Ning Beichen leaned more towards the second possibility, as Mu Ye was not someone who would leave without a word. If he intended to leave, he would have informed Ning Beichen beforehand.
Of course, there was also a very low probability that Mu Ye had discovered something, but hadn't had the chance to return and tell him, choosing instead to handle it himself or to track it.
Ning Beichen left a subtle mark on the large tree where he had rested earlier. This mark was only recognizable to Mu Ye, intended to prevent them from missing each other.
After leaving the mark, Ning Beichen left to search for Mu Ye.
On the muddy bank of the river, Ning Chao found some of Mu Ye's footprints. He saw that Mu Ye had indeed been there to fetch water, but there was no sign of him.
More than half an hour had passed. Even digging a well five meters deep would have been completed by now, so Ning Beichen was already one hundred percent certain that Mu Ye must have met with trouble.
However, it was unlikely that the incident occurred by the river, as there were only Mu Ye's footprints there, and no signs of a struggle nearby.
Therefore, it was highly probable that Mu Ye had discovered something and, without time to return and notify Ning Beichen, went to investigate or track it alone.
If it were someone else, Ning Beichen might have harbored some doubt, but not with Mu Ye, because Mu Ye valued Ning Beichen's affairs more than his own life.
Ning Beichen searched around the riverbank. Apart from Mu Ye's footprints in the mud, there were no other discoveries.
Based on the direction of the footprints and some broken branches in the forest, Ning Beichen deduced that Mu Ye must have crossed the river, which was why there were fewer traces left on this side.
Without further thought, Ning Beichen swam to the other bank and, as expected, found more of Mu Ye's footprints on the shore.
Ning Beichen followed Mu Ye's footprints, but they gradually disappeared on the grassy bank, suggesting he had entered the forest.
Without footprints, Ning Beichen had to rely on broken branches and trampled grass to continue searching for Mu Ye's whereabouts.
However, as Ning Beichen ventured deeper, the traces left by Mu Ye became increasingly scarce. Upon reaching a dense thicket of thorns, Mu Ye's trail had completely vanished.
Helpless, Ning Beichen relied on his own experience to search. After all, everyone had their specialties; Ning Beichen was not proficient in everything.
He feared no one in a fight, but he understood nothing about searching, witchcraft, or the high-tech skills that Liu Yilin possessed.
If he knew and mastered everything, he would cease to be human and would likely be on par with God.
However, Ning Beichen was no stranger to the jungle. He had lived in the wilderness for several years overseas, and was extremely familiar with the jungle environment.
Ning Beichen continued his search forward. He paused under a bare camphor tree and suddenly turned around, his fingers darting out like lightning to pinch something behind him.
A thumb-sized, emerald-green venomous snake was caught by its vital spot between his fingers, coiling into a knot in Ning Beichen's palm.
With a snap!
Ning Beichen grabbed the snake's head and struck it against the tree trunk, stunning the emerald-green viper.
Then, Ning Beichen drew a sharp dagger from the inside of his boot. He used the tip of the blade to carefully extract the snake's gall bladder from its body.
He then opened his mouth and directly swallowed the gall bladder, as if it were a delicacy.
After consuming the emerald-green viper's gall bladder, Ning Beichen immediately felt a slight warmth in his lower abdomen. He then used a special breathing technique to extract the energy from the gall bladder.
A gall bladder no larger than a quail egg instantly revitalized Ning Beichen, making him feel full of energy.
The snake was venomous, capable of killing with a single bite, yet its gall bladder was a potent tonic. One had to marvel at the wonders of creation.
After eating the gall bladder, Ning Beichen continued his search for Mu Ye. However, he searched from day until night without finding him. Instead, he himself became lost.
He could no longer return to his original location and could only take it one step at a time. If Mu Ye had indeed met with misfortune, his anxiety would be of no use.
Moreover, darkness had fallen. The jungle nights were no joke. After dark, humans were no longer the masters of the jungle; the inhabitants were the venomous snakes and ferocious beasts.
These were minor concerns. Ning Beichen feared no venomous snakes or beasts. The most critical issue was that visibility in the jungle at night was zero. How could one search for a person then? It was sheer folly.
In such an environment, no master, no super-master, was useful. Even night-vision goggles would be ineffective. At night, they could only detect moving creatures, not the surrounding environment.
Ning Beichen decided to find a place to camp for the night and wait for daylight.
He did not set up camp on the jungle floor, as doing so at night would be like offering a feast to the jungle's predators. Fortunately, he found a large hollow in a rock face.
This location offered a vantage point, inaccessible to beasts, and provided protection from sudden heavy rain that could flood the ground.
Ning Beichen lay down in the hollow, lit a bonfire, added some mugwort leaves he had gathered to ward off mosquitoes, and began roasting the leftover meat from the day.
After eating and drinking his fill, Ning Beichen lay down to sleep without further ado, intending to rest and recover his energy and strength, pushing thoughts of Mu Ye out of his mind.
If Mu Ye was unharmed, that would be the best outcome. If Mu Ye had been captured, Ning Beichen would rescue him.
If Mu Ye had died, Ning Beichen would make the perpetrator pay with their life, rather than resorting to impotent rage.
However, in the middle of the night, Ning Beichen was awakened by the sound of beasts moving in the distance.
Ning Beichen gripped his compound bow, locked onto the source of the sound, and fired an arrow. Then, silence returned. He didn't know if the beast had fled or if it had been killed by his shot.
Too lazy to go down and check, Ning Beichen simply put away his compound bow, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
He only opened his eyes when morning arrived. After packing his belongings, he leaped directly from the seven or eight-meter-high rock hollow.
Upon landing, he walked to a small stream to wash his face. After tidying himself up, he set up a campfire by the stream and ate.