Chapter 397: Pursuit and Flight

Yuan Gang understood now why she had wept in despair. A person capable of smelling scents ordinary people could not detect and using them to track a target could not be fooled by simple concealment. This was an ability to distinguish one particular scent amid a chaos of odors and lock onto it. As long as the target's body continued to give off that scent, escaping such a nose would be extremely difficult.

Once a human possessed such an ability, he was far more frightening than a dog. A dog did not possess a human being's capacity for logic, calculation, and inference. If a scent trail suddenly broke, a dog could easily become confused.

Nor could the two of them remain underwater forever without breathing. Sooner or later, they had to breathe, and the moment they did, their scent would leak out again.

They were already close to escaping the borders of the State of Qi. Neither had expected something like this to happen at the very end.

And now the situation was obvious. Even if they crossed out of the State of Qi, national borders meant nothing to Xiaoyue Pavilion. The pursuit would continue all the same.

In this respect, Xiaoyue Pavilion could do what even the Valiant Cavalry could not. The Valiant Cavalry did not dare lead a great army across another state's border merely to chase two people. Yuan Gang looked around.

The surroundings were empty. There were no other people or living creatures they could use to create confusion. Otherwise, they could have stripped off their clothing and had someone or something carry it away, at least creating another false scent trail. Even so, Yuan Gang remained calm. His gaze quickly settled on the tall mountains in the distance.

"Su Zhao, until the very end, don't give up so easily. Let's look for another kind of terrain. We may still find a way. If possible, I'd like to find some materials I need."

He raised a hand and pointed toward the distant mountains. Then, with a splash, he climbed out of the water.

He drew the Saber from his back and planted it in the ground, then tossed down the bundle he had been carrying. Reaching back, he hauled Su Zhao ashore as well. He turned and lifted one dripping arm, testing the wind direction.

Then he bent over and began tearing up grass, swiftly binding it into a large ball.

"Take off your clothes. Quickly!" Yuan Gang urged.

He stripped off his own outer garments with practiced speed until his upper body was bare.

"..."

Su Zhao stared at him. She could roughly guess that he did not mean anything improper, but looking around at the open surroundings, having a woman strip here was still rather... Yuan Gang did not waste time explaining.

He pulled her over and began undoing her clothing himself, helping strip her upper body bare as quickly as possible.

It was not the first time the two had seen each other naked, but Su Zhao still flushed with embarrassment and covered her breasts with both hands, looking nervously around. For a moment, the awkwardness even diluted some of her despair. Yuan Gang had no interest in enjoying the view.

"Change into the clothes in the bundle. Quickly."

Su Zhao immediately crouched, opened the bundle, took out another set of clothing that was equally damp, and hurriedly put it on.

Yuan Gang bundled both sets of discarded clothing onto the ball of grass, tied everything securely with more grass, then placed it into the river and let the current carry it away.

Whether it worked or not, two separate scent sources would at least create some interference for someone relying on smell to track them. Even buying a little time would be useful.

Su Zhao understood what he was doing. She asked, "You've left such obvious traces on the ground. Won't that reveal where we went?"

Yuan Gang said, "False within true, true within false. All warfare is based on deception. If we can't escape either way, then whether we expose ourselves hardly matters. Trying something costs us nothing."

A short while later, Su Zhao finished changing.

Yuan Gang pulled the bundle onto his back, yanked the Saber from the ground, and said, "Move!"

With that, he broke into a run first. He ran extraordinarily fast and did not even bother putting on another shirt. Bare-chested, he sprinted directly across the grassland. Su Zhao was somewhat surprised by his speed.

She picked up her own bundle, carried it on her back, drew her sword, and skimmed after him.

Once she caught up, she reached out and hooked an arm around Yuan Gang, carrying him with her as she flew. But their speed immediately dropped.

Dragging a man as large as Yuan Gang while moving through the air naturally burdened her.

With him in tow, their speed was actually slower than Yuan Gang running on his own legs.

"This won't work. I'm slowing you down. Let go of me," Yuan Gang called.

Su Zhao said, "A mountain looks close until you try to run to it. How long do you think your body can keep this up? Only one way to find out."

Yuan Gang gave no further explanation. The next time they touched down, he forcefully swung his arm free of her support and once again opened his stride. His speed became even faster.

With a swish, he tore through the grass like a gust of wind.

The dense muscles across his body moved rhythmically with every stride, carrying a raw masculine beauty.

At first, Su Zhao thought he was merely forcing himself to show off. After following him for a while, however, surprise gradually entered her eyes.

Yuan Gang seemed to possess inexhaustible stamina. He maintained that furious pace without the slightest sign of slowing. The only change was in his breathing.

Gradually, a faint red mist began circulating around his nose and mouth with every breath. Su Zhao opened her Dharma Eye and looked.

To her astonishment, she could faintly see the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth beginning to enter Yuan Gang's body.

If Yuan Gang was a cultivator, however, she knew perfectly well that he possessed no spiritual power.

Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to rely on two legs to flee on foot...

A giant flying bird glided low above the grasslands, following the winding river. Three people stood on its back, all wrapped in black cloaks.

The one in front had long bangs beneath the brim of his hood. Gray-white hair hung down over his eyes.

Every so often, he raised his face slightly and flared his nostrils, sniffing the air.

Whenever the wind stirred those bangs aside, empty eye sockets with no eyeballs could be seen beneath them. The sight was somewhat horrifying.

The two men behind him wore black masks even in broad daylight. Their eyes, visible through the openings, carefully searched the surroundings. One had a beard. The other did not. Suddenly, the bearded man's gaze fixed on something. He leaped from the flying bird at once.

The clean-shaven man immediately caught Blind Man by the arm, and the two descended together.

Only after landing did the clean-shaven man understand why the other had come down. The grass here clearly showed signs of having been torn up.

"Blind Man, check this place," the bearded man said.

Blind Man lowered his head. "No need. Their scent is definitely here. But something is strange."

The bearded man asked, "What?"

Blind Man raised a hand and pointed. "Their scents are also drifting over from upwind along the river's course."

The bearded man looked at the torn grass on the ground.

"They probably did something here. Maybe they made some kind of grass raft, put something carrying their scent on it, and sent it downstream to confuse us."

The clean-shaven man said, "Elder Bai, aren't these traces a little too obvious? Judging from everything before this, their anti-tracking ability is extremely strong. Why would they leave such obvious signs for us? Could they be deliberately misleading us? Your disciple knows about Blind Man's ability."

Elder Bai turned and looked toward the traces left in the grass by Yuan Gang's passage. His gaze followed them toward the distant mountains. Then he looked back toward the river.

"People have already been mobilized ahead to intercept them, but we still have to guard against tricks. These marks in the grass are fresh. If they fled this way, they shouldn't have gotten too far."

"I'll follow this trail and see what's happening. Later I'll circle back downstream and find you. If your side proves false, turn around immediately and follow the markers I leave behind."

"All right." The clean-shaven man nodded.

Supporting Blind Man by the arm, he rose into the air with him and landed on the giant flying bird circling overhead.

Elder Bai, meanwhile, followed the traces across the grassland and pursued them alone... Yuan Gang ran as though the mountain slope were level ground. He did not stop until he reached the summit. The sight before him instantly chilled half his heart.

Not only was the mountaintop barren, but one ridge seemed to divide two completely different worlds. On one side lay the vast grasslands. On the other stretched an endless desert.

They had traveled underwater through the river for some time. The river twisted and turned, and neither knew how far they had gone. After passing several branches, they no longer knew their exact position. They only knew from the general direction that they were close to leaving the State of Qi.

Only now did they realize they had reached the edge of the desert.

Yuan Gang had hoped to find complicated terrain here that could be used to their advantage. Better yet, he had hoped to find materials he could use to make a glider and perhaps exploit the height of the mountain to escape. Only now did he realize he had been thinking too much. It had the feeling of grasping at any remedy in desperation.

"There's hardly even a place to hide on this mountain," Yuan Gang said as he looked around.

Su Zhao gave a bitter laugh. "With Blind Man here, hiding is the last thing we should do. Hiding would be the same as sitting still and waiting to die..."

Her voice abruptly stopped. She suddenly grabbed Yuan Gang's arm and pulled him down with her, then pointed in one direction.

"Someone's coming."

Yuan Gang raised his head from behind a rock and looked downslope. Far away, a black speck was moving rapidly toward them.

If the other man's clothing had not been black, he might have been difficult to notice.

Yuan Gang said, "He seems to be following the route we took. Is that Blind Man?"

Su Zhao said, "Blind Man never moves alone. But if that's someone from Xiaoyue Pavilion and he was able to find this place, it means Blind Man can't be far away."

Anxiety filled her voice. Yuan Gang glanced back at the desert behind them.

"We can't wait any longer. We'll flee as far as we can. Sitting here won't create an opportunity for us. We'll keep watching for favorable terrain or some other chance along the way."

"If nothing else works, we'll see whether burying ourselves in the sand has any effect."

The two no longer had much choice. Blind Man's appearance had cut off many of their possible escape methods. They could only treat a dead horse as though it were still alive and try whatever they could.

After a brief exchange, they did not charge straight down the mountain into the desert.

From this height, anyone on the summit could see movement across the open sands too easily.

Su Zhao hooked an arm around Yuan Gang and flew diagonally down one side of the mountain.

Descending was different from running across level ground. Yuan Gang's own speed could not match Su Zhao carrying him in a gliding descent.

At the foot of the mountain, they still did not enter the desert.

Instead, they raced along the base of the ridge until they circled behind the spur of mountain jutting abruptly into the sands.

Only after finding a position hidden from the line of sight above did they finally enter the vast desert. This time, Yuan Gang did not refuse Su Zhao's help. He let her carry him as she flew.

Each time Su Zhao landed before taking off again, she used spiritual power to smooth away the footprints they left in the sand... A black-cloaked figure flew up and landed atop the mountain. Elder Bai's cold gaze swept across the desert. There was no sign of anyone.

Following the route he had tracked, he launched himself directly from the summit.

Before landing on the sand, he carefully inspected the desert below for any sign that someone had crossed it.

After touching down, he flew left for a while, then right, making a wide circuit. He found nothing.

He immediately returned to the summit and once again looked out from the higher vantage point.

His gaze soon fixed on the spur of mountain extending out and blocking the line of sight along one side.

Like a great hawk, he launched himself into the air and flew rapidly toward it.

He landed at the end of the ridge where it abruptly entered the desert.

After staring into the distance for a while, he leaped down and landed in the sand. His cold eyes swept around. Suddenly, they flashed.

He shot into the air and urgently pursued in the direction Yuan Gang and Su Zhao had fled.

Su Zhao had smoothed away their tracks, but hurried work could not make the desert look perfectly untouched. Small imperfections remained.

As long as someone knew what to look for, the clues could still be found.

[End of Chapter 397]