For the first two days after leaving Spirit City, the journey was smooth and uneventful. The carriages traveled steadily north along the official road, traveling by day and stopping at inns in towns along the way at night. Han Lie was not overly strict. He only told everyone to stay with the group and not leave on their own, imposing no other restraints.
On the afternoon of the third day, they arrived at the first Branch Hall of the journey. It was small, consisting of only a two-story stone building in the west of the city, with a few Spirit Masters standing guard outside. As soon as the convoy stopped, the Branch Hall personnel came forward to receive them and swiftly moved the wooden crates from the carriages into storage. It looked like nothing more than a routine supply handover.
Less than half a quarter-hour later, Han Lie emerged from the hall with a deacon in his thirties beside him. His surname was Zhou, and he was in charge of this Branch Hall.
"Lu Yuan, come here."
Lu Yuan put away the Piercing Spear he had been wiping and hurried over.
Deacon Zhou immediately explained the situation. The trade route more than ten miles Outside the City had suffered frequent robberies over the past half month. At first, only goods had been stolen, but yesterday, two merchant caravan guards had even been injured. The Branch Hall had confirmed that the culprits were two wandering Spirit Masters.
Their cultivation was not high. One was level twenty-three, with the Short Knife Martial Soul; the other was level twenty-five, with the Gray Fox Martial Soul. They had roamed the surrounding area for years and had previously kept a low profile, never causing any major trouble. Only recently had they begun acting so recklessly. The Branch Hall had sent people to surround and eliminate them yesterday, but they had repeatedly come up empty-handed.
"The Gray Fox Spirit Master has keen senses. His hearing and sense of smell far surpass those of ordinary people," Deacon Zhou said with a frown. "The moment our men approached their hiding place at the quarry, he detected them in advance. They escaped calmly through the back hills both times. Our scouts have confirmed that they have not fled far and are still entrenched around the quarry."
Han Lie turned to Lu Yuan. "We won't leave until tomorrow morning. Do you want to go and gain some experience?"
Lu Yuan answered without hesitation, "I do."
"Luo Cheng will go with you." Han Lie raised a hand toward the middle-aged man loading luggage nearby.
Luo Cheng was a level forty-one Soul Ancestor, and his Martial Soul was an Iron Rod. Though Lu Yuan had not spoken with him during the past two days of travel, he knew Luo Cheng was steady and dependable.
A quarter-hour later, the three men followed Zhao Xun, a local Young Spirit Master familiar with the terrain, out through the Branch Hall's rear gate and quietly headed for the abandoned quarry north of the city. It was more than ten miles from the city, surrounded by dense woods and littered with jagged rocks. The terrain was tangled and complex, ideal for hiding and fleeing. Once the fugitives slipped deep inside, capturing them would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
With still a mile to go before the quarry, Zhao Xun stopped and lowered his body. "We can't go any farther. Yesterday, we charged in from the front and made too much noise. The Gray Fox detected us in advance, and the two of them escaped through the back hills."
Luo Cheng gazed into the distance and quickly made arrangements. "You proceed as usual and draw their attention from the front. We'll circle around and cut them off from behind."
Zhao Xun understood at once and crept straight ahead. Luo Cheng led Lu Yuan into the dense forest on the western side. Weeds choked the woods, and broken stones lay everywhere. The two softened their footsteps and advanced steadily without summoning their Martial Souls, concealing their tracks the entire way.
After walking for a while, Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened as he noticed something unusual. A stone beside an old tree sat crookedly in an unnatural way, while the nearby grass had been lightly pressed down. It was clearly man-made.
Luo Cheng raised a hand in time to stop him. A thread as thin as a hair lay pressed beneath the tree roots, nearly blending into the dirt. Its other end stretched into the grass, strung with several pieces of scrap iron. The slightest touch would produce a crisp sound, enough to give an early warning.
Neither of them touched the trap. They quietly changed course and went around it. Lu Yuan secretly sighed. Even though the Spirit Beasts of North Hunting Forest were cunning and skilled at ambushes, they would not lay warning traps in advance or guard against every step. Human scheming was far more troublesome than the instincts of ferocious beasts.
As they neared the quarry, hurried, chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded ahead. Two figures burst through a pile of rubble and fled frantically outward. The one in front was thin, with protruding Gray Fox ears atop his head. Two Yellow Spirit Rings flashed around him as he moved nimbly and incredibly fast. The short-knife Spirit Master followed behind him, looking somewhat disheveled.
"I'll chase the fox Spirit Master. You stop the one behind!" Before Luo Cheng had finished speaking, he was already racing forward with his rod, charging after the faster Gray Fox Spirit Master.
Lu Yuan pivoted on his feet and instantly cut across, precisely blocking the short-knife Spirit Master's escape route.
The short-knife Spirit Master had been wholly focused on fleeing. Seeing that only a youth stood in his way, he immediately looked down on Lu Yuan. Rather than avoiding him, he tightened his grip on both knives and charged forward, intending to force his way through.
The twin knives came in succession. One blade intercepted the anticipated spear tip, while the other stabbed viciously at Lu Yuan's chest and abdomen from a tricky angle. Every move was ruthless, leaving no room for probing. Lu Yuan sidestepped the fatal strike, then sent the Piercing Spear forward, steadily suppressing his opponent's assault.
The short-knife Spirit Master immediately knocked the spear tip aside with one knife. Taking advantage of their close range, he sent his other short knife sliding rapidly down the spear shaft, cutting straight for Lu Yuan's right hand gripping the weapon. It was a tricky and dangerous style.
In the past, Lu Yuan would inevitably have fallen into a disadvantage when pressured at close range. But after countless close-quarters battles at North Field and comprehending the proper use of Shock Edge, that weakness had long since disappeared.
With his spear suppressed and the distance locked down, Lu Yuan advanced instead of retreating, stepping in close. His wrist flipped sharply, and the spear butt swept sideways, smashing heavily into his opponent's knife-wielding forearm. The Second Spirit Ring suddenly lit up as Shock Edge erupted instantly!
A brief, fierce tremor exploded at the point of contact. The short-knife Spirit Master's entire arm went numb in an instant, his fingers lost their strength, and the descending short knife abruptly veered aside.
Lu Yuan took the opportunity to pull back his spear and retreat a step. His body stretched smoothly as the Piercing Spear opened the distance once more, its tip cold and sharp as it steadily aimed at his opponent's vital chest area.
The Short Knife Spirit Master's expression changed drastically. He finally discarded his contempt, his face turning grave. After several exchanges, he no longer dared to close in rashly. Yet the Short Knife Martial Soul had an extremely short attack range. Without the ability to entangle Lu Yuan in close combat, he was completely restrained by the long spear, trapped between advancing and retreating.
Lu Yuan remained calm. There was no need to unleash Piercing Edge's explosive force. Using only his spear technique and footwork, he continuously compressed his opponent's room to move, pressing forward step by step with steady strikes. After more than ten exchanges, the short-knife Spirit Master was badly exhausted and mentally crumbled. He feinted with a slash, then immediately turned and fled.
Lu Yuan pursued closely. Ahead lay an uneven slope of jagged rocks, with a shallow stone ditch running across its base. When the short-knife Spirit Master reached the slope's edge, he suddenly spun around and hurled both knives. One flew high and the other low, tearing through the air as he tried to stop his pursuer with concealed-weapon tactics.
Lu Yuan had anticipated it. He slowed down in advance and swept out the Piercing Spear, accurately knocking both short knives away. Yet in that brief delay, the short-knife Spirit Master had already flipped down into the stone ditch and begun climbing the opposite bank to escape.
At that moment, Lu Yuan truly understood how troublesome human Spirit Masters could be. Spirit Beasts only knew how to attack head-on and fight to the death, but humans who roamed about committing evil had nothing but schemes, escape routes, and underhanded tricks in their minds. They never fixated on winning or losing in a direct confrontation.
The First Spirit Ring flared brightly as Piercing Edge erupted!
Lu Yuan shot through the air and charged straight down the rocky slope, instantly closing the distance. Just as the short-knife Spirit Master turned to look back, the Piercing Spear had already lowered and slammed heavily into his right leg.
A tremendous force struck him. The short-knife Spirit Master lost his balance and rolled several meters down the slope. Just as he braced himself against the ground to rise, a cold spear tip was already pressed against the back of his shoulder, cutting off any chance of resistance.
"Don't move."
The short-knife Spirit Master's body stiffened abruptly. He glanced at the short knives lying in the distance, completely gave up struggling, and obediently surrendered.
Lu Yuan did not lower his guard. He first kicked the weapons farther away, then carefully searched the man and confirmed that he had no concealed weapons before turning toward the other battlefield.
A short while later, Luo Cheng returned with the Gray Fox Spirit Master, whose hands were bound. A nimble level twenty-five Spirit Master ultimately could not escape the grasp of a level forty-one Soul Ancestor.
Luo Cheng glanced at the captive on the ground and asked casually, "You weren't hurt?"
"No."
"Take them back to the Branch Hall for questioning."
The group returned to the city and handed the two robbing Spirit Masters over to the Branch Hall for detention. Lu Yuan withdrew his Martial Soul and was about to return to the carriage to rest when Luo Cheng quickly caught up with him.
"Your first time capturing someone?"
"Mm."
"How did it feel? Different from hunting Spirit Beasts, right?"
Lu Yuan recalled the warning trap in the woods and his opponent's final ambush after throwing away his knives. He said frankly, "More troublesome than Spirit Beasts."
Luo Cheng laughed at that. "Once you gain more experience, you'll get used to it. Ferocious beasts are dangerous because of instinct; human hearts are dangerous because of calculation."
Lu Yuan nodded silently and continued forward at an unhurried pace.
Only three days after leaving Spirit City, he had already truly realized that the world beyond was far more complicated than the battles and struggles of North Hunting Forest.
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