Chapter 27: Prairie Pursuit

  In the vast desert, four people were divided into three waves of front, middle and back, chasing each other. Mei Chaofeng didn't know that Ma Yu and Guo Jing were following behind her, while Ma Yu and Guo Jing only knew they were following Mei Chaofeng, unaware that there was also someone following them from behind.

  Fortunately, Ma Yu and Guo Jing were the weakest in lightness among the three, and following Mei Chao Feng was already a bit strenuous, let alone having the leisure to turn their heads to check behind them. If not for this, on the vast and desolate desert, there wasn't a single object to block one's view, and one could see over ten miles away. Ma Yu and Guo Jing weren't blind like Mei Chao Feng, so if they were to turn around, Ling Mu Yun would inevitably be exposed.

  Four people chased after each other, their footsteps swift and rapid, not knowing how many roads they had traveled. As the sky began to brighten, they saw in front of them a vast campsite with numerous large tents standing upright, and within the campsite, several teams of sentries patrolled back and forth. Mei Chaofeng's figure flashed by, her eyes fixed on the spot where she had slipped into the campsite and disappeared from view, it was unknown which tent she had entered.

  Ma Yu and Guo Jing quickened their pace, avoiding the patrolling sentries as they snuck into the camp to search for Mei Chao Feng's whereabouts. Unbeknownst to them, they had crept up to a large yellow tent in the middle of the camp. The two of them crouched on the ground, lifting up a corner of the tent flap to peek inside. Suddenly, they saw someone draw their sword and strike down with great force, killing a burly man on the spot. The big man fell forward, landing right before Guo Jing and Ma Yu's eyes. Guo Jing recognized this person as one of Temujin's personal guards and was shocked, thinking to himself: "How did he end up getting killed by someone here?"

  He slightly lifted the bottom edge of the tent again, and the person who had just turned around with a knife was Wang Han's son, Sang Kun. He saw him wiping the bloodstains off his long knife on the sole of his boot, then turning back to say to someone inside the tent, "Now you don't have any more doubts, do you?"

  Guo Jing looked at the man and saw that he was also familiar, it was indeed Jamukha, Temujin's sworn brother. He only heard Jamukha say: "Brother Temujin is wise and brave, but this matter is not easy to succeed."

  "Go and inform your sworn brother then," Sang Kun said with a cold smile.

  "Zha Mu said: 'You are also my sworn brother, your father treated me with such kindness, I will not betray you. Besides, Temujin has been trying to annex my tribe, I am not unaware of it, but because of our sworn brotherhood, I have not fallen out with him.'"

  Another person in the tent said, "Those who take action first will be strong, and those who take action later will suffer. If he takes action against you first, you will be in trouble. After the matter is settled, Temujin's livestock, women, and treasures will all belong to Sangkun; his troops will all belong to Jamukha, and I, the Great Jin, will reappoint Jamukha as the Pacification Commissioner of the North." Guo Jing only saw this person's back, so he quietly crawled over a few feet to look at his profile. This person looked very familiar, wearing a yellow brocade robe with sable trim, and his attire was extremely luxurious. Only then did he remember that this person was actually Wanyan Honglie, the Sixth Prince of the Jin Dynasty.

  Just as Guo Jing and Ma Yu were sneaking up to the yellow big tent to eavesdrop on the secret meeting inside, Ling Mu Yun also snuck into the camp. At this time, the sky was just a little white, and the night color had not completely faded away, so it was still hard to see things clearly. Moreover, Ling Mu Yun's lightness skill was extremely high, and he darted back and forth in the camp like the wind, so the patrolling sentries couldn't detect him at all.

  Due to his profound internal strength, Ling Mu Yun's senses were much sharper than ordinary people. He soon spotted Guo Jing and Ma Yu hiding outside the yellow tent, slightly lifting the curtain to peek inside. Ling Mu Yun's heart stirred, and he swiftly moved towards the yellow tent like a clear breeze, avoiding Ma Yu and Guo Jing, and sneaked around to the other side of the tent to eavesdrop again.

  A slightly stern middle-aged male voice said: "My great Jin country is about to send troops south to destroy the Song, I asked Temujin to send troops to assist in attacking the Song, but that guy refused to agree. Since he doesn't know what's good for him and has harmed the interests of both of you, this time we'll join forces to get rid of him, and let you two divide up his Khongirad tribe. At that time, each of you will lead 20,000 troops to help my great Jin win the war, and after the great victory, there will naturally be heavy rewards."

  Another voice chimed in with delight: "I've always heard that the Southern Dynasty is a world of flowers, where gold fills the ground and every woman is as lovely as a flower. If the Sixth Prince can take us brothers on a tour, it would be simply wonderful."

  This voice was filled with greed, and Ling Muyun confirmed that the person who spoke earlier should be Zhao Wang Wanyan Honglie, the sixth prince of Jin.

  Yan Honglie burst out laughing and said: "Isn't that easy? I'm just afraid there are too many beauties in the Southern Dynasty, you can't handle so many."

  Upon hearing these words, Ling Muyun suddenly felt a surge of anger rising from his heart, with an urge to rush into the tent and slaughter everyone inside. Whether it was the Jurchen or Mongols, these barbarian tribes were all the same - they took pleasure in plundering other nations, and the advanced agricultural civilization of the Han people had been repeatedly ravaged by the iron hooves of these barbarians.

  Just thinking that if he were to take action and kill these people, it would only be a free gift to Temujin, and might even help him unify Mongolia more easily, this was what suppressed the anger in his heart.

  Next, Yan Honglie and others discussed the countermeasures against Temujin. First, they used the marriage between Temujin's daughter Huazhen and Sangkun's son Doushi as a pretext to invite Temujin over. Jamukha and Sangkun led their troops to ambush Temujin halfway, killing him, and then led a surprise attack on the Kereit tribe, completely absorbing Temujin's forces.

  Upon hearing this, Ling Yun had already figured out what was going on and stood up to leave the tent, continuing his search for Mei Chao Feng. Soon after, he found Mei Chao Feng in a location not far from the previous large tent, where she was holding onto an emissary sent by Temujin of the Iron Wood clan, asking about the whereabouts of the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. She then dragged the man into another tent. Later, Ling Yun also saw Ma Yu and Guo Jing sneak out of the camp and hurry away, likely to warn the Six Freaks and Temujin.

  As soon as Guo Jing and Ma Yu walked far away, Ling Mu Yun did not follow them to leave, but instead went quietly towards the tent where Mei Chao Feng was. When he arrived outside the tent, Ling Mu Yun stole a glance inside, only to see that the person who had been brought into the tent by Mei Chao Feng earlier was lying stiffly on the ground, except for his eyes which were still moving, the rest of his body and limbs were motionless, seemingly having been struck by an acupoint. Mei Chao Feng sat casually beside him, lost in thought.

  Ling Yun Cloud coldly laughed towards the tent: "Good you, Mei Chao Feng, to actually dare return to the Great Desert."

  "What a person!" Mei Chao Feng shouted, stretching out his hand and pulling it back, the four-zhang-long silver-white soft whip suddenly flew out like a long poisonous snake, "pa" sound shattered the canvas in front of Ling Mu Yun, and with remaining momentum, it whipped towards Ling Mu Yun.

  Ling Yun saw clearly that the whip tip was full of sharp and pointed reverse thorns, and as long as it was drawn up, even if it didn't kill him, he would have to peel off a layer of skin. Immediately, his toes touched the ground, and his body shape seemed to be blown away by the wind, narrowly avoiding Mei Chao Feng's fierce whip. He then turned his body and flew out of the camp in an instant.

  "Retreat!" Mei Chao Feng's whip cracked in the air, and his figure darted out of the camp like a rabbit, his ear cocked to one side as he instantly detected Ling Mu Yun's position. He immediately unleashed his full speed and agility, chasing after Ling Mu Yun with all haste.

  Both were exceptionally skilled in lightness kung fu, and when they fully exerted themselves, they moved faster than galloping horses. When the sentries in the camp heard the noise and came to investigate, they vaguely saw what seemed like two shadows flashing past between the many tents, but before they could take a closer look, they had already vanished into thin air. Since the night was not yet completely gone, those sentries thought they had seen ghosts and were shocked with suspicion.

  Let's not mention the Mongolian sentries in the camp who were shocked and suspicious, but rather talk about Ling Yun and Mei Chao Feng, who chased each other out of the camp at high speed. The lightness skills they practiced were both from the Nine Yin Manual, and when they were displayed, they moved as fast as the wind, surpassing even galloping horses. In just a few breaths, they had already covered dozens of feet, and from a distance, only two figures could be seen chasing each other on the grassland, without being able to tell whether they were male or female, beautiful or ugly.

  Because Ling Yun had not only practiced the lightness skill of Jiuyin Zhenjing, but also cultivated the inner strength method in Jiuyin Zhenjing. Under the cultivation of both internal and external skills, his lightness skill was more advanced than Mei Chao Feng's who had only practiced the martial arts of the lower chapter of Jiuyin Zhenjing. If he used all his strength, Mei Chao Feng would not be able to catch up with him. However, he intentionally let Mei Chao Feng discover him in order to lure her out, so while chasing after him, he still left some spare energy, neither shaking off Mei Chao Feng nor letting her catch up with him, just keeping her at a distance that was neither far nor near.

  Two people chased each other for two or three hours, and they didn't know how far they had run. Ling Mu Yun still had some energy left to operate his internal energy and breathe, but Mei Chao Feng, who had been chasing with all her might, had consumed a huge amount of internal energy and was somewhat unable to keep up the pace, slowing down gradually.

  Ling Yun discovered Mei Chao Feng's change and intentionally slowed down his pace to prevent Mei Chao Feng from losing him.

  Mei Chao Feng was also an old hand, and when she slowed down, Ling Yun followed suit. Suddenly, she realized that something was off. Previously, no matter how hard she chased, she couldn't catch up, but now that she had slowed down, the other party also slowed down. Where was the coincidence? It was likely that the opponent was deliberately dangling her to consume her internal energy.