Chapter 29: The Pursuit

“I got him!” Zuo Gaofeng shouted. Wei Hongqing caught up in a few quick strides and kicked the net, rolling Lu Zi’an’s body over. He reached down and checked his wrist. “He’s dead.” “Dead?" Zuo Gaofeng asked. "Is that a problem? Do they want him alive?” Wei Hongqing confirmed the death, then shook his head. “Tianmu Mountain didn’t say dead or alive…” Zuo Gaofeng looked uneasy. “They’re not going to short us on the reward, are they?” “I’ll push for it,” Wei Hongqing said, crouching to search Lu Zi’an’s body. After a moment, he pulled out nothing but the short sword and five spirit stones. That was it. “No Foundation Establishment Pill?” Zuo Gaofeng asked. Tan Bajhang frowned. “You think he might’ve already taken it?” Wei Hongqing shook his head. “I checked his meridians; his qi sea hasn’t formed. Not even a trace of it. If he’d taken the Foundation Establishment Pill, it wouldn’t look like this. And there’s no way he could’ve reached perfection in the tenth layer in just a few days. He wouldn’t have been able to absorb it yet... The pill’s probably still in the cave. If not, then it might be on that woman.” He looked around. “Where’s the Hermit? Where’d he go?” Liu Xiaolou, who had arrived last, had seen what happened clearly. “The Hermit stayed with the woman. She couldn’t have gone far.” Tan Bajhang hefted the net onto his shoulder, Lu Zi’an’s corpse still tangled inside. Without wasting another second, the group rushed back to the cave. The fire inside was still burning. But there was no sign of Xishan Hermit. And no sign of the woman, Pinggu. The cave wasn’t large. One glance and they could see to the end. It was a mess; shattered wine jars, an overturned iron pot, broken wooden bowls, and a sheepskin blanket ripped to shreds. The group looked at each other, uneasy. “Did something… happen to the Hermit?” Tan Bajhang asked, his voice trembling. Wei Hongqing frowned. “Search the area.” They split up, combing the cave and the surrounding ground. It wasn’t long before Zuo Gaofeng spotted a few drops of blood just outside the cave. Further on, he found more. “Damn it!” he cursed. “We went through all this trouble, and some bastard swooped in to steal the prize!” Wei Hongqing’s face darkened. Without a word, he took off in pursuit. The blood trail was broken in places but never completely vanished. It clearly pointed the way the thief had gone: back through the tunnel, into the old estate, over the courtyard wall, and eastward into the night. Tan Bajhang was still carrying Lu Zi’an’s body, and it was starting to become a burden. But Wei Hongqing refused to let it go. They’d already lost the Foundation Establishment Pill; if they lost Lu Zi’an’s body too, the entire operation would be a waste. Besides, they still hadn’t found Xishan Hermit’s corpse. Not even Pinggu’s. That meant the two of them might still be alive, possibly taken by whoever had ambushed them. If that was the case, the thief likely wasn’t moving fast either. So they took turns hauling the body, passing the net-wrapped corpse of Lu Zi’an from one to the next, following the trail of blood and scattered footprints eastward. They crossed the Yangliu River. The blood trail vanished at the riverbank, but on a stretch of stony shore in a bend of the river, they found a woman’s sock. Zuo Gaofeng recognized it immediately. “This belonged to Pinggu.” They kept going in that direction, and soon spotted a torn scrap of clothing caught in a tree branch, along with fresh drops of blood leading onward. Wei Hongqing could tell their target was in a state of panic. They were clearly short on manpower and lacked real strength. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left behind so many obvious traces. They had been chasing all night, nearly a hundred li by now. Even Tan Bajhang was starting to complain, wincing as he spoke. “How much blood has the Hermit lost? If Pinggu’s with him, maybe he’s still okay. But if it’s just him…” Up ahead, a peach grove came into view. Zuo Gaofeng, running in the lead, suddenly raised his hand in a signal; something was ahead. The group perked up instantly and spread out in a fan formation, ready to close in. Liu Xiaolou, who had just taken his second turn carrying the corpse, lagged behind. By the time he caught up, Wei Hongqing, Zuo Gaofeng, and Tan Bajhang were already gathered around another body lying on the ground, saying nothing. It was Pinggu. She had been left just like that in the middle of nowhere, with not even the slightest effort made to bury her. Wei Hongqing let out a long breath. “At least it’s not the Hermit…” “What should we do with her body?" Zuo Gaofeng asked. "Is she still of any use?” Wei Hongqing shook his head. “No. Leave her.” The group split up again, looking for more clues to continue the chase. While they searched, Liu Xiaolou hastily dug a shallow grave and buried Pinggu. Over the course of the night, Zuo Gaofeng’s tracking skills had really come to the forefront. In the early part of the pursuit, everyone had been able to spot the trail, but after they crossed the Yangliu River, nearly 80% of the clues had been his doing. He had a keen eye for subtle signs, able to read the faintest traces and determine direction. This time was no different; he noticed a peach branch that had been snapped halfway and from that alone deduced their quarry had changed course, veering southeast. Tan Bajhang came over to help, taking the corpse of Lu Zi’an off Liu Xiaolou’s back. Liu Xiaolou immediately felt a great sense of relief, hauling over a hundred jin for dozens of li would wear out even a third-layer Qi Refiner. The two of them lagged behind a bit, chatting quietly as they walked. “Chief Zuo’s got some serious tracking skills,” Tan Bajhang said. “Where do you think he learned all that? You know anything, Brother Liu?” “To be honest, we were only ever acquaintances who nodded in passing,” Liu Xiaolou replied. “But I’ve heard he used to be a hunter down south. Not sure when he moved to our Wulong Mountain.” “A hunter, huh? He’s way better than any hunter I’ve ever seen.” “Well, a seventh-layer Qi Refiner is no ordinary hunter.” “Anyone who’s carved out a place on Wulong Mountain’s gotta have some real skills. Chief Zuo’s got talent, no question. And you, Brother Liu, you’re pretty impressive yourself!” “You flatter me, Brother Tan. I’m nothing special.” “No need to be so modest. Mind if I start calling you Xiaolou from now on?” “Sure thing, Brother Tan.” “Xiaolou, what’s that Xishan Hermit  good at, anyway?” “That, I truly don’t know. He lives far from us. You know, Wulong Mountain’s a big place…” As they were talking, Wei Hongqing turned back and joined in, his expression heavy. “The Hermit’s skilled in formations. It’s just that he’s never had the money to buy a proper formation disk. I’ve always told myself, if I ever made it big, I’d get him a few top-grade ones… ahhh…” Liu Xiaolou tried to comfort him. “Don’t worry, Brother Wei. The Hermit’s strong; he’ll pull through. We’ll get him out, all of us together.” Wei Hongqing let out a long sigh. “Let’s hope so…” As they spoke, Zuo Gaofeng up ahead suddenly stopped again, murmuring, “Something’s not right…” The others tensed up. “What is it? Did we lose the trail?” “It’s been two li, and there’s no new sign," Zuo Gaofeng said. "Either the target took flight… or something else happened.” Wei Hongqing immediately grew alert. “We’re going back!” The four of them quickly retraced their steps. Zuo Gaofeng leapt back onto the broken tree branches to examine them more closely. After a moment, he said, “The guy climbed up from here, then leapt to this tree… and then this one. No problem there…” “Spread out. Search again!” Wei Hongqing ordered. Liu Xiaolou glanced around and once again saw the spot where he had buried Pinggu’s body. The mound of dirt; it looked a bit more raised than before? He didn’t remember piling on that much dirt… With that thought, he walked over to take a closer look. Up close, the mound looked exactly the same as before. Must’ve been his imagination. But when he turned around to go find Wei Hongqing and the others again, he suddenly realized all three of them had vanished. He froze in place. “Brother Wei? Brother Tan? Chief Zuo?” he called out. No one answered. The forest around him had gone completely still and silent.