Bai Bing Zhe continued shouting at them, his voice hoarse and filled with rage.
Before long, Bai Shang's patience wore thin. A flicker of anger crossed his face as he cut him off with a stern voice:
"Silence. What do you think I am doing right now? If you want to bark, do it somewhere else."
His words were cold and merciless, like a blade cutting through the chaos.
After regaining his composure, he turned his gaze toward Bai Zhong Shui and spoke in a steady tone:
"From the burn marks on the bear, it seems Bai Xiang fought it and died here. But I am not certain about Bai Bing Yi."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Use the Dog Nose Gu. Track the scent of his blood—perhaps we can find the true place of his death."
Bai Zhong Shui nodded calmly. Without hesitation, she activated the Dog Nose Gu.
In an instant, her nose transformed, elongating into that of a hound.
This Gu could track only a single scent at a time, but once locked on, it could follow it across a thousand kilometers without losing the trail.
The moment she inhaled the lingering traces of Bai Bing Yi's blood, her expression sharpened.
"There is a trail… a large patch of blood ahead."
She turned without delay.
"Follow me."
Several minutes passed before they arrived at the place of Bai Bing Yi's death—inside a cave.
At that moment, a portion of the truth became clear to Bai Shang.
Bai Bing Yi and Bai Xiang had been sent to search the surrounding mountains for any Spirit Spring. It was common knowledge that such springs were often found deep within the heart of mountains, and thus, caves were always the primary targets of investigation.
"It seems Bai Bing Yi entered the cave to inspect it… but from the looks of it, that Gu Master had already set up an ambush inside and killed him," Bai Shang said calmly, crouching down as his hand brushed against the cave floor.
Yet something still troubled his mind.
"Bai Xiang's role was to protect Bai Bing Yi. He should have stayed close at all times… which means he must have seen the killer inside the cave. So why didn't he strike then?"
"Yes… that is indeed strange," Bai Zhang Shui spoke, sharing her suspicion.
"There are no signs of battle inside this cave. That means we can rule out the possibility that the Gu Master escaped during a fight between them."
Bai Zhang Shui suddenly fell silent, as if a dangerous thought had crossed her mind. Without saying anything further, she activated the Dog Nose Gu and began carefully sniffing the surrounding area, while Bai Shang continued his analysis in a low voice:
"There is another inconsistency… how did he end up being killed by the bear? If his goal was to kill that Gu Master, and the opponent was Rank one, then he could have easily killed him during the fight. But if the Gu Master was Rank two, and Bai Xiang was in danger, he could have retreated without difficulty."
Bai Zhang Shui suddenly stopped and cast a subtle glance toward Bai Shang, signaling that she wanted to speak with him privately.
Bai Shang immediately understood. He turned to Bai Bing Zhe and said:
"Check the cave entrance. See if there are any clues we missed."
Once he left, and only Bai Shang and Bai Zhang Shui remained, she spoke in a low voice:
"I found traces of a large amount of blood belonging to another person… it does not belong to Bai Xiang nor Bai Bing Yi. This means it belongs to that Gu Master."
Bai Shang's eyebrows lifted slightly, as if a spark of insight had flashed through his mind. He then asked:
"And where is he now?"
Bai Zhang Shui replied calmly:
"He has already escaped beyond the mountain range and went to the north. He is now about a day's distance from here, and it doesn't seem like he is using any movement-type Gu… should we pursue him and eliminate him?"
Bai Shang shook his head in refusal and said in a firm tone:
"Our clan is in a difficult situation right now. We cannot risk the lives of our members in this wilderness."
Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and continued:
"Instead, let me ask you… it seems that Bai Xiang managed to capture that Gu Master and severely injure him, yet he did not kill him. If you were in his place, what reason could prevent you from killing him despite having the ability to do so?"
Bai Zhang Shui thought for a few seconds, then her eyes lit up with sudden realization:
"The only reason… is that he knew something I wanted. In this case, we are talking about a fortune… perhaps a Gu Master inheritance, or—"
At that very moment, the two of them spoke the same word simultaneously:
"A Spirit Spring!!"
.....
The clouds had covered the sky since morning, blocking out the sun and hinting at an approaching rain. Jian Long had already prepared for this—while walking, he had woven himself a straw hat to shield against the coming downpour.
Since his battle with Bai Xiang two days ago, he had barely gotten any rest. He had been moving almost nonstop, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the mountain.
During this time, he began exploring the new Gu worms he had obtained, especially the Lightning Moon Gu. As he experimented, a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind:
"Any electric current generates a magnetic field… so what would happen if I did this?"
He condensed a sphere of lightning until it grew to the size of a house, then launched a metal spear into it.
The moment he did, the spear began spinning wildly in midair, so violently that it nearly struck Jian Long. He immediately dispersed the lightning sphere, sending the metal spear flying uncontrollably into the sky.
"That was dangerous…! So it is affected by the magnetic field. But I need to control its movement."
This time, he recreated the sphere, but carefully refined the flow of electric currents, making them more stable and precise. Then he launched another metal spear.
This time, the spear began rotating in a smooth, controlled orbit around Jian Long.
He released a second spear—it joined the rotation. Then a third, and another, until ten spears circled around him at high speed.
With a thought, he rearranged them into a wall of spinning spears in front of him, then launched them all at once. They shot forward and slammed into the ground with force.
With another motion, the spears burst out from the earth and returned to his side, resuming their orbit.
Without realizing it, Jian Long had just created a killer move.