Searching for Days, Meeting Qing Yue Again

Early the next morning, Yu Zhutou and the others led the Mountain-Tracking Hounds to the spot where Ma San and Fourth had buried the Demon-Luring Incense.

Yu Zhutou surveyed the surroundings, then crouched at one spot. He brushed aside the dirt and pinched up a small clump of congealed sand and gravel.

Sensing the faint smell of rust within it, he found the result well within his expectations.

Tossing the clump aside, Yu Zhutou remained calm, showing not the slightest fury over his subordinates' deaths:

"Go see whether the Demon-Luring Incense is still there."

A moment later, the men dug open the pit and saw several pills lying inside. They could not help but let out a breath of relief.

"Yu Zhutou, the Demon-Luring Incense is still here."

Before the words had faded, the bandit counting the incense suddenly broke in:

"N-no! One pill of Demon-Luring Incense is missing!"

Yu Zhutou flashed to the pit's side. After counting them himself, he confirmed that one was indeed gone.

"What a cunning thief, scheming so deeply."

He snorted coldly, summoned a Mountain-Tracking Hound, and held the Demon-Luring Incense before its nose.

"You may have made a thousand preparations, but once you have touched the Demon-Luring Incense, no amount of caution will save you from a Mountain-Tracking Hound's pursuit."

A bandit flattered him, "Zhutou is wise indeed. With Zhutou leading us, this time we are certain to succeed beyond all doubt."

Mist churned through the forest, blocking out most of the daylight. The entire mountain wood exuded a heavy, oppressive air.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

A Mountain-Tracking Hound as large as a calf suddenly lunged forward. By the time Yu Zhutou and his men caught up, it was barking furiously at a strip of clothing hanging from a branch.

Yu Zhutou's face turned livid, vicious killing intent bursting from his eyes. He forcibly suppressed the rage in his heart and said flatly, "Which time is this?"

A burly man behind him hurriedly replied:

"Y-Yu Zhutou, this is the third time."

Yu Zhutou laughed in extreme anger, spitting out through gritted teeth:

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Keep chasing!"

The men fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to say another word. They hastily took down the strip of clothing from the branch and followed the Mountain-Tracking Hound onward.

The Mountain-Tracking Hound twitched its nose from time to time, tracking the unique scent of the Demon-Luring Incense all the way.

They traversed the mountain forest, sometimes finding a piece of clothing beside a cliff, sometimes spotting a torn collar beneath a rocky outcrop.

With every additional scrap of clothing they found, Yu Zhutou's face darkened another shade.

When one of his subordinates removed a sleeve from a demonic beast's body, Yu Zhutou snatched it away with a face full of fury.

For a moment, even the wind around them seemed to freeze, and a bone-piercing baleful aura spread through the air.

He could no longer endure it. The rage he had suppressed erupted like a volcano, pouring out in one unrestrained burst:

"Bastard!"

Power swelled in Yu Zhutou's palm, and in an instant, the sleeve was torn apart by the force, reduced to tiny scraps.

"What audacity! You dare toy with me like this?"

Even after saying that, he was still unable to vent his anger. Clenching his hand into a fist, he smashed it directly into the dead demonic beast's skull on the ground.

The blast of air made the bandits lower their heads at once, trembling like quails.

With a loud bang, the demonic beast's head burst like a smashed melon, scattering fragments everywhere.

After a long while, Yu Zhutou's calm voice drifted through the silent mountain forest:

"If I do not kill this scoundrel, I swear I will not rest!"

With that, Yu Zhutou personally took hold of the Mountain-Tracking Hound and strode away. The others dared not delay and hurried after him.

Liu Yunche had no idea that the mountain bandits had begun hunting him down.

At that moment, he quietly watched the Flying Bear Martial Arts Hall group's retreating backs.

After a while, Liu Yunche chose a direction and moved on, avoiding the Flying Bear Martial Arts Hall party.

He traveled through the wilderness, searching for traces of Shi Qingyue and the others.

"As some Skin Tempering demonic beasts are slaughtered, the mountain forest is becoming increasingly dangerous. In the coming days, conflicts between martial artists will likely be unending."

Liu Yunche muttered to himself, a trace of worry in his eyes:

"I wonder whether those mountain bandits have noticed anything. I hope my clothes can buy me a little more time."

The daylight gradually dimmed as night climbed over the land.

Liu Yunche found a cave and repeated the same preparations as before. He had not found Shi Qingyue and the others today; he could only hope that nothing had happened to them.

Still, he had encountered several groups of martial artists hunting demonic beasts along the way.

Following his usual cautious principles, he did not approach them of his own accord. He merely transformed into a streak of yellow tiger-shadow and flashed past.

What Liu Yunche did not know was that his actions had filled those martial artists with alarm. They suspected that a mutant demonic beast had appeared in the mountains.

From then on, they acted with even greater caution.

The moon hung high overhead as Liu Yunche calmly stirred the campfire, sending sparks flying.

At that moment, a series of sharp explosions sounded outside the cave.

He knew that martial artists had encountered danger and were firing signal flares to request aid.

"From the sound of it, they seem quite close to me?"

Even so, Liu Yunche had no intention of going out to investigate. He quietly went about his own business, paying no heed to matters beyond his door.

The next morning, it was already the fourth day of the hunt.

Liu Yunche passed through misty mountain forests thick with camphor trees, the sound of rushing water rising and falling ahead.

Looking at the broad river before him, its currents surged violently, and who knew how many fierce demonic beasts lurked within.

"This is the tributary of the Lancang River that flows through Azure Radiance Mountain. It truly is a magnificent sight."

Liu Yunche sighed in wonder. "If one had not seen it with one's own eyes, who would believe that such a raging river ran through the depths of these mountains?"

The Lancang River was the only great river flowing through Verdant Grain County, and also the largest gateway for Water Transport.

Everyone in Verdant Grain County knew this.

Traveling upstream along the riverbank, Liu Yunche finally entered the forest mist after some time. His tiger-skin coat was simply too conspicuous.

Just then, sounds of fighting came from ahead.

"You're nothing but a mud-legged peasant, yet you dream of changing your fate?"

"Hand over the Fire Ganoderma at once, and this young master will spare your life."

Two youths exchanged fists and palms in the forest. One was plainly dressed, clearly born of the lower classes.

The other was dressed in fine clothes. From his bearing and speech, he was clearly from a powerful clan.

Liu Yunche stopped. His gaze slowly settled on the two fighters, and he saw a section of fiery-red ganoderma leaf intermittently visible within one of their bundles.

Judging by its color and veins, it was undoubtedly Fire Ganoderma.

The simply dressed youth carrying the Fire Ganoderma said hatefully, "Dream on! Heavenly treasures belong to those fated to obtain them."

The youth from the great clan loudly retorted:

"Wrong! Heavenly treasures belong to the virtuous. And I... am precisely such a virtuous man."

"Bah! Shameless wretch! You steal another's treasure, yet you dare call yourself virtuous?"

The simply dressed youth dodged the claw that shot straight for his face and flashed backward. He and the youth from the great clan were at the same level, both Silver Skin martial artists.

However, he was no match for the other youth. Whether in martial arts, physique, fist strength, or anything else, he was inferior.

"Haha... What is virtue?"

The youth from the great clan was wildly arrogant. He raised his fist, silver radiance flowing over it, and smiled faintly:

"This is virtue!"

The clash between the two continued, but Liu Yunche could see clearly that the plainly dressed youth would not last much longer.

He considered whether to step in and seize the Fire Ganoderma. Before it matured, Fire Ganoderma was no different from ordinary ganoderma; only after reaching maturity would its characteristics gradually emerge.

Once consumed, the Fire Ganoderma's medicinal power would become a ball of flame, burning away impurities within the body and improving a martial artist's innate physique, making future cultivation much smoother.

It was a rare heavenly treasure capable of improving one's innate physique. Since Liu Yunche had encountered it, there was naturally no reason to let it go.

Liu Yunche reckoned that with his Divine Movement Gift fully unleashed, neither of them could react in time. Naturally, they would never know that he was the one who had acted.

Having made up his mind, he seized an opening in their exchange. His body suddenly moved, transforming into a streak of yellow light as he pounced straight toward the youth from the great clan.

The youth from the great clan had yet to react when he felt a tremendous force strike from behind. Then darkness fell over his vision, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground.

"Tiger Lord?" The plainly dressed youth's expression changed in terror. The thought had barely surfaced in his mind when the Tiger Lord charged straight at him.

The next moment, he followed in the youth from the great clan's footsteps.

Liu Yunche bent down, took the Fire Ganoderma from the plainly dressed youth's robes, and carefully put it away.

When he struck, he had used more force on the youth from the great clan and less on the plainly dressed youth. Barring any surprises, the latter would awaken first.

As for what would happen after he woke up...

Looking at the two men lying unconscious on the ground, Liu Yunche smiled faintly. "It seems I am the truly virtuous one."

With a flash, he silently departed.

The sun shifted westward.

Beneath a sheer cliff, a thick python wildly lashed its body, striking at a figure before it.

That man wore specially made gloves, with iron armor attached at the knuckles that gleamed with chilling light beneath the golden sun.

He was none other than Shi Qingyue, whom Liu Yunche had been searching for.

Shi Qingyue raised his pillar-like arms and, seizing an opening, drove both fists fiercely into the giant python's vital point seven inches below its head.

Then he pressed the advantage, giving the giant python no chance to recover.

After quite some time, the giant python lay on the ground. Its vital point was a bloody, mangled mess, its pupils unfocused; it had long since lost its life.

Only then did Shi Qingyue wipe the sweat from his forehead, hoist the giant python over his shoulder, and head into the mountain forest.

He muttered to himself, "I wonder how Yunche is doing now."