I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

The wind had stopped, and the surrounding leaves were still, except for it, which swayed gently twice.

Xu Mian did not turn around.

"About 30 meters to the right rear."

Cheng Fang continued walking forward.

"Can you be sure what it is?"

"cannot."

Xu Mian stared at the ever-changing shadows of the trees beneath her feet.

"It doesn't have a complete outline, but it's always been with us."

If it were a wild animal, it wouldn't always maintain the same distance.

If it's a person, their ability to hide becomes a problem.

Cheng Fang raised his hand and gestured for them to continue moving forward.

"Don't alarm them yet."

The group maintained their original formation and headed back towards the camp along the route they had come from.

No one looked back, and no one deliberately quickened their pace.

After walking for more than two hundred meters, a bend appeared ahead. Several fallen, dead trees lay across the roadside, blocking the view behind.

After the group turned the corner, Cheng Fang immediately raised his hand.

Tang Zhi and Xu Mian disappeared into the forest, one on the left and one on the right.

Cheng Fang then went around to the back of a rock.

Jiang Yue and Meng Chuan didn't stop and continued walking along the path. Qin Zhao and Lin Ye deliberately lagged behind by a dozen meters, as if one was checking his wound and the other was waiting for him.

The entire sequence of movements took less than ten seconds.

If the people behind don't follow closely, they won't see how they spread out.

Lin Ye squatted down and re-fastened the arm guards.

"Are you still there?"

Xu Mian's voice came through the communicator.

"exist."

"It paused for a moment, then came back."

Qin Zhao stood to the side, gun pointed downwards, his eyes fixed ahead.

Lin Ye whispered, "Doesn't he think there's a problem?"

"I felt I had to come and see."

Qin Zhao said, "Otherwise, we would have followed you for nothing."

Lin Ye thought it made sense.

They had just fought off a herd of wild boars and some members were injured, so it was normal for the group to make a short stop here.

As long as the other party wants to find out where they're going next, they can't stay too far away.

A few dozen seconds later, a very soft rustling sound came from the woods on the right.

Like clothes brushing against tree bark.

Lin Ye glanced over.

There was nothing between the two trees.

However, the trunk of one of the trees was noticeably darker in color than the one next to it.

That patch extended from the ground to over a meter high, with a texture almost identical to tree bark, except it lacked moss.

Xu Mian's shadow crept past silently.

Just as the shadow was about to touch the tree root, the piece of "bark" suddenly moved.

A figure darted out from beside the tree.

His clothes, originally the same color as the tree trunk, quickly turned grayish-green after he was separated from the tree, blending in with the surrounding shrubs.

"stop!"

Cheng Fang burst out from behind the rocks.

The man didn't turn around; he turned and ran to the right.

The shadow beneath Xu Mian's feet caught up first and wrapped around his ankle.

The man's body tilted to one side, and he flipped over, supporting himself with one hand on the ground.

A black cylinder slipped from the cuff.

"flash!"

Before Cheng Fang could even speak, a blinding white light exploded.

Lin Ye immediately lowered his head and closed his eyes.

A muffled thud followed immediately, and gray smoke spread out rapidly.

The smoke had a pungent smell.

Lin Ye pulled up his mask and took two steps back.

The sound of a short knife slicing through metal rang out from ahead.

Tang Zhi's silk threads had already entangled the man's left arm.

"Gotcha!"

She tightened her grip suddenly.

The figure in the smoke paused for a moment.

The next second, half of the sleeve was thrown out.

The man used a short knife to cut open his outer clothing and broke free from the cuffs.

"They ran down the slope!"

Although Xu Mian's shadow was momentarily disrupted by the flash of light, it quickly caught up with her again.

The man burst out of the smoke, his right hand gripping a non-reflective dagger, his left arm covered only by his close-fitting black undershirt.

Cheng Fang blocked their path from the side.

His right arm was covered in a bluish-black color as he punched the opponent's shoulder.

The man did not take the hit head-on.

He dodged the fist to the side, the short knife grazing Cheng Fang's arm guard, and used the force to step back two steps.

Tang Zhi flicked out the silk thread again.

As if he had seen it beforehand, the man stepped on a dead branch and forcibly twisted his body to the other side.

The thread brushed past his side, only catching on the buckle on his backpack.

Tang Zhi tightened her fingers.

The man pressed down with his hand.

Click.

The entire backpack detached from the shoulder strap and was pulled directly by the tassel.

He himself rushed forward down the slope.

Meng Chuan had already circled back from the other side of the path.

Upon seeing the man appear, he raised the transmitter.

boom!

A binding net bullet unfolds in mid-air.

The man ducked and rolled, his body brushing past the edge of the net, but his right leg was still entangled.

He didn't stop to untangle the net; he slashed downwards with his dagger, cut the rope, and continued rushing down the slope.

"Linye!"

Cheng Fang called out.

The distance between the two has been reduced to about five meters.

Lin Ye raised the Spirit-Shock Nail.

The spiritual energy within his body quickly flowed into the nail.

The first ring of patterns lights up.

boom!

The impact hit the man's lower back.

The man was thrown forward and fell heavily onto the tree roots.

Before anyone could get close, he pulled a thin steel cable from his waist, hooked it onto a tree trunk at the bottom of the slope, and flipped himself down.

The steel cable was extended rapidly.

He slid down the steep slope into the dense forest, and in the blink of an eye, only a blurry shadow remained.

Tang Zhi chased to the edge of the slope and was about to release the silk thread when Qin Zhao suddenly grabbed her.

"There are lines underfoot."

Beneath the fallen leaves, several extremely fine, transparent threads were hidden.

One of the strands had been deliberately torn off by the man who had escaped.

The other end of the line was connected to steel nails behind the trees on both sides.

As long as someone continues to chase, steel nails will pop out from both sides, hitting the chest and abdomen directly.

Tang Zhi stared at those few lines for two seconds.

"When did he put it on?"

"Follow us before."

Cheng Fang squatted down and took a look.

"This slope was the evacuation route he had chosen in advance."

Jiang Yue and Meng Chuan rushed back.

Meng Chuan glanced down the slope.

"Should we continue pursuing it?"

"Don't chase."

Cheng Fang stood up.

"He's familiar with the terrain, but he doesn't know if there are any more traps down there."

"Our men aren't seriously injured; there's no need to trade their lives for a prisoner."

Lin Ye put away the Spirit-Shocking Nail; his right arm had already begun to go numb.

Cheng Fang glanced at the monitor on his wrist.

"Disabled within 15 minutes".

"Know."

Xu Mian walked back from the other side.

Her eyes were red from the flashing light, and her face remained expressionless.

Tang Zhi handed over half of her sleeve.

"Are you alright?"

Xu Mian shook her head.

"no."

She looked down at the piece of fabric.

Even after the outer garment was removed from the man, its color continued to change slowly. It first changed from a dark brown like tree bark to a grayish-green, and finally settled on an inconspicuous dark gray.

Qin Zhao reached out and pinched it.

"The clothes have also been treated."

"It should amplify his stealth abilities."

Cheng Fang put the fabric into the evidence bag.

Tang Zhi then put the backpack she had torn off back on the ground.

"What about this one?"

"Scan first."

Jiang Yue took out the detector and scanned it from head to toe.

The backpack showed no spiritual energy and no explosive device was found.

He put on gloves and opened the outer layer.

There wasn't much inside.

Two smoke tubes, one of which has been used.

Spare steel cable.

A veterinary anesthetic needle containing a pale yellow liquid.

A few pieces of compressed food.

There is also a folded hand-drawn map.

Tang Zhi looked at the picture.

"He managed to leave the map behind while running for his life; he's quite generous."

"It wasn't dropped."

Qin Zhao flipped the backpack over.

The quick-release clips were not damaged; they were opened intentionally by someone.

This backpack was designed to be discarded at any time from the very beginning.

Jiang Yue did not rush to unfold the map. He first checked each layer of the bag to make sure there were no other traps before laying it on the stone.

The drawing is very simple.

Several mountain paths, a stream, and a dense forest clinging to the rock face.

One of the positions was circled in red pen.

It was less than three kilometers away from where they were now, without crossing the old firebreak, but not near the three animal bone sites that the advance team had already identified.

Meng Chuan glanced at it.

"Was it deliberately left for us?"

"Most likely."

Cheng Fang did not touch the map.

"He knew we had found animal bones, and he also knew we were investigating these animals."

"This red circle is clearly meant to direct us to pass through."

Tang Zhi squatted down beside her.

"Could we draw a fake location, and then plant a ring of mines around it after we crawl inside?"

Jiang Yue said, "That's possible."

"It's possible there really is something there, but there's a trap next to it."

A small metal buckle was also hanging on the outside of the backpack.

There is a shallow casting pattern on the back of the fastener.

After reading it, Cheng Fang's expression darkened slightly.

The seven locations had previously seized several batches of equipment belonging to the Candle Shadow Society, some of which had similar patterns on their storage buckles and climbing components.

However, we cannot draw a conclusion based on just this one item.

Since the other party deliberately left the backpack, it's also possible that they deliberately left clues about their identity.

"Take everything back with you."

Cheng Fang put away the map.

"It's not safe here. Let's go back to camp and check again."

Jiang Yue nodded.

No one lingered in the same spot.

On the return journey, Xu Mian walked at the back of the group.

Tang Zhi looked at her twice.

"Still feeling unwell?"

My eyes are a little sore.

"Go back and let the medical team take a look. Don't try to tough it out."

Xu Mian hummed in agreement.

Lin Ye, walking beside him, asked, "How did that person manage to hide their shadow?"

"It wasn't completely hidden."

Xu Mian looked down at her feet.

"When he is not moving, his shadow overlaps with the shadow of the tree."

"But as soon as you're about to exert your strength, the shadow will tighten first."

She paused for a moment.

That's how I knew he was going to run away.

Cheng Fang turned around and glanced at her.

"Record this in the report."

When dealing with stealthy ability users, these kinds of details are more useful than remembering what the other person looks like.

More than an hour later, the team returned to camp.

The main line of the relay vehicle has been repaired.

Jiang Yue carried the backpack and half-sleeve into the intelligence tent, while Cheng Fang reported the situation in its entirety.

The technicians quickly provided preliminary results.

The material and casting process of the metal buckle are highly similar to the equipment of the Candlelight Society that was seized in the past.

This only proves that the backpack and the Candle Shadow Society are related.

As for whether the stalker is a member of the Candle Shadow Society, more evidence is needed.

The location circled in red was also re-entered into the drone system.

When the first drone flew overhead, the canopy was too dense to see anything.

The second aircraft switched to a low-altitude route, bypassing the rock face from the side.

The moment the video feed returned, the tent fell silent.

Below the rock face is a clearing surrounded by trees.

Several grayish-white animal bones were nailed to the stone wall.

In the middle of the open space, a wild boar lay prone.

Three macaques were perched on a nearby branch.

Further away, a lynx lay down close to the rocks.

Several animals that should have been wary of each other were not fighting at this moment.

They were all facing the rock face.

Not moving at all.