The day passed uneventfully as the villagers went on with their daily activities. The hunting group formed a group to gather fresh meat, the cooks dutifully prepared the food, while the craftsmen meticulously maintained the village tools and buildings.
Zhao Yunxiao's group watched silently from the shadows, patiently bidding their time. Hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the sky turned beautifully orange from the setting sun.
The hunting group returned and the villagers rejoiced at the captured game. Heads of households quickly gathered at the centre of the village, eagerly awaiting the distribution of meat. It was a long session with Village Chief Meng Qin carefully listening to each elder's pitch as he deliberated on the fairest method of distribution.
During this discussion, the orange sky gradually lost its brightness, causing the village to sink into darkness. Villagers had to rely mostly on the dim moonlight for the little illumination they needed to get around.
However, there were plenty of areas where the moonlight was blocked out by the surrounding trees and buildings, creating spots that were covered in complete darkness.
Zhao Yunxiao's group had long since mapped out such spots over the past few nights, but their focus was not on these areas at the moment.
Instead, their attention was on three individuals – the young village girls who had tracking marks on them.
Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying were watching one together, while Nie Hanchang and Zhao Yunxiao were watching one each. With their spiritual sense, it was not difficult for the Black Tortoise Sect disciples to watch them from a distance while remaining in the shadows.
And then it happened.
Zhao Yunxiao noticed immediately when a masked man sneaked into the village.
However, he chose to observe in silence instead of rushing into taking action.
That was because the masked man was clearly shrouded in essence energy that minimised his presence. In fact, if not for the fact that he had made preparations in advance, even Zhao Yunxiao might not have detected the masked man entering the village.
There was no doubt about it. This masked man was a cultivator!
Under the cover of the night and his concealing technique, the masked man made a beeline straight for the first young village girl who had a tracking mark on her.
His steps were light as a feather as he directly ran atop rooftops and leapt across the spaces between buildings, not allowing any obstacles to block his way.
The first young village girl had already turned in early for the night, and was sleeping soundly when the cultivator swooped in from the open window. With a wave of his hand, the young lady's consciousness slipped further, not even reacting when a straw sack was thrown over her to carry her away.
Swift and precise.
From the moment the masked cultivator entered the village, to him whisking away the young lady, barely five minutes had passed.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but marvel at just how smoothly the entire process went. It was either that this cultivator was extremely skilled and adaptable, or that this was practised precision resulting from having done this countless times in the past.
Either way, one thing was for certain – the tracking marks were indeed being used to identify the kidnapping targets!
[Silent Breath]
Zhao Yunxiao's figure started fading out, turning nigh invisible as he activated the concealing technique that he had obtained from the corpse of the frail-looking Origin Core realm Scarlet Leaf Sect member back at Blueflag Mountain.
This masked cultivator's concealing technique might be impressive, but his was not lacking in comparison either!
Just like that, Zhao Yunxiao waited in the shadows as he awaited the arrival of the masked cultivator. After all, he could sense that the masked cultivator was heading his way right now. Or perhaps to put it more accurately, he was headed towards the second young village girl whom Zhao Yunxiao was currently watching.
At the same time, Nie Hanchang could not help but feel alarmed.
He had been dutifully watching the first young village girl when a straw sack suddenly appeared out of nowhere to snatch her away.
It happened in a flash, and then she was gone. Even with his spiritual sense, he did not manage to catch what just happened!
Suppressing his frustrations, Nie Hanchang quickly retracted his spiritual sense, understanding that they must be dealing with another cultivator right now. Not just that, but it was a cultivator who was extremely adept at concealing himself, enough to render his spiritual sense useless.
In such a situation, the last thing he wanted to do was continue extending his spiritual sense. After all, just because he could not sense the other party, it did not mean that the reverse was true. If he continued extending his spiritual sense carelessly, it could be akin to broadcasting his presence to the opponent.
How pathetic!
Nie Hanchang silently cursed himself as he carefully made his way towards the second young village girl.
Zhao Yunxiao watched from the shadows as the masked cultivator leapt down from the rooftop with a straw sack on his back. The masked cultivator had covered himself from head to toe, and there was no way to make out his identity.
From the silhouette alone, there was no way to confirm whether it was Fu Liren. However, it remained a fact that the masked cultivator was not using any techniques that belonged to the Flying Swords Hall.
That said, there was one thing that he could ascertain from the energy fluctuations around the masked cultivator. This masked cultivator was at the Primary Origin Core realm – the exact same cultivation level that Fu Liren was supposed to be at!
Could it really be him?
Zhao Yunxiao could not be certain, but he definitely would not rule out any possibilities.
The second young village lady had similarly already turned in for the night. This was a common practice among the villagers due to the sheer cost of illumination. This made it just as easy for the masked cultivator to swoop in and throw her into the same straw sack.
Following which, the masked cultivator leapt onto the roof once again as he headed straight for his next target – the third young village girl who had been marked.
Down on the ground, Zhao Yunxiao immediately gave chase.
The third young village girl who had been marked was actually someone whom the group was acquainted with. It was none other than Ah Yan – the young village girl who had been tasked to lead them to their assigned lodging when they first arrived.
And unlike the previous two girls, Ah Yan was actually still awake at the moment.
Under the dim light of a small oil lamp, Ah Yan was actually trying her best to read a scroll that had been rolled out on the table before her. It was clear just how old the scroll was, with its fraying edges and looks of wear and tear all over.
Nevertheless, Ah Yan handled it with utmost care, as though she was afraid of damaging a rare treasure.
She had always been this way. Even though she was born into the rural Windsource Village, she had always longed to know more about the outside world.
And this thirst for knowledge was also the reason why the village chief always tried to assign her to deal with visitors. Not only did the village chief believe that she would be able to better connect with the visitors, but he also wanted to give her more opportunities to learn from them.
Tired from a long period of reading under dim light, Ah Yan looked up from the scroll to rest her eyes. At the same time, she fiddled with a bright chamomile flower in her hair that she had just received earlier today.
Fishing?
How ridiculous!
Despite scoffing in her heart, Ah Yan meticulously fixed the chamomile flower firmly in her hair, ensuring that the flower stalk would not dislodge.
Well, the flower did nothing wrong.
Just as she was admiring her new flower accessory in a bronze mirror, the dim light of the candle went out.
"Eh?" Ah Yan exclaimed in alarm – the final sound that she would make that night.
The masked cultivator swooped in from the open window and, with a wave of his hand, caused Ah Yan to fall unconscious. The next moment, she had been thrown into a new straw sack.
Someone's here!
The moment the candle went out, Lu Zhiying turned her attention towards Gu Qiansi, only to see the latter frowning in response.
Just like Nie Hanchang, Gu Qiansi was completely incapable of sensing the other party. With that, she naturally arrived at the exact same conclusion as Nie Hanchang – the opponent was a cultivator adept at concealment!
"Senior Martial Sister Gu!" Lu Zhiying nudged Gu Qiansi with an anxious whisper. "We need to do something now!"
"Yes... yes, we need to..." Gu Qiansi bit her bottom lip nervously. "But... I can't sense him!"
Ah Yan had just been taken under their watch, so of course she knew that they had to do something!
The question was... just what could they possibly do in such a situation?!
"You can't?" Lu Zhiying's eyes flashed with a light of determination. "In that case, let me see if this works!"
"What are y-?" Gu Qiansi widened her eyes in shock as she watched Lu Zhiying step right out of the concealing array that they were in.
Lu Zhiying did not bat an eye as she walked nonchalantly through the dim paths of the village. Her natural expression, coupled with her shabby attire, made it such that there was almost no reason to suspect that she was not from the village.
Zhao Yunxiao: "!!!"
Over the past two days, he had already shrouded the entire village in a subtle sensing array. Because of that, each and every movement in the village was being fed to his senses, including the fact that Lu Zhiying had left the concealing array.
And that was with the masked cultivator still in the direct vicinity!
But why?
He had clearly told everyone to remain within the concealing arrays. After all, the plan was not to nab the culprits here in the village, but to follow them back to their base to find out exactly what had happened to all the previous victims.
Lu Zhiying might act unpredictably at times, but it was not to the extent that she would directly defy clear instructions for no good reason. So, what exactly happened for her to do so all of a sudden?
Zhao Yunxiao's mind went into overdrive as he tried to decipher his junior martial sister's actions, all while chasing after the masked cultivator.
By now, Lu Zhiying had come into Zhao Yunxiao's view. Naturally, this also meant that the masked cultivator had caught sight of her.
Now carrying two straw sacks over his shoulders, the masked cultivator had leapt onto the rooftop and was just about to turn around when he suddenly stopped in his tracks upon noticing Lu Zhiying. After what seemed to be a moment of hesitation, he swooped down from the rooftop... directly towards Lu Zhiying.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Zhiying fell unconscious and was thrown into the same straw sack that Ah Yan was in.
Gu Qiansi: "!!!"
She could not help but be alarmed as she watched Lu Zhiying being kidnapped right before her very eyes!
But just as she was about to rush out of the concealing array, she felt a hand press down on her shoulder. She spun around in absolute shock, only calming down after coming face to face with Zhao Yunxiao.
Notably, it was a Zhao Yunxiao who had a smirk on his face.
"Let's go with her plan this time," Zhao Yunxiao whispered into her ear.
Gu Qiansi furrowed her brows.
Her plan?
Just what was her plan?
Would that plan happen to involve being kidnapped by a cultivator whose identity they could not determine, whose presence they could not track with their spiritual sense, and whose destination they were unaware of?
Wait... they could not track the masked cultivator's presence?
Did that mean...?
"I will leave marks along the way, so make sure to catch up with Senior Martial Brother Nie."
Gu Qiansi watched in surprise as Zhao Yunxiao completely faded away in an instant – both his figure and his presence.
So, this was how he had managed to enter the concealing array and step behind her without her noticing...
Even as Gu Qiansi was momentarily preoccupied by such thoughts, Zhao Yunxiao had already shot out of the concealing array to chase after the masked cultivator, who was in turn heading straight for the village entrance.
At the same time, he could not help but smile to himself as he thought about Lu Zhiying's plan.
As long as they remained within the village, he would be able to sense the masked cultivator despite the latter's impressive concealing technique, all thanks to the sensing array that he had set up earlier.
However, that would no longer work once they left the boundary of the Windsource Village.
Should that happen, their original plan of following the masked cultivator would indubitably be greatly impacted. That must be the reason why Lu Zhiying had decided to use herself as a tracking device.
Or more precisely, she was using her bamboo backpack as the tracking device.
Having reinforced her bamboo backpack with his essence energy over the years, it was considerably simple for Zhao Yunxiao to sense its presence even from a distance. This meant that the moment the masked cultivator grabbed Lu Zhiying, who was carrying the bamboo backpack, the group had essentially acquired a tracking mechanism to follow the masked cultivator's trail!
It was a clever plan, and especially so considering that she had come up with it on the spot. However, Zhao Yunxiao subconsciously let out a helpless sigh despite appreciating Lu Zhiying's quick-wittedness.
Silly girl.
Did she not think that her Senior Martial Brother Zhao would have already made other preparations for such a situation?
Nevertheless, he did not intend to let her efforts go to waste. She had even been willing to put herself in danger for this plan of hers, which clearly showed just how much she trusted in them. So, as far as possible, he would go along with it and let her believe that it was due to her that things worked out in the end.
This was the best way to encourage creativity and growth in a budding cultivator, especially in one as talented as Lu Zhiying!