Free Web NovelChapter 44: Chapter 44: Injured Personnel
Early in the morning, the five of them set out from the east side of the valley, searching along a new route.
He Shou walked at the very front, his pace slower than yesterday. He would stop at every open area to scan the surroundings with his Spirit Detecting Disc.
The five of them crossed the ridge on the north side of the valley and entered a gently sloping area on the other side.
They hadn’t gone far when Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc detected two fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.
"Ahead to the left. Two of them. Tier One Low Grade."
He Shou gave a hand signal, and the five of them fanned out.
Li Yuan circled to the side, his right hand raised slightly as he gathered his Spiritual Power.
A Fireball formed in his palm, the crimson orb more solid than ever before.
He released it.
The moment the Fireball left his hand, Li Yuan felt the difference.
Previously, the trajectory of his Fireballs would have a slight deviation after being cast. Wind direction, terrain, and subtle differences in his wrist angle during casting would all affect the final point of impact.
This time, the Fireball flew straight toward the target as if pulled by an invisible string.
BANG.
The crimson flame exploded on the head of a Gray Raccoon Dog, and its head burst apart on impact.
A single, fatal shot.
The second Gray Raccoon Dog darted out from the bushes, fleeing in the opposite direction.
Li Yuan flipped his right hand over and switched to the Ice Cone Skill.
Forming the seal, gathering power, releasing—an ice cone shot from his fingertip. It was a beat slower than the Fireball, but just as precise.
The ice cone embedded itself at the base of the Gray Raccoon Dog’s hind leg, freezing the creature’s entire rear half. It fell onto the gravelly ground and struggled a few times.
Chen Qi came around from behind and finished it off with his blade.
It was all over in less than ten breaths.
He Shou emerged from behind a bush. He glanced at the explosive wound on the first Gray Raccoon Dog’s head, then at the one with its hind leg pinned by the ice cone. He grunted but said nothing.
Li Yuan was savoring the feeling of that last cast himself.
’The effect of the Precision trait isn’t like Spiritual Qi Filtration or Circulation Acceleration, which have obvious internal sensory changes. It’s more like an instinct—the moment I cast, my wrist angle, the timing of my Spiritual Power release, my judgment of the target’s position... everything is more accurate than before.’
’It’s not that I’ve gained a new ability; it’s that my existing abilities have become more refined.’
The panel appeared:
[Precision (White) Permanence Progress: 2/100] freёwebnovel.com
Two hits, two points of progress.
The five of them continued to advance.
Over the next hour, they encountered three waves of Demon Beasts.
The first wave was a lone Horned Lizard, Tier One Low Grade, basking in the sun behind a rock. Li Yuan smashed a Fireball directly onto its back, shattering its scales. He Shou moved in to deliver the finishing blow.
The second wave consisted of two Iron-Spine Hyenas, one Tier One Middle Grade and one Tier One Low Grade. The five of them surrounded the beasts according to their coordinated tactics, while Li Yuan provided fire support from a distance, alternating between the Fireball Technique and the Ice Cone Skill.
A Fireball to the head, an ice cone to seal the legs—he alternated the two types of Magic with a crisp rhythm.
The Tier One Middle Grade Iron-Spine Hyena was clearly stronger than average. After being hit in the flank by a Fireball, it went berserk. Its speed noticeably increased as it lunged violently at Xu Mao. Xu Mao twisted to evade, but the hyena’s front paw still tore a gash in his shoulder, ripping through his patrol uniform and peeling back a flap of skin and flesh.
He Shou arrived from the side, his long blade hacking into the hyena’s neck and killing it.
Xu Mao clutched his shoulder and retreated, his face pale. Blood streamed down from the wound, dripping past his fingers.
"The bone isn’t broken," Xu Mao said through gritted teeth, pouring medicinal powder onto the wound with one hand.
Li Yuan didn’t stop. He shot another ice cone, pinning the hind leg of the Tier One Low Grade hyena. Liu Ping then moved forward and pierced its abdomen with his sword.
Throughout the entire process, Chen Qi had been casting Magic from the rear.
[Precision (White) Permanence Progress: 9/100]
[Ice Cone Skill - Adept (0/400)]
His Ice Cone Skill had broken through.
The transition from Novice to Adept felt natural. The hand seal felt more practiced, the ice cone formed a beat faster, and its condensed volume was a fair bit larger than before.
The third wave of Demon Beasts was at the bottom of a dry ditch.
Three Horned Lizards were crammed into a rock crevice at the bottom of the ditch—one Middle Grade and two Low Grade. But their position was tricky, and the rock wall blocked most of the view.
Li Yuan stood on the edge of the ditch, his elevated position giving him a perfect view of the bottom.
He Shou led Liu Ping and Chen Qi to circle around and block the two ends of the ditch, while Xu Mao remained on the edge to provide support due to his injured shoulder.
Li Yuan’s Fireballs and ice cones rained down from above.
’The effect of the Precision trait is even more obvious in a scenario like this, which requires precise control over the point of impact. The space at the bottom of the ditch is narrow, and the Horned Lizards are packed into the crevice. A slight deviation, and I’d just be wasting it on the rock wall.’
Six spells cast, five hits.
Under the combined assault of ranged firepower and a ground encirclement, all three Horned Lizards were dead in less than thirty breaths.
But in its death throes, the last Horned Lizard’s thrashing tail struck Liu Ping, who had been rushing forward too eagerly. The tail whipped against his left leg with a sharp CRACK.
Liu Ping let out a muffled grunt and fell to his knees. His left shin was bent at an unnatural angle.
A fracture.
He Shou kicked the Horned Lizard’s corpse aside and knelt to examine Liu Ping’s leg.
"The bone is broken. It needs to be set. He can’t walk."
He Shou took out some medicinal powder and a splint from his waist pouch, deftly applying a simple splint to Liu Ping’s leg.
"Two injured men." He Shou stood up, his expression darkening as his gaze swept over Xu Mao’s shoulder and Liu Ping’s leg.
Chen Qi walked over from the end of the ditch, his clothes spotless.
He Shou glanced at him but didn’t say a word.
Li Yuan stood on the edge of the ditch, looking at his Spirit Detecting Disc.
There were no new Spiritual Qi fluctuations within a thirty-zhang radius for now.
"Captain He, we should head back," Li Yuan spoke up. "With two men injured, it’s too risky to go deeper."
He Shou was silent for two breaths before nodding.
"Withdraw."
The five of them started heading back.
Liu Ping was supported by Chen Qi, limping along slowly. Although the bleeding from Xu Mao’s shoulder had stopped, he couldn’t lift his right arm and could only hold his shortsword in his left hand.
They had traveled less than a hundred zhang from the dry ditch when He Shou suddenly stopped.
At the edge of the bushes ahead, a section of something grayish-white was visible.
He Shou half-drew his long blade and walked over slowly.
When he pushed the bushes aside, the full scene was revealed.
Three corpses.
They lay strewn between the bushes and gravel, their clothes tattered and stained with dried, blackened blood.
The outermost corpse lay face-up. Its face had been gnawed on by something, leaving only half of it intact and rendering the original features unrecognizable. There was a bowl-sized hole punched through its chest, and the surrounding clothing and flesh had been torn to shreds.
The second corpse was face-down on the ground. A long gash ran down its back from shoulder blade to spine, the vertebrae peeled back and its entrails spilled out.
The third was propped against a large rock as if it had died sitting up. It had claw marks on its abdomen, but the wounds weren’t deep. Its face was ashen, and a black liquid stained the corner of its mouth.
Poisoned.
He Shou knelt and used his scabbard to flip over the collar of the first corpse.
No waist token, no items. Nothing.
He Shou checked the other two bodies and found a similar situation. They were all dressed as Loose Cultivators, and anything of value on them had been plundered, leaving only tattered clothes and empty sleeve pockets.
"Dead for at least three or four days," He Shou said, standing up and slowly sheathing his blade.
"It doesn’t look like they were simply killed by Demon Beasts."
Li Yuan had noticed it too.
The wounds on the third corpse weren’t fatal; the true cause of death was poison. The black liquid at the corner of its mouth didn’t look like the color of Demon Beast venom.
Furthermore, all their belongings had been completely looted. Demon Beasts wouldn’t do something like that.
"Someone killed them," Li Yuan said.
"Killed them, took their things, and left the bodies here as feed for Demon Beasts," He Shou said, his voice low.
Supporting Liu Ping, Chen Qi stood a few paces away. His face was pale, and after a quick glance at the three corpses, he looked away.
He Shou noted the location and details of the corpses but didn’t linger.
"Let’s go."
The five of them continued their return journey, their pace quicker than before.
He Shou didn’t speak again for the rest of the way.
After about half an hour of backtracking along their original route, the team passed a low shale cliff.
Li Yuan’s steps suddenly faltered.
On the side of the cliff, a large section of the shale’s surface had peeled away, revealing a deeper layer of rock beneath.
There were patterns on the rock face.
They weren’t natural cracks—the lines were uniform and curved, matching the style of the Spirit Pattern traces they had found in the valley earlier.
"Captain He."
He Shou stopped and followed Li Yuan’s gaze.
After two breaths of silence, He Shou walked over and scraped along the pattern with the tip of his blade.
"More traces of an Array."
He Shou took a step back and surveyed the area.
This place was nearly two li from the area they had searched in the valley yesterday, with a mountain ridge in between.
The traces of the Array weren’t just in the valley; they extended much farther.
He Shou marked the location on the simple map he carried, not delaying any further.
"Let’s head back first and discuss it then."
As they neared the main encampment, a few figures appeared on the dirt path ahead.
A group of people was moving slowly toward the encampment. Their formation was scattered, and their pace was sluggish.
He Shou squinted, trying to identify them for a few breaths.
"They’re our own."
As they got closer, the full picture became clear.
There were seven people. Only four could walk normally; two of them were supporting injured comrades, and another person was laid out motionlessly on a makeshift stretcher fashioned from branches and animal hide. A cloth covered their face.
One of them was dead.
The leader’s clothes were soaked in blood on one side of his body. His right arm was in a sling made from cloth strips, and though his steps were unsteady, he kept moving forward.
Fang He.
Fang He also saw Li Yuan’s group. The old scar on his cheekbone stood out starkly against his blood-and-grime-covered face. He raised his functional left hand and gave Li Yuan a nod.
He Shou strode over quickly.
"What happened?"
Fang He stopped, catching his breath twice. His voice was hoarse.
"We ran into three Tier One Middle Grade beasts. All in a group."
Fang He gestured with his chin toward the cloth-covered body on the stretcher.
"Old Liu is gone. His abdomen was ripped open. By the time we got to him, he had already stopped breathing."
He Shou clearly knew Old Liu, and his expression instantly darkened.
Li Yuan glanced at the stretcher, then at Fang He and the other wounded.
A team of seven. One dead, three injured. That left only three who could still walk—and even they had their share of scrapes and bruises.
"Three Tier One Middle Grade beasts appeared at the same time?"
"Not at the same time." Fang He tried to move his slinged right arm and winced.
"We ran into one first. After the fight started, the other two were drawn by the commotion. And I suspect that first one was probably close to Tier One Top Grade."
"Weren’t Captain Wang’s men nearby?"
"They went deeper in. We couldn’t contact them."
Fang He paused, wiping the blood and grime from his face with his gauntleted left hand.
"The Demon Beasts in these mountains are getting denser. We’ve never seen so many Middle Grade ones gathering on the outskirts before."
He Shou didn’t reply. He helped steady Fang He, and the two teams merged, heading toward the main encampment.
Li Yuan walked at the rear of the group, his gaze shifting away from the cloth covering the face on the stretcher.
His Spirit Detecting Disc remained active. There were no new Spiritual Qi fluctuations within his detection range.
