Free Web NovelChapter 572: Chapter 572: Tracking the Enemy’s Trail (Part 2)
The strange sounds in the room disappeared.
After a long while, Zhang Yuan pushed open the door and came out.
His gaze was very calm, with the "Face Eater" mask concealing any expression.
Only those with extremely sharp senses could detect the Blood Evil Qi enveloping Zhang Yuan at this moment.
The cunning young man from before wasn’t wrong; Zhao San’er was indeed the most well-informed person at the Riverbank Market.
In fact, this native local has been mingling in this chaotic place for over thirty years, holding numerous information channels and earning a fortune from them.
Zhang Yuan’s luck was good; he caught hold of this local snake just after arriving at the Riverbank Market.
Not only did he extract numerous bits of information about the Desert Wind Army from the other, but he also found clues about the robbery of the Wu Family caravan.
In truth, Zhao San’er was extremely cunning, absolutely not someone easy to deal with.
However, falling into Zhang Yuan’s hands sealed his tragic fate.
Zhang Yuan could roughly discern the truth from lies in the other’s words, then applied various unspeakable tortures, slowly breaking down his psychological defenses, making him even spill out the story of peeping at his neighbor’s sister bathing as a child.
Interestingly, Zhao San’er was actually an informant for the Desert Wind Army at the Riverbank Market.
Of course, he didn’t only provide information to the Desert Wind Army.
Zhao San’er’s main collaborators were two routes of the Desert Wind Army’s smoke signals.
One was the Cyan Wolf Camp, and the other was the Red Tiger Camp!
Together, these two routes involved over fifteen hundred horse bandits, active for years around the trade routes leading from the West Plain to the Western Regions, occasionally teaming up with other smoke signal routes to raid various tribes.
According to information revealed by Zhao San’er, the Cyan Wolf Camp was highly likely the culprit behind the Wu Family caravan’s destruction.
And currently, this group of horse bandits was not near the Riverbank Market; they headed towards the Western Regions a few days ago.
As for their destination, Zhao San’er was completely unaware.
But over a hundred miles northwest of the Riverbank Market, at the Crescent Oasis, the Cyan Wolf Camp frequently resupplied.
And sold off looted goods!
Unlike the Riverbank Market, the Crescent Oasis not only covers a much larger area but is also extremely dangerous.
Because it not only hosts various robbers and horse bandits, but also harbors a multitude of fugitives, criminals, and convicts.
Among them are martial artists of considerable power.
Thus, looking for the Cyan Wolf Camp at the Crescent Oasis might yield unexpected results for Zhang Yuan.
On this point, Zhang Yuan believed Zhao San’er was indeed telling the truth.
However, his intent for Zhang Yuan to walk into a trap was also very clear.
To this, Zhang Yuan merely gave a faint smile, then completely ended his suffering.
Finally, this local snake was compelled to contribute several hundred points of Source Material!
Besides these bits of information, Zhang Yuan also dug out a wooden box containing over a hundred silver notes from under the bed in Zhao San’er’s room.
It was the wealth that the other meticulously accumulated over the years.
The total amounted to over a hundred thousand taels of silver!
Zhang Yuan highly admired his ability, not only was he skilled at saving, but he also lived like a pauper despite sitting on a fortune, strictly adhering to the principle of "wealth unopened."
Truly a talent.
But "resentfully regretting pressing gold threads every year," in the end became "a wedding dress for others," and now all this silver fell into Zhang Yuan’s hands, with not a penny to take to his grave.
Although tens of thousands of pieces of silver are hardly anything significant to the present Zhang Yuan,
the situation has a touch of black humor, perhaps more like a hellish joke.
After ensuring that all traces were cleared, Zhang Yuan quietly left.
He first returned to the tavern, fetched his mount, and found a nearby inn to stay the night.
Early the next morning, Zhang Yuan departed the Riverbank Market, heading northwest towards the Crescent Oasis.
As he left, he didn’t forget to send a Taliman to Mo Wei, who stayed behind.
Although the Crescent Oasis was only over a hundred miles away from the Riverbank Market, the route wasn’t straight and smooth, not only rugged and difficult but also required crossing a mountain pass.
It was only by afternoon that Zhang Yuan saw the vast oasis at the edge of the desert in the distance.
He didn’t charge forward directly but switched his vision to the Red-eyed Crow.
Surveying the Crescent Oasis from above.
Just as Zhao San’er described, the Crescent Oasis was immense, its area even surpassed West Plain City.
This oasis centered around a verdant green lake, surrounded by lush vegetation, scattered with earthen and stone houses, some with smoke rising, showing off a bustling atmosphere.
From the air, the entire oasis resembled a crescent moon extending into the boundless northwestern sand sea.
Magnificent and beautiful.
And around the oasis, numerous tents, cattle, and goat pens were scattered.
Zhang Yuan noticed that most people active within the oasis carried bows and knives, some riding horses, others camels, and near the oasis lake, there was an open-air market.
It was the most crowded spot!
Zhang Yuan roughly estimated the Crescent Oasis housed at least ten thousand people.
How many horse bandits and robbers were among them might only be known to the heavens!
Screech～
Just as Zhang Yuan carefully observed the Crescent Oasis, a sharp eagle’s cry suddenly reached his ears.
Or rather, the ears of the Red-eyed Crow.
The Red-eyed Crow immediately turned towards the sound and saw an eagle diving towards it from the distance.
The opponent approached aggressively, even baring its claws.
Clearly, with ill intent!
Looking for death!!
A harsh glint flashed in the scarlet eyes of the Red-eyed Crow, advancing without hesitation.
In terms of size, the suddenly appearing eagle was larger than the Red-eyed Crow, assuming an oppressor’s stance.
But this fellow would never have thought of what kind of strength a Level 5 Red-eyed Crow possessed.
The distance between them quickly shortened, and just moments before they collided, the Red-eyed Crow abruptly twisted its body, swiftly darting to the right, its talons sharper than a dagger slicing through the eagle’s neck like lightning.
Slash!
Feathers flew, and blood splattered as the eagle, its neck nearly severed, instantly lost its momentum.
It plummeted to the ground!
Its misfortune was in overestimating its strength and underestimating the Red-eyed Crow’s capabilities.
Although combat was not the Red-eyed Crow’s forte, once engaged in battle, with its aerial advantage and innate abilities, even second or third-tier martial artists couldn’t match it.
However, for safety, Zhang Yuan rarely let the Red-eyed Crow engage in life-and-death battles.
But when faced with a mere eagle, there was no reason to retreat.
Screech～
The next moment, another eagle’s cry echoed from afar.
Two eagles emerged from the edge of the oasis, soaring into the sky, quickly closing in on the Red-eyed Crow.
Witnessing this scene, Zhang Yuan’s eyes flashed.
He let the Red-eyed Crow immediately soar higher.
