People Are Harder to Catch Than Soul Beasts

The first two days of the journey out of Spirit City were completely uneventful. The carriages steadily headed north along the imperial highway, traveling by day and settling in towns and post stations along the route at night. Han Lie was not overly strict, merely instructing everyone to stay close to the convoy and under no circumstances to wander off alone, otherwise exercising minimal restriction.

By the afternoon of the third day, the group reached the first branch hall of the trip. The branch hall was small in scale, consisting of only a two-story stone building situated in the west of the city, with merely a few duty Spirit Masters stationed in front of the gate. The moment the carts stopped, personnel from the branch hall came forward to assist, swiftly moving the wooden crates from the carts into the storage warehouse in what appeared to be a routine material handover.

Less than half an hour later, Han Lie walked out from the main hall, accompanied by a Deacon in his thirties. The man's surname was Zhou, and he was the master of this particular branch hall.

Lu Yuan, come here.

Lu Yuan put away the Piercing Spear he was wiping and walked over briskly.

Deacon Zhou immediately explained the situation: for nearly half a month, highway robbery had occurred with increasing frequency along the commercial road ten-odd miles outside the city. At first, only cargo had been lost, but yesterday two caravan guards had even been injured. The branch hall had verified that the perpetrators were two roving Spirit Masters.

The cultivation levels of the two men were not high—one was level twenty-three with a Short Knife Martial Soul, and the other was level twenty-five with a Gray Fox Martial Soul. They had wandered the surrounding areas year-round, previously keeping a low profile without causing any major trouble, only acting recklessly and wreaking havoc recently. The branch hall had sent people to encircle and suppress them yesterday, but had repeatedly come up empty-handed.

That Gray Fox Spirit Master has exceptionally sharp five senses, his hearing and sense of smell far surpassing ordinary people, Deacon Zhou said with a frown. The moment our personnel approached their hiding place at the quarry, he detected it in advance, and both times they managed to escape calmly. Current intelligence confirms that the two have not fled far and are still entrenched around the quarry area.

Han Lie turned to look at Lu Yuan. We aren't setting off until tomorrow morning. Do you want to go along and gain some practical experience?

Lu Yuan did not hesitate. I'll go.

Luo Cheng will go with you. Han Lie raised a hand to signal a middle-aged man not far away who was moving luggage.

Luo Cheng was a level forty-one Spirit Ancestor with an Iron Rod Martial Soul. During the past two days of traveling together, although Lu Yuan had not conversed with him, he knew the man was steady and reliable.

A quarter of an hour later, the three of them, accompanied by Zhao Xun—a local young Spirit Master familiar with the terrain—exited the branch hall through the back door and quietly rushed toward the abandoned stone quarry north of the city. This place was ten-odd miles from the city, surrounded by dense woods and strewn with boulders, featuring a complex and intricate terrain that was best suited for lurking and fleeing. Once they drilled deep inside, trying to capture them again would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

With a mile still remaining to the quarry, Zhao Xun proactively stopped and lowered his posture. We can't go any further. Yesterday, when we made a frontal assault, the commotion was too great and the Gray Fox detected it beforehand, allowing the two of them to escape through the back mountain.

Luo Cheng gazed into the distance and rapidly deployed their strategy. You proceed with the frontal feint as before to draw their attention, and we'll circle around the back to cut them off.

Zhao Xun understood instantly and slipped forward directly. Luo Cheng led Lu Yuan into the dense woods on the western side. The forest was overgrown with weeds and littered with broken stones; the two lightened their footsteps and advanced steadily, throughout which they never activated their Martial Souls in order to conceal their tracks.

After advancing for a moment, Lu Yuan's gaze narrowed slightly as he detected an abnormality. The rocks beside an old tree were crooked and abrupt, and the weeds around them were slightly pressed down, which was clearly artificially arranged.

Luo Cheng timely raised a hand to stop him. Pressed against the tree roots was a lead wire as thin as a hair, almost blending into the soil, with the other end extending into the grass and strung with several pieces of broken iron. The slightest touch would produce a crisp sound, enough to provide early warning.

The two did not touch the mechanism and quietly changed their route to detour. Lu Yuan felt a silent pang of emotion inwardly: even though the spirit beasts of the North Hunting Forest were cunning and skilled at lurking and ambushing, they never proactively set up warning traps and fortified themselves step by step. Human calculation was far more troublesome than the instinct of a fierce beast.

As they drew closer to the quarry, hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly rang out ahead. Two figures broke through the piles of rubble and fled in panic. The person in front was lean and thin, with gray fox ears prominent on top of his head and two yellow spirit rings flashing; his movement technique was agile and his speed extremely fast. The Short Knife Spirit Master closely followed behind him, looking somewhat disheveled.

I'll chase the fox Spirit Master; you block the one in the back! Before Luo Cheng's voice had even faded, he already raised his staff and gave chase in a rush, heading straight for the faster Gray Fox Spirit Master.

Lu Yuan pivoted on his heel, instantly cutting across to block the Short Knife Spirit Master's escape route.

The Short Knife Spirit Master had been intent on fleeing, but seeing that the person blocking his way was merely a youth, disdain instantly arose in his heart. Far from avoiding him, he instead gripped his double daggers tightly and charged straight forward, attempting to forcefully break through.

The twin daggers launched consecutive attacks—one parrying and preempting the spear's tip, the other making a tricky, direct stab toward the chest and abdomen. Every move was ruthless, leaving no room for probing. Lu Yuan sidestepped to avoid the fatal blade, and the Piercing Spear swept forward smoothly, steadily suppressing the opponent's momentum.

The Short Knife Spirit Master immediately swung his blade horizontally to knock the spear tip aside. Utilizing his close-quarters advantage, the other dagger slid rapidly along the spear shaft, aiming straight to slice open Lu Yuan's right hand which held the spear—a tricky and dangerous fighting style.

Had it been in the past, Lu Yuan would have inevitably fallen into a passive state once compressed at close range. But after undergoing countless close-quarters struggles in the northern arena and comprehending the wonder of Shock Edge, he had long since shed his weaknesses.

His spear momentum suppressed and his distance locked, Lu Yuan advanced rather than retreated, closing the distance step by step. His wrist whipped around fiercely, and the butt of the spear swept horizontally, slamming heavily into the opponent's weapon-bearing forearm. The second spirit ring suddenly lit up, and Shock Edge was instantly unleashed!

The short, fierce shock force burst open violently at the point of contact. The Short Knife Spirit Master's entire arm went numb in an instant, his five fingers losing all strength, and the dagger about to descend suddenly veered off course.

Taking advantage of the opening, Lu Yuan retracted his spear and stepped back, his posture fluid and relaxed. The Piercing Spear opened up the distance once more, its tip chillingly sharp and steadily pinning the vital point on the opponent's chest.

The Short Knife Spirit Master's expression changed drastically, and he finally put away his contempt, turning solemn. After several rounds of exchange, he completely dared not approach closely at random. However, because the attack range of the Short Knife Martial Soul was inherently extremely short, he could not engage in close-quarters combat and was thus firmly suppressed by the long spear, leaving him caught in a dilemma where advancing or retreating was equally difficult.

Lu Yuan was unhurried and steady, having no need to deploy Piercing Edge's burst. Relying solely on spear techniques and footwork, he continuously compressed the opponent's active space, pressing forward step by step with a solid, grounded approach. After more than a dozen exchanges, the Short Knife Spirit Master suffered massive stamina depletion, his mindset collapsed, and after feinting a strike, he immediately turned and fled.

Lu Yuan pursued closely. The rubble slope ahead was rugged and uneven, and a shallow stone trench spanned across the bottom of the slope. The Short Knife Spirit Master ran to the edge of the slope and suddenly whipped around, his twin daggers leaving his hands to slice through the air from top and bottom, attempting to use concealed weapon throws to force his pursuer to a halt.

Lu Yuan had anticipated this long ago, slowing his pace in advance as the Piercing Spear swept outward to precisely knock away both daggers. In merely a fleeting moment of delay, the Short Knife Spirit Master had already vaulted down into the stone trench, scrambling up the opposite bank in an attempt to get away.

At this very moment, Lu Yuan truly recognized the troublesome nature of human Spirit Masters. Spirit beast slaughter only involved brute force and desperate fighting to the death, whereas roving humans who committed crimes had minds entirely filled with schemes, exit routes, and underhanded tricks, never clinging stubbornly to a frontal victory or defeat.

His first spirit ring flashed brightly, and Piercing Edge erupted!

Lu Yuan's figure tore through the air, plunging straight down along the stone slope to instantly close the distance. Just as the Short Knife Spirit Master turned his head to look back, the Piercing Spear had already lowered its shaft, slamming heavily into his right leg.

Struck by immense force, the Short Knife Spirit Master lost his center of gravity and tumbled down the stone slope for several meters. The moment he propped himself up to rise, the ice-cold tip of the spear was already pressed against his back shoulder, sealing off all possibility of resistance.

Don't move.

The Short Knife Spirit Master's body suddenly stiffened. Glancing at the daggers that had landed on the ground in the distance, he completely abandoned his struggle and obediently allowed himself to be captured without a fight.

Lu Yuan did not lower his guard, first kicking away the distant weapon and carefully searching to confirm the opponent possessed no hidden armaments before turning to look toward the other side of the battlefield.

A moment later, Luo Cheng returned escorting the Gray Fox Spirit Master, whose hands were bound. A level-twenty-five agility Spirit Master had ultimately failed to escape from the hands of a level-forty-one Spirit Ancestor.

Luo Cheng glanced at the captive on the ground and asked indifferently, Are you injured?

No.

Take him back to the branch hall to await trial.

The group retraced their steps back into the city, handing the two plundering Spirit Masters over to the branch hall for detention. Lu Yuan retracted his Martial Soul, preparing to return to the carriage to rest, when Luo Cheng caught up with him in long strides.

First time capturing someone?

Mm.

How does it feel? It's different from hunting spirit beasts, isn't it?

Recalling the early-warning traps in the forest and the opponent's final parting dagger ambush, Lu Yuan candidly expressed his sentiment: More troublesome than spirit beasts.

Hearing this, Luo Cheng chuckled. Once you have more practical experience in the future, you'll get used to it. Fierce beasts are ferocious in their instincts, while the human heart is treacherous in its scheming.

Lu Yuan nodded in silence, walking forward slowly.

Only three days had passed since leaving Spirit City, and he had truly realized that the world outside was far more complex than the slaughter and strategic maneuvering of the North Hunting Forest.