Chapter 58: Chapter 54: Lost the Trail
Chen Cheng tilted his head, listening to the commotion outside. Lin Fengxiao had just condensed his second pillar of Blood Qi.
The result didn’t surprise Chen Cheng in the slightest. He poured the rest of the Five Dragon Soup into his bowl, lifted it, and downed it in one gulp.
He waited a moment for the medicinal effects to spread through his body, then tempered himself once with Endless Moon Breath and again with Health Tai Chi.
The numbers on his status panel showed it plainly.
After drinking the Five Dragon Soup, a single session of tempering the same skills yielded more than double the previous results.
’At this rate, I can cut the time it takes to condense my third pillar of Blood Qi by at least half! Twenty days... No! Half a month will be enough!’
A glint appeared in Chen Cheng’s eyes as he continued to calculate silently.
’Even though my efficiency has doubled, the process of tempering puts a much greater strain on my body... I can’t stop eating meat and medicinal cuisine; in fact, I need to keep increasing both the quantity and quality.’
’...Fierce Beast Essence Meat and high-tier medicinal cuisine are only available to Inner Hall Disciples... I can’t buy them even if I have the money... I have to find another way.’
’For now, I’ll have to make do with the Deer Meat Medicinal Cuisine and the Blood-Nourishing Grass the Master gave me...’
Chen Cheng slowly exhaled, focusing his mind and regulating his breath before continuing his tempering.
...
After dinner, Chen Cheng left the Martial Arts Hall alone.
A sliver of dark orange lingered on the horizon, and the streets had already begun to empty.
At a corner of the main street, just as he was about to head toward Zhao Hai’s home, his pace slowed imperceptibly.
His perception, far surpassing that of other Martial Artists at his realm, was like an invisible web. It keenly captured the extremely suppressed breaths and footsteps of a single person.
The subtle sounds remained just at the edge of an ordinary Martial Artist’s perception. The person was tailing him, maintaining the distance with exquisite precision.
Any other Martial Artist with two pillars of Blood Qi would have noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Before Chen Cheng’s Perception Power, however, the man’s every move was locked on, sketched out in his mind as clearly as a holographic projection from his past life.
The next instant, Chen Cheng’s pace returned to normal. Without even changing direction, he continued on toward Zhao Hai’s home.
As night deepened, the streets and alleys of An Nan District took on a different look.
The farther north he went, the closer he got to the immense, dark wall of the Inner City, and the quieter and cleaner his surroundings became.
The stone flagstones underfoot grew smoother, and the courtyard walls on either side became taller and more uniform. Occasionally, a lantern hanging under the eaves of a gateway would cast a dim yellow light, illuminating a tightly shut vermilion gate and its stone beast guardians.
At the end of his vision, the wall stood imposingly, like an iron curtain stretching between heaven and earth, separating Yin and Yang.
Even in this relatively well-off section of the district, the wall’s oppressive presence was overwhelming when he looked up. The faint silhouettes of the watchtowers atop it were like jagged teeth against the deep blue canopy of the sky.
It was said that on either side of the wall, the very air you breathed, the light you saw, and even the ground you walked on were completely different.
Zhao Hai lived in this area, though his home was tucked away deep in the alleys, off a fork from the main street.
’Where’d he go?!’
Zhao Hai’s home was just two turns away. The tracker quickened his pace, only to brake suddenly at the corner, an expression of sheer disbelief flooding his face.
’He was right ahead a second ago! How... How did he just vanish?’
He scratched his clean-shaven head as a chill crawled up his spine.
He prided himself on being an expert tracker, but he’d never encountered something so strange, someone vanishing into thin air.
’This is like seeing a ghost!’
After a moment’s hesitation, he was completely out of ideas. He had no choice but to continue on to report to Zhao Hai.
However, the moment he left, Chen Cheng seemed to crystallize out of the inky darkness in a corner not far behind.
His gaze locked onto the man’s hastily retreating back as, like a silent ghost, he began to follow.
In an instant, the roles of hunter and prey had been reversed.
...
The side hall of Zhao Hai’s residence was brightly lit by candles, thick with the smell of food, wine, and burning charcoal.
Zhao Hai was seated in the host’s chair, his face flushed red with wine. Without touching his food, he raised his cup again and gestured to the man on his left.
"Old Zou, I can’t thank you enough for coming in person! Here, let me toast you again!"
Beside him sat a wiry, tough-looking man with a weather-beaten face and grimy clothes.
A scar ran diagonally from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth, and his mouthful of dark, rotten teeth slowly chewed on some kind of red, dried meat.
This was Zou Kui, one of the Green Forest Bandits who had long plagued the northern trade routes. He was a man well-versed in rape and plunder, his crimes too numerous to count.
"Enough with the pleasantries," Zou Kui said, his voice rough and grating.
"You’ve given our Grass Head Mountain plenty of tribute over the years. Besides... I’m not making this trip for free! I’m very satisfied with this Treasure Snake Dried Meat!"
"Good, good! As long as you’re satisfied!"
Zhao Hai readily agreed. He appeared generous, but a pang of regret shot through him as his eyes swept over the small wooden box in front of Zou Kui.
That small, palm-sized box of Treasure Snake Dried Meat had cost him almost everything he owned.
"So, when do we make our move?" Zou Kui asked bluntly.
"Let’s not be hasty."
Zhao Hai put down his wine cup, his voice solemn.
"I don’t have any concrete proof. It’s not that I’m afraid of killing the kid unjustly, but if Dragon Mountain Hall and Shen Mi investigate, I’ll have a hard time explaining myself... Especially since I just got back."
"Besides, the kid is no slouch. It’s better to be cautious. I’ve already had one of my men start tailing him to get a handle on his background and his movements. We’ll wait for him to slip up, then we strike to kill!"
"Fucking long-winded!"
Zou Kui cursed under his breath, but deep down, he agreed. Who would want a head-on fight to the death when a knife in the back would do the job?
He took a big GULP of wine, tacitly agreeing to the plan.
"Who!?"
Just then, Zou Kui’s eyes shot open. He sprang to his feet like a beast scenting danger, his gaze fixed on the door. Every muscle in his body tensed as he fell into a fighting stance.
Zhao Hai was a beat slower, only just noticing the sound of approaching footsteps outside.
"It’s me! Ding Sanshui!"
BANG!
The door was pushed open in a hurry.
It was the bald man who had been tracking Chen Cheng. He burst in, bringing a gust of cold air with him, his face looking awful in the candlelight.
"Old Zhao! I... I lost him!"
"What?! Even... even *you* couldn’t tail him?!"
Zhao Hai’s eyes went wide, his expression one of utter disbelief.
Zou Kui relaxed his stance and shot Ding Sanshui a disdainful look, silently cursing, ’Useless.’
"Now we’re in trouble..."
Zhao Hai’s brow furrowed. Zou Kui didn’t know Ding Sanshui, but Zhao Hai knew perfectly well that Ding Sanshui was his most capable Contractor.
A Contractor was the eyes and ears of a merchant caravan, specializing in scouting the path ahead.
They read the heavens, inspected road conditions, identified bandit trails, and gave warning of beast attacks. All of this relied on perception far beyond that of an ordinary person. At the same time, they had to be masters of stealth and concealment to ensure their own survival.
Tracking and counter-tracking were the very skills Ding Sanshui had built his life on, a trade he had honed for many years.
And now... he had actually lost Chen Cheng!
——
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