Encounter

Outside the village, it was pitch-black, and the scenery was hard to make out. Few people came out at this hour.

"Uncle Yang?" Not far after leaving the village, Qin Ming spotted a sturdily built man.

Yang Yongqing said in surprise, "Little Qin, Shallow Night hasn't even arrived yet. You're heading out this early?"

"I wanted to try my luck in the wilderness and see whether there are any mountain beasts frozen to death," Qin Ming replied.

Yang Yongqing laughed. "We had the same idea. I just took a turn outside the mountains, but sadly, I found nothing."

Qin Ming was stunned. This middle-aged man with a face full of whiskers had actually just returned from outside. He really had gone out early.

"How could Uncle Yang be the same as me? Could it be that you're tracking some rare, precious prey with spiritual nature?" He knew Yang Yongqing was formidable, one of the few New Life Evolvers in Double Tree Village.

After the two had exchanged only a few words, they noticed shadows swaying in the distance.

"Mountain Patrol," Yang Yongqing murmured.

In an age without the sun, the wilderness was especially perilous. Highly skilled people were needed to patrol the mountains and keep watch.

A man in leather armor appeared. He was rather tall, with a bow and arrows on his back and an iron spear clenched in his hand. His long hair hung loose, and his entire body radiated savage power.

"Brother Shao," Yang Yongqing greeted him first.

Shao Chengfeng nodded. Around forty years old, his gaze was exceptionally sharp. He stopped before them and said, "Going out with you at such a young age... could he be that Er Bingzi?"

"Er Bingzi is from the neighboring village..." Yang Yongqing explained.

"Your Double Tree Village really isn't much. Not a single New Life Evolver in the Golden Age has appeared there in recent decades," Shao Chengfeng said bluntly.

Yang Yongqing thought that was normal. Looking across this whole region, there were only a handful who could undergo New Life at fifteen or sixteen. Talent could not be forced.

He said, "I truly never saw it back then—Er Bingzi turned out to be so impressive. I heard that after he recently made up for his body's deficiencies, his physical condition improved by another notch."

Shao Chengfeng nodded. "He really is extraordinary. The question is whether he can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best among that distant Bright City."

"That's difficult. One patch of soil raises one kind of person." Yang Yongqing felt deeply about it. He had seen the city's prosperity and knew of the splendor brought by advanced power manuals.

"True." Shao Chengfeng accepted that reality. "I heard that two astonishing youths have emerged there, surpassing the New Life Evolvers of every previous Golden Age. One male and one female—they have dazzled this entire region."

"It truly is a land of spiritual beauty." Yang Yongqing felt only envy, not jealousy, because they were far too distant from this place. There was no basis for comparison.

Qin Ming listened attentively throughout without interrupting.

After pausing briefly, Shao Chengfeng vanished into the night.

No one knew what level of creatures dwelled deep within the black mountains, or how many dangerous tribes lurked there. Mountain Patrols were needed to monitor the outer regions and give warnings.

Qin Ming asked, "Are all Mountain Patrols formidable people? Do they have to enter the mountains every day?"

"Some people are very responsible," Yang Yongqing replied.

Qin Ming froze. Did that mean some people were extremely irresponsible? He had not expected such a tactful answer from this burly, bearded man.

"The situation in the mountains is very wrong right now. It's too dangerous. I reckon it won't be long before those above launch a Mountain Sweeping Operation. Young nobles will probably accompany them. Little Qin, work hard. Strive to undergo New Life during the Golden Age." Yang Yongqing patted his shoulder. "If some noble young lady who comes down takes a liking to you, perhaps you can change your fate."

The two parted ways, and Yang Yongqing returned to the village.

Mulling over that information, Qin Ming continued toward the wilderness.

He was extremely fast. He moved through chest-deep snow as though cleaving waves, snowflakes spraying to both sides of his path.

At this point, the night was no longer so dense. Shallow Night had arrived, and the forested mountains emerged faintly from the darkness.

Qin Ming stood outside the mountains, raising his guard. No one knew what dangers lay within those obscured lands.

With a gurgle, his stomach growled. His body sent out hunger signals once again. Earlier, when he had encountered familiar people on the road, he had forcibly restrained himself, but now that restraint completely failed.

Acid rose in his stomach. Staring into the dim forest, he gripped his hunting fork and darted inside.

He passed the Mutant Squirrel's habitat, crossed that low mountain, and ventured farther than he had last time.

After going somewhat deeper into the forest, he found many traces—broken beast bones, enormous hoofprints. There was no need to worry about the snow being too deep to travel through; many creatures had already trampled out small paths.

A burst of sobbing drifted over, as though a woman were crying. It was especially strange in such a desolate forest.

Qin Ming abruptly sped up, searching the mountain for the source of the sound. He soon approached his destination.

In the pitch-black woods, pairs of emerald eyes looked toward him. Shadowy figures clustered there—more than a dozen creatures in all.

Those who did not know the truth might have been frightened by the crying earlier. But to people who spent all year roaming the wilderness, this might be an opportunity.

Qin Ming charged over with his hunting fork, and a sudden flapping erupted. More than a dozen creatures shot into the night sky, all startled away.

They were carnivorous night birds, each about two feet long. They liked living in groups, their calls like ghostly sobs. They hunted all kinds of small animals for food and sometimes attacked humans as well.

Qin Ming rushed over in an instant and inwardly lamented his bad luck. There was only a pile of bloody bones and a few bloodstained scraps of hide on the ground. A muntjac had been devoured clean.

Having failed to snatch food from birds' beaks, he turned and left, wary of being attacked by those carnivorous night birds.

In an open patch where the trees were sparse, blood stained the ground. Beast pawprints larger than the mouth of a sea bowl lay at the scene. It should have been a feeding ground for some large predator.

As for the remaining scraps of the meal, they had likely been carried away by other carnivorous creatures.

Just as Lu Ze had said, even the outer regions of the mountains had become dangerous now. One could imagine what the depths of the range were like.

Qin Ming stayed alert as he left the blood-soaked site.

A moment later, he found numerous hoofprints in the snow, and his spirits immediately rose. He followed them all the way onward.

In the night, more than twenty dark figures stood ahead. Every one of them was large, and gathered together, they gave off a considerable sense of oppression.

"Saberhorn Deer!" Qin Ming revealed a delighted expression.

In the past, deer herds rarely appeared in this area.

He removed his bow and arrows, taking aim at a large stag.

These were not gentle deer. Every adult male had six antlers distributed along the sides and front of its head, all flat and razor-sharp, like six steel blades. If one rammed into someone, it would certainly leave fatal bloody holes.

Even some predators did not dare charge them head-on and instead attacked from behind. If a person fell among such a herd, the outcome would be miserable.

Qin Ming drew the hard bow into the shape of a full moon. With a whoosh, an iron arrow flashed like lightning and pierced the stag's lung.

Saberhorn Deer had always been fierce and dared to fight all kinds of predators. After being shot, this large stag did not flee. Instead, it immediately charged toward Qin Ming.

After being briefly alarmed, the deer herd followed it in a mad rush. Snow sprayed everywhere, hoofbeats thundered densely, and this entire forest trembled faintly.

Qin Ming did not panic. He bent his bow again and struck with the same accuracy. The iron arrow carried tremendous force and sank entirely into the stag's body, making it sway several times.

He put away his bow and arrows and calmly climbed a very thick tree, hiding several meters above the ground.

In dense woods, it was difficult to aim at prey after climbing a tree. The branches of many trees got in the way.

After running for a while, the large stag staggered. It could no longer hold on and crashed into the snow with a bang.

The deer herd was startled and all came to a halt, then thundered away.

Qin Ming waited for a while. When no dangerous mountain beasts appeared, he jumped down from the tree and approached with his hunting fork.

This blackish-brown Saberhorn Deer was exceptionally robust, weighing a full seven hundred jin. Even in winter, it had not thinned down.

He was very satisfied with such a harvest.

The forest was dangerous, and it was not suitable to linger. Dragging the Saberhorn Deer, he immediately hurried back along his original route.

He experienced the benefits of New Life. With his greatly increased strength, he dragged such heavy prey swiftly through the snow without feeling tired.

There were many kinds of trees in the wilderness, such as larches and spruces, often dozens of meters tall as they towered into the night.

The mountain wind gradually intensified, whipping up countless grains of snow that struck his face painfully.

Amid the howling cold wind, goosebumps rose across Qin Ming's skin. A pair of furry, massive paws had suddenly landed on his shoulders from behind.

At the same time, he felt a burst of hot breath behind him brush the hairs on his neck. He realized it was likely a gaping, blood-filled mouth drawing close, wanting to bite through the back of his neck.

He immediately hunched his shoulders, crouched down, and rolled into the snow to one side.

Even so, he bled. The large paws pressing down on his shoulders carried tremendous force, like sharp iron hooks. They tore through his padded clothes and wounded both shoulders.

The snow exploded apart, and a terrifying black shadow rose from a hollow in the snow. Tall and powerful, it pounced after him.

Qin Ming reacted swiftly, moving across the ground like a swimming snake and narrowly breaking free.

The savage black shadow pounced again. Its sharp massive paws could tear off a person's entire face, while its gaping mouth exposed gleaming, cold teeth.

Qin Ming had no time to rise, but he did not panic. He calmly stretched out both hands, seized those forelimbs, and firmly restrained them.

Those terrifying paws were extremely close to his face, nearly pressed against it, yet they could not force their way down.

Now that they faced each other directly, Qin Ming finally saw the creature clearly.

It had an enormous donkey head, a wide mouth, and long black mane trailing down its neck. Its body belonged to a mountain wolf. It was exceptionally fierce as it bit toward Qin Ming's throat.

The situation was perilous beyond measure. The hot breath from its bloody mouth sprayed onto Qin Ming's face, carrying a heavy stench of blood.

Remaining calm in the face of danger, he gripped its forelimbs with all his strength and used its own paws to meet its fanged mouth, blocking it with itself.

At the same time, while struggling against it, he curled his body, drew back his legs to gather strength, then suddenly kicked out and viciously struck its abdomen.

Qin Ming was undergoing New Life, and his strength was astonishing. One kick sent the several-hundred-jin mountain beast flying, where it rolled repeatedly across the ground.

"Donkey-Headed Wolf!" He stared at the black beast ahead.

It was also called a Mountain Ruffian. It had a donkey's head and a mountain wolf's body, yet it was far stronger than a mountain wolf. A normal specimen weighed at least one hundred and eighty jin, while this one had clearly mutated and weighed a full four hundred jin.

An ordinary person would certainly die upon encountering it!

Its limbs were long, allowing it to walk upright. Some local elders had seen the bizarre sight of Mountain Ruffians carrying prey while walking on two legs.

The mutated creature before him was savage and cunning. The instant it rose, it pressed the nearby hunting fork into the snow.

Qin Ming was speechless. It truly possessed some spirituality—it knew to separate him from his weapon.

The Donkey-Headed Wolf's eyes were fierce, and its thick mane bristled. It abruptly rose upright, becoming much taller at once as it howled with overwhelming presence.

Qin Ming was not afraid in the slightest. He drew his short blade from behind his back and advanced. He was in the midst of New Life transformation; if they met head-on, he believed he could beat it to death even barehanded.

The Donkey-Headed Wolf moved, bringing a foul wind with it and stirring the snow across the ground into flight. It let out a muffled roar that shook snowflakes from the branches in a rustling shower.

Qin Ming's short blade collided with its massive paw, producing a crisp tremor.

Standing upright, the Donkey-Headed Wolf's eyes were blood-red as it tried to grab him and tear him apart with its teeth.

Qin Ming moved like lightning. A flash of snowy blade-light swept past, blood flowing from its mouth as its fangs were severed.

He swiftly followed up. His right leg lashed out like an iron whip and struck its body heavily. Accompanied by the sound of cracking bones, it released a shrill scream.

Qin Ming pounced forward, pinned the four-hundred-jin Donkey-Headed Wolf in the snow, and hammered down blow after blow with his fists.

With a crack, the Donkey-Headed Wolf's neck was broken by his strike. It twisted crookedly to one side and no longer moved.

It was a mutated creature, and its glossy black hide was highly valuable. It had been preserved in relatively good condition.

If any outsider had been present, they would certainly have been shocked. Such a ferocious Mutated Donkey-Headed Wolf had actually been beaten to death alive by Qin Ming's fists.

Soon, Qin Ming found a leftover iron arrowhead lodged in its body.

He could be certain that this was the mutated creature that had attacked him on the road when he had raided the Red Squirrel's nest last time.

The distance had been somewhat far then, so he had not seen it clearly. But he had shot that creature that day.

Qin Ming touched his shoulders. The wounds were not deep, and the bleeding quickly stopped. The process had actually been extremely dangerous. If his reaction had been even a beat slower, not only would both shoulders have been ripped apart, even the back of his neck would have been bitten through.

He had expended quite a bit of energy. His stomach rumbled like war drums, and hunger gnawed at him so fiercely that he felt flustered. He desperately wanted to roast a deer leg on the spot and feast to his heart's content.

However, lighting a fire in the night was like a lighthouse in fog, a guiding beacon. It would expose him to every creature in the mountains and forests. It was far too dangerous.

Qin Ming looked at the Donkey-Headed Wolf beneath his feet, then at the Saberhorn Deer not far away, before gazing toward the low mountain ahead. Taking two huge beasts over the mountain would be quite troublesome.

He decided to "lighten his load."

The Saberhorn Deer and Donkey-Headed Wolf had only just died, their bodies still warm. After he cut open their hides with his short blade, blood immediately surged out and dyed the snow red.

Though he was a handsome youth with clear brows and bright eyes, he was highly capable of surviving in the wilderness, because he had always relied on himself to stay alive.

His blade moved swiftly as he efficiently removed the entrails from both prey, then immediately buried them in the snow to conceal the scent of blood.

"I hope there aren't any dangerous creatures nearby." Qin Ming thought the odds were not bad. After all, this was already the outer region of the forested mountains.

However, just as he reached the mountainside, he heard a tremendous disturbance in the distance.

It was no ordinary noise. Many birds in the forest were startled into the night sky, while numerous mountain beasts fled at high speed.

"Did the bloody scent attract a giant beast?" Qin Ming's brow furrowed deeply as he looked toward the distant woods.

The sounds drew closer from afar, accompanied by roars. Snow churned across the ground, and the sound of branches breaking came from time to time.

Soon, he saw a colossal creature, as tall and sturdy as an armored vehicle. It was immensely fierce, overturning every obstacle in its path.

It was wounded and stained with blood. This should have been a defeated giant beast that had fled into this area, not one coming for Qin Ming.

He sucked in a cold breath. It was actually a wild boar, so huge that it was terrifying—at least fifteen hundred jin.

One had to know that a six-hundred-jin wild boar could become king of its herd. This one far surpassed its kind. Thick, steel-needle-like bristles covered its body, while its snow-white tusks were longer than an adult's forearm. It looked incomparably savage.

Qin Ming muttered to himself. Even such a magnificent Boar King had been defeated—what kind of creature was hunting it?

He had assumed this massive brute would pass by the foot of the mountain and leave, but its nostrils twitched, and it unexpectedly charged up the low mountain.

After being wounded, it was extremely sensitive. The scent of blood in the forest had provoked it.

Qin Ming realized he was in serious trouble—not only because this giant beast was exceptionally dangerous, but because the mysterious creature hunting it might follow as well.

Faintly, he could already hear movement coming from the distant woods.

The sound of the wind weakened, then slowly disappeared.

The hill-sized Boar King charged over, brutal and fierce. It trampled snow into flight and barreled ahead, scattering broken branches everywhere. Some dead trees even snapped at their trunks.

Qin Ming's expression changed slightly. He climbed a huge tree that would take several people linking arms to encircle, looking down from above as he prepared to shoot its eyes, heart, and other vital points with arrows once it approached.

The enormous Boar King drew near, its coarse black bristles standing erect all over its body. When it raised its head, Qin Ming could clearly see that its face was covered in a layer of black scales, glinting with an icy metallic sheen and making it appear even more hideous and savage.

Qin Ming frowned. He had been completely targeted by this gigantic Boar King that exuded crushing pressure. He nocked an iron arrow and aimed downward.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong. The forest had gone silent in an instant. The birds and raptors that had just rushed into the night sky had all vanished. The mountain beasts that had been fleeing seemed to have disappeared too. Not a single sound remained in the vast forest—it was exceedingly abnormal.

At the same time, he saw a ball of light rise from a distant mountain peak. At first it was gentle, but it swiftly became dazzling and gradually rose higher.

At this moment, the bad-tempered Boar King did not dare make even the slightest sound. It silently retreated, terrified of snapping a branch. It was as cautious as a little cat, hiding in a dark area thick with trees. In the end, it even lay dormant in a depression and buried itself beneath the snow.

During the age of Eternal Night, there should have been nothing in the sky. It had remained black year-round.

Yet now, the ball of light in the night sky grew brighter and brighter, like a bright full moon hanging overhead.

Qin Ming's heart shook violently, because he knew it was actually an insect.