Someone grumbled in dissatisfaction.

The leader, a young man, was quite reserved. After a long pause, he finally said in a low voice, "I’m only familiar with the Mentougou Village area. We’ve searched all the places someone could hide around there... I don’t really know the other areas."

The True Martial members were on the hunt in a region of complex terrain, and they reasoned that ordinary villagers rarely ventured too far from home.

Hearing Chen Wu’s words, the group felt a wave of frustration. Still, they had no choice but to keep walking and searching...

...After all, their master had given them a direct order: the target had to be found.

Meanwhile, Qin Fang raised an eyebrow as he overheard their conversation. He glanced toward the young man named Chen Wu...

’He specifically mentioned Mentougou Village, and his surname is Chen... Is he one of Monkey’s clansmen, a cousin perhaps?’

...Before the Government Office moved against Ganlu Hall, Qin Fang had been in Wanshui. He’d seen people from Mentougou Village at the market, weeping as they begged for help finding Monkey. They came for a few days, and then they just stopped.

He figured they’d probably been killed by the Mysterious Power... They were most likely trying to dig up information about him.

After that, the Qi Blood Pill supply was cut, and people began exhibiting all sorts of strange symptoms. Qin Fang hadn’t been able to spare any thought for what was happening over there.

The sudden mention of "Mentougou Village" sent him into a brief trance...

...The days he’d spent living in the market town... it felt like a lifetime ago...

He shook his head, glanced one more time at the young man he suspected was one of Monkey’s clansmen, and then averted his gaze.

...Monkey hated his clansmen from Mentougou Village down to his very bones.

’For this guy to have gotten into True Martial to study Martial Arts, and even survived this long, he must be from one of the prominent families in Mentougou Village.’

’Clearly, he and Monkey were not cut from the same cloth.’

’No need to pay him any mind.’

Qin Fang watched the group, a glint in his eyes.

If he wished, he could eliminate all of them in an instant.

But... there was no need.

His target this time was Chen Shanhe.

...As long as this group didn’t notice the cave on Old Ox Back, he wouldn’t act.

He followed them from the shadows.

A Huajin Martial Artist tracking a group of Mingjin Martial Artists—if they managed to spot him, hell would have frozen over.

They didn’t even notice Xile as they walked right into Li Family Ao at the foot of Old Ox Back Mountain.

They continued their search all around Li Family Ao...

But they were clearly unfamiliar with the area; in the end, they didn’t even find the shelter.

Qin Fang tailed them for the entire day. After nightfall, one of them said, "It’s dark. Looks like we’re not finding him today... Let’s pick this up again tomorrow."

The others murmured their agreement and began to leave the foot of Old Ox Back Mountain, heading back the way they came.

...No one had noticed the cave on Old Ox Back.

A glint in his eye, Qin Fang followed after them.

Xile followed along as well.

As darkness fell completely, they lit torches and continued their journey.

Qin Fang simply hopped onto Xile’s back and followed at a leisurely pace.

...It wasn’t that the physical exertion was anything to the current Qin Fang, but now that he’d tasted the pleasure of having a mount, he might as well enjoy it.

’He’d raised this beast, feeding it well all this time. Now that it was finally useful, there was no better time to take advantage of it.’

And so, Qin Fang followed them into the wilderness, to a place about an hour’s walk from the broken cliffs, where he watched them enter a hidden valley.

Qin Fang’s eyes glinted. He slid off Xile’s back, instructing the beast to wait nearby and be ready to back him up at a moment’s notice.

Xile let out a happy chuff, nodding its head and wagging its tail.

With a flicker of movement, Qin Fang slipped silently into the valley.

He controlled the flow of Qi Blood throughout his body, suppressing it to an absolute minimum, to the point that even his heartbeat seemed to cease.

...This was a technique he’d grasped through an epiphany.

A Huajin Martial Artist’s control over their body is simply incredible. They can even make their blood flow in reverse, stabilize their vital essence, and break past the normal limits of longevity, living up to two hundred years.

Hiding the aura of his Qi Blood, therefore, was almost trivially easy.

Only then did he begin to slowly approach. In this state, his speed was somewhat hindered.

A bonfire blazed within the valley, brightly illuminating a nearby thatched hut, which he spotted instantly.

Then, he heard voices.

"Master, we’ve searched for two days, but... we’ve found nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"...Correct."

Chen Shanhe fell silent. Qin Fang’s eyes narrowed.

His gaze pierced the firelight, landing on Chen Shanhe, who stood before the thatched hut.

"And his Exotic Species? You haven’t found it either?" he asked slowly.

"No..."

"...Fine. Continue the search tomorrow."

"...Yes, Master."

As soon as the disciple finished speaking, Chen Shanhe turned and went into the thatched hut.

Qin Fang could see the frustration in many of the disciples’ eyes, but none of them dared to voice their complaints.

...A Huajin Martial Artist’s hearing was formidable. They would be discovered if they so much as whispered.

Only after a long while, when it was clear Chen Shanhe wasn’t coming back out, did the disciples begin to converse in hushed tones.

But they didn’t talk about the search. Instead, they made idle small talk, jumping from one random topic to another.

Someone asked, "By the way, you guys have been keeping an eye on the Chujiang River... Have any Treasure Fish shown up?"

"None... Treasure Fish don’t just appear that easily. There’s only been that one from the other day."

Someone sighed and shook their head.

The mention of the Treasure Fish led to a deeper discussion on the topic, during which someone inadvertently let Xu Ran’s name slip.

He was immediately shot a glare by another disciple. The speaker snapped back to his senses and quickly covered his mouth.

He glanced furtively toward the hut where Chen Shanhe was staying.

When there was no reaction from within, the man finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Someone said in a low voice, "The Master is still grieving for Junior Brother Xu Ran. You’d better remember that next time!"

The disciple who had mentioned Xu Ran nodded frantically.

The topic then shifted again, this time to issues with their training. Some of the junior disciples began asking their seniors for advice on things like the Pile Method and Fist Techniques.

...It actually had the atmosphere of a martial arts dojo again.