In the forest where even the dim moonlight had been blocked off by the thick canopy overhead, two figures shot forward at speeds unimaginable to ordinary mortals.
One of them was a masked man who had two straw sacks slung over his back, nonchalantly cutting a path through the woods with an essence energy blade that shrouded his hand.
The other was a young man who trailed a good distance behind, carefully following along while making sure that not even a single piece of fallen leaf was lifted by the winds in his wake. With a dagger in hand, he would cut a small mark onto a large tree from time to time.
This young man was naturally Zhao Yunxiao.
His expresision was extremely solemn at the moment, not daring to let his focus slip for even the slightest of moments.
While maintaining his grasp on the masked cultivator's location, he had to ensure that the other party would not detect his spiritual sense. This meant that his spiritual sense could not directly lock onto the masked cultivator.
While following the masked cultivator's trail without falling behind, he had to ensure that the other party did not notice his presence. This meant that he had to be very careful about utilising his movement techniques on top of consciously suppressing the impact to the surroundings caused by his high speed movements.
These were already difficult enough to achieve when dealing with someone of his own cultivation level, not to mention the fact that the other party was of the Origin Core realm.
Had it been any other Essence Gathering realm cultivator, this would have been nothing but an impossible task!
In fact, even Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel sceptical about whether things were truly going well right now.
After all, there was always a possibility that the other party had long detected his presence and was simply pretending otherwise. As for what reason there could be for the other party to do this... the most obvious one would certainly be to lure him into a trap!
Nevertheless, it was not like he could just give up on the chase. Not if he wanted to solve the riddle of the kidnappings, and definitely not when the masked cultivator still had Lu Zhiying in his grasp.
And because Zhao Yunxiao was unable to move as quickly when utilising the Earth Burrowing Technique, he could not simply hide underground either.
Time passed as he continued his chase.
To Zhao Yunxiao's horror, the masked cultivator kept going without showing any signs of slowing down. Before he realised it, streaks of sunlight had started piercing through the gaps in the canopy overhead, then slowly vanished as the forest was once again thrown into darkness.
Faced with such a long-drawn chase, Zhao Yunxiao had no choice but to take recovery pills at regular intervals just to prevent his dantian from emptying out along the way. After all, they were not exactly travelling at a leisurely pace right now.
At the speed that they were going, even galloping horses would not have been able to keep up!
So, when the masked cultivator finally came to a stop, the worried Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
He could finally stop wasting his recovery pills!
Maintaining a safe distance between them, he watched from the shadows as the masked cultivator came before what could be considered a rampart of sorts.
Trees had been felled to open up a huge clearing, upon which stood a gigantic wooden fence, complete with defensive spikes and all. This rampart was admittedly constructed in a rather professional manner. Perhaps even formal armies would only be able to construct something similar when forced to set up a temporary stronghold.
No gaps could be found between individual wooden beams, cleanly blocking out any prying eyes.
Zhao Yunxiao subconsciously furrowed his brows.
During the chase, he had not just been blindly following the masked cultivator's trail. Instead, he had also made sure to keep track of their approximate location.
Right now, they were at least hundreds of kilometres away from Windsource Village. While they were still in the forests, it could easily be considered a completely different forest from the one that was bordering the village.
In fact, he knew the exact name of the forest that they were currently in.
Bloodwind Forest.
Or at the very least, they were on the far outskirts, just outside of Bloodwind Forest.
Incidentally, this Bloodwind Forest was no ordinary location.
Even among cultivators, Bloodwind Forest was widely known as a forbidden ground due to the dangers within. Monsters, beasts, and even the plants within could pose serious threats to cultivators. In fact, the name itself originated from a belief that anyone who entered would end up having their blood scattered with the wind!
Therefore, even cultivators consciously avoided going anywhere near unless they had no other choice, not to mention ordinary mortals. That being the case, this was not a bad location if the intention had been to hide and avoid the detection of others.
They would just have to find some way to deal with the occasional wild monster or beast that strayed this far out from Bloodwind Forest, or simply pray that none came their way.
The masked cultivator stepped before the huge gate of the rampart before shouting. "It's me! Open up!"
Zhao Yunxiao furrowed his brows.
That voice did not belong to Fu Liren... or did he intentionally hide his actual voice?
Creak-!
The huge gate creaked loudly as it was raised through a system comprising multiple levers and pulleys, testament to just how heavy it was. Through the raised gate, Zhao Yunxiao could see a complex network of wooden houses within the rampart. Though each house appeared simple in its design, the overall organisation of the houses was impeccable, fully optimising the utilisation of the space.
After understanding what was within the rampart, Zhao Yunxiao turned his attention towards the group of men who had shown up to welcome the masked cultivator.
Four men stood on the other side of the raised gate, though one of them could be identified as the leader at first glance. Unlike the other three who were dressed in thin robes, he wore a silk gown and donned numerous expensive-looking accessories.
Nevertheless, even he had to bend his back as he stepped forward to receive the masked cultivator, at the same time hurrying the three men to load the two straw sacks onto a pushcart that they had brought along.
"There is one tonight who is of exceptional quality. If you don't believe me, you can see for yourself later," the masked cultivator said.
"Haha, for the Great Sir to say so, it most certainly has to be exceptional. There is no reason to doubt your words," the leader rubbed his hands together with glee.
"Naturally so," the masked cultivator seemed satisfied by the compliment. "Well then, I will be taking my leave now. Make sure you do your job!"
"I guarantee that we will definitely not slack off!" the leader assured without hesitation.
"Good," the masked cultivator nodded before heading off in a different direction.
Zhao Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
Had the masked cultivator returned from where he came, he would have to quickly notify Gu Qiansi and Nie Hanchang, both of whom must be heading their way right this moment!
But now that he did not have to worry about that, Zhao Yunxiao looked in the direction that the masked cultivator had disappeared to. Away from the eyes of anyone present, an earthen clone of his darted through the shadows of the woods to continue chasing after the masked cultivator.
Bang-!
Zhao Yunxiao watched as the heavy wooden gate of the rampart slammed shut, not making any attempt to sneak in before that.
It was definitely possible had he wanted to do so, but he dared not act carelessly.
The masked cultivator might have taken his leave earlier, but who knew if it was not all just an act?
Even if he had left for real, who knew who else was inside the rampart?
Even if there weren't any other powerful cultivators within the rampart, who knew if there were killing arrays lying in wait for him?
Currently, things were still not nearly dire enough to force him into acting before getting a good grasp of the overall situation!
He closed his eyes in concentration. Now that the masked cultivator had left, he finally dared to carefully extend his spiritual sense past the tall rampart.
The wooden rampart was not just tall, but thick as well. Its walls were almost three metres across, allowing multiple people to walk atop them at the same time. That said, with all the space available, there were only two men stationed atop the walls at the moment.
And both of them were quickly falling back to sleep after that earlier interruption.
There were no signs of essence energy sources anywhere along the long stretch of wall, suggesting that no traps or defensive arrays had been set. Of course, the only way to know for sure would be to test it in person.
Past the rampart, Zhao Yunxiao could sense the few men from earlier pushing their pushcart on the stony road that had been laid out neatly between small houses, heading towards what appeared to be a large mansion in the very centre.
That should be where the leader stayed.
Most likely, that would also be where he could find the rest of the victims. If they were still here, that was.
Well then...
From within his spatial pouch, a stream of blue liquid shot out to form a blob on the ground before transforming into a replica of the avatar of the rat spirit.
Go!
Upon receiving the mental order, the replica of the avatar of the rat spirit dived straight into the ground, almost as though the ground was made of water.
It would still be some time before Gu Qiansi and Nie Hanchang would arrive, so he might as well do a little scouting for now. And as a specialist in concealment, the avatar of the rat spirit could be said to be born for the job.
But there was a downside – Zhao Yunxiao did not share senses with the replica of the avatar of the rat spirit. This meant that he would have to wait for the summon to return before he could be aware of whatever it had gathered.
Therefore, an earthen clone followed right after the replica of the avatar of the rat spirit.
It was never a bad thing to have a backup plan.
Zhao Yunxiao Two burrowed through the ground, and thankfully did not face any issues when passing underneath the rampart. He continued on his way underground, moving directly beneath the stony path towards the large mansion.
There appeared to be at least a few hundred people staying within this rampart – men and women of all ages – forming something equivalent to a small society.
From the looks of it, they seemed to be living rather comfortably despite the secluded location as well. Unlike the poor Windsource Village, the houses here were firmly constructed and neatly organised, the furniture and tools were sturdy, and the area was well-lit with torches planted at regular intervals along the road.
While it was still not quite enough to illuminate the entire area, it at least meant that no spots would be left in complete darkness.
But there was one strange thing that stood out. Among the tools that the residents possessed, more than half of them were axes. And that was not just counting the weapons.
Not just that, but there were also numerous banners and flags decorating the houses and sidepaths. Without exception, these banners and flags all bear the same design.
A black axe with wings was drawn in the very centre, with the words [Dark Axe Brigade] written below.
Zhao Yunxiao rubbed his chin in contemplation.
So, the people here were mostly an organised group of warriors.
But were they a rogue army? Mercenaries? Bandits?
Or were they actually affiliated to a larger faction?
Next, it would be up to them to determine the true nature of this Dark Axe Brigade. Once that part was resolved, mission completion should be soon to follow!