Hidden Dragon

Fang Moqi had lost. An arrow had struck the center of his back, and by the rules, he was deemed dead.

The arrow that ended the fight had been made from a tree branch, shaved straight with a sharp tool and sharpened at the tip like a long pencil.

Wood could never pierce a steel plate, so although the arrow had hit the center of his back, it had not broken through his armor and instead bounced to the ground.

But a loss was a loss. Without the steel plate, Fang Moqi would already have died.

Yet even though Fang Moqi had lost, he had no idea how he had lost. Where had that arrow come from?

It had been an utterly unpredictable arrow, inexplicably striking him from behind, yet Lan Mu had clearly been standing in front of him!

Unless someone else had attacked him, how else could an arrow have struck him from behind?

"When? How did you do it?"

Fang Moqi pulled the arrow from beneath his left ribs, quickly treated the wound, then plopped down on the ground and asked expectantly.

Lan Mu walked over with a smile. "Just now. I shot an arrow from the treetop. Don't tell me you didn't know?"

Fang Moqi froze. Of course he knew. It was that twang of the bowstring that had misled him.

It had clearly been the sound of an arrow being released, but he had not seen any arrow. Instead, it drew his attention away and allowed Lan Mu, who had suddenly landed on the ground, to ambush him.

"That was when I fired this first arrow. Then I immediately landed and shot the second from the front. The first arrow misled you, so you couldn't completely dodge the second."

Fang Moqi understood Lan Mu's explanation, but that was impossible!

How had that earlier vanished arrow ended up behind him?

Lan Mu smiled, picked up the wooden arrow from the ground, nocked it on the bowstring, and fired it into the sky.

The arrow flew dozens of meters. Just as it seemed about to embed itself in a tree trunk, it suddenly turned, weaving past layer after layer of branches. It traced a bizarre arc through the air, turned back again, flew behind the two of them, and finally landed in Lan Mu's hand.

The arrow's entire trajectory was enough to leave anyone dumbfounded. It had actually drawn an Ω-shaped path in midair.

"There. Simple, right? I call it the Orbit Arrow. What do you think?"

Fang Moqi could not take in a single word Lan Mu said. He was utterly absorbed in the trajectory he had just witnessed. He had never seen such an unpredictable arrow!

It was fired first but arrived later, making a huge loop through the sky before circling behind the enemy to attack.

An arrow that surreal could actually be shot? That was simply inhuman!

Fang Moqi stared blankly at Lan Mu. His lips moved for a moment, but in the end, he could only say gloomily,

"I concede."

He could only concede. He had practiced archery for over a decade, and before this monster, it was already good enough that his worldview had not completely collapsed.

After that, Lan Mu helped Fang Moqi back. The wound beneath his left ribs was not serious. At the last moment, Lan Mu had immediately slowed the wind-powered arrow. Otherwise, Fang Moqi would have been shot clean through.

If he could make an arrow accelerate, then he could make it decelerate. The elf's talent with the bow was simply too powerful. The more real combat Lan Mu experienced, the more surprises he discovered in using a bow.

On the way back to the river, Fang Moqi asked another question.

"Lan Mu, was that presence in the woods that had been watching me and locking onto me all along... you?"

Lan Mu paused, thought for a moment, then admitted it. "Yes."

Fang Moqi's eyes lit up. "That aura, like some savage beast's... was actually you? Why couldn't I find you?"

"That's because you're too weak, and I hid well." Lan Mu chuckled.

Fang Moqi was speechless. He could not refute that. Though he instinctively felt the answer was unreliable, the fact remained that he had been unable to discover Lan Mu.

"Though I don't know why your stealth suddenly became so powerful, your reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance abilities undoubtedly pass the test as well."

"From a practical combat perspective, you far surpass me. Even Gates is nowhere near your equal. I concede completely and wholeheartedly."

Lan Mu's mystery and strength had conquered Fang Moqi. Lan Mu had defeated him three times in a row, and despite Fang Moqi giving it everything he had, he had not landed a single arrow on Lan Mu. The gap between them was simply too great.

"Lan Mu, are we friends?"

Lan Mu looked at the suddenly serious Fang Moqi and blanked. "Yeah. Didn't I say so?"

Fang Moqi smiled. "Actually, aside from my own wishes, someone also asked me to test your strength. That's why I proposed settling things this way."

Lan Mu's eyes widened. "Someone asked you? Who?"

"Shen Qing Tang. He is the head of Group 93 at the Hidden Dragon Base. Publicly, he is an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but in reality, he belongs to the Hidden Dragon Base and is responsible for investigating and exploring certain unusual regions," Fang Moqi said seriously.

Lan Mu stared at him for a long while before finally speaking. "The state has its eye on me?"

Fang Moqi froze. "That's not what I mean. The country's higher-ups have far too much on their plates. Why would they have time to keep an eye on you?"

He explained, "So you really haven't heard of Hidden Dragon. It's a top-secret organization that reports directly to ******. I don't know exactly what it does, because I'm not an official member of Hidden Dragon. I'm just a temp."

"Because I'm the best hunter in the country, Shen Qing Tang often asks me to assist them. Basically, we investigate some mysterious places and work on scientific research projects."

Lan Mu relaxed. "So it's just a secret state research organization?"

"No. As far as I know, investigation and exploration are only Group 93's duties. Hidden Dragon also has Groups 91, 92, 94, and 95, each responsible for different tasks. But I don't know the details."

Lan Mu blinked. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Professor Shen, meaning Shen Qing Tang, learned about you after you defeated me the first two times. He wanted me to assess your combat ability. If you were suitable, he wanted to make contact with you... He probably wants you to become a temp like me."

Lan Mu fell silent. He instinctively resisted the idea. It felt as if they were trying to recruit him as some kind of agent.

Seeing that he was silent, Fang Moqi continued, "It's fine if you don't join. When the time comes, just make a trip to E Province with me. We're gathering on the third of next month to head into Shennongjia. Professor Shen can meet you or something. If you don't want to, then forget it."

Lan Mu asked, "It's not mandatory?"

"Mandatory? You're neither their employee nor a state official. What right do they have to force you? You're under no obligation to meet him."

"Huh? Weren't you sent by that Professor Shen? Why are you saying that?"

Fang Moqi smiled. "Originally, I planned to find a way to bring you there. But now you're my friend, so they can go to hell! I'm just a temp anyway. What, is he going to fire me? It's not like I make a living from this."

Lan Mu laughed. "You were so serious at first, I thought they were coming to arrest me."

"Why would they arrest you? You haven't broken the law. Oh, right. If you do go, there's something I need to tell you first."

"What?"

"The method you use to control arrows... is that internal energy?"

Lan Mu gave a surprised sound. Internal energy? The kind from martial arts novels?

"Uh... why would you ask that?"

Fang Moqi raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me it's just pure archery. I don't believe any archery technique can produce movements that absurd. Do you have superpowers? Yeah, right!"

Lan Mu hurriedly said, "I don't have superpowers... Well, it's internal energy! There's a kind of energy inside me. You can call it internal energy."

Fang Moqi's eyes lit up. "So it really is internal energy? What exactly can it do?"

I've already revealed such shocking archery. Since he thinks it's internal energy, I might as well let him keep misunderstanding.

Lan Mu leaped onto a tree. His feet stood vertically against the surface of the trunk, his body parallel to the ground, as though he were defying gravity.

"Well, it has a few minor functions. There's also this..."

Lan Mu jumped down, wrapped his hand in Natural Power, and rummaged through the mud. When he pulled it out, it was spotless.

"There. Nothing too useful."

Fang Moqi cried out in shock, "And that's not useful? Is your speed also granted by internal energy?"

"Yes." Lan Mu admitted it. Then his hand became a blur as he swiftly drew an arrow from Fang Moqi's quiver and fired it in less than a second.

Fang Moqi nodded. "How exactly did you train yourself to do that?"

How would I know? I can only make something up.

"Uh... I just trained that way. Didn't Shaolin Temple release their Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic? I practiced according to it, and this was the result."

"Are you fucking kidding me? It's that simple?" Fang Moqi nearly spat blood.

Lan Mu did not know what this world was really like. Now that a top-secret organization like Hidden Dragon had appeared, who knew whether supernatural existences existed as well?

Since there were Superpowered Individuals like him, perhaps there were other Superpowered Individuals in the world.

Besides, from Fang Moqi's reaction, internal energy did not seem fictional. Could there really be martial arts masters?

With too little information, Lan Mu could only probe cautiously. "Brother Fang, how many people in Hidden Dragon can use internal energy? I haven't practiced it for long, so I'd like some pointers."

Fang Moqi's eyes went wide. "How many? Not one! Forget Hidden Dragon—there isn't a single one in the whole world!"

Lan Mu stared. "Really?"

"Of course! Internal energy disappeared centuries ago. It's the stuff of legend, and you, kid, are now the only living legend!"

Lan Mu nodded. He had not expected internal energy to have vanished for so long. If he had just admitted to possessing it, did that not make him the only person in the world able to use internal energy in centuries?

He had wanted to use internal energy to conceal his superpowers, but internal energy was even rarer!

"Damn... Brother Fang, you have to keep this secret for me."

Fang Moqi smiled. "Too late. Professor Shen suspected you had internal energy long ago. The main reason he wants to meet you is to see you, this 'giant panda.'"

Lan Mu frowned. "I can choose not to go!"

Fang Moqi smiled. "Sure, don't go if you don't want to. But Professor Shen and the others are all research maniacs. If you keep hiding it, you'll only make them more likely to fixate on you."

"..." Lan Mu looked at Fang Moqi. "Why do I feel like you're still forcing me to go?"

Fang Moqi said, "Internal energy may be rare, but it can no longer be widely practiced. You might be a special case. At most, they want to understand internal energy through you. After all, it's only a legend. They need a real reference to truly understand it."

"Of course, no one can force you. You cultivated internal energy through your own ability. You haven't harmed society, and you haven't harmed the country..."

Lan Mu's brows knitted tightly. What he hated most were research maniacs like that.

Suddenly, Fang Moqi burst into laughter and pointed at Lan Mu mockingly. "You're way too timid. Stop panicking, I'll take care of this for you."

"It's simple. I can just tell them you don't have internal energy. We only need to conceal the Orbit Arrow. Internal energy has been gone for centuries, so they only suspect you might be an exception."

"Oh? You scared me. Then let's do that." Lan Mu punched Fang Moqi.

Finally, Fang Moqi said, "But it'll be hard to hide the fact that you beat me in actual combat. If you're willing, become a temp. It counts as serving the people. If you refuse to go, then someone from the National Security Bureau will contact you eventually. You're too powerful, and you aren't registered with the Hunter Association, so you count as a potential social threat."

"Huh? I'll... think about it."

Lan Mu thought about it. The third of next month would probably be after his third transformation, and he would still be within the forced transformation period.

The transformation target was random. Who knew what sort of monster he would become?

"But I won't have time. Once I return to Malaysia this time, I'll be leaving again in four days. You can head back first."

Fang Moqi froze. "Why? You're not returning to China with us?"

"No, unless you can wait seven days for me. I have something to do that will take seven days."

Fang Moqi said, "Today is the twenty-third. Four days from now is the twenty-seventh, and seven more days after that is exactly the third!"

"Fine! I'll wait for you, then we'll return to China together!"

Lan Mu said, "But aren't you going to E Province on the third?"

"We're gathering on the third. We probably won't officially enter Shennongjia until the fourth or fifth. If we make it in time, it's fine for me to arrive late."

"But the third is the latest. I have to return to China by dawn on the fourth."

Lan Mu could only say, "All right."

"Let's agree on a place. If I make it back in time, I'll go to Shennongjia with you."