Leaving for the Time Being

"Dammit, that guy only got in a little before us, yet he moved so fast. He definitely hasn't gone far. Should we chase him?"

Blood Cloud, dressed in a blood-red robe, asked the others with a vicious gleam in his eyes. A foul stench of blood filled the air, showing just how furious he was.

The others' expressions were equally unpleasant.

Hearing Blood Cloud's question, they were all somewhat tempted.

"No. This forest is huge, and the trees are thick with branches and leaves. He only needs to hide in any random tree—where would you even look? Besides, we don't know whether he has companions or how strong he really is. But judging by how quickly he moved, his true strength is probably no weaker than any one of us. If he intends to set an ambush, then if any one of us encounters him alone, it's hard to say who would live and who would die. We'd better not take the risk."

Unexpectedly, the burly man who had spoken with Blood Cloud at the beginning said something far more rational than his muscular appearance suggested.

After hearing him, the others felt that he had a point. Though they were still unwilling to let it go, they all nodded and admitted that the burly man was right.

"True. Forget it. This place is so big that finding someone really won't be easy. If we get ambushed, wouldn't we be taking a huge loss?"

"Exactly. Instead of wasting time looking for someone, we might as well search for other pavilions."

"Blood Cloud, you really didn't think things through as well as Niu San did. You almost got us screwed over."

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to be so clever, Niu San. You even thought of that. Thanks to you, we would've really wasted our time for nothing otherwise."

The burly man secretly rolled his eyes. He had not done this out of consideration for these people.

He was considering his own safety. There was a Dou Ling-level expert among them; if they rashly split up, that person could easily kill them one by one.

In the Black Corner Region, murder and robbery were common occurrences.

He himself had done plenty of such things.

He did not dare guarantee that the Green-clothed Man would not set his sights on them.

So, it was better for everyone to stay together for now.

Otherwise, he would have loved for them all to die—die completely clean.

Of course, he truly did not want to look for that person either. Just as he had said, rather than spend the effort on that, they might as well search for other pavilions.

Blood Cloud also felt that Niu San's analysis made sense. However, being contradicted in public made his expression turn rather ugly.

After letting out a cold snort, he said nothing more.

The Green-clothed Man was somewhat disappointed that these people had not been blinded by rage.

Just as the burly man had thought, the wealth possessed by these high-star Da Dou Shi was no small sum to him.

He had spent all his savings a few days ago in order to break through to the Dou Ling realm.

Just when he was worrying about money, the Secret Realm had opened.

If he could not seize the treasures within the Secret Realm, robbing these people would not be a bad option either.

These Da Dou Shi were not much poorer than he himself had been a few days ago.

Therefore, when they discussed pursuing the Mysterious Person ahead of them, he remained silent. Unfortunately, there were still clever people among them who had not let rage and greed cloud their minds.

Seeing that they were no longer discussing going after him, the Green-clothed Man could only set aside his little scheme and say blandly,

"Since none of you intend to pursue him, and this place has already been searched, there's no need to search it again. Let's go up to the third floor."

With that, he took the lead toward the stairs leading to the third floor.

After exchanging glances, the others quickly followed, afraid of being left behind.

Soon, the second floor was empty. Snatches of conversation occasionally drifted down from upstairs.

A minute later, Xiao Ming appeared in the same spot again.

Listening to the rustling sounds coming from upstairs, he frowned and said,

"The Black Corner Region truly deserves to be called a gathering place for fugitive experts from countless nations. All sorts of talents emerge endlessly. Someone can actually determine another person's position through blood energy. If I hadn't deliberately suppressed my Aura just now, he probably would have discovered that I was hiding outside the window."

Judging by those people's attitudes just now, Xiao Ming felt that if he had been discovered, he might have had to pay some price to leave.

The others among them were manageable enough, but the Dou Ling-level expert was rather troublesome. The higher one went, the greater the gap between each realm became. That Dou Ling was nearly an entire Major Stage above him.

And there were several Da Dou Shi who were several stars higher than him as well.

No matter how capable he was of fighting above his level, dealing with these people would still be difficult.

Although he could still escape if he wanted to, the price might be rather steep.

Xiao Ming had no desire to pay any price. Fortunately, his luck was not bad. After they went upstairs, that person did not discover him again.

It seemed that person had not cultivated his Cultivation Method well enough. As long as others concealed themselves slightly, he could no longer detect their Aura.

"Still, should I hide and pull something on them?"

Listening to the sounds of people rummaging through boxes and cabinets upstairs, Xiao Ming pondered.

He had no intention of talking about honor with those people who had just wanted to pursue him.

If he could launch a sneak attack and gain treasures, he certainly would not feel embarrassed about it.

There were items left behind on both the first and second floors. The second floor had even contained a precious Flying Dou Technique, so the third floor should have something as well.

Xiao Ming was truly somewhat unwilling to give it up just like that.

After all, he had arrived here first.

But now that they've discovered the upper floor hasn't been searched, they should be able to guess that I'm nearby. Would doing this be too risky?

Before Xiao Ming could decide whether to make a move against them, footsteps and voices came from below again.

Xiao Ming raised an eyebrow and suddenly leaped out the window, hanging from the eaves.

The moment he did so, several people with Auras stronger than his rushed onto the second floor. Upon seeing the doors to the second-floor rooms thrown wide open, they cursed loudly before charging straight up to the third floor without hesitation.

Clang! Clang!

Very soon, the sounds of fighting and violent energy fluctuations came from upstairs.

"They're fighting?" Xiao Ming reappeared in his previous spot. He had not expected the third group to arrive so quickly.

And they had even started fighting the second group.

"More and more people will definitely come next. Wasting time here is obviously unwise. I should leave first. If they like fighting over the things on the third floor, they can fight over them. I'll go look for other pavilions. They're all fighting here and no one is competing with me—wouldn't that be far more comfortable than waiting miserably for others?"

Having figured this out, Xiao Ming quietly slipped down from the second floor before the fourth group arrived.

Before leaving the pavilion and entering the dense forest, Xiao Ming deliberately looked back.

Watching the battle's commotion grow greater and greater, as though it might tear the pavilion apart,

Xiao Ming smiled.

Fight. The more fiercely they fought, the better.

It would be best if they attracted everyone from that spatial passage here. Then he would have even more time to search other places.

With that thought in mind, Xiao Ming entered the forest in a good mood and disappeared.