Chapter 444 Still Alive
The vulture was found in a remote, almost forgotten village within the jurisdiction of Dulang County.
Several villagers and mountain dwellers said they had seen a very large bird, which they did not recognize and thought was the legendary Peng bird.
They had only seen the large bird fly overhead, but they didn't know where it came from.
Based on the different directions the vultures flew as observed by several people, Lu Qingqing drew a conclusion:
Vultures rarely come here, so few people see them, indicating that this is not their habitat.
But it didn't come from the west either, because two people saw it flying eastward at dusk!
As for whether there were white feathers on the wings, they said they couldn't see clearly.
Further east, you'll be even closer to Fancheng.
Lu Qingqing and Lu Yun suddenly thought of Tianyuan!
The two exchanged a glance.
Vultures eat carrion.
Beneath the abyss lay nothing but corpses!
Is this possible?
Why have the people in Fancheng never seen vultures?
Lu Qingqing felt she had figured out the key, but then dismissed it again because of the illogical reasoning.
“Start the search from here eastward.”
Everyone went up the mountain.
They kept searching and searching, and another half month passed.
Zhang Lin also arrived with his men, but they found nothing there.
At this point, the search area was less than a hundred miles from Fancheng.
The closer they got to Fancheng, the more Lu Qingqing and Lu Yun's original guesses resurfaced.
This time, they couldn't deny it.
There's no such coincidence.
If vultures are here, they must be connected to the Heavenly Abyss!
Perhaps, Ji Ruyan... has already been eaten by vultures.
And also, Dad.
Regardless, they had no choice but to seal off the tunnels hidden in Fancheng, as Tianyuan was located there.
If the vultures really did come from the Abyss, then they should look for a breach here.
Perhaps we can find a way into the Heavenly Abyss!
Further ahead, there is a hundred-meter-high peak that stretches for more than ten miles.
They remembered the vultures' habits—they wouldn't roost on the mountaintop—and had planned to go around them, but…
Zhang Lin sensed a very uncomfortable aura.
This is an instinct formed from living in the forest for many years.
He feels a chill run down his spine when something is watching him.
However, this time the sensation was very faint, only making him feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps it's because it's far away, or perhaps it doesn't have any malevolent energy.
Zhang Lin looked around but found nothing.
"Qingqing, do you still have Qianlimu there?"
The prince's lens fell off his body and shattered when he was arrested.
"Yes." Lu Qingqing handed it over.
She made another one and carried it with her; she had just been looking for vultures in the sky.
Zhang Lin took it and began looking around again.
"There are only trees here, what can you see?" Lu Yun asked casually as he sat down on a rock, rubbing his aching legs.
"We see it! A gull-headed eagle! It's watching us!"
Lu Yun stood up abruptly.
Everyone looked toward where he was looking—the mountaintop.
Are vultures on the summit?
Lu Qingqing took the telescope and saw the vulture.
It's like Yang Guo's eagle, standing upright on the edge of the rock, huge in size, its head slowly turning, as if surveying its prey!
"It has white feathers along the edges of its wings! That's it!"
"Let me see, let me see." Lu Yun snatched the Thousand-Mile Eye again.
"I see it! Oh no, it's flying away! It's gone! Quick, after it—"
Chase them? How can we chase them? There are mountains ahead!
I can only sigh in despair at the sight of the peak!
"Could it be that this gull-headed vulture is different from the others, and lives on the mountaintop?"
"Find ropes and grappling hooks, I'll take some men to the top of the mountain to take a look!" Zhang Lin said.
There's no other way, this is the only way.
But Zhang Lin couldn't go up; his leg wasn't fully healed.
Lu Qingqing selected ten skilled men, equipped them with ropes, helmets, and iron spikes...
The ten people didn't come down that day; they didn't come down until the afternoon of the next day.
They said that after walking nearly five miles from the summit, they could not go any further because there was a cliff ahead, so deep that the bottom could not be seen.
"A cliff! There's a cliff hidden in the middle of this mountain!"
However, from the outside, it looks like a whole mountain peak, and you can't tell it at all.
The Heavenly Abyss, this place must be connected to the Heavenly Abyss!
Lu Qingqing gritted her teeth. Even if Ji Ruyan and her father had been eaten to the bone by the vultures, she still wanted to see the true face of Tianyuan!
"Where is the cliff located? Let's go, let's carve a tunnel out from the outside!"
"Send a message to the headquarters to secretly transport gunpowder."
The ten guards who climbed to the summit marked the location on the cliff.
They saw the clothes tied to the rock face with their clasp.
"Girl, this is the place."
"Alright, get the tools ready, let's chisel through the mountain!"
...
On the third day after they started chiseling the mountain, the vultures appeared again.
This time it wasn't standing on the summit to observe; it was hovering in the sky.
After observing with his clairvoyant eyes, Zhang Lin suddenly burst into a frenzied wail:
"Crown Prince—waaaaaa—you dog-headed vulture! I'm going to kill you!"
"Archers, shoot it dead! Shoot it dead!"
Has Deputy General Zhang gone mad? How can he shoot down something from that height?
"What's wrong?" Lu Qingqing was flustered by his howling, and her voice was unsteady.
He snatched the Thousand-Mile Eye and looked at the vulture.
"Wow...it ate the prince...and what it's holding in its paws is the blue shirt he was wearing that day..."
Zhang Lin drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired it fiercely into the sky.
Unfortunately, it was just a little short.
He was furious, wiped away his tears and shot again.
"Little sister, really?" Lu Yun asked worriedly.
Lu Qingqing didn't put down her Thousand-Mile Eyes; she stared at the sky without even blinking.
Until Lu Yun saw a single tear slide down the corner of her eye.
Then he understood everything.
I won't ask anything more.
"Stop shooting!" Lu Qingqing suddenly ordered.
Zhang Lin missed several shots and was about to climb up the mountain when he heard Lu Qingqing's words and was puzzled.
“Go hunt some game and lure it down,” Lu Qingqing said again.
She never put down her clairvoyance, shifting her position as the vulture circled.
Zhang Lin suddenly realized: "Great idea!"
Lu Yun noticed the difference in Lu Qingqing's voice and couldn't help but ask, "Did you discover something?"
"Yes, the strip of cloth that the vulture was dragging wasn't being held; it looked like it was tied to its leg!"
The vulture kept waving its claws, as if trying to shake off the strip of cloth.
Lu Qingqing turned to look at Lu Yun, her eyes sparkling like stars just emerging from the clouds.
What does this tell us?
This means someone tied it up!
A bird can't tie itself up!
Lu Yun's eyes lit up as well.
Alive, still alive!
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