Finding Clues

Ronan was right to follow his gut feeling and camp outside this particular village. He began investigating from the Cloud village since the Puppet Maker was found in its surroundings.

The major clue he learned from the investigation was that whoever was abducting the young girls was following a pattern.

After having a thorough discussion with the Village Protector of the Cloud Village, Ronan made a startling discovery that the next two villages had similar occurrences where the young girls of age were kidnapped.

What irked him so much was the fact that all of these girls were addicts. The Village Protectors had embarrassingly failed to prevent the drug racket from influencing the youths and thus swept this whole matter of abduction under the rug to save their skin.

Ronan was going to throw them in prison when he was done dealing with this case. There was simply no way for him to forgive these people who were supposed to be the protectors of their villages endangering the common populace.

Failing to prevent the influence of drugs was one thing, he could somehow find it in his heart to forgive them since even the Elder Council was finding it hard to tackle them in spite of their far-reaching power and influence.

But it was another matter to hide something as serious as abduction to hide their failure. It pained him to see his own people putting their self-interest above someone's life.

-Crunch!

Ronan was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the twigs snapping as a group of five youngsters from the village snuck outside at night.

The group consisted of three boys and two girls who appeared quite nervous and anxious as they kept looking behind their backs while moving stealthily in the direction of the forest.

The sudden crunching sound must have startled them as they stood rooted to the place for a few seconds before heaving a sigh of relief and continuing on their way.

Ronan moved from his hiding spot and quietly followed them, his footsteps completely masked by the skillful use of his element, unlike the youngsters who were completely clueless about the trail they were leaving behind in their paths.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, Ronan noticed an anomaly— the lack of nocturnal creatures roaming the forest.

His years of experience didn't betray him as he immediately felt the chilling air permeating the surroundings. Even for a forest covered in mist all year around, this coldness was a bit too uncanny.

'Strange! Those kids seem completely unaffected by the cold breeze.' Ronan observed. The chill might have forced the nightly beasts to stay in their habitats but that didn't appear to be the case with these youngsters.

Ronan stayed vigilant as the sudden change in the atmosphere didn't mean anything well in this forest region. It could be associated with something ominous almost every time.

"He is here!" One of the three boys suddenly perked up and signalled for others to look ahead.

There! From the thicket ahead, a man squeezed out, covered in a black hood and black robes to become one with the night.

Ronan visibly relaxed his guard for a moment, the man was not even in the Martial Sage realm. Ronan could deal with him blindfolded. He was most likely a low-ranked peddler in the drug racket, not someone responsible for the creation of Puppet Makers.

Thus, Ronan chose to spread his awareness around the spot to look for any ambushes. He was sure the culprit was using these opportunities— where the youngsters snuck out of their homes— to capture them and sacrifice them to create those abominable tree monsters.

"Well, how much do you have?" The hooded man spoke, his voice raspy and grating on ears.

"We-we only have 2 gold coins." One of the boys fished out a pair of coins from his pocket and showed it to the man.

"Che, that's not enough, is it? I can only give you two vials since I am feeling generous or else it wouldn't be enough to get you more than one." The hooded man was very disappointed.

"Uhmm," one of the girls hesitated, clearly intimidated by the man in front of her.

"Say it! We don't have much time. You guys have to go back before the Beast Repellent runes run out of juice." The man warned.

"Is it possible for us to meet again before the end of this week? My father is signing a deal with the Timber Town Merchant Association. If everything goes well, I should be able to fork out some more gold coins from my father's wallet."

"Of course!" The hooded man beamed, his voice no longer sounding disappointed. "I am at your service, my lady. Just light up an oil lamp near the entrance of your village when you're ready to buy. I will install the Beast Repellant runes that evening and we can do our business at night."

Ronan, who heard the hooded man's words clearly, clenched his fist in anger. He was not going to let that man walk freely after tonight.

Another gust of cold breeze caressed his face, making him shiver. Ronan relaxed his hands and frowned in confusion.

Beast Repellent runes don't produce the chilling effect he was feeling. They emitted a noise at a frequency that was uncomfortable for the magical beasts. If one boosted their hearing with the help of mana, they would be able to hear it.

What was even more strange was that the youngsters who had just barely begun their cultivation were unable to feel the cold, while an old man like him, who was far past the level of a Martial Emperor was feeling it.

Even the hooded man was completely unaware of the freezing wind. Unless it was a spell targeted at people above a specific level it didn't make any sense for only Ronan to feel the temperature dropping around him.

Something jogged in his memory, something he had taught his granddaughter when she was a kid.

A Puppet Maker was a cowardly monster. It would only target those who were weaker than itself in a head-on confrontation. Otherwise, it would use its minions— the Treemans— to do its fighting while it fled from the stronger enemies.

It would usually release cold gusts of wind as a way to deter and detect the magical beasts that were equal to or above it in terms of power. If any wayward beast reacted to the cold winds, then the abomination would flee from the vicinity.

"H…help~"

Ronan heard a weak, disembodied voice from behind and he instantly recognised the obvious trap as a shiver ran down his spine. He was sure if he looked behind, he would see a helpless person crying for help while looking all bloodied and in desperate need of medical attention.

However, it was not as simple as that. If someone pitied the distressed person and got closer in order to help, they would be walking into a trap. The person was already on death's door and was simply being manipulated by the Puppet Maker to lure in other prey.

It attaches its grotesque limb to the victim's back through which it controls them to act like a severely injured person calling for help.

Ronan steeled his nerves, he was not going to fall for such a pathetic trap.

-Rock Slicer-

His mana surged as he took out his sword and whipped around while unleashing his attack.

A crescent shaped slash shot towards the person, cleaving him in half before destroying the tentacle-like limb attached to the person.

"KRAA…!"

The monster shrieked in pain, breaking the silence that encompassed the forest. The youngsters and the peddler turned to the source of the disturbance and their faces paled in horror.

"Fuck! Elder Ronan is here. Run!" The hooded man screamed and ran into the thicket from where he had made his entry.

Ronan cursed in his mind while his body glowed in a cyan hue before another, identical man split himself from him.

"Go after that bastard! Bring him alive!"

The clone nodded and chased after the hooded man. It was only capable of following simple instructions from Ronan and didn't have any free will due to a lack of foreign essence or soul.

Ronan glared at the remaining youngsters who were too scared to even move.

"Who are your parents? I would like to have a few words with them." Ronan asked but the trashing of whips coming from behind him stopped him from chastising them further. "But for now, you need to run back to your home. I have a monster to take care of!"

The youngsters nodded like chickens pecking at rice and just as they were about to retreat, an eerily calm voice reverberated through the surroundings.

"How about fighting with someone your level, Ronan? Instead of bullying my cute little pet?"

"Who's there?" Ronan's eyes widened as a man he was all too familiar with slowly appeared in his view, leisurely sitting on top of the Puppet Maker.