After a long silence, Manna finally spoke. "So, the idea is to map out which Guizu-transformed creatures drop which Guizu relics?"
Now it was Wu Youren's turn to fall silent. *An undertaking of that scale? You really think too highly of me!*
Yet on second thought, her words weren't entirely wrong, so he gave a slight nod. "A task that massive is far beyond me. I'm just gathering a little information on a small scale."
It was an indirect admission, but both Rossi and Manna drew in a sharp breath nonetheless.
A few seconds later, Manna said, "Fine. Pretend I never asked, and don't bring this up to anyone else."
Wu Youren looked puzzled. "Why?"
He truly doubted Hong Da meant him any harm. If she actually harbored ill intent, why go through so much trouble?
Manna didn't answer. Instead, Rossi spoke up in an easy, deliberate tone. "Ability masters have been around for more than eight hundred years.
"You don't honestly think... no one ever thought of compiling that kind of data before?"
*Understood!* Wu Youren caught on instantly. Some force or organization was actively suppressing it.
That lined up with what those two dead ghosts from the Teli Tribe had said—someone specific truly controlled Guizu relics!
Even so, he deliberately paused for several seconds before asking with feigned ignorance, "But isn't that a good thing?"
"Heh." Rossi shook his head with mild disdain. "You're still too young!"
Wu Youren pondered for another couple of seconds before letting out a soft sigh. "All right, then. Like I said before, let's pass on it this time."
"That's not the point," Manna countered unexpectedly. "Since Hong Da said so, there's no harm in giving it a try."
She didn't believe the boy would dare lie about something like this.
A moment later, Rossi chuckled softly. "For every policy from above, there's a workaround from below. Isn't that how the world works?"
It was clear that while someone was maintaining information barriers, plenty of people were more than happy to skirt the edges.
No matter the world, things were never purely black and white; some gray zones were quite extensive.
"Then we need to plan this carefully," Manna stated. "To be honest, I'm pretty short on money myself!"
The three conferred for a while, still feeling that taking action right nearby carried far too much unpredictable risk.
Yet warriors were warriors after all, and Great Liang's warriors in particular possessed an extraordinary streak of recklessness.
In the end, the two knights declared that if the sand owl hadn't left by daybreak, they would kill it!
Flying creatures were indeed tricky to strike down, but a sand owl wasn't particularly fast in the air.
Its hunting prowess relied primarily on sharp night vision and keen hearing, coupled with silent flight.
As for the possibility of provoking an abnormal reaction from the Guizu aura cluster... that risk was real.
Then again, what was their primary mission here?
It was to investigate what kind of abnormal activity had developed in the Guizu domain!
Did anyone truly believe the authorities had opened Mount Xuanling's Guizu domain to various factions just so people could farm Guizu relics?
Scraping up benefits on the side was fine, but real work still had to be done!
Otherwise, why would a powerhouse like Instructor Xia'erzi get trapped inside the domain? He had certainly done something bold.
Before now, the three of them had avoided reckless gambles simply because they hadn't encountered anything worth the risk.
Next came figuring out how to coordinate their efforts.
All of this was discussed in low whispers.
As for the possibility that the sand owl might fly off before dawn?
If it flew away, so be it. They were merely running through a tactical plan. Unable to sleep anyway, they had nothing better to do.
And if it did leave, they could catch a brief combat nap, which wasn't a loss either.
Amid these hushed exchanges, the sky gradually began to pale.
"That dumb bird still hasn't left," Rossi said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "We doing this?"
"I roughly sensed a path," Wu Youren said, tracing lines on the ground with his finger. "...Running this way should be safer."
Manna nodded repeatedly at first, then cast him a suspicious glance. "How did you sense that?"
"Intuition," Wu Youren answered without hesitation.
It was the explanation he had prepared long ago. Remarkably, she had waited until now to ask, which showed how much respect—and wariness—she had for Instructor Hong.
"Hong Da made a point of bringing me along precisely because she values my intuition."
Upon hearing this, Manna actually offered a faint smile. "If my master hadn't told me, I might have actually believed you!"
"Hong Da is your master?" Wu Youren was somewhat surprised. "I never heard you mention that before."
Such gossip wasn't particularly important, but it helped pass the grueling wait for daybreak.
As the agonizing minutes crept by, the sky finally grew light.
During that time, the sand owl had flown off twice, only to circle around and return both times.
It was truly impossible to tell what it had locked its sights on.
Suddenly, it flapped its wings a couple of times, as if stretching or growing restless.
At this hour, a sand owl would normally be heading back to its nest.
The three had originally hoped to wait until daylight was stronger, as sunlight suppressed Guizu aura more effectively.
Seeing this movement, even the cautious Manna could wait no longer. "Strike?"
"Go!" Without a second thought, Rossi shot out like an arrow off a bowstring.
He had prepared for this moment for a long time, moving with blistering speed.
A horse-chopper saber... no, a greatsword was gripped in his hands.
While still airborne, he slashed forward with incredible ferocity.
An arc of sword qi detached from the blade and shot out through the air.
At that exact instant, Wu Youren slipped out of the burrow without making a sound.
Snapping his wrist in quick succession, he hurled two small black spheres in different directions—a pair of ghost-destroying mines!
He didn't dare throw them toward the Guizu aura pillar. Instead, he angled them slightly away, positioning them to screen their planned escape route.
The sand owl had relaxed somewhat while stretching its wings, so by the time it noticed the ambush, it was already too late.
It was less than thirty meters away, after all. At a knight's explosive burst of speed, that distance was crossed in the blink of an eye.
The owl flapped its wings frantically, its talons shoving off the branch and setting the massive bough violently trembling.
By the time the pale sword qi struck, it had managed to get airborne—but barely.
A different species of bird might have banked sharply to the side and perhaps dodged the blow.
However, a sand owl was neither fast nor nimble in flight, especially when just taking off.
With a single slash, more than half of its wing, along with half its neck and chest, was severed.
"Damn, a bone sand owl..." Rossi muttered under his breath. The strike hadn't cut it completely in two.
No matter. Flipping his blade around, he delivered another slash that completely lopped off the owl's head.
The residual force of the sword qi cleaved through several branches and sheared clean through an enormous tree as thick as a man's embrace.
"Son of a..." Rossi grimaced. Bad news—he had made far too much noise.
Branches came crashing down with loud rustling thuds, followed by the groaning crack of the trunk collapsing to the ground.
Amid the chaotic racket, an aborted shriek tore harshly through the air.
It was the sand owl's dying scream, cut off after only half a breath.
The Guizu domain was never peaceful at night, yet the din usually subsided around dawn.
At this moment, the commotion carried across a great distance.
To make matters worse, a soft cry of "Ouch!" slipped into the chaotic noise, coming from Manna.
Fortunately, two dull booms followed immediately after as the ghost-destroying mines detonated!
Not only was the explosion much louder, but its suppressive effect on Guizu aura was profoundly noticeable.
The twin thuds drowned out all other sounds—and drew all the aggro!
Two kilometers away, someone gasped, "Holy crap, which outfit is that? Talk about fierce!"
"Ghost-destroying mines! Dammit, using those right next to a Guizu aura cluster? Ignorance really is bliss."
"We can't stay here. Since those guys are that tough, should we trail them from a distance? Just in case they come out fine?"
"Yeah, maybe we can trade supplies. They're just a bunch of greenhorns anyway, not even knowing the taboos of Mount Xuanling..."
"If you want to rob them, just say so. What's this nonsense about trading supplies? Boss, what do you think?"
"I think with my eyes... Anyone bold enough to throw ghost-destroying mines deserves a proper conversation first, if possible."
At the same time, Rossi was waiting with bated breath.
After slaying a Guizu entity, waiting for a relic to drop always took a brief moment.
Yet even that short wait felt like an eternity, and the bone sand owl possessed tenacious vitality.
He hacked several more times into the fallen carcass, then drove his sword down hard to split its severed head.
Ignoring the surging Guizu aura, he glanced over at Manna nearby. "What happened to you just now?"
"My leg went numb," the female knight replied, her face crumpled in misery. "The cave was too cramped."
"..." Rossi felt an urge to curse. A full-fledged knight getting a numb leg?
On second thought, it made sense. Squeezing two men and a woman into such a tiny hole left virtually no room to stretch out.
He had been continually flexing his limbs to ensure he could resolve the fight in a single blow, and the youth had also rubbed his wrists and ankles beforehand.
"Wait, what is Little Wu doing?"
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Ding! Ding! Ding! Clatter-clank-bang-bang!* A rapid cascade of noise rang out.
"Again?!" Rossi grimaced.
"What on earth is that?" Manna frowned. "What's he doing?"
"Disrupting the Guizu aura," Rossi replied through gritted teeth, sword held across his chest. "He thinks souls might be some kind of wave."
Manna's brows shot up. Suddenly, the grating racket sounded music to her ears. "Does it work?"
"More or less... it does something," Rossi answered hesitantly.
He didn't want to heap too much praise on the youth, harboring a few private designs on Manna himself. "Are you recording?"
"I'm recording," Manna said. That was her assigned task, as she was the only one carrying the equipment.
It was precisely because of this duty that the two were able to remain composed despite the unfolding mess.
They had to record the variations after the Guizu aura was disturbed, and the messier things got, the calmer they had to be.
Fortunately, the chaotic racket genuinely seemed to exert a slight dampening effect.
The positions where the two ghost-destroying mines had detonated were also effectively holding back the surging Guizu aura.
Amid the chaotic clamor, a faint, clear chime rang out:
*Ding~*
Chapter 125