Dawn was approaching.
Exhausted, I searched for Zhuge Ming, Shi Xiu, and the others, but I couldn't find them anywhere.
There were more than enemies on this mountain. There were wolves and black bears too, and I worried that something terrible had happened to the three of them.
If nothing had happened to them, then after wandering around here for hours, surely the odds said I should have run into at least one of the three.
I wondered whether, if nothing terrible had happened to them, the enemy might have captured them.
Just as I stood there wavering, about to find something I could use to cast a divination for them, footsteps suddenly sounded nearby again.
I looked toward the sound and saw two enemies who had strayed from the others.
They were coming my way.
I quickly lay spread-eagled on the ground and hid my blade on my body.
As the footsteps drew closer, I hurriedly held my breath to keep them from seeing the mist of my exhalations.
"There's someone over there!"
After that shout, the footsteps quickly reached me.
"Who is this guy?"
"He doesn't look like anyone from our group."
"Quick, check whether he's dead."
By then, I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I abruptly sat up.
"How dare you!"
My roar startled the two of them so badly that they stumbled and fell.
I reached for the blade behind my back, and the man closest to me immediately took a slash. His neck tilted, and he collapsed.
The other man tried to put up a fight, but he clearly didn't have what it took. All my practice in the Eighteen Routes of Sanshou and Bajiquan hadn't been for nothing.
What a shame. Song Xiaotian wasn't here again, so he couldn't see my graceful moves.