CHAPTER 173 - STALKER AND BEING STALKED

Armed with the information provided by the branch leader and the silver identity plates he had recovered from the corpses, Han Wu was able to confirm that the deceased were, in fact, the Silver adventurers who had vanished while on a mission to investigate the area.

After conducting a brief but thorough investigation, Han Wu made a discovery: the adventurers had perished from poison rather than being bitten to death. He also verified that this poison was not related to the miasma. Despite a careful search of the immediate vicinity, he found no additional clues.

Just as Han Wu was preparing to delve deeper into his investigation, one of his Wolf Spiders transmitted a surprising piece of information: three Gold adventurers were actively stalking him! Han Wu was slightly puzzled by this development. While it was somewhat unusual for other adventurers to be in this area, it was an entirely different matter for them to be specifically trailing him.

He had deliberately chosen a very discreet and desolate path, focusing solely on his search for clues—a route ordinary adventurers wouldn’t typically take. This definitely meant the three adventurers were specifically here for him.

Han Wu, curious to understand their intentions, leaped and took cover behind a boulder, waiting to see what the adventurers would do. It wasn’t long before the three figures entered his field of vision.

To his surprise, all three adventurers sported extremely lush beards, each distinct in color, which made differentiating them quite simple. While intently tracking Han Wu’s path, the trio eventually came across the half-eaten corpses.

“What bad luck to find corpses here,” Blackbeard said in disgust.

Yellowbeard nervously scanned the ground, but when he found no further traces of Han Wu’s footprints, a sense of unease quickly turned into suspicion. “His footprints just vanished right here. Big brother, do you think he might have discovered us?”

Whitebeard shook his head, scanning the surroundings. “We’ve been quite careful, so it’s unlikely we’ve been discovered. This might simply be a coincidence. Let’s continue our search a bit further.”

Affirming their plan with a nod, the brothers proceeded onward, gradually fading from view until they eventually vanished completely in the distance.

Han Wu let out a scoff. The three brothers hadn’t actually walked away—they’d instead found a boulder in the distance to hide behind. Having confirmed that Han Wu’s footprints had vanished, Whitebeard concluded that Han Wu had detected their presence and was deliberately evading them by going into hiding himself.

The three brothers hatched a plan: they’d pretend to leave, then hide behind a boulder, waiting for Han Wu to emerge from hiding. What they couldn’t have known, however, was that Han Wu wasn't alone. His large group of summoned spiders were working as his eyes and ears—he could see virtually everything the three brothers were doing!

An hour dragged by as both parties remained in their hidden positions, but the three brothers’ patience soon wore thin.

Blackbeard couldn’t take it anymore and rose to his feet. “Big brother, perhaps you were mistaken. He still hasn’t appeared. Is it possible he just ran away?”

Yellowbeard nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I think he did. Big brother, maybe you read too much into it.”

Whitebeard seethed inwardly, a knot of frustration tightening in his gut. It was almost inconceivable that his sixth sense, which had saved him countless times in the past, was failing him now. “Fine. We’ll press on with our search. It’s possible he’s stumbled upon some important clue further down.”

Changing their path, the brothers began searching the area for any sign of Han Wu’s traces. They quickly disappeared from view in the distance, yet Han Wu couldn’t help but chuckle. The brothers proved to be exceptionally cunning, repeating their earlier tactic—pretending to leave while actually hiding nearby, patiently waiting for him to reveal himself.

Han Wu knew better than to fall for that trick, not with his spiders serving as his eyes and ears. He remained perfectly still, concealed behind the boulder, and casually took out some snacks from his personal space to munch on. After another thirty minutes of waiting, the three adventurers, clearly frustrated, stood up once more.

“An hour and a half, and he’s still nowhere to be seen,” Blackbeard muttered, frustration evident in his voice. “Did he actually vanish into thin air, or just fly off? I find it hard to believe he even knew we were searching for him.”

Whitebeard harbored a nagging feeling that Han Wu was still close, but after such a prolonged and fruitless wait, even he began to question his own instincts. His brothers, observing his lack of success, concluded that Whitebeard had misjudged the situation entirely.

It was then that Yellowbeard decided to shift their approach. “Let’s just continue our search. We might just rediscover his footprints.”

Whitebeard gave a decisive nod, and the three adventurers at last truly departed. Only after confirming their departure did Han Wu climb out from behind the boulder, now absolutely certain that the trio was specifically targeting him. The perplexing part was that the details of this missing person case were supposed to be privy only to him and the branch leader.

Is the branch leader actually pulling the strings, the true culprit behind the kidnappings? If so, his eagerness to have the missing person case resolved so swiftly makes no sense whatsoever.

Han Wu’s mind raced, trying to reconcile the conflicting pieces of information. Unable to make sense of it, he decided to stalk the three brothers instead, hoping to uncover the truth of the situation. In this turn of events, the stalker had now become the stalked.

Thanks to his expansive network of spiders, Han Wu effortlessly kept a significant distance between himself and the three brothers. The brothers, on the other hand, encountered nothing but frustration: their search for further footprints proved fruitless, and they were constantly harassed by the aggressive monsters in the area, prompting continuous complaints about their terrible luck.

Thankfully, their immense strength allowed them to effortlessly cut down the monsters that attacked them. However, Whitebeard soon realized something was off. Their original objective had been to take over the mission from Han Wu, but instead, they found themselves embarking on an unplanned expedition! The entire scenario had been flipped!

More importantly, they were completely ignorant of the escalating danger rapidly closing in on them. Han Wu, observing through the eyes of his summoned spiders, soon noticed something terrible.

From the depths of a concealed cave, several colossal centipedes began to emerge, each spanning roughly ten meters in length. These were no ordinary insects; each was at least Gold-ranked. They moved with an eerie silence, rapidly closing the distance between themselves and the unsuspecting three brothers.

Han Wu secretly chuckled at their misfortune. The three had been searching for him, only to accidentally stumble into the hunting grounds of powerful centipedes. He briefly considered warning them, but ultimately decided against it. He also wanted to gauge the centipedes’ strength.

He continued his observation until a sharp cry of pain erupted from Blackbeard. The adventurer hadn’t even grasped the fact that they were completely encircled until a bite had already landed. Whitebeard and Yellowbeard immediately activated their titles, engaging the giant centipedes, while Blackbeard quickly retrieved an antidote from his spatial ring to apply to his wound, hoping to impede the venom’s spread.

However, the giant centipedes proved too strong, and the antidote only slowed the venom; it couldn’t neutralize it completely. Blackbeard panicked, and his two brothers naturally couldn’t let him succumb to the venom.

They quickly repelled the centipedes, seizing an opening to pull Blackbeard out of danger. Han Wu was disappointed by their performance. If they couldn’t even win against several Gold centipedes, how could they ever hope to win against him?

With a faint sigh, Han Wu materialized directly in front of the three adventurers. Upon seeing him, the brothers instantly recognized him as their target. This particular zone was well-known as a high-danger area, strictly for adventurers, and Han Wu was wearing a gold identification plate. Under these circumstances, only someone truly oblivious would fail to realize he was the very person they were seeking.

The three brothers, however, remained blissfully unaware that their supposed “prey” unraveled their entire scheme. Adopting the guise of concerned comrades, they urgently informed Han Wu that they were being pursued by powerful monsters, suggesting they flee together. Naturally, their real intention was to lure him to a secluded, seemingly safe spot where they could carry out their assassination.

A scornful scoff escaped Han Wu’s lips as he swung his greatsword, aiming directly for the poisoned Blackbeard. The third brother, his movements already sluggish and his strength severely compromised by the poison, couldn’t evade the powerful strike. The blade bit deep, instantly cleaving him in two.

Snapping out of their horrified shock, the two remaining brothers erupted in a blaze of fury and fear, pointing accusatory fingers at Han Wu and screaming that he was a killer. At this, Han Wu finally dropped his facade of ignorance.

“Stop pretending,” he stated calmly. “You three came here specifically to kill me. Don’t for a second believe that I’m unaware of your malicious plans.”

The moment they saw that Han Wu had unraveled their intentions, the two brothers abandoned their act. Their faces contorted with rage and hatred, and they snarled, “You rascal! We will avenge our brother’s death right here, even if it costs us our very lives!”

Discarding any further conversation, Han Wu brought his greatsword down, grievously injuring both brothers. Yet, he chose not to end their lives immediately. Instead, he patiently waited for the centipedes to reach them. He then calmly observed as the two brothers slowly succumbed to the centipedes’ venom, before he personally dealt with the remaining creatures.

By examining the wounds on the two fallen brothers, Han Wu confirmed that the previous Silver adventurers had indeed perished from the very same venom. The centipedes were clearly responsible for those deaths as well. With this new information, he decided to investigate the source of these creatures and determine their full numbers.

He followed the trail left by the centipedes until it led him to a small, almost imperceptible hidden cave. Locating the widest entrance, he cautiously sent in several spiders to scout the interior. What he witnessed through their shared sight left him utterly aghast.

Deep beneath the grassy plains lay a massive labyrinth, teeming with giant centipedes. They roamed freely, yearning for the taste of blood and flesh.