Chapter 88: Springing A Trap
The monstrous beasts stared straight at us, their attempt at hiding behind the trees rather feeble.
"Why're they looking at us? Do they usually do this?" I asked.
Monstrous beasts below Foundation Establishment behaved much like other animals. Usually, they just attacked. Yet, some retained a predatory instinct, observing their prey from afar, waiting for an opportunity.
"No," the old governor frowned. "This is strange. But we will send some people to take care of them."
"Do you think someone is leading them? They could be scouts," I offered.
The old governor paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "While possible, that is very unlikely. Even if, God forbid, they were led by a Foundation Establishment monstrous beast, they would be more likely to attack head-on since it would have the advantage. Even when Foundation Establishment monstrous beasts have human-like intelligence, they learn anew with a low chance of knowing human military strategies like scouts."
Certain bee-like monstrous beasts sent scouts like this, too, even without a Foundation Establishment leader. However, bringing up such a thing was useless since the creatures scouting us looked nothing like bees, and the monstrous beasts I referred to were not native to these lands.
I scrutinized the town wall and our defensive measures. Despite the rivalry between clans, the walls were manned with Body Tempering Cultivators. Yet, there were no cannons or similar deterrents against sizable monsters. To qualify as a monstrous beast, the creature would need to awaken a semblance of Qi, placing the average Body Tempering Cultivator at a massive disadvantage.
"Can I go with the party to hunt down those monsters?" I asked.
The governor met my gaze momentarily before stating, "That would be unnecessarily dangerous."
"I know, but I believe in my abilities," I insisted.
Asking him was merely a formality; we both understood I didn't need his permission. I was not his child or his servant. Quite the opposite, actually.
"Be careful out there," he nodded. Then he turned toward one of the guards and said, "Notify the team going out that they will have a new leader."
He was making me the team leader? That was quite generous of him. It's not like I necessarily needed to lead the team. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be at the top of the command chain in the team, so there wouldn't be unnecessary arguments.
I walked over to the edge of the wall and jumped down, softly landing on the grass with a crouch to absorb all the impact. While crouching, I touched the ground and tried to feel any tremors.
During my experience with the scorpions while I was with Song Song, I knew just how devastating underground ambushes were.
Standing up, I dusted off my hand, and while waiting for my new team to come out, I kept my eyes on the monstrous beasts in the distance. Controlling some of my Qi, I concentrated it softly in my eyes. The last thing I wanted was to go blind because I put too much Qi in them. That would be a ridiculous way to go blind, too.
If I thought my vision was better before, after using Qi in my eyes, it felt like the first time I was seeing things so clearly. No longer were shadows disturbing my vision, and even as the monstrous beasts hid, they were as clear as day to me.
The monstrous beasts spying on us were not from the same race. Just to mention some, one looked like a centaur, another was like a minotaur, and there was some kind of crow-like creature with arms and legs.
Slowly, a handful of Body Tempering Cultivators opened the town's large gates as a dozen people came out. Unlike the others, who wore colors representing their clans, these guys were decked out in dark uniforms. They bowed their heads respectfully toward me as the door closed behind them.
Amongst them, one of the stronger guys, who seemed to be in his late twenties and a seven-star Body Tempering Cultivator, stared at me with a heated glare. He must have been the previous leader before he was forced to step aside.
Well, this was something I had expected regarding these kinds of things. If he tried anything hot-headed while we were out there, I would snap his wry neck and leave him for the beasts to eat his corpse.
"If you don't know me, my name is Liu Feng. I will be your leader for this mission, and we will be exterminating those monsters just looking creepily at us," I pointed at the creatures in the distance, hiding in the shadows of the trees.
There was another reason why I would take even a minuscule amount of risk like this, but nobody needed to know that yet.
For now, only the governor should know I had broken through to Qi Gathering, and I was okay with that.
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While I never read The Art of War in my last life, I knew some of the lessons.
Appear weak where you are strong, and appear strong where you are weak. That was one of the many sayings that made perfect sense in this situation. If these monstrous beasts were really scouts, I wanted to make sure they only saw what I wanted them to.
"This is just a small mission, so grand speeches would be corny. Just follow me and stay in line, and make sure you listen to my orders no matter what they are," I said.
Thankfully, they all nodded, though some seemed reluctant to trust my commands. They still had no choice but to listen, and I was okay with that.
We began walking toward the beasts without delay, and I gave them instructions along the way. "We will all fight as a team, and don't try taking out a monstrous beast on your own. Also, if you feel overwhelmed, there is no shame in retreating and living to fight another day."
As we got closer to the monstrous beasts, they did not charge at us or act in any of their usual manners. There was not even a growl amongst them to try to look threatening.
Instead, all the monstrous beasts turned tail, and without a second thought or testing our powers, they just ran away.
What?
My team was ready to spring into a chase, but I raised my hand. "Stop!"
Surprisingly, they followed my orders, and none got too hasty before they even had the chance to think and argue my decision to stay behind.
"Monstrous beasts don't usually act like this. They might be leading us into a trap," I explained. "For now, we will retreat as we have no idea what is actually happening with this."
Going further into the forest might have revealed what these monstrous beasts were after. But in the end, I was not willing to sacrifice the lives of innocent people under my command.
As we returned to the town, the people who had come with me wore somber expressions but seemed satisfied. Before the gates opened, I leaped up, almost reaching the top of the wall in one fluid motion. Then, I used the wall as a springboard to propel myself upward again and reach the top.
The governor watched me the whole time, and I quickly began explaining what happened and my suspicions about the situation. Slowly, a frown marred his face as the old governor asked, "What would you do in a situation like this?"
As he spoke, he pointed in the distance where the monstrous beasts had returned to hiding behind the trees as soon as we had departed, showing that they were not afraid of humans despite their earlier retreat.
"I think we just have to spring their trap and see what they're up to," I said. "Preferably, two Qi Gathering Cultivators would do that, as there is no need to waste lives on it. We could go and do that right now."
"That's a good plan," the governor nodded. "But us two going away would leave the two clan heads to their own devices, and I don't trust those two quarreling fools not to get into a fight."
It was sad that he talked about them like children, but I understood his point of view and agreed with him. These clan leaders might be grown men of power, but they certainly bickered like children. Often missing the bigger picture.
"Sure, then I can just go with one of the Clan Heads," I offered.
He folded his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. Then he told one of the soldiers, “Go and call the Lu and Hong Clan leaders. Tell them it is an emergency, so I don’t have time for their dawdling around.”
“I will go and do so immediately, sir!” The soldier saluted before rushing away.
After that, I turned toward the monstrous beasts in the distance and kept my eyes on them. They were the same as before, and the chances of this being a scheme were high. My mind went through a dozen scenarios of what they could be up to, but without concrete proof, such assumptions were useless.
It didn’t take long for the two clan heads to arrive, and they seemed to be competing to see who could power walk faster toward us. The Lu Clan Head won that, sporting a triumphant look in his eyes.
These guys... They were ridiculous.
Despite what I felt about these two for trying to compete against each other even at times like these, I quickly swallowed such feelings and explained my theory to them. About how there must be some kind of intelligent leader leading the monstrous beasts, and we should be ready for anything. Perhaps even a Foundation Establishment monstrous beast could be close by, giving orders and testing if we had anyone strong enough to challenge it.
“It is a good theory,” the Hong Clan Leader nodded, dressed extravagantly, as always in red colors.
On the other hand, the Lu Clan Head was quieter and simply nodded. I liked him more than the constantly talkative Hong Clan Leader. That guy had mastered the art of breaking while talking somehow.
“That is why I think two Qi Gathering Cultivators like Lu Clan Head, and I should go and check how things are there, and we can escape if needed,” I said.
“Oho, you reached Qi Gathering? Congratulations are in order. You’re welcome to the Hong Clan anytime, and we will throw a feast that will be remembered for generations! It isn’t every day that someone so young reaches such a stage in cultivation,” the Hong Clan Head said, laughing with joy.
We were in the middle of a war, and he wanted to throw a party? I admired the governor for putting up with these guys all day and staying sane enough to manage a town.
Either way, I shook my head. "Perhaps at a later date."
Before he and the Lu Clan Leader could engage in some kind of contest, I just jumped off the wall again and said, "Feel free to follow me whenever you want, Lu Clan Leader."
I had chosen the Lu Clan Head to accompany me since he was quieter and didn't want my ears to fall off from constant yapping. Also, I wanted to concentrate on the matter at hand. Despite the words the Hong Clan Leader was saying, he didn't seem to take the circumstances seriously.
The Lu Clan Head quickly rushed next to me and grunted in affirmation before saying, "What should we do?"
"Just follow my lead for now," I advised and rushed toward our target. "Also, suppress your Qi just in case. Make us seem like two normal Body Tempering Cultivators."
As we stalked close to the monstrous beasts, they kept their eyes on us, and as soon as we were within a certain distance, they immediately ran away. The Lu Clan Head and I only needed to exchange glances, and we understood each other, giving chase to the monstrous beasts.
We chased them through the naked forests of leafless trees and snow. We could have caught up to them relatively quickly, but instead, we kept a comfortable pace as our goal was not to catch them but to see what they were up to.
But as we got deeper into the forest, we stopped as our senses picked something up. The Lu Clan head's eyes widened, and he asked, "What? How come I didn't sense it until now?"
"Animals are always good at hiding, even though they lack humans' traditional training methods. There are certain things like suppressing their Qi to hide their presence that animals do subconsciously," I said.
I looked around and was greeted by quite the sight. Gorillas as tall as trees, spiders the size of cars, snakes as thick as a tree trunk and as long as a bus, and many other monstrous beasts surrounded us. There were about forty of them. Somehow, we hadn't sensed them at all.
Huh, we had found ourselves in quite a pinch here.
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