Especially this way of acting made Ma Ling feel a sense of déjà vu.
After all, the long-lasting jungle pursuit back then left an extremely deep impression on Ma Ling.
Could it be... that the kid hiding in Changlong Escort Agency has now joined the Song Family?
The more Ma Ling thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, and immediately became excited.
If they could capture that kid and bring him back to Cyan Bamboo Ridge, the Third Miss would definitely be very pleased!
It’s well known that the Third Miss Fu Tingfang was extremely resentful towards that kid who had ambushed her several times, still holding a grudge even after so long.
Thinking of this, he immediately suggested to Huo Tianxiao: "Third Brother, alive, we see the person; dead, we see the corpse. We should go down and take a look."
Huo Tianxiao nodded in agreement.
The subordinates had already brought ropes, tied one end to a giant rock, and then Ma Ling and Huo Tianxiao went down to the valley first.
After reaching the bottom of the valley, indeed, no bodies were found.
Ma Ling became increasingly convinced that the young escort was the one from the Escort Agency, and immediately suggested pursuing them.
Huo Tianxiao didn’t want the duck to fly away, if they could capture Song Peiwan alive and bring her back to Cyan Bamboo Ridge, the Great Village Chief would surely reward them heavily.
So the two led their men in pursuit.
The pursuit wasn’t difficult, as the tracks along the way were very clear.
Ma Ling could even clearly distinguish which traces were left by Song Peiwan and which by Zhao Ya.
This made Ma Ling suspicious and vigilant.
Because during the previous pursuit, it wasn’t like this. Back then, even with the help of Fifth Village Chief Diao Ruhai, who was skilled in tracking, it was still very difficult to find traces.
Unlike now, where it was blatantly obvious.
But soon Ma Ling pushed these thoughts aside.
Even if it was intentional, so what?
His side was stronger this time anyway.
Especially without the hindrance of Third Miss Fu Tingfang, dealing with a kid who only knew how to ambush should be a piece of cake.
Confidently, Ma Ling led the pursuit for over ten miles along the tracks.
A lake blocked their way ahead.
The lake wasn’t big, the water had frozen long ago, and all traces stopped at the edge of the lake and were nowhere to be found.
Huo Tianxiao arrived at this moment.
"What’s going on?"
"Strange, the tracks stop here. Could these people have gone under the ice?"
Huo Tianxiao was puzzled too, circling the lake a few times until he suddenly found something.
"Come look!"
Ma Ling came over to see, and sure enough, on a patch of dried grass on the ground, there was a hint of blood.
Digging the grass aside unveiled a layer of fresh soil, with a kick revealing a pool of blood.
"Hmph, I said falling from such a high valley couldn’t be without injury; probably after reaching here, this person was at the end of their rope, spat blood, covered it with soil and grass, and hid. The hiding place can’t be far from here!" Huo Tianxiao said confidently.
Ma Ling got even more energized after hearing this, "Third Brother, what should we do now?"
"Split up and search; I estimate within three to five miles centered around this lake, we should find traces of these people."
"Alright!"
Ma Ling and Huo Tianxiao each led their teams to search.
Not talking about Huo Tianxiao, but solely on Ma Ling.
He searched south along the lake.
This was the direction he believed Song Peiwan and others were most likely to flee.
After all, heading south for five or six miles from here would reach the official road, then another dozen miles along the road to Wuxiang City.
Ma Ling was very cautious, especially wary of traps at his feet.
Last time during the pursuit, Zhao Ya’s traps left a deep impression on Ma Ling.
Though not life-threatening to Ma Ling, being embarrassed in front of his men was indeed humiliating.
But nothing unusual was found along the way, leaving Ma Ling somewhat surprised.
Could he have guessed wrong?
The opponent wasn’t the kid from Changlong Escort Agency?
Regardless, the primary task now was to capture them.
After walking two or three miles along the icy lake, Ma Ling suddenly made a discovery.
Though there weren’t many traces in the grass, plenty of dry branches and twigs were scattered along the path.
Ma Ling was delighted, knowing the target must be nearby.
He didn’t act rashly but retrieved two sections of a gunshaft from his backpack, gently twisting them together.
This long spear could be disassembled, disassembled it was a short spear, enough to face enemies.
But Ma Ling was best at using the long spear, so to be cautious, he twisted the spear shaft together.
Holding the long spear, he ventured into the woods, where the traces became increasingly obvious.
A few hundred meters later, Ma Ling noticed a large tree ahead, with a tree hole at the bottom.
This kind of hole was generally used by bears for hibernation, but now there were footprints in front of the hole.
Ma Ling smirked silently, signaling to his men behind.
His men understood immediately, spreading out, while some archers aimed at the entrance of the hole.
Ma Ling said coldly, "Song Peiwan and that kid, I’m going to count to three. If you come out, you can live. Otherwise, the arrows will fly, and you’ll die without settling your remains!"
"One!"
No movement from inside the hole.
"Two!"
Still unchanged.
Ma Ling’s face turned ruthless, suddenly waving his hand.
"Three!"
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Arrows tore through the air forcibly.
At this distance, the power of the arrows was terrifying.
Instantly piercing the tree hole, some even came through the opposite side.
But not even a groan was heard from inside.
Ma Ling frowned.
Could he have guessed wrong, was there no one inside?
He stepped to the tree hole, probing inside with his long spear, but was disappointed.
Indeed, there was no one inside.
But what about the footprints in front of the hole?
As suspicion rose in Ma Ling’s head, he suddenly thought of something and looked up sharply.
At this moment, a sleeve arrow shot toward his head.
Terrified, Ma Ling swung his long spear frantically, managing to deflect the sleeve arrow at a critical moment.
But this was just the beginning; following the sleeve arrow came a round little bag.
The power that deflected the sleeve arrow cracked open the little bag.
Bang.
White mist spread instantly, enveloping Ma Ling completely.
Ma Ling was scared to the core, for these techniques were very familiar to him.
Because he was familiar, he felt more fear.
Closing his eyes, Ma Ling swung his long spear wildly, and rushed out.
Just then, a flash of knife light emerged within the white mist, slicing toward Ma Ling’s nape.
Ma Ling sensed the malicious wind from behind, but at this moment, he couldn’t open his eyes or shout; hastily, he could only block with his spear, trying to fend off the attack.
But in the next instant, the knife light cut through his spear, slicing through without stop.
Ma Ling froze instantly, and after a moment, his head flew into the sky.