Two hours later.
Zhou Dayuan and his two disciples, Zhou Xingwu and Zhou Jian, stood clustered together. All three had their gazes locked on the ground, where three bloody stink weasels lay dead. These three animals shared one common feature: a piece of cloth was tied around each of their bodies.
His face dark and gloomy, Zhou Dayuan asked, "Zhou Jian, what is the meaning of this?"
Zhou Jian was a short man in his thirties who excelled in the art of tracking. Hearing his master's question, he offered a bitter smile. "The murderer who killed Fourth Junior Brother is incredibly meticulous and cunning. He is highly skilled in anti-tracking. To prevent us from following him, he first caught three stink weasels and smeared their blood over himself to mask his scent. Then, he tied his clothes to the animals to lure us away."
"We've been played this time," Zhou Jian added angrily. "I never expected the enemy to be so ruthless and crafty."
Zhou Dayuan let out a muffled snort and cursed, "Useless trash!"
Both Zhou Xingwu and Zhou Jian kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. Ever since their master learned of his only son's death, he had become unusually volatile, wishing for nothing more than to capture the murderer and slice him into a thousand pieces. Now that the killer had eluded them, his mood had reached rock bottom. If they dared to speak out of turn now, they feared Zhou Dayuan would strike them dead with a single palm.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!
Zhou Dayuan viciously unleashed over a dozen palm strikes into his surroundings. His vigorous Palm Power snapped the trees within a dozen yards clean in half at the waist, sending clouds of dust flying into the air.
After venting his rage, Zhou Dayuan asked with a chilling gaze, "Zhou Jian, which direction do you think the murderer went?"
Zhou Jian shuddered under his master's icy stare and hurriedly replied, "Our men are guarding the intersections leading to Three Rivers Town, and the other two directions offer no good places to hide. Therefore, this disciple believes the murderer most likely headed toward the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range. Of course, there is another possibility. He might not have gone anywhere at all, choosing instead to hide within this forest..."
"Hiding in the forest and going nowhere?" Zhou Dayuan frowned, realizing this was the most probable scenario. If the killer was truly hiding here, finding him would be incredibly difficult. Although the forest only spanned a few dozen miles, Zhou Dayuan had brought just over a hundred men. Using such a small group to search a forest of this size was simply looking for a needle in a haystack.
After a moment of contemplation, Zhou Dayuan ordered coldly, "Here is what we'll do. Xingwu, lead a few squads to search the outskirts of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range. Zhou Jian, you come with me. I will personally use the Celestial Vision and Earthly Hearing Technique to scour this forest!"
Hearing the mention of the Celestial Vision and Earthly Hearing Technique, shock washed over the faces of Zhou Xingwu and Zhou Jian. This was one of the Secret Skills belonging to the Zhou Family of Cyan Mulberry City. Once activated, the user could easily sense the slightest rustle of grass or gust of wind within ten miles. Not even a tiny gopher could escape the tracking of this Secret Technique.
Though the Celestial Vision and Earthly Hearing Technique was incredibly powerful, it was exceedingly difficult to cast. It required an expert at the Martial Arts Ninth Layer to execute. Zhou Dayuan's strength was only at the Early Stage of the Martial Weight Eighth Layer. To forcefully cast this Secret Technique, he would have to burn his Essence Blood and force out his latent potential. Doing so would inevitably cause a massive loss of his core vitality, severely impacting his Cultivation and, consequently, his standing within the Zhou Family.
Both disciples wanted to advise their master against using the Secret Technique, but knowing his foul mood, neither had the courage to speak up.
Meanwhile.
The woods were dense and gloomy, the wild grass growing taller than a man. Vines coiled around the surroundings like giant serpents. In such a heavily overgrown environment, not even the midday sunlight could pierce through the canopy. Gripping a Thick-Backed Saber with a Broken Blade, Zhaang Ye navigated through the dead branches and fallen leaves. From time to time, he would spot a massive snake slithering lazily by. Although they weren't venomous, a single glance at their thick, brightly patterned bodies was enough to make Zhaang Ye's skin crawl.
What made Zhaang Ye even more anxious than the large snakes were the poisonous insects and venomous spiders hiding in the foliage. These little creatures were small in size but incredibly lethal; a single careless bite meant instant death.
After cautiously advancing for over a dozen miles, Zhaang Ye arrived at a relatively open clearing. Just as he let out a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard a chorus of shrill squeaks coming from his left.
Zhaang Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly ducked behind a large tree. Peering intently, he saw a black wave suddenly surge through the trees on his left. As the dark tide drew closer, Zhaang Ye finally saw it clearly: the wave was actually composed of thousands of black-furred, sharp-snouted rats!
These black-furred, sharp-snouted rats were a species unique to the outskirts of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range. They lived in large colonies and were exceptionally agile. They possessed hard, horny, and razor-sharp snouts capable of biting chunks out of solid rock. Even massive Fierce Beasts had no choice but to flee for their lives when encountering such a dense swarm.
Zhaang Ye complained internally, "Damn it! To run into this swarm right after entering the forest... my luck is just too rotten!"
Before the rat swarm could spot him, he scrambled up the nearest large tree like a nimble ape.
SQUEAK!
The black-furred, sharp-snouted rats quickly spotted Zhaang Ye, and a large group immediately swarmed up the trunk. Despite their small size, these rats were excellent climbers. Their bodies darted rapidly across the smooth bark like streaks of black shadow.
"Go to hell!" Zhaang Ye cursed softly. Gripping his Thick-Backed Saber tightly, he unleashed a faint flash of saber light. A leaping rat was instantly cleaved in two.
Although they were rodents, these rats craved flesh and blood above all else. The metallic tang of their comrade's blood drove them into a frenzy, and they lunged forward with the whooshing sounds of parting air.
SLASH SLASH SLASH!
Zhaang Ye swung his saber in rapid succession. With every strike, a rat was split down the middle. In the span of a few breaths, he had unleashed over forty slashes, slaughtering dozens of the black-furred, sharp-snouted rats. Their carcasses piled up in a circle around him, filling the woods with the stench of gore and the rats' unique musky odor.
Despite the continuous slaughter, the rats only grew more excited. As Zhaang Ye hacked out dozens more strikes, he heard a rustling sound echoing from the distance. Clearly, another massive horde of rats was rapidly approaching.
RUSTLE RUSTLE!
Zhaang Ye thought, "Damn it, judging by the sound, there must be tens of thousands of them rushing over! Even though these rats are relatively weak, getting surrounded by so many of them is an absolute death sentence!"
Realizing this, Zhaang Ye quickly changed his strategy. While his hands continued to hack away with the saber, his feet moved swiftly.
WHOOSH!
He leaped onto another large tree.
SWISH SWISH SWISH!
Zhaang Ye bounded across over a dozen trees in quick succession. Grabbing a dangling vine, he swung through the air to another tree dozens of meters away, finally managing to temporarily shake off the rat swarm's siege.
Looking back at the dense carpet of black-furred, sharp-snouted rats covering the trees behind him, Zhaang Ye broke out in a cold sweat. Drawing upon every ounce of his strength, he desperately bounded toward the trees in the distance.
After leaping continuously for several miles in a single breath, Zhaang Ye was just about to relax when a hair-raising sensation suddenly welled up from the bottom of his heart. He felt as if his entire being was being scrutinized by an invisible, intangible enemy!
Forcing the True Qi throughout his body to circulate, Zhaang Ye repelled the feeling of being watched. Gripping his Broken Blade, he shouted, "Who's there?!"