The footprints led toward the top of the slope.
Su Li did not hurry after them. He first drew his broken sword from behind his waist, gripped it in his hand, and weighed it twice. Following three creatures whose abilities he knew nothing about, he did not feel safe without a weapon in hand.
He followed the footprints, keeping a distance of twenty paces.
In his first life in the old world, he had spent sixty years scraping by at the bottom of Grey Gull Port. He had been tailing people since he was fourteen. The only difference was that back then, he followed drunkards leaving gambling dens to see whether any copper coins might fall from their pockets.
Now, he was following an armed multi-racial party from another world.
The essence was the same. When one lacked money and connections, one latched onto opportunities wherever they appeared.
After walking for roughly a quarter of an hour, Su Li stopped beside a short, crooked-necked tree.
There was a fresh break on the trunk. At shoulder height, a thumb-thick side branch had been deliberately snapped off, its broken end pointing in the direction of travel. A trail marker.
He continued onward.
The second marker appeared fifty paces later. This time, it was two stones stacked on the ground, the smaller stone on top pointing toward the front right.
"Experienced." Su Li memorized the marker's location. A party capable of leaving regular signs in the wilderness was either made up of hunters or gatherers, not wandering savages.
After walking a little farther, he saw a cleared patch of open ground ahead.
Camp
It had already been abandoned, but the traces were fresh. In the center lay the remains of a fire pit ringed with stones. The charcoal in the ashes was still