Three hunters on the road took good care of Li Ruo, not only detailing the mountain road of Kuishui Ridge, but also often pulling up a handful of rugged rocks. After passing through another mountain pass in front, it was Kuishui Ridge, and several people were delighted, accelerating their pace at the same time.

  Suddenly, Li Ran's ears moved, and more than ten zhang away in the dense forest ahead, there were several faintly discernible breathing sounds that were almost imperceptible. There were at least over a dozen people, but when he looked around, there was no sign of them, as if they had merged with the mountains and forests.

  Li Ruo's knife skills were profound and his senses sharp, those clear breaths seemed to be right next to him. Listening carefully, he found that more than a dozen people were all above the fifth level of Jingyuan Jin, elite warriors with excellent ambush positions, clearly well-trained soldiers, not some mountain bandits. Li Ruo's heart skipped a beat as a premonition suddenly formed in his mind.

  "Could it be..."

  The three of them were completely unaware, walking quickly, with the person in front turning his head to urge Li Ran to hurry up, when suddenly, out of nowhere, thirteen people emerged from the trees, long grass, and behind rocks, surrounding the four of them. Each person was holding a heavy crossbow weighing dozens of kilograms, their eyes gleaming with murderous intent, the crossbows cocked and ready, only needing a slight release of the finger to shoot arrows that could pierce through mountains.

  The three hunters were suddenly shocked and quickly drew their waist knives. Then they heard a low voice from the opposite side shouting, "Don't move."

  Thirteen crossbow bolts fell, and the three hunters' faces turned white. The hands holding their knives no longer dared to move slightly.

  The man opposite him growled again: "Put down your knife."

  The three hunters looked at each other in dismay, the middle one, Chong Shan, slowly shook his head and was the first to throw his knife to the ground with a clang. The other two also threw their knives to the ground.

  The man opposite Li Ruo raised his eyes and looked at him, warningly shouting again: "Take off the dagger on your back too."

  Li Ran's knife was extremely obedient, and he quickly cut off the back of the collar and threw it aside.

  The person opposite him glanced back, shook his head forward, and the person behind him carefully picked up the heavy crossbow and walked towards the four people, taking out a cow tendon rope. He tightly bound the four men's arms behind their backs.

  The old man struggled to his feet and shouted across, "We are only hunters from the mountains, with nothing of value on us. What do you want, brothers? If it's money you need, we're willing to give up everything we have."

  The person opposite coldly said: "Who wants your money, this is private land. You've trespassed into a forbidden area, can't be helped, take you back and lock you up for a few days first."

  A group of people put away their crossbows and pushed the four men deep into the dense forest.

  Wei Lao San continued to struggle, shouting angrily: "Isn't this Ku Shui Ridge? How did it become a private forbidden land? We've been here many times before, why didn't we know it was forbidden land back then? Let us go, and we'll never come again!"

  Someone behind him kicked him hard and coldly shouted: "Shout again and I'll stab you to death with one sword, be honest."

  A group of people escorted four men through the canyon, drilling through a dense forest. When they arrived at a small mountain col, there were obviously more hidden stakes buried everywhere in the col, and a faintly ominous atmosphere was present. Even Wei Lao San didn't dare to shout anymore when he got here. He widened his eyes and followed the group to the front of a cave.

  With one kick, the four were kicked in. Deep within the mountain cave, strange rocks stood like a forest. The group rebound the four to the mountain rocks and coldly shouted: "Lock you up for a few days and maybe we'll let you go. During this time, whoever dares to make a sound will be killed by my sword. All of you, behave yourselves."

  A group of people turned around and walked out, with low commands outside, two people stayed at the entrance to keep watch.

  Four people in the cave looked at each other with suspicion and surprise, Lao San spat forcefully and cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, what kind of private forbidden land is this? Judging from their momentum, these people's power is not small at all."

  He turned his head and looked at Li Ran, asking: "Little brother, are you afraid?"

  Li Ran nodded slightly.

  Wei Lao San was cured of the snake venom by Li Rou's medical skills, and he felt grateful in his heart. He comforted him, saying: "Don't be afraid, I haven't heard that person say they will let us go in a few days."

  As they spoke, the four of them fell silent at the same time, lost in thought. The three hunters' faces were gloomy enough to drip water, while Li Ran closed his eyes, but was secretly excited in his heart.

  Although the group's attire was disguised, some details still revealed the emblem of the Gong Sun family. The master guessed that the people from the Gong Sun family would not go far and must be hiding deep in the mountains, waiting for this storm to pass. Although the lord of Lin Feng City had issued a wanted decree, this group was too well hidden, and so far, no hunters have reported back. Unexpectedly, Li Ran was mistakenly caught by them.

  Li Ran did not resist at that time, but just wanted to see where their secret forbidden land was located in the mountains.

  "Since this is the Gong Sun family's secret forbidden land, could it be that Father is also being held here? I don't know how many other powerful members of the Gong Sun family are here, this matter cannot be taken lightly, and we must consult with Master. However, I have traveled too far into the mountains, and even the transmission talisman cannot send a message to Master from here, so for now, I'll think of a way to escape."

  The night grew deeper, and all sounds ceased. In the dark cave, Chongshan quietly opened his eyes, pulled out a soft saw from his sleeve with one hand, and lightly moved it on the cow tendon rope at his wrist. After a moment, the rope snapped open with a "crack" sound. Chongshan didn't hesitate, stretched out both hands to untie all the other ropes, then carefully walked in front of the other two men and untied their ropes as well.

  Chóng Shān lowered his voice: "Let's go."

  Wei Lao San looked at Li Ruo Dao and saw that his head was hanging to one side, as if he had fallen asleep. His eyebrows furrowed: "What about that little brother?"

  Chong Shan said in a low voice, "Old Three, the forces here are too strong. The three of us can barely protect ourselves and have no power to bring along a burden."

  Wei Lao San smiled wryly, knowing that Chong Shan was telling the truth. The three of them nodded to each other and slowly made their way out of the cave, making no sound, not even breathing. When they reached the entrance, they heard the sound of breathing coming from beside it. The three of them exchanged a glance, and then Chong Shan and Wei Lao San simultaneously pounced on either side of the person at the entrance. One hand covered their mouth, while the other hand holding a dagger swiftly fell. The two guards didn't even have time to cry out before they collapsed, their throats spurting blood.

  The means are clean and ruthless, just based on this assassination method, it can be seen that it is absolutely not something an ordinary hunter can do.

  The three of them exchanged a glance and then swiftly flew out together.

  In the cave behind, Li Ran's eyes suddenly opened, and his divine sense moved. A faint light flashed in the ring on his right hand, and the ropes tied to his body snapped simultaneously.

  Li Ran's dagger flashed slightly as he darted out, his toes barely touching the ground, like a ghost without making a sound. He swiftly passed by the two people who had fallen to the ground at the entrance of the cave and followed closely behind the three hunters from a distance.

  Those three people have been to Kuoshui Ridge several times, and they are familiar with the road. Following them should not lead to a wrong path. However, it is unknown how many powerful Gong Sun family members are hiding in this mountain valley. Li Ran Jian was also careful along the way, not daring to be slightly negligent.

  Suddenly, three people in front of them crouched down behind a rock, and two figures floated from south to north, lightly sweeping past, with long sleeves fluttering in the wind, and long swords reflecting the moonlight. They were indeed the patrolling men of the Gong Sun family.

  After the two passed by, three hunters moved forward for several zhang, a rustling sound of grass leaves, and another two jumped over. All the way, I felt that the defense was very strict. Li Ran's knife secretly clicked his tongue. It seems that Shifu has brought great pressure to the Gong Sun family. To prevent information from leaking out, this mountain valley is so tightly guarded.

  However, the three hunters made Li Ruo's knife astonished.

  The three were not only strong in the sixth or seventh layer of Jingyuan, but also had sharp and decisive means, and were proficient in the art of hidden assassination. On this journey, the three men's advance and retreat, avoidance and convergence were all reasonable, making Li Ran nod his head in approval.

  It seems that the three of them are not just ordinary hunters, but must have a very special identity. Thinking about it, they hunted at Kuishui Ridge and obtained things that others couldn't hunt, yet they bumped into the Gong Sun family, which is quite a coincidence.

  Afraid of losing the three, Li Ran's feet trod on the goose feather step, lightly and swiftly sweeping across several zhang, hiding behind a tree, already not far from the three.

  Three people crouched behind a boulder on the mountain, and Chong Shan said in a low voice: "After crossing this short peak, we will be out of the valley, and it should be considered that we have escaped from their clutches. But I don't know what kind of force they are, when we get back, we need to contact our friends in the Black Armor Army to ask about it in detail."

  Wei Lao nodded three times: "Not bad."

  The three of them stood up and rushed towards that short peak.

  Li Ruo didn't dare to slack off, and with a sudden leap, he jumped to where the three men had just been hiding. Suddenly, he heard Lao San's low cry of pain, as if he had been injured. Li Ruo quickly raised his head and saw that in front of him, under the short peak, three hunters were wielding their long knives, already engaged in a fierce battle. In front of them, two figures stood faintly, their bamboo sticks almost invisible in the dark night, like ghosts, quietly and silently enveloping the three men.

  Three old men danced urgently with long knives, gritting their teeth as they tried to break out of the stick's shadow, but each time they charged out, they were lightly blocked by the bamboo stick.

  Li Ruo was shocked, these two bamboo sticks swung silently and effortlessly, the person holding the stick had pure strength, reflected in the empty space, soft and thick, vast and profound, beyond his own reach, unexpectedly they were two strong practitioners of the Divine Movement stage.

  A bamboo stick sneaked into the knife shadow of Chongshan and hit his head with a loud bang, causing Chongshan's body to suddenly slump down, his head covered in blood and flesh, apparently dead. The other two were filled with righteous indignation, dancing their knives even more fiercely, and again came two loud slapping sounds, one hitting the middle of the back and one hitting the chest, followed by several cracking sounds of broken bones, limbs twisted into strange shapes, and Wei Lao San and another hunter fell to the ground at the same time.

  Three skilled hunters thus lost their lives in the desolate mountains.

  Li Ran hid behind the green stone, not even daring to breathe. Next to his ear, he heard one of the tall and sturdy men say in a light tone: "The clan leader took other elders to attend the family evaluation meeting, hiding Li Qushan in such a secret place for us to guard, but unexpectedly it was still discovered by someone. Should we move him elsewhere?"

  Li Ruo's heart skipped a beat as he heard this, his heart suddenly lifted up.

  "Father is indeed hiding here, and the person who just spoke, isn't that old rival Gong Sun Hong? It turns out that Gong Sun Yi and other powerful individuals have all gone to the Immortal Families Alliance, and there are only these two Divine Movement stage... "

  Another person turned back a few steps and patted the iron railing on the mountain wall, shouting in a low voice across the railing: "Li Qushan..."

  A low, muffled hum came from within the cave.

  Li Rendao's heart sank as he heard this, the hum was all too familiar to him, wasn't it his father? If calculated according to this world's time, it had been just over a year since his father was taken away, but Li Rendao had lived two lifetimes, and this longing had lasted for decades.