Chapter 521 (1/2)
The Robbers' Secret
Even though the forest in front was a dense one, it still differed from Fearsome Beast Forest.
There were many trees here but they were not huge ancient ones. There were few trees that exceeded a hundred years old. There also wasn’t much human activity here. At most, it was the occasional traders passing through the forest.
There were no beasts here, only some smaller wild animals were active in this area.
As the person rushed into the forest, he started searching for the perfect hiding spot. His running route became irregular and unpredictable, weaving around the forest.
With his vision blocked by the leaves, Shao Xuan couldn’t see the figure of the person he was pursuing. He could only rely on the sounds of wind passing through leaves and tree branches cracking.
Shao Xuan soon realised the intruder was definitely a master from the way they moved. He could step around the forest with minimal sound, it started to seem apparent that he was purposely making sounds to throw him off.
Shao Xuan tried to sense the intruder’s fire seed but as he pursued the fire seed seemed to disappear.
Odd.
Shao Xuan slowed down and slowly moved forward.
There were a few small animals hugging tree branches that looked at Shao Xuan curiously while cooing softly. Shao Xuan didn’t pay attention to them.
There was a slope in front of them. Shao Xuan couldn’t be sure of what he saw because of the dense leaves blocking his view but he guessed that there was a river from the sounds of flowing water.
Halfway down the slope, there was an animal skin shirt which was worn by the intruder. Even lower down the slope, there were a pair of pants and shoes.
Shao Xuan didn’t go down to check but stood at the edge of the slope and looked at his surroundings.
The trees were larger here. Maybe because fewer people passed through here, the trees were older than the others out front.
The trees weren’t very tall though, Shao Xuan could see most of the terrain as he stood with a straight back.
After scanning the ground level, Shao Xuan walked around some old trees, sometimes looking up to a random branch. At times, he stopped to listen to the surroundings to check if anyone was nearby. It was near silence in the forest other than Shao Xuan’s footsteps and the occasional bird cooing from a far place.
After circling around a few more times, Shao Xuan left.
With Shao Xuan gone, the area was quiet again save the few insignificant bird calls.
After some time, on a tree near the slope, there was a soft rustle.
Twenty meters of the ground, on a tree bark, right in the middle two branches, a pair of eyes were seen. The pupils sweep around the surroundings.
This person was Shao Xuan’s target!
After looking around, the person jumped down the tree and prepared to leave. After two steps, his gut told him that it was dangerous here.
Run!
His legs outstretched, he prepared for the second round of fleeing. Before he got to run, he heard a hum followed by something circling his leg. Branches and leaves that fell from trees gathered and connected together to form thick vines.
In a flash, his two ankles were tied so tightly together as if the vines were about to slice off his legs.
He wanted to grab his knife but there was no time for that because as he reached for his knife, the vines had restrained his legs preventing it from moving anymore.
Not far away, a set of footsteps was approaching in a controlled manner.
As he heard the footsteps, the restrained person could only sigh in defeat.
“Fine, I won’t run.” The person raised his hands and flashed a smile to the approaching Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan returned the smile and with one swift movement, a sharp blade rested next to the person’s neck.
“Don’t kill me! I don’t have any evil intentions. I was just curious. I heard that you destroyed the Wanshi tribe and wanted to look for myself.”
Shao Xuan didn’t waste his breath on him and said, “Come out.”
The person’s eyebrows raised but he didn’t say anything.
The forest was very quiet except for the few insect and bird sounds.