Xiang Ning and the rest resumed their journey the moment the sun rose. According to the intel from the fortress, the group that Xiang Ning had fought against was indeed from the Seven Deadly Sins. The leader of that group was Lord Vulture. He didn’t fuse with the original genes of a beast, but a man-made beast gene instead. That was why the side effects from his transformation were less severe.

Xiang Ning now knew why that vulture mutant wasn’t only frenzied, but could also keep his cool and retain some cognitive function. To think it was a man-made beast gene!

They had also managed to find out the identity of the second group of people based on the little things that Xiang Ning had noticed. They came from Azura—Xiang Ning was right! 

They were the people from the Hydrangea Clan of Azura. They couldn’t find out their exact identity, but they knew that there were six of them. According to the database, the Hydrangea Clan was a massive powerhouse on Azura that was mainly involved in the firearms trade and politics. They had come to power roughly a year before and used many advanced scientific inventions. Xiang Ning and the rest needed to be extra cautious against them.

Everyone was silent on the way to their destination. Based on the fortress’ intel, the strength of the Seven Deadly Sins this time was extremely high. They should have arrived to intercept them by now, but there was no sign of them.

The sun was high in the sky when the five of them arrived at a lake. It was a small lake, roughly a few hundred meters across. The water was surprisingly clear, but that didn’t mean it was safe. An iron rule of surviving in the wilderness was to never approach a water supply without caution. Many beasts gathered near them, and there were usually aquatic beasts within the water. Compared to those on land, beasts in the water were in a different league.

There was even a case when an enormous aquatic beast had almost destroyed an entire city on the east coast. If it weren’t for the sonar detecting its movement beforehand, the Federation might not have intervened in time by sending out at least half of its fighting forces and the strongest weapon they could find. 

Xiang Ning and the rest were currently resting on a small hill covered in trees, roughly a hundred meters away from the lake. They had already spread a tarp to cover their smell while the Frost Wolf was beside them. That was why no beasts had approached them so far.

“Truth be told, the air in the wilderness is really clean and crisp. The polluted air in the city is so stuffy.” A cool breeze blew by and relieved them of the summer heat. While it was summer, the area around them was like spring. The warmth was so tantalizing that they even thought about staying there.

Xiang Ning, on the other hand, didn’t feel much different. He had stayed on the outskirts of the city for so long that it was more or less the same to him. On the other hand, Long Xiaoqi was like a child. But it wasn’t her fault that she had never ventured so deep into the wilderness before.

“This is such a pretty lake. Look, there’s even a fish!” Long Xiaoqi pointed at a two-meter fish leaping out of the water.

“Nope, it’s dead,” Xiang Ning nonchalantly said. Before Long Xiaoqi could even react, a shadow shot down from the sky and swallowed the fish.

She saw it with her own eyes. Wasn’t this supposed to be a very warm scene?? Sunlight on the lake and the fish happily swimming?! She stared at Xiang Ning, but he just shrugged. That was the wilderness; you either hunt or you get hunted. The fish was an idiot, too. If it had stayed underwater with the other aquatic beasts it might have survived. Bird-type beasts wouldn’t dare to dive underwater.

Long Xiaoqi ignored Xiang Ning and ran to Chu Long for food. Gu Kun, on the other hand, approached Xiang Ning and asked, “Did you find something?”

“Somewhat. Based on the strength and speed of the Seven Deadly Sins, they should’ve caught up by now. But it’s already noon and I don’t see them at all. Don’t tell me our trap worked?”

Gu Kun was thinking hard, too. “Maybe? But there’s another group out there. What do you think of them?”

“Not sure. So far they haven’t shown any hostility toward us. It could also be thanks to them that the Seven Deadly Sins haven’t caught up to us.” Xiang Ning scratched his chin as he contemplated. We’re now exposed, but we have no idea who the other group is. There’s no point in thinking about it. Everything should be clear once we arrive at our destination.”

The two sat down and talked about the wilderness. Xiang Ning wanted to know more about survival there. Since Gu Kun was a martial artist who had lived in the wilderness for quite some time, and even had the strength to fight against high-tier beasts. It was a valuable experience to be able to chat with him. Gu Kun was also happy to teach him.

Four kilometers away, Lan Quan and his team were standing around the trap that Xiang Ning had erected. “Lan Quan… do you think the cultists would fall for such a trap?”

Lan Quan was speechless. In front of them was a wooden sign that was covered in a lot of expletives and cursed the Seven Deadly Sins. There was a trigger wire wrapped around it, but it was exposed in the air! Anyone who was observant would easily see it! Who would activate such a trap?!

But the sign was proudly standing as if it was the best trap in the world.

“There should be a bomb that’s triggered by the wire, but I’m not sure if the cultists would fall for it. Maybe it’ll work? Still, if Xiang Ning really is a genius as Lan Quan described, why would he make such a trap?”

Lan Quan wanted to slap himself too.

“Lan Quan, let’s just dismantle this trap. This is too embarrassing, I can’t watch it any longer.”

Lan Quan dismissed him. “It’s fine, since it’s already here let’s just leave it be. I’m curious if they’ll fall for it. Set up some other traps near the area, especially near the back. It’s highly likely that they’ll pass by here.”

They immediately started working and set up multiple traps. Once they were done, the six of them turned invisible and stood aside to observe. Ten minutes later, the cultists arrived. The area they arrived in was an open clearing, ringed by tall trees. Only the space in the middle had smaller trees so it was fairly open.

“Lord Vulture, this looks like a good place to rest. Based on my estimations we should be roughly five kilometers away from the people of the Federation. They’re most likely resting somewhere, too. If we continue forward, we might lose their tracks and overtake them.”

“Good point.” Lord Vulture nodded and scanned the area. It took him almost no time to notice the wooden sign that was taunting him. He laughed as he saw it. “Do you take me for an idiot?”

The other cultists saw the sign and laughed as well. It was too obvious! The trigger wire was exposed and conspicuous! If they could see it, Lord Vulture would obviously have seen it, too.

Just as they were dying of laughter, they saw Lord Vulture kicking the sign and snapping the trigger wire. “Damn! There must be traps around the area. Do you think I don’t know that you’re taunting me to rush forward and chase you down?!”

The rest of them froze.

BOOM!

Lord Vulture is a special kind of idiot XD