Four Heroes of the Valley

It was another new day.

Wang Wu's Satiety had dropped to zero again, but his Health Points had successfully recovered to full. Even the fur that had been burned away before had grown back, sleek and glossy.

He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he felt that he had grown a little larger, and even gained a tiny bit more strength, though the Attribute Bar showed no sign of it.

But he really had grown somewhat. His Growth Rate had now reached 13.2%. Counting Level 5 Stealth and Level 2 Self-Healing, those were the gains he had made during this period.

"Today, I need to snatch some Spiritual Qi, but there is no need to chase after the full Silver Three Minutes. I still need to eat berries."

As countless insects and small animals in the bushes began to cautiously and slowly head toward the foot of the mountain to welcome the daily gift of sunlight, Wang Wu also slipped among them furtively, with shifty eyes and a sneaky face, pretending to be an honest little bear cub...

But what he had never expected was that the moment he crawled out of the grass and dispelled his Level 5 Stealth, before he had even run ten steps, waves of biting killing intent locked onto him from afar.

It was bizarre, and incredible.

This killing intent was far too intense!

No, that was not it. Its level was too low, which was why his Level 1 Danger Sense talent could detect it. Otherwise, against that Black Snake Priest—no, in fact, he could not even sense the killing intent of a Black Snake Assassin. He was completely suppressed.

At that moment, two lines of information flashed past rapidly.

Sure enough, when the level was too low, even the information scan flew by at lightning speed.

"You have been targeted by a bounty!"

"You have been discovered and surrounded by the famed bounty hunter team, the Four Heroes of the Valley. They are the Iron Shirt Hedgehog Master, the Grasshopper Spider Ranger, the Great Blade Iron Mantis Warrior, the Great Blade Iron Mantis Warrior +1..."

--

The hell was this Four Heroes of the Valley? The hell was this bounty hunter? Did you little Sprites have some miniature social organization too?

As Wang Wu froze slightly, the grass directly ahead was suddenly forced apart. A black, spike-covered ball—well, a black Hedgehog the size of a soccer ball—came rolling madly toward him like a plump fat pig.

But Wang Wu did not care about that speed. He could dodge it casually...

"Fuck! Despicable!"

Wang Wu cursed loudly, because at that instant, a spider suddenly sprang out of the grass behind him. Yes, the kind of spider that could jump, except it was slightly larger, about the size of a toad. The moment it opened its mouth, several strands of Spider Silk bound one of Wang Wu's feet to the ground.

He shook himself desperately and barely broke free, only to find that in that brief moment, the Iron-Cloth Hedgehog had already rammed its head into Wang Wu's stomach. The pain made him yelp, and he nearly lost the ability to father children.

And weren't this thing's spines far too hard?

"You have been attacked by the Iron Shirt Hedgehog Master. You have lost 5 Health Points. You are bleeding, losing 1 point per second for 15 seconds!"

"Damn it!"

Wang Wu sent a claw flying, kicking the Hedgehog away. But he himself immediately howled in pain as well, more than a dozen bloody holes opening across him and gurgling blood.

This thing was too damned wicked.

But it was not over yet. The next second, with two clacks accompanied by metallic scraping, two iron-black mantises the size of rats sprang swiftly from the grass. Their four mantis blades, each a full ten centimeters long, slashed down at him in a blur.

That momentum, that killing intent, that posture—they carried something of the essence of Yagyu One-Sword Slash.

Wang Wu had no time to dodge and was struck by every blow, his bones nearly hacked into the open.

Four slashes, -40 Health Points!

Holy shit!

Wang Wu turned and smashed a claw down on one Iron Mantis, only to find that the thing was truly as hard as stone. Not only did he fail to crush it flat, it even jolted his paw painfully!

But that was fine. If one claw was not enough, then two would be.

The second strike alone shattered the Iron Mantis.

The other Iron Mantis took the chance to perform a beautiful spinning slash, cutting him twice more.

Damn it, seventy Health Points had vanished in such a short time.

"Roar!"

Wang Wu growled low, his two claws lashing out fiercely and killing the second Iron Mantis. When he turned around again, he found that the other two of the Four Heroes of the Valley—the Iron-Cloth Hedgehog and the Grasshopper Spider—had vanished without a trace.

Fuck you!

What kind of nonsense was this?

I have no old grudges or recent enmity with you...

Though he cursed inwardly, Wang Wu did not dare slack off. He grabbed the two Iron Mantis corpses and gnawed at them fiercely. Surprisingly, they were quite chewy, like dried beef jerky.

And rather fragrant, too.

One Iron Mantis gave him fifty Satiety points and five points of Spiritual Qi after it went down his throat.

This was good stuff, far more concentrated than an ordinary Wandering Mantis Swordsman.

So Wang Wu immediately stored away the other Iron Mantis corpse. This thing could serve as dry rations, and there was no need to worry about it rotting.

Afterward, he did not go bask in the sun. There was no time. He headed straight for the creek, drank water, stole berries, and finally even killed a Gray Rat Knight. Rats were said to breed easily, but Gray Rat Knights with such extraordinary combat strength should not be easy to raise, right?

One a day. Let's see whether you still have enough strength to keep hunting me down.

Finally, Wang Wu packed more than a dozen berries and hurried off in another direction. He found a suitable patch of grass, and once the three seconds of silence had passed, Level 5 Stealth activated.

Another day of lying flat.

Then, just as expected, another White-Haired Rat appeared on Berry Plains today, brimming with killing intent. After another fruitless search, it left.

It seemed Wang Wu's existence really had shaken the rule of their Rat Kingdom.

But Wang Wu did not know what strategy that White-Haired Rat had adopted today. After enduring the scorching daylight, at dusk, a group of Gray Rat Knights appeared by the creek carrying a huge leaf. More than a dozen berries were scattered sparsely atop it, and they placed it in the direction where Wang Wu had last disappeared that morning.

Then, these Gray Rats made that strange gesture from yesterday in perfect unison before leaving one after another.

They... they actually wanted to make peace?

Was this bribing him?

Wang Wu stared in astonishment. At last, he became certain that these little Sprites truly had an intelligent, interactive society, one much like human society.

Look at that, look at that. They also believed that cooperation was greater than confrontation, and that only cooperation could bring mutual benefit, right?

For a moment, Wang Wu truly wanted to run out and enjoy that feast.

But he was afraid it was a trap.

Still, this was beside the creek, where the terrain was wide open. His Health Points had already recovered to full, and after eating that Iron Mantis, he still had 230 Satiety points left. At worst, he could just dive into the grass.

"Could those White-Haired Rats be hiding nearby?"

Another thought flashed through Wang Wu's mind, and he immediately chickened out. There was no need for it. It was not worth it. Everything required caution.

Whatever. He would just pretend he had not seen it.

The long night passed. When the first faint light of dawn arrived with the new day, Wang Wu crawled out of the grass again, only to see that the berries on yesterday's leaf had disappeared. He did not know whether they had been taken back or eaten by other insects.

Wang Wu did not think much of it. In any case, he did not believe in the goodwill shown by those Gray Rats. Taking a detour, he began approaching the cliff. He needed to bask in the sun and farm Spiritual Qi.

Of course, he still needed the proper vigilance. He had to guard against another Four Heroes of the Valley or perhaps some Eight Steeds of the Shrubbery suddenly appearing.

But the result was something he had never expected. The entire journey was remarkably smooth. Whenever he occasionally encountered Gray Rat Knights, they did not cry out. Instead, they immediately struck that strange pose from yesterday.

So the Gray Rat Clan had really admitted defeat?

Wang Wu was half convinced and half doubtful.