Chapter 336

They say a dog’s hearing is roughly four times that of a human.

Now, while there’s no exact unit to quantify it, we can say they can distinguish sounds from about four times farther away.

In that sense, Qing’s hearing is similar to that of a dog.

However, dogs can hear sounds from frequencies that humans can’t even perceive, especially in the medieval, primitive Central Plain, where the concept of those ranges didn’t even exist.

So, in a battle of hearing, the dogs win hands down, having broader auditory ranges.

On the other hand, dogs’ sense of smell is said to be around ten thousand times better than that of a human.

No matter how you slice it, even an otherworldly listener like humans can’t come close to that.

In a nose-to-nose comparison, dogs take the cake.

When it comes to sight, humans excel by nature.

And then there’s Qing, whose eyesight surpasses even that, having magnifying glass clarity and enhanced focus that’s like a scope.

So in total, that’s one win for humans and two losses. Advantage: Dogs!

One could argue that Qing is even less than a dog in this matter.

Upon learning of this result, Qing would surely feel quite aggrieved.

After all, there are five senses, so why judge on just three? Is this some kind of skewed competition?

If we extend it to the five senses, taste goes to humans.

Touch also falls to humans.

So, if you insist on defeating dogs, you could say it’s three wins to two losses, making Qing superior to dogs.

But regardless, the dogs likely sensed the ambush first, didn’t they?

While Qing was fully absorbed in roasting pheasant, thinking “Mmm, that smells delicious!” the dogs were already sniffing out the multiple scents of many humans.

Ultimately, Qing wasn’t even as good as a dog.

But there’s a slight disparity in perspective here; dogs can roughly distinguish the scent of their human.

Thus, when familiar scents arise, and since some owners are among the bandits, the dogs perk up and leap up, exclaiming, “Wow, it’s master’s scent!”

Woof! (Master!)

“Hey, hey! Where are you going?”

The dogs dashed out in search of their true masters.

Qing, unable to understand dog language, simply panicked and shouted, “Hey, where are you going?”

Qing underestimated the dogs’ loyalty.

Though people may be degenerates, there are often good owners among animals, especially dogs, and such absolute loyalty and devotion can bring a human’s heart crumbling down like paper.

“Could it be, Eyebrow is also here?”

Eyebrow was turning his head between Qing and the forest and, as if decided, sprang toward Qing.

“Eyebrow!”

Just as Qing opened his arms wide in joy, Eyebrow slipped between Qing’s legs and sprinted off towards the back.

Because that’s where the master is.

And for some reason, Eyebrow seemed to like being called Jaryong rather than being called Eyebrow.

“Hmm. I thought I wouldn’t be raising beasts.”

Qing smacked his lips.

He could guess roughly where Eyebrow was heading.

After just over ten days of bonding, he might just be honoring the kindness shown in his upbringing.

And Qing felt it might be a blessing in disguise that he couldn’t take the dogs along.

“You guys leave too. Staying here will only get you hurt.”

Yip yip.

The lead wolf, Dukdol, let out a bark.

This too was a sound not typically produced by wolves, but after days of mingling with the dogs, it seemed he learned a thing or two.

“Go. Don’t bother the Master, or you’ll all end up getting slaughtered. You know what I mean?”

Dukdol hopped up, placing his paws on Qing’s shoulder and playfully biting at him.

He didn’t understand what was being said, just looking to play.

How could a wolf understand human speech?

Actually, he did!

Wild wolves, sensitive to survival, understand a few simple words in their own way.

“Go,” “Get away,” “Scram” all mean to leave.

“Wolf,” “Kill,” “Catch” are signals to attack.

“Be nice,” “Come here,” and “Tut-tut” are signs of friendliness.

Dukdol already had a commanding presence in the pack and feared losing the capable wrap-around leader that effortlessly caught meat; hence he pretended not to understand for survival’s sake.

“Just go. You clumsy ones don’t even know when to leave. Go! Huh, are you really going?”

What can he do but let them go?

And thus, those dogs that always milled around causing a ruckus disappeared.

In an unexpected void, Qing couldn’t help but bite down on a piece of pheasant leg.

Mmm. So good…

Qing quietly savored the rich texture of the pheasant leg and softly closed his eyes.

With his eyes shut, sounds from afar began to resonate.

Most of them were screams like “Argh!” “Aaaagh!” or curse words like “Damn!” “Shit!”

Well, I should have set a trap or two.

Currently, the Yin family grounds were filled with thick and thin wooden stakes, along with various experimental traps strewn across a perilous space.

Yet these sounds were streaming in from all directions, almost settling in.

Ah. Could it be that they’re waiting for the right moment to gather?

Perhaps I should have broken through those who blocked the path in the night.

However, now I’m one with the jungle, a man of the forest.

I must show them the stern laws of survival, where the weak are preyed upon by the strong, showcasing the cruel law of nature.

Qing glanced at the bonfire, belching a huge cloud of smoke as it consumed the wet firewood, then neatly stacked up the remaining wood for optimal burning.

Disappearing silently among the dense trees, he erased his presence.

—-

With gritted teeth, Dou Sam silently cursed.

In the common vernacular, they say it’s a metaphor for being held back.

Dou Sam understood this painfully well.

“Argh!!”

It seemed like one of his hound handlers tripped on something and screamed like a banshee.

What a cry for help! But the agony in that scream was anything but ordinary.

Rushing over, he saw blood spilling from multiple wounds on the guy’s body.

“There’s a trap that snags ankles! Everyone, advance while sweeping the ground with your weapons!”

Sadly, the one caught was beyond saving.

“L-Let me live…”

“Bandage him up. Just hold on until the mission is done and we can get back.”

He wouldn’t be able to hold on.

With his innards punctured by a wooden stake, treatment wouldn’t help him recover anytime soon.

However, morale is important in the team; one couldn’t simply say, “You’re dead.”

So he just told him to hold on.

After losing one comrade, their search speed inevitably slowed.

As they continued, another scream pierced the air—Aaaagh!

“What now! Didn’t I tell you to use your weapons to sweep the ground ahead?”

“Something… it’s like tree spikes down here!”

Dou Sam checked the wounds and found the guy’s foot punctured.

Good shoes are expensive.

How good of shoes do lower-class bandits have when they lack inner strength and martial arts skills?

Just a level below adequate.

So when they stepped on the spikes buried in the fallen leaves, it pierced right through.

“Damn it! Narrow your strides and walk low, sweeping the ground! There are nails stuck in the leaves!”

Thus they shuffled forward, pushing away leaves with their feet, making their progress sluggish and exhausting, causing fatigue to sap their energy.

That’s when it happened.

Leading with a great sword, one bandit felt a sudden snap of tension underfoot.

And in that moment, a spike shot through him!

“Ugh.”

He couldn’t even scream before he was dead.

Thus, another guy standing next to him let out a cry instead.

“Ahhhhh! What the hell!”

This time, it was a trap that used a spring-loaded branch set tight like a bowstring.

When the string snapped, the branch shot back to its original position, effectively impaling the unsuspecting victim.

It must’ve been designed to target the neck, but given the short stature of the unfortunate guy, he was pierced through the face, delivering a fatal blow.

“How many traps have you set up, you cowardly son of a bitch! And you still call yourself an Orthodox warrior?!”

If they had simply fallen in battle, perhaps the frustration wouldn’t have boiled to this point.

But losses began accumulating even before facing Seomun Qing; this was just a ridiculous death without purpose!

The voice of a master with formidable inner strength resonated.

Even Qing, who had been quietly hiding up in a tree, caught wind of this.

Why do these rascals keep pointing at the Orthodox warriors during their troubles?

Since they’re the bad ones, they can use dirty tricks, but does that mean the Orthodox warriors must straightforwardly die in honorable fights without resorting to cunning traps?

Did they patent their sneaky moves or something?

Anyway, the Green Forest’s ambush team was having a rough time.

Along with numerous traps strewn about, there were even massive ones that one couldn’t fathom how a slender woman like Qing prepared.

An enormous tree trunk or a massive boulder might come crashing down, or there might be a pit dug over ten feet deep.

Of course, if you were to ask Qing how she built them, she would probably just reply: with brute strength and boredom.

Yet, Dou Sam didn’t find himself in great peril.

After all, those caught in such traps were the mediocre flunkies.

The real deals among the ambushers wouldn’t fall for such childish tricks.

So as long as he could pinpoint their location and drive them into a corner…

“Are we there yet?” Dou Sam urged the dog handler.

“W-Why can’t this guy find the direction?”

Victory! Where are you?”

The dog named Victory was sniffing and zigzagging this way and that, spinning ’round and ’round in circles.

“Are you serious, you dumb bastard? Why can’t you find it?!”

All that came from Victory was a whimper.

—-

The dog handlers from the 17th ambush team were chasing after their hounds.

The hunting dogs under the training of the Bo Bong family finally struck gold, successfully locating the source of the elusive Follow Fragrance.

It was just one yellow dog.

Qing named him Hwangsam. But since the name Hwang also means gold, it often got confused with the Gold Dust, resulting in him being called by different names all the time.

Two dogs happily tumbled around together, excited to reunite.

Woof! Woof!

“Wait, where the heck is he? Huh, isn’t that Yeondu? Where have you been all this time?”

Panting with excitement, Yeondu dashed over to his caretaker, doing the joyful deed of licking his face.

To this, a member of the ambush unit dispatched to the Follow Fragrance team frowned, clicking their tongue.

“I asked you to find the enemy, and here you are playing with a dog.”

“Not quite, the dog that went missing before has returned.”

“I don’t really care about that. Just find Seomun Qing already.”

“Yes. Alright. Green, Yeondu, go find her!”

The handler waved a red flag in front of the dogs and shouted for them to follow.

However, Green merely stared at Yeondu, while Yeondu, after being apart for days, seemed to have completely forgotten the mission and was just barking with confusion.

“What is this? Are you rebelling?”

—-

Qing was cloaked in Follow Fragrance.

If she were alone in this state, tracking would have been a breeze, but the issue was that she was tangled up playing and eating with twenty-one other canine companions.

Qing’s back was covered in so much fur, it looked more like a fur coat than anything else.

So, when it came time for the dogs to sniff, the scent of Follow Fragrance wafted throughout the entire forest.

So, following the dog handlers’ lead, they would either run into the lost dogs, or witness wolves scattering at the sight of several humans, or reunite with the lost dogs’ owners as other tracking teams revealed themselves.

And then there was the 47th ambush team.

You can tell the power of a tracking team by the number attached to them.

The larger the number associated with a team, the weaker the actual power.

Especially once it hit forty, the quality fell off sharply, with the gang led by the bumbling Master Ho just being glorified trash.

Arriving at the place where the 47th ambush team was led by the dogs, they were met with a gruesome sight of human remains.

Ugh. Bleh.

Finding a complete corpse was nearly impossible.

Ripped apart pieces were scattered everywhere, some even caught in trees; the team members couldn’t help but hold back their vomit at the horrific and grotesque scene.

“Cough.”

Just then, a hoarse cough echoed in the air.

The leader of the 47th team quickly followed the sound.

“Cough.”

“There’s a survivor! Hey, pull yourself together! Which team are you from?”

Sadly, judging by his state, he was soon to fade away too.

“Grrr…. We are from Team 41.”

“Team 41, huh? What did you see? Seomun Qing, was it her doing?”

“No, it wasn’t her…”

The survivor struggled to find his voice.

“If it wasn’t Seomun Qing, who else could have done such a thing? Did she have accomplices?”

“No. It’s not that.”

The survivor coughed, spitting a mix of blood and innards, a telltale sign that he could sense his own impending death.

In that fleeting moment, whispering thoughts of how foolish he had been to live a life steeped in crime rattled through his mind.

If only he had lived well and done good deeds instead of being a bandit, would he have faced a death devoid of meaning like this?

And so, in his final moments, he squeezed out what strength remained to pass on a warning.

“Bears have appeared…”

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