As dusk fell and the night grew cool, the lanterns of Jiangjia Town began to light up.
Jiang Long, sitting cross-legged under the large tree outside the small courtyard, felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Jiang Hu and Jiang Bao hadn't returned all day, and neither had Jiang Han. He had a bad feeling about this.
The Third Elder had ordered him to guard this courtyard, so he didn't dare abandon his post. All he could do was wait, his heart burning with anxiety.
An hour later, a tall and burly young man strode over. Jiang Long hurried to meet him. "Jiang Xiong," he asked, "have Jiang Hu and Jiang Bao returned?"
The tall and burly young man was Jiang Xiong, Jiang Long's younger cousin, who had recently broken through to the Purple Mansion 7th Level.
His name suited him, for he was built like a bear. He shook his head. "No. I just went to check again, and neither of them are back. I even made a special trip to Jiang Han's house, but he wasn't there either."
"You don't think something happened to them, do you?" Jiang Long asked, his brow furrowed with worry.
"What could possibly happen?" Jiang Xiong shook his head. "Jiang Hu and Jiang Bao are both at the Purple Mansion 6th Level, and Jiang Han is only at the Purple Mansion 5th Level. Brother Long, you're overthinking it. I bet those two snuck off to the Gambling House in Du Family Town. They'll probably be back by morning."
"Hmm..." Jiang Long considered this. It did make sense. Jiang Hu and Jiang Bao had always been avid gamblers; it would be just like them to use this as an excuse to sneak off to Du Family Town. He waved his hand. "Alright, you can head back. If they're still not here by morning, take Jiang Xie and the others to go look for them."
Jiang Xiong agreed and left. After a final patrol of the area, Jiang Long returned to his room and fell into a deep sleep.
***
Jiang Long's sleep was restless, but Jiang Han barely slept a wink that night.
After digging a pit and hastily burying the two men, Jiang Han didn't return to Jiangjia Town. Instead, he found a dilapidated temple at the foot of the mountain to spend the night.
He ate some dry rations and cultivated his Mystic Power for a while before lying down on a broken wooden plank to sleep.
It was his first time killing, and he had killed two men. The awakening of a powerful bloodline Divine Ability left him in a state of extreme agitation. At the same time, he worried about the reaction from the Jiang Family, about his sister Jiang Li, and about how he was going to hunt the Phantom Mice.
All sorts of chaotic thoughts flooded his mind, and he tossed and turned, unable to rest. He didn't fall into a deep sleep until the latter half of the night.
Jiang Han woke just as the sky began to lighten at dawn.
He had thought long and hard the previous night, but he still couldn't come up with a good way to hunt the Phantom Mice.
The Phantom Mouse was a first-tier demonic beast. It wasn't very valuable, nor was its combat strength particularly high. But as its name suggested, its speed was insane.
Jiang Han had spotted Phantom Mice a few times before, but the creatures would vanish in a flash, disappearing before he could even react.
In all his years, he had never heard of an effective method for hunting them. These first-tier demonic beasts were highly alert and would flee the instant anyone got near.
With his current strength, killing a Phantom Mouse would be easy if he used his Berserk Power Divine Ability. The problem was, the creature would never give him the chance. It would flee the moment it saw him, and he was simply not fast enough to catch it.
"I'll go buy a Mystic Iron beast cage first!"
After some thought, Jiang Han could only come up with one plan: to trap it. If he could lure a Phantom Mouse into a cage, killing it would be much simpler.
After replenishing his energy, Jiang Han didn't dare return to Jiangjia Town. Instead, he traveled for an hour to the western Du Family Town.
Once in Du Family Town, he spent some silver on a Mystic Iron beast cage and more dry rations, then hurriedly headed into the mountains toward Turtle Ridge.
This time, his luck was excellent.
Early that morning, seeing that Jiang Hu and Jiang Bao still hadn't returned, Jiang Long had sent Jiang Xiong out with three other cousins to search for them. Jiang Xiong's group entered the mountains from the direction of Jiangjia Town. If Jiang Han had gone that way, he would have very likely run into them.
After entering Turtle Ridge, Jiang Han searched the area carefully for a long time but found no sign of any Phantom Mice. He immediately decided to continue his search on the adjacent peak.
He found no Phantom Mice on the second peak either...
An hour later, on the third mountain peak, Jiang Han finally spotted a Phantom Mouse.
*Swoosh!*
Unfortunately, the moment Jiang Han spotted the Phantom Mouse, the little creature turned into a blur and vanished. He gave chase at once, but a thorough search of the area revealed nothing.
The Phantom Mouse wasn't exactly small; its body was about a foot long, covered in white fur, and it had a barbed tail. Its speed was comparable to that of a Purple Mansion 9th Level martial artist, which made searching for it extremely difficult for Jiang Han.
After searching for another a little under an hour, Jiang Han spotted several more Phantom Mice on the peak. But each time, the creature would vanish in a flash the moment he laid eyes on it, giving him no opportunity to strike.
After running around for half the day, he was hungry and exhausted. He ate some dry rations, then climbed a large tree to rest. Closing his eyes, he soon drifted off to sleep...
Soon, a faint sound woke him. He immediately opened his eyes to investigate.
He soon spotted a Phantom Mouse in a nearby bush, gnawing on the root of a plant and making a soft sound.
Instead of attacking rashly, Jiang Han observed it patiently. A moment later, his heart leaped with joy!
He had made a startling discovery: the Phantom Mouse seemed to only seek out and gnaw on the roots of a specific brown plant, showing no interest in any other vegetation or wild fruits.
"Excellent!"
Greatly invigorated, Jiang Han leaped down from the tree. The nearby Phantom Mouse sensed the danger, flickered, and vanished on the spot.
Jiang Han walked over, pulled up the brown plant, and chopped off its root. He then began to quickly search the surrounding area for more of the same plant.
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had collected the roots of several brown plants. He placed them inside the Mystic Iron beast cage, tossed it into a bush, and climbed back up the tree to wait.
His wait lasted for a full hour.
Finally, a white shadow flashed past, shooting straight into the Mystic Iron beast cage.
The moment the white shadow entered, it triggered the cage's mechanism, and the iron door slammed shut. Inside, a Phantom Mouse scrambled frantically, its afterimages filling the cage until it looked as though a dozen of them were trapped within.
"Got it!"
Jiang Han leaped down from the tree, overjoyed as he stared at the Phantom Mouse in the cage.
"Die!"
Jiang Han thrust his long saber through the gaps in the cage and hacked wildly at the Phantom Mouse inside. Once he was sure it was dead, he opened the cage and collected its essence blood.
"Refine!"
After refining the Phantom Mouse's essence blood, Jiang Han immediately visualized the Heavenly Beast Cauldron. He confirmed that the image of the Phantom Mouse on the cauldron had grown brighter and clearer, then began to clean up, feeling quite pleased with himself.
He carried the cage to a nearby stream to wash off the blood. Then, following the same method, Jiang Han set the trap again, waiting for the next Phantom Mouse to fall into his snare.
More than four hours later, the sky began to darken.
Jiang Han put away the Mystic Iron beast cage and headed down the mountain, completely satisfied. He had managed to lure and kill four Phantom Mice in a single afternoon; he had the trick down now. If he could successfully hunt another six tomorrow, he would be able to awaken another bloodline Divine Ability.
Proofreader: Peter Pan