The area at the summit was not large, only about the size of a few football fields. Faint mist and drifting clouds surrounded it on all sides.
Soon, in the low visibility, Ye Cangtian and the other three discovered a mountain cave.
The walls on both sides of the cave were clearly man-made, not naturally formed. However, the four of them paid no mind to this and walked inside.
They stopped at the end of the cave, facing an ancient stone door.
Based on Ye Cangtian's experience, this was likely a secret realm.
The next moment, Ye Cangtian turned to Zhang Yong and asked, "Did Xiong Bing ever bring you here? Have you been inside?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong immediately shook his head and replied, "Reporting to sir, Xiong Bing never brought us to the summit. In fact, we only ever reached the mountainside before turning back..."
Zhang Yong explained that there was no path above the mountainside, making the climb extremely difficult, and from the surface, there seemed to be nothing there.
Therefore, to avoid any accidents among his brothers, Xiong Bing only led them to the mountainside before returning.
Hearing this, Lan Yue looked at Ye Cangtian and asked, "Junior brother, do you think we should go in?"
Ye Cangtian remained silent for a moment before finally saying, "Let's take care of business first!"
In Ye Cangtian's opinion, even if this were a secret realm, there was no rush to enter.
After all, the Five Poisons Sect was still hunting the Three-eyed Ice Toad all over the mountains. If they were to enter the secret realm and allow the Five Poisons Sect to succeed, the gains would not outweigh the losses.
Therefore, they should capture the Three-eyed Ice Toad first before considering entering the secret realm.
Upon hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Yao Bao'er did not hesitate. She directly took out several dead roosters from her Qiankun bag and buried them under the accumulated snow at the cave entrance.
Seeing Yao Bao'er's actions, Lan Yue was confused. She walked over and asked, "Bao'er, weren't the roosters brought to fill our stomachs? Why are you burying them?"
"They're not for eating, they're to lure the centipedes..."
Yao Bao'er slowly explained that centipedes were carnivorous animals.
Among their diet, their favorite was these dead roosters.
It could be said that if there were dead roosters, they could definitely attract centipedes from within a five-kilometer radius.
Huh?
Hearing this explanation, Lan Yue's mouth twitched. She quickly asked, "Isn't that wrong? Aren't chickens supposed to be the natural enemies of centipedes? If they smell chicken, shouldn't centipedes flee?"
"Heh heh, you wouldn't know this, but live chickens are the natural enemies of centipedes, while dead chickens are a delicacy for centipedes."
"As for why, I'm not entirely sure, but that's what ancient texts say..."
Yao Bao'er chuckled as she explained.
Although she couldn't explain it clearly, she had great confidence in the ancient texts, which represented the essence of human wisdom.
With everything set up, Yao Bao'er followed Ye Cangtian back into the cave, waiting for the blood centipedes to take the bait.
...
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Ye Cangtian and the other three had been waiting in the cave for over ten days.
Fortunately, they were well-prepared and did not lack for food or water.
However, waiting endlessly was eventually vexing, especially for Zhang Yong.
"Lord Ye, it's been over ten days, and there's been no movement. Could it be that the Three-eyed Ice Toad isn't on Tianmen Mountain!"
"Is our strategy of waiting by the stump for rabbits useful?"
Hearing Zhang Yong's words, Ye Cangtian smiled slightly and said, "Just wait patiently. The Three-eyed Ice Toad is definitely here."
Hmm?
As soon as his words fell, Yao Bao'er's gaze was drawn to him. She quickly asked, "Boss, how do you know?"
Yao Bao'er was somewhat suspicious. Ye Cangtian had learned about the Three-eyed Ice Toad from her.
Now that even she wasn't sure, how could he be so certain?
Upon hearing this, Ye Cangtian stopped playing coy and pointed to the open space by the entrance, saying with a smile, "Because the Five Poisons Sect has already made their move!"
Ye Cangtian pointed out that the dead roosters Yao Bao'er had buried at the entrance were already covered in blood centipedes.
This indicated that the Five Poisons Sect had already acted. If there were no Three-eyed Ice Toad, why would the Five Poisons Sect release the blood centipedes?
Ye Cangtian's decision to wait by the stump was also based on this.
The blood centipedes were here, and coupled with the fact that this was the coldest place, it was likely that the Three-eyed Ice Toad would be attracted.
Blood centipedes?
Hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Yao Bao'er and the other two were somewhat disbelieving.
After all, in over ten days, they hadn't found any trace of blood centipedes.
The next moment, to verify this, Yao Bao'er ran to the entrance and dug away the thick snow.
As Ye Cangtian had said, the dead roosters were indeed covered in blood centipedes, numbering over a hundred.
At this moment, these blood centipedes, having absorbed the roosters' blood, were even more crimson and emitted a faint bloody scent.
Perhaps due to absorbing too much blood, or perhaps because of the low temperature, when the snow was cleared, these blood centipedes did not escape upon seeing Yao Bao'er.
Seeing this, Yao Bao'er did not disturb the blood centipedes and returned to Ye Cangtian's side.
"They must have come from under the snow, but boss, how did you know?" Yao Bao'er asked.
Ye Cangtian smiled faintly and said, "Spiritual power. As long as your spiritual power is strong enough, discovering them is not a problem..."
Just as he finished speaking, Ye Cangtian's words abruptly stopped, and his expression turned serious. He made a gesture for silence to everyone.
Seeing this, everyone held their breath. Needless to say, Ye Cangtian must have sensed the Three-eyed Ice Toad.
Croak! Croak! Croak...
After a short while, a croaking sound was heard, followed by a toad the size of a palm, covered in what looked like ice crystals, appearing outside the cave.
The most distinctive feature of this toad was a vertical eye in its brow, the third eye that they were tracking. This was indeed the Three-eyed Ice Toad.
However, the Three-eyed Ice Toad appeared somewhat disheveled. One of its hind legs was clearly injured and dragging.
On the other side, the Three-eyed Ice Toad had not noticed Ye Cangtian and the others.
Its three eyes were fixed on the half-eaten rooster tossed near the cave entrance.
It looked like a starving ghost suddenly seeing delicious food, its eyes filled with greedy longing.
The next moment, the Three-eyed Ice Toad surveyed its surroundings. Perhaps still finding nothing, it then began to approach the blood centipedes.
"Boss, it's here, watch me..."
From the shadows, Yao Bao'er, seeing the Three-eyed Ice Toad approach, could no longer contain herself and whispered, then took out her ice silkworm silk gloves, ready to capture it.
However, just then, Ye Cangtian stopped Yao Bao'er and casually took the ice silkworm silk gloves from her, putting them on his own hands.
"I'll go, you're no match for it."
Ye Cangtian replied in a low voice. He had already sensed the Three-eyed Ice Toad's aura.
The creature was not simple; it was a demon beast with quasi-heavenly cultivation.
Such a demon beast, even if injured, was not something Yao Bao'er could handle.
Croak! Croak!
As soon as Ye Cangtian's voice faded, the Three-eyed Ice Toad seemed to sense something and roared angrily towards the cave entrance.
Ye Cangtian slowly walked forward and looked at the Three-eyed Ice Toad before him, asking, "Bao'er, do you want it alive, or dead?"
"Alive would naturally be best."
"However, the Three-eyed Ice Toad is naturally violent and can easily injure others, so it's safer to have it dead."
Yao Bao'er said to Ye Cangtian's retreating back.
"Understood."
Ye Cangtian replied faintly.
As soon as this was said, the Three-eyed Ice Toad croaked again, and an ice ball was instantly shot from its mouth, hurtling towards Ye Cangtian.
"Heh heh, are you impatient?"
Ye Cangtian sneered, waved his hand, and struck the ice ball directly.