Drilling Mountain Leopard, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. "Don’t underestimate hunters. They’re quite skilled. Spending their days fighting beasts is a life-or-death line of work. Many of our own brothers used to be hunters."

"Look, Diao Liu has many wounds, but the fatal one is in his lower abdomen. He was clearly run through from below by a sharp weapon."

"My guess is he was ambushed while on horseback."

The Second Shopkeeper glanced at the corpse and said admiringly, "You make a good point, Boss. But we’ve already investigated. Not many hunters went into the mountains that day, and we questioned them repeatedly without finding anything suspicious."

Drilling Mountain Leopard sneered. "Either they’re lying, or it was someone else. Killing seven of our brothers in one go without letting a single one escape—that’s definitely not the work of one person!"

"Look at Wei Dagang’s chest. It’s obviously an injury from a blunt weapon. The wound has been damaged, so we can’t tell what kind of weapon it was, but the force was so immense that it punched right through his chest."

"With that much power, I doubt even an ordinary practitioner at the Third Layer of the Power Realm could do it!"

The Second Shopkeeper sucked in a sharp breath. "Could it have been the authorities?"

Drilling Mountain Leopard immediately shook his head. "If it were the authorities, they would have made a huge show of it by now, not kept it a secret. The people from the martial sects and dojos, on the other hand, are highly suspicious."

At this, he paused in thought, then suddenly turned to one of his men. "Skinny Monkey, have you searched the surrounding area?"

Skinny Monkey was the gang’s lead scout, responsible for reconnaissance and gathering intelligence.

The man was short and lean. Hearing the question, he immediately replied, "Boss, I’ve already sent men to search the area."

Drilling Mountain Leopard said, "Send more men. See if anything else was left behind."

"Yes, sir!"

Skinny Monkey acknowledged the order and dispatched a dozen more bandits with hunting dogs to search the area.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a man came running back to report. "Boss, we found another cave! There are two exotic beasts inside..."

Hearing about two exotic beasts, the bandits were startled and drew their weapons, preparing for a fight.

The messenger took a huge gasp of air before continuing, "The corpses of exotic beasts."

Skinny Monkey cursed, "Damn it! You trying to scare us with that dramatic pause?"

Drilling Mountain Leopard waved a hand to silence him and said, "Lead the way."

The messenger led the group to the cave where Zhao Lin and his companions had hidden the bear and the other beast. Inside, a dozen bandits were struggling to drag the two carcasses out.

Zhao Lin and the others had used a wooden raft to drag the beasts into the cave. Now, the raft was broken and the snow had melted, leaving the bandits no choice but to haul them out by sheer manpower.

When they finally managed to haul the two exotic beasts out, the assembled bandits were stunned.

Drilling Mountain Leopard saw at a glance that a section of the bear’s right chest had been carved away. The bear gall was gone.

...

"Master Liao, are the axes I ordered ready yet?"

Zhao Lin called out as he walked into the blacksmith shop in Lisha Town.

The master blacksmith was instructing his apprentice on swinging a sledgehammer. "They’re ready! Just a minute," he shouted back without looking up.

"No rush," Zhao Lin said, pulling up a stool and sitting down.

His tuition was due in half a month, and he didn’t have enough silver on hand. ’Hunting in the mountains is the fastest way to make money,’ Zhao Lin thought.

’If I can just take down one big animal, I’ll have enough for tuition.’

He planned to go alone this time. For one, Zhou Pao and the others weren’t short on money and had no need to risk their necks in the mountains. For another, more people meant more ways to split the earnings.

A craftsman must first sharpen his tools to do his work well. Zhao Lin had never learned archery, and it was too late to start now, so he figured throwing axes were a better option. He could use them to attack large beasts.

He had buried the throwing axes from his last hunt, so a few days ago, he had commissioned the town blacksmith to forge some new ones. Today was his day off, so he came to pick them up.

At the same time, he had another goal in mind: ’I need to find a suitable beast’s Essence Soul for my Spirit Beast Scroll to absorb.’

’The Strength slot has stabilized. With eight slots still empty, I can think about adding another specialty...’

A few moments later, Master Liao finished with his apprentice and walked over carrying a basket. Inside were four small axes.

Zhao Lin inspected them. He wasn’t too concerned about their sharpness, but their weight and balance had to be identical. Otherwise, they would be hard to control when thrown.

"How are they?" Master Liao asked.

"Excellent work, Master Liao."

Zhao Lin promptly paid and left the blacksmith shop, heading straight for the town’s apothecary.

One must always carry medicine for injuries when hunting in the mountains; that was a lesson Zhao Lin had learned from Zhou Pao.

"Two packets of your best Antiseptic Elixir, please."

Zhao Lin said to the clerk attending to him.

"Certainly."

The clerk deftly weighed out two portions of the Antiseptic Elixir, wrapped them, and handed them to Zhao Lin.

Zhao Lin took the medicine and was about to leave when he heard a rough voice ask, "Shopkeeper, do you have any whole bear galls for sale? An elder in my family has developed some nasty sores, and I need it urgently."

Hearing the words "bear gall," Zhao Lin’s heart skipped a beat. He stopped, turned back to the clerk, and said, "I just remembered, I was supposed to get three packets. Could you please give me one more?"

The clerk paused for a second, then quickly replied, "Of course. One moment, please."

The Shopkeeper said to the newcomer, "We have bear gall. What quality are you looking for?"

"Quality doesn’t matter, as long as it’s fresh," the rough voice replied.

Zhao Lin took the opportunity to sneak a look at the speaker. It was a short, stocky man. Despite his attempts at disguise, his bearing was quite similar to that of Diao Liu and the others.

’I don’t know how those bandits did it, but they actually managed to track this down.’

Although Zhao Lin was on alert, he wasn’t overly worried. He was sure he hadn’t left any direct evidence.

’Qinghe County has seven towns, each with an apothecary, and the county seat itself has several more. Who knows how long it will take for the bandits to trace the sale back to the shop in Songyuan Town.’

Still, this was a wake-up call. The incident wasn’t over; the bandits were still investigating secretly.

"We don’t have any fresh stock, only older bear galls," the Shopkeeper said, flipping through his ledger.

The stocky man’s face fell with disappointment. "Then never mind. The physician specifically requested a fresh bear gall, preferably one harvested within the last three months."

Hearing this, Zhao Lin was almost certain they were looking for him.

’A bear gall isn’t some fruit or vegetable where fresher is always better. Specifying one harvested within the last three months... it seems the bandits not only found the bodies of their comrades, but the carcasses of the bear and the other beast as well.’

"Shopkeeper, if you manage to acquire a bear gall less than three months old, I’m willing to pay fifty percent above market price. I can even pay a deposit right now. What do you say?"

As he spoke, the stocky man took out a money pouch and placed it on the counter.

An idea sparked in Zhao Lin’s mind. He quickly averted his gaze as a thought surfaced: ’My training expenses for the next three months are covered!’

"Sir, your medicine is all wrapped up," the clerk said, walking over with the packet.

"Great, thanks!"

Zhao Lin paid and left the apothecary. He found a deserted corner of the street, took off his outer clothes and put them on inside out, then grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it on his face.

It was his first time doing something like this, and Zhao Lin couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Scenes from spy movies he’d watched in his past life flashed through his mind.

’If you’re robbing a bandit, it doesn’t really count as a robbery, does it?’

Before long, the stocky man emerged from the apothecary and headed straight for the north side of town.