Encounter in the Jungle

Sections four and five were the largest reserved jungle on the planet Green Giant. It had quite the reputation as dangerous terrain for hunters. That was not only because of the strong wild and spirit beasts that resided there but, also due to the poisonous plants and insects that can even put a peak level Nascent Realm cultivator to the ground in minutes.

All the cultivators and hunters that were entering the deep terrain were warned to tread carefully. One needed to be at least a mid-level Origin Realm cultivator to cross the jungle range unharmed.

Apart from hunting, herb gathering was also a popular occupation for the locals. Any cultivator with a bit of luck could stumble upon a few valuable herbs in the jungle. Except for the rarest herbs that grow in extreme conditions almost all the regular ones could be found here. These herbs were imported to the main planet and neighboring star systems in large quantities.

Another reason for its popularity had to do with the vicious terrain beast king, Black Tiger King. For each forest territory, there was a beast king who regime over other beasts. These kings never leave their territory, if they leave it was only for a life and death battle with another territory king.

To be the king of the biggest jungle reserve, Black Tiger King was believed to be the strongest king among all the spirit beasts. Some people said Black Tiger King was already on the verge of becoming a demonic beast.

City officials normally won't allow highly aggressive beasts to become demonic beasts. But Black Tiger King seemed to be an intelligent being far exceeding normal spirit beasts. It did not kill any cultivator that enter the forest range. Only attacked ones that came after it. So most of the officials didn't find it urgent to eliminate the beast king.

Even if they wanted to do that, they were helpless as it needed at least a few Origin Realm cultivators to trap the tiger king and kill it. But it was hard to find an Origin Realm cultivator than a king beast, in a desolate place like the Blue Green star system. Almost all of the newly ascended cultivators went away to join a sect or a clan or to explore the cosmos. While the ones who knew they don't have any chance outside and stayed asked for astronomical prices for hiring them. So city officials turned a blind eye toward this beast.

Kayson ran through the jungle fast. He was not afraid of running into powerful spirit beasts, since his acute senses warned him a few miles away. He might not be able to identify the type or the cultivation level of the beast but, his eons-long refined senses could identify danger. After running an hour or so he slowed down.

Along the way, he observed the plants and herbs and realized most of them were decent pill material. If he could concoct pills most of his early financial struggles could have been avoided.

Moreover, the Shi family's main business was pill concoctions. Since he decided to take his revenge early in this life, he did not mind creating chaos in the pill market and making the Shi family bleed money. He smirked menacingly at his thought.

While he was walking around inspecting different types of herbs, he took note of the kind of recipes that were most suitable for the market of both Green Giant and Blue Giant. After some time, he stopped abruptly and looked into the distance. At that moment he heard human voices evidently.

"Hmm… There seemed to be people ahead." He changed his way and slowly walked forward. After walking some distance, he met with what looked like to be a few herb gatherers who were resting in an open area.

"Oi… Kid! What are you doing in this part of the jungle?" Asked a middle-aged man in worn-out armor. Kayson found even though the man's voice sounded anxious and hurried, it was extremely familiar.

He hurriedly went through his memories to find the details about the man and he quickly recalled what he wanted.

It turned out that person was not a stranger at all to him. He was a friend of his so-called uncle. But that was not the alarming fact. According to his memories, this person should have been dead around by now!

That meant there was a high chance one among the other two men could be the killer. The suspicious bloody aura surrounding them confirmed that they have killed before. Moreover, they were cultivators! Just as Kayson arrived they went on full alert and hostile. So he acted innocent to avoid trouble for the time being.

"Uncle Ovin, It's been a while." Kayson bowed and greeted him like a virtuous kid.

Even though Ovin couldn't point out anything weird in the way Kayson acted, he still felt something was out of place. Compared to earlier days, there seemed to be a completely different kind of aura around the kid he used to pick on. But before he pondered upon it, one of the other herb gatherers distracted him.

"Ovin you know this kid? Is he trustworthy?" That person walked towards them. He already had a knife at hand. It seemed just with one wrong word and he was ready to kill.

Kayson acted he like was afraid yet was calm underneath. He knew about Ovin. He might be a gambling addict and a bully. But a coward to the bone. As a mortal himself he would not aid any action that might get him into trouble.

Ovin hurriedly blocked Kayson and stepped up to the man with the knife.

"What is this Eric? It's just a kid. I know him very well. How could we achieve anything, you being this paranoid?"

It did not take much for Kayson to realize these men know each other just from that interaction. At least Ovin and the person called Eric.

'So these people might not be the real reason this Ovin fellow will be going missing in a few days.' Thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Ovin turned towards Kayson while searching around. "Kid, are you alone? What are you doing here?"

"Uncle Ovin, I… I was trying to find a bigger beast to hunt today. As you know our debt collection day is coming up."

Kayson murmured in a pitiful voice. He made himself look smaller as possible to the three men. An image of a helpless kid in the middle of the jungle was not a sight they could ignore without showing any empathy.

Except for the man at the back other two visibly relaxed. Ovin addressed him carefully.

"Listen Kid if you don't tell anyone you saw us we will give you a big gift." Seeing how the man was trying to treat an eons-old soul like him as a child, Kayson felt disgusted. But he had to keep putting out his innocent face.

"Gift?" His face lightened up. Two men secretly smirked at Kayson's naive behavior.

"Of course. How about ten silver coins?"

"Te… Ten!!?" Kayson acted shocked. "Alright, uncle I won't tell anyone about seeing you." He immediately agreed while nodding his head enthusiastically.

"Haha… what a good kid. Your uncle Ovin will give it to you once we're back." The man named Eric cut in.

"Yes, Yes… Now, why don't you run along? We, elders, have work to do."

Ovin hurried him away. He knew very well Eric's temper. If Eric felt Kayson was a threat to their plan he would eliminate him without a doubt. The same could be said about the other guest Eric brought. Ovin secretly looked at the third person at the back. He might have wanted to get rich but he didn't want to become a killer while doing so. Therefore, he tried his best to send Kayson away as soon as possible.

"Good luck uncles. I'll be leaving then." He bowed to them and ran back cheerfully. His happy mood was evident to all three men.

Ovin and others observed him cautiously until he disappeared into the distance. Next moment Ovin rebuked Eric.

"Eric! Why do you have to pull your weapon out on everybody? You're making me nervous."

"Ovin. You might know the kid but we don't. Also if he spills anything, everything will be over. Just remember what we're going after!" The third person stated. "However, since the kid is gone, let us leave first."

"Yes. If we catch another fool's eyes, he might not be going to end up well." Eric said gripping his knife hilt tightly. Ovin saw that and gulped.

Within a few minutes, they packed their stuff and went on their way. Some distance away Kayson was sitting on a tall tree and watched the three men leaving. After pondering a while his face lightened up. He recalled what his uncle said after Ovin disappeared.

"That half-witted drunkard once said Ovin got killed over a valuable treasure. So a valuable treasure… worth getting killed over. Also, they were trying to be extremely secretive… probably a high-grade treasure then..." His mouth raised to a devilish smirk.

Then he wondered why was Ovin with two cultivators. Cultivators did not like to deal with mortals. They always thought they were beneath them. Only cultivators even slightly tolerate mortals were the ones that just started cultivation in poor rural places. Those places were not heavily influenced by power dynamics as highly developed cities.

Even though Green Giant was a rural place and power dynamics were not much in play due to the low level of the cultivators, Eric and the third person were still among few of the most powerful individuals on the planet. Mid or peak Elementary Realm!

But still, they were working with Ovin who was a mortal. That meant Ovin had a different role to play. He could either be a guide or the only person who knew the destination. Kayson worked that out within seconds.

Indeed, Ovin and the person named Eric had a friendly attitude towards each other. But not the third person.

"That third person… The one who stayed silent was the most dangerous one of them all."

Kayson recalled the incident carefully. At that time, the third man hid his face under his hat and didn't even speak so none would be able to recognize him by voice. Even though his senses were damped, he could still recall the faint bloody aura mixed with high killing intent emitted from the third person.

"Maybe he would be the killer. Will he backstab both of them? Hmmm... It cannot be another party. We'll see…"

Since they were being secretive, the news about the treasure should not be out yet. Also, there was no hunt for a treasure that took place on the planet Green Giant in years. So it was highly unlikely another party will get involved. If not for anything new happened due to pure coincidence the killer should be the third man.

But whatever the occurrence was Kayson already set his mind to follow these people and find what they were up to. If it was indeed a high-grade treasure he should be the one having it not some low-level cultivators who did not even know how to utilize one, he thought.

But if he wanted to compete for the treasure, strength was needed. Without strength It was not wise enough to venture into dangerous situations. He might be craving for what they were after but, he was not an idiot.

"Looks like I need to speed up my journey to Clouds Peak."