Red didn’t move for what felt like an eternity, fearful of a potential attack by this invisible individual. Yet, he eventually noticed how futile his caution was.

‘If they wanted to kill me, there is nothing I can do.’

Only now did the weight of the situation seem to dawn on the boy. This invisible person knew they were discovered, probably from the very first time Red felt them inside that meeting room. In retrospect, he should have expected as much.

No matter how cautious and smart you thought you were, in front of a true cultivator, you would be nothing more than an ant. Yet Red didn’t blame himself too much. He learned the unfortunate reality that in this world, being in the wrong place at the wrong time was more than enough to seal your fate, and no skills or clever plans could save you from that.

Of course, he was being rather dramatic. This invisible individual didn’t seem to be an enemy, and they even chose to help Red. However, how could the boy not be wary? A strange cultivator he never met, offering him unsolicited yet helpful information about a matter they could only have knowledge about through spying.

If Red didn’t suspect anything, then he would deserve a grisly end. Still, this only raised another question.

Why help Red?

Could their information even be trusted?

Red tried to think of a few possibilities, but all of them were mere conjecture. What mattered right now was whether the boy should follow this individual’s advice.

‘If they wanted to kill me, there was no need to go through such trouble…’

Not to mention, Red was planning on searching the forest randomly for his companions. A possible direction, even if it was a false one in the end, was much better than running around such a large place blindly.

Red took a deep breath and exhaled, releasing much of the tension in his body. He focused on his crimson sense, looking for any signs of this individual in his surroundings, but he found nothing.

Another matter the boy failed to consider was how this individual disappeared from the range of his Crimson Sense. They didn’t move at all. They simply disappeared. Red wondered how that was possible, but he focused on the more immediate implications.

His crimson sense couldn’t be completely trusted. This much the boy was already expecting in the past, but it still shocked him when the moment of truth finally came. Could that invisible person still be spying on him?

He didn’t dwell on this matter for long.

His companions needed his help, after all.

Red headed south without hesitation, moving through the trees with light steps and enveloped by complete darkness, focusing on his surroundings for any clues.

…

Two hours passed.

Red kept heading due south the entire time, but he had yet to find any signs of his companions, or of anyone else for that matter. At some point, the boy started to doubt the veracity of the information he had been given.

After all, how could that invisible person know the location of his companions? Not to mention, they told him to head straight south, but would Rog and Rimold stay in that exact position the entire time? That seemed unlikely.

Then again, Red failed to see how lying to him would benefit someone seemingly as strong as that invisible individual. So he kept to this path and continued to head south.

His insistence was rewarded, as Red spotted something strange in his way. He froze, using his dark vision to examine the details.

‘… It’s a hole?’

Not just a small hole, either. It was a large hole, enough for an adult to fit into, with the displaced earth piled right by the side.

Red frowned and focused on his crimson sense. He couldn’t feel anyone around, but his previous experience made him more hesitant to rely on this power for scouting.

He examined his surroundings, and only when he was completely sure there were no other signs of monsters or humans nearby did he approach the hole. Red neared the pit and peered over the edge with some caution.

The hole was a few meters deep, yet as far as Red could tell, there was nothing else inside of it, and neither did it seem like anything was removed. This left the boy confused. Who was digging holes in the middle of the forest, and what were they looking for?

After finding nothing else, Red continued to head south. He was surprised when, along the way, he found even more of these holes.

At first, these pits were spread out. Yet the longer Red moved along, the more frequent and closer together these holes became. Ten minutes later, the boy counted at least 20 of them, and he didn’t even bother examining them any more.

Despite all that, though, Red had yet to find any tracks. Whoever was digging these holes was doing their utmost not to leave their footprints behind, and yet, what was the point of that when instead they left behind a trail of holes instead?

In preparation, Red grabbed the insectoid core in one hand and the barrier talisman in the other. Yet as he walked forward, he noticed something else amidst the trees with his dark vision.

It was a set of cuts on a specific tree, resembling claw marks. One might look at it and think this was the work of an animal or monster, but Red knew better. The parallel lines, the length of each cut - this wasn’t natural.

It was a sign.

‘Rog is nearby.’

This was how the hunter and Red agreed to indicate their presence in case they ever got split up. In the end, this meant two things: Rog wasn’t the one being possessed and the invisible cultivator hadn’t lied to him.

‘So it’s Rimold, then?’

Red kept walking forward, searching for more of these marks. These cuts not only served as a sign, but they also indicated the direction Rog was heading in. Sure enough, moving forward, the boy found a few more of them, along with a sudden increase in the number of holes.

Finally, a few minutes later, Red sensed a fluctuation enter his detection range. It was Rog.

The boy froze and tried to spot the man amidst the trees, to no avail. Whatever he was doing, it seemed important to him to keep out of sight.

Red hesitated, but seeing as he had no choice, he decided to use the signal they agreed on beforehand. He cupped his hands around his mouth and made a sound with his mouth, resembling that of a bird call.

Of course, this was another method of communication they agreed on beforehand. Rog was a hunter, and he knew the calls of actual birds compared to fake ones, not to mention he was also aware about the species of birds in this region.

Sure enough, as soon as Red let out this sign, he felt the man’s fluctuation start moving towards him. The boy waited until he saw the hunter sneaking past the trees, looking for him.

Red made the call again, and this time Rog seemed to spot him. The man nodded and walked right over to his side.

“Rimold is nearby, but he’s acting strange. Been digging holes everywhere. Probably possessed by something.” The hunter didn’t even offer his greetings before diving into the matter at hand.

Red frowned. “A ghost, most likely. Why haven’t you acted?”

Rog shook his head. “I tried a few times, but he can feel my arrows and always dodges beforehand before running away. What about you? Have you met the others?”

“I did.” The boy nodded. “They’re all safe right now, but some of them were also possessed by ghosts. I have a way to take it out of them, but I’ll need them to be immobilized.”

Rog hummed in agreement, looking at the glowing core in Red’s hand. “Take my bow and shoot at him on my signal. He will try to run away, and I’ll charge at him and try to immobilize him.”

Red hesitated. “… He might be stronger than what you are expecting.”

“I know, but you don’t need to worry. I have my ways.”

Red nodded. “Then we’ll do as you say.”

Just like that, they had a plan.

Red grabbed Rog’s bow and a few of his arrows. The boy had never used such a large bow before, but he didn’t need to be accurate with it.

“He’s over that way.” Rog pointed out a direction.

Red nodded and nocked an arrow into his bow. After they were ready, the two split ways and walked towards ‘Rimold’.

Rog took the long way around, but Red could still feel him with his crimson sense. A few seconds later, he was also able to sense Rimold’s fluctuation.

He looked through the trees and spotted the rogue digging his way at the earth with his bare hands. Red could feel through his crimson sense that the man was under great distress, but this was made evident by his loud ramblings too.

“Where is it?!” The rogue gritted his teeth. “Where did this bastard hide it?!”

Red didn’t pay much attention to his words. Instead, he focused on Rog’s fluctuation and waited for the signal with his bow at the ready.

It came a few seconds later in the form of a bird call, this one much better than Red’s poor attempts. The boy didn’t hesitate and let an arrow loose towards Rimold.

The rogue’s reaction was almost immediate. He dove back, dodging the arrow with ease, and ran away.

“Just leave me alone, you bastard!” The ghost said in an angered voice.

‘Rimold’ moved with surprising speed, but this time there was someone expecting him on the other side. Rog jumped out from behind a tree line, taking the rogue by surprise.

‘Rimold’ looked like he wanted to jump away in fright, but that was when something in Rog’s hand began to glow. A familiar scene ensued, where a purplish mist blew towards the rogue’s direction, covering him in an instant.

‘Rimold’ faltered, but didn’t fall unconscious immediately. However, his moment of weakness was enough for Rog, who jumped forth and knocked him down.

“Help me here, kid!” the hunter called out to him. “We need to bind him!”

Red frowned. That certainly went far more smoothly than with the other two.