Murim Recurve

It had taken considerable time, at the end of which Re'Rak and his small team arrived at the Burkurel Ju Clan's western settlement. Normally, if a person walked at a steady pace, it would take an entire day to reach the settlement from Burkurel City. So, it was a considerable distance to traverse, even on horseback.

The moment they arrived, Re'Rak nodded at the three scouts, motioning them to begin tracking. The scouts immediately summoned their Pranic Avatar—a Nerou—and began tracing the presence of Re'Kha and everywhere she had moved.

Among the three Nerou, one scoured the settlement's surroundings, one moved through the settlement, and the final made a beeline to the house in the centre. Each of them held a small pouch in their mouths. The pouch was the same as what the scout team that pursued Re'Kha before had used.

It was a herb named Dakhli; it was capable of absorbing and storing the presence of everything in its immediate surroundings. So, it was commonly used to record the presence of people, animal, or beasts in a place to keep track of. It was also how they investigated a place of crime and presented evidence. Also, a single pouch could only be used once to store the presence of an area, so it couldn't be tampered with easily.

Adding onto the powerful senses of the Nerou, the scouts were capable of digging out a lot of information in a short duration. Their tracking range was also large and spanned days to months. As long as the presence didn't vanish, they could track it down.

The presence was a strange concept. It couldn't be erased like the other traces. It was something intangible that only the Nerou could perceive. That was why the scouts—Clansmen of the Ul Clan—formed one of the Four Great Clans of their country.

The first Nerou that was scaling outside the settlement made its round, taking its time to track all the places Re'Kha had moved towards. After a while, the scout who had unleashed it found something, gazing at Re'Rak, "Re'Kha had exited the settlement from its eastern gate and had moved outside. This presence seems the latest."

"Let's head towards it," Re'Rak nodded. They were currently before the settlement's southern gate. They soon arrived at the spot where Re'Kha was carried by the Pakou—the Pranic Avatar of Burmat Re'Shi.

"This is the spot she was last present at. After that, it seems like she vanished…" The scout frowned, processing all the information his Nerou sensed, "No, it seems…she was taken by a…Pakou."

"The Burmat Re Clan," Re'Rak frowned; his eyes emitted unconcealable bloodlust, 'You dare pull my daughter into your political plays?'

"Is it definite the Pakou had taken her?" Re'Rak tried to make it double sure.

"She had last come into contact with a Pakou in this spot. After this, the presence of both her and the Pakou vanished. So, they must have taken off into the air. But…" The scout frowned, "For some reason, this Pakou feels a lot stronger than the ones I've seen in the Burmat Re Clan. There is a small chance it might be from the wild."

"Are there any traces of a Kalha on it?" Re'Rak controlled his emotions, refraining his judgement to be affected by his emotions.

"There are faint traces of the Kalha, but it seems to be on Re'Kha, rather than the Pakou." The scout finished inspecting everything, using a pouch filled with the Dakhli to record the presence in the area for later study.

"Then it shouldn't be a Pakou from the wild." Re'Rak nodded, "If it was, it would have long fallen under the control of the Kalhas. After all, they have been active here a lot lately."

"And…" Re'Rak gazed towards the west, noticing a spiralling pillar of light situated behind the Bahara mountain range. "The cause of everything seems to stem from there. Has any scout teams gone that far to inspect the cause?"

"We only sent one scout two days ago. He failed to report back. He's probably dead. We plan to scout the surroundings first once this beast wave ends." The scout replied, getting up as he pocketed the pouch.

The Nerou that had been inspecting the settlement arrived, slightly injured as it dropped the pouch in its mouth. The scout that had summoned it sighed, "The Rhipas are spreading out."

The final scout grunted, "My Nerou was killed by them just now."

He then summoned another Nerou and sent it sprinting into the settlement, in an effort to retrieve the pouch it took with it before, "It barely managed to store the presences of all the people who had been in the houses at the centre of the settlement."

"How's the situation there?" Re'Rak frowned.

"It's bad, really bad," The scout squinted, "They were experimenting on the Rhipas. A lot of people have been used as breeding grounds for them. And, it's not just one house. There are about three houses that have conducted these. The rest just have massive granaries to store food."

"Let's make a copy of all the evidence and send it to the City Lord first. Judging by how it looks, the entire Burkurel Ju Clan might be behind this." Re'Rak then noticed the Nerou the scout sent into the settlement limp on its return, collapsing before them as it spat out a pouch.

"The Rhipa are heading this way. We have to retreat." The scout pocketed the pouch and spoke in alarm, "Their numbers have already surpassed two hundred."

"We can't face against such numbers," Re'Rak thought, 'It seems Re'Kha is alive, thankfully. I have to head towards the Burmat Re Clan for any further evidence. This place isn't of any concern to me then.'

He looked at the messenger, "Please send a message to the City Lord."

Re'Rak took a portion of the three pouches and put them in small packets, putting them within a cylindrical roll, followed by a parchment containing everything he said the messenger to relay.

After it was sealed, the messenger summoned his Pranic Avatar that was shaped into a bird. It swallowed the container and took off to the air, flashing past at tremendous speeds through the sky.

Re'Rak motioned for everyone to retreat, speeding away on their horses towards their encampment. Re'Rak was more confident now. The fact that Re'Kha was alive gave him strength. He still didn't know of her plight, but the situation was better than her potential death.

'I'll find you soon, Re'Kha. Hold on until then, wherever you are.'