Chapter 60: Tracking Art, Found the Witch’s Hideout

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Tracking Art, Found the Witch’s Hideout

Early the next morning, when Fang Xu woke up, he found the two Golden Scale Guards still standing in the courtyard like statues. It seemed they hadn’t moved an inch the entire night. This made Fang Xu sigh in admiration. The dynasty’s elites were truly elites; their discipline was impeccable.

After washing up, he went to the kitchen to cook some food and delivered it to Chu Muyun. Fang Xu then ate a simple meal himself before walking straight up to the two guards. "Thank you for your hard work. Let’s go see the Crown Prince."

The two didn’t say a word and followed him straight to the Government Office.

"You two may step down and rest," Li Xun said after glancing at the two Golden Scale Guards.

After a slight bow with cupped hands, the two retreated. Li Xun then looked at Fang Xu and asked, "What else do you know about the shamans?"

Most of his leads were dead ends. He no longer knew where to start and could only pin his hopes on Fang Xu, wondering if he could recall anything else.

Fang Xu racked his brains, trying to recall everything.

He only needed to borrow Li Xun’s influence to protect himself for the next three to five days. Once news from the Yun Family arrived, if Li Xun was still staying in Fenglin Town, Fang Xu would have to continue working like a slave at his beck and call. It would be better to help him figure out this shaman business sooner so he could leave Fenglin Town early.

"Many days ago, those shamans launched a night raid on Fenglin Town, and many of the common people in the town died.

"The Government Soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture should have experienced this incident. The Crown Prince can ask them." After thinking for a long time, Fang Xu cupped his hands and spoke.

Yun Wan and the Commander of the Prefecture Soldiers, Lv Yuan, had taken people into the mountains to eliminate bandits. They must have just come down from the mountain that night. Furthermore, Fang Xu remembered that the eerie fog that attacked Fenglin Town seemed to have drifted over from the direction of Tilan Mountain.

Perhaps those Government Soldiers knew a bit more than he did.

Hearing this, Li Xun’s eyes lit up. He immediately summoned two Golden Scale Guards and ordered them to bring the Government Soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture for questioning.

From the Government Soldiers’ accounts, he indeed discovered some new clues.

"Are you saying that on the night Fenglin Town was attacked, Yun Wan killed a shaman on the mountain?" Li Xun’s gaze slightly narrowed.

The Government Soldier hurriedly cupped his hands. "Yes, the young lady indeed slew a shaman with a single sword strike. Later, when we realized that the eerie fog had already enveloped Fenglin Town, we hurriedly rushed back to the town."

"Where is the shaman’s corpse?!" Li Xun asked again.

The Government Soldier sounded a bit uncertain. "It should still be at the original location, though I don’t know if it has been eaten by ferocious beasts."

"Take me there!" Li Xun abruptly stood up, then looked at the Golden Scale Guards on his left and right. "Go invite Master Taibu!"

Taibu Xu Liang was a Feng Shui Master. He had been severely injured the last time he attempted to break the "setup" on Li Xun. Later, under the treatment of Elixirs and Yun Jin, he had improved somewhat and had been recuperating in his room these past few days.

"Crown Prince," Xu Liang said upon arriving, frowning slightly as he glanced at Fang Xu beside him.

"Sir." At Li Xun’s voice, Xu Liang finally shifted his gaze away from Fang Xu. He cupped his hands toward Li Xun and said, "Please speak, Crown Prince."

Li Xun pondered for a moment before saying, "Xun’Er has heard that you possess a Tracking Art that can trace a person’s lingering aura using their Essence Blood or an item they have worn for a long time."

Xu Liang nodded and cupped his hands. "I do have such an art. Who does the Crown Prince wish to find?"

Li Xun smiled happily upon hearing this. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "Then please accompany Xun’Er on a trip.

"You, take me to the place where that shaman died."

Led by that Government Soldier, the group soon arrived at the place where Yun Wan had slain the shaman that day. However, as luck would have it, the shaman’s corpse had already been gnawed clean by wild beasts. Scattered white bones and shredded clothing littered the surrounding area.

Seeing this, a trace of disappointment appeared on Li Xun’s face. Since it had been gnawed down to nothing but bone fragments, there was certainly no Essence Blood left.

"Crown Prince, what is that?" Fang Xu’s sharp eyes spotted a bizarre bronze artifact beside a shattered boulder.

It looked like a bronze basket, exquisitely crafted.

A Golden Scale Guard hurriedly walked over and retrieved the bronze basket.

Xu Liang glanced at the basket, his expression turning joyful. "Is this the Fog Catching Bowl of the Dusk Cloud Kingdom?!"

Confused, Li Xun asked, "Sir, what is the Fog Catching Bowl?"

Holding the bronze basket as if it were a precious treasure, Xu Liang wiped away the dust on it and explained, "The Fog Catching Bowl is a shaman’s Dharma Artifact. The Crown Prince can understand it as a special kind of weapon.

"By placing the pearl of an oceanic Mirage Beast into the Fog Catching Bowl, it can generate a massive amount of fog to obscure the enemy’s vision. Back when the army of our Great Yu attacked the Dusk Cloud Kingdom, we suffered quite a few losses because of this Fog Catching Bowl."

Hearing this, Li Xun curiously examined the Fog Catching Bowl. Then, he asked, "Sir, can you use this Fog Catching Bowl to track the movements of these shamans?"

A somewhat useless Dharma Artifact held no attraction for him. His biggest concern right now was how to find those shamans. Following his father from the Central State to this place, all the officials in the court were watching closely, especially the people on the Eldest Prince’s side. If he couldn’t even handle this minor incident, the Eldest Prince’s faction might use the opportunity to proclaim him as someone with courage but no strategy, which would be detrimental to his father’s subsequent plans.

"I will give it a try," Xu Liang said.

Xu Liang fumbled with the Fog Catching Bowl in his hands. A profoundly mysterious power slowly surged from his body, enveloping the bowl. Then, wrapped in this mysterious power, a strand of black fog as thin as a hair slowly emanated from the Fog Catching Bowl!

After the black fog appeared, it began to wander in the air. Slowly, it drifted toward the depths of Tilan Mountain.

"Follow it!"

Seeing this, Li Xun hurriedly led the group of Golden Scale Guards, Fang Xu, and the others, chasing the wisp of black fog deep into Tilan Mountain.

The black fog drifted very slowly, and even the slightest breeze would alter its direction. It seemed to have to spin in place a few times to reorient itself before continuing forward.

"Crown Prince, we are about to enter the depths of Tilan Mountain ahead," Fang Xu couldn’t help but warn as he looked at the increasingly dense forest.

The outskirts of Tilan Mountain were relatively safe. Anyone with a strength above the Third Realm of a Martial Disciple could walk unopposed here, unless they were astronomically unlucky and encountered a high-level ferocious beast that had run out from the depths.

But the depths were different. Many high-level ferocious beasts lived deep within Tilan Mountain, including some capable of slaughtering Martial Master realm Martial Artists. It was said that even deeper inside, some demons resided. Those were ferocious beasts that had achieved success in their cultivation and possessed the strength to effortlessly slaughter a Martial Master.

"Ignore it, keep chasing!"

Li Xun didn’t care about this at all. Among their group, he himself was at the peak of the Martial Master realm. Although Xu Liang was just recovering from severe injuries, he was still a Martial Artist of the Third Realm of the Martial Venerable, which should be more than enough to handle such threats.

Seeing this, Fang Xu could only brace himself and keep up, though his body involuntarily leaned closer to Xu Liang.

The group carefully navigated through the jungle. After walking for about another two hours, the wisp of black fog in front of them suddenly slowed down.

Seeing this, Li Xun immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to slow their pace.

"Everyone, be careful. This is very likely the hiding place of those shamans."

Hearing this, the Golden Scale Guards drew their longswords one after another, looking around warily.

ROAR!

Right at this moment, a low, guttural beastly roar suddenly rang out from the nearby jungle!

Immediately after—

SNORT!

SNORT!

...

Heavy, ragged breaths came from all directions around the group!

It was obvious that their group was now surrounded by ferocious beasts. As those ferocious beasts continuously closed in, Fang Xu finally saw their appearances clearly.

Massive wolves as sturdy as calves; wild boars with bodies like tanks and tusks like steel blades; majestic white-fronted tigers with bone spikes growing on their backs...

At a rough glance, there were at least seven or eight different types of ferocious beasts, numbering over a hundred in total!