Chapter 66: Escape, Descending the Mountain with the Supreme Bone!

Liu Wenchang was struck with a sudden, violent jolt, his mental state teetering on the absolute brink of collapse.

From the very beginning, he had harbored doubts and felt that something was deeply amiss.

At first, he had followed Zhang Hao deep into the dense forest, watching with his own eyes as Zhang Hao joined a wedding procession, accompanying those figures to welcome the bride and perform the matrimonial rites.

Later on, Zhang Hao was mute and unable to speak, yet he could play the suona and even released a white fox for "those people" to hear, thereby winning their approval, which led to everything that followed.

In his view, this was undeniable proof that Zhang Hao shared a profound and extraordinary relationship with "those people."

And now, "those people" were not humans at all, but a pack of foxes!

Did this not also imply that Zhang Hao was actually a fox himself, or some sort of being closely tied to foxes...

If his guesswork was correct, then right from the start, it hadn't been a case of him tracking Zhang Hao to join some so-called wedding procession; rather, it was Zhang Hao who had lured him here to take part in this nuptial ceremony!

Zhang Hao's initial objective had been to entice him to this place, and then find an opportunity to devour him... or subject him to a horrific, agonizing death.

Terrifying... One can never be too guarded against others!

At this thought, Liu Wenchang felt a horror more profound than ever before, a visceral, soul-deep terror.

Leave... Get out of here!

He had to get out of here!

He absolutely could not die in this place!

Liu Wenchang whipped his head back, his pupils constricted to pinpricks as he stared fixedly at the path ahead. His legs pumped wildly, his mouth agape as though he wanted to scream, yet no sound came out, leaving the driving rain to pour freely into his mouth.

He only wanted to run forward without looking back, as long as he could escape!

Right at that moment.

He suddenly felt as though a hand had tapped him on the back.

What the hell!

In an instant, that spine-chilling horror surged back into his heart, and he felt every single hair on his body stand on end.

Tapping instinctively turned back, behind him, Zhang Hao's figure was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was only a taller fox leading the rest of the pack, its eyes blazing with ferocious intent as it gave chase...

That was Zhang Hao... That taller fox must be the mute Zhang Hao he had seen at the very beginning!

Everything, every single scene he had witnessed before, including the people, must have been an illusion. It had to be an illusion, and Zhang Hao must have been an illusion too. Yes, it had to be that way...

Liu Wenchang wrenched his head forward, pouring every ounce of his strength into running ahead with reckless abandon.

Soon, his figure vanished deep into the dense forest, and vanishing right along with him were the dozens of foxes trailing closely behind.

...

Meanwhile.

Zhang Hao gasped heavily for breath, wiped the rain from his face, narrowed his eyes as he looked ahead, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Lowering his head slightly, he lifted the blue cloth covering the Spirit-Securing Basket and gazed at the Tribulation-Lightning Wood resting inside, the corners of his mouth curling upward in a smile.

It was a good thing he managed to fool that pack of foxes.

Just moments ago, he had first gripped the Tribulation-Lightning Wood in his hand, using its aura to draw the foxes' attention. Then, he "led" the army of foxes to tail Liu Wenchang, and at the opportune moment, smeared a portion of the Tribulation-Lightning Wood's roots onto Liu Wenchang's back, smoothly placing the Tribulation-Lightning Wood itself inside the Spirit-Securing Basket.

The Spirit-Securing Basket possessed the function of preventing a mountain treasure's spiritual essence from dissipating. With a slight adjustment, it could likewise conceal the aura of the mountain treasure so it wouldn't be detected.

Once the aura of the Tribulation-Lightning Wood vanished and the residual scent of its roots was left on Liu Wenchang's body, the foxes would naturally choose to pursue Liu Wenchang, abandoning him now that his living human aura had been exposed.

In the eyes of the foxes, the Tribulation-Lightning Wood was their faith, the absolute entirety of their fox clan; not even their primordial ancestors held more importance than the Tribulation-Lightning Wood.

Before the Tribulation-Lightning Wood, a mere living human held no significance whatsoever.

Zhang Hao had exploited this exact psychology of the foxes, executing his plan with relative ease.

Of course, the most indispensable contributor to this plan had been Liu Wenchang. Without Liu Wenchang present at the scene, even if he had wanted to find someone to scapegoat, he wouldn't have known where to look.

In this way, Liu Wenchang could temporarily lure those foxes away, leaving Zhang Hao with a relatively ample window of time to make his escape.

After all, based on his estimation, the aura of the Tribulation-Lightning Wood lingering on Liu Wenchang would persist for about ten minutes. This meant that ten minutes later, the foxes would realize there was no Tribulation-Lightning Wood on Liu Wenchang, and thus they would figure out that he was the one who had taken it, returning to track his aura and hunt him down.

To put it simply, he had ten minutes remaining to take the Tribulation-Lightning Wood and flee this vast mountain range—no, as long as he could sprint with the Tribulation-Lightning Wood to the outer periphery of the dense forest and put distance between himself and this place, the foxes' tracking abilities would plummet significantly, giving him an even better chance of escape.

Lost in these thoughts, Zhang Hao hesitated no longer. Lifting his gaze to briefly discern his direction, he slung the strap of the Spirit-Securing Basket firmly over his arm, strode forward in his straw sandals through the torrential rain, and sprinted rapidly toward another route.

Along the way, Zhang Hao's pace never faltered for a second. Even when the driving rain forced its way into his mouth, nearly choking him multiple times; even when the straw sandals on his feet felt as though they were falling apart; even when his vision began to blur slightly, he refused to stop, running unceasingly toward the outer edge of the dense forest.

Until he felt the rain grow lighter, the drops no longer stinging his skin, and realized he had reached the outer periphery of the forest near the spot where he usually gathered eucommia bark, he finally leaned against a large tree and panted heavily.

Hoo, hoo, hoo~

The sound of ragged breathing, sweat mixed with rainwater, and the profound discomfort of his clothes clinging tightly to his skin.

This really was a grueling ordeal.

Just to acquire a single mountain treasure like this, he had poured in days of hard work, and finally, at the very end, he had reaped his due reward.

Presumably, those foxes had by now realized that Liu Wenchang was by no means the one who had taken away the mountain treasure.

But it was already too late.

He had sprinted leagues away. As long as he kept running straight down the narrow path ahead, it would take him less than ten minutes to return to Zhao Family Village.

Once he reached Zhao Family Village, those foxes would never be able to find him again.

Animals like foxes shared similar habits: they fundamentally dared not descend the mountains out of fear of encountering villages and small towns, avoiding excessive contact with living humans, and lacking the courage to linger near populated areas far from the great mountains.

After all, while they were formidable deep within the mountains, once they stepped out of the wilderness, they were utterly helpless against human weaponry.

By capitalizing on this weakness, Zhang Hao could live peacefully in Zhao Family Village without ever having to worry about interference from the foxes.

He raised a hand to wipe the sheet of rain from his face, took a few deep breaths, and briefly closed his eyes to gather his energy.

Following this brief respite, Zhang Hao felt the blurring in his vision recede, the exhaustion in his body seemingly vanish, and his physical stamina recover substantially.

Lifting his gaze to look at the path beneath his feet, he carried the Spirit-Securing Basket, squared his shoulders, puffed out his chest, and strode forward with bold, measured steps. The corners of his mouth upturned, and joy radiated from his brows and eyes, making him look like a victorious general returning in triumph as he descended the mountain trail.