Chapter 88 - 67 : The Chase (2)

Chapter 88: Chapter 67 : The Chase (2)

"I heard he doesn’t even care who he drains."

"Animals weren’t enough for him, so he moved on to people."

More laughter followed, but this time Ethan felt it linger in his mind instead of simply passing him by. He knew the stories were lies, yet hearing strangers repeat them so confidently made them harder to ignore. He tightened his jaw as the words settled deeper than he wanted them to.

He had never slaughtered a village. He had never drained anyone. Yet the lies had travelled far enough that strangers were now throwing them at him as though they had witnessed everything themselves. No matter how much he tried to dismiss them, he could already feel the words beginning to weigh on him.

Another voice called out.

"Hey, blood demon! Is it true you were looking for young girls too?"

The laughter behind him grew louder, and Ethan’s eyes hardened. The anger he had been holding back stirred again, creeping into his thoughts with every mocking voice behind him. His jaw tightened, and he took a slow breath, forcing himself to settle before continuing down the road.

Another taunt came from behind.

"What happened? Cat got your tongue?"

Ethan ignored them.

He kept running.

The shouts came again after a while, each one followed by laughter. Some repeated things he had already heard in the settlement. Others twisted them further, turning rumor into insult and insult into something uglier.

Minutes passed.

Then more.

The road stretched through the forest, twisting between the trees as the moon slowly shifted across the sky. Ethan kept his pace steady, occasionally glancing back to make sure they were still following.

They were.

No matter how much distance he created, the riders kept coming.

Another voice rang out.

"Come on, blood demon! Show us what you did to that sect cultivator!"

They were laughing again. His eyes narrowed as the laughter continued. The words were nothing but lies, yet they had spread far enough for strangers to use them against him as though they were facts.

He looked ahead and kept running. He was faster than them, and if he pushed himself, he could eventually create enough distance to lose them.

But the thought no longer felt satisfying.

Why was he still running?

The question came quietly. Ethan’s expression slowly changed. Why was he still running?

Ethan’s thoughts settled for a moment. The Azure Cloud Sect was one thing. These people were another. They acted as though he were nothing more than a piece of meat they had already decided belonged to them, riding behind him with their weapons out and laughing as if they had nothing to fear.

Their confidence was almost insulting.

Ethan glanced back at the riders. They were still coming, completely convinced that sooner or later, they would catch him. He turned his eyes forward again.

He had spent the past few days avoiding trouble, changing routes whenever necessary and running whenever a situation became more trouble than it was worth. It had worked well enough until now.

Ethan slowly exhaled. Maybe he had been too willing to keep giving ground.

If someone came after him with the intention of killing him, he didn’t have to keep running. There was a difference between avoiding trouble and allowing someone to chase him endlessly.

The thought settled in Ethan’s mind without much resistance. He wasn’t looking for a reason to fight, but if they chose to keep pushing until it came to that, he wouldn’t keep giving ground.

That was all. No hatred, no need for revenge, just a line he was no longer willing to let them cross.

Ethan’s gaze shifted to the road ahead. He was no longer thinking about how to put more distance between them. His attention had turned to the men behind him and how he could bring the chase to an end.

The forest continued to change around him. The road became uneven beneath Ethan’s feet, and the trees grew closer together. He had to watch where he stepped as the ground started rising and dipping beneath the trees.

When Ethan looked ahead, he could see low hills stretching beneath the moonlight. The road had almost disappeared, with only a narrow path winding between them. Farther ahead, the ground dropped into a long dip between two hills. Ethan slowed as he approached and looked down.

A shallow ravine ran between the hills, with trees growing along its sides. Rocks stuck out of the ground, and thick roots crossed parts of the path. In some places, the passage was wide enough to move through easily. In others, the trees and rocks left only a narrow space to pass.

Ethan’s eyes moved over the terrain. Some areas were open enough for a person to move quickly. Others were clogged with brush, exposed roots, and loose stone.

Behind him, the horses were still coming, their hooves echoing faintly between the hills. Ethan looked at the ravine again. A horse could enter, but the narrow parts would force it to slow down. The trees would make it harder for the riders to stay together, while the uneven ground gave Ethan more freedom to move than the horses would have.

Ethan looked over his shoulder at the six cultivators still following behind him. Two at the Qi Refining stage, while the other four only at Body Tempering. On the open road, their numbers gave them plenty of room to move and support one another, but the ravine ahead was different. The narrow paths, trees, and uneven ground would make it difficult for all of them to stay together. If he could separate them, their advantage would quickly disappear. Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the terrain again. He had been trying to put distance between himself and them, but perhaps that was no longer the best way to deal with them. He turned toward the ravine and started down.

"He’s going into the hills!"

A voice shouted from behind him.

Another laughed.

"He’s trapped!"

Ethan heard the spirit horses pick up their pace behind him, but he didn’t look back. He continued down into the ravine, letting the trees close around him until the darkness swallowed his figure.

The first horse entered a moment later. Its hooves struck against the exposed stones, forcing the rider to pull on the reins and slow down. Another horse followed close behind, but there was no longer enough room for the riders to move side by side. The others came after them, their laughter still carrying through the ravine as they urged their horses forward.

Ethan glanced back once. They were still coming, still wearing those careless grins as though nothing had changed. He almost shook his head. They looked like lambs walking willingly into the slaughterhouse.

"Watch the ground!"

"I see it!"

"Stay together!"

They tried.

The terrain did not allow it.

The path narrowed further. One rider moved toward the higher ground while another took the lower side, with the Body Tempering cultivators following wherever they could. A fallen tree forced one horse around a bend, while another rider had to dismount briefly to get past a cluster of rocks. Little by little, the six men were pulled farther apart.

Ethan kept moving.

Then Ethan noticed an opening. A large boulder rose beside the path, with the slope beyond it climbing sharply toward a higher ledge. He changed direction and slipped behind the boulder before moving up the slope. His foot found a solid stone, and he pushed himself higher, catching a thick branch and pulling himself onto the slope. He moved through the brush quietly, careful not to disturb the leaves more than necessary.

Then stopped.

Below him, the first rider passed through a patch of moonlight before disappearing beneath the trees again. Ethan remained still, watching from the higher ground as another horse followed, its rider briefly catching the pale light before vanishing into the darkness.

The trees had become thicker here, leaving parts of the ravine buried in deep shadow. From where Ethan stood, he could see the riders moving through those scattered patches of moonlight, sometimes clear, sometimes almost swallowed by the darkness.

The Body Tempering cultivators were already spread out. One had taken the higher path, while another had been forced around the rocks below. Even the two Qi Refining cultivators had been separated. One continued along the main path, while the other moved through the trees on a lower route.

Ethan watched them from above, his eyes moving quietly between the scattered figures. For a moment, the ravine was almost silent again, broken only by the distant sound of hooves and the rustling leaves.

He remained still.

The men continued forward.

"Where did he go?"

"He was right ahead!"

"Search the sides!"

"He couldn’t have gone far!"

Their voices carried through the trees.

Ethan remained still, listening as the scattered riders searched for him. For hours, they had been the ones watching him, chasing him, forcing him to keep moving and react to every attack. Now they had lost sight of him, yet they continued searching without realizing how close he was.