Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 720 - 81 Chasing and Escaping_1

Chapter 720: Chapter 81 Chasing and Escaping_1

"Woooooo~~~~~," the chilling wind howled across the ice plain, incapable of lifting the snowflakes from the ground. The intense cold caused the massive flakes to freeze as soon as they landed, fusing tightly with the surface in an unbreakable bond. In the heart of the ice plain, a figure cloaked tightly in a long black robe raced across this terrifying landscape. The generous robe fitted snug against the figure within, revealing a skeletal body beneath. This ghostly frame made the robed figure weightless, running across the ice plain as if riding the wind into the sky.

The hooded figure ran with an alertness, frequently glancing back towards the distant horizon, suggesting a significant threat from the pursuers behind. However, he had no doubt about his ability to escape. After all, as a creature unconcerned by the cold, he, a moribund situated between the undead and the living, had a distinct advantage on this desolate plain over the Sand People pursuing him. More so, they were close in speed, he ran with a clear goal, while the assassin followed based on a trail. The pursuit, especially in such harsh conditions, became unavoidably physically draining and time-consuming. From a consumption perspective, the Sand People could never catch up with a fleeing moribund. Therefore, despite the constant vigilance, the hooded figure remained resolute in his belief that he would not be caught by the Sand People.

In fact, this game of cat and mouse had been ongoing for sixteen days. During these two weeks, using various modes of transport, they relentlessly pursued one another from the southwestern part of the Falar Empire all the way to the Perpetual Icefield— the journey of several thousand kilometers took only sixteen days, a rare feat in history of Yarran World. But even with such remarkable speed, the hooded figure was unable to lose his pursuer. Several inevitable battles took place in this interval, furiously fought between old adversaries; although each ultimately ended with the hooded man escaping after being bested, Aske, the Sand People assassin, was unable to successfully kill his enemy, ensuring a stalemate. However, since entering the ice plain, the distance between them has been gradually increasing and if no accidents occur, in a few days, the hooded man will successfully lose Aske, making a safe return to his lair. At that point, the Church of Death that has completed their ritual could confidently watch as the creatures of Yarran World plunge into the depths of despair, with no hope remaining.

Including the hooded man, the three leaders of the organization, Divine Servants, are deities with endless lifespans. They have learned their lessons from countless failures in the past, resulting in ample experience in planning. Thus, they had a thorough plan for the ritual and were prepared for some living pillars to be destroyed by the powerful species of Yarran World. Moreover, within every team sent to establish the living pillars, there was at least one ghoul of legend. These legendary ghouls, roused by the three demigod caliber moribund deities, would alert them immediately upon death. Therefore, when the Living Pillar Ritual in Icebound Town went awry, the three dispersed moribund swiftly adjusted their plans. Although this adjustment would have some impact on the ritual, it would not fundamentally sabotage their plan.

The hooded man kept running despite his fearlessness in the face of death. Given the opportunity to survive, no one would choose to die, and so he continued his flight. After running without pause for sixteen days, he began to feel a certain fatigue, but it did not lessen the speed of his running. He had considered flying to shake off his pursuer, but their strength didn’t allow for that; they traveled much faster on foot than through the air. If he were to fly, the distance between them would only decrease. So he discarded the idea of flight unequivocally, opting to persist in running on ground. In mid-run, the hooded man looked back again, his black robe fluttering in the wind, revealing his holocaustic skeletal face. Suddenly, it’s as if he sensed something, reduced his backward glances, noticeably increased his speed, and frantically scampered forward.

Pannis and Aske were in pursuit. Following in the cold, foggy ice plain was unimaginably difficult. Days earlier, when Freya went missing in an ice storm, Pannis was able to track her to her landing site as he understood the direction of the storm and had a rough idea of Freya’s flight path. But this was different; his current opponent was a moribund with the ability to think independently, far more challenging than chasing an unchanging wind. Innately shrewd and cunning, he would constantly change direction and position, presenting substantial difficulty for pursuers. Even with Pannis’s tracking abilities, after meeting with Aske, the past thirty-four hours had been exceptionally tough. There were even a few instances when they almost lost the trail and missed the chance to catch their mark.

Fortunately, there was Aske, the demigod assassin. To be an excellent assassin, one must first be a master tracker. An assassin who couldn’t track would never sit on the throne of Yarran World’s top assassin. As an assassin, targets would never stay put and wait for their death, they would flee, hide, and conceal themselves in every conceivable and inconceivable place. If one couldn’t track them, the mission would indubitably fail.

Therefore, the hooded man was somewhat mistaken. He was being pursued not by one but two tracking masters. Aske’s tracking skills primarily hailed from his profession as an assassin, while Pannis’s came from the hunters among the forest elves. Although the two methods of tracking had their strengths and weaknesses, in the present situation, they were proving to be a perfect complement to each other.

Even on the smooth ice surface, Aske’s running speed remained remarkably fast. For a demigod assassin, maintaining balance was not an issue, especially for the Sand People who can freely make slight alterations to their body shape. Running barefoot on the icefield, their footsteps formed by pebbles are coarse enough to resist the slippery ice surface. Additionally, they occasionally grow a few linear protrusions of blade-shaped sand under their feet, much like ice skates, propelling them forward and further speeding up the tracking.

As for Pannis, despite lacking such convenient conditions, he had his own unique way to confront the challenges brought by the ice surface. He had put on specially processed long boots this time, specifically designed for high-speed movement on ice. Eight or nine short, thick metal spikes were added to the soles; if he stepped down hard enough, the spikes would penetrate the ice to provide more propulsive force. Due to the design, the spikes wouldn’t get stuck in the ice and could easily be pulled out, not posing a significant impact on running. As a result, although the change in running posture affected the chase speed slightly, it was far faster than struggling to walk on the smooth ice in regular boots. These boots were an invention of his own over ten decades ago when he, along with Nellie, Philarx, and Christo, carried out tasks in the icefields. Their usage was limited, and not everyone possessed his power and skill to readily adapt their walking style, not even he expected there would be another opportunity to use them.

Aske kept tracking and running. Now he was alone, Pannis’s shadow nowhere to be seen. But Aske didn’t hesitate at all, maintaining his speed, only stopping briefly at crucial spots to examine.

"Over there." Aske stopped again, felt around on the ice surface for a bit, and pointed toward one direction. Coinciding with his voice, Pannis had silently appeared behind him like a ghost. After checking the indicated direction, Pannis nodded, dashed off, leaving Aske to slow his steps, jogging to conserve stamina and recover.

Pannis moved ahead at the fastest speed, his motions swift and fluent, utterly graceful. The vast icefield swiftly retreated beneath his feet, and the chilly wind seemed to add to his momentum. The bizarre obstacles in the icefield appeared meaningless to him. Stepped on hollow ice shell? Ignored — he would pass over before the ice could even shatter. If the area was too vast to cross entirely, he’d extend his hand, the grappling hooks shot out to deeply pierce the ice ahead. A tug on the hook provided enough force to traverse safely. Ambushed by strange creatures? Ignored — as the ice elemental creatures launched their attacks, Pannis could easily twist his body at high speed to avoid them and leave them far behind. Blocking ice cracks? Ignored — when the ice crack appeared in front of him, Pannis kept his pace, crossed over in one stride, one moment he was vanishing at the edge of the ice crack, and the next, he emerged out of thin air on the other side, tens or hundreds of meters away. He continued his pursuit as if nothing had happened, without needing to adjust his steps.

Like Aske, Pannis also occasionally stopped to investigate on the ground or in the air, but he stopped slightly more than Aske, given he wasn’t purely a hunter. His skills fell short compared to genuine tracking masters. However, the gap was minuscule at best. At the very least, he could sense the distance was closing with the person ahead under their joint efforts while Aske’s nearly exhausted stamina gradually recovered.

"Straight ahead." Pannis stopped for the last time and, squatting on the ground, he uttered a word into the air beside him. Before his words faded, Aske had already appeared at the spot and placed his hand on Pannis’s shoulder, nodding, "My turn." (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to vote and recommend it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)