"Kill!"
"West, west! A pack of wolves went that way, quickly stop them!"
"Ah! I'm down! Where are my teammates! Where are my teammates! Teammates, save me!"
"Damn it, I hit a teammate!"
The chaotic battlefield was a mess, with exciting scenes of human-beast combat everywhere, flesh and blood flying, dust rolling, and the brilliant light of activated Gu glowing.
This was the second day of the hunt, and the first time they encountered a beast group of comparable strength. The Gu Masters' cooperation was not seamless; in fact, it was completely uncoordinated...
"Do you even understand tactics! Do you even understand the art of command!"
"Killed seven or eight, all critically wounded!"
"I led this rhythm, I get the first credit, hahaha!"
"Damn it! Go! Ignore!"
This was the seventh day of the hunt. The main force's coordination was decent, the small teams' cooperation became increasingly skilled, and the efficiency of killing enemies was rapidly improving.
Another great battle.
After the battle, facing a chaotic battlefield, the Gu Masters were no longer as flustered as they were initially. Instead, they skillfully cleaned up the battlefield, treated the wounded, tallied gains and losses, and reorganized their team.
During this process, Zhou Ming diligently slacked off in every battle, working extremely hard to avoid actual combat.
He had to suppress his strength to avoid revealing any flaws, and also subtly help his teammates resolve dangers when they encountered them, which was even more tiring than fighting freely and killing wantonly.
Of course, after the battle ended, how he worked didn't matter as much.
At this moment, Zhou Ming and Zhou Hao were working together to dissect a Hundred Wolf King, skinning the wolf, chopping its claws, disassembling its bones, and boning its meat. Their movements were swift, clearly demonstrating they were excellent at assembly-line work.
"Something happened in the Family."
While they were working, the usually silent Zhou Hao suddenly spoke.
Zhou Ming, who had been wondering why Zhou Hao was unusually quiet today, was startled by these words.
"What happened?"
"A Rank Five Demonic Gu Master commanded a beast group to attack Warm Pool Valley and ambushed the Clan Chief during the chaos. In the end, the Clan Chief was injured but repelled the beast group and that Rank Five Demonic Gu Master. Now, Warm Pool Valley has entered a state of readiness for war."
"What!"
This exclamation wasn't from Zhou Ming, but from Zhou Yu, who was handling another wolf corpse with Zhou Ke nearby.
After several days of fighting, Zhou Yu had vented a lot of the gloom in his heart, and he looked much brighter and more cheerful, no longer as gloomy and serious as before.
His exclamation immediately attracted the attention of many people around them, who all looked over.
"It's nothing, nothing, we're just joking, hahaha," Zhou Hao quickly explained, laughing.
After the gazes of those around them dispersed, Zhou Hao slapped Zhou Yu on the head.
"Are you trying to die, shouting so loudly!"
"I, I couldn't help myself," Zhou Yu lowered his head, his voice much softer.
Immediately, he couldn't resist his curiosity and continued to ask, "But, Captain, was what you just said true? How did you know?"
Zhou Hao looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention except for his three teammates, whispered, "I overheard this. Don't spread it."
"Zhou Lin is Elder Zhou Mang's grandson, you know that, right?"
"Yesterday, I saw Zhou Lin receive a letter Gu. After reading it, his expression was very solemn, and he seemed distracted even during the battle, so I secretly observed him."
"Then, I overheard his conversation with Zhou Heng and learned what I just told you."
Zhou Lin and Zhou Heng were both Geniuses with Grade A Aptitude in their generation.
Currently, besides the Clan Chief who was a Rank Five cultivator, the Family also had three Rank Four Family Elders, with Elder Zhou Mang being the most senior and powerful among them.
"Where did a Rank Five Demonic Gu Master come from, who would suddenly attack a major Family that also has a Rank Five Gu Master?"
Zhou Ming frowned, vaguely feeling that this matter was not simple.
"Of course it wasn't a sudden attack. That Rank Five Demonic Gu Master was an old enemy of the Clan Chief from before, but he had disappeared for several years. We didn't expect him to suddenly reappear now."
"However…" Zhou Hao hesitated for a moment, lowering his voice even further: "That Demonic Gu Master cultivates the Dark Dao!"
The three of them were all startled, then reacted in unison, immediately shocked.
How could a Rank Five Dark Dao Gu Master command a beast group powerful enough to impact a major Family?
A Rank Five Enslavement Path Gu Master would be more plausible!
So, did this Demonic Gu Master have a Rank Five Enslavement Path accomplice, or…
"Wenren Family? Fu Family? Kou Family?"
"Shh!"
The Wenren Family, Fu Family, and Kou Family were precisely the major Families in this nearby area whose strength was similar to the Zhou Family.
Northern Plains was resource-poor, and major Families often went to war over survival resources. The rise and fall of Families were common occurrences in Northern Plains.
With the arrival of the Ten-Year Great Blizzard, the peace maintained between major Families for several years could be broken at any time.
To seize more resources and survive the Great Blizzard disaster, it was perfectly normal for other Families to go to war against the Zhou Family.
"Alright, let's not discuss this matter anymore," Zhou Hao ended the topic.
"Don't make wild guesses. You must trust the Family, trust the Clan Chief and the Family Elders. At the same time, pay attention to your own safety, be sharp, and never let your guard down until you return to the Family."
After giving the three of them a few instructions, Zhou Hao told everyone to continue working.
Zhou Ming bent down to continue processing the wolf corpse, but he always felt that something was very wrong with this matter, yet he couldn't figure out what it was.
However, one problem was very obvious, so much so that Zhou Ming couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
That was, how did Zhou Hao obtain such a secret message by overhearing it?
Would Zhou Lin, a dignified Two-Turn Gu Master, be so careless in his actions?
If Zhou Lin intentionally let Zhou Hao hear, what could his motive be?
If Zhou Lin didn't intentionally let Zhou Hao hear, and it was indeed "by chance," then… Zhou Ming looked up at the sky, silently.
That night passed peacefully.
However, none of the four slept well. Some worried about the impact of the Clan Chief's injury on the Family, others worried whether the three major Families were really going to make a move against their own, or comforted themselves that everything was just speculation.
However, reality is always so cruel; the next day, speculation became reality.
They were attacked.
At that time, they had just cleared a small group of beasts and hadn't even had time to clean up the battlefield when a scout Gu Master reported to the Rank Three Family Elders that a large group of Gu Masters was approaching.
"What? Where did these Gu Masters come from? Why weren't they discovered before!"
A hot-tempered Family Elder demanded.
"They used Gu that blocked detection Gu, so our detection Gu were affected and didn't discover them in time," the scout Gu Master replied cautiously.
"You useless fools!" The Family Elder was about to lose his temper again but was stopped by another Family Elder.
"It's useless to say these things now. They are still fifty li away from us. They'll cover that distance quickly. If we leave now, we might still find a chance to shake them off!"
The other Family Elders immediately agreed and issued orders. The hunting team didn't even have time to clean up the battlefield and immediately set off, quickly heading in a direction away from the Gu Masters behind them.
As they moved, the Gu Master team behind them also immediately sped up to catch up. It was clear that while they were scouting the enemy, the enemy was also constantly scouting them.
"Faster! Even faster!"
The Rank Three Family Elders were anxious, almost sweating. From the information gathered by the scout Gu Masters, the number of Gu Masters behind them was definitely not something they could handle.
Fighting head-on was a dead end, so they could only flee, hoping to shake off the enemy and find a way to survive.
However, after fleeing nearly a hundred li, the scout Gu Masters also saw a large number of Gu Masters ahead of their escape path.
"It's over, this is a trap!"