Despite having had their discussion till late the previous night, the party left the inn early next morning, just as the first light of dawn was starting to peek over the horizon.


    Ye Cangyu had sent his clothes to the inn last night as instructed, so the party easily picked them up before heading out to the river once more.


    Having already been there once, they no longer required Xian He’s directions this time.


    There was no need for further instructions upon arriving at the river either. Instead, the party immediately got to work.


    The first thing they did was check on their earlier traps to see if they had been activated.


    But each time the trees rustled, he had to suppress the feeling to immediately check out the situation.


    There were various reasons for the rustling of trees – wild animals, birds, or even just the wind.


    He was afraid that should reveal the fact that he was alert each time something caused the trees to rustle, then he might end up discouraging the one that he was truly waiting for.


    Discipline and self-control were important if he wanted to act as a proper bait!


    Alas, all his efforts were for naught.


    The sun slowly descended from the zenith, and yet there were still no signs of their beloved kidnapper.


    Rather than that, they could only see a few monkeys that continued to stare at him curiously from the other bank of the river.


    How he wished that one of these monkeys had black arms instead!


    “Forget it, Junior Martial Brother Pu,” Mo Mian removed his camouflage and walked over to Pu Feixiang.


    “Hmm? Senior Martial Brother Mo?” Pu Feixiang exclaimed in surprise. “What’s the matter?”


    The original plan was to wait till the end of the day at least, but Mo Mian was already approaching him even though the sun had yet to set.


    This was unlike the party leader that Pu Feixiang knew.


    “I don’t think this is going to work,” Mo Mian said while sneaking a peek at Pu Feixiang’s basketful of fish. “If the monkey demon were going to bite, it would not have waited this long.”


    “If you say so,” Pu Feixiang got up without complaints. It was not as though he loved doing this anyway.


    “What’s our next step, then?” Chu Han walked up to them along with the others. “Shall we try again tomorrow?”


    By now, all of them had exited their respective hiding spots.


    “No,” Mo Mian shook his head. “We can’t just sit around and wait for days. The villagers need to be able to continue with their usual fishing activities, or they are not going to survive.”


    “How about we just tag along with the fishing team then?” Gui Longcan suggested. “This way, they can still continue to fish. If the demon attacks them, we can also step in immediately.”


    “What do you think, Junior Martial Brother Chu?” Mo Mian asked.


    “What about you, Junior Martial Brother Zhao? What do you think?” Chu Han redirected the question to Zhao Yunxiao.


    “Me?” Zhao Yunxiao glanced at Chu Han in surprise.


    He realised that Mo Mian would usually ask Chu Han for advice before making a decision.


    At the same time, Chu Han seemed to be the only one who would pose such questions to him.


    “Don’t worry and just speak your mind,” Chu Han encouraged with a smile.


    “Well, if you ask me...” Zhao Yunxiao turned his gaze towards the other side of the river. “I don’t think any amount of waiting will work. It is just a feeling, but I think the demon is unlikely to show up as long as we are here.”


    “Hmm?” Pu Feixiang was surprised to hear that. “Why do you say so?”


    Stolen novel; please report.


    On the other hand, the rest of the Mystic Cavalry had turned to look at where Zhao Yunxiao was facing.


    Over at the other bank, a few monkeys were comfortably resting on tree branches.


    These harmless looking monkeys had their attention fully locked onto them, not turning their heads to look away even when their gazes matched.


    “It seems like I’m not the only one thinking this way,” Mo Mian smiled wryly.


    “It is just an assumption,” Zhao Yunxiao added.


    “And a reasonable one as well,” Chu Han agreed. “I share the same sentiments.”


    “So that’s it?” Gui Longcan frowned. “It seems we have been too careless.”


    “What? What is it?” Pu Feixiang was the only one who seemed to have missed Zhao Yunxiao’s point.


    “Nothing you need to know,” Gui Longcan rolled his eyes. “Just follow instructions and that will be enough.”


    “I will follow instructions, but shouldn’t you also tell me what is going on?” Pu Feixiang retorted.


    “What’s our next step, then?” Gui Longcan ignored him and asked.


    “Hey!” Pu Feixiang grumbled.


    “Enough of waiting,” Mo Mian decided. “Our dear target probably has this place watched all day long. No amount of waiting will help.”


    “It does?” Pu Feixiang exclaimed in shock. “How? Why didn’t I notice its presence?”


    “If we are not waiting, that means...?” Chu Han looked at Mo Mian.


    “We are taking the initiative,” Mo Mian answered resolutely. “Let’s bring the fight to it this time.”


    ***


    Thankfully for him, he quickly realised that was not the case.


    Instead, the party was seeking a map or any form of records that detailed the terrain in the area.


    Now that Mo Mian had decided to take the initiative, they naturally needed to make the necessary preparations before doing so.


    And the first step to doing so, and probably the most important step as well, was to fully understand what the area looked like.


    This way, they could at least narrow down the areas that they had to search.


    Yet despite how basic the request was, Fu Du was still unable to provide them with something like that.


    That was because even though they had been staying here for ages, the villagers had never bothered to create a map of the area.


    Instead, they were used to finding their way around by relying solely on memory and word of mouth.


    In the end, the party could only bring together a few more knowledgeable villagers, relying on their combined inputs to create a makeshift map on the spot.


    ***


    Back at the inn, the party stared at the map that had been hung up in Mo Mian’s room.


    “Is this really okay?” Pu Feixiang had a doubtful look on his face.


    “Do you have a better idea?” Gui Longcan asked.


    “Nothing is certain, but at least the villagers came to a consensus that this is at least 80% accurate,” Chu Han said. “In any case, approach this with an open mind. We will be making adjustments to the map as we go.”


    “Junior Martial Brother Chu is right,” Mo Mian nodded. “Now that we suspect that our target has eyes planted all over, it is not as though we can afford to carelessly scout the area ourselves either. That might end up alerting our target, backfiring on us instead. Therefore, we can only take this map as a reference while making sure that we are prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.”


    “I guess that’s true,” Pu Feixiang nodded.


    “


    “


    “


    It was unfortunate, but they still did not have full knowledge of what they would be dealing with here.


    So rather than saving up what he had, Zhao Yunxiao would rather prepare himself for various situations and reduce the possibility of danger – even if it was only by a single percent.


    Even if he ended up not having to use them in the end, so be it.


    After all, money might be important, but his life was even more so!