The mountain path was rugged and difficult to traverse, especially when they were carrying a horse. After a lot of trouble, they found a valley to hide in.
The sudden change from advancing to hiding was naturally because they sensed danger.
The sudden ambush made Niu Youdao feel an unprecedented danger. This danger exceeded his expectations and was completely out of his expectations. Without any clues, he really didn't dare to move forward!
If he didn't get to the bottom of this, he wouldn't know where the danger was coming from or how he was targeted. He was too passive!
The group settled down. From time to time, everyone glanced at Niu Youdao, who seemed to have a lot on his mind.
Niu Youdao stood by the stream with his sword in his hand. He raised his head and looked at the crescent moon above the valley.
Yuan Fang came over. "Daoye, are we going to hide here?"
Niu Youdao was indifferent. After a while, he said, "Give Black Peony fifty thousand."
"…" Yuan Fang was speechless. If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have come over to talk to him.
Black Peony walked over when she heard the voice. "Daoye, there's no need!"
Niu Youdao didn't say anything. He was still deep in thought.
Yuan Fang took out fifty thousand and stuffed it into Black Peony's hand.
Looking at the gold notes in her hand and seeing that Niu Youdao was deep in thought, Black Peony didn't disturb him. She also had a rough understanding of Niu Youdao's character. Since he gave it to her, she should take it.
A flapping sound was heard, mixed with the chirping of birds. Niu Youdao snapped back to his senses and suddenly turned around.
"There's a cave here."
Duan Hu, who was investigating the valley, came back in a flash. He discovered a natural cave and walked in to take a look. As a result, he startled the birds that were resting in the cave overnight.
The group walked over to take a look. It was indeed a cave. To be more precise, it was a hole in the mountain. It wasn't big. The entrance was triangular and was about two to three feet deep.
After entering the cave, Niu Youdao said, "Bring me the map."
Duan Hu took out the map from the bag he was carrying. There was no table here, so Wu Sanliang, who was beside him, helped him. The two of them pulled the map apart and spread it out in front of Niu Youdao's eyes. The moon butterfly climbed on top of the rock to illuminate the map.
Niu Youdao stood in front of the map with his sword in hand. His gaze followed the path he came from and finally landed on Mount Duyun.
Who wanted to kill him? Currently, he only had a few enemies. Generally speaking, there were the Song family and the Yan Imperial Court involved in the murder of Song Long. Other than these two groups of people, he really couldn't think of anyone else who would come to the State of Zhao to kill him.
This precise interception proved that he had been targeted, and his route had been accurately locked on.
Who was targeting him? How did they target him? If he couldn't figure out how he had been targeted, he could fall into someone else's trap at any time. He didn't dare to take a single step!
Currently, he knew that Immortal Retaining Sect, Floating Clouds Sect, and Spirit Beauty Mountain were hunting him. The others who most likely knew his approximate route were Mount Duyun.
From his interaction with Yun Huan and his reaction, Mount Duyun could probably be ruled out. It was unlikely that Mount Duyun knew he would visit. If they had received the news long ago and wanted to plot against him, they wouldn't have let him leave. They could easily make him stay, and there wouldn't have been any subsequent incidents.
Therefore, Hou Qingtian's words were trustworthy. Mount Duyun only received the news of the interception after he left.
People from the three sects could also be ruled out. If the three sects could accurately grasp his specific route, they could very well take a shortcut and kill him themselves. There was no need to borrow Mount Duyun's hand.
In other words, there was a third party who accurately grasped his whereabouts.
There were only two possibilities for this third party to seek out Mount Duyun. Either they didn't have anyone on hand who could kill him, or it was a problem of distance, and the people who could kill him couldn't arrive in time.
One more thing could be confirmed. The third party couldn't contact the people from the Immortal Retaining Sect and the three sects. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to seek out Mount Duyun.
Then how did the third party accurately grasp his route?
They had to first discover him, and then set up a trap.
He directly ruled out the possibility that he had been targeted in the vicinity of Star picking City. Not to mention anything else, just like the three sects, it was difficult for them to accurately grasp his whereabouts.
In that case, it was possible that he was targeted after he left the Gobi Grassland and went onto the official road.
The prerequisite for targeting him was that they knew him. He was a little puzzled. Could it be that someone here knew him? In the State of Zhao, there weren't many people who knew him or knew him. Moreover, they had bumped into each other in such a remote area. The chances of encountering each other were too low. It couldn't be that he would run into Chen Guishuo again in Jinzhou, right? The Immortal Retaining Sect had his portrait. Could it be that someone else along the way had his portrait as well?
"Along the way, did any of you notice anything out of the ordinary? Think carefully. Don't let go of anything out of the ordinary. "
Niu Youdao stretched out his hand and gestured back and forth on the route they had taken. His own thoughts were already focused on the relay stations along the way. There weren't many passersby in such a remote area, so the most common places to see people were the relay stations along the way.
The few of them pondered for a long time, but there was no response. They couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary.
Black Peony asked, "Daoye, does your visit to Mount Duyun to pay a visit to Yun Huan and the attempted assassination earlier count?"
Niu Youdao: "No!"
Black Peony: "Then there wasn't anything out of the ordinary along the way. After leaving Star picking City on the official road, other than those two incidents, we basically didn't stop. We only changed horses at a relay station in the middle."
"Where's the relay station where we changed horses? Help me mark it on the map. Also, mark Yun Huan's lair, Cloudy Immortal's Cave, and the location where we were intercepted at Three Turns. Try to be as accurate as possible." Niu Youdao ordered. He then turned to Yuan Fang and said, "Take out the charcoal."
Yuan Fang had brought along charcoal that could be casually drawn for money along the way. He took out the charcoal and gave it to Black Peony.
Black Peony discussed with Duan Hu and the others. After confirming the location of the relay station by the side of the official road, it wasn't hard to remember. The relay station was rather large and was a hub. It was located near a fork in the road and was very easy to locate. As for the location of Yun Huan's lair, it was on one of the main peaks of Mount Duyun. They just needed to circle the main peak and locate it. The location where Three Turns had been intercepted at a particular bend was even easier to find.
"Daoye, it's done," Black Peony said as she turned around.
Niu Youdao took away the charcoal from her hand and carefully examined the map. If one were to say that this map was standard, then it really wasn't. However, compared to the abstract ancient maps he knew in his previous life, it was really much more standard. It probably had something to do with the assistance of cultivators everywhere, which made it convenient for surveying and mapping.
He used the scabbard to draw a line on the map and converted the distance from one place to another. Then, he used the charcoal to mark a scale on the scabbard. He then used this scale to measure the location of Mount Duyun and Three Turns to verify how accurate the scale was.
This series of baffling actions caused the others to look at each other in dismay. They couldn't understand what he was doing at all.
After putting down the scabbard, Niu Youdao stood in front of the map and stared at it. He asked, "Where do you think the middleman who contacted Mount Duyun to kill me will be?"
Black Peony smiled bitterly. "How would we know?"
However, Niu Youdao's gaze was fixed on Scarlet Prefecture City. Slowly, he said, "You two, cast your arts and tighten the map."
Duan Hu and Wu San 'er did as they were told.
Niu Youdao held his sword horizontally between Scarlet Prefecture City and Yunxiao's Cave Abode. According to the distance shown on the scale, he divided it by the estimated flying speed of the golden wing and calculated the approximate time. He used the charcoal to write a number next to the map. It was a number that the others could not understand.
Niu Youdao pointed at Scarlet Prefecture City. The charcoal between his fingertips was restrained by his transcendence energy and slowly floated away. He pointed at the location of Yunxiao's Cave Abode. The transcendence energy that spun out carried the charcoal and drew a circle with Scarlet Prefecture City as the center on the map.
After absorbing the charcoal into his hand, he silently calculated the time between leaving the relay station and leaving Mount Duyun. He subtracted the time he had just drawn and multiplied it by the approximate flying speed of the golden wing to calculate the approximate distance. He once again placed the scabbard horizontally on Scarlet Prefecture City as the starting point and randomly marked the distance he had just drawn in a direction.
Then, he pointed at Scarlet Prefecture City as the center. The charcoal floated to the previous point and drew a circle with the swirling transcendence energy.
Niu Youdao grabbed the charcoal and looked at the relay station. He discovered that the circle he had just drawn had already outlined the relay station, which was slightly different from his guess.
However, this was not important. It would be strange if there were no errors. There was the time difference between the transmission of the message and the transmission, as well as the error in the recording of the time, and the imprecision of the map.
What he wanted was a rough verification, not a precise one.
He then drew one circle after another, constantly using the scabbard to measure the circles and constantly jotting down some strange numbers that the others could not understand.
After a long while, he held the sword in front of him and stared at the map. "There was a problem with the relay station where we exchanged horses. We should have been discovered there."
The few of them looked at each other.
Niu Youdao then said slowly, "The news should have been sent out about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn after we left the relay station. After the news reached the capital of the Scarlet Province, it stayed there for about an hour before it was sent to Cloudcrossing Mountain by an intermediary. If I'm not wrong, the person who bought my life and the middleman are both in Scarlet Prefecture City. "
The few of them were speechless when they heard this. He made it sound as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
Black Peony asked, "Daoye, I think you've been aiming for Scarlet Prefecture City from the very beginning."
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