As the rustling noises in her ears grew louder, Tang Shu’s footsteps became lighter and more graceful.
When she was a hundred meters away from the target, she finally saw several figures in military green emerging from the woods.
Are these... soldiers?
Tang Shu paused with confusion, casually glancing up at the towering trees above.
An idea flashed through her mind, and in the next instant, she harnessed her inner strength, lightly tapping her feet against the tree trunk to gain momentum, and her whole body soared into the air.
In just a few breaths, Tang Shu had landed on a large tree dozens of meters high.
The forests near the Northeast Mountains had been around for many years, and the trees in the heartland had lived for centuries; even three people hugging the trunk of this big tree couldn’t encircle it.
To facilitate her movement, Tang Shu was dressed in a grey tracksuit today; its color blended in with the grey tree trunk, providing excellent camouflage.
Even someone with good eyesight would find it difficult to spot her in a tree dozens of meters away when looking up.
Tang Shu counted the slowly moving green figures below in her mind.
Within a hundred meters, apart from a few active small animals, she only detected the presence of six people, who seemed to be "equipped" quite superbly.
What were they doing?
Just as Tang Shu entertained this question, a "squeak" sounded not far off, prompting the people under the tree to move.
"At nine o’clock direction!"
Three male voices sounded in quick succession, coming from people hidden in the underbrush, dressed in military green.
From the tone of their voices, Tang Shu could tell they had a pronounced accent, which was not typical of the Northeast.
They were foreigners, but how had they ended up deep in a rarely frequented forest?
No sooner had the voices died down than the originally cautious men suddenly sped up.
This action seemed to startle the little creature nearby, which dashed toward the distance at incredible speed, leaving behind a blur in the air.
"Is that a Purple Sable?!"
Tang Shu recognized the small purple figure, already knowing exactly what species it was.
The Tang Sect had also domesticated several purple sables; she was quite familiar with their habits and medicinal value. Not to mention, the purple sables found here often had extremely poisonous teeth.
Tang Shu’s previously indifferent eyes suddenly shone brightly, and almost without need for further thought, her figure vanished from the tree branches where she had been hiding.
After chasing for three to four miles, she landed in a patch of grass with the help of the tree trunks. The little creature seemed to sense danger on the ground and had already scampered up a centuries-old tree.
Tang Shu paused her motion, hearing footsteps approaching from afar and, after a moment’s thought, once again concealed herself.
She was curious to see just what these people were planning to do.
Before long, a group of six men arrived at the spot, holding what seemed to be instruments in their hands that started beeping more urgently as they got closer to the tree.
It was a device to detect life signs, Tang Shu concluded quickly.
She just didn’t know if the device had detected the purple sable, or herself, in hiding.
Then, as the beeping intensified, the purple sable was exposed right under the noses of the six men.
The men put away the wooden crossbows in their hands, and using the force of ropes, climbed up the large tree to once again engage with the diminutive purple sable.