Volume Two: Setting Out on the Journey Chapter 41: Creating Opportunities

Soon.
The first-floor lobby of the hotel.
The eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad stood in the center.

"I believe everyone is aware," said Jiang Dawei, captain of the Blazing Squad, with a sorrowful expression and a low voice, "given Gangzi and Aze's vigilance, even if a pack of astral beasts entered the hotel, they would have had better than a fifty-fifty chance of escaping! Even if they failed to escape, logically they should have been able to alert us via their watches the moment they detected danger!"

Hearing this, the expressions of those present shifted slightly, and they nodded involuntarily.

"Indeed," the elderly man surnamed Li took over the conversation. "What is puzzling and strange is that before the two of them died, they did not contact us at all. That is why I suspect someone deliberately set a trap and left behind listening devices or something similar at the scene. That's why I asked everyone to come downstairs to discuss it."

The members of the Blazing Squad could not help but hold the elderly man surnamed Li in higher regard.
To be able to assess the situation instantly and make the correct decision—
One could only say that ginger gets hotter the older it gets!

"Of course, that is one possibility. There is another," the elderly man paused, continuing, "If my guess is correct, then it must be that a Level 4 astral beast among this batch of astral beasts discovered their traces and launched a stealthy sneak attack. Afterward, a massive horde swarmed them, and in the chaos of an emergency melee, the two of them had no opportunity to contact us."

The five members of the Blazing Squad exchanged glances.
At this moment, a trace of worry appeared on the young man's face. The elderly man surnamed Li chuckled in a low voice, "Rest assured, Young Master. Even if someone set a trap, it wouldn't be targeted at you. Green Star Realm powercasters would disdain to use such methods, and Yellow Star Realm martial artists would not dare to provoke the Young Master at all."

"Senior Li, for the Young Master's safety, we should return to the front line," said Jiang Dawei, captain of the Blazing Squad, his heart filled with anxiety due to the blood scent permeating the hotel. "The deaths of Gangzi and the others might have been caused by astral beasts, but it is far more likely that a martial artist played a dirty hand. And ordinary martial artists would never dare to offend Young Master Wen Zhengming; it must be someone with a grudge against my Blazing Squad!"

He was well aware of this young man's identity; his father's personal strength and background dictated that very few people would dare to provoke him.
After all, no one was willing to make an enemy of a powerful being on the verge of breaking through to the Cyan Star Realm.

"Unnecessary," the elderly man surnamed Li waved his hand. "With Luo Lei and me here, the Young Master's safety is absolute."
Luo Lei, the middle-aged man, also glanced at the members of the Blazing Squad and smiled coldly.

"Young Master Wen," Jiang Dawei could not help looking at the young man.
Wen Zhengming frowned and said, "My training plan is not yet finished."

"Jiang Dawei, as a martial artist, one naturally walks on the edge of life and death," the elderly man surnamed Li said with a slight frown. "If you hesitate and cower like this over uncertain matters, what kind of achievements can you hope for in the future? At worst, the five of you can simply stick with us the entire time. Will that suffice?"

Hearing this, Jiang Dawei and the other four members of the Blazing Squad exchanged glances and communicated with their eyes, ultimately abandoning the idea of returning to the front line.
In truth, they knew very well in their hearts that following two powerful experts in the outskirts of the ruined city was indeed extremely safe. As long as they did not provoke the beast clans, basically no one would dare to come and cause trouble for them.

"That's right, Senior Li is right. If we fear wolves ahead and tigers behind, can we still be called martial artists?"
Jiang Dawei's inner pride was also stirred, a flash of cold light sweeping across his eyes. "If someone really dares to scheme against us, once discovered, we will kill them outright."

"Mm, we will listen to Senior Li," said the squad member with the square face, smiling.
The rest of the Blazing Squad members all expressed their agreement to follow Senior Li's lead.

"Let's go," Senior Li commanded. "This place is reeking of blood. Let's find another spot."
Immediately, the eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad left the lavish hotel.

...

Elsewhere.
Wang Jue's original hiding place.

"As expected, they chose to leave the hotel..."
Wang Jue observed silently through binoculars. Within his field of vision, the eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad left the hotel, walked down the street for quite a while, and eventually disappeared from his line of sight.

"Damn it, this villa is too low, the viewing angle is too narrow. No, I have to change locations."
Wang Jue bolted out of the villa like a leopard, running at full speed directly into the high-rise residential building opposite him.

This residential building had a full sixteen floors. Wang Jue had already stored his shields, weapons, and other items inside his storage ring. Unburdened by the drag of these equipment pieces, his speed became astonishing.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
A phantom image flashed continuously up the stairwell, darting from the first floor to the top sixteenth floor in mere seconds!

Soon.
Inside a room on the sixteenth floor.
Wang Jue stood by the eastern window, holding binoculars and looking down. Because he was standing high enough, his downward overlooking view was much clearer.

After watching for a while, he finally spotted the eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad walking along the edge of the street.
He watched as the eight of them walked forward slowly for a long time, eventually entering a dilapidated twelve-story residential building.

"I wonder if those preparations of mine had any effect?"
Wang Jue narrowed his eyes, then sighed. "Sigh, whether they worked or not, I can only leave it to fate now."
"All I can do right now is continue waiting for an opportunity..."

...

Next, Wang Jue resumed his days of staking out.
As a martial artist, patience and perseverance were the primary requirements!
Without patience and perseverance, how could one possess such astonishing strength?
Naturally, Wang Jue staking out entirely on his own fell well within his capacity to endure.

On the first day, the Fierce Tiger Squad went out hunting early in the morning as usual, all eight of them setting out together.
On the third day, the Fierce Tiger Squad went out once in the morning and once in the afternoon to train their young master, again with all eight of them setting out together.
On the fifth day, it was still once in the morning and once in the afternoon, with all eight setting out together.
On the seventh day...
For a consecutive week, Wang Jue failed to find any opportunity to strike.

"Damn it, it seems the Blazing Squad really has their suspicions."
Wang Jue sat on the slightly cleaned-up bed in the bedroom with a somewhat unsightly expression, silently looking outside through the window.
At this moment, the night outside was deep, filled with a sky full of starlight.
Starlight shone through the window into the room, while a very faint scent of blood from the outside drifted lingeringly in the air.

"What should I do?" Wang Jue frowned.
If this continued, once the young master's training plan ended, he might return to the front line.
By then, the members of the Blazing Squad would definitely return together, leaving him with zero opportunities whatsoever. At the same time, all his stakeout days would have been wasted!

Wang Jue pondered for the better part of the night without coming up with a good solution.
Ultimately, he decided to continue the stakeout.
He refused to believe they would stay together forever!

...

The next morning.
The ruined city maintained its usual cold and murderous atmosphere, occasionally punctuated by heart-pounding roars of astral beasts.
If the safety zone was a brand-new city full of vitality, then this place—formerly one of humanity's most prosperous cities—had now become the paradise and lair of astral beasts.
Dried bloodstains and skeletal remains could be seen everywhere here.

At this moment.
Inside the dusty, dilapidated top-floor room of a sixteen-story building.
Wang Jue, dressed in combat gear, stared silently downward with one hand holding binoculars while his other hand held a piece of jerky smoked over charcoal ash the previous night. He took a bite, chewed twice, and swallowed.
Throughout the aged room, only the sound of Wang Jue chewing the jerky broke the deep silence.

"Gulp..."
Wang Jue took out his water pouch, took a tiny sip, and after a moment, took another tiny sip.
In the wilderness region, Wang Jue had not carried excessive food and water, even though Shen Feng and the others had given him all their food and water when they headed back.

Yet now, nearly a month had passed; Wang Jue's food had long since run out, and his water was almost depleted, forcing him to ration it strictly every day.
Actually, Wang Jue was not worried about food at all, primarily because he had started eating astral beast meat three days ago. What truly worried him was the issue of drinking water.

"Damn it..."
Through the binoculars, Wang Jue clearly saw eight figures emerge from the twelve-story residential building under the lingering morning fog: "Eight people going out together again!"

"Clack..."
Frowning, Wang Jue irritably tossed the binoculars onto the adjacent bed, then massaged the acupuncture points around his eyes.
Staking out all day long caused the greatest fatigue to the eyes.

"What is this? They go out with eight people every single day, not giving me a single opening!"
Wang Jue furrowed his brows, his expression ugly. "If this keeps up until the young master's training plan ends, I'll probably end up waiting in vain once again. No, I have to think of something..."

Promptly, Wang Jue whipped his mind into gear and began to brainstorm.
Right now, there was simply no opportunity to strike.
Was he just supposed to wait bitterly like this?

"No... no opportunity."
A bitter expression surfaced on Wang Jue's face. Then, a thought struck him, his eyes lit up, and he gritted his teeth. "Since there's no opportunity, and I can't wait for one, I'll create one!"

Didn't the eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad like sticking together all the time?
Wang Jue gently screwed tight the cap of his water pouch.
Then he would force them to scatter!

...

Near noon.
The eight members of the Fierce Tiger Squad cautiously advanced and evaded by turns, finally returning to the twelve-story residential building where they had previously rested.

"Hmph, finally back."
Fully armed, Wang Jue smiled faintly. "I'll deliver a grand gift to you right away."
Following that, he walked straight out of the room and darted swiftly downstairs like an ape.

Once he exited the sixteen-story residential building, even Wang Jue did not dare to act too arrogant. Instead, he began carefully and meticulously scouting the surrounding area.
In the wilderness region, avoiding astral beasts was difficult, but finding them was easy!

In less than twenty minutes.
Wang Jue located a wolf-type astral beast pack numbering in the thousands.
This wolf-type astral beast pack occupied an oversized warehouse with one collapsed wall. Ordinarily, no human martial artists dared to provoke such a massive beast pack.
After all, the threat of a pack numbering in the thousands was terrifying, especially coming from wolf-type astral beasts, which held grudges and sought revenge for every grievance.

"Huff, huff..."
Massive astral beasts lay sprawled across the factory grounds, their snores echoing while a thick, foul musk permeated the surroundings.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... the wolves in this pack are on a completely different level from the blood wolves I encountered before. So powerful!"
Wang Jue looked inside through a crack in the courtyard wall, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Then let's begin..."

The next second.
"Roar..."
"Roars..."
"Roar, roar, roar..."
The wolves throughout the entire factory compound roared frantically. Dozens of wolves were killed on the spot, causing this massive pack to grow even more furious, perceiving it as an unprecedented humiliation.
Even the pack leaders—a pair of male and female Level 4 wolf kings—began to howl in rage, and the entire wolf pack instantly surged forward in mad pursuit...