Zhang Yangping had years of experience hunting in the mountains.
Despite ordering his people to bind up the game, he didn’t let down his guard. Because, he knew very clearly, the larger the prey, the stronger the scent of blood it gave off, and the easier it was to attract huge beasts.
"Oh no, oh no… the Blue Fire Wolf is here!"
Zhang Yangping didn’t even have time to give out orders to the surrounding hunting squad members before the figure cried out in a tender voice, running as he shouted.
"Blue Fire Wolf?!"
"What?! The Blue Fire Wolf is here!"
Once the members of the Northern Mountain Village heard the news, horror instantly appeared on their faces.
On the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain roamed a lone wolf, its name was Blue Fire, this was something everyone within miles of the mountain knew.
"Run!"
Almost without any hesitation, Zhang Yangping passed down the wisest possible order to the hunting squad.
Nobody was willing to provoke the Blue Fire Wolf. This beast wasn’t even supposed to appear at the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain. Even though it was a lone wolf, which was much easier to defeat compared to the entire Blue Fire Wolf pack...
It was still truly a fearsome monster, and easily broke away from the category of beasts.
Not mentioning these common villagers, even the great people who accessed Dao would have difficulty dealing with it.
"Deputy… deputy captain, where should we run towards?" A member of the hunting squad was so anxious that stuttered uncontrollably.
"Follow that child, the direction he came from is definitely where the Blue Fire Wolf appeared!" Zhang Yangping looked at Fang Zhengzhi sprinting madly from afar, biting his teeth as he gave the order.
"Quick, run!" The entire hunting squad immediately sprang into action.
Leaving the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog on the ground, they ran towards Fang Zhengzhi at lightning speed.
…
As he felt the sound of footsteps closing in behind him, Fang Zhengzhi’s mouth once again curved into a smile. His footsteps slowed down on purpose, trying his best to act out the role of a panicking seven year old child running around like a headless chicken.
Closer, closer…
As he saw his destination approaching, Fang Zhengzhi hesitated no further, with a dive and a roll, he shot into the vegetation.
"Eh? That kid is missing!"
"Don’t care about the kid, hurry up and run!"
"Wait a minute! Do you feel something is wrong? If there really was a Blue Fire Wolf, due to its smell, the surrounding animals should have reacted as well. But as we ran here, the animals only ran for a short while, without the intent of leaving." Zhang Yangping was extremely meticulous, as he ran the entire way here, he never stopped paying attention to his surroundings.
It can be said that the increasing prosperity of the Northern Mountain Village these few years were very closely related to Zhang Yangping.
"Aiya!"
Right at this moment, a cry sounded out. In addition to Zhang Yangping’s words, the panicking hunting squad members instantly woke up with a start.
"What happened?" The members of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad weren’t able to completely come to their senses.
"This is bad! We fell into a trap! This place… has a different feel to it compared to before…" Zhang Yangping quickly realised something amiss.
He was well-versed with the entire Cang Ling Mountain. He knew the Cang Ling Mountain terrain as well as he knew his own children. Every stone, and even every tree, he could remember clearly.
"Where’s the kid?"
"Where did he run to!"
"First find the kid, then… Aiya!"
A few hunting squad members only managed to run a few steps ahead before a voice cried out.
"Everyone stay still!" Zhang Yangping’s expression was ugly, but he quickly managed to calm down. Different kinds of dangers were frequent on the Cang Ling Mountain, as the deputy captain of the hunting squad, he had to ensure that no mistakes were made.
When the hunting squad heard his orders, they instantly stood still, not daring to move about randomly.
"Deputy captain, this place is filled with traps!"
"Who dug these?!"
"Saving people is the priority… Aiya!"
A member of the hunting squad who wanted to rescue those who fell into the trap immediately stepped on an empty space, his entire body falling through.
"What are you doing?! I already said, everyone stay still!" Zhang Yangping finally showed his temper. He had already realised the severity of the situation. It seemed that they had entered an area that was filled with pitfalls.
Any single movement could land them into a pitfall.
Nobody dared to continue moving. Because, the three members of the squad who fell into the pitfall physically confirmed to them, the holes around the area were so plentiful and concentrated that just by walking a few steps could land them into one.
What to do? Who in the world did this? Could it be that kid? That isn’t possible… that kid looked like he was only six or seven years old!
Zhang Yangping pondered intensely.
Walk back the same path we came from? Not only might we not make it back, if we did this, what about the three trapped members? Leave them behind? That’s impossible!
Try and rescue them?
More of our members might fall into the traps.
Zhang Yangping’s forehead beaded with sweat. Gripping the long blade on his hand tightly, his gaze swept across the land, carefully observing his surroundings…
Very quickly, he realised something strange.
His surroundings all seemed very strange and unfamiliar, his vision simply couldn’t extend into the distance, as if he entered an entirely new space. All the familiar signs he could identify with seemed to be completely gone. He was simply unable to determine his bearings.
"Rocks!"
Zhang Yangping finally realised the crux of the problem. Within the area they were confined in were numerous seemingly randomly placed rocks, yet coincidentally, these rocks blocked their line of sight.
Their entire field of vision seemed to have been cut off from outside the area.
What is happening here?
"Umm… can I discuss a small matter with everyone?"
Just when Zhang Yangping was still try hard to understand the situation, a voice called out from afar. Then, a child around seven years of age slowly walked out from behind a huge stone.
"It’s the kid!"
"Deputy captain, we finally found the kid!"
"Stay still!" Zhang Yangping immediately ordered, a cold gaze in his eyes. Then, he turned his head over to look at Fang Zhengzhi, "Kid, you… know that there are pitfalls here?"
"Definitely." Fang Zhengzhi was very honest.
"Then can you bring us out?" Zhang Yangping asked again.
"Of course I can!" Fang Zhengzhi didn’t hesitate in replying.
"Thank you so much." Zhang Yangping immediately expressed his thanks. He felt as if he saw the light at the end of a tunnel.
"Mm… no problem, but, if you must thank me, then there is really something I must discuss with you." Fang Zhengzhi placed his hands behind him, looking at Zhang Yangping with an innocent look.
"What do you want to discuss?’ Zhang Yangping tried to force himself to stay calm.
"First, I wish to… conduct a robbery!" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the prey hanging off Zhang Yangping, licked his lips and lightly rubbed his hands together.