From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

The forest is dense and the terrain is complex; one could easily slip and fall into a ravine. Furthermore, the mountains are teeming with wild beasts, even exotic creatures, and one might be attacked at any moment.

"You all light the fire and cook, rest properly, and do not wander around!"

Chen Shi gave a brief explanation and then went off to search.

But after searching for more than an hour, they found neither the person nor anything else.

If someone is attacked or carried away by a wild beast or strange animal, there should be some traces, right?

Chen Shi frowned slightly, vaguely sensing that this matter was not simple.

Back at the camp, to avoid causing panic, Chen Shi did not tell everyone the truth, only saying that the man had fallen off the cliff and that the body had been buried on the spot.

It was getting late, so we arranged for sentries to keep watch, and everyone went to sleep.

Chen Shi sat cross-legged, still trying to enter a state of tranquility instead of sleeping.

The night passed without anything happening.

The next morning, after everyone had eaten, the search continued as planned.

The nineteen people searched the vast forests for a whole day, but still found nothing.

"One less?"

When the headcount was taken at night, one more person was still missing.

Chen Shi frowned. Once might be a coincidence, but twice in a row, there was definitely something wrong with it!

After searching, Chen Shi found nothing, just like last night.

If it were some kind of powerful mythical beast, it would certainly have the ability to instantly kill or even abduct someone. But the question is, why would a mythical beast do that?

Beasts are still wild animals, and they are instinctively afraid of humans. With so many people like Chen Shi, ordinary beasts wouldn't dare approach. If it were a powerful beast, it would most likely attack directly rather than abducting them one by one.

If it's not a monster, then it's a human!

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Shi calmed the somewhat flustered crowd, and then, just like the previous night, they ate and set up camp to rest.

The night passed, and nothing happened.

"Each person takes one piece."

The next morning, before continuing the search, Chen Shi took out a stick of incense, broke it into small pieces, distributed them to everyone, and told them to keep it close to their bodies.

Although the crowd was puzzled, Chen Shi did not explain, and they dared not ask any further questions.

With two people missing, everyone was filled with anxiety, but they dared not disobey Chen Shi and could only be extra careful.

Another day passed, and when everyone returned after dark, unsurprisingly, another person was missing.

"What audacity!"

Chen Shi snorted coldly, his gaze icy.

The remaining seventeen people looked at each other, their eyes filled with fear. If things continued like this, who knew if it would be their turn tomorrow?

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this tonight."

Seeing everyone's worry, Chen Shi spoke up.

He ordered everyone to set up camp and rest. Chen Shi sat cross-legged on a blue stone, made hand seals, and silently chanted incantations.

"Got it."

A moment later, Chen Shi's eyes lit up, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

Using his tracking technique, he had already sensed the location of the incense stick! Finding that incense stick would naturally lead him to the missing person!

"Keep a good watch."

After giving everyone a brief instruction, Chen Shi immediately left and headed straight for the location of the incense stick.

Using the technique of levitation, the rugged mountains became as flat as if they were flat ground, and after a short while, they arrived at the edge of a dense forest.

It's right in the woods.

Chen Shi slowed his pace, concealing himself as he crept inside. He soon saw two men, and at their feet lay a corpse—Chen Shi's missing subordinate.

It turns out they were framed.

"They are not ordinary poachers."

Yongqiu Mountain is home to exotic beasts, which are extremely valuable, attracting many people to hunt and steal them. Poachers are after the exotic beasts; they would not kill people unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, killing one person might be a coincidence, but killing three in a row is definitely premeditated.

Why did they do that?

Or rather, what are the origins of these two people?

Chen Shi smiled slightly. They couldn't guess; he might as well just take action!

The next moment, he stopped hiding and pounced on them.

"Who goes there!"

Upon seeing Chen Shi suddenly appear, the two men were startled, and almost instinctively, their blood and qi instantly solidified.

A seventh-rank martial artist!

They were considered skilled, but Chen Shi didn't take them seriously at all.

Without any fancy moves or unnecessary words, he threw a punch straight at her.

The person being attacked instinctively raised their arm to defend themselves, but how could they possibly block it?

His expression changed drastically in an instant, accompanied by the cracking sound of tendons and bones breaking, and he was violently sent flying.

"Who exactly are you?!"

A seventh-rank martial artist couldn't even withstand a single punch from him. The remaining man was filled with shock and shouted loudly for answers.

Chen Shi didn't say anything, but reached out and grabbed. Seeing his companion's fate, the man didn't dare to take the hit head-on and hurriedly retreated to avoid it.

Tear!

With a soft sound, a piece of clothing was torn off, but fortunately, no one was injured.

"Damn it!"

He glanced at his motionless companion, cursed, and turned to run away.

Knowing they are no match for the enemy, why not run and wait to die?

Chen Shi watched the man's figure disappear quickly into the forest, a cold smile appearing on his lips. He then walked towards the man he had knocked down.

He was lying on the ground, already dead.

Although he was a seventh-rank martial artist with condensed blood energy, his strength was actually quite average. Even if Chen Shi hadn't used his full strength, he still couldn't have withstood Chen Shi's attack.

After searching the man, they found no identification or similar documents.

Chen Shi didn't care. He stood up and looked in the direction the other person had fled, then took out a stick of incense from his person.

Crush the strips of cloth that were just torn and sprinkle them on the surface, then light incense sticks. Perform hand seals and chant incantations to cast a tracking spell.

The wisps of smoke rose straight up, then suddenly turned, pointing directly in the direction where the person had just fled.

"Let's see where you come from."

Chen Shi snorted and chased after the direction indicated by the green smoke.

Chen Shi moved swiftly and nimbly, and a quarter of an hour later, he traversed mountains and ridges and arrived in front of a valley.

According to Qingyan's instructions, that person escaped into this valley.

"It's inside."

Chen Shi looked around, then used his Aerial Crossing technique again to leap onto the cliff on one side of the valley.

Looking down from the top of the cliff.

Firelight illuminated the depths of the valley. Upon closer inspection, a group of people were seen huddled around a campfire, eating and setting up camp.

Sure enough, there were more than just a few people. Chen Shi glanced around and estimated there were at least forty or fifty.

But these people were not wearing any insignia or logos, and there were no flags or emblems around them.

"That's right!"

Just as Chen Shi frowned, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Feng Ji!

What's Feng Ji doing here?

Slightly distracted, Chen Shi suddenly realized what was happening.

Yes, the Emperor needs the essence of the Qilin to refine medicine. Since the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion knows that a Qilin has appeared in Yongqiu, how could the Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion not know?

Feng Ji's sudden appearance with his men at Yongqiu Mountain was very likely also a search for that young Qilin.

Could the young Qilin really be on Yongqiu Mountain?

However, Chen Shi did not care about this.

"The Marquis of Dingyuan's Residence!"

Looking at Feng Ji's figure, his face was extremely gloomy.

Since the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion is making things difficult for him, then don't blame him for retaliating in kind!