They kept quiet. The Black Rabbit watched them for a while before turning around. It ignored them and began to eat.
"You two, remove your boots. We need to be careful and reduce our noises." Yang Zhai removed his boots¹ and ordered the other two as well. He wanted to be careful as much as possible.
"I will try to get close to it from here. On the other hand, you two should spread and come at it from the other two directions. One of you goes to the left and the other to the right side. And huh, you need to cover the front as well." Yang Zhai turned his head behind to look at the two and said.
As his eyes were losing sight and it was becoming difficult for him to see clearly every day, he did not want to take the risk of moving around in the jungle² too much and alerting the rabbit.
The other two nodded and slowly began to step back after removing their boots. After they were a little away from the Black Rabbit and Yang Zhai, they spread in two directions, left and right.
Yang Zhai on the other hand slowly and quietly began to move toward the Black Rabbit. He was walking so slowly that he only crossed two meters in half a minute. He was a cautious person, he would rather delay a matter and be patient than fail miserably.
Yang Zhai moved his right hand forward and summoned a black shadow in front of him. This was a rank 1 technique known as the Silent Shadow. This technique was considered one of the top techniques in Rank 1 techniques.
This technique had the ability to approach a target so silently that if Yang Zhai did not see it with his own eyes, he would not even know if his technique was activated successfully or not.
The Silent Shadow moved toward the Back Rabbit silently. Its speed was not fast nor slow. It silently approached the Black Rabbit and struck it.
When the Silent Shadow struck the Black Rabbit, the Silent Shadow disappeared. And a black aura began to drop like liquid on the ground. This aura was being exited from the Black Rabbit's body and after that, it was being turned into a black liquid that dropped to the ground.
On the other hand, the Back Rabbit felt discomfort but did not notice that the Silent Shadow had stuck it. It looked behind it and saw that an aura was emitting from its body. However, it did not care because the Black Rabbit did not feel anything wrong with it.
This technique was a method Yang Zhai had discovered in his previous life. This technique was used as a tracking method. The Silent Shadow that struck the Black Rabbit was being turned into a black liquid that dropped to the ground. And wherever the Black Rabbit runs, this liquid would drop on its tracks. And this liquid could be used as a tracking method. Thus, it was only useful for beasts.
However, this technique has a limit as well. After five minutes or so, all of the aura would disappear and there would be no more liquid. But, this time limit was more than enough in a battle.
But, the price for using this technique was not small as well. All of Yang Zhai's half-right arm had black dots, marks, and lines on it. This meant that this technique had too much of a toll on him. Especially when Yang Zhai had deliberately tried to increase the time limit to five minutes. The toll wouldn't be much if he had set the limit at two minutes or so.
But Yang Zhai was a cautious person, he would rather be more cautious than taking a chance. Thus, he had stored the power in the Silent Shadow to last for five minutes.
He was not a fool to be so confident to think that they would succeed no matter what. There was a chance that the Black Rabbit might run away. After all, in real life, no pride could help a man.
The other two also appeared from the right and left. They were now in a triangle formation.
All of them were hiding behind the trees and were only a dozen meters away from the Black Rabbit.
A Rank 1 technique's and a method's limit was only 10 to 20 meters. Meaning, that a Rank 1 cultivator's attack was only able to reach the 10 to 20 meters distance target.
Even the Silent Shadow technique that Yang Zhai used now was from a distance of 14 meters. And the range that the Silent Shadow could achieve was 18 meters.
Thus, to attack this Black Rabbit, Chin Mae and the other boy had to appear within the range of 10 to 13 meters because their techniques were not as top-notch as Yang Zhai's. On the other hand, Yang Zhai could attack from a maximum of 23 meters.
Yang Zhai attacked with the red poison technique when he was close enough to the Black Rabbit. This Red Poison was a top-notch Rank 1 technique as well.
However, Chin Mae's foot stomped on a twig³ and broke it, making a sound that alerted the Black Rabbit.
Black Rabbit was alarmed and began to run.
Because it took off exactly at the moment the poison was about to attack it, it was only touched by the poison on its back a little by the Red Poison. Except for that, it was completely safe, and ran away.
And of course, this technique also left a toll on his body.
"Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose. I was just trying to get closer to it and did not see the branch on the ground. I am deeply sorry." After the Black Rabbit ran away from the place, Chin Mae knew that it was his mistake and began to ask for forgiveness. His expression was sad, he knew that it was his mistake that they missed the opportunity.
"Yes, brother Chin, it was your mistake. Brother Yang's attack had almost attacked it. And from seeing the severity of the attack on the ground, I am confident that it would have injured the Black Rabbit severely, but you ruined all of it. Now, we don't know if we will be able to find another one in the remaining time." The other boy, who was with them, said with irritation. He couldn't believe that they had missed the opportunity because of Chin Mae. They had almost passed the first round.
"What can I do? I already apologized, right? So, why are you coming at me?⁴ And anyway, nothing can be done now, we can just try to look for another one." Chin Mae refuted.
"Huh, is it that easy to find another one? And what if you do the same thing when we manage to find another one?" The boy refuted back.
"You…," Chin Mae was about to say something else when he was disturbed by Yang Zhai's voice.
"Stop, you two. Nothing can be done by fighting now. You are just wasting time. Follow me." Yang Zhai didn't fret over the matter. It would do no benefit to him.
He had experienced far worse mishaps than this and had always remained composed. If he began to worry about everything, then it would only make him impatient, and impatience would only lead to far worse situations. Not just that, even his mind would begin to think impatiently without giving much thought to anything.
Therefore, he would always remain calm, regardless of the situation he was in. What was done, it could not be returned by scolding someone.
Yang Zhai waited for a few seconds before starting to follow the Black Rabbit. He waited because he did not want the Black Rabbit to see that it was being followed. If it saw that it was being followed, then it would only keep on running.
*****/*****
1-Boots: A cave painting depicting a man and a woman in boots was found in Spain. Dated around 12,000 to 15,000 B.C.E, these are regarded as the earliest portrayal of boots known to man. A man and a woman wearing fur-lined boots made of animal skin. Images from funeral jars suggest that the people of Persia wore boots as far back as 7,000 BC. Boots were also found buried in the Egyptian tomb of Khnumhotep, who lived around the time of 2140 BC.
2-Jungle: Forest synonym
3-Twig: A small shoot or branch, usually without its leaves.
4-Coming at: To bombard or assail someone repeatedly or persistently, or to criticize strongly.