In the depths of the forest, the sky always darkened quickly. The lingering glow of the sunset was blocked by layers upon layers of leaves, leaving only mottled patches of light upon the ground.
Shen Yi sat beside a small stream.
In his hand was a flatbread he had bought from a teahouse that morning.
He chewed it down bite by dry bite.
Whenever he chewed too deeply and found it too hard to swallow, he scooped up a handful of spring water and drank.
Shen Yi occasionally saw fish swimming through the stream. If he had not been facing a manhunt, he would have liked to jump into the water, catch one, and roast it for something fresh.
Setting aside the matter of fleeing for his life.
In less than a day, Shen Yi had already felt the wandering flavor of the martial world, where heaven and earth were one's home.
Based on Shen Yi's understanding of the Pacification Office.
The first three days after an incident were the most important. During those three days, the Pacification Office would spare no effort in investigating and pursuing.
If Shen Yi could evade the Pacification Office's pursuit during those three days, or break through their search-and-surround net, he would be much safer.
After all, in this world teetering on the brink of chaos, there were plenty of bandits, outlaws, and wanted criminals waiting for them to handle. They could not possibly waste too much time on an Entry Realm lackey like Shen Yi.
Shen Yi ate some flatbread and regained a little strength.
He also restored the place where he had just stopped to eat to its original natural appearance, then covered it with leaves.
Afterward, he continued onward along the slope of the mountain.
To be honest, Shen Yi did not understand tracking or countertracking very well. He could only rely on his own guesses.
So he erased his traces.
As he traveled, he also tried his best to tread lightly.
Unfortunately, Shen Yi did not know qinggong.
He only knew some footwork that came with the Wind Severing Blade and Bone Dislocation Hand. Combined with the Array Breaker Skill, it could also lighten his body somewhat.
But it could not be sustained for long, and he inevitably left prints in the mud.
By then.
The sun had completely set.
The silver-white moonlight was even weaker, unable to pierce through the dense forest. Shen Yi felt his surroundings grow increasingly dim.
He walked through the woods for a while.
He could barely make out the rugged mountain path, but moving forward was extremely difficult.
Shen Yi decided not to travel alone through the night.
In the mountain forest at night.
Not only did he have to deal with wild beasts that might appear, he also had to beware of Pacification Office pursuers who could catch up at any moment.
It would be better to find a relatively safe place to rest and recover, then continue on his way after daybreak.
With that thought.
He turned and headed toward a mountain hollow.
Feeling his way along the mountain wall, Shen Yi soon found a depression. It was not a particularly deep cave, but it was just large enough to shelter him.
He flashed inside, drew his saber, cleared away the weeds within, and piled them over the cave entrance to conceal it.
After doing all that.
Shen Yi finally let out a slight breath of relief. From the moment he had suddenly risen to kill last night, to returning to the guard station to search for martial manuals, to slipping out of the city gates early this morning.
His mind had remained taut the entire time.
And like a bowstring, it had been drawn tighter and tighter.
Shen Yi knew that remaining in such a state for too long would cause problems, so he tried to steady his mind now.
Slowly relaxing.
Yet he remained in a state that was neither fully tense nor fully relaxed.
Like when gripping a blade, one had to keep a loose hold.
That way, the palm would remain dry, allowing him to draw his blade steadily and swiftly at any moment, then explode into a furious slash.
Shen Yi leaned against the cave wall like that.
From his angle.
He could see a thread of moonlight flowing in through the cave entrance.
He half-closed his eyes, recovering his spent energy while keeping a sliver of his mind alert.
Time passed without him noticing.
The moonlight hid away, and dawn had yet to awaken.
Suddenly, within the deep, secluded silence, Shen Yi heard a dense rustling of footsteps.
The sound drew nearer from afar.
Then faint human voices drifted over, complaining:
"Damn, that kid's really a rabbit. It's been a whole day and night, and we still haven't found his trail."
"I'm exhausted."
"Let's rest up ahead..."
The voices fell silent.
Shen Yi narrowed his eyes, his mind snapping alert as his right hand instinctively settled on the hilt of his saber.
After a moment of silence, another voice spoke:
"Up ahead... seems to be a cave?"
"You two have poor stamina. Go over first and check whether the cave is large enough. We'll chop some firewood and bring it over to make a fire for light."
Shen Yi could almost be certain that they were coming toward the cave where he was hiding. Was it truly an accidental encounter, or was it deliberate...
Shen Yi did not know.
But to Shen Yi, whether it was deliberate or not did not matter.
He adjusted his stance and bent his knees slightly.
His saber slid silently, slowly, from its sheath.
He only knew...
His blade had to be ready at all times to strike at his enemies.
"Thank you, Head Constable Sun..."
Outside the cave stood two yamen runners in dark uniforms, Wild Goose Sabers hanging at their waists, their faces full of exhaustion.
The two had always lived comfortably at the guard station north of the city.
When had they ever crossed mountains and rivers like this?
The Pacification Office's previous wanted notices had all been for Entry Realm experts, or even masters whose names appeared on Heaven's Mystery Rankings. It had never been the turn of lowly yamen runners like them to be dispatched.
It was only because the man who had killed someone and fled this time was merely a yamen runner.
And because the Pacification Office had too many other matters to handle.
So the prefectural city Pacification Office had assigned the guard station's Squad Leader to take charge, with Black Guard Captains leading the yamen runners in carrying out the arrest.
Under the pretext that one did not need to use a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken.
They had followed two Black Guard Captains through rugged mountain paths all night, and in their hearts they had cursed Shen Yi ten thousand times over.
Wouldn't it have been better to obediently cut his own throat?
He had to struggle at death's door instead, making them suffer like this.
Fortunately, the two Black Guard Captains seemed fairly easygoing. They had not rebuked them much along the way, and now they were even allowing them to rest in the cave first.
The two yamen runners looked at the entrance, nearly hidden by wild grass, and assumed it was an abandoned cave, one without even beasts nesting inside.
The two drew their Wild Goose Sabers and pushed aside the grass at the entrance. The first slipped inside, and the second followed close behind.
The two yamen runners entered one after the other, blocking the faint dawn light outside and making the cave even darker.
"It's quite clean inside..."
The yamen runner kept his eyes open as he looked around and spoke casually.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted. In one corner of the cave was a human-shaped shadow.
A silver-white flash swept across the yamen runner's eyes.
All he saw was blazing white.
Then he heard a soft rushing of wind. It sounded pleasant, and he felt the strength drain from his entire body as swiftly as the receding tide.
He soon discovered that his legs alone could no longer support him. His head drooped, and he toppled forward like a great tree.
The yamen runner saw blood beads spraying from his neck like mist.
And the ghostlike figure before him.
Frost-cold eyes, a face like an iceberg, one hand holding a saber at his neck, the other supporting his body as it hid behind him.
"Hey, what are you doing? Why aren't you moving?"
Killed a warrior below the Entry Realm. Obtained secluded cultivation time: four months.
The earlier yamen runner could no longer answer him.
What answered him was a blade-light like a dragon or python, winding out from his neck.
The yamen runner behind him was terrified and instinctively stepped back. Just as he was about to shout a warning, Shen Yi's blade had already pierced his throat.
Killed a warrior below the Entry Realm. Obtained secluded cultivation time: seven months.
Shen Yi did not feel happier over the additional secluded cultivation time. Instead, he stared outside the cave with growing vigilance.
At that moment, a burst of hearty laughter came from outside the cave:
"Brother Ma Cheng, you lost!"
"Those two yamen runners still haven't come out. That thief must be hiding inside, waiting to ambush them."
The other sounded rather helpless.
"Looks like when it comes to tracking, you're still a cut above me. When we get back, I'll treat you to a good time at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion."
Shen Yi narrowed his eyes. Just as expected...
His tracks had already been exposed.
Those two had merely been lackeys sent to scout the way. His true opponents were the two Black Guard men outside the cave, waiting by the stump for a hare.
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