Old Hunter

"... Here?"

After following the young proprietress through a series of twists and turns, Wei Ke finally stopped in front of an extremely secluded little house.

"Yes, this is it." The young proprietress revealed a sly smile. "How about it, are you confused? Don't worry, I'll take you out in a bit."

"You're taking me out?" Wei Ke asked, puzzled. "Why?"

"What? If I don't take you out, can you find your way back?"

"Why not?" Wei Ke said. "Although you seem to have chosen some more complicated and longer routes, but..."

Wei Ke turned around and pointed to the hotel two streets away.

"Isn't the hotel right there? Why do you insist on... um?" He suddenly realized, "Wait, are you deliberately taking a detour?"

The young proprietress's lips twitched.

Damn it, we've been discovered!

She didn't have any bad intentions; she simply felt that taking so much money from Wei Ke and only showing him around two streets was a bit too perfunctory. So she deliberately chose some longer routes, wanting to make Wei Ke feel completely disoriented, so that Wei Ke would feel that the money for guiding him was worthwhile.

Who knew this guy could still find his way!

Honestly, you should have told me you knew the way earlier, then I wouldn't have had to walk so far. My legs are killing me.

The young proprietress complained inwardly but dared not say it aloud. She coughed twice and denied it, saying, "Of course I wouldn't go out of my way to do that. Do you think I'm an idiot? It's just because... well, the Hunter you're looking for has been living in seclusion for a long time. He doesn't want outsiders to know where he lives, so that's why I did this."

"I see."

... He actually believed it? Is this guy really that naive?

Although the landlady wasn't lying—the Old Hunter genuinely didn't want outsiders to know where he lived—the fact that this guy seemed completely unsuspecting made her ask, "Didn't you ever think I was just trying to scam you?"

"You tricked me?"

"Yes, it's like they lure you into an alley and beat you up, or they might just kill you and steal your money."

"Huh? Would you do that?"

"... Since you've asked that, of course I wouldn't!"

"...Oh." Wei Ke nodded and said, "I don't think you're that kind of person."

These words touched the young proprietress.

Such an innocent and kind person, she felt a little embarrassed to accept money from him for simply showing her the way...

"Because you smell really good," Wei Ke continued, "Unlike those other people."

... It smells wonderful? Unlike the scent of those other people?

The young proprietress felt that this statement sounded somewhat familiar, as if someone had said something similar to her not long ago.

... Wait a minute, isn't this the perverted Father Rhine who said she smelled so good?!

The young proprietress's face darkened instantly.

Damn it, how could she think the other person was a good person!

They're all that perverted Father's lackeys, how could they possibly be related to naivety?!

Wei Ke could naturally sense the change in the young proprietress's emotions, but he couldn't understand why. The young proprietress didn't give him a chance to ask and knocked on the door with a dark face.

Soon, footsteps could be heard inside the house.

Judging from the footsteps, the other person's legs didn't seem very nimble.

Then the door opened, and an old man wearing a dirty gray robe and leaning on a cane appeared in Wei Ke's sight.

Wei Ke's eyes lit up immediately.

He could immediately tell that the other person was a Hunter, because the scent on the other person was exactly the same as that of the Old Hunter he had encountered before.

Finally... I saw the Hunter again!

Wei Ke subconsciously took two steps forward, wanting to talk to the other person, but he did not expect that the Old Hunter's brows would immediately furrow and a murderous intent would emerge in his eyes after seeing Wei Ke.

"Wildfire Cultist!" he shouted. "What are you trying to do here?!"

Before Wei Ke could react, the young proprietress's expression changed upon hearing this.

"You're Wildfire Cultist?!" the shopkeeper exclaimed. "You told me before that you weren't!"

Wei Ke immediately retorted, "I'm not Wildfire Cultist."

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Ke heard a "clang" and the Old Hunter's cane was already pressed against his neck.

At the bottom of the cane was a rusty dagger.

"Take one more step and I'll kill you," the Old Hunter said coldly. "The only reason I'm giving you this warning is because I'm no longer Hunter. If it were before, your head would already be gone... you piece of trash."

... Okay, that was fast.

Wei Ke was cornered before he could even see what his opponent was doing.

The last person to put him under such pressure was Bai Wei.

"Honestly, if you had just said you were Wildfire Cultist, I wouldn't have brought you along!" The young proprietress grabbed Wei Ke's sleeve in annoyance. "You just lied to me and said you were a good person... Let's go!"

"No, I'm really not Wildfire Cultist!" Wei Ke tried to protest. "You have to believe me!"

"Don't treat people like fools." The Old Hunter's tone remained cold. "No matter how you disguise yourselves, I can smell the stench on you... It's not human, it's the stench of wild beasts. If you don't leave, I'm really going to make my move."

"I'm not a beast!" Wei Ke exclaimed urgently. "Neither is A De!"

As he spoke, Wei Ke took off his hood, revealing his half-human, half-wolf face.

This startled the young proprietress, who immediately let go of his hand and instinctively took two steps back.

The Old Hunter narrowed his eyes quickly, and the veins on the back of his hand gripping his cane stood out, clearly indicating that he was about to make a move!

"I am Hunter! Hunter just like you!" Wei Ke shouted desperately. "I came to find you not for anything else, but to find my wolf, my A De! You told me that to gain the power of Hunter I had to go to the Lost Sacrificial Ground! I went, and this is what happened to me!"

"I have absolutely no idea what happened!"

"Nobody told me what happened!"

"I woke up to A De gone. The Hunter were hiding from me, and the Wildfire Cultist were hunting me down! The only one willing to help me was that eccentric Father Rhine Father!"

"I just want to know what happened! I just want to know where my A De went!"

Wei Ke hysterically uttered this long passage.

These words seemed to have exhausted all his energy, so much so that he could barely stand afterward, his body trembling uncontrollably.

The young proprietress standing to the side was already stunned.

Only the Old Hunter remained watching quietly, but his grip on his cane had slowly loosened.

"It seems... you have indeed encountered some trouble." The Old Hunter put down his cane, then slowly stepped aside to make way for him to enter the house. "In that case, let's talk."

A few minutes later, Wei Ke sat down in the courtyard, holding a cup of hot tea in his hands. The hot tea seemed to give him strength, finally stopping his body from trembling.

Then he turned to look at the young proprietress sitting next to him and asked hesitantly, "Aren't you... going back?"

"Of course I'll keep an eye on you," the young proprietress said, arms crossed. "What if you really are the Wildfire Cultist who led the way? I have to be responsible to Ryan."

Before Wei Ke could speak, the Old Hunter's voice came over. "Bringing him here was already irresponsible of you."

Then, the Old Hunter Ryan sat down in front of Wei Ke, while the young proprietress scratched her head shyly to the side.

"Um..." Wei Ke spoke first, "I wanted to ask, what do you mean by saying the Wildfire Cultist have been looking for you?"

"It means exactly what it says," Ryan said calmly. "They've been searching for the remaining members of the Senro Hunter."

"What are they trying to do?"

"Have no idea."

"...ah?"

"I don't know what they're up to," Ryan said. "I only know that many of my friends have disappeared after being targeted by them; they're probably dead."

Wei Ke pursed his lips and said, "They're chasing me too... I don't know what they want either. Oh no, to be precise, they want to kill me, but I don't know why."

"It's normal not to know the reason. Over the years, Hunter have tried to figure out what these guys are trying to do, but they've basically never gotten an answer," Ryan said. "These guys live in the wild, survive in the wild, and exude the aura of wild beasts. They're not like humans at all... just like you right now."

"...I'm sorry." Wei Ke lowered his head. "I don't know what happened to me."

As soon as he lowered his head, Wei Ke felt a tickle in his ear.

He turned his head and saw that it was the young proprietress pinching his ear, specifically the wolf part.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The shop owner immediately withdrew her hand after being discovered. "I was just curious about what it would feel like. It kept moving while you were talking, so I couldn't help myself."

Before Wei Ke could speak, Ryan said, "Rui La, if you can't calm down, go back first."

"No." Rui La sat up straight. "I'll be quiet."

Wei Ke also felt something was off.

Surprisingly, he didn't find it offensive at all when Rui La pinched his ears; on the contrary, he seemed to enjoy it.

This reminded him of A De used to enjoy pinching its ears.

Thinking about this, Wei Ke felt a little sad again.

At this moment, Ryan spoke up again, "What's the deal with that Rhine Father you mentioned before?"

"Uh." Wei Ke perked up, then scratched his head. "Can you ask me anything else?"

"Huh? Can't he say?"

"He's very secretive, so I don't know much about him," Wei Ke hesitated. "Besides, he saved my life...twice, and I really couldn't do it without his permission..."

"I see." Ryan nodded. "That's good."

"...fine?"

"Yes, the way you are makes me more convinced that you're not Wildfire Cultist," Ryan said calmly. "Those guys can't learn these principles."

Wei Ke scratched his head again, suddenly feeling a warm feeling in his heart.

"As for the other things you mentioned," Ryan said slowly, "That Old Hunter who told you the Hunter's power comes from the Lost Sacrificial Ground, do you remember his name?"

"Lei Ao".

"Lei Ao ..." Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly, "I've never heard of this person."

"Never heard of him? Well, that's understandable, considering he is..."

"When I said I'd never heard of it, I meant there's no such Hunter."

Wei Ke was stunned.

"How many Hunter do you think Senro still has?" Ryan said. "I can tell you, there are less than fifty left, and we all know each other inside and out."

Wei Ke was shocked, but still tried to explain, "There might just be one..."

"Impossible." Ryan shook his head. "Do you know why? It's because of what you call the Hunter's Inheritance."

"The Hunter's Inheritance is not found in the lost Sacrificial Ground..."

"Hunter gained power from the Sacrificial Ground when the Senro God was still alive," Ryan interrupted Wei Ke. "Because the Sacrificial Ground is essentially just a medium through which Hunter obtained power from the Senro God Sacrificial Ground. But now that the Senro God is gone, how can they gain power from the Sacrificial Ground?"

Ryan paused at this point.

"But the Hunter's Inheritance is not completely broken. I can't tell you the specific method, but I can tell you that the Hunter can only be passed from one Hunter to Hunter. And after the transfer is completed, that Hunter loses the Hunter's power."

Wei Ke was completely stunned. After a long while, he murmured, "So, from the very beginning, the Lost Sacrificial Ground was a hoax? That Old Hunter has been lying to me all along? But... why? What did he gain by luring me there?"

"I don't know." Ryan shook his head. "But I suspect this is also Wildfire Cultist's conspiracy. After all, your current appearance is exactly the same as the Wildfire Cultist's wolf form. So the Old Hunter named Lei Ao that you met is very likely Wildfire Cultist in disguise."

"But I don't understand," Wei Ke said. "Why are they targeting me?"

Ryan stared at Wei Ke's half-wolf face.

"Perhaps, your wolf is the reason."

"You mean... A De?"

"Yes." Ryan nodded slightly. "Although that fake Hunter lied to you about many things, at least one thing is true: during the Shinra era, fully-formed Hunter hunted with hounds that also possessed power. Hounds were arguably the Hunter' closest comrades, just like you and that Little Wolf A De. But after the passing of the Senro God, this pair disappeared, replaced by the Wildfire, who could transform their bodies into wolves. So, over the years, there has been this unconfirmed speculation among Hunter."

Wei Ke looked up at Ryan.

Ryan said softly.

"The reason why the Wildfire Cultist is able to retain its power is because... they eat the hounds."