April fifth, early morning.
Li Chen came to the entrance of the inn and found Huang Yuan'an, Old Lou, and Old Hou already waiting there, alongside three recruited rogue cultivators standing nearby and chatting idly.
The injuries of Huang Yuan'an and the others were mostly healed. Rogue cultivators drifted and wandered year-round, fearing injury and recuperation above all else, and they were quite willing to invest in medicine because it was the key to maintaining strength and preserving their lives. Remaining injured for extended periods and struggling to move would only get themselves killed.
Li Chen even saw that Old Hou had replaced his right arm with a prosthetic crafted from Blacksteel—a Mechanism Right Arm.
That was a prosthetic limb that only a puppet master at or above the rank of Master Artisan could attach for him. He might feel unaccustomed to it for a short time, but once he mastered its usage, his combat prowess would only be stronger than before he was injured.
Yet Old Hou did not look too well. This single Mechanism Right Arm alone had almost exhausted his savings accumulated over many years, as it was a genuine Three-Star Mechanism Device, not something casually knocked together by whittling a few pieces of wood to be of any use.
"Yo, little Li, you're here. You're quite spirited today."
Seeing Li Chen approach, Old Hou managed a forced smile and greeted him, but quickly stroked his Mechanism Right Arm and sighed inwardly.
Huang Yuan'an and Old Lou merely nodded upon seeing Li Chen. They both wore utterly solemn expressions; clearly, the shadow of their previous defeat still lingered, and perhaps only by wiping out the tiger pack and slaughtering that group of Demon Beasts could this knot in their hearts be untied.
Shortly after, the others arrived one after another, and the party of thirteen managed to assemble on time.
Quite a few early risers noticed them. The innkeeper even walked up specially, holding a bowl of wine and water, handed it to Huang Yuan'an, and said, "Big brother, I won't say too much else. I wish you a victorious expedition!"
Only then did Huang Yuan'an manage to reveal a trace of a smile. He took the wine bowl, drained it in one gulp, then returned it to the innkeeper and said in a loud voice, "Thanks!"
"Wishing you a victorious expedition!" Seeing this, the surrounding rogue cultivators and bold travelers also said loudly.
Huang Yuan'an cupped his fists in all directions and said with deep emotion, "Thanks to you all, everyone!" Immediately waving his arm, he said in a deep voice, "We set out!"
The group all had mechanism beast mounts, galloping along the main street all the way out of the city, hitting the Imperial Road, and heading straight for the wild forest.
Huang Yuan'an had already arranged the marching route. The first half was basically scaling mountains and ridges to advance in a straight line, while the second half primarily followed their previous escape route, steering clear of Demon Beast territories as much as possible.
Their trip this time was as much for hunting tigers as it was to avenge their fallen companions, so their target was clear, and they didn't waste time on other prey along the way.
The group had no objections to this either. Anyway, their ultimate goal was that pack of mutated ferocious tigers, whose value far surpassed ordinary prey.
Soon, several days passed. By the ninth of April, the group finally arrived in a deep mountain over a thousand miles from the commandery seat. According to Huang Yuan'an and the others, this was the range where they had encountered the tiger pack.
"Front and rear squads, release your battle puppets and patrol separately. Little Li, release your flying disc and check the situation."
Huang Yuan'an's expression became noticeably tense as he spoke to the group.
Li Chen was one of the few people in the team who possessed a flying mechanism device. Because his rotor mechanism was simple and practical, it was undoubtedly much more suitable for low-grade puppeteers to use compared to puppets that utilized magnetic force and were casually three or four stars and above, so he had also served as the team's scout over the past few days.
Li Chen had no questions and immediately followed his instructions.
At this moment, the others also noticed the taller trees and thicker undergrowth here, knowing this was a place where spiritual energy was dense and nature spirits entrenched themselves, and they successively acted accordingly.
After observing for a moment, Li Chen spoke up, "We are currently located on a high ridge with favorable terrain. No beasts have been spotted yet."
Li Chen had learned quite a bit these past few days. He was rapidly converting his father's recounting of his wandering experiences into his own expertise, including how to march through mountain forests, how to evade and track demons and nature spirits, and how to camp in the wilderness.
Huang Yuan'an and the others demonstrated on-site, paying close attention, humbly asking for guidance-learning was everywhere.
Huang Yuan'an told Li Chen that utilizing terrain differentials to constantly maintain an advantageous position was the infallible rule for safe travel.
More often than not, discovering the enemy first implied a massive advantage.
The reason they suffered a disastrous defeat last time was also because they grew flustered after getting lost and were subjected to a sneak attack.
Feline Demon Beasts appeared valiant and fierce, but in reality they loved launching sneak attacks, snatching away two people in a split second and clawing several more during the fight. Huang Yuan'an and the others fought desperately to snatch their companion back and fled with him, only for him to draw his last breath halfway there.
To deal with such Demon Beasts, one had to remain constantly alert and could never lower their guard, because it was very likely that the moment of encounter already decided life, death, and victory.
Having suffered a bloody lesson, Huang Yuan'an naturally wouldn't easily entrust the safety of the entire team to a greenhorn youth like Li Chen. He organized the thirteen people into five squads, letting the front and rear squads totaling six people release their mechanism puppets while he himself nimbly climbed a nearby large tree to scan the surroundings.
"This is a good spot. Everyone climb up and hide yourselves, using the puppets to disguise as living people and set up camp."
"Put on your message-transmitting rings and maintain contact at all times."
Since he knew the tiger pack was roaming nearby, he was no longer in a rush to hunt them down. He had the six companions who deployed puppets command the mechanism puppets to chop wood, build fires, and set up camp.
Li Chen saw someone installing several stake-mounted repeating crossbows shaped like iron anchors under the nearby large trees.
This was a mechanism device worth nearly a thousand that could fire multiple bolts in succession with powerful bowstring tension, possessing far greater lethality than ordinary hand crossbows.
Huang Yuan'an even retrieved a slaughtered roe deer from his storage bag, throwing it down all bloody, and had someone manipulate the puppets to gut it on the spot, the bloody stench carrying far away.
"Keep a close watch on the surroundings. With good fortune, those damned beasts will take the bait soon enough." The rogue cultivator You An, assigned to the same squad as Li Chen, smiled and told him. He was also an old demon hunter and naturally could see Huang Yuan'an's intentions.
Yet the entire afternoon passed without any unusual movements.
The group looked at each other in silence, but not a single person uttered superfluous words. Instead, at Huang Yuan'an's signal, they took turns retrieving prepared dry rations and clean water from their storage bags and made do with eating them.
As the sun neared setting, Huang Yuan'an had everyone take turns descending from the trees to relieve themselves in nearby safe areas before climbing back up to hide.
The entire process of revenge lacked the soul-stirring grandeur one might imagine; what remained was only endless triviality and mediocrity.
Yet none of the demon hunters held any complaints, because this was the life they were accustomed to.
Right around midnight, when Li Chen was nearly bored to the point of falling asleep up in the large tree, he suddenly heard warning alarms flare wildly in his mind. Subconsciously connecting to the reconnaissance flying disc's perspective, he immediately saw several ghostly lights shuttling rapidly through the mountain forest. After approaching the campsite below, they slowed their pace, silently drawing near like phantoms.