Beast Trapped in a Cage

A gentle breeze drifted through the forest, yet it could not disperse the thick white fog.

"..."

After throwing his saber, the man named Wen Changyu had torn open his wound due to the excessive motion. As the wound deepened once more, he silently breathed his last on the spot.

The blood-soaked corpse could now only remain half-kneeling on the grass, its head hanging low.

He did not even know whether the saber he had thrown had hit its target.

However.

His efforts had not been in vain.

He had indeed helped Ling Wuyuan block off one of his opponent's escape routes.

What had originally been expected to land only one or two arrows instead struck three.

One arrow in the right side of the abdomen was a special arrow. It had injured his internal organs, leaving him severely wounded.

One arrow in the left thigh was an ordinary arrow. It had only damaged some flesh and tendons, a minor injury.

One arrow in the left calf was a special arrow. After piercing through the flesh, it struck the calf bone dead on, forcibly lodging itself within. Together with the other injury to his thigh, it had crippled Che Xianwei's ability to move his left leg on the spot.

The remaining dozen or so arrows had all missed, scattering as they embedded themselves in the ground.

Of course.

Though they had failed to hit their target, they had still forcefully sealed off Che Xianwei's movements.

Leaving him no choice but to take those three arrows head-on.

They could not be called entirely futile.

Right now.

The only thing that left Ling Wuyuan somewhat helpless was the saber Wen Changyu had thrown earlier.

The man had originally intended to block off Che Xianwei's escape route.

There was nothing wrong with that, and he had indeed accomplished it.

He had successfully allowed Ling Wuyuan to land at least one more arrow.

But the saber he had thrown had also fallen beside Che Xianwei...

This allowed his originally unarmed opponent to obtain a weapon once again.

Watching Che Xianwei clutch the saber in one hand and glare at him as though he wanted to devour him alive, Ling Wuyuan helplessly examined the special arrow that had struck the man's abdomen.

Whether because his arm strength was insufficient or because his opponent had used some technique to deflect the force midway, the special arrow Ling Wuyuan had fired had forcibly pierced Che Xianwei's abdomen and caused an effective penetrating wound and internal injury. Yet the visible wound was not particularly large, only slightly bigger than a quail egg.

Such an injury would have been completely fatal to an ordinary person.

But it was clearly not enough for Che Xianwei.

By forcefully controlling the muscles around the wound and contracting them, he quickly performed crude hemostasis, preventing large amounts of blood from pouring out of his body.

"Forget it..."

"Since I can't kill him in one blow, I'll just wear him down until he dies..."

With that thought.

Ling Wuyuan calmly let out a long breath.

Then, perfectly at ease, he sat down on the tree branch to rest.

Though he had only fired a dozen or so arrows.

Every one of those arrows had been shot at maximum speed and with maximum force!

Thus, Ling Wuyuan's hands were also slightly numb.

Watching Ling Wuyuan, who no longer had any intention of hiding and had simply sat brazenly on the branch to rest, Che Xianwei's forehead immediately bulged with veins!

He understood that just as he had earlier chosen not to move in for the finishing blow after inflicting sufficiently grave injuries, instead intending to use those existing wounds to drag Wen Changyu to death, Ling Wuyuan now intended to drag him to death in the same way.

At this moment.

Though the injury to his abdomen was not fatal in the short term, that was only in the short term.

With his internal organs already injured, he needed treatment as soon as possible!

Once this dragged on too long.

He would inevitably weaken bit by bit, until he was worn to death by his grievous injuries.

Furthermore.

The injury on his arm was also continuously causing him to lose blood.

The crude bandaging from before had merely slowed the rate of blood loss.

As for the other wounds on his leg and body, they too were exerting their negative effects.

Though they would not endanger his life in the short term, if this went on long enough, they would eventually become the straw that broke the camel's back...

However.

Tragically, even though Che Xianwei knew exactly what Ling Wuyuan was planning, he still had no good solution.

His left leg had now suffered a severe injury. Merely trying to stand was somewhat difficult.

Expecting him to charge up to Ling Wuyuan and swiftly cut him down was completely impossible.

Left with no choice.

Che Xianwei could only try to launch a verbal attack against Ling Wuyuan, attempting to provoke him and lure him into coming close for the finishing blow.

"You little brat, I..."

But did Ling Wuyuan care?

He clearly did not.

Whether in his previous life as an orphan or in this life as both an orphan and a beggar, he had endured more than his share of verbal abuse.

So in his eyes, Che Xianwei's verbal attacks were truly weak and powerless.

He was only barely holding back from laughing out loud.

He could even offer a polite reminder with a smile:

"Curse louder."

"You're too quiet."

The moment those words came out.

Che Xianwei's lungs immediately began to hurt.

Literally, his lungs hurt!

With his internal organs injured.

Even simply speaking now caused his insides to ache unbearably.

Asking him to curse louder was truly asking too much.

Yet Ling Wuyuan's words genuinely enraged him.

It was the feeling of not being taken seriously at all.

It would have been one thing if he had encountered a true expert.

But Ling Wuyuan was merely a brat who had seized the chance to ambush him.

He immediately cursed furiously:

"Just you wait until I catch you. You'll have no good fruit to eat then. I'll skin you alive..."

As he cursed and ranted.

With his emotions growing increasingly agitated, scarlet blood began to spill from his mouth.

Watching all this.

Ling Wuyuan immediately revealed a bright smile.

"Curse!"

"Keep cursing!"

"I'll sit right here and listen!"

Not long afterward.

Faced with the strange sensation of every curse making him hurt more, of his words hurting someone else while the pain landed on himself, Che Xianwei finally could not hold it together. He could no longer curse and could only sit down silently, anxiously considering how to escape the current situation...

Seeing this, Ling Wuyuan put away his smile. His expression returned to its usual calm as he sat quietly on the branch, staring without blinking at his opponent a hundred meters away.

He did not need to know what his opponent wanted to do, nor did he need to know what schemes he was plotting.

He only needed to know one thing.

The advantage was his!

He only needed to slowly wear his opponent down!

Just like that.

Ling Wuyuan stopped speaking.

He merely sat silently on the branch, quietly watching the wounds on Che Xianwei's body continue to bleed slowly yet steadily.

He understood that the continuous loss of blood would not only make Che Xianwei's injuries increasingly severe, but would also gradually bring about weakness, dizziness, vertigo, unconsciousness... and other symptoms.

At this moment, in his eyes.

Though Che Xianwei was far stronger than him, he had already become a beast trapped in a cage.

There was no longer any chance of turning the tables.