Ambush

"How did it go?"

Rain poured down from the sky, carrying a biting wind that chilled the skin.

Shen Changchuan's heart felt heavy as he looked at the collapsed house before him.

When he saw Han Qinhu emerge from the ruins, he immediately asked.

"Three are dead. Our preliminary judgment is that the beast crawled ashore from the river under cover of night and launched an attack from outside, something like those water arrows from the other day. It brought the house down in one blow and killed the villagers resting inside along with it."

"We only found a few mangled remains. The greater part was probably swept away by that beast."

"Although the village has patrols, the constant rain has greatly lowered the men's vigilance and reduced patrol efficiency. With the downpour blocking their view, they never noticed the beast lying in wait."

Han Qinhu's expression was grim as well. He laid out the details of the investigation.

"That beast may have truly become a spirit!"

Han Qinhu could not help but sigh.

Shen Changchuan said nothing at those words.

But deep within his eyes,

A cold, murderous gleam flashed.

The Crocodile Demon in that river had to be dealt with!

Just as with the definition of man-eating beasts in his previous life, once they had tasted human flesh, there would inevitably be a second time, a third time, and countless times thereafter!

This time,

Would only be the beginning.

It had to be eliminated in one stroke, cutting off all future trouble forever!

Shen Changchuan had already made up his mind.

"Maternal Grandfather, did you find where it came ashore, or the route it took?"

After pondering for a moment,

Shen Changchuan asked Han Qinhu beside him.

Most wild animals had a habit of following old paths.

That was to say, when moving through the wilderness, they habitually took familiar routes they had previously determined to be safe.

Shen Changchuan did not know whether the Demon Beasts of this world shared such a habit.

But at the very least,

Determining the other party's path would help him judge where the Crocodile Demon might appear next.

It would make it easier for him to set traps or lie in ambush.

Yet Han Qinhu shook his head with some difficulty.

"We looked, but the rain is too heavy. Water is flowing everywhere across the ground. Even if that beast left tracks, they've all been washed away."

"There are no traces left to find at all."

After more than half a month of continuous rain, layer upon layer of standing water covered the ground, turning into rushing torrents that surged downhill in steep places.

The grass along the riverbank had been beaten flat by the flowing water.

Even if there had been traces of the Crocodile Demon crawling ashore,

They would have been erased by the rushing rainwater.

It was clear that after their investigation,

Han Qinhu and the others had found nothing.

Shen Changchuan frowned in thought,

And silence once more settled over the air.

"Changchuan, what if we move the village up into the mountains?"

"That beast moves unpredictably in the water and watches us like a tiger eyeing its prey. The village is not far from the river either. If it climbs ashore and attacks again, I fear there will be more casualties."

Han Qinhu spoke with deep worry, voicing his suggestion.

In truth, he had held this idea for some time.

When their attempt to lure and kill the Crocodile Demon had failed,

Shen Changchuan had told him that he could do nothing to the demon for the time being. However, if it came ashore, he was absolutely certain he could force it back.

Han Qinhu knew his grandson was not the sort to puff himself up at the expense of his own face. He had always preferred to speak realistically, so there was likely not the slightest falsehood in his words.

Yet that was precisely what had worried Han Qinhu at the time.

Because his grandson Shen Changchuan had said that if the Crocodile Demon came ashore, he had absolute confidence in forcing it back,

Not that he had absolute confidence in killing it!

The difference between those two things,

Was enormous!

If they could only force it back, then even after being driven away, that beast would return someday.

Living every day on tenterhooks, forever on guard,

Was not the Righteous Path in the end.

From then on, he had already begun thinking of a solution.

"If we move the village into the mountains, far from the Great Bay River, then clear away all the surrounding vegetation and post guards at the village entrance, we'll be able to spot it in advance even if it climbs up."

Han Qinhu offered the solution he had pondered for a long time.

However, after thinking it over for a moment,

Shen Changchuan shook his head.

"The rain is coming down in sheets now, with water pooling everywhere on the ground. Moving about is extremely difficult. On top of that, Mountain Leeches are everywhere in the forests. To establish a place fit for more than two thousand people to live in under such harsh conditions, I'm afraid dozens would have to die before we succeeded."

"Let's forget it."

They could certainly succeed if they forced the relocation through.

But the price was too great,

And not one he was willing to pay.

"Maternal Grandfather, gather some men first. Pick out the strongest and most powerfully built ones, and have them prepare for battle. Also find some hunters and have them ready traps."

"I'll first look for the route that thing took after it came ashore."

Shen Changchuan pondered aloud for a moment. A rough plan had formed in his mind, and he gave his orders.

Behind him, Han Qinhu opened his mouth,

Wanting to say something, but in the end, he did not speak. He could only withdraw silently.

Forget it. They would proceed this way for now.

Since Changchuan had decided on this, he naturally had his reasons.

With worry in his heart,

Han Qinhu withdrew to make preparations according to Shen Changchuan's instructions.

At the same time,

With a thought from Shen Changchuan, his eyes opened and closed, and a faint white glow blossomed within his pupils.

The perfected Spirit Eye Technique unfolded at that moment.

The scene before his eyes changed,

And Shen Changchuan seemed to enter another layer of perception of the world.

He looked toward the collapsed house and the wisps of gray demonic aura lingering across the ground.

Shen Changchuan's faintly furrowed brow eased slightly at that moment.

"Just as I thought, the perfected Spirit Eye Technique is enough to see the demonic aura that thing left behind as it moved!"

"That will do!"

Following the lingering strands of demonic aura,

Shen Changchuan soon found where the Crocodile Demon had come ashore, as well as the route it had taken.

After committing every stretch of the route to memory,

He cast a deep look from the embankment at the river, now muddy and surging violently after days of rain.

Without lingering, he turned and left.

Time flew by,

And before long,

Han Qinhu personally selected the ten strongest villagers from among the more than two thousand people in the village.

He outfitted all ten from head to toe in heavy armor and gave each of them a shield as tall as a person.

They formed a unit ready for battle at any time.

He also selected sharp-eyed people and concealed them in high places, where they watched the steep embankment between Great Bay Village and the Great Bay River.

At the same time,

Ropes were casually laid across the Crocodile Demon's path, disguised as though they had been scattered around by the rushing water,

But with a light pull on a mechanism hidden somewhere, a great net would immediately rise.

Huge boulders, rolling logs, and the like were all placed in suitable positions.

Once the Crocodile Demon attacked, they would at least be able to hinder it somewhat.

Besides setting those traps,

Shen Changchuan had also scattered some seeds beside the Crocodile Demon's route beforehand.

Everything was ready; all they lacked was the east wind.

Now they only had to wait for the Crocodile Demon to walk into the net of its own accord!

Yet,

Three days and three nights passed in a row,

Without anything unusual happening.

It was as though the Crocodile Demon had eaten its fill and gone quiet.

But Shen Changchuan was not anxious,

He sat cross-legged in the village hall,

Meditating to restore his strength, keeping himself in peak condition, preparing all manner of contingencies in his mind as he quietly awaited news.