Chapter 44: Searching

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

If they were at the first stage, “Lack of Trust”, the relationship between humans and pets was like a single-plank bridge, which was very dangerous.

If they stayed at this stage for a long time, it was very easy for accidents to happen. The result would be nothing more than the contract breaking and the pet beast escaping.

Only by entering the second stage, “Stability”, could they feel a little more at ease.

Although they could not add additional abilities at this stage, the compatibility at the second stage and above was crucial in determining whether a Master was qualified or not!

After Bai Wushang patiently communicated with it, Ah Zhou finally understood what he meant. It happily expressed that it understood and would listen to his arrangements.

“Then, let’s start with the first skill, ‘Crushing Palm’. It’s the move that uses the palm to attack…”

After finding a space, Bai Wushang got the Demon Ape to use the big tree as the target to test the strength of the skill, the way it was used, the attack range and so on, one by one. He also analyzed and recorded them in his mind.

It had been two hours since he had systematically understood all the abilities of the Demon Ape.

The Master and his Demon Ape rested for a while before getting ready to leave.

“Let’s go and find the Swift Wind Sword Wolf!” Bai Wushang opened his mouth and said, “Ah Zhou, you originally lived here. Do you know where their habitat is?”

“Roar!”

The Demon Ape made a thoughtful expression, nodded and then shook its head.

At this moment, its throat had already recovered by relying on its ‘Rapid Healing’ characteristic, and it could make sounds.

“You mean, you’re not sure?”

Bai Wushang understood. “Anyway, let’s go take a look first!”

He untied the Red Horse which was waiting near a tree trunk and let the Demon Ape lead the way. They soon arrived at a place with lush vegetation.

Bai Wushang found a clue in a pile of grass covered with withered grass.

It was a Swift Wind Sword Wolf that had been dead for a long time. There was an exaggerated wound on its abdomen, and countless centipedes and flies crawled in and out, using its body as a breeding ground.

“Judging from its size, it should be an ordinary Sword Wolf. It suffered heavy injuries and it couldn’t survive even if it ran away…”

After searching around, Bai Wushang found a lot of green hair and the remains of beast bones.

“This is indeed a wolf den, but it has been abandoned…” Bai Wushang sighed slightly.

Looking around, there was no sign of any living Sword Wolves.

It didn’t look like they had left to hunt, because such a territorial creature would send two or three Sword Wolves to guard the wolf den.

“They are on alert. The Wolf King died, and almost half of the population was gone. They immediately brought the rest of their clan to another place?”

Bai Wushang speculated for a while, and his gaze suddenly stopped on the Red Horse.

“The Demon Ape can’t search for clues, but the Red Horse has ‘Sensitive Smell’. If we can make good use of it, we might be able to find the hiding place of the Sword Wolf…”

“… But what I’m worried about is that the Red Horse has a low IQ to begin with, and its brain isn’t quite normal. Will it be reliable?”

After careful consideration, Bai Wushang decided to test it out first.

He took out a snake corpse from his dimensional backpack and split it into two. He casually hid one of the snake corpses in the nearby grass, then took the other half and moved it in front of the Red Horse’s large nostrils, letting it sniff with all its might.

“Remember this smell! Then go look for it!”

“Squeak squeak ~ ~ ~” The Red Horse’s eyeballs rolled around. It had an extremely frightened expression, but its hooves did not move at all.

It was as if its body and soul were separated. Half of it showed fear, but the other half was indifferent.

If someone patted its body, it would subconsciously run forward.

If someone pulled its reins, it would stop again.

Anyway, it was very stupid!

Bai Wushang tried several methods, trying to train the Red Horse’s ability to smell things, but all of them failed.

In the end, he sighed helplessly and cursed, “Idiot!”

“Roar!”

Ah Zhou could not stand it anymore. It walked to the front of the Red Horse, stood up and looked down at it from above. Its eyes were filled with strong murderous intent.

“Prestige?”

Bai Wushang was deep in thought. This skill was quite insignificant. It would only be effective if there was a huge difference in strength. Through eye contact, it could give the inferior creature a threatening pressure, causing fear in its heart.

“Squeak! Squeak!”

The Red Horse reacted, and its expression became even more fearful. It first cried out twice, then dashed towards the bushes at the side, using its mouth to pick up half of the snake’s corpse. It then ran to the side of the Demon Ape and handed it over as if it was asking for credit.

Bai Wushang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Could it be that if I want to wake up its brain, I have to stimulate it and make it surpass its current fear? What a strange fellow…”

After testing it over a dozen times, in the end, as long as the Demon Ape got close to the Red Horse, the Red Horse would get excited and obediently sniff for something without any delay.

Even if the distance extended to a few kilometres, it would still be able to find it successfully. At most, it would be a little slower, or there would be a certain range error.

“No matter what, you are now a qualified tool horse!”

Bai Wushang patted the Red Horse’s head in satisfaction and brought it back to the wolf den.

He collected a part of the Swift Wind Sword Wolf’s hair, including its corpse, and wrapped it in a cloth bag to ensure that the smell would last for a longer period.

After everything was settled, Bai Wushang got on the horse’s back and did the same thing as before, so that the Red Horse could remember the smell of the Sword Wolf.

The Red Horse made a few sounds, its hooves flew and it started to trot.

…

Along the way, they stopped and rested, rested and stopped.

The remaining wolves of the Swift Wind Sword Wolves race had migrated far away.

This caused Bai Wushang to constantly take out the cloth bag to let the Red Horse remember the smell and ensure that they were going in the right direction.

Other than that, for most of the situations, Ah Zhou was resting in the Book of Oaths while Bai Wushang rode his horse to search alone.

Occasionally, he would call Ah Zhou out when he encountered a dangerous beast.

As time passed, Ah Zhou’s strength continued to recover. Ordinary late youth form was no match for it.

Even if it was a peak youth form, if its quality was too low, the outcome would be to provide Bai Wushang with a free dinner.

…

Three days later in the morning.

On a slightly spacious and flat road.

Red Horse was running when it suddenly tripped.

Immediately after that, a large net was spread out on the ground paved with rocks in front of them, trapping Bai Wushang and his horse firmly in the air.

“Hahaha, stupid Xiao Lei, quickly wake up! Wake up! The prey is here!”

“Stupid little brother, I’ve already said 9,688 times that I’m your older brother! You have to show me some respect!”

“Bullsh*t!” Mom said that I was born first! For the 9,689th time, I’m warning you, I, the handsome Tuoba Gan, am your older brother! You, Tuoba Lei, although you’re handsome and suave like me, you’re still slightly inferior to me because you’re my younger brother!!!!”

A pair of twin boys made a racket as they crawled out from the bushes beside them.