Give you a bunch

Deep in the dense forest, Ying Hou stared at the footprints on the ground, his expression terrifyingly gloomy, for he had realized that Long Chen was extremely cunning, sometimes intentionally leaving footprints to mislead him.

Long Chen's footprints would often simply vanish while walking. A moment of thought revealed that after walking a certain distance, Long Chen would retrace his steps along the original tracks, then head off in a different direction to escape.

The first set of footprints was slightly clearer, intentionally left for Ying Hou to see, forcing him to waste more time searching.

Ying Hou was filled with rage but had no way to vent it. Long Chen was too cunning; sometimes, the direction Long Chen actually took was the very same place where he had intentionally left false footprints.

Caught between truth and deception, Ying Hou had no choice but to follow obediently. He could feel that Long Chen was nearby, yet he couldn't find him, which made him so angry he felt as if his lungs were about to explode.

A day and a night had passed, and Ying Hou was gradually becoming impatient. However, he had no choice but to continue searching based on the tracks.

The two of them began a game of hide-and-seek in this boundless forest. Although Long Chen held a certain advantage, he dared not let his guard down in the slightest.

If he wanted to, Long Chen could quickly shake off Ying Hou's pursuit, but he couldn't do that. He maintained a distance of about ten miles from Ying Hou at all times.

This distance was just enough for an Yijin Realm expert to sense hostility, yet not enough to pinpoint his exact location; this was intentional on Long Chen's part.

Now that he had killed Xia Changfeng, the fact that the Fourth Prince had sent Ying Hou to kill him showed that the Fourth Prince no longer feared his father as much.

The entire Long family was in danger now. By dragging Ying Hou along like this, he was, on one hand, buying time for A Man to return to the Imperial Capital quickly.

When Ying Hou first appeared, Long Chen had quietly instructed A Man that whoever managed to escape should return to the Imperial Capital first.

By sending his family to the Alchemist Guild, given his relationship with Great Master Yun Qi, Great Master Yun Qi would definitely not stand idly by. At that point, even if the Fourth Prince wanted to move against the Long family, he would have to think twice.

The other reason was that as long as Ying Hou did not return to the Imperial Capital for a single day, the Fourth Prince would not receive news of his death, making it unlikely he would strike against the Long family.

Therefore, Long Chen was taking a huge risk to delay Ying Hou. It was a helpless situation, but he had to do it.

While moving forward cautiously, Long Chen suddenly saw a palm-sized beetle crawling slowly on a large tree.

Seeing the beetle, Long Chen's eyes lit up. He recognized the beetle as a "One-Horned Ox," so named because it had a horn on its nose that looked very similar to an ox's horn.

This was a very gentle beetle that moved extremely slowly, but despite its palm-sized stature, its strength was astonishing.

A beetle like this could drag objects weighing twenty or thirty catties. It was precisely because of its astonishing strength that people included the word "Ox" in its name.

Reaching out, he took the palm-sized One-Horned Ox into his hand. A smile appeared at the corners of his mouth as he whispered, "Hehe, little guy, do me a favor."

Ignoring its anger, he tossed the little fellow into his pocket and walked forward another mile. Long Chen nodded; this was a good spot.

He took a thin thread from his spatial ring. It was Black Silkworm Silk; although thin, it was incredibly sturdy, with a single strand capable of lifting a hundred catties. Most adventurers would carry some on them.

Whether making ropes or setting traps, it was ideal. Most importantly, the Black Silkworm was artificially farmed, so it was very cheap.

Long Chen took out the Black Silkworm Silk and looked around, nodding with satisfaction. The color of the silk blended in with the surroundings, making it hard to detect.

He found a short tree about the thickness of an egg, gave it a gentle push, and felt its astonishing elasticity. He then gently wrapped the silk around the small tree.

The small tree bent immediately under the tension of the silk, like a bow arm. Once it lost the restraint of the silk, it would spring back rapidly.

Long Chen was extremely careful while doing all this. If there was even the slightest mistake, it could create a huge noise and attract Ying Hou.

However, thinking about the effect once this trap was set up and triggered, these risks were all worth it.

After setting up the "slingshot," Long Chen observed the surrounding terrain. There were dense thorns on both sides, with only one naturally clear path.

When running frantically, people would instinctively choose the path of least resistance, so this was the ideal place to set the trigger mechanism.

He set up several lines of defense with the Black Silkworm Silk on the ground. After confirming the distance, ensuring that no matter the opponent's stride, they would inevitably step on one, he finally felt at ease.

He reached out and took the beetle, tied one of its legs with Black Silkworm Silk, and placed it on a large tree. The One-Horned Ox began to crawl slowly, but it wasn't crawling aimlessly; it was heading toward a spot about three zhang up the tree.

Because there, Long Chen had placed a petal of a Butterfly Orchid. The Butterfly Orchid was a type of medicinal herb, and its petals contained a very rich amount of sugar.

The One-Horned Ox loved nothing more than to gnaw on these petals. Although the petal in Long Chen's hand was already withered, the One-Horned Ox, relying on its astonishing sense of smell, discovered it instantly and crawled forward desperately.

The One-Horned Ox's speed was truly too slow; it took a full incense stick's worth of time just to reach the spot.

However, just as the One-Horned Ox was about to enjoy the meal, Long Chen flicked his hand, and the poor little guy was immediately yanked down.

Long Chen estimated the time and re-tied a knot for the One-Horned Ox. This knot was a slipknot, with a small loop tied next to it; once that small loop was triggered, it would immediately loosen, freeing the little guy.

After carefully tying the knot, he tied a stone weighing five or six catties to the other end of the silk, checked it repeatedly several times, and looked at the One-Horned Ox's crawling path again.

He ensured that when the One-Horned Ox was about to reach the Butterfly Orchid petal, the slipknot would snag on a protruding dead branch, untying the knot and letting the stone fall to the ground.

After checking the trap from start to finish again, a strange smile appeared on Long Chen's face. He found a fan-sized leaf nearby and then sneaked behind a large tree.

A while later, Long Chen placed the beetle back on the tree. Seeing that the beetle was still crawling along the original route, though slightly slower because it was dragging a stone, he nodded.

Long Chen quietly retreated. Now everything was ready; all that was left was for the "east wind" to arrive. As for whether it would succeed, that would depend on Ying Hou. He moved his body and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

Half an hour later, Ying Hou was carefully searching for Long Chen's tracks when suddenly, an unusual sound came – the sound of the stone rolling down.

The sound was originally very faint, but to the ears of Ying Hou, who was listening intently to the surroundings, it was like a thunderclap.

"Whoosh."

Without a second thought, Ying Hou dashed toward that direction. His speed was as fast as a gale, and he covered the seven or eight miles in an instant.

That sound was definitely not one that should exist in the natural world. He knew it must be the sound of someone accidentally stepping on and dislodging a stone.

In this deathly silent forest, besides him, only Long Chen could make such a sound.

Thinking of Long Chen, a wave of anger surged in Ying Hou's heart. Last night, he basically hadn't rested at all, not even having time to circulate his energy to recover.

That group of damned beasts had acted like they were crazy, converging toward his side. Although those beasts couldn't pose a threat to him, they had disturbed his healing.

His injuries couldn't be healed by Medicinal Pills alone; he had to combine them with Spiritual Qi to heal, but he hadn't had the time or the opportunity to do so.

Unable to maintain his Peak combat power, Ying Hou felt very insecure, so he desperately needed to kill Long Chen and return to the Imperial Capital to heal.

In just a few breaths, Ying Hou arrived at the location of the sound. However, there was no sign of Long Chen here. Under a large tree lay a rolled-down stone, and there even seemed to be some writing on it.

Ying Hou scanned the surroundings and found no sign of Long Chen. His expression turned somewhat ugly; he knew he might have been played.

He walked slowly toward the stone, wanting to see what message Long Chen had left for him. Just as he took a few steps, his feet suddenly moved, and immediately afterward, a small tree nearby shook, and a green ball wrapped in leaves flew toward him.

Ying Hou let out a cold laugh, swung his long sword, and slashed directly at the object.

"Hmph, petty tricks…"

"Pfft."

What he didn't expect was that when his long sword touched the object, the thing wrapped in green leaves suddenly burst open, and juice flew everywhere.

Because it happened so suddenly and the distance was so close, Ying Hou was caught off guard and splashed all over with the juice. An incredibly foul stench filled the air.

A significant amount had also splashed into Ying Hou's mouth, and suddenly his mouth was also incredibly foul-smelling. Ying Hou was shocked and hurriedly retreated; his first reaction was that this thing might be poisonous.

However, although the thing was incredibly foul, he showed no signs of poisoning, and his blood and Qi were circulating normally.

At this moment, after realizing he had fallen into a trap, the stone that had originally fallen to the ground flipped over, revealing the writing on it:

"A small gift, just a token of my regards. I wanted to give you a big pile, but unfortunately, my stomach hasn't been feeling well lately, so I really didn't have the strength to do so. I hope Lord Ying Hou will forgive me."

After reading the writing, Ying Hou's face instantly turned pale. Looking at the sticky, gooey substance on his body, his stomach churned violently.

"Ugh…"

"Long Chen…"

Ying Hou let out a heart-wrenching roar. The sound was so piercing that it shook the entire forest, causing countless birds and beasts to flee in terror.

Up in a large tree, Long Chen watched the birds in the distance, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. The feeling of being hunted by Ying Hou, which had left him in such a wretched state, was finally relieved.

From this day on, Ying Hou's expression became even gloomier, and Long Chen became even more cautious, not daring to set such traps again.

After all, if he failed during the setup process, he would be doomed. His previous actions were just to cheer himself up and boost his confidence.

Now that everything had been done, he should stop. Caution is the parent of safety; he didn't want the favorable situation he had created to be reversed in an instant.

One chasing and one fleeing, eight days passed quickly. During these eight days, Long Chen spent his days fleeing and his nights using various techniques to shake off the entanglement of beasts before starting to heal.

Because of the assistance of the healing Medicinal Pill, Long Chen recovered extremely quickly. The meridians in his right hand had completely recovered, and the injuries inside his body had also mostly healed.

Ever since Ying Hou killed the beasts on the first day and brought trouble upon himself, he had also started to learn to be smart. When resting at night, he would jump onto high trees, staying far away from the ground to give himself time to rest and begin healing. His cultivation was profound, and his recovery speed was also very fast.

It wasn't until the ninth day, when Long Chen crossed a small stream and entered a dense forest ahead, that suddenly, there was a strange movement above his head.

Long Chen looked up, and his expression couldn't help but change drastically: "I am done for!"