The road into the mountains was much more difficult to travel than it appeared on the map.
The route marked on the bounty notice was just a thin red line, winding around two mountain ridges, and finally crossed out at a place called " Bluestone Gully "—the location of the bandits' lair, which was inferred from the accounts of the villagers who had escaped.
But once you actually step into the mountains, you realize that the red line was drawn too ideally.
The actual mountain path was intermittently damaged by the rain, and in some places the path was completely invisible. Ji Ning had to scout ahead—his Hummingbird Martial Soul allowed him to move at high speed through low bushes, and he would turn back to report every time he found a safe path.
After walking for about an hour, Ji Ning suddenly turned back, landing on a fallen, dead tree, and said in a low voice, "There's something ahead."
The team immediately dispersed and found cover. Feng Xiaotian and Lu Qing crept to the front side by side, parted a clump of bushes and looked down—beside the stream at the bottom of the ravine, there was an overturned cart.
One of the cart's wheels was missing, and the cart had been cleaved in two by some sharp weapon, the cracks jagged and uneven—not from a sword or knife, but more like the claw marks of some large Soul Beast. Several wooden crates were scattered around the cart, their lids pried open, and the goods inside had been removed.
Feng Xiaotian shifted his gaze from the cart to the rocky beach across the stream. A black object was half-buried in the pebbles, swaying slightly as the water washed over it. It was a boot. And inside the boot was a foot.
Feng Lingtian swooped in from the flank and landed beside Feng Xiaotian, following his gaze. He paused for a moment, then whispered, "Could it be that group of mercenaries?"
"Possibly," Feng Xiaotian said calmly. "Go down and take a look."
He slid down the slope first, landing by the stream. Only when he got closer did he realize that there was more than one boot on the rocky beach.
The three bodies were hastily buried under the rubble. The person who buried them was clearly in a hurry; not even the exposed arm of one of the bodies was fully covered. Judging from their clothing and equipment, they were the mercenary group the old manager had mentioned.
Su Ran crouched down and carefully examined the wounds on the corpse. He had grown up in the mountains and had seen the knife wounds left by hunters when they processed their prey, but these wounds were unlike any he had ever seen.
"This one, shaped like a cone but thicker, was probably left by a piercing-type Martial Soul," he said, pointing to the penetrating wound on the chest of one of the corpses.
He then pointed to a laceration on the shoulder blade of another corpse, saying, "This bone was ripped off; the force was considerable." Finally, pointing to a slash mark on the side of the neck of a third corpse, he said, "This cut is uneven; it's not from a metal blade, but more like a stone blade."
Jiang Lin followed closely behind Su Ran, crouching down as the pale silver light of his Spirit Eyes swept over the three corpses.
He examined the positions and postures of the three corpses as they fell, as well as the signs of a fight on the surrounding gravel beach. His Spirit Eyes's dynamic retrospective ability allowed him to deduce the scene of the battle from the remaining traces.
"These three weren't killed in an attack," Jiang Lin said, pointing to the three bodies where they had fallen. "They were less than five steps apart, but they fell in different directions—one forward, one to the side, and one backward. This means they were hit while facing the same direction and didn't have time to turn and run away."
"In other words, they were killed in a direct confrontation," Feng Xiaotian said.
"Yes. But what's strange is that these three wounds—piercing, tearing, and slashing—three completely different attack methods, hit almost simultaneously."
"If it's three different Soul Master attacking separately, then their teamwork is far too exceptional. Ordinary bandits couldn't possibly coordinate like that." Jiang Lin looked up. "They seem more like a well-trained, fixed group."
Su Mei'er turned her head slightly, her brows furrowing. "The lingering aura emanating from these three people is very uncomfortable. It's oppressive and chilling."
Huo Xiao had silently descended into the shadows at the rear of the group. He glanced down at the gray-black marks on the corpses, his expression darkening slightly.
"Their Soul Power has been corrupted," Huo Xiao said in a low voice. "Normal Soul Power wouldn't leave behind impurities of this color."
Feng Xiaotian raised his head. Huo Xiao had never intervened in battles before, and he had barely uttered a word on the entire journey south. The fact that he had spoken up this time indicated that something was amiss.
Feng Xiaotian stood up and looked down the stream towards the depths of the ridge. The wisps of smoke on the ridge were still there, but they were thicker than before—not cooking smoke, which is white; these were gray-black columns of smoke, particularly conspicuous in the twilight. Someone was burning something.
"From now on, the entire team is on combat alert." Feng Xiaotian tucked the map into his pocket, his voice low but each word clearly enunciated. "Don't let a single bandit escape. Our goal is to find their hideout and figure out who's behind them."
The twelve responses were soft and brief. Su Ran distributed a few Wind Grain Seed to each person—not for emergency use during battle, but to be kept in their mouths beforehand so that they could immediately restore their Soul Power once the battle began.
Bai Yu untied the Wind Chime from her wrist and held it in her palm, pressing the clapper down so it didn't touch the bell, making no sound as she walked. Lu Hanxiao's pupils turned a deep blue in the twilight, and the night vision of his Snowy Owl Martial Soul was fully activated. He and Ji Ning formed a reconnaissance line, one in front and one behind.
The Void Resonance Bell of the Shi Yan cliff hung in the middle of the group, its pale golden light receding to just a thin halo, covering the area of the thirteen people.
The forest darkened quickly in the twilight. In less than half an hour, it was completely dark. But the firelight ahead grew brighter and brighter—it was no longer just a few wisps of smoke, but a continuous expanse of firelight, turning half of the mountain ridge a dark red.
Feng Xiaotian stopped behind an old pine tree, parted the branches, and looked down. Below the ridge was a natural plateau, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one exit.
A dozen or so simple houses were built on the terrace using rough wood and stones. In the middle was a flattened earthen field with three bonfires burning.
Everything looked like an ordinary bandit camp—but Feng Xiaotian noticed a detail: the sentries around the camp were too densely packed.
Judging from the three sentry posts he just discovered, the distance between them was very short, and each sentry post could see the positions of the other two sentry posts at the same time.
This is not the usual guard method used by mountain bandits—ordinary mountain bandits keep watch to prevent encirclement and suppression, but this method is to prevent intrusion. It's as if they are guarding something important, rather than hiding from the government's pursuit.
Jiang Lin noticed it too. "These sentry posts—" he lowered his voice, the pale silver light in his Spirit Eyes shimmering slightly in their sockets, "Couldn't be set up by bandits. The sentry posts are mutually coverive, with almost no blind spots. This is a defensive formation, not some bandit's haphazard approach."
Feng Xiaotian nodded slightly, without looking away. The bandits were eating by the campfire on the earthen field, their shouts audible from afar.
But he noticed that next to the wooden platform at the very back of the earthen mound, there was a small path leading towards the mountainside. Two burly bandits with knives were guarding the path, not so much on lookout duty as they were standing guard. Ordinary bandits wouldn't set up a guard post next to a mountainside unless there was something inside that needed to be protected.
Su Mei'er noticed it too. She turned her head slightly, as if sensing something, then her brows furrowed gently. "That unsettling aura is coming from this direction," she said, pointing to the mountain wall beside the wooden platform. "It's not from the camp, it's from inside the mountain."
Huo Xiao stood in the shadows at the back of the group, looking in the direction Su Mei'er pointed, his gaze slightly somber. He didn't speak, but his brows were already furrowed.
Feng Xiaotian followed Huo Xiao's gaze to the mountain wall, his eyes sweeping over the piles of supplies on the earthen platform. Suddenly, he lowered his voice and said, "Look—that one-eyed foreman said that this band of bandits has robbed at least ten villages. But all that's piled up on this platform is food; there's no valuables. The loot isn't here."
"The looting is probably just a pretext," Feng Lingtian continued, his gaze also falling on the mountain wall, "To make outsiders think they're just an ordinary band of mountain bandits."
The real purpose was to deceive others—what was hidden inside the mountain was what they were willing to plunder ten villages to protect.
Huo Xiao finally spoke. "What's hidden inside this mountain is most likely a stronghold of Evil Soul Master." His voice was low, but his tone was firm. "That aura—cold, oppressive, and repelling the life force of the living—is a trace of Soul Power being corrupted after practicing evil arts. I've seen it before when I traveled across the continent."
Everyone fell silent; they knew what the appearance of the Evil Soul Master signified.
In the distance, the bandits on the earthen mound were still drinking and shouting, while the tall, thin man on the wooden platform continued to slowly sharpen his curved knife. They were unaware that the secret they were guarding had already been seen through by thirteen pairs of eyes.
Just then, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the opposite mountain wall. Then came a second, a third, and so on, the whistles echoing across the mountain wall.
They were hidden sentries. There were hidden sentries on the mountainside. They had been discovered.