"What about you?" the Whale God asked.
I pointed to the sky. "High in the lamp, a bright light."
This was because I noticed the mountain and sea demon race approaching consisted of beasts, not birds.
I lit a cigarette and waited. Halfway through, I heard engine sounds from below the mountain. The yacht had already set sail, heading for the open sea and would soon be out of sight.
I had underestimated their speed. Perhaps the large undulations of the mountains had affected their progress when they were further away. By the time I finished the cigarette, their vanguard had reached the foot of Jinji Ridge. By the starlight, I could clearly see the trees swaying violently from their impact.
"Diana," I called out.
"Okay," Diana whispered away. She wasn't leaving Jinji Ridge but returning to the encampment below. I trusted her stealth capabilities.
As the mountain and sea demon race began their climb, Ya Nan transformed. I put away her clothes, grabbed her claws, and using the advantage of the mountain peak, we plummeted and took flight. We circled once and returned, already at an altitude of over a hundred meters above the peak. Just then, there was an updraft. Even with Ya Nan carrying me, I could feel it on my downward-facing face. She didn't need to flap her wings frequently to maintain a certain altitude, allowing us to circle in the dark night sky.
During the third circle, the mountain and sea demon race had stormed Jinji Ridge. Some stayed behind, and I could only hear their roars as they seemed to communicate, while the majority descended towards our base, with some heading towards the sea.
I "saw" Diana's aura constantly moving, but she didn't engage with the mountain and sea demon race, which spoke volumes about her stealth skills, even surpassing those of the ninjas from Sakura Country.
After a search of about five minutes, the mountain and sea demon race found nothing and gathered at the mountaintop. A few demon beasts did look up at Ya Nan and me, but because we were flying high, we appeared as small dark dots from the ground. They couldn't even see me, only Ya Nan's massive wings, and paid us no mind.
Two minutes later, they began their retreat. Once they were down the mountain, Ya Nan set me down on the summit. I immediately took out my phone and called Yao Yao on the sea, asking her to check with Shao Chen if there were any new developments at Phoenix Platform.
Indeed there were. Old Thirteen had just called Shao Chen to say the second wave was coming. This wave, however, consisted of only about twenty people, not demons but humans. They weren't coming through the mountains but were driving along the road. The reason Old Thirteen judged them as the second wave of enemies, rather than ordinary demons, was that he had seen these black Mercedes cars before. Moreover, they were old acquaintances of mine!
The Mohe Group!
It was them again. Twenty people, likely the same twenty elite members of the Mohe organization who had confronted us in Shengjing before. They were all professional demon hunters.
I didn't know how they managed to evade Sabia's pursuit and sneak back to the northeast. However, I couldn't determine if Long Yue was among them, so I couldn't decide whether to fight or not. If Long Yue wasn't present, this would be an excellent opportunity to weaken the Mohe Group, and we should definitely strike. It wouldn't require a full-scale battle; sending Diana alone, with perhaps Chu Qi and Shao Chen, would be enough to eliminate as many as possible. With their combined abilities, all three could retreat unharmed.
But if Long Yue was there, it would be a different story. I was only certain that Diana, with her demon core, wouldn't be weaker than Long Yue. For the other two, it was uncertain. In fact, it was highly probable that Chu Qi and Shao Chen couldn't defeat Long Yue.
"Yao Yao, turn back a bit. I need you to determine if Long Yue is there," I said.
"Okay, don't hang up. We should be there soon," Yao Yao replied.
I lit another cigarette and waited. After half a minute, Yao Yao suddenly said on the phone, "She's here."
Within that half minute, I had already made contingency plans.
"Alright, you three continue to retreat out to sea. Go around the tip of the peninsula and head to Laobie Bay," I instructed. The yacht had navigation, and Chu Qi knew how to drive. They would find it.
"What about the three of you?" Yao Yao asked.
"We'll go by land. Oh, and tell Shao Chen to tell Old Thirteen and the others to evacuate immediately. I suspect our information was leaked from the Hengshui Sect."
This was because the Hengshui Sect had left. Not that they betrayed us, but rather that they had obtained information about my presence at Phoenix Platform, and this information had fallen into Mohe's hands.