Where Immortals Once Walked

The man had avoided serious injury largely thanks to the protective plates strapped around his calves. Over the many years that whirlworms had ambushed visitors from the mortal realm, people had long since developed ways to deal with them. Every set of equipment was specially made, and every attachment served a purpose.

They continued hurrying southwest.

The farther they went, the fewer corpses they saw along the road. Clearly, the visitors from the mortal realm had already avoided the sharpest edge of the beast tide’s advance.

The direction indicated by the tracking bee compass also gradually split away from the path of the beast tide.

After another half day of walking, even the wounded man climbed down and resumed travel on his own. At last, behind a massive boulder, He Lingchuan regrouped with the Chiyan team.

Only five members of the team were still alive, but the small camp itself held more than twenty people. They all came from other teams and had been scattered by the beast tide, leaving them no choice but to set up a temporary camp here.

Roughly a quarter of the hunters were injured, some lightly, some badly. Though they had originally been competitors, everyone in this camp was temporarily united and helping one another.

Hot water had already been boiled. Some people were responsible for cooking, others for treating wounds, and others for gathering rinsing beads. The Fu Realm’s environment was harsh, and accidents were common, so no one minded huddling together for the time being.

This place also sat upwind, though the smell of blood was rather strong. Still, no one worried that duonao beasts would be drawn over. They hated the smell of mortal-realm creatures.

After asking around, He Lingchuan learned that the original teams had been attacked at different times. Some had been hit yesterday, some ten hours ago, while the Chiyan team had been caught three hours earlier.

After an attack, experienced hunters would follow the beast tide from a distance and continue advancing, because the chances of running into other unlucky survivors were high. The more people they picked up along the way, the safer they would become.

That was how the people in this camp had gathered.

Overall, the beast tide was moving from north to southwest. The farther southwest it went, the larger it grew, as if some unknown force were gathering duonao beasts from every direction and driving them in that direction.

Normally, these duonao beasts were a boon to the hunters, one running floating stone after another. But once they gathered into a tide, they became a torrent of ferocious beasts, sweeping through everything in their path.

He Lingchuan and the other three entered their team’s tent. He took supplies from his storage ring to replenish the veteran members, then sat down and seized the chance to rest.

Inside the Fu Realm, recovering strength was an art in itself. One had to make use of every spare moment.

There were no plants here, so there was no firewood. If one wanted to boil water or cook food, one could only rely on talismans.

Freshwater was extremely scarce on the plains. There was a small lake near the camp, but its water was tinged blue and poisonous.

Everything that beings of the mortal realm needed to survive here had to be brought in themselves.

Even buying a little water to drink or a few strips of dried meat in camp required paying with floating stones.

Floating stones were the hard currency of this place.

He Lingchuan questioned several of the people present, and they all said this kind of beast tide had never been seen before. The duonao beasts were also especially violent.

It was worth mentioning that the Fu Realm’s duonao beasts had originally felt no hostility toward the humans and monsters from the mortal realm, only curiosity. But after several centuries of hunting by Lingxu City, they now treated those from the mortal realm as natural enemies. Most of the time, they avoided them whenever possible, but once they had strength in numbers, they would instead try to trample over and take revenge on the hunters.

Several hunters had also heard strange “kang, kang, kang” sounds in the distance during battle, like someone striking wooden clappers.

At that moment, a few more outside hunters entered the camp. Some were injured, while others had violet stains on their clothes. That was duonao beast blood.

One of them took out a floating stone to buy rinsing beads from the camp. He happened to hear He Lingchuan asking for information, so he cut in, “I saw a small beast tide fourteen years ago, only a little over two hundred beasts. It was nowhere near as terrifying as today’s tide. These beasts were probably driven here.”

His voice was low and somewhat hoarse.

He Lingchuan noticed that the man’s mask was exquisitely made and highly distinctive. “You’re from the Ke Family?”

The man smiled. “Mm-hm, in this year’s Grass Sea Hunt, I’ve sold my life to the Ke Family.”

“You’ve participated in the Grass Sea Hunt many times?”

“Yup. Others provide the money, I provide my life. Just earning some hard-earned pay.” He cupped his fists toward He Lingchuan. “Hu Bin, hired hunter.”

“My surname’s He.” He Lingchuan did not give his full name. He only glanced behind Hu Bin. “Why are you alone?”

The Grass Sea Hunt had a long history and its own system. Many families and official powers used mercenaries when forming teams, as they were experienced veterans. For many cultivators and monsters, this was even a livelihood.

“The duonao beasts are especially savage this year. We lost two people as soon as we entered. Later, four others returned to the Grass Sea to exchange for supplies, and the remaining members were scattered by the beast tide six hours ago. I rescued one companion, but his injuries were too severe, so he didn’t make it.” Every participating team had to allocate its members and supplies properly, and replenishment from the mortal realm was crucial. Hu Bin pointed northeast before continuing, “I followed the beast tide from that direction.”

He Lingchuan was still thinking about his target. “Have you seen any prey frozen into blocks of ice?”

“Blocks of ice?” Hu Bin thought for a moment. “Mm, I have. I saw seven duonao beasts frozen like that. It’s strange.”

“Strange?”

“If the killer were human, their floating stones hadn’t been dug out. If the killers were frost-silver beasts, they hadn’t been eaten either.” Hu Bin said gravely, “And frost-silver beasts rarely freeze prey solid from head to toe. It wastes strength and makes feeding inconvenient.”

He Lingchuan heard his voice growing increasingly hoarse and handed him a waterskin. “You’ve seen frost-silver beasts hunt before?”

“Also fourteen years ago.” Hu Bin pointed straight north. “See that tall mountain? That year, I saw frost-silver beasts at the foot of the mountain. They had come down from above. When they hunted, they spat out a breath of frost to freeze their prey until it couldn’t walk or resist, and then they could feast on it. They don’t freeze their prey’s whole body.”

He Lingchuan caught the key point. “Don’t frost-silver beasts live on high mountains and dangerous peaks? Why would they come down?”

“Who knows?” Hu Bin smiled. “Maybe some aberrant creatures simply don’t like following common sense.”

He Lingchuan crouched and drew a footprint in the sand. “Is this a frost-silver beast’s track?”

Hu Bin looked at it carefully, then shook his head. “No. It doesn’t look like it.” He casually drew another footprint beside it. “Frost-silver beasts land on four toes. This claw print you drew has three, and the pad is especially large.” He then asked He Lingchuan, “Are you sure this thing was the one responsible for freezing those beasts?”

He Lingchuan shook his head. “I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but every duonao beast or human frozen into ice had these footprints beside them.”

“Interesting.” Hu Bin compared it against his own palm. “The print you drew has a wide spread between the claw tips, so the claws should be long and slender. It also seems used to standing on its hind legs. Mm, maybe it’s a heavy-clawed beast. They also scavenge and tend to prowl around fallen prey.”

“That’s possible.” He Lingchuan glanced due north. The sheer peak there stabbed into the sky, and he could not even estimate its height.

The frost-silver beasts that lived at the summit were mysterious. Even in Lingxu City, he had not been able to gather much useful information about them. Originally, if he wanted to obtain frost pellets, the only way seemed to be climbing the mountain himself. But now, he felt there was another possible method.

Now, he could choose to follow the beast tide and find the aberrant creature that spat ice. It might have been a mutated frost-silver beast. Fushan Yue had warned him that new species occasionally appeared in the Fu Realm.

That should be much easier than climbing a high mountain, braving bitter cold, and searching for frost-silver beasts. Otherwise, in that vast mountain range, who knew which remote crevice the frost-silver beasts were hiding in?

Hu Bin added, “Back then, the frost-silver beasts I saw even fought each other in the stone forest.”

“Hm?” He Lingchuan asked curiously, “How many frost-silver beasts were there?”

“Five, and they were all different sizes. They looked somewhat like wolves from the mortal realm, but much more vicious.” Hu Bin recalled, “It seemed like the largest two were dueling, while the others stood around watching, restless and agitated.”

“They ran down to the plains to duel?”

“Seemed so.”

He Lingchuan pondered. “Hm, that sounds like the kind of duel for kingship.”

Wolf packs were like that. Although this was the Fu Realm, and the frost-silver beasts were not wolves, the instincts of living creatures often converged.

Hu Bin also said, “I guessed that something had happened to their original leader, so they needed to choose a new one.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “I think so too. What happened afterward?”

“One died, and one was injured. The winner left with the pack, while the dead one was left on the ground.” Hu Bin smiled bitterly. “I was just thinking of going over to pick up the cheap gain when the palace guards rushed out. I could only watch helplessly as they carried away the spoils. Ahem, it turned out that they’d been hiding in the shadows, watching the whole time too.”

“The palace guards participate too?”

“For fairness, they hunt but don’t compete. Still, no one dares fight them for spoils.”

At that moment, someone in the camp came over and asked, “Old Hu, will the Ke Family team continue or withdraw?”

With only Hu Bin left, was there any point in the Ke Family continuing?

Hu Bin scratched his head. “I’m not sure either. It depends on whether the Ke Family sends more people in.”

“What about you? You can’t survive alone in the Fu Realm.” The man kindly invited him, “How about coming with us?”

People were not made of iron. After a high-intensity battle, they needed rest. The Fu Realm’s very air was poisonous, and the troublesome need to change rinsing beads every fifteen minutes inevitably disrupted normal breathing and sleep.

Fighting alone in the Fu Realm was practically considered no different from courting death. In this wild, desolate place, unity and cooperation mattered most.

Hu Bin thought for a moment, then said, “Alright,” and took off his mask.

The Ke Family’s mask was too conspicuous, so he casually replaced it with an owl mask.

The man laughed. “One look at that mask and anyone will know it’s you.”

In the brief interval while Hu Bin was switching masks, He Lingchuan also saw his face. He was in his early thirties, with long eyes, a large nose, and perfectly ordinary features.

However, his bearing was anything but ordinary, and his movements were crisp and efficient. One look was enough for He Lingchuan to know that he had come from the military and had plenty of lives on his hands.

After successfully inviting Hu Bin, the man came to ask He Lingchuan as well, “And you? Do you have a team?”

“Chiyan’s.”

“Oh, I see. We’re going to follow the beast tide. Want to come along?”

He Lingchuan did not hesitate much before nodding. “Sure, and how should I address you?”

There was strength in numbers, and considering that there were so many beasts to face, his own nine people could never kill them all.

“My surname’s Zhou.” The man chuckled. “Just call me Old Zhou. Our team represents the Golden Horn Clan.”

He Lingchuan glanced at Hu Bin, then asked Old Zhou quietly, “Is Old Hu famous in this line of work?”