Zhang Tie lay prone a hundred meters from the cave entrance, utterly still. He remained there for five or six hours, waiting until night had fully fallen before charging toward the entrance.
The darkness would allow his Dark Vision to come into play, while the demonized puppets, whose strength was roughly that of ordinary people, would certainly be greatly hampered in the dark. Only then would he have a chance to sneak into the cave and investigate.
When that tragedy had unfolded during the day, it was not that Zhang Tie had not wanted to save them—it was that he simply could not. Under those circumstances, rushing out would have accomplished nothing except expose himself and kill a few minor demonized puppets.
Zhang Tie cast a Concealment Technique and a Swift Movement Technique on himself. Empowered by the two runes, his figure became like an elusive wisp of smoke in the darkness. In the blink of an eye, he crossed more than a hundred meters; in another, he was less than fifteen meters from the cave entrance.
Zhang Tie concealed himself in the crown of a large tree, then picked up a small stone he had found earlier and tossed it in the other direction. The stone flew into a patch of bushes dozens of meters away, making a faint noise.
The demonized puppets at the entrance were extremely alert. The moment they heard the sound, every one of them turned to look in that direction. Amid several low, hissing cries from their leaders, their meanings impossible to discern, a squad of demonized puppets ran toward where the sound had come from.
Taking advantage of the opening, Zhang Tie slid down from the tree. Keeping to the shadows around the entrance, he slipped past the demonized puppets' defenses in an