MTLNOVEL Chapter 382: Han Yu's Risky Request
At night, the elders layered wards upon wards, brilliant weaves of qi forming a dome of protection. Disciples took shifts standing watch, but everyone knew the true guardians were the elders who never once allowed their vigilance to drop.
Whispers spread in hushed tones around the campfires.
"Why aren't the beasts attacking anymore?"
"Do you think they're… waiting?"
"Waiting for what?"
"For us to go deeper."
Han Yu listened, but did not add his voice. He kept his eyes on the darkness outside the wards, and in his heart, he agreed. The silence was not mercy. It was patience.
On the fourth day inside the inner ring, the peak heads themselves cut down a creature so immense that the disciples could scarcely comprehend it—a Marsh Leviathan Python, its scaled bulk taller than the trees. It was at the Dao Shell realm, and stronger than any other beast that Han Yu had ever seen.
It was a beast that could have annihilated half the expedition in one swipe of its tail, but it was reduced to ashes before it could even roar.
The disciples watched, awed, but the elders did not look triumphant. Their eyes only grew heavier, their expressions colder. For, even such a creature had not attacked them of its own will. It had simply… wandered too close.
When the march resumed, the silence returned.
The disciples began to realize the truth, though few dared speak it aloud:
They were not being spared. They were being guided.
And somewhere beyond the thick mist of the inner ring, the masked figure was waiting.
.
.
.
The week that followed was marked by silence, recovery, and vigilance.
The expedition could not risk pressing deeper after the devastating ambush. With three disciples dead and over fifty gravely injured, the inner ring had already claimed a heavier toll than any of them had expected.
To move forward recklessly would be to invite disaster, and none of the peak heads were willing to gamble more lives. They were already expecting lives to be lost in this expedition but they did not wish for the disciples to die before they even reached the tomb.
So they halted.
The elders wove a protective formation around a dry patch of raised ground, transforming it into a temporary camp. Injured disciples were treated daily by the sect's healer disciples and elders, their groans filling the air at night as medicine worked its way through broken bones and shattered meridians. Many would not recover enough to continue and would need to be escorted back eventually... But for now, they endured.
The disciples not gravely wounded spent their days in uneasy rest, keeping their weapons close and eyes sharper than before. No one took the quiet for granted anymore.
The elders, however, did not rest.
Each day, parties of elders slipped out into the fog, tracing the paths of beasts, searching for traces of unnatural interference. A handful of trusted core disciples were brought with them, both for their talents and as part of their cultivation. But the numbers remained small... too many wandering groups would risk drawing attention.
Han Yu sat near the edge of the camp one afternoon, watching an elder's scouting party vanish into the mist. His halberd rested across his knees, but his mind was elsewhere. The stillness in the inner ring, the perfectly timed ambush, the fleeting glimpse of the masked figure... it all gnawed at him.
He clenched his jaw. 'Waiting here, licking our wounds… it won't be enough. Someone is pulling strings, and if we can't find them, we'll just keep walking into their traps. The risk might be rising, and we won't even know.'
Decision settled in his heart, Han Yu rose.
He made his way toward the cluster of tents where the logistics and support division operated. Elder Xuan, a broad-shouldered man with streaks of gray in his hair and a calm, unshakable demeanor, was reviewing supplies and assigning disciples to rotations.
Han Yu stepped forward, bowing. "Elder Xuan, I wish to request permission to join a scouting mission."
The elder looked up, brows knitting slightly. "You?" He shook his head. "No. You are part of the support division for a reason, Han Yu. Your duty is here. Maintaining order and stability in camp. Leave scouting to those who are trained for it."
Han Yu bowed lower, voice steady. "Elder, I do have that training. I have experience with infiltration and reconnaissance as well as stealth. Before I joined the expedition, I carried out scouting operations for our Sect. Successfully."
The elder's gaze sharpened. "That is a bold claim. Proof?"
Han Yu met his eyes without wavering. "In the north, I crossed the Broken Fang Ravine and entered the Slumbering Caldera, the territory of the Mist Eye sect. I obtained the information about their activites as well as the presence of a Nascnet Soul Realm Elder and returned successfully with documents as proof."
He could feel a hint of truth in Han Yu's words but still needed to confirm it himself. While many in the sect knew of Han Yu's accomplishments, it was mostly the administrative staff and higher ups that knew it. Elder Xuan was part of the alchemy peak and did not pay attention to such matters, as such it was not unusual for him to not know about Han Yu's feats.
Elder Xuan's expression grew thoughtful. Slowly, he pulled out a jade slip and ran his qi through it, checking Han Yu's service record and accomplishments. His eyes flicked across the entries, and his frown deepened.
Silence stretched for a long moment before the elder set the slip down. His voice, when he spoke, was quieter. "These… are not the accomplishments of an ordinary disciple."
He studied Han Yu for a moment, then said, "Wait here."
Without another word, Elder Xuan left the tent and made his way toward the larger pavilion where the peak heads and senior elders convened. Han Yu straightened, hands clasped behind his back, forcing his racing heart to steady.