Despite there not being a 'mini-map' of sorts with markers provided by the system, all telling me where to go, I did have a strange 'feeling' doing basically just that. Whenever I focused my mind on the 'quest', my gut would kind of whip my head in the direction I was supposed to go.
As I had my reservations, I first called the whole group together as I wanted to share the tidbit with them, hoping that none of them will ask precisely how I know this.
"The reason I asked you to gather," I began. "Is because of a decision we all need to make. Someplace near us, there is currently a group from the Holy Lands chasing remnant members of the fallen Demonic Cult." I specifically glanced over at Light and Wan Lan, both of whom winced at the mention, their expressions growing complex.
"Where?" Long Tao asked, a strange look on his face.
"North of us," I said.
"North is such a broad term, Master."
"How so?" I glanced at him. "It means north. Toward the sun. Very simple and specific."
"..."
"As such, we have a decision to make," I added. "Do we interfere? Or not? I should say that it is not a small or a weak group of pursuers," though I had no way of knowing the actual numbers, judging by the fact that the baseline points reward was freakin' twenty thousand, it'll probably be a major pain in the ass.
"... can, can we at least go and see?" Wan Lan asked with a faint tremble in her voice.
"We will be detected," I wasn't certain of that either, but had to make these assumptions and act with them in mind.
"..." everyone fell silent. I wasn't quite sure what they were contemplating, but whatever it was, most of their expressions were hardened.
"We should go," that was Long Tao, unsurprisingly. If there was a way to get us into mortal danger, he was always the first one pushing us. The gentle wind in our back when we stood on the edge of a deep crevice.
"Yes, we should go," with the old bastard's approval, others relaxed and also said the same thing.
"I agree; Holy Lands should learn not to mess with the Cult!"
... hmm. Wait, wait, wait.
I--I think the reason they so readily agreed was because it was Long Tao, but not because of Long Tao. More like, him agreeing meant that I'd be safe.
Hoooh.
Hoooooooh.
Thank you, Harmonized Heart Sutra, for without you I'd have gone mad in so many different ways.
"... very well," I said, holding it in. "We'll go."
In case they agreed, I already developed layers upon layers of precautions. Additionally, in the worst case scenario, I'd probably deploy the reversal array. But let's hope it doesn't get to that, as I'd loathe to waste one of the two uses of the materials for it that I have.
Anyway, we quickly boarded the chariot and set into the sky. All the while... every breath I took caused me to cultivate so freely that I felt almost blessed. Of the three options, I took the one with passive cultivation. For me, it was absolutely perfect; I rarely fought, so the second one was out immediately, and the third one was just bad. As such, since I hated sitting on my ass and cultivating for hours on end, the passive cultivation was like an early Christmas present for me.
I controlled the chariot's direction per my intuition, quickly covering miles upon miles of distance. We were breaking away from the plains and slowly moving closer to the northern part of the massive mountain range dividing the two regions, titled Obsidian Dragon Range.
Supposedly, according to the books I've read, it was dubbed as such due to the fact that the mountain peaks were pitch black, and supposedly the cause is the residing dragon corpse at the heart of the entire range.
Regardless, I couldn't help but notice that both Light and Wan Lan were behaving quite differently from the rest. While the others cultivate, the two looked as though they were on pins and needles, sort of like I remember being just before an important date or an exam.
Even if I wanted to offer some comfort, I'm fairly certain that the words wouldn't do much to help them. We've been together for years now, and neither had talked much about the cult in that time. Once or twice, to reaffirm their dreams, but other than that, they never mentioned it... and I never probed.
The odd bit is that I never actually managed to discover much about the war itself. None of the books mentioned it, no one who joined us and learned that Lan'er was a Demonic Cultivator mentioned it, there were no traces of it... it was as though the entire thing unfolded in some dream dimension, or as if the entire world had taken the same oath to keep it a secret from those who weren't already privy to it.
Well, if we manage to save these cult members, maybe I finally learn a thing or two.
It took us about two hours before my intuition was telling me to go down. As I started to descend, the kids opened their eyes and Light and Wan Lan jumped to their feet, quickly hurrying over to the doors.
We landed on a slightly hilly terrain; it was dull and lifeless, without a trace of grass or trees anywhere as far as the eye could see. At the same time, the ground seemed to be covered in a small layer of ash and soot, prompting me to frown as I looked westward.
There, mountain peaks shot through the clouds, and I finally learned why it was actually called Obsidian Dragon Range--jutting from the heart of the range and standing above all the surrounding peaks... there was a freakin' volcano. And it was in the process of spewing volcanic ash into the sky.
"Why were they going this way?" Lao Shun asked the same question that was hanging in my mind. Chances were that it was simply the 'last resort' sort of a deal, and they were hoping to get lost somewhere in the massive range.
Besides, we can just ask them.
We spun to the side and faced our left where, just past the nearby hill, we saw several figures peak out. Most were young, kids just like mine, with only one being older.
It was precisely him who suddenly leapt out and, like a freakin' bolt of lightning, shot toward us. I was actually prepared to attack him but realized just in time that he'd immediately went to his knees, head planted into the dirt so firmly that I was certain he got a concussion, and screamed from the top of his lungs:
"LOWLY MAO BO, SERVANT OF DEMON GOD, GREETS THE ETERNAL QUEEN!!! MAY THE DARKNESS BLESS US, O' THE GREATEST ONE!"