Chapter 111 - 81 : The Wrong Lesson (2)

Chapter 111: Chapter 81 : The Wrong Lesson (2)

To the rogue cultivators, Blood Demon was a demonic cultivator, and killing those who came after him was hardly unusual for someone like that. Still, too many cultivators had disappeared along the same roads, and those who had actually approached Blood Demon had ended up dead. The ones who had only watched from a distance had lived to tell the tale, but the information they brought back was scattered. One account contradicted another, details changed as they passed from one person to the next, and no one had enough to piece together a complete picture of what Blood Demon was truly capable of.

"That’s exactly why we need to stop doing this separately," one of the quieter cultivators said. "You know what happens if we find him and someone decides to take him alone."

"Then let him try."

"And give him another body to drain?"

The words hung in the clearing.

The cultivator carrying a war-hammer expression darkened.

"You think numbers solve everything?"

"No. But neither does greed."

That earned an angry stare.

"Careful."

"I’m being careful. That’s why he is still standing before me and talking instead of lying somewhere with his skull bashed in."

He was ignored while a few of the cultivators exchanged looks. No one liked the idea of sharing the reward. But the longer they argued, the harder it became to ignore the obvious problem: none of them had what its takes to be able to claim it alone.

Finally, one of them spoke.

"We don’t have to share the bounty."

The others looked toward him.

"We find him together. Everyone brings their own people. We surround him before anyone makes a move."

"And then?"

"Then we see who gets the killing blow."

The war-hammer wielder folded his arms.

"So you want everyone to help you kill him, and whoever gets lucky at the end takes the hundred and fifty?"

"That’s the idea."

"And you expect the rest of us to agree?"

"No. I’m asking whether you have a better one."

Silence settled over the clearing again.

This time, no one immediately rejected it.

They still did not trust one another. None of them intended to surrender the bounty willingly, and every cultivator present understood that cooperation would last only as long as their common target remained alive. But they could at least agree that Blood Demon was no longer someone they could afford to approach carelessly.

The oldest cultivator at the table finally nodded.

"Then we do it properly."

He looked around the clearing.

"Contact the people you trust. I’ll speak to the groups I’ve dealt with before. If they agree, we gather everyone who is willing and find him before he has another chance to disappear."

One by one, the others nodded.

The meeting had begun with four men arguing over the bounty and ended with each of them returning to their own groups with the same intention: find more people willing to join the hunt.

Instead of chasing every rumor, groups began watching the roads they thought Blood Demon was most likely to take. One might wait near a bridge while another stayed farther along the road, leaving others to move through the hills between settlements and carry word if he was spotted. A tracking talisman could narrow the search, while knowledge of the roads and surrounding terrain gave them an idea of where he might appear next.

The pieces did not form a perfect net.

Not yet.

But slowly, they were beginning to close around him.

And among the cultivators gathering around the hunt, two Mid Qi Refining cultivators had quietly slipped into separate groups. Whether through disguise, careful deception, or simply being taken for another member, neither had drawn enough attention to reveal what they truly were. They had hidden themselves among the teams now spreading through the region, each keeping their true identity concealed while watching the others.

Neither knew the other was there.

One had heard about Blood Demon through a wandering cultivator he knew and changed his route after learning how many groups had already disappeared. The other had followed a different trail of information through his own connections, but neither had come here simply because of the bounty. For cultivators at their level, one hundred and fifty spirit stones was hardly enough to make the risk attractive. Blood Demon was dangerous, his ability to heal made him difficult to kill, and anyone who failed to finish the fight could end up giving a demonic cultivator a reason to remember their face. Most Mid Qi Refining cultivators understood that much and stayed away.

But desperation could make reasonable risks look different.

The older of the two was a grey-haired man who appeared to be in his sixties. His face was lined, but his body had not yet taken on the frailty of true old age. Years of cultivation had kept him looking far younger than his actual years, yet his lifespan was nearing its end, and he had reached a point where waiting was no longer an option. He had been stuck at his current realm for years, and the resources needed to attempt the next breakthrough were beyond what he could gather through ordinary means. If he failed to obtain them soon, there might not be enough time left for another attempt. The bounty was small compared with what he needed, but it was still a chance to gather a portion of those resources, and desperation had made even that chance worth considering.

The other cultivator had a different reason for being here. Years ago, a failed attempt at advancing his cultivation had damaged his meridians badly enough to leave him unable to progress normally. He had managed to stabilize himself, but repairing the damage required a rare spiritual medicine that he could not afford. Without it, his cultivation would remain where it was, and the longer he waited, the harder recovery would become. He had searched for other ways to obtain the medicine, but none had worked. When he heard about Blood Demon and the growing number of cultivators gathering around the bounty, he saw an opportunity he would normally have avoided.

Neither revealed his true cultivation.

Both allowed the others to believe they were merely Early Qi Refining cultivators interested in the bounty, while quietly hiding among the teams and waiting to see whether an opportunity would present itself.

There was no reason for either man to step forward yet. Let the others test the waters first. Every fight would reveal something, Blood Demon’s speed, his methods, the strength behind his attacks, and perhaps even the limits of his ability to heal. If enough of the weaker cultivators wore him down before either of them had to act, so much the better.

Neither man needed to say it aloud. They had both either lived long enough or have enough experience to understand the value of letting others take the risks first. So they remained hidden among the teams, watching and waiting while the hunters continued to learn more about the prey they were chasing.

The changes were beginning to show in places that had nothing to do with the bounty itself. Groups no longer moved through the region without considering who might already be watching the road ahead. Information about a sighting was passed along, compared with what others had heard, and sometimes discarded when the details failed to match. A group that returned empty-handed could still leave behind something useful for the next one, a route, a location, a warning, or a better idea of what to expect.

No one wanted to make the same mistake twice.

And with more hunters moving through the region, each encounter was giving the others more to work with.

That was the part Ethan had not expected.

He had wanted the survivor to spread the truth—that coming after him was dangerous. He had believed that once enough people understood that, they would think twice before attacking.

And they did.

They simply reached a different conclusion.

If one group could not claim the bounty, then several could work together. If one road was dangerous, then watch another. If Blood Demon could escape a group, then cover more directions and leave him fewer ways to disappear.

The reckless cultivators were becoming fewer, while the careful ones were becoming more organized.

The net around Ethan was still far from complete. There were gaps between the roads, hills, forests, and settlements, and those gaps gave him room to change direction. He could still avoid groups that did not attack him, and the region was too large for anyone to watch every possible route at once.

But his hunters were no longer rushing toward him blindly.

They were adapting.

But the hunt was no longer random.

The cultivators ahead of him were beginning to influence the paths he might take, while those behind him continued passing information forward. Every sighting, every rumor, and every failed attempt gave the next group a better idea of where to look and what to expect.

Ethan had thought his warning would make people stop coming.

Instead, it had taught them to come prepared.

And somewhere beyond the roads he had yet to travel, the first pieces of the net were already falling into place.