The guide from Blackwater Temple waved his hand, and without hesitation, our group moved closer.
As Guan Xin saw us approach, he asked, “Fellow Daoists, what are your names?”
My martial uncle, leading the way, directly replied, “Hu Xiao!”
“Oh! So it’s Senior Hu Xiao, very good!” Guan Xin was very polite. He then made a checkmark next to my martial uncle’s Daoist title.
My companion Lao Mo and I stepped forward and also gave our names. Guan Xin nodded politely and asked us to wait.
Soon, Aunt Yun Xia arrived with three disciples from the Qingcheng Sect: Xia Qiuxi, Xu Hanchi, and Luo Fei. They also reported their names.
Finally, only Yun Long and Yun Hu, who were on the list, remained. We waited in place for a considerable while, but they did not appear. Some of the faster assembling squads had already departed under the guidance of the Blackwater Temple’s escorts.
“What’s going on with these two? Why aren’t they here yet?” Luo Fei asked.
“Indeed, I’ll call out for them. Yun Long, Yun Hu, assemble…” Xu Hanchi also shouted a few times, but received no response.
“Could they have deserted before the battle?” Lao Mo said.
But as soon as he finished speaking, I saw two men in the distance running towards us, clutching their stomachs.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“We’re here, we’re here!”
Upon closer inspection, they were two brothers. They looked so alike, tall and thin. Each wore a large earring, giving them a rather flamboyant appearance.
“Which one of you is Yun Long, and which is Yun Hu?” Guan Xin asked, holding the grouping list.
At this, the man with the earring in his left ear said, “I am the elder brother, Yun Long.”
The man with the earring in his right ear also raised his hand, saying, “I am the younger brother, Yun Hu.”
At this point, everyone was present. Guan Xin then said, “Very well, everyone is here. Senior Yun Xia, I hand the roster to you. You will be the leader of our Seventh Squad, and I will be responsible for guiding the way.”
Guan Xin spoke. As an elder of the Qingcheng Sect, Aunt Yun Xia was qualified to be the leader due to her status in the martial world and her own cultivation.
Aunt Yun Xia nodded and said, “Alright, since everyone is here, then we shall depart…”
Before Aunt Yun Xia could finish speaking, Yun Long and Yun Hu, clutching their stomachs again, exclaimed, “Ow, ow, I can’t, I need to go to the restroom!”
“No, I need to go too!” With that, the two turned and ran towards the restrooms without looking back.
They left us staring at them, utterly bewildered.
“What’s wrong with these two?” Lao Mo asked.
I smiled wryly and said, “They must have diarrhea!”
“Good heavens, diarrhea at this moment? We are about to set off,” Luo Fei said with some exasperation. We were heading out to slay demons and eliminate the Black Demon Cult; this was a matter of life and death. A squad had ten people, and with two suffering from diarrhea, our squad’s combat effectiveness was nearly halved.
Aunt Yun Xia sighed, “Let’s wait a bit longer! If it really comes to it, we can go with just eight of us.”
The others said nothing, and continued to wait. At this moment, the Seventh Squad was the only one left in Blackwater Temple. The other nine squads had all assembled and were already making their way into the forest behind Blackwater Mountain.
After waiting for a few more minutes, Yun Long and Yun Hu returned. The two looked weary.
“I’m, I’m sorry! We, we ate something bad on the way, and we’ve been sick all day.”
“Yes! But everyone, please rest assured, we can hold on. We must do our part in this expedition to the demon’s lair.” The two said, still clutching their stomachs.
Xu Hanchi grinned, “I say, you two Daoist friends, if you really can’t make it, you should stay here and rest.”
“Indeed. Although this mission isn’t as dangerous as we imagined, it’s definitely not easy. If you lose your life because of diarrhea, it would be a complete loss,” Luo Fei added.
However, Yun Long and Yun Hu seemed displeased upon hearing this.
“That won’t do. We brothers were sent by our master. If we retreat without fighting, we won’t be able to explain ourselves to our teacher when we return. Everyone, don’t worry, my brother and I can endure!”
“Yes, we can endure.”
As soon as they finished speaking, two rumbling sounds were heard. The two clutched their stomachs and hurriedly said, “Sorry, everyone, please wait a moment longer.”
“We’ll be back soon.” Before the two could finish their words, they turned and ran towards the restrooms again.
This left the eight of us speechless.
Thus, we waited for about half an hour, on and off. The anti-diarrheal medicine the two had taken began to take effect, and their condition gradually improved. We were almost an hour behind the first group that had departed.
Now, we left Blackwater Temple and headed towards the depths of Blackwater Mountain. The twelve squads each had specific paths. Therefore, Guan Xin’s role within the team was quite important. As we made our way into the mountains, Guan Xin began to explain, “If we travel at a fast pace for two hours and then cross the mountain ahead, we will reach the Misty Forest. However, we must enter it before dawn. Once daylight arrives, that Misty Forest will disappear. To enter again, we would have to wait until tomorrow night…”
Guan Xin spoke very earnestly. But as we listened, we found it incredibly magical, even astonishing. That was a vast forest. Even if it was shrouded in mist year-round, how could it just disappear? There must be some strange occurrences and secrets involved…