Chapter 346: Fruitless Endeavors
After repelling the Wuqi Tribe, the situation on Golden Sand Island and its surrounding areas temporarily stabilized.
Although this is likely the calm before the storm, at least the people living on and off the island can take a breather.
With the waterway reopened, merchant ships began to dock at Golden Sand Island again.
They brought in a large amount of supplies.
Of course, there were also those who doubted the future of the Golden Sand Gang, leaving on the merchant ships to escape the turmoil.
But more refugees came running over.
For a moment, the atmosphere on Golden Sand Island was turbulent, as people waited anxiously and uneasily.
That afternoon, Zhang Yuan was practicing martial arts in the courtyard when Wang Wu, who had gone out earlier to gather information, rushed back.
He excitedly reported to Zhang Yuan, "Master, there’s news about the White Wolf!"
Hmm?
Zhang Yuan immediately asked, "Where?"
Zhang Yuan had been in the Great Dream Marsh for one or two months without finding any clues about the White Wolf.
He once suspected that the Celestial Being who smuggled himself into this world might have already left the Great Dream Marsh.
For other places.
Unexpectedly, there was news now.
"On Qingzhu Island."
Wang Wu swallowed: "I brought the person who found the White Wolf, he’s outside."
Zhang Yuan said without hesitation, "Let him in!"
Wang Wu quickly brought a young man of small stature before Zhang Yuan.
The young man looked to be in his early twenties and appeared very clever.
Upon seeing Zhang Yuan, he immediately bowed deeply: "Greetings, sir!"
"No need for formalities."
Zhang Yuan waved his hand: "Tell me the situation in detail."
The young man Wang Wu brought was named Xiao Liang, a native of Qingzhu Island.
Like Wang Wu, he was also a Tier One Light Force martial artist.
Qingzhu Island is nearly a hundred li from Golden Sand Island, a medium-sized Land Island within the influence of the Golden Sand Gang.
The island has tens of thousands of residents and is relatively prosperous.
Although Quinshii Island has also been harassed by the Wuqi Tribe during this period.
But it hasn’t fallen.
Xiao Liang was something of a local tyrant on Qingzhu Island, frequently engaging in petty thefts while mingling with the lower class.
Just three days ago, he encountered a man in white on the street.
Thinking the man looked like an easy target, he planned to take advantage of him.
But just as he was about to act, the man in white noticed his intentions in advance.
The other party smiled at him.
Xiao Liang felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, chilled from head to toe.
His very soul felt as though it had been stripped away!
What scared him most was the man’s gaze, which was eerily sharp, despite the smile on his face his eyes were cold and ruthless.
Xiao Liang thought he was doomed!
Fortunately, although the man in white gave him a great scare, he didn’t actually strike.
By the time Xiao Liang collected himself, the man had already vanished into the crowd.
Later, when Xiao Liang returned home, he suddenly remembered Wang Wu’s reward.
He pulled out a portrait from under his bed and the more he looked at it, the more he was convinced the man was the one Wang Wu was looking for.
Although the man in white’s appearance was quite different from the portrait.
His eyes were remarkably similar.
Wang Wu mentioned the man was good at disguises and changing appearances.
Since the Golden Sand Gang had driven out the Wuqi Tribe’s forces, Xiao Liang hired a boat to go to Golden Sand Island and sent a message to Wang Wu through a contact.
Upon receiving the message, Wang Wu went out of the island and brought him over in Zhang Yuan’s name.
Otherwise, Xiao Liang wouldn’t have qualified to be on the island.
Xiao Liang also brought a picture he had drawn himself.
Although his drawing skills were poor, it roughly captured the likeness of the man in white.
Coupled with a detailed description, the information was clear enough.
"Let’s go."
After hearing him out, Zhang Yuan decisively said, "We’ll go to Qingzhu Island now."
He instructed Wang Wu, "You stay here and watch the place."
Wang Wu had no objections.
So Zhang Yuan took Xiao Liang and set off for Qingzhu Island by fast boat.
Zhang Yuan personally rowed, and the boat was swift, reaching the destination before sunset.
Upon landing on Qingzhu Island, he took two ingots of gold from his pocket and handed them to Xiao Liang: "This is your reward, and there will be a bigger one if we catch him."
Zhang Yuan didn’t need him to lead the way for anything else.
But he and Xiao Liang agreed that the latter would mobilize his local connections to search for the man in white.
He was to notify Zhang Yuan immediately if he had any news.
To increase the odds of finding the target, Zhang Yuan personally began searching on Qingzhu Island.
However, at this moment, Zhang Yuan had another option.
That was to activate the Tracking Talisman he had brought.
The tracking talisman given to him by Hui Zhi covered a range of fifty li, enough to encompass Qingzhu Island.
But after considering it, Zhang Yuan decided not to use the talisman, which could only be used once.
Because he wasn’t sure if Xiao Liang had really encountered the White Wolf.
If it wasn’t him, he’d waste this valuable Tracking Talisman, making it incredibly difficult to find the target again.
So Zhang Yuan suppressed the tempting idea.
According to his previous agreement with Xiao Liang, Zhang Yuan stayed at an inn on the island.
Then he wandered around from morning till night, or visited places with many people like teahouses and inns, hoping for a chance encounter.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan also manipulated the Red-eyed Crow to search uninhabited parts of the island.
Qingzhu Island is rich in bamboo used for constructing boathouses, much of the island is covered with bamboo forests.
If the White Wolf is hiding there, the Red-eyed Crow would have a hard time finding him.
But Zhang Yuan felt that a Celestial Being from the Otherworld, and one with a violent and unruly temperament at that, wasn’t likely to be living as a recluse in the bamboo forest.
Therefore, the focus was still on the densely populated areas.
For three consecutive days, Zhang Yuan didn’t encounter the white-clad man Xiao Liang had described.
As for Xiao Liang, he also failed to locate the target.
It seemed as though the man had vanished into thin air.
After another two days of searching with no results,
Zhang Yuan was completely disappointed and chose to leave.
After all, he couldn’t stay on the island indefinitely.
Of course, he didn’t ask Xiao Liang to stop his efforts.
But his hopes were slim.
Feeling somewhat frustrated, Zhang Yuan returned to Golden Sand Island.
The next morning, he sailed out to bring trouble to the Wuqi Barbarians.
Although the Wuqi Tribe’s forces had been repelled, the Golden Sand Gang’s bounty for barbarians was still in effect.
In the past time, including outsiders like Zhang Yuan, those skilled in martial arts had dealt a substantial blow to the Wuqi Barbarians.
Those without Zhang Yuan’s formidable abilities would form patrol squads, conducting guerrilla operations to hunt the Wuqi Barbarians, achieving significant results.
With the changing circumstances, hunting the Wuqi Barbarians wasn’t easy anymore.
One needed to go to more distant and dangerous places!