The night was vast and boundless; several figures left Chu City through its gates.
With Dongfang Qi’s waist token, Feng Bailing passed through the city gates smoothly.
But this spelled trouble for Feng Wan, tasked with protecting Feng Bailing.
"This Hei Dian, what has he been fed recently that he runs so incredibly fast?"
Feng Wan struggled greatly in pursuit; all he could see ahead was a dark shadow growing ever more distant.
He chased all the while, having to leave secret signals along the path.
I had long guessed that the folks from Grandmaster Mansion would relocate the child, and as soon as I left their premises, they’d send people to give chase.
Princess Feng was being too rash, venturing off on her own in pursuit. True, she had Hei Dian, but the opposition had several people, and she, as a lady, lacked martial skills.
Feng Wan chased from behind, while Feng Bailing and Hei Dian made their way out of the city.
"Isn’t that Dacang Mountain?"
Feng Wan pursued until around the third watch of the night when Feng Bailing and Hei Dian appeared to enter a vast and desolate mountain range.
Ten miles outside of Chu City lay a mountain known as Dacang.
Under the night sky, the mountain mass stood ominously dark, with the occasional roar of ferocious beasts and the cries of eagles echoing through the stream valleys. A bone-chilling wind blew past, making one’s hair stand on end as they drew near.
In earlier years, this mountain was the Royal Family’s annual hunting ground, but it had been sealed off after the Second Prince had a horse accident here before his campaign years ago, leading to his coma.
With no one hunting there anymore, the ferocious birds and beasts bred even faster.
It’s said that each year, inattentive hunters passing by would be snatched by wild beasts, leaving not even their bones behind.
The people from Grandmaster Mansion left the child here, likely because they figured the numerous wild beasts would obliterate any trace.
"Princess Feng is a lady oblivious to the dangers of Dacang Mountain, what’s to be done now?"
In desperate urgency, Feng Wan dared not delay further and, biting his lip, entered Dacang Mountain as well.
Feng Bailing sat atop Hei Dian, tracking all the way to the foot of this mountain.
The group ahead seemed to realize they were being followed, plunging into the dense woods as they went. Fortunately, with Hei Dian by her side and her Seventh Sense to scout the path, Feng Bailing managed quite smoothly through the mountains.
Then came the sound of a stream ahead.
Feng Bailing was startled.
"Not good, there’s a stream. If they cross the river, the scent will be lost, making it hard to track."
Hei Dian halted as well.
This night was moonless and windy; darkness shrouded everything, with tree silhouettes everywhere. Occasionally, a pair or two of luminescent green eyes glared from the shadows, hungrily watching Feng Bailing.
But the creatures stayed away, daunted by the formidable presence of Hei Dian.
"Those scoundrels are so cruelly desperate to flee into such a place."
Feng Bailing fetched a flashlight from her first aid kit, shone it around—empty. She turned on the flashlight and scanned the area.
A stream, about five to six meters wide, lay ahead. The recent spring rains had made the water flow fiercely.
The group, after taking the child across the stream, had disappeared without a trace, looking to have headed towards the mid-mountain.
Having crossed the stream, Hei Dian sniffed about, then shook its head.
Feng Bailing furrowed her brows.
Seeing the unceasing flow of the stream, an idea struck her. She returned to the edge of the stream and dipped her hand in.
Inside her body, the Water Holy Seal sensed the abundant water vapor of the mountains and greedily absorbed it.
As she absorbed the water vapor, a vision appeared before Feng Bailing’s eyes.
The Water Holy Seal, with control over the myriad water flows in the world, meant that those people could have never expected that the stream beneath their feet would betray them, allowing her to trace their whereabouts.