it working?!”
“How could it fail?!”

Xie Yuchen’s expression changed. That’s the Han Family Old Ancestor’s voice!

A bizarre sense of unease suddenly welled up in his heart. After weighing his options for a long while, he ultimately decided to sneak into the cave to take a look.

Right at this moment, a crisp crack sounded, like the sound of a branch being stepped on and broken.

His body trembled slightly, his mind instantly focusing, and he frowned as he looked toward the hillside on his flank.

In the next moment, two bizarre figures—each with four arms and four legs—nimble as skinny monkeys, broke directly through the layers of obstructing trees and appeared together before his eyes.

Xie Yuchen’s eyes widened.
Only then did he realize they weren’t monsters with four arms and four legs; it was clearly two figures, each carrying another person on their back.

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

Xie Xuanxing swiftly lowered his head, planted a kiss on Gu Siyuan’s cheek, and smiled proudly: “It really is here. Boss Gu is truly amazing! En, not only amazing but also fast!”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
I don’t really want to hear you praise me like that.

He slightly loosened his arms, directly dropping the person on his back to the ground.

Standing on the side, Xie Yuchen glared at them, opening his mouth wide, just about to ask something, when Gu Beilin—following Gu Siyuan’s gesture—sent a streak of spiritual energy over, directly sealing the meridians in his entire body.

Gu Siyuan’s expression turned slightly cold: “Let’s go in and take a look! I wonder who ended up enjoying the gift I prepared for Han Mingye.”

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