Chapter 229: Chapter 222 Scouti

However, between factions and noble families throughout the ages, the primary strategy of war was always to strike at the heart.

The Nine Insect Gang may seem powerful and ferocious, but if they were to rely solely on their own strength to take down the Black Tiger Gang, the likely outcome would be a pyrrhic victory.

They had already absorbed a Seven-Star Sect before, which meant they had accumulated a certain amount of war experience.

This time, before launching the war to invade the Black Tiger Gang, they had already employed a variety of combination punches.

There were locust plagues, assassinations of the Black Tiger Gang’s Insect Masters, and alliances with the Shennong Sect to strike together. It was estimated that the subjects of the Black Tiger Gang who were well-informed had long been living in constant fear.

Qin Niu’s escape was exceptionally swift.

His regular training and activities in the mountains had allowed him to adapt well to the current terrain.

He moved through the mountains like a cunning lynx, agile and swift.

After running non-stop for about seven or eight miles, the sound of pursuers behind him could no longer be heard.

But he felt the danger growing more and more palpable.

He couldn’t explain it; it was purely a sharp intuition.

Now, the sky was revealing a faint pre-dawn light, and his vision could barely make out objects fifty meters away.

“Master…”

The Diamond Ink Turtle sent him a faint spiritual signal.

Being a Grade Five Beast Pet, its spiritual power shouldn’t be this weak. This was because it had just learned to communicate with Qin Niu using its mental intent, and the skill was still somewhat unrefined.

With more practice, it would become more proficient.

“Danger ahead!”

It seemed quite anxious.

Among Qin Niu’s many pets, it was the most timid.

Using it as an early warning system in the future would not be a bad idea.

“What danger do you sense?”

Both he and the Diamond Ink Turtle had sensed danger, which confirmed that his intuition was accurate.

“I don’t know!”

The Diamond Ink Turtle replied with conviction.

Facing unclear danger ahead and pursuers behind, Qin Niu’s venture to find the Green Demon’s treasure was proving to be fraught with ill fortune.

“Fourth, your sensory abilities are strong. Can you sense any danger ahead?”

“I can only sense insects or food!”

Fourth was of no help either.

Each Beast Pet had its unique talents, and they only paid attention to things related to their own interests.

Be it insects, beasts or birds, they were only interested in food or threats.

All other entities would be automatically ignored by them.

Qin Niu instinctively slowed down.

In his ears, he could faintly hear a subtle noise that seemed to be coming from a tree ahead.

It didn’t sound like noises made by birds or animals like squirrels or monkeys. He focused his gaze on the location of that tree, but all he could see was a lush canopy; nothing else was visible.

“Little honeybee, go check around that tree.”

Qin Niu released an ordinary honeybee.

For this trip, he had brought three different types of honeybees.

War Bees, Green Ring Worker Bees, and ordinary Worker Bees, all to cope with various situations.

With the sky still somewhat dim and the Queen Bee not by his side, he was unsure if this ordinary honeybee was up to the task of scouting this time?

It flapped its wings and followed Qin Niu’s command, heading towards the large tree.

Just as it approached that area, it was abruptly killed by something.

It could possibly have been a spider or another insect adept at preying on insects. The honeybee didn’t even manage to send a distress signal before it was instantly taken out.

The Nine Insect Gang rose to power wielding insect-controlling Insect Masters, and they had a multitude of such masters.

Indeed, masters were as common as clouds.

The honeybee that Qin Niu had sent out, though just a Grade Two ordinary Worker Bee, was silently and effortlessly killed by some entity.

This indicated that the enemy hiding in the tree was extremely formidable. Was it a man or a beast, a bird lurking inside that tree?

He couldn’t be certain.

To send another honeybee would be tantamount to sending it to its death.

If it were indeed an enemy hiding there, it would immediately be on high alert.

This time, he decided to dispatch a Termite to scout the path.

He specifically selected a Grade Three Soldier Ant.

“Go to that area and scout. If you encounter danger, come back immediately.”

Termites lived in darkness, and their vision was generally poor; their real strength lay in their sense of smell.

The previous honeybee was instantly killed by the enemy, partly due to the dim lighting.

Honeybees needed good light conditions to function during the day.

The current dim light was highly disadvantageous to them.

The Termite quickly crawled forward while Qin Niu lay in wait.

Before long, the Termite scurried back.

“Master, there are fierce spiders and mantises ahead.”

“Hmm, well done.”

Qin Niu praised it and put it back into his custom-made Insect Bag.

Now that he had confirmed the presence of two dangerous insects ahead, he could almost conclude that someone was hiding in that tree.

In the dead of night, no normal person would hide in such a place.

What on earth was this person doing?

Knowing there was danger ahead and that someone, likely an Insect Master, was hiding in that tree,

Qin Niu certainly wouldn’t continue charging forward like a stunned ox.

Unlike other smugglers, he had a beast pet capable of handling most insects’ attacks.

Poisonous mosquitoes, wasps, and the like, could hardly inflict any harm on him.

He also had a sufficient supply of food on him.

So he was in no rush to leave this place.

He decided to first get a clear understanding of the situation, make sure there was no danger, or find a safe route before leaving.

Having made up his mind, he decided to play the game of ‘the most dangerous place is the safest.’

He chose a nearby spot suitable for hiding and like a monkey, climbed a large tree silently without causing any noise, because he wasn’t sure how formidable the person hidden inside the distant tree was.

Now he was in the dark, and the other party was exposed, an advantage for him.

As the sky gradually brightened, Qin Niu lurked motionlessly within the leaves and branches.

His gaze was fixed on monitoring the large tree in the distance.

At that moment, two figures came running swiftly from behind.

They wore Vine Armor and had green and white patterns painted on their faces. Both were well-built with developed muscles, their bare arms displaying tight and dense muscles.

They moved through the mountains with more agility than wild beasts.

Their cultivation probably hovers around Grade Eight or Nine of the Mortal Realm.

Such cultivation levels, not even reaching Acquired Realm, were like ants in Qin Niu’s eyes.

The clothing of these two clearly indicated that they were soldiers of the Nine Insect Gang.

As they approached rapidly, Qin Niu held his breath and focused, daring not to make any noise. He didn’t even dare to look directly at them and instead monitored their movements with just the corners of his eyes.

Fortunately, they didn’t notice Qin Niu hidden in the tree.

The two fast passed by.

When they passed the tree that was suspected of hiding someone, they looked up.

“Wumu, did anyone pass by here last night?”

“Didn’t notice anything.”

A young man’s voice came from the tree.

As Qin Niu had speculated, there really was someone hiding in the tree.

Fortunately, he was vigilant enough to have detected the disturbance in that tree earlier, and so he wasn’t discovered by the other party’s secret lookout.

“Ya Zhake has laid spider webs inside the trees at the border, and someone has broken through. But we searched thoroughly and couldn’t find that person. Ya Zhake believes it’s very likely they escaped in this direction.”

“You guys go ask the other scouts! I’m certain, absolutely no one passed under my tree last night.”

“Wumu, you didn’t slack off and fall asleep last night, did you?”

“Bullshit, I’m not a scout for just one day. You can doubt my ability, but you can’t doubt my character.”

The young man hidden in the tree was furious.

He was just short of swearing an oath to the heavens.

“Besides, though my spider webs are no match for Ya Zhake, if anyone passed through the line I’m guarding, I would definitely have noticed.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Niu’s heart stirred slightly.

In the future, he must be careful of the spider webs set by the enemy, for they would know immediately upon contact.

“That person must have fled in this direction, we even thought you had captured them already! Last night, under the leadership of Ya Zhake, we hit a big score. We captured a total of forty-six smugglers, including some masters of Grade Three of the Acquired Realm.

Hehe, Kruiwa and I earned fifty military merits each while laying down.”

The soldier on the left with longer hair and a small mustache bragged about last night’s capture.

If they captured forty-six smugglers in total, wasn’t that netting them all in one go?

Those people, who thought they were clever by choosing to smuggle through Shihe Town, had actually fallen straight into the enemy’s ambush.

It was uncertain what punishments the captured smugglers would face. “Anyway, I can guarantee that no one escaped through the line I’m guarding. Ali, were there young women among the smugglers you captured yesterday?” “Yes, of course. There were quite a few! One woman, in particular, was very beautiful with a slender body and skin so tender you could squeeze water out of it, appearing to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. And her strength wasn’t weak either, possessing Grade One of the Acquired Realm.

If you want a wife, you’d better hurry up and accumulate military merits!

But you can forget about the woman I just mentioned.

Ya Zhake will definitely offer her to Song Zan.”

The territory of the Nine Insect Gang, being mountainous and dense with forests, was considered a poor and backward region.

It’s said that desolate mountains and treacherous rivers breed crafty people.

The people here were not only vicious and brutish but also lived in harsh conditions due to poverty and backwardness.

It was only after they annexed the territory of the Seven-Star Sect that they gained some economic strength.

The area Qin Niu was currently in used to belong to the Seven-Star Sect.

According to the map, past this hilly area, there was a large expanse of flat land ahead suitable for farming.

“A thousand military merits just to get a wife, when will I be able to save that much! Ali, your days are comfortable, having already saved enough military merits to get a beautiful woman.”

“We put our lives on the line at the front to expand territory with the Gang Leader, if not for money and women? I love women, especially those from the Black Tiger Gang, pretty and charming. If I can save another thousand military merits this time, I’m planning not to exchange for a Cultivation Technique, but to get another woman instead. Being attended by two women in bed would definitely be blissful,” Ali said with a laugh.

“Kruiwa, why don’t you exchange a woman to be your wife?”

“I want to exchange for a powerful insect so I can become an Insect Master as formidable as Ya Zhake.”

Every person’s ambition is different.

Some revel in the land of warmth and tenderness, others yearn for greater strength.

“Alright, we need to hurry and ask around elsewhere then report back to Ya Zhake, I won’t chat with you anymore,” said one.

The two swiftly ran off in another direction..