Chapter 24: A Wild Dash

The once-crowded group swiftly thinned out as people scattered. Amid the sudden dispersal, the pack of weasel beasts was momentarily thrown into confusion. Some of them continued to chase after Wei Yunting’s team, while others pursued a group made up of mortal children. The remaining teams were trailed by only two or three weasel beasts each, and the threat was greatly diminished.

Wei Yunxi swept her spiritual sense over the group of mortal children who were now the main focus of the beasts. Among them, she immediately recognized the girl who had accompanied Wei Yunqing to the woods earlier. Glancing at the relentless weasel beasts dogging their heels, Wei Yunxi was certain her suspicions were correct—Wei Yunqing had truly brought disaster upon others.

Little Chubby, already exhausted, waved at Yunxi. “Yunxi, don’t drag me anymore. I’m falling behind; you go on ahead.” But Wei Yunxi replied loyally, “Brother Zonghao, I can’t leave you behind!” Seizing the opportunity, she pulled the chubby boy into a thicket of brambles, quickly tossing out an isolation array disk and pulling Wei Zonghao into the protective formation.

Inside the array, Wei Zonghao collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. Wei Yunxi herself was no better off, but during their escape she’d instinctively channeled her spiritual energy into her legs—specifically wind energy—which allowed her to drag along the little chubby without being overtaken.

She had chosen to drop out now because she didn’t want to be implicated by Wei Yunqing; who knew what treasure she had taken from the weasel beasts? After Zonghao caught his breath and sat up, he looked at the few weasel beasts circling outside the array and asked, “Yunxi, did we get separated from the group?”

“We had no choice,” Yunxi replied. “Most of the weasel beasts are after us, and you couldn’t run any farther. Hiding was our only option.”

“Thank you, Yunxi. Here, have some jerky. I was so out of breath from running—let’s eat something to regain our strength.” Wei Zonghao, unusually generous, felt this cousin was worth befriending. Even in danger, she hadn’t abandoned him and had used a precious array disk to protect them both—just as his mother had said, this was kin one could truly rely on.

Wei Yunxi took the jerky without hesitation, eating a few pieces. Once the weasel beasts outside dispersed, she said, “They’re gone now. Let’s rest a bit more, then catch up with Sister Yunting and the others.”

“Right, we’ll go once we’re rested,” Zonghao agreed.

“Brother Zonghao, why do you think those weasel beasts are so intent on chasing us?”

“Yunxi, did you notice? Most of them were after us?” Zonghao had been too focused on running to look back.

Yunxi nodded immediately. “I saw it clearly. When Sister Yunting told everyone to scatter, the largest number of weasel beasts chased us. Another group went after a team of mortal children, while the rest only had two or three behind them.”

Wei Zonghao frowned. “Earlier, I saw Wei Yunqing and a mortal girl slip into the woods together. Did they take something?”

Yunxi raised her eyebrows in mild surprise, not expecting anyone else to notice Wei Yunqing’s movements. Clearly, these little ones were not as simple as they appeared. Still, she agreed, “I saw them too, but I didn’t dare say anything just now.”

Hearing this, Zonghao grinned, showing his small white teeth. “Let’s catch up and see if she’s the cause of all this trouble.”

Yunxi nodded. Once they’d recovered, she dispelled the array—her spirit stones were limited, after all—and the two set off hand in hand, carefully following the previous path.

Meanwhile, Wei Yunting was furious with her troublesome cousin, shouting, “Wei Yunqing, if you don’t want to be eliminated, give back whatever you took from the weasel beasts. Otherwise, I’ll leave you to your fate!”

Though reluctant, Wei Yunqing finally withdrew a baby weasel beast from her sleeve and placed it on the ground before quickly fleeing. Faced with third-level weasel beasts, she was no match for them, and if Wei Yunting abandoned her, her elimination was only a matter of time.

Once she relinquished the little beast, the pursuing weasel pack finally halted. The largest among them sniffed the cub, confirmed it was unharmed, picked it up, and retraced their path instead of pressing the attack. The pack had already left their own territory; staying longer would only invite trouble, as other beasts would see it as a provocation.

Wei Yunting finally breathed a sigh of relief but looked at Wei Yunqing with visible displeasure. In her mind, her cousin was short-sighted. These creatures were only first rank, and even if they reached third rank, they had no great abilities aside from running away. She couldn’t understand what Wei Yunqing hoped to gain by capturing one.

Had Wei Yunxi been nearby, she would have guessed the reason: Wei Yunqing had lost her greatest golden finger, the spatial wooden token, so her storage pouch was empty. Lacking support from the powerful figures in her chat group, she now felt insecure and wanted to catch this conveniently lost weasel cub to exchange for spirit stones. After all, the little creature was adorably foolish and popular with young girls.

But things had gone awry from the start, scattering the entire team. Wei Yunqing grumbled inwardly, but seeing that Wei Yunxi was nowhere in sight, her mood quickly improved.

“Let’s rest here for a while,” Wei Yunting announced, seeing that the weasel beasts were no longer pursuing them.

The remaining six finally halted. After catching their breath, Wei Zonghan spoke up bluntly, “Yunqing, do you even know why you’re here? Are you trying to get all the Wei disciples eliminated and make the other families in Kunyu City laugh at us?”

Wei Zonghan was one of the first five disciples admitted to the sect, the same age as Wei Yunting and also at the third level of Qi Refining. However, as a branch family member, he deferred to Yunting’s leadership but was recognized as vice-captain, so he didn’t mince words.

Wei Yunqing flushed, her eyes reddening. “Brother Zonghan, I didn’t know the little weasel would bring the whole pack after us. It fell on my head when I went to the woods—I thought it was an abandoned cub since its eyes weren’t even open. I just wanted to raise it. I know I was wrong!”

She wiped her tears as she finished, leaving Zonghan feeling like he’d punched a pile of cotton. He could only look toward Wei Yunting.

Wei Yunting had her own grievances with her cousin, but the girl’s spiritual roots were excellent and her cultivation fast, making her a key family prospect. She couldn’t be too harsh, so she warned sternly, “Yunqing, you’re already a cultivator. You shouldn’t act so impulsively. Fortunately, no real harm was done this time. Let this be a lesson.”

“I understand, Sister Yunting,” Wei Yunqing replied, aggrieved.

At that moment, Wei Zongjin frowned and spoke, “Yunxi and Zonghao are missing!”