A thought crossed Bai Qi's mind as soon as he left [Diushi Sha], Acting as a naive idiot wasn't the most liked strategy in his book, but it always worked for attracting trouble.

___________________________________________________________________

Before arriving as Pan Hui the day before, Bai Qi had hiddenly scouted all around the village.

For one, he had to make sure he would not enter the lion's den, something he did confirm from the lack of cultivators that could pose a threat. There was no aura stronger than a single 3rd level Warrior Lord, and even in his condition, he was sure of surviving a clash with such an opponent.

And secondly, he took the opportunity to choose what entrance of the six similar openings in the wall to approach. After looking around, he had singled two of the entries, or truthfully, two guards. One was a 1st level Warrior Lord man with beady eyes, and while both his outfit and accessories looked cheap, he carried two [Storage Rings], which immediately raised questions.

The second one, the woman he had chosen in the end, was, on the contrary, very well dressed. A short-sleeved robe with an impossibly short skirt, revealing more skin than any desert dweller would and several gold accessories. Bai Qi's senses had also caught a [Void Ring], something expensive that no simple village person should be able to get.

Still, his reason had been her mostly her looks, as indeed, if he had to act like a naive idiot, it would be more believable to do so in front of a pretty woman. And pretty she was, although the amount of make-up, which was something, that again, no person would use while guarding, was slightly excessive.

Some acting coupled with aura ripples and the twenty and something woman proved to be the correct bet. After all, what reasons would she have to fish out so much information from him? Thus, Bai Qi fed her all that she wanted to hear. Especially while they were drinking, a process that ended just a couple of hours ago.

And while he feigned ignorance about the fact, he knew something would happen outside the town, or otherwise, why would the only person in the shit-hole they called an inn, gather some of Bai Qi's aura and prepared a tracking talisman when Ye Su gave him a signal?

___________________________________________________________________

Thirty and something miles later, Bai Qi caught several people tailing him. He had previously made sure to complain about the problem of using senses in the desert, which, although something that did affect a fair share of cultivators, wasn't so for him.

Bai Qi smirked as the closest presence he felt maintained a distance of exactly one mile, exactly the maximum for a Sage.

[Sha Cheng] was straightly south from the village, while the beast nest where Bai Qi's companions awaited was slight to the east from the course. To not raise suspicion, Bai Qi first walked exactly south, but after confirming the tail, he started straying an inch to the east with every step he made.

Still, any locals would definitively know about the beast's nest, and so, at the 50 miles mark, Bai Qi decided to make them commit to a pursue.

Bai Qi suddenly flared his aura and then, stopping the concealing talisman he had used to hide his senses, released them openly to cover something close to eight tens of a mile.

He then showed all the signs of noticing danger and even activated a couple of low-grade explosive talismans before changing course and scuttling first to the west and then abruptly starting dashing towards the southeast.

***

"Something happened." A burly man wrapped in a yellow cloak motioned the six people following him to stop.

"Could be a beast." Another man draped in a similar cloak guessed.

"Mmm, it looks so. Look, explosive talismans." Another one of the followers pointed to the distant explosions.

"Should we interfere?" A woman whose face was covered by a cloak's hood asked.

"It would be stupid to allow it to eat our loot, wouldn't it?" The one that had guessed it being a beast answered with a laugh.

"Hmm, either he scared it off or, in turn, provoked it. He's starting to run. Shui, prepare the talisman if we suddenly lose him." The first man, probably the leader, commanded.

A few breaths later, the same man commanded the talisman to be activated. And as it was, he followed with another command, "When the talisman locates him, start surrounding him and send the signal to Quan Meng as well."

***

Bai Qi activated a concealment talisman after changing courses. While not the best way to make sure to be followed, it was his only chance to keep the situation under control without alarming the pursuers.

Bai Qi immediately began thinking of a countermeasure, but without knowing how many other people there were, he had no choice but to continue monitoring for now.

The seven from behind began spreading around while increasing their speed, but Bai Qi had not sensed anyone but them yet. Still, being caught now, with over twenty-five miles of distance remaining until the nest wasn't part of his plan. Thus, he dispelled the concealment talisman and feigned scanning the surroundings as if he was checking for the supposed beast.

And then, he increased his speed to the utmost of a typical Sage.

***

{Could he have noticed one of us?}

{Probably, do we?}

{Wait, and Quan Meng?}

{He will approach from the front to prevent our target from entering the [Sand-spike Moloch] territory.}

{Okay, then, Shui, Ye Su, reveal your auras. If he recognizes you and stops, then it's good, and if not, then herd him towards Quan Meng.}

{Got it!}

{Understood}

***

While Bai Qi did not intercept the qi transmissions as the presence of Warrior Lords and the distance made it impossible to do covertly, he had no need for that as to guess his pursuers' thoughts.

To both sides from Bai Qi, two auras flared and began moving closer as if to meet with him. Ye Su's was a familiar one indeed, and the other one was so as well, although it took Bai Qi a few moments to recall the owner. A 1st level Warrior Lord that Ye Su had introduced as Shui this morning as he had been the one to come for her and end the night of drinking.

Even though his, again, openly displayed senses already caught on them, Bai Qi could not see any sign of either as he took a few glances to the sides.

The reason was discovered by him a few breaths later when he caught on some movement at the edge of his vision.

Bai Qi's thoughts were entirely correct as he guessed how the group operated indeed. In any case, as the two now revealed presences began step by step closing to him, Bai Qi also understood their reasoning.

The distance to the beast's nest had dropped to only 12 or so miles, and Bai Qi suspected that the ambush would happen in the next couple of miles.

***

Inside the underground room, previously occupied by the [Sand-spike Moloch] group, now their base, the six Beastmen waited.

Everyone except for Gi La showed some degree of nervousness. Although all of them had witnessed Bai Qi's combat prowess, they were unsure of his current state, as he not only avoided speaking of it but also had not fought or sparred even once during the last days.

Suddenly, Bai Rui and Bai Ze jerked up, and their ears and tails stood on alert.

"What happened?" Heise Zhao immediately asked, but he only got a quick gesture, as if telling him to wait, from both sisters.

"It was Bai Qi. He is getting close, seven pursuers encircling him from behind and an unknown number of probable ambushers in front." Bai Rui explained while grabbing at her sister's shoulder. If she had not, Bai Ze would probably have run off already.

"So, he wants us to act?" Heise Zhao straightened up.

"Mmm, the plan is as it follows..."

***

With every step, Ye Su grew closer to Pan Hui. No guilt or remorse, it was just that he revealed to be too wealthy for someone so weak, and she had passed the information.

Ye Su wasn't worried about him fighting back or even escaping, but for some reason, she felt uneasy.

{Quan Meng and Fan Jia are in position just a mile ahead. Ye Su, Shui, close in.} The boss command came, and she immediately forgot about all her thoughts.

___________________________________________________________________

Bai Qi had guessed most of the bandit actions correctly. And so, he had the advantage of being prepared for all the events that followed the moment the two, Ye Su and Shui, at the sides changed directions as to approach him.

At first, it was only them closing in, to which Bai Qi responded, as expected, by increasing his speed.

Then, when he committed to full speed, to a point he would need to slow down to make any significant changes in course, two presences appeared in front.

Bai Qi was planning to pass through the blockage by force. Thus, making the Bandit preparations be for naught and forcing them to act without a plan.

***

For some reason, Wan Dao, the boss, felt that this Pan Huo was anything but simple. Ye Su had always been reliable in finding out information, so he had no reasoning for such a feeling, but it was present anyway. The actions the youngster took were haphazard and looked natural from the side. But, why could Wan Dao not see any panic behind them?

{Damn, increase speed. He isn't changing courses even now, and his aura is gathering for an attack.} Wan Dao, the boss, sent a command to the four people that, like him, were following the target from behind.

***

Bai Qi smiled as soon as he noticed the two men moving to intercept him. With an almost unnoticeable movement, he summoned his [Void Ring] from the insides of the [Storage] one he had used, and from it, a spear materialized on his command.

*Swoosh*

The spear made a full turn in Bai Qi's hand, and then the point turned to face the ground.

[Spear of Blades] was a short spear, with both pole and blade shorter than six feet in length. Black steel was the base for both, and several crimson-colored streaks ran along the pole, looking almost like a living being's veins. As for the spearpoint, it was black with crimson-colored edges. Between this point, which looked like a double-edged dagger mounted on the veined pole, the entire spear looked if created from several parts.

"Demonflame, Slash!" Bai Qi roared while slashing the air with the spear when the distance between him and the two ambushers dropped to three hundred feet. A technique created by mixing the 'Imperial Blade' and the flames of the 'Ghostflame'. It had served him to take one of the steps on the Spear path, and now, it was time to try it in a real battle.

*ROAR*

He had also infused the sentiment of the [White Tiger] roar that he had heard and felt into the weapon skill, and in place of the usual silent 'Ghostflame', the released black-fire slash roared as a true demon!