Meticulously scouring the forest’s edge, Lin finally resigned himself to the high likelihood that Lei hadn’t managed to escape into the forest. She was small and light, but frantic movement left traces. His years as a hunter told him as much.

Could he be wrong? Possibly. But the odds were slim.

What he did find, however, were more tracks of the apparent attackers from the opposite direction they had left from. Comparing this set of tracks with the first ones he found also allowed him to confirm with a fair amount of confidence that there were three individuals.

Was it a planned operation? Likely not, their actions had been far too messy, and they hadn’t waited for him to come home and tie up all potential loose ends.

Every fiber of his being wanted to chase them down immediately before the trail grew cold, but Lin knew his own limits, he wasn’t an idiot.

He had just spent the entire day hunting, including killing a King Moose that nearly left him dead in the middle of the forest. Although he didn’t feel tired now due to the adrenaline, it was only a matter of time before the exhaustion caught up with him.

Hunting was a delicate process, one which he didn’t dare to risk while fatigued, especially when the prey were armed humans. Fortunately, it was late, and chances were the invaders had a camp somewhere nearby.

The forest at night was no friend to the weary. Nightlash Wolves were a common beast in this region, and although weak during the day, their strength multiplied under the moonlight. Even if they had lanterns—which weren’t exactly cheap—Lin knew just how blind one could be under the dense canopy of the forest.

Unless they were veteran hunters, they wouldn’t dare to travel through the forest at night like this without a camp close by, and if they really were veterans, they would have likely pillaged the hunting resources in the shed.

Due to this knowledge, he was fairly certain he would be able to keep on their trail even if they got ahead of him, as they probably wouldn’t travel too far during the night. He directly went to each of the trails and marked their locations and the general direction they moved in.

Grabbing a rusty iron shovel from the shed, he walked over to a large oak tree in the yard and stabbed it down into the ground. Before long, his shovel hit something hard, and he began clearing out the dirt covering it.

Moving to the side by a few feet, he continued and kept on shoveling. After over an hour of sweat, his arms burned with fatigue, but he wasn’t finished yet. He stood overtop of 2 wooden crates hidden a foot under the ground and stared at them with a melancholic gaze. He really didn’t think he’d ever need to use these things his dad buried here, but now was the time.

So, what were in the boxes? Weapons? Poisons?

Carefully lifting the lid to one of the rectangle crates, the inside was revealed: Nothing.

It wasn’t that they had been stolen from, but rather...

They were coffins. Not for others, but for themselves.

At the time, he couldn’t help but laugh at the man silly, like he was an absolute fool. But now...

Lin could only admit his father was a genius. Who could have predicted these things would come in clutch at this moment?

His father could.

The man was always stern about proper preparation, but it was only now that Lin realized how important it was. Lin was truly on a time limit right now, if these hadn’t been prepared here beforehand, he wouldn’t have been able to give his parents a proper burial.

Under his breath, he muttered, “Thanks, Dad,” before heading to the cabin to clean up and seal the bodies.

Wiping the blood from their faces and changing their clothes, his hands trembled as he arranged them in their coffins, ensuring they looked peaceful. The two King Moose antlers he’d claimed yesterday were placed beside each of them, it was the only way he could honor them on such short notice.

He only hoped he wouldn’t have to bury his little sister like this as well.

By the time he was done covering up their graves, he was utterly exhausted. They had no headstones, but that was fine, not only were they expensive, but they made great targets for grave robbers, so most commoners didn’t use them.

Drearily heading back to the cabin, and without needing to open the now broken-into front door, he waltzed in and gazed at the now-cold meal that had been prepared for his return. It was a meat pie filled with various homegrown vegetables and Cabeste meat, an animal that looked like a duck with large bat wings.

It was his favorite.

He grabbed a plate full and wooden eating utensils and then sat down at the now-empty table. But rather than eating, he only sat there in silence, looking at the empty seats around him.

They weren’t his original parents. He wasn’t the original Lin. But over the past 7 years, he had truly treated them as his family.

He laughed with them. Cried with them. Shared with them.

And although he had never told them the secret of his identity, he kept them close like loved ones.

“Why”

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“Why! Damn it!”

His fist pounded the table and his voice creaked as the view in his eyes blurred. On earth, he had lost his parents at a young age, and as an only sibling, he practically had no family that he was close to.

But here was different, he truly got to experience what it felt like to have a family. And now it was gone. Taken away from him by those... those... those bastards.

The sound of his wooden fork stabbing into the pie broke the eerie silence as candlelight lit up the indescribably cold expression covering his face.

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Pulling a few layers of heavy quilts from his bed, Lin gripped the knife he had gone to sleep with and stepped out into the brisk autumn air. Thin frost blanketed the ground, a harbinger of winter’s early arrival.

The well water bit his skin as he splashed it over his face, causing him to shiver, but he forced himself to focus. Today, there was no room for error.

This was a matter of life and death.

After drying off, he returned to the kitchen and gnawed on a loaf of dense black bread as he headed toward his next destination. It was as unappetizing as ever, but he’d long grown used to it.

Entering the shed, a familiar scent of aged wood filled his nose as he knelt down and lifted up a floorboard revealing the hidden compartment. This was not a time to be picky or to save on materials, Lin directly plundered everything he could, taking only the best to carry with him.

He wore a cloak that was lightly covered in grass, reminiscent of a ghillie suit, one which his father had personally crafted for him as a birthday gift, and put on winter hunting gloves designed with exposed thumbs and index fingers which were ideal for using a bow.

Strapped to his pants were two knives, and over his shoulder he threw his hunting bow, its quiver hanging securely.

He packed a variety of concoctions, uncertain of what he might need—Baiting Powder, Herbal Scent, Sleep Poison, and Butick Frog Saliva. Normally, he would never take along all these items as they were worth too much to lose, but that didn’t matter anymore.

Although the others were rather self-explanatory, the Frog Saliva was rather interesting, Butick Frogs were a certain species whose saliva had the specific property of quickly dissolving blood. It was said that they primarily preyed on Blood Spiders, which led them to evolve in such a way.

For food, jerky, bread, and water were all stuffed into his backpack, separated from the vialed chemicals by spare clothing.

Each item was chosen with a deliberate purpose. Expecting second chances for a mission like this was foolish.

As Lin walked towards the mark he had left yesterday identifying their route, he silently recalculated the plan in his mind—there was no room for errors.

He dripped some herbal scent onto his suit, masking his presence with the earthy aroma of foliage. Beasts and humans alike would smell the forest and nothing more.

He was going to scout out the enemy camp and see what exactly he was dealing with.

His gear softly clinked with each step into the forest, and he grimaced. A quieter load would’ve been ideal, but survival came first. Without the bow, he couldn’t guarantee a successful ambush. Without supplies, his options would be greatly limited.

But as the tracks they left the night before became less and less clear with no camp in sight, he began to feel worried.

Had he made the wrong judgment? Did they really dare to travel through the night?

It was just then that he crested a hill and froze.

Below, nestled in a lush valley, was a sprawling encampment. Dozens of tents surrounded an emerald lake, there were no less than 50 men, all with swords on their waste.

Lin’s expression tightened, bandits?

It seems that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Dropping to the ground, he scanned the camp, searching for any sign of his sister. His gaze darted from tent to tent, but no obvious slave quarters were visible. Lin frowned, if she wasn’t here, then this could already be considered to be a half-failure. After all, rescuing Lei was his top priority.

It was also now that he understood why the King Moose had left its territory, because this was the Vibrant Grove! He had his suspicions as he was traveling towards it, but now it all made sense. It seemed some bandit gang had settled down here.

Suddenly, the snap of a twig behind him caused him to flinch.

“Hey, wanna play cards after shift?”

“Cards this cards that, all the fuck you do is gamble”

“Come on man, gambling is the greatest joy of life! Even women cant compare—”

He lay there frozen until the sound of chatter slowly walked by, seemingly oblivious to his presence.

His camouflage had done its job, but he had been careless. He was too eager to scout the camp. That could’ve been the end. He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of alerting them, then them making a ruckus causing the entire gang to swarm him.

Even though he was freezing, he felt a drip of sweat run down his neck, he nearly died just now.

Lin adjusted his position, retreating deeper into the forest. Hours slipped by as he observed the bandit’s routines. Scouts patrolled with irregularity, making it difficult to understand their routine.

Was it laziness or genius?

He guessed it was laziness, seeing as they were bandits. However, in the randomness laid a pattern: they switched shifts every hour, precisely on time. Was it because the bandits really didn’t like working that they ended their shifts with pinpoint accuracy?

Flicking his wrist and stretching his fingers to maintain blood flow in the frigid air, he finally determined it was time to begin. While learning of their movements, he had planned out his entire route.

Slipping to the eastern edge of the camp, he started spreading bait powder along the west side in a deliberate trail, starting light and growing heavier as he neared the camp. He didn’t need much—the stuff was strong. Once satisfied, he circled towards the east, choosing a concealed vantage point.

The camp erupted in chaos half an hour later. Nightlash wolves, drawn by the bait, swarmed down the valley. Cowbells clanged, and shouts emerged as bandits scrambled to fight them off.

Why did he put the baiting powder on the west side only? It was because the food storage was in the east. Thankfully, the wind was also moving towards the west tonight.

Lin moved with precision, slipping into the camp’s eastern side under the cover of the commotion. Near the food storage, two guards stood watch—one leaning lazily against a crate, the other absentmindedly picking his nose.

He let out a mocking smile, even amidst the chaos, the bandits remained arrogant.

Quietly climbing a nearby tree, he nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring taut. He could feel his hands trembling—not from the cold, but from the weight of what he was about to do.

The memory of his parent’s lifeless bodies flashed before his eyes, sharpening his resolve. With a soft hum, the arrow was released, piercing straight through the head of the awake bandit.

Blood sprayed as the body crumpled. Lin wasted no time, firing a second arrow before the other guard could wake up. Two bodies hit the ground in quick succession. He descended from the tree and sprinted towards the alcohol barrel, quickly lifting the top and pouring all the sleep poison he had strapped on his waste beforehand.

The poison’s slow onset was perfect—by the time they realized it, it would be too late.

Closing the barrel, he stabbed their bodies a few more times and dragged the two of them into the forest, purposefully leaving a messy trail of blood.

Looking back and forth and seeing that no one noticed, he went to the crate the asleep bandit rested on and wiped the bloodstains with the Frog Saliva. It worked better than he had expected, directly dissolving the blood and not harming the wooden boards at all.

He then unsheathed their swords and used his knife to tear apart some of their clothing, smearing everything with their blood and throwing them along the blood trail.

Lin didn’t dare to spend too much time here, once he was satisfied with the scene he immediately dashed into the shrubbery and continued moving away the corpses.