Night Watch

"It seemed this sect trial of theirs had something to do with that so-called human ghoul..." Yuan Ming pondered briefly, then followed after them.

The group searched all night, but found nothing in the end.

"Hey, beast slave, did you really see a human ghoul?" At dawn, everyone stopped searching. Kuntu looked displeased as he questioned Yuan Ming.

"What human ghoul?" Yuan Ming feigned confusion.

"The monster you described last night!" Kuntu said angrily.

"If I hadn't seen that monster, how could I have described it?" Yuan Ming shot back.

That single sentence choked Kuntu up, leaving him without even an excuse to get angry.

"According to the information the sect gave us, human ghouls shouldn't be active around here." Bada spoke up.

"Perhaps the circumstances have changed. The information fed back from the Enforcement Hall's investigation might not be accurate either," Chen Wan said.

Yuan Ming hesitated slightly before speaking. "If the human ghoul you mean is the monster I saw last night, then someone encountered one as early as last year."

"What did you say? Last year... where?" Chen Wan hurriedly asked. The others also looked over with varying expressions.

Yuan Ming then told them about Hagon being attacked.

"How could that be possible?" Yang Chan's face was full of disbelief.

Kuntu turned to look at Wubao. The latter nodded almost imperceptibly, corroborating what Yuan Ming had said.

"If that is true, then the human ghouls became active earlier than the sect told us, and their range of activity is wider as well. That is no good news." Chen Wan's expression grew several degrees graver.

"Then... should we report this to the sect?" Bada asked tentatively.

"Report it? Why report it? Isn't it better if only we know this information?" Kuntu countered.

"If we do not report it, our fellow disciples may very well be attacked unexpectedly," Chen Wan said.

"Junior Sister Chen Wan, do not forget that this trial concerns whether we can successfully become inner disciples. Once we return to deliver the news, if it delays our journey and someone else gets there first..." Kuntu said pensively.

He did not directly refute Chen Wan, but his words still changed her expression.

Seeing that Chen Wan no longer spoke, Kuntu's lips twitched into a trace of a disdainful smile.

Afterward, the group slowed their pace, searching for human ghouls as they traveled.

Yet even after spending two days more than expected, they ultimately failed to encounter another human ghoul.

Rumble!

A clap of thunder exploded, and a bolt of snow-white lightning flashed through the high sky, briefly tearing open a gap in the gloomy black heavens.

Drizzle began to fall. The once-quiet mountain forest was immediately drowned beneath the dense patter of rain, while the scent of earth and green grass gradually filled the air.

Kuntu raised his head and glanced at the leaden clouds piled so low they nearly pressed against the treetops, then rode his green wolf over to Chen Wan's side.

"Junior Sister, judging by these clouds, this rain will not be light. It is already getting late as well. How about we find a place to rest for the moment and continue after the rain stops?" he asked.

"Yuan Ming, is there anywhere nearby suitable for sheltering from the rain and resting?" Chen Wan turned to Yuan Ming and asked.

After traveling together for so long, she had already come to recognize Yuan Ming's skill at leading the way.

Under Yuan Ming's guidance, although they had not found any human ghouls these past few days, they had scarcely encountered any attacks from ferocious beasts either. It could be said that their time had been fully put to use.

Though Kuntu, Yang Chan, and the others still looked down on this furred beast slave, they too unconsciously cast questioning looks toward him.

"I have not been in this area before. We can only walk and see," Yuan Ming said.

Chen Wan was not especially disappointed upon hearing this. She nodded and continued onward.

After walking for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, thunder sounded ever more frequently overhead, and the rain grew heavier and heavier.

The daylight in the mountain forest had already dimmed. All around them was a hazy, pitch-black expanse, and the temperature continued to drop.

Just then, Yuan Ming spotted a vast black shadow amid the forest ahead. He wiped the rain from his face and was peering intently at it when lightning flashed, illuminating everything around them.

"There seems to be a house over there!" Yuan Ming shouted, pointing at the dark mass.

As he spoke, he hurriedly led the others toward it.

Only when they drew near did he see clearly that it was a dilapidated building.

The lower half of its walls had been built from stacked stone, while the upper half was formed from mud bricks. The plaster had peeled away badly, leaving the walls covered in pits of all sizes and holes large and small.

"The style of this building looks like a temple worshipped by the Wildlings?" Wubao, who had barely made his presence known in the group until then, suddenly said.

The temple had no doors, only an empty doorway. Inside was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen.

Yuan Ming reached into his robes, intending to take out a tinderbox for light, when a whoosh sounded beside his ear. A fist-sized ball of fire flew through the air and into the temple.

"Fireball Technique?" Yuan Ming subconsciously turned around and discovered that Chen Wan had cast it.

Another series of whooshes followed, and three or four more fireballs flew into the temple one after another, lighting its interior as bright as day.

Yuan Ming entered the temple and saw that it was utterly bare, with scarcely any furnishings. Thick dust blanketed both the floor and the walls, making the place seem desolate and ruined.

When he turned around, he saw a three-foot-high altar, upon which stood a clay statue.

The statue was utterly unlike an ordinary deity statue. It had a tiger's back and a wolf's waist, two heads and four arms. Not only did it lack the slightest air of solemn majesty, it instead appeared sinister and furtive.

Yuan Ming looked carefully and saw that neither of the two heads resting upon its shoulders had a human appearance. One was a fox's head, and the other a wild wolf's head.

The statue was also badly damaged. Exposed wooden supports and straw could be seen all over its body. It had likely been abandoned for a very long time.

"Good, good... The roof is not damaged. Let us rest here for the night," Bada said after looking around, clearly quite satisfied with the place.

"Wubao, go out and bring back some meat. Yuan Ming, you are responsible for gathering firewood and starting the fires," Kuntu ordered.

Wubao promptly answered and ran outside, while Yuan Ming obediently went out to gather firewood.

Before long, two bonfires had been set up inside the temple. Kuntu and the other Registered Disciples sat around one, while Yuan Ming and Wubao sat opposite each other by the other.

Wubao was diligently tending the wild boar roasting over the fire, while Yuan Ming rested with his eyes closed, silent.

At this moment, Kuntu suddenly looked toward Yuan Ming and ordered, "Yuan Ming, you will keep watch during the first half of the night. Go stand guard outside."

Yuan Ming opened his eyes, got up, and walked out.

The drizzle still fell outside, and dull thunder boomed from time to time, lighting up the night.

Yuan Ming went outside the doorway and leaned against the wall. The short, shallow eaves above him could not block all the rain. Before long, a large part of his body was soaked.

The cold mountain wind passed straight through him. Even Yuan Ming found it bitingly cold. The last traces of drowsiness vanished, and he could only stare wide-eyed into the black mountain forest night.

The voices of Chen Wan and the others talking drifted from inside the temple. Yuan Ming pricked up his ears to listen, and soon grasped the general situation.

It turned out that Chen Wan's group was far from the only Registered Disciples who had entered the Hundred Thousand Mountains for this trial. At least a hundred Registered Disciples from the entire sect had taken part.

And the objective of their trial was to hunt human ghouls.

From Kuntu's words, their performance in this trial seemed to concern whether they could catch the eyes of the sect elders and become those elders' personal disciples—in other words, inner disciples.

Though Yuan Ming did not fully understand, he could guess that this was an honor as vast as the heavens. Otherwise, these people would not risk so much to enter the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

In the dark, rain-laden night, the moon could not be seen, and it was difficult to tell the time.

Yuan Ming suddenly smelled a rich fragrance of meat drifting from the temple. He immediately wrinkled his nose and peered inside.

Kuntu and the others were sitting together, still chatting, while the roasted wild boar over Wubao's bonfire had turned golden-red all over. It gleamed with oil and sizzled as fat dripped from it, making one's index finger twitch with appetite.

"I did not expect this fellow to be such a fine cook," Yuan Ming could not help but praise.

But at that moment, he suddenly noticed sweat beading on Wubao's forehead. His expression was somewhat nervous, and his gaze kept drifting toward Kuntu and the others.

Just as Yuan Ming wondered why the fellow was acting so sneaky, Wubao suddenly turned his head and looked toward him.

Yuan Ming immediately turned around, presenting his back to the temple entrance and putting on the appearance of earnestly keeping watch.

After the space of two breaths, Yuan Ming suddenly turned his head again and saw Wubao trembling slightly as he took a small porcelain bottle from his robes. After pulling out the stopper, he sprinkled the liquid inside over the roasted wild boar.

What is he trying to do? Yuan Ming wondered.

He wrinkled his nose and sniffed carefully again, but detected no unusual smell. Combined with Wubao's guilty, furtive manner, he knew the man definitely had not added seasoning, and his confusion only deepened.

Could he be poisoning it? Yuan Ming's brows drew tightly together.

At that moment, Wubao's gaze turned toward him again.

Yuan Ming had already noticed and turned away, but all manner of thoughts churned wildly in his mind.

No matter how bold Wubao is, he would not dare poison these Registered Disciples, would he? Unless he does not want to live? Yuan Ming's mind raced.

Yet clearly, someone who could gather a gang around himself and become its leader could not possibly seek death for no reason.

Yuan Ming frowned deeply. Just as he was about to turn back and report the matter, alarm bells suddenly rang wildly in his heart:

That is right, Wubao cannot possibly not want to live. If he dares do this, someone must be ordering him from behind the scenes. Then that person...

Yuan Ming's gaze swept around before finally settling on Kuntu.