The Forty-Seventh Chapter: The Little Red Deer

Jia Ruo had initially thought it would be difficult to get a hound to track a scent trail from five days ago.

But when he learned it was a distant relative of the dragons, the whole thing started to seem reasonable.

At that moment, the sheriff was leading the Wyrm Hound up ahead.

The Wyrm Hound lowered its enormous head, sniffing around. Before long, it picked a direction and set off on its four long legs.

It was clear the sheriff was putting a lot of effort into holding the leash, just to keep everyone from having to run.

"Fayton has left Gayo Town—or, at least, he's no longer in town."

Lyle spoke as he watched the group leave Gayo Town.

"My old pal acting like this means he can't have gone far. He's probably hiding in the woods."

The sheriff wiped away his sweat and kept struggling with the leash. There was no denying that a Wyrm Hound with dragon blood had a lot of energy.

They gradually veered away from the main road and entered a wooded area.

"Rrr..."

A low growl rumbled in the Wyrm Hound's throat.

"Shh..."

The sheriff hurried to soothe it, careful not to alert their target.

The Wyrm Hound calmed down. The sheriff turned to the three people behind him and whispered, "Looks like Fayton's nearby. My old pal has found him. What do we do now?"

Lyle looked to Jia Ruo.

"Neeko and Brother Lyle, move to the flanks and get ready to support us. Then you can just let the hound go and have it charge straight at him..."

Before Jia Ruo could finish speaking—

"But Fayton can use magic! It—it can't beat him."

The sheriff looked nervous.

"Don't worry. I can keep up with it, and I'll engage Fayton before it does."

"All right."

He bent slightly and leaned close to the Wyrm Hound's ear.

"Old pal, keep your wits about you. You're just leading us to him, got it?"

The Wyrm Hound's limbs bent, its claws already digging into the ground.

It had been ready for this all along.

Once Lyle and Neeko had moved to the flanks to circle around, the sheriff unclipped the collar from the leash.

Whoosh!

The Wyrm Hound unleashed the explosive speed it had been holding back all this time. It shot forward, weaving around the trees as it sprinted.

Jia Ruo moved too, his speed no less than the Wyrm Hound's. He kept pace with it, making sure he could attack the enemy at a moment's notice.

Within seconds, they had raced a hundred meters through the woods.

Suddenly, the Wyrm Hound running beside him growled, and Jia Ruo's instincts flared.

He sensed something strange about the magical elements fifty or sixty meters ahead. Beneath a tree, Fire Element was unusually dense.

Was that Fayton?

With purple petals drifting down, Jia Ruo drew You Meng.

Just as he was about to speed past the Wyrm Hound and launch a surprise attack, something unexpected happened: the Wyrm Hound seemed to be frightened by You Meng and let out a whimper.

Come on, you've got dragon blood. Don't be so easily startled. What if you alert—

Jia Ruo was still thinking this when he noticed the Fire Element ahead beginning to move.

Damn it, Fayton had already sensed them.

But the arrow was already on the string. There was no turning back.

He let out a breath and pushed his Mana circulation to its limit. The elemental world in his eyes grew clearer.

Jia Ruo's speed surged. After two breaths, he was less than ten meters from the tree.

The mass of Fire Element had stopped expanding.

Jia Ruo was already holding You Meng horizontally. He'd planned to pierce both the tree and the person hiding behind it with a single thrust.

But he sensed danger.

Sure enough, a figure appeared from behind the tree, a blazing red fireball surging from his hand.

Jia Ruo drove off the ground with all his strength and skimmed over the flames without slowing down.

Even before he touched the fireball, the instant he passed by it, Jia Ruo felt as if he were inside a furnace.

His clothes instantly became bone-dry, as if they could catch fire at any moment.

Boom!

Jia Ruo didn't need to look back to know what a terrifying mark the fireball had left where he'd been.

Without hesitation, he closed in on the figure beside the tree.

Through the burst of flames, Jia Ruo saw that the man was their target: the unremarkable middle-aged man, Fayton.

Jia Ruo swung You Meng, scattering the tongues of flame Fayton shot from his hands. He cut through the sparks filling the air, driving You Meng straight toward Fayton's brow.

Fayton's face twisted viciously. He raised both hands and conjured a crude shield of fire, deflecting the strike.

Another burst of sparks exploded, obscuring Jia Ruo's vision.

When he lowered the arm shielding his eyes, Fayton had already turned and fled.

Worse, he was setting the surrounding trees on fire as he ran, trying to use a forest fire to hold back his pursuers.

Suddenly, Fayton, still fleeing, pitched forward and fell.

It was the Wyrm Hound.

Unlike ordinary animals, it wasn't afraid of the flames. It darted straight into the burning woods and sank its teeth into Fayton's thigh.

"Nicely done!"

Jia Ruo praised it, then quickly caught up and kicked Fayton in the head.

The Bounty List said he could be brought in dead or alive, but Jia Ruo had still left him breathing. It would be best to hand him over to the council for judgment.

By the time he emerged from the sea of fire carrying Fayton over his shoulder and leading the Wyrm Hound, Neeko and Lyle had already been drawn over by the blaze.

"Good thing you caught him."

Lyle stared at Fayton slung over Jia Ruo's shoulder.

Jia Ruo wiped the soot-black grime from his face. "We should be thinking about how to put out the fire."

In the end, they had Neeko to thank. She manipulated the trees that hadn't yet caught fire, bending them away from the burning ones and keeping the blaze from spreading.

Only after the trees at the center had burned away did the fire finally die out.

Even so, everyone was covered in ash and looked thoroughly bedraggled.

They returned to Gayo Town at dusk. The empty streets were swept only by the cool evening breeze.

At least they had caught Fayton before he could kill anyone else.

Gayo Town remained peaceful.

After rinsing himself off, Jia Ruo joined Lyle in searching the unconscious Fayton.

They found a purse holding about twenty gold coins, a sharp little knife, and a small notebook.

Jia Ruo picked up the notebook and opened it. Its pages were unusually thick, unlike paper.

Each page held only a short phrase, such as "mischievous young lady," "insolent bitch," and "docile lamb."

When Jia Ruo reached the final page, his arm suddenly stiffened.

"Was the victim in Gayo Town a redhead?"

His voice trembled slightly as he asked.

The local sheriff was brushing ash off himself. "Yes. The victim was Old John's daughter. Everyone in their family has bright red hair."

"This... this notebook is made of human skin."

The page had ragged edges from careless cutting, traces of tanning that hadn't yet faded, and a short phrase: "The little red deer."

It all pointed to one fact: Fayton had been collecting his victims like stamps.

The victim from Gayo Town was the latest addition.