Chapter 298 - 257: Searching 2

The Sword Evil coating the blade’s edge was especially potent. The moment it touched one of the red flying insects, it would annihilate the creature, which then dissolved into a puff of foul, red smoke.

Meanwhile, Ding Zihu held up his Eight Trigrams Mirror, shooting out beams of golden light that steadily wiped out the red insects.

Of course, he wasn’t as formidable as Han Yuan, and he had to simultaneously dodge the swarming insects.

Liao Tu and a few Tribal Warriors stood back-to-back, their long spears a blur of motion as they fought, barely managing to defend themselves.

The only other one left was the Orange Cat.

The little guy was no pushover. He seemed to have a particular hatred for these red insects. Opening his mouth as if it were a flamethrower, he spewed out a torrent of Red Flame.

Despite his small size, the Red Flame he spewed was incredibly fierce and violent, causing the temperature to spike.

’Holy shit... This Pangju is that terrifying?!’

It was the first time Ding Zihu had seen the Orange Cat breathe fire, and he was utterly dumbfounded.

He knew there was more to the Orange Cat than met the eye, but he never imagined it would be this terrifying when it let loose.

It wasn’t just him; even Han Yuan had never expected the Orange Cat to have a trick like this up its sleeve.

’This little guy...’ Han Yuan thought, startled.

But this was a battle. He had no time to grill the Orange Cat and had to focus on finishing off these red insects first.

With all of them working together, the once-dense swarm of red insects quickly began to thin out.

Just as it seemed the last of them would be wiped out, the remaining red insects appeared to take fright and frantically fled into the distance.

"Trying to run?"

"Not a single one of you is getting away!"

Han Yuan shouted, giving chase as he swung his Dragon Sparrow Cloud-Splitting Saber.

Ding Zihu and the Orange Cat also gave relentless chase.

But the red insects scattered as they fled. No matter how many Han Yuan and the others cut down, a few still slipped through the cracks and escaped.

There was nothing Han Yuan could do about it.

Still, tonight’s battle had at least revealed to Han Yuan what was behind all the trouble.

Liao Tu and the Tribal Warriors approached to express their gratitude. "Thank you so much for your help tonight, Hero Han. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid the Wuhuo Tribe would have shared the same fate as the Cyan Tiger Tribe!"

Lately, if Han Yuan hadn’t been here, the Wuhuo Tribe would have been wiped out several times over.

"It’s nothing. I had nothing better to do tonight, anyway."

"Although some of the red insects escaped, they must have suffered a great loss of Vitality after this. They won’t be able to cause any trouble in the short term."

"You can rest easy for a while."

After saying this, Han Yuan and Ding Zihu departed.

Liao Tu still couldn’t rest easy, so he called more people from the tribe to search the area, fearing some of the red insects might still be lurking nearby.

"Han Yuan, what kind of being do you think that woman in red is?" Ding Zihu asked quietly after they returned to the cabin.

"An Evil Demon Seed... No... Its aura seems even purer than that of an Evil Demon Seed," Han Yuan mused. "This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a being."

The woman in red gave off a feeling of pure malice and chaos. It was different from the Evil Demon Seeds he had encountered before.

But in essence, they had to be the same type of creature.

"Hmm... That’s different from the Evil Demon Seeds I’m familiar with, too," Ding Zihu nodded in agreement.

"It seems this Taicang Mountain really is hiding some secret," Han Yuan said quietly.

"I think so too... It’s a shame we don’t know where that woman in red ran off to."

"I’m free tomorrow, so I’ll go have a look."

Ding Zihu seemed quite interested in the woman in red.

"I’ll go with you," Han Yuan said in a low, serious voice.

He also wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

"In that case, I can relax. With a great master like you around, I won’t have to worry about running into trouble," Ding Zihu chuckled.

Having made their plans, the two returned to their respective rooms to rest.

"Orange Cat... your fire was pretty impressive tonight," Han Yuan said with a light chuckle.

"Of course! When I saw those things, this nameless rage just welled up inside Lord Meow, and out it came!" the Orange Cat said, laughing.

"Alright... what else can you do besides that?" Han Yuan asked, his expression serious.

"Nothing else... I can just spit a little fire."

"And I only learned how to do it tonight."

"Lord Meow isn’t lying to you."

Sensing Han Yuan’s distrust, the Orange Cat couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

"You can just suddenly learn something like that?" Han Yuan was astonished.

"Of course!"

"Lord Meow is exceptionally gifted!"

"Give Lord Meow more big fish to eat, and I guarantee there’ll be more surprises," the Orange Cat said with a grin.

"We’ll see."

Han Yuan didn’t believe a word the Orange Cat said.

’This little guy is as crafty as they come.’

...

「The next day.」

Han Yuan and Ding Zihu left the Wuhuo Tribe early in the morning to search for traces of the woman in red.

When Liao Tu learned of their plan, he sent his son, Liao Feng, to act as their guide, since he himself had to go and explain the situation to the other tribes in the Taicang Mountain Range.

After all, Taicang Mountain was vast and complex. Without a guide familiar with the terrain, even Han Yuan could easily get lost in the forest.

And so, the three men and one cat set off into Taicang Mountain.

"Hero Han, Mr. Ding... which direction should we go?"

Liao Feng, dressed in animal hides and carrying a Bow and Arrow on his back, had a rugged, wild look about him.

"Let me see."

Ding Zihu took out a piece of Talisman Paper, preparing to use a Magic Technique to track the woman in red.

But after he cast it, he discovered it was completely useless.

"Strange... My tracking technique isn’t working at all..."

Ding Zihu frowned.

This was something of a slap in the face for him.

"Knew you couldn’t be counted on."

"When it really matters, you still need Lord Meow to save the day!"

The Orange Cat leaped down from Han Yuan’s shoulder, its little pink nose twitching.

"Found it."

"It’s to the southeast!"

The Orange Cat had picked up the scent it found so repulsive.

But this display gave Liao Feng, who was standing nearby, quite a fright.

"Th-this cat can actually talk?!"

Liao Feng looked as if he’d just seen a ghost.

"What’s wrong?"

"Is Lord Meow not allowed to speak now?" the Orange Cat said, annoyed.

"N-no... I’ve just never seen a talking cat before."

Liao Feng felt deeply shaken.

It completely upended his understanding of the world.

"Kid, there’s a lot you haven’t seen."

"No need to make a fuss," the Orange Cat said, shooting him a disdainful glance.

"Alright... We’ll go in the direction the Orange Cat said."

"Liao Feng, what’s to the southeast of here?" Han Yuan asked.

"Straight southeast from here is Hive Mountain."

Having grown up in these mountains, Liao Feng knew this area like the back of his hand.

"Hive Mountain?"

"Are there a lot of bees there?" the Orange Cat asked excitedly.

"Not really... Hive Mountain is a strange place. It’s full of caves, and the inside is a dense, chaotic maze of tunnels, just like a giant hive."

"But the place is eerie... I’ve heard that many who enter... never come back out," Liao Feng explained.

"In that case, is it likely the woman in red is hiding in Hive Mountain?" Ding Zihu asked, his expression a mix of surprise and suspicion.

"We’ll know once we go take a look."

"Let’s go," Han Yuan said.

With a destination in mind, their pace quickened considerably.

The Orange Cat was no longer lazing on Han Yuan’s shoulder. Instead, it took the lead, sniffing the air as it continuously tracked the woman’s scent.

"See? I told you... the little guy’s got the nose of a dog," Ding Zihu snarked.

But the Orange Cat suddenly whipped around and spat a small fireball at Ding Zihu!

FWOOSH!

Startled, Ding Zihu threw himself into a forward roll, barely dodging the fireball.

"You fat cat, what do you think you’re doing?"

Ding Zihu broke out in a cold sweat.

’If that fireball had hit me,’ he thought, ’it wouldn’t have killed me, but my hair and eyebrows would have been completely singed off.’

"That’s what you get for running your mouth," the Orange Cat sneered.

"Fine... You just wait, you fat cat!"

Remembering the fat orange cat’s performance the previous night, Ding Zihu lacked any real confidence to back up his words and could only resort to an empty threat.

The Orange Cat shot him a look, then turned and continued to lead the way.

They walked for a full day and night.

After all, the Taicang Mountain Range was vast. Even though Han Yuan and his group moved quickly through the forest, the journey still took a considerable amount of time.