The Mysterious Old Gentleman

Chapter 11 The Mysterious Old Gentleman

From a far distance from Ren Ya's team's location, deep in the mountain range.

Several shadows were traveling at high speed in a dense jungle, crawling with various dangers and merciless beasts.

The lush foliage and tangled bushes created a massive maze, entraping those who strayed. And yet, these shadows were moving, unimpeded, in a specific direction.

The oppressive humidity and suffocating miasma couldn't even stop them from their track.

They were part of a group of hunters that lurked in the dark. They navigated the treacherous path of assassination. Secrecy was their creed.

And yes, it was past tense.

Ever since several days ago, they had forgo their stealthily discreet chase style and changed into a desperate hunter. 'Haste' was their current mindset.

The twelve people were forced to pursue their target and reclaim the artifact.

Their figures, cloaked in shadow, moved with silent determination through the oppressive greenery for several days.

And yet, their quarry, the elusive elven girl, was never seen since then.

Led by the Eighth Elder, a man whose face bore the scars of countless battles, with his steely gaze piercing through the foliage, he led them moving with precision.

Each of the hunting party's eleven members was the elite with specialized skills.

Amongst others was a tracker, who could read the earth's secrets;

An assassin who left no trace of his kills;

A combat specialist whose blade sang death;

An arm specialist who wielded weapons of arcane power;

And a magician who commanded tremendous mana under her grasp.

Each of them was carefully selected to join the hunt.

-

At this moment, after chasing for several days, their patience was running out. Particularly the Eighth Elder, who was fuming with rage.

With gritted teeth, he rebuked, "She couldn't have vanished into thin air! Keep your senses sharp and your eyes peeled!"

"We cannot afford to let her slip through our fingers again!"

"Go!"

The group fanned out in several directions.

Each member was assuming their designated role in the hunt. The tracker, a wiry figure with keen eyes and a nose attuned to the faintest scents, scoured the forest floor for any sign of the elven girl's passage.

Frustratingly, he could only report to the elder. "There's nothing, Eighth Elder. She's covered her tracks well. It's as if she's vanished into thin air."

Hearing the report, the Eighth Elder fumed with rage. "Vanished? Vanished?! She's just a wretched little thief, not some sorceress!"

"Find her trail, or I'll have your heads on pikes!"

The assassin, skilled in the arts of stealth and reconnaissance, prowled the group's periphery. His sharp senses tried to pry for any sign of movement or disturbance. He was discerning the forest creatures' movement.

Although it has been several days since they began the hunt, any movement from the beast would affect the elven girl's escape trajectory. With the beast tide wave forming in the forest, there were limited directions she could escape to.

But,...

With a faint whisper, the assassins could only report his findings. "No sign of her, Eighth Elder. She's probably long slipped past this beasts' area."

Eighth Elder clenched his fist. "Blast it all! We've been chasing her for days, and still, she eludes us! This incompetence is unforgivable!"

At this moment, there was suddenly a rustle in the undergrowth that drew their attention. The group tensed and weapons at the ready.

But it was only a false alarm—a startled deer darting through the forest.

"Find her trace at all cost. If she escapes us again, there will be severe consequences!"

-

Soon, hours passed, and the sun dipped below the horizon. The jungle was cast in an eerie twilight.

The frustration and tension within the group reached a boiling point.

Away from the elder's ear, the members were arguing.

With gritted teeth, the assassin voiced his frustration, "We're no closer to finding her now than we were days ago. This is madness!"

A sturdy woman who specialized in arms had a grim expression. "But, we cannot afford to fail. The artifact must be recovered at all costs."

-

Several days ago, chaos broke out in a secret base hidden under the mountain, deep in the wilderness.

A devastating explosion had erupted in the underground base, destroying the mountain above it. The tall mountain was reduced to a rocky plain.

As the survivors tried to save their fellow assassins and excavate the base's remains, they found out from the monitoring that a girl had infiltrated their camp just before the explosion.

Her lithe form slipped through the shadows like smoke.

After she had silenced their leader, the Patriarch, with a blade to the heart, she immediately escaped while setting off the explosives she had previously hidden.

After knowing this, the camp erupted into chaos. But despite their effort to track her down, she was nowhere to be found.

She had vanished, leaving only a mocking note, scrawled in blood in the Patriarch's room: The artifact is mine.

And so the survivors immediately chose the best among their group to chase and hunt her down.

Thus, these twelve people had become hunters.

And their mission was not merely for revenge. Their prime objective was to retrieve the stolen artifact—a key crucial to the organization's grand design.

-

Just as despair threatened to overtake them, a glimmer of hope flickered on the horizon. A faint trace of mana along a path with broken branches and trampled foliage was found.

Given their current position, suddenly finding such a trace of mana was unusual.

The tracker was excited to find the trace. "I've found her trail, Eighth Elder! This way!"

Although, under normal circumstances, finding such a trace was suspicious and doubtful. But, there were no other hints that could help their hunt.

Hearing his words, the Eighth Elder quickly went to the path. "Finally! After days of incompetence, you've managed to accomplish something useful!"

With renewed determination, the group pressed on.

They followed the trail as it wound its way through the dense undergrowth. But their relief was short-lived. As they neared the river intersection, the trail vanished once more.

Looking at the river intersection, the tracker halted, his eyes narrowing. "She crossed here," he declared, pointing to the muddy bank. "But then she vanished."

The Eighth Elder's jaw clenched. "Vanished? In this forsaken jungle?"

"What is this?! Have you led us on a wild goose chase, tracker?!"

Hearing the Eighth Elder curse, the tracker quickly defended himself. "I swear, Eighth Elder. The trail was here just moments ago! She must have doubled back or found some way to cover her tracks!"

The Scout, a wiry man with a scar across one eye, stepped forward. "She's clever, Eighth Elder. She knows the terrain. She could be anywhere."

Hearing the Scout's words, the Eighth Elder's rage was lit like boiling oil set on fire. "Cleverness won't save her. The twelve of us had always been the shadows that haunt nightmares."

"It was always us playing with our prey. And not the other way around."

The group's combat specialist, a hulking brute carrying a sword on his waist, said, "She won't escape me. I'll split her in two."

The arm specialist immediately poured cold water on him, "Don't underestimate her. She wields magic and could attack you from far away."

Looking at others, the assassin said in a low voice, filled with worry and dread. "But what if she's not alone? What if she has allies lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike?"

Hearing their discussion, the Eighth Elder could only calm his flaming anger. "We cannot afford to entertain such thoughts. We must press on, no matter the cost."

Suddenly, they felt a great coercion coming from the front.

Before any of them could react, they all fell to the ground.

Their final thoughts before succumbing to darkness were, "Who?"

As the last person died, the area fell into eery silence.

The twelve assassins were no more.

Only the jungle remained its secrets buried deep, waiting for the next fool to tread its treacherous path.

-

A moment later, an old gentleman appeared not far from them.

When he was about to approach the twelve corpses, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Well?"

He was startled and looked back toward Ren Ya's team's direction. He was amused by the fact that someone could detect him from such a far distance.

Not that he brags about being a powerhouse. But he was at least confident in controlling his coercion and hiding his presence from being detected by others.

At the very least, those who are weaker than him should not.

But somehow, that little guy seemed to be able to sense him despite his low cultivation.

That person must have heightened superior senses, he thought to himself.

When the old gentleman appeared, a middle-aged man also followed behind him.

So when he noticed the old gentleman's action, he also stopped.

"What is it?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Nothing. I just noticed someone interesting," the old gentleman replied before he took his gaze back. He then watched the twelve corpses.

Seeing that the old gentleman doesn't want to continue on the subject, the middle-aged man simply ignores it. He went forward and began checking the corpses.

After checking the corpses, he showed a dignified face. "It is as we have guessed. Something must have happened back in their base."

"Usually, these guys wouldn't be found, even if we proactively search for them. And yet, here they are out in the open. They must be on their way for something important."

"For them to frantically search around so far away..." the middle-aged man's voice trailed away.

At this moment, the old gentleman silently looked at the corpses and the mountain range on the horizon.

"I wonder what was their purpose."

"Were they chasing someone? Running away? Or perhaps they were searching for something.