Temporary Camp

This man had not been seriously injured, thanks in large part to the protective plates on his gaiters. Over the years, mortal realm visitors had been ambushed by turbellarians far more than once or twice, and they had long since developed a set of countermeasures. Their full suits of gear were specially crafted, with every accessory serving a clever purpose. They continued running toward the southwest. Fewer and fewer corpses littered the route, showing that the visitors from the mortal realm had already steered clear of the spearhead of the beast tide's advance. The direction indicated by the Tracking Bee compass diverged from the beast tide's path as well. After another half-day's trek, the wounded had scrambled back onto their feet to push on. Behind a massive boulder, He Lingchuan finally rendezvoused with the Chiyan squad. Only five living members remained of their squad, yet this small campsite held over twenty people. They came from various other teams, scattered by the beast tide, and had had no choice but to throw together a temporary camp here. Roughly a quarter of the competitors were injured to varying degrees. Though they were originally rivals, inside this camp everyone temporarily united in mutual aid. Hot water was already boiling; some were responsible for cooking food, some treated wounds, and some went out to gather cleansing beads. The environment of the Fu Realm was harsh, with accidents aplenty, so no one minded huddling together for the time being. The spot was upwind, and the smell of blood hung somewhat thick. Yet no one worried about Donao beasts being drawn over; the creatures despised the scent of mortal realm life. When He Lingchuan asked around, he learned that the various teams had been struck at different times: some yesterday, some twenty hours ago, while the Chiyan squad had been hit six hours ago. After an attack, experienced hunters would trail the beast tide, keeping a wide distance behind it. The odds of running into other unfortunates trailing behind were quite high, and the more stragglers they picked up, the safer they would be. That was how the people in this camp had gathered. In general, the beast tide moved from the north toward the southwest. The further southwest it went, the larger the tide swelled, as if an unknown power were herding the Donao beasts in that direction. In ordinary times, these Donao beasts were wealth to hunters—running chunks of floatstone. But once massed together, they formed a deluge of savage beasts, sweeping away everything before them, and nothing dared stand in their way. He Lingchuan and his group of four ducked into their own tent, drew supplies from their storage rings to replenish the veteran members, and then sat down to snatch whatever rest they could. In the Fu Realm, recovering one's strength was an art in itself; one had to seize every single moment. Without vegetation here, there was no firewood; boiling water and cooking food relied entirely on talismans. Fresh water on the flats was exceedingly scarce. There was a small lake near the camp, but its water had a greenish tint and was poisonous. Every necessity for survival for mortal creatures had to be brought by themselves. Even to buy a bit of drinking water or a few strips of dried meat in the camp required trading with floatstone. Floatstone was the hard currency here. He Lingchuan questioned many people, and all said a beast tide rampage like this was unprecedented, with the Donao beasts being extraordinarily irritable. It was worth noting that originally, the Donao beasts of the Fu Realm had borne no hostility toward humans and yaoguai, only curiosity. But after centuries of culling by Lingxu City, encountering mortal creatures was like meeting natural enemies. Most of the time they fled, yet once gathered in vast numbers, they would instead stampede to seek vengeance upon the hunters. A few hunters had also heard a strange sound coming from afar during the fighting—"kang, kang, kang"—resembling the striking of wooden clappers. Just then, several more outside hunters walked into the camp. Some were injured, while others bore purple stains on their clothes—Donao beast blood. One of them took out floatstone to buy cleansing beads from the camp. Hearing He Lingchuan asking for information, he chimed in, "Fourteen years ago, I witnessed a small beast tide of about two hundred beasts, nowhere near as terrifying as today's swarm. They must have been driven here." His voice was deep and rather hoarse. He Lingchuan noticed the elaborate, distinctive mask the man wore. "You're with the Ke family?" The man chuckled. "For this year's Grass Sea Hunt, I'm just risking my neck for the Ke family, that's all." "You've taken part in the Grass Sea Hunt many times?" "Yeah. Others put up the money, I put up my life, earning a bit of hard money." He cupped his fists toward He Lingchuan. "Hu Bin, hired hunter." "He." He Lingchuan didn't give his full name, only glancing behind Hu Bin. "How come you're all alone?" The Grass Sea Hunt had a long history and its own established traditions. Many families and official factions used mercenaries when assembling their teams because of their seasoned experience; this was even a livelihood for many cultivators and yaoguai. "The Donao beasts this year are especially savage. We lost two people right after entering, and later four went back to the Grass Sea to swap supplies. The rest were scattered by the herd six hours ago. I dragged one companion out, but his injuries were too severe and he didn't pull through." Every participating team had to balance their personnel and supplies carefully; replenishment from the mortal realm was vital. Hu Bin pointed toward the northeast. "I followed the beast tide from over there." He Lingchuan kept his own objective in mind. "Have you seen prey frozen into blocks of ice?" "Blocks of ice?" Hu Bin thought for a moment. "Yes, yes, six or seven Donao beasts were like that. Very strange." "Strange?" "If the killer were human, their floatstone wasn't gouged out; if the killer were a frost silver beast, they weren't eaten," Hu Bin said gravely. "Besides, frost silver beasts rarely freeze prey entirely. It's both laborious and inconvenient for feeding." He Lingchuan heard his voice growing hoarser, so he handed him a waterskin. "You've seen a frost silver beast hunt?" "Fourteen years ago as well." Hu Bin pointed due north. "See that towering peak? That year I saw frost silver beasts at the foot of the mountain. They had come down. When they hunt, they just breathe a blast of frost to freeze the prey until it can't move or resist, and then they feast. There's no need to freeze it entirely." He Lingchuan seized on the key point. "Don't frost silver beasts all live on perilous mountain peaks? Why would they come down?" "Who knows?" Hu Bin laughed. "Maybe some monsters just don't play by the rules." He Lingchuan crouched down and drew a footprint in the sand. "Is this a frost silver beast's footprint?" Hu Bin examined it closely and shook his head. "No. Doesn't look like it." He also casually drew a footprint. "A frost silver beast leaves four toes on the ground. The claw print you drew has three toes, and the paw pad is exceptionally large." He asked He Lingchuan, "Are you sure this thing unleashes the frost?" He Lingchuan shook his head. "Haven't seen it with my own eyes. But beside every Donao beast or human frozen into a block of ice, there are footprints like this." "Interesting." Hu Bin measured it against his palm. "The footprint you drew has a wide claw span, looks slender, and suggests a habit of standing on its hind legs. Hmm, maybe it's a heavy-claw beast. It's a scavenger too, and hangs around dead prey." "Not impossible." He Lingchuan glanced toward the north. That treacherous peak pierced straight into the sky; he couldn't even estimate its height. The frost silver beasts residing atop the mountains were mysterious, and he hadn't been able to gather any useful intelligence in Lingxu City. Originally, the only way to obtain a frost pellet was to scale the high peaks himself. But now, he felt he had another feasible option: To follow the beast tide and locate the monster spewing frost. Could it be a mutated frost silver beast? Fu Shanyue had warned him that new species occasionally appeared in the Fu Realm. This ought to be far simpler than scaling a high mountain, braving severe cold, and searching for frost silver beasts. Otherwise, across those boundless mountains, who knew which secluded cranny the frost silver beasts were hiding in? Hu Bin added, "Back then, the frost silver beasts I saw even fought one another in a stone forest." "Oh?" He Lingchuan asked, intrigued. "How many were there in total?" "Five, varying in size. They looked somewhat like mortal wolves, but far more hideous," Hu Bin recalled. "It looked like the two largest were dueling, while the others encircled them watching, restless." "They came down to the flatlands to duel?" "Yeah." He Lingchuan mused, "That sort of duel is usually for the throne." Wolf packs were like that. Although this was the Fu Realm and frost silver beasts were not wolves, biological instincts tended to converge. Hu Bin agreed. "I suspect their former leader met with misfortune, so they needed to choose a new one." He Lingchuan nodded. "My thoughts exactly. What happened next?" "One dead, one injured. The winner left with the pack, and the dead one was left on the ground." Hu Bin gave a bitter laugh. "Just as I was about to go scavenge the prize, the palace guards burst out. I could only watch helplessly as they took the spoils. Ah, turns out they'd been lurking in the shadows watching the whole time." "The palace guards compete too?" "To be fair, they only hunt and don't compete, but nobody dares contest them." Suddenly, someone in the camp came over and asked, "Old Hu, is your Ke family team going to continue or withdraw?" With only Hu Bin left, was there any point in the Ke family staying in the contest? Hu Bin scratched his head. "I'm not sure either. Depends on whether the Ke family sends more people in." "What about you, then? You can't survive in the Fu Realm alone." The person invited him kindly, "How about teaming up with us?" Humans were not made of iron, and especially after high-intensity combat, they needed rest. The very air in the Fu Realm was toxic, and having to replace and hold a cleansing bead in one's mouth every fifteen minutes would disrupt regular breathing regulation and sleep cycles. Fighting alone in the Fu Realm was virtually synonymous with courting death. In such a desolate wilderness, solidarity and coordination mattered above all. Hu Bin considered it, said "Sure," and took off his mask. The Ke family mask was too conspicuous, so he casually swapped it for an owl mask. The man laughed. "One look at that mask and there's no mistaking it's you." During the brief gap when he changed masks, He Lingchuan also saw his face: in his early thirties, with elongated eyes and a broad nose, his features utterly ordinary. Yet the man carried himself with an imposing air and brisk movements; one look told He Lingchuan that he had a military background and had taken many lives with his own hands. Having successfully recruited Hu Bin, the man turned to invite He Lingchuan: "What about you? Have a team?" "Chiyan." "Oh, I see. We're following the beast tide. Want to join up?" He Lingchuan nodded without much hesitation. "Sure. How should I address you?" There was strength in numbers, not to mention that the beast herd was so vast that their own nine people couldn't possibly handle it alone. "My surname is Zhou." The man chuckled. "Just call me Old Zhou. Our team represents the Jinjiao clan." He Lingchuan glanced at Hu Bin and asked Old Zhou in a low voice, "Is Old Hu well-known in this trade?"