"We will be resting here today," Yang Yun said. He sent a few of them to gather some water and inspected their resting ground for any poisonous creature around. Only then did he sat down to rest. Yang Yun took out a map from the small bag around his waist and studied it.

"Captain," a comrade called Yan Qing approached him. "It has been a week since we entered the forest and we haven't found anything yet."

"It has only been a week," Yang Yun pointed out. He spread out the map on the ground. "There is a lot of areas we haven't covered yet."

Yan Qing rubbed his hand on his neck. "Why do you think the army requested for our help? They are much familiar with this forest geography."

Yang Yun opened his mouth to answer and paused when he heard a familiar chirping sound. He lifted his head and blew a whistle. Soon a small bird landed on his shoulder. Yang Yun untied the paper tied on the bird's leg before he set the bird free. Then, he unrolled the paper and read its contents.

"What is it?" Yan Qing asked when he saw the captain's frown.

"Let's wait for the others to come back," Yang Yun said. "I will explain the situation then."

Yan Qing nodded. He walked away to deal with a few tasks as they waited for the others to come back.

Not long after, the soldiers who went to fetch some water came back. Yang Yun gathered his teammates made of eight people and distributed some meat jerky and hard bread for their dinner. Because they did not want to attract their enemy and wild animal's attention to their location, they cannot light up the fire and cook.

"The Western Army have found the group of people who went missing," Yang Yun said as they ate.

The others instantly looked up at their captain. Their chewing motion paused simultaneously.

"Since they have been found, then, does it mean that we can return to the capital city?" a soldier asked.

Yang Yun turned to look at the soldier before he continued, "The army found them under the cliff. All dead. Moreover, the valuables sent from the capital was missing along with three officials from the group."

The others looked at their captain in shock. They could immediately speculate what had happened to the group.

"With how the group was found dead under the cliff, the culprit might be a group of skilled men," Yang Yun said. "We have new orders from General Pei to stay down until his men arrived to a.s.sist us. Meanwhile, we should be on the lookout for the three officials and the missing valuables."

Two days later, Yang Yun regrouped with a dozen of soldiers sent by General Pei. Yang Yun cooperated with Captain Xi to look for the officials. According to Captain Xi, the General dispersed a few other groups to join the search and rescue mission.

That day, while the team was resting, Yang Yun took walked into the woods to look for a place to relieve himself. His body went rigid when he saw something from his peripheral vision. Yang Yun rushed towards the tree and crouched down to inspect a familiar herb. Once he got closer, Yang Yun was disappointed.

Yang Yun thought that he found the Shadow Gra.s.s, but it looked like he was wrong. Does it mean that Second Brother's suspicion that they can only see the Shadow Gra.s.s during an eclipse? If that was true, then, how much longer did he have to wait until he could find a clue to find Mingyue?

Yang Yun snapped out of his thought and stood up swiftly as his ear caught a sound. He listened attentively and decided to climb up the tree. It would be easier for him to observe his surroundings while he was on higher ground.

A few minutes later, two men showed up. Yang Yun studied their face and recognized one of them as one of the missing officials from the group. Yang Yun had studied the man's portrait for a few times.

However, Yang Yun did not recognize the man beside the official. From his observation, Yang Yun saw a sword hanging on the man's waist. There were a few hidden weapons on the man's body as well. Looking at the man's movement, Yang Yun could guess that the man beside the official was quite good in martial arts.

Yang Yun weight his option. In his situation, he has two choices. He could wait until the two men pa.s.sed and went back to his team to warn them, or he could face the man and rescue the official on his own.