Chapter 622: Tracking

First, when something fell within Yuan Gang’s capabilities, Niu Youdao was entirely comfortable leaving it to him. Niu Youdao knew exactly what sort of man Yuan Gang was. There would be no problem.

Second, Yuan Gang would never report some vague suspicion without evidence. Unless he had a certain grasp of the situation, he would not lightly distract Niu Youdao and consume his attention. A person’s energy was always limited, especially under the present circumstances.

Even so, Guan Fangyi’s little “tip-off” had stirred some curiosity in Niu Youdao.

Large flying mounts were no ordinary things. They were enormously valuable, and any loss would be ruinously expensive. Only three people in all of Maolu Villa had authority to deploy them: Niu Youdao himself, Guan Fangyi, and Yuan Gang.

On the surface, all of Maolu Villa’s large flying mounts belonged to Guan Fangyi. Since she had suddenly mentioned the matter, then she was plainly not the one who had authorized it. Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang would not lightly accept orders from her in any case. The answer was obvious: Yuan Gang had sent them.

It was not that Niu Youdao distrusted Yuan Gang. His trust in Yuan Gang was absolute. He was simply curious what Yuan Gang was secretly doing with a Scarlet Hunting Eagle.

He had already realized it could not be anything ordinary. Otherwise, a Black Jade Eagle would have been sufficient. There would have been no reason to use the more valuable Scarlet Hunting Eagle.

Guan Fangyi had meant nothing more by it. Yuan Gang had authority to deploy the large flying mounts, but publicly they were all hers. If someone used her things, naturally it could not escape her notice. She had not realized this was Yuan Gang acting on his own and assumed Niu Youdao was secretly doing something again, so she had casually asked.

Because of that one remark, Niu Youdao temporarily left her behind and made a trip to Yuan Gang’s courtyard first.

Yuan Gang was holding a horse stance in the courtyard, tempering his body. He crouched half-lowered without moving, like a stone statue.

The familiar sound of a sword being planted on the ground approached. Yuan Gang opened his eyes and glanced over, but remained motionless in his stance.

Niu Youdao stopped before him, both hands resting on the sword planted in front of his abdomen. He studied Yuan Gang for a moment and could tell the man had something on his mind. Otherwise, whenever Yuan Gang trained in horse stance there was normally the strange spectacle of his seeming to swallow clouds and breathe mist. Today he was plainly distracted.

“Something happen?” Niu Youdao asked.

Yuan Gang answered with a question. “Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang?”

Niu Youdao nodded.

Yuan Gang let out a long breath, slowly ended his exercise, and stood upright. He considered how to put it before saying, “An unidentified Goldenwing has been in contact with Gongsun Bu. I noticed it once after the villa was attacked, but I reacted too slowly. It appeared again just now. This time I already had rapid-response preparations in place. We’re on it.”

Niu Youdao immediately understood. Monkey had sent men to follow the Goldenwing and trace it back to its source. He frowned. “You suspect there’s something wrong with Gongsun Bu?”

After observing Gongsun Bu for all these years, Niu Youdao did not think the man was likely to have a problem. He still had a certain amount of confidence in his own eye for people and his judgment. Gongsun Bu had no real reason to betray him either. Without Niu Youdao, Wuliang Mountain would find it very difficult to secure a better future. As the Sect Leader of a sect, Gongsun Bu could hardly fail to understand that.

Yuan Gang said, “I only want to confirm it. That’s also the responsible thing to do by him.”

“When did this start?”

Neither man needed to spell everything out when they spoke. Yuan Gang knew Niu Youdao was asking when he had begun suspecting Gongsun Bu, so he explained how Baili Jie had suddenly appeared and how Gongsun Bu had seemed somewhat abnormal afterward, prompting Yuan Gang to activate the informants he had planted inside Wuliang Mountain.

Only now did Niu Youdao learn that Yuan Gang had secretly planted a group of men inside Wuliang Mountain. He did not mind. Yuan Gang knew how to handle his own affairs. If something exceeded his judgment or confidence, he would naturally come to Niu Youdao to help decide where the line should be drawn.

Niu Youdao would not interfere in this sort of matter. Yuan Gang had discretion to act on his own.

After a brief silence, Niu Youdao reminded him, “Without evidence, he’s still one of us. Mind the measure of what you do.”

“Mm.” Yuan Gang nodded. He understood. Maolu Villa’s intelligence network had basically been placed under Wuliang Mountain’s direction. If they rashly moved against Wuliang Mountain’s Sect Leader and the affair came to light, the consequences would be serious.

Niu Youdao added another warning. “While you’re at it, keep an eye on the people inside Wuliang Mountain. If something unexpected happens, see who could stabilize the situation there.”

He knew Yuan Gang was not the sort to create trouble for no reason. He also trusted Yuan Gang’s sharp, highly unusual professional instincts. In this field, specialization mattered, and Yuan Gang was far stronger than he was.

Since Gongsun Bu had attracted Yuan Gang’s attention, Niu Youdao had no choice but to prepare alternatives. If something happened to Gongsun Bu, someone inside Wuliang Mountain would have to step forward and keep control. They could not allow an intelligence network built painstakingly over years to collapse. It had only just begun functioning properly; rebuilding it from nothing would take who knew how long.

Yuan Gang nodded again. “I know.”

Since he had it in hand, Niu Youdao said nothing further. He turned with his sword and left, letting Yuan Gang deal with the matter himself.

...

Once they had flown far enough from Maolu Villa that no one there could see them with the naked eye, the pursuit in the sky truly began.

They had no choice but to act now. Night was approaching. Once darkness fell, they would lose sight of their quarry.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle beat its wings with all its strength and accelerated into full-speed flight, closing on the black speck ahead. Gradually, the Goldenwing came clearly into view for Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang.

As they drew closer, the Goldenwing seemed to notice the predatory bird chasing it. Frightened, it increased its speed, but in the end it was still no match for the Scarlet Hunting Eagle.

The Goldenwing suddenly dived. Lei Zongkang sprang from the eagle’s back and shot through the air after it. At last he seized the bird in one hand. He spread wings of projected qi to steady himself and slow his fall, while the Scarlet Hunting Eagle plunged after him, beat its wings, and swept underneath to catch him.

Back on the eagle’s back, Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang exchanged a look. Wu Sanliang quickly drew out a small porcelain vial and pulled the stopper. He inserted one finger, picked up a little transparent paste, parted the feathers on the Goldenwing’s back, and smeared the substance beneath them where it would remain hidden.

Yuan Gang had given them the material. He had obtained it from Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Once Yuan Gang learned that Niu Youdao had been hunted by Xiaoyue Pavilion, and that the organization possessed such an excellent colorless, odorless tracking substance, there was no chance a man skilled in tracking and countertracking would let such a thing pass him by.

Since their side had asked for it, Xiaoyue Pavilion was unlikely to refuse such a small courtesy. After speaking with Niu Youdao, Yuan Gang immediately requested some from Xiaoyue Pavilion in Niu Youdao’s name, and they duly provided it.

Its greatest advantage was that it was colorless and odorless. That gave it an edge over the scent trails used by Scent-Seekers, and its tracking effect lasted longer before dissipating. It was a secret formula unique to Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Once he finished applying it, Wu Sanliang gestured for Lei Zongkang to release the bird.

Lei Zongkang hesitated. He nodded toward the tube on the Goldenwing’s leg containing the secret message. “Why not just open it and take a look? If there’s something wrong, maybe we’ll find the answer.”

Wu Sanliang shook his head. “Better not. Master Yuan specifically warned us not to tamper with it casually. There could be some counterintelligence device inside that we don’t know about. If we touch it, we might ruin everything.”

“Counterintelligence device?” Lei Zongkang looked doubtful. It was the first time he had heard the phrase, though he could roughly understand what it meant.

Wu Sanliang nodded and continued, “Master Yuan also said that if it’s an encoded message, one letter by itself is useless. Without a large body of messages using the same symbols for comparison, there’s no way to decipher the contents. Opening it wouldn’t help us, so he told us not to touch it and risk alerting the snake by striking the grass.”

Lei Zongkang slowly nodded. “Makes sense. Master Yuan thought it through. If that’s what he said, we’d better be careful.”

With that, he opened his arms and released the Goldenwing back into the air.

The bird, freed from the predator’s grasp, immediately beat its wings and fled into the distance.

Yuan Gang had forbidden the two men from following it closely.

Wu Sanliang quickly cleaned the transparent paste from the finger he had used. Then both men began disguising themselves while still riding the Scarlet Hunting Eagle.

Once everything was ready, Wu Sanliang reached into a leather pouch at his waist and pulled out a small mouse-like animal called a Blind Mouse.

It had gray fur, tiny eyes, and a plump pink nose that twitched repeatedly as it sniffed the air.

While Maolu Villa entertained its guest with a banquet and host and guest talked at length over the table, the two men far away continued their pursuit beneath moon and stars, at times passing through dark thunderclouds flickering with lightning.

Yuan Gang behaved as usual. Duan Hu waited silently inside the villa. Yuan Gang had given him one task: the moment any news came back, he was to report it immediately.

When the first light of dawn appeared along the horizon, the terrain ahead made Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang look at each other in surprise.

They knew this place far too well.

It was Star-Plucking City!

After a brief discussion, as they neared Star-Plucking City, Wu Sanliang leapt from the flying mount and glided toward the city.

Lei Zongkang turned the Scarlet Hunting Eagle away and searched for the agreed hiding place. The eagle also needed to be fed and allowed to recover its strength.

The place where the Scarlet Hunting Eagle came down stirred some emotion in Lei Zongkang. It was a forest beside a stretch of wasteland. Years ago, there had been a clash in this very area, and Niu Youdao had injured him here.

Now all of them were living well enough, proof that the elder sister who had led them had made the right decision. Yet the very woman who had decided they should follow Niu Youdao was now sleeping beneath the earth.

Inside Star-Plucking City, Wu Sanliang, his appearance completely altered, wandered through the streets with the Blind Mouse concealed in his sleeve. He followed the direction the little creature indicated in secret.

At last, he stopped outside a shop bearing a sign that read “Shunfeng Hall.”

Wu Sanliang was not unfamiliar with the establishment. It was something like an escort agency in the secular world: a place that took money to run errands and handle affairs for clients.

He walked directly into Shunfeng Hall and looked around. At the counter, he pretended to ask the shopkeeper about prices for various errands.

Inwardly, however, he felt helpless. As far as he knew, Shunfeng Hall employed neither very few nor very many people. He could hardly ask direct questions without alerting the snake.

He had only chatted with the shopkeeper for a short while when someone came out from the rear hall. The man was obviously wearing a false face. As he passed nearby, the Blind Mouse inside Wu Sanliang’s sleeve suddenly stirred, then quickly settled again.

Wu Sanliang immediately understood. The Blind Mouse would not have reacted without reason. The man who had just passed must have been close to the special tracking scent carried by the Goldenwing and had likely picked up a trace of it on his own body, enough to confuse the Blind Mouse for an instant.

After another couple of sentences, Wu Sanliang tried to bargain. The shopkeeper shook his head and told him that Shunfeng Hall had fixed posted prices and did not haggle.

Wu Sanliang used the refusal as his excuse to fling his sleeve and leave. The moment he stepped out of Shunfeng Hall, he swept his gaze rapidly over the street, caught sight of the figure already moving away through the crowd, and immediately followed in the same direction.

There was nothing he could do directly against Shunfeng Hall. All he could do was choose one person as an entry point and keep watch on him.

He followed through the flow of people for a while and saw his target enter the largest pill emporium in the cultivation world, a shop belonging to Ling Sect.

Wu Sanliang reached the entrance and observed briefly from outside. The target appeared to be purchasing something. Wu Sanliang did not dare enter. They had already seen one another at Shunfeng Hall, and another encounter might arouse suspicion.

At this point, the tracking and countertracking techniques Yuan Gang had trained into all three of them finally came into use. The situation was almost absurd when one thought about it.

Yuan Gang had trained Duan Hu, Lei Zongkang, and Wu Sanliang in this field out of sheer necessity. Niu Youdao had risen too high in status. Some of the things that now needed doing were no longer suitable to entrust to ordinary mortals.

Yuan Gang could not personally handle every matter either. One man simply did not have enough time. He needed cultivators to do some of the work for him, and these three were comparatively trustworthy.

So, in order to let them carry out assignments to their fullest effectiveness, Yuan Gang had once designed all sorts of scenarios and put the three through specialized training.

[End of Chapter 622]