Jiang Hongyong was startled as a bat appeared next to him. He jumped back, pointed his sword at the animal, and quickly looked around to see where it had come from and if there were more.

  To his confusion, it seemed as though the bat came out of nowhere. Even though there were a lot of hiding places in this cave, none seemed as though a frantic Bat flew out of them.

  Then the boy noticed something, the animal was unnaturally calm compared to the others that he and Shi xiansheng killed. That made him consider something and he shifted his attention from the creature to the cave, more specifically to the entrance that his companion used to enter deeper into this place.

  “Are you the unknown Zhongshi that used the Bird to follow Shi xiansheng in the forest? “He asked decisively, although the sweat forming on his temple and neck told how nervous he was.

  After a while of waiting which made the boy increasingly tense a sign appeared in the form of the Bat, which he largely ignored after it initially startled him, as it flew in front of him and nodded its head.

  Jiang Hongyong’s eyes widened in surprise, although he knew next to nothing about beast masters, what Shi-xiansheng told him before embarking on the journey to find one, was that the qi needed to control one to such a degree would be enormous. Did that mean that the Beast Master really was the one responsible for the curse that plagued this forest and to an extent, him?

  Before he could stop himself his mouth already opened, “Are you the one responsible for the curse?”

  And with that came the immediate regret as he promised to not do anything rash or even interact with the suspected Killer of Ren Chenliang as they didn’t know their goals or even motivation for such an act and that could lead him to unknowingly get himself killed or even worse.

  Jiang Hongyong immediately sprung to action and kowtowed before the Bat.

  “I’m sorry if I offended you Zhongshi! I hadn’t meant to imply anything sinister! Please accept this apology!” He hoped that this would be enough as he didn’t think he could come up with a better one on such short notice and the Great Master would be unlikely to give him more time should they not like it.

  He didn’t dare raise his head before the Beast Master gave him the signal, which was taking a longer time than he expected. The boy at some point even thought that the Cultivator was simply sadistic and enjoying his fear but dismissed these thoughts in fear of them being a mind-reader like in one of the fairy tales that his parents told him about. But then he remembered the Cultivator that came to the village and started to teach him swordsmanship and soon he began to worry not for his safety but for Shi Huijun.

  Finally, the Bat touched his head and the boy raised it, praying that he didn’t read the signal wrong. Fortunately, his head didn’t come flying right off and instead continued being stationed right on his neck.

  “Thank you for sparing my life, Zhongshi! “He said before getting up and bowing “But may I ask where is Shi xiansheng? “.

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  It’s not that Jiang Hongyong thought that the one who killed a person for seemingly no reason was reasonable and thus would not kill somebody for asking an innocent question, it’s just that his worry for one of the few people who showed him kindness even though he was a cultivation cripple overpowered his fear.

  After another while of waiting for a reply to a question that should not be taking this long to answer, he heard a voice, causing him to reflexly straighten up and look around.

  Hello?

  However, to his surprise, there was no one else besides him and the Bat. That meant that this must be the Beast Master. Curiously, their voice sounded eerily like Shi xiansheng.

  “Yes!” He said louder than he intended to.

  Then came another burst of silence, something that the Great Master must like, as this is the fourth time this is happening.

  If you were to go missing would the villagers alert the adventure guild?

  Jiang Hongyong was shocked at the threat and at the unknown organization with a name he couldn’t pronounce. After a bit of thinking he decided to answer honestly.

  “No, as neither this lowly one nor any other member of the village knows what that is or where it is located”

  You don’t? None of you?

  “No, although Shi xiansheng might know as he comes from Raging Winter Sect” The boy didn’t bother elaborating more as he felt the fact that Shi Huijun comes from such a prestigious sect said enough about his knowledge or connections to find more out.

  There was another pregnant pause before the Zhongshi spoke up.

  Then is there another organization that deals with dungeons in its place?

  Jiang Hongyong was confused. Why would there be a need for a group of people to deal with underground structures made by man that didn’t pose any inherent threats? However out of fear of being deemed useless he chose to answer carefully instead of showing his lack of knowledge.

  “Raging Winter Sect might be responsible for that although this lowly one would recommend asking Shi xiansheng ”

  Another moment of silence.

  Were you close to the swordsman?

  “Shi xiansheng? This lowly one wasn’t that close with him” Although he felt some kind of connection to the cultivator due to their shared experience the boy didn’t think that was reciprocated and thus decided to answer in this way.

  He’s dead, is there another person you could ask?

  There was a pause, this time not caused by the Great Master who resided in this cave but by the human who couldn’t believe his ears.

  “What?” A question unknowingly left his lips.

  He’s dead, is there another person you could ask?

  “...You killed him?” He hoped that he was wrong, after all, what hope he, as crippled as he was, could have against somebody who murdered a full-fledged body-strengthening cultivator?

  Yes, is there another person you could ask?

  “...” Jiang Hongyoung stared at nothing in particular as he digested this piece of information.

  Is there another person you could ask?

  “Chef could contact the Raging Winter Sect...” He said after noticing how impatient the Great master seemed to be.

  Tell him there is a dungeon here and to report that.

  “Of course...” The boy said yet he didn’t move as he still couldn’t believe Shi Huijun died.

  Do that now.

  He flinched at the voice that was so similar to his now-dead companion and without thinking ran back to the village.

  The journey to get to the dwelling of the Great Master took much quicker than the return. Although he couldn’t tell the passage of time as his eyes were a bit too wet to properly do that. Nonetheless he was back at the village once night has fallen.

  Breathing heavily from the physical exhaustion caused by nonstop running he finally collapsed on his knees. The two guards that were currently patrolling, Wan Jiehuan and Zhou Jinghui, ran up to him.

  “Jiang Hongyong! Are you injured?!” Wan Jiehuan asked him in shock while helping get the boy up together with Zhou Jinghui.

  “Call the Chef over, Shi xiansheng is dead and the culprit demands that he call over the Raging Winter Sect” Was all he managed to whisper out before all his strength left him and he fainted.