Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

After shaking off his pursuers, Gou An carefully concealed himself and hurried towards the cave where he had previously hidden in his storage bag.

He wanted to take out the pills from his storage bag and study their effects in detail so that he could continue to improve his strength.

But as he approached the cave, his relaxed mind suddenly tensed up!

There are still people!

So he immediately slowed his pace and, using the cover of the woods, quietly moved toward the cave.

Finally, he hid behind a bush, concealed his presence, and peered through the gaps in the branches and leaves at the location of the cave where he was hiding.

Meanwhile, near the cave.

Three humans appeared, dressed as hunters, unlike the powerful cultivators they had encountered before.

The three hunters were accompanied by a white dog with a keen sense of smell, which was sniffing around and searching the surroundings.

Their footsteps drew ever closer to the cave, the distance between them growing ever smaller.

"Brother, these disciples from the major sects are really ruthless. They didn't leave us anything of value."

One of the hunters, looking impatient, muttered a complaint.

Upon hearing this, the lead hunter gave a wry smile: "Be content! We're already incredibly lucky to have some scraps left for us to scavenge."

"That's true!" another hunter, carrying a bamboo basket stuffed with various herbs and medicinal plants, chimed in.

"In the past, the further we went into these mountains, the more dangerous it became, and we dared not come in casually."

"Now that the disciples of the major sects have come and cleared out the area, it's actually much quieter and safer now."

These three were clearly there specifically to try and snag a bargain.

Disciples from major sects came to Qingshan for training, slaughtering demonic beasts and sweeping through the forests. The high-level demonic beasts deep in the mountains were all frightened and fled to more secluded and dangerous places to avoid disaster.

The remaining low-level demonic beasts on the outskirts were either brutally killed and seriously injured, or terrified and hiding in their lairs, too afraid to show their faces.

The once perilous mountain outskirts suddenly became much less dangerous, providing these people with the perfect opportunity to snag some bargains.

Gou An could sense that these three hunters were not ordinary mortals.

There was a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy around them. Although they were not as powerful as the cultivators of the major sects, they still possessed some cultivation and skills.

Just as the three were chatting, the white dog that had been sniffing around with its head down suddenly stopped in front of the cave where Gou An had hidden his storage bag.

Its nose twitched incessantly, and then it let out two roars at the vine-covered hole.

Noticing the hounds' unusual movement, the three hunters immediately stopped talking, halted in their tracks, and fixed their gazes firmly on what lay ahead.

The entrance to the cave was completely hidden by thick layers of thorny vines, with intertwined branches and leaves, making it extremely well concealed.

Unless deliberately investigated, ordinary people would not be able to detect it, but in the end, it could not escape the keen sense of smell of the hunting dogs.

"Damn it!"

Gou An, who was behind the earthen slope, felt a sudden sinking feeling in his heart, realizing that something terrible was about to happen.

Sure enough, a hunter stepped forward the next second, reached out and pushed aside the layers of tangled vines, instantly revealing the hidden cave entrance to everyone.

"Hey! There's a cave hidden here!"

"Shall we go in and take a look?"

Seeing that the three were about to enter the cave, Gou An was extremely anxious and instinctively wanted to rush out to stop them.

But as soon as he moved, he froze on the spot, forcibly suppressing his impulse.

If he rashly shows himself to confront three opponents, he will most likely meet a terrible end and only lose his life in vain.

Gou An suppressed his restlessness and continued to hide in the bushes, secretly praying that the others would be careless and not discover the storage bag he had hidden in the cave.

But things rarely go as a dog wishes.

After a brief discussion, one of the three stayed at the cave entrance to keep watch, while the other two, leading the white dog, bent down and crawled into the cave.

In a short while, two figures quickly walked out of the cave, each holding Gou Anzang's storage bag.

"Big brother! We've found something good! It's a storage bag!"

"Look at the quality of this; it's definitely not ordinary. It even has the mark of the Heavenly Star Sect on it. It must belong to a disciple of that sect!"

"It really is something from the Heavenly Star Sect! How could it be hidden in this cave?"

"Whatever, if we find it, it's ours."

The lead hunter quickly stepped forward, took the storage bag, opened it, reached in, and pulled out several sealed jade bottles of pills.

As they poured out the plump, round pills from the bottle, the three of them instantly beamed with joy, their eyes brimming with excitement.

"These are all top-grade pills! They're all genuinely good stuff!"

"This trip into the mountains was definitely worthwhile!"

The lead hunter put all the pills back into his storage bag, tightened the opening, and said in a deep voice, "Let's go back to camp first. We need to take stock of these good things and study them carefully when we get back."

As soon as they finished speaking, the three of them, carrying the hunting dogs and storage bags, turned around and quickly left in the direction of the outer edge of the forest.

Gou An, hiding in the shadows, felt his anger surge and his frustration rise to the extreme.

Rush in and grab it?

Lacking sufficient strength and the means to engage in direct combat, it is tantamount to courting death.

Are you just going to watch helplessly as your precious opportunity is taken away?

He was unwilling to give up easily.

After weighing the pros and cons several times, Gou An decided to secretly follow and wait for an opportunity to act.

After succeeding, the three moved swiftly, heading straight towards the outer edge of the mountains, eventually arriving at a temporary campsite in the forest.

As darkness fell, torches were already burning brightly around the camp, their flickering flames illuminating the entire area.

The camp was bustling with people, and guards were stationed all around, making it heavily guarded.

Clearly, this group of hunters was not just the three people from before, but a sizable hunting team specializing in hunting monsters.

This makes the situation even more serious!

Gou An remained hidden in the shadows, quietly watching the three enter the camp, and quickly racked his brains for a solution.

Just as he was deep in thought, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he abruptly stopped.

At this moment, a thin, blond figure stood out conspicuously in the camp.

That's cheating!

The shameless dog who had been kicked away by him during the day and was now desperately trying to curry favor with him was now wagging its tail and circling around the two hunters, begging for their favor with a fawning and humble demeanor.

The hunters in the camp were amused by its comical appearance and tossed it a piece of freshly roasted meat.

Instead of immediately pouncing on the food, Lai Pi wagged its tail and rubbed against everyone's trouser legs even more eagerly.

After trying his best to please her, he picked up the roasted meat, obediently stepped aside, and ate it with small bites, looking extremely docile.

Gou An saw this and secretly sighed inwardly.

This guy is truly a genius among dogs!

Unable to curry favor with its own dog, it turned around and clung to the leg of a human.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Gou An's mind.

If an ugly dog ​​like Laipi can sneak into the camp by pleasing the hunters, then I can too!

Although the process may be a bit frustrating, in order to get my treasure back, I have no choice but to put up with it for now.