Chapter 79

In the dense forest, Ying Hou looked at the footprints on the ground, his face dark and terrifying, for he had discovered that Long Chen was extremely cunning, sometimes deliberately leaving footprints to mislead him.

As he walked, Long Chen’s footprints disappeared. A moment’s thought revealed that Long Chen had walked a certain distance, then retraced his steps according to the original footprints, and then fled in another direction.

The first set of footprints was slightly clearer, intentionally left for Ying Hou to see, making him spend more time searching.

Ying Hou, seething with anger, found that Long Chen was too cunning. Sometimes, the direction Long Chen took was exactly where he had deliberately left footprints.

With this mix of real and fake, Ying Hou had no choice but to follow diligently. He felt that Long Chen was not far away, but he just couldn’t find him, which made him so angry that he felt his lungs would burst.

It had been a day and a night, and Ying Hou was gradually becoming impatient. However, he had no choice but to continue searching based on the footprints.

Thus, the two began a game of hide-and-seek in the vast forest. Although Long Chen had a certain advantage, he did not dare to be the slightest bit careless.

If Long Chen wanted to, he could quickly shake off Ying Hou’s pursuit, but he couldn’t do that. He always maintained a distance of about ten miles from Ying Hou.

This distance was just enough for a Yi Jin realm expert to sense the hostility, but not to determine his exact location. This was intentional on Long Chen’s part.

Now that he had killed Xia Changfeng, and the Fourth Prince had sent Ying Hou to kill him, it meant that the Fourth Prince was no longer as cautious about his father.

The entire Long family was now in danger. By keeping Ying Hou occupied, Long Chen was buying time for Ah Man to return to the capital as quickly as possible.

When Ying Hou appeared, Long Chen secretly instructed Ah Man that whoever managed to escape should return to the capital first.

He sent his family to the Alchemist Guild. Given his relationship with Master Yun Qi, Master Yun Qi would definitely not ignore the situation. At that point, even if the Fourth Prince wanted to move against the Long family, he would have to think twice.

Another reason was that as long as Ying Hou did not return to the capital, the Fourth Prince would not receive news of Long Chen’s death and would be less likely to take action against the Long family.

So, despite the great risk, Long Chen had to keep Ying Hou occupied. He had no choice but to do so.

As he moved cautiously, Long Chen suddenly saw a palm-sized beetle slowly crawling on a large tree. Recognizing the beetle as a "Unicorn Beetle" due to the horn on its nose, which resembled a bull’s horn, his eyes lit up.

This was a very gentle beetle, moving particularly slowly, but despite its palm-sized body, it had astonishing strength. A single beetle could pull a load of twenty to thirty pounds. Because of its incredible strength, people added the word "bull" to its name.

Reaching out, Long Chen picked up the palm-sized Unicorn Beetle, a smile appearing on his lips. He whispered, "Hehe, little guy, help me out, will you?"

Ignoring its anger, he threw the little beetle into his pocket and walked a short distance. Nodding, he found this to be a good place.

Taking out a fine thread from his spatial ring, which was black silk, he examined it. Although fine, it was very strong, capable of lifting a hundred pounds. Most adventurers carried some with them.

Whether for making ropes or setting traps, it was ideal. Most importantly, black silkworms were artificially bred, making them very cheap.

Long Chen took out the black silk and looked around, nodding in satisfaction. The color of the silk blended well with the surroundings, making it hard to notice.

Finding a short tree as thick as an egg, he gently pushed it, feeling its incredible elasticity. He carefully wrapped the silk around the short tree.

The short tree, pulled by the silk, immediately bent like a bow. Once the silk’s tension was released, it would spring back quickly.

Long Chen was very careful in his actions. Any mistake could produce a loud noise, attracting Ying Hou.

However, thinking about the effect of the trap once it was triggered, he felt that the risks were worth it.

After setting up the "slingshot," Long Chen observed the surroundings. The path on both sides was dense with thorns, with only one naturally wide path.

When a person runs, they instinctively choose the path with the least resistance, making this an ideal place to set up a trigger mechanism.

He laid several lines of black silk on the ground, confirming the distance. No matter the stride, the person would inevitably step on one of the lines, and he felt reassured.

Taking out the beetle, he tied one of its legs with black silk and placed it on a large tree. The Unicorn Beetle began to crawl slowly, but not randomly. It was heading towards a spot about three zhang up the tree.

There, Long Chen had placed a petal of the butterfly orchid, a medicinal plant whose petals contained a rich amount of sugar.

The Unicorn Beetle, despite the petal being dry, detected it with its incredible sense of smell and crawled towards it eagerly.

The speed of the Unicorn Beetle was extremely slow. It took a full incense stick’s time to reach the spot.

Just as the Unicorn Beetle was about to enjoy its meal, Long Chen gave a quick tug, and the poor little creature was immediately pulled down.

Estimating the time, Long Chen tied a new knot on the Unicorn Beetle. This was a slipknot with a small loop on the side. Once the loop was triggered, it would immediately release, freeing the beetle.

After carefully tying the knot, he attached a stone weighing about five to six pounds to the other end of the silk. He checked everything several times and observed the beetle’s path.

Ensuring that the slipknot would be triggered by a protruding branch as the beetle approached the butterfly orchid petal, he let the stone fall to the ground.

After checking the trap from start to finish, a sly smile appeared on Long Chen’s face. He found a leaf like a fan and hid behind a large tree.

After a while, he placed the beetle back on the tree. The beetle continued to crawl along the same path, but its speed was slightly slower due to the weight of the stone.

Nodding, Long Chen quietly retreated. Now everything was ready, and it was up to Ying Hou to see if it would work. He disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Half an hour later, Ying Hou was carefully searching for Long Chen’s trail when a strange sound suddenly came from a distance, the sound of a stone rolling.

Although the sound was very subtle, to Ying Hou, who was fully focused on his surroundings, it was like a thunderclap.

"Whoosh!"

Without hesitation, Ying Hou dashed in the direction of the sound, moving so fast that it was like a gust of wind. In a few moments, he had covered a distance of seven to eight miles.

The sound was definitely not a natural one. He knew it must have been caused by someone accidentally stepping on a stone.

In this silent forest, only Long Chen could make such a sound.

Thinking of Long Chen, Ying Hou felt a surge of anger. Last night, he had hardly slept, not even having time to recover his strength.

The group of wild beasts had approached him like mad, although they couldn’t pose a threat to him, they had disturbed his healing.

His injuries couldn’t be healed by just taking pills; he needed to use spiritual energy to heal, but he had neither the time nor the opportunity to do so.

Unable to maintain peak combat strength, Ying Hou felt very insecure. He desperately needed to kill Long Chen and return to the capital to heal.

In just a few breaths, Ying Hou arrived at the source of the sound. However, there was no sign of Long Chen. Under a large tree, a stone had rolled down, and there seemed to be some writing on it.

Ying Hou’s gaze swept the surroundings, finding no sign of Long Chen. His face turned grim, knowing he might have been tricked.

He slowly approached the stone, wanting to see what message Long Chen had left for him. Just as he took a few steps, his foot suddenly moved, and a short tree nearby shook. A green ball wrapped in leaves flew towards him.

Ying Hou sneered and swung his long sword, cutting directly at the object.

"Hmph, a mere insect..."

"Pfft"

He didn’t expect that when his sword touched the object, it suddenly burst, splattering juice everywhere.

Caught off guard by the sudden event and the close distance, Ying Hou was drenched in the juice, and a foul smell spread.

His mouth was also splattered, and the stench was unbearable. Ying Hou was greatly alarmed and quickly retreated, his first thought being that the substance might be poisonous.

However, although the substance was extremely foul-smelling, he showed no signs of poisoning, and his qi and blood circulation were normal.

At this moment, he noticed that the stone, which had fallen to the ground, had flipped over, revealing the writing on it:

"A small gift, not much, but it’s the thought that counts. I wanted to give you a big one, but my stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately, so I couldn’t. Please understand, Lord Ying Hou."

Reading the message, Ying Hou’s face turned pale, and he felt his stomach churn at the sticky substance on his body.

"Ugh..."

"Long Chen..."

Ying Hou let out a heart-wrenching roar, the sound so loud that it shook the entire forest, scaring countless birds and beasts into fleeing.

On a large tree, Long Chen watched the birds flying away, a smile appearing on his lips. The miserable feeling of being pursued by Ying Hou was finally relieved.

Since that day, Ying Hou’s face became even darker, and Long Chen became even more cautious, not daring to set up such traps again.

After all, if he failed during the setup, it could lead to his downfall. The previous action was just to boost his confidence.

Now that everything was done, he needed to be careful to avoid reversing the favorable situation he had created.

The chase and escape continued for eight days. During these eight days, Long Chen escaped during the day and used various techniques to shake off the wild beasts at night, then began to heal.

With the help of healing pills, Long Chen recovered quickly. The meridians in his right hand were completely restored, and his internal injuries were mostly healed.

After the first day, when Ying Hou killed the wild beasts and caused himself trouble, he became smarter. At night, he rested on high trees, far from the ground, giving himself time to rest and heal. With his deep cultivation, he recovered quickly.

On the ninth day, as Long Chen crossed a small stream and entered a dense forest, he suddenly felt a disturbance above him.

Looking up, his face changed drastically: "I’m done for!"