Wonderful sprint marathon

Xian Wu would swear on somebody's grave that this dumb crow hardly knew what it was doing. They kept going down side paths that twisted around then ultimately led back to the main road, and Mildew flew fast enough that he had to push himself to keep up.

What was the point of these side paths?! It was just extra miles of running work.

Mildew hates him, right...but why...

There was even one point in time that the bird hesitated then circled back in the opposite direction. Song Zhenxi assured that Mildew was some kind of 'ancient and mythological' beast from the north, entirely capable in action…but Xian Wu didn't buy it. She also said that Mildew was even more intelligent than some humans, but he didn't buy that, either. At least not now that he'd been running after it for over an hour.

This stupid crow, no way.

Look, this thing even took a short break to take a few bites of a dead oxen on the side of the road. So how was he supposed to believe that the bird had any kind of sensibilities?

Or so Xian Wu thought angrily as he regulated his breathing.

But the fact of the matter was that Lai Yiteng walked a fair distance during the night over many hours. In order for Xian Wu to catch up before Lai Yiteng went on the move again, he had no choice but to pick up his pace and run. It was fortunate that Lai Yiteng's exhaustion and injuries made it so that he couldn't go too far, otherwise it would be impossible to rely on Mildew to show him the way to the younger.

Xian Wu knew all of this but still couldn't help bemoaning his fate. See, it was just so tiring. Sweat was dripping down Xian Wu's tan skin, down his collarbones, and he'd already striped off one layer of robe and tied it around his waist while running.

Luckily running over roads was not uncommon for couriers or another transportation specialists, so no one really paid much mind to Xian Wu as he ran like a fool after a crow high up in the clouds.

It was more of an internal struggle. The subtle humiliation of a Sect Leader being forced to run after a bird. Hm.

In any case, at least Xian Wu would catch up to Lai Yiteng soon.

Or at least that was what he hoped.

Suddenly Mildew made a squawking noise and took a sharp right turn.

"What is it this time..." Xian Wu muttered a curse and went on a right bend in the road.

Pines and brush grew more thickly, woodpeckers searched for food with taps that echoed over the path along with Xian Wu's boots that thudded over the ground. This road was clearly less traveled. It thinned quickly and was unkempt. No one else seemed to travel it often.

After running another few minutes, Xian Wu's nose picked up an order.

A foul and rancid one. The more he ran, the stronger it became, this horrible stench that slammed into his olfactory senses. Like rotting meat and decaying flesh.

Xian Wu stopped on his heels, holding a sleeve up over his nose with disdain.

"You damned bird!" he snapped. "What filthy thing are you leading me too?! You can't be telling me that Lai Yiteng is this way."

He saw Mildews chest puff up as the bird gave another indignant squawk, then it flew down below the tree line.

Xian Wu scowled. Did Mildew stop for lunch or something? It was true that the bird had breakfast earlier. Maybe it was the sort that insisted on three meals a day.

Then he had a terrifying thought; What if it really was Lai Yiteng...

His legs picked up speed as he hurried through the brush, snapping branches and shoving past the undergrowth until he came to a disquieting scene within the trees.

Xian Wu's expression turned solemn.

There were...corpses.

At least four or five, and all of them were in prime stages of decay. Flies buzzed, worms squirmed, and a few vultures flew up and away from their meals after Mildew scared them off.

The crow landed on a corpse that was lying face down in the dirt, half an arm missing. Their skin was pale, body thin, and hair a dark and silky black.

Panic welled up in Xian Wu's heart, one that overturned his sense of logic .

What…that couldn't possibly be…

He rushed over fast and apprehensively lifted rolled their face to the side with the toe of his boot. There was a squishing noise as the face appeared, the mouth twisted into something almost like a smile. Bugs crawled out of the eyes and nose.

But it was not Lai Yiteng.

Of course it couldn't have been. Lai Yiteng had only been missing a few hours, so it was impossible for his body to look this gruesome.

Xian Wu was pissed now. "What is wrong with you, Mildew? Why are you leading me here—and don't you dare take a bite of anything! Off limits!"

Mildew cawed haughtily, as though offended that Xian Wu would even think it'd settle with such inferior food selection. It nudged a person's body with its beak.

"Hey hey hey!" Xian Wu couldn't believe this. "Don't disrespect the dead."

Mildew did not seem to care. In its opinion, dead things were just lifeless matter on its way to returning to dust. If anything it was the living that it would consider giving respect to.

Xian Wu finally seemed to realize that Mildew was attempting to point something out to him. He waved in front of his nose again, trying to avoid the smell. Then he gave another careful look at the bodies.

Something wasn't quite right.

He wiped his brow of sweat, then approached two that were piled over a tree limb.

On their arms were a number of small dots. They dots were in pairs, hard to notice, but seemed to come from something like a viper bite. Spots were turned bluish and dark with dried blood. But what snake would bite so many times, not to mention on a place high up like the upper arm?

This wasn't good, it was probably the work of an evil beast.

But this area was on the fringe of Graceful Dragon Sect's territory. Xian Wu was angered that someone dared do such a thing, but also was uncertain why no one had reported it. Usually that would be the first thing people did...anything supernatural they would go running and screaming to their local martial artists to fix.

Perhaps the location of these deaths was too remote, and no one nearby even thought to look for them, so they hadn't been discovered yet? If so, then what village did they even come from?

Some of them had hunting bows and knives, so it was most likely that they were hunters, but the rest was a mystery.

Xian Wu did not like the feeling of this. He took out a vial, and using a small wooden tool collected a small sample of one the corpses flesh and curdled blood for him to run tests on later. It was too bad he couldn't delay searching for Lai Yiteng, otherwise he'd visit the nearby villages and inquire about this right away. These people should also be buried properly, but he had no time for this, either.

Well, whatever, he'd never been the heroic type, anyway. People have to pick what they care about most and prioritize that, you know?

Investigating comes later, getting to Lai Yiteng comes first!

Mildew nodded serenely, as though Xian Wu had done a good job, then took flight again.

Xian Wu sighed, drinking a few gulps of water before running onward.

He went for a couple more miles, but he could tell they were close.

The paths turned smaller and less traveled, the villages he passed by more rural. There were only farmers driving oxen carts in these parts. Goats, and chickens mulling about. And then there was only lush wildlife and forest on the thin path.

Eventually Xian Wu stepped into a grove of maples.

These were old trees that shaded over the path like a ceiling of green. The five-pointed leaves dropped onto the path whimsically and moss grew densely around the tangling roots at the base of tree trunks and statues.

He just shrugged. Mildew had landed on a maple branch, so this time Lai Yiteng must be nearby.