The biting north wind howled, whipping snowflakes against Zhao Lin’s face and body.

He sat unmoving upon a large boulder on the mountaintop. He didn’t feel the cold; now that his cultivation had reached the Blood Realm, circulating his Qi and Blood was enough to fend off the bitter chill.

Absorbing a Wind Fox’s Essence Soul could raise his cultivation level, but he couldn’t pin all his hopes on that.

Otherwise, if he failed to catch the Wind Fox and let his martial training fall by the wayside, all his efforts would be for naught.

After cultivating for half the day, he returned to his quarters at dusk.

A meal box sat on the stove, and a kettle of water had been boiled. He touched the side of the kettle; it was still warm.

Since winter had set in, the sky grew dark early. Li Shi, the villager responsible for delivering his meals, had prepared the food and brought it over ahead of time.

Inside the meal box was a large bowl of cured meat, a bowl of mutton and radish soup, and a saucer of pickled vegetables.

There were no greenhouses in this era, so common folk stored vegetables like cabbage, potatoes, and radishes in root cellars to last through the winter.

After dinner, Zhao Lin paced around the room for a bit before turning in early for the night.

As darkness fell, a cold wind crept into the room through cracks at the base of the walls and in the floorboards, letting out a low moan.

This wasn’t because the house was poorly constructed; it was by design.

Mountain guardian disciples lived alone in the mountains. If their houses were too enclosed, they wouldn’t have any advance warning of danger, nor would they be able to escape easily.

Thus, when the Xingyun Sect commissioned the construction of these dwellings, they had the craftsmen deliberately leave small holes on all four sides so the guardian disciples could clearly hear any movement in their surroundings.

Not only that, but two sections of the wall were also hollow, serving as a means of emergency escape.

’It’s been three years since I came to this world. I’ve gone from a boy in a mountain village to an inner disciple of the Xingyun Sect. The change has been nothing short of massive.’

’But I can’t stop now.’

Lying in bed, Zhao Lin found it hard to sleep. His mind drifted, replaying the experiences of the last three years.

From practicing martial arts in Qinghe County, to fighting the man with the beard, to the Xingyun Sect’s Wuxiang Institute, and then the inner court...

His goal had always been the same: to survive, to live well, and to live a long life.

He had more or less achieved the first two goals. Only the last, and most difficult, remained.

This wasn’t a world of immortal cultivators. To break through his limits and see what lay beyond, he had to continuously raise his cultivation realm.

He tossed and turned for a long time, finally drifting into a groggy sleep late into the night.

「Three days passed.」

Zhao Lin checked the traps he had set each day.

He had placed the traps in the sparse woods, near the reed marshes of the river valley, and by the thickets of bushes—all places where wild pheasants were known to frequent.

So far, he had caught nothing.

Based on his observations from the past few days, the pheasant population in the mountains had dwindled significantly. At this rate, they would be extinct before long.

’If the pheasants all die out, will the Wind Fox leave this place?’

Zhao Lin considered it highly likely. He speculated that the Wind Fox roamed all over the Yanyun Mountain Range and had only recently arrived at Ancient Rock Mountain.

’I have to catch the Wind Fox before the pheasants go extinct. The Yanyun Mountain Range is vast; if it leaves, I’ll never find it again.’

’Huh? How did the sticky net break?’

「On the fourth day.」

While checking a trap he had hung in a tree, Zhao Lin was surprised to discover that the sticky net was broken.

He took it down for a closer look and saw several strands of cyan fur caught in the mesh, along with numerous bite marks and a few spots of blood.

’The sticky net is woven from twisted silk threads; it’s exceptionally tough. If an ordinary bird flew into it, its wings would get hopelessly tangled, and it would never break free.’

’It couldn’t have been a squirrel, either. The fur color is wrong.’

A thought struck Zhao Lin. He suspected that the creature caught in the net had been the Wind Fox. Unfortunately, it seemed to have chewed through the threads and escaped.

’It seems these traps, meant for ordinary animals... are useless against a flying magical beast like the Wind Fox.’

’I’ll keep observing for another two days. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just have to come up with another plan.’

That night, Zhao Lin was suddenly jolted from his sleep by a strange sound.

WHIRR... WHIRR...

The sound grew increasingly distinct, as if something was rapidly approaching the house.

He heard no sound of footsteps crunching in the snow, which meant the sound was coming from the sky.

Zhao Lin’s eyes flew open. He snatched the iron ruler from his bedside and rushed for the door, not even bothering with shoes.

Just as he reached for the door, two sharp THUDS echoed from it.

Startled, Zhao Lin hesitated for a moment before sliding back the bolt, pulling the door inward, and quickly ducking to one side.

In the bright moonlight, he saw two wild pheasants floundering on the ground. The metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils.

Zhao Lin quickly scanned the area outside, then shot out of the doorway. He sent a wave of ultrasonic perception rippling out in all directions and immediately located a civet-like creature gliding through the air to his front left.

It even seemed to glance back at him.

He looked up to see the dark silhouette wreathed in swirling air currents, which produced that same whirring sound. Then, it dove into the woods and vanished.

"It really is the Wind Fox!"

Zhao Lin muttered to himself. He looked back at the two dead pheasants by the door and raised an eyebrow.

’What is the meaning of this?’

’The Wind Fox was injured when it got caught in the net. Does it know I’m the one who set it, and it came here to threaten me in retaliation?’

The more Zhao Lin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He went back inside, closed the door, and sat at the table in the dark to ponder, not bothering to light a lamp.

The books in the Scripture Pavilion only described the Wind Fox’s abilities and habits; there was no mention of its temperament. But judging from its behavior tonight, it clearly possessed a degree of intelligence and was vindictive.

’This makes things difficult.’

’A flying magical beast is hard enough to catch as it is. Now that it’s wary of me, it’ll be even harder.’

He mulled it over and over, and before he knew it, dawn was breaking. Zhao Lin suddenly recalled something Zhou Pao had once told him: an experienced hunter’s greatest asset isn’t some brilliant technique, but patience.

To catch their prey, they would lie in wait patiently for a day, or even a month, in a place the animal was known to frequent.

Zhao Lin decided to use the most foolish-sounding method to catch the Wind Fox: lie in wait.

Just then, Li Shi pushed the door open. "Lord Zhao, your breakfast and lunch."

Zhao Lin got up and took the meal box. After a word of thanks, he asked, "Li Shi, could you help me make some flatbread?"

’Since I’m going to be staking out the Wind Fox, I’ll have to stay in one spot without leaving. That means I need to have plenty of food prepared.’

"Of course. I’ll bring it over this afternoon."

Li Shi agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

Zhao Lin smiled. "Don’t be so quick to agree. I need quite a lot."

"How much?"

"Fifty of them, each the size of a millstone."

"That many?"

"Yes. And one more thing: they have to be plain flour flatbreads. No scallions, no meat. No seasonings of any kind, just a little salt."

’The smell of scallions and meat would make it harder to conceal my presence.’

"Alright! I’ll go back and get them made right away."

Li Shi didn’t ask why, simply hurrying out the door and heading down the mountain.

Before sunset, he and his son returned to Zhao Lin’s dwelling, carrying a large bundle of flatbread between them.

"Lord Zhao, will this be enough?"

Zhao Lin took the bundle. It was heavy in his hands. He opened the cloth to find a thick stack of flatbreads that gave off only the faintest scent of flour. He was very pleased; this would be more than enough rations for eight or ten days.

"This is excellent. You don’t need to deliver any more meals for the time being. I’ll come down the mountain and let you know when I need them again."