Killing

"According to what you've told me, we're still three days away from that place. But without a map, it's hard to know for sure."

In front of Perkin, Mr. York and the guide estimated their current location.

"I understand. Then let's rest for today. Mr. York, could you find us some food? Most of our supplies are still on the ship, and we didn't bring much with us."

Mr. York knew the situation they were in. It was almost dark, and he was the only one who could safely find food in this jungle.

So he agreed without hesitation. "Sure. I'll head out and find us some food. Lai, you're in charge of starting the fire. Don't make it too big—the jungle's dangerous. Also, figure out who'll stand watch tonight. I need to stay fresh, so I can't take a shift."

The others were all taken aback by Mr. York's demands. In the end, Perkin spoke up. "That's reasonable. Lloyd, get some rest soon and take the second half of the night."

Lloyd didn't quite understand why Perkin had arranged things that way, but he readily agreed.

The others understood that it wouldn't make sense to have Mr. York find food and then stand watch, so they quickly sat down to rest. They needed to conserve their strength to keep watch properly once he returned.

After pointing out some good places for everyone to rest, Mr. York headed into the jungle.

This jungle wasn't quite like the ones he knew, but his skills still served him well here.

Before long, he found traces left by several small animals, along with some edible plants.

Mr. York wanted to catch a small animal to bring back. A rabbit or any other edible creature would do. They needed to restore their strength, and fruit alone wouldn't be enough.

After searching the jungle for a while, Mr. York spotted a small hollow in a tree nearby. It was a squirrel's nest.

His eyes lit up. Squirrels might be small, but they were a good source of meat. And if you blocked off the nest, catching one was easy enough.

More importantly, squirrels collected nuts, so finding a nest often meant finding a large supply of edible nuts.

Mr. York glanced around, then clamped the dagger he'd brought with him between his teeth and quickly climbed the tree.

Just as he reached out to feel around inside the nest, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Something shot out of the hollow and pierced his hand.

It didn't feel like a squirrel bite at all. It felt more like a sharp piece of metal.

Mr. York reacted instantly, yanking his hand back and preparing to jump down.

At that moment, something whooshed behind him, slamming toward the back of his head.

Mr. York showed just how capable he was. He whipped his hand around and thrust the dagger behind him.

But he hit nothing. Instead, something struck the back of his head.

The blow was powerful, but there was no follow-up attack.

Mr. York looked down and saw that what had hit him was a broken branch. It had struck with enough force to draw blood.

Seeing this, he realized he'd been ambushed, though he had no idea who was behind it.

He didn't waste time thinking. He turned and ran in the direction he'd come from. He was a fair distance from the others, and no one would come to save him even if he screamed himself hoarse.

If he wanted to survive, he had to make it back to the group.

But after only a few steps, he felt something tighten around his foot. A vine rope had caught him and hoisted him into the air.

Mr. York bent forward, forcing his upper body upright, and easily slashed at the vine with his dagger.

But the moment Mr. York bent forward, Liu Zhi sprang from his hiding place in the tree.

He moved with the effortless precision of someone leaping between ship's masts.

Liu Zhi appeared out of nowhere and planted a kick right in Mr. York's face.

With Liu Zhi's weight and the force of his downward momentum, the kick drove Mr. York's head down hard.

Liu Zhi landed and didn't pause. He brought the wooden club in his hand down hard on Mr. York's dagger arm.

He put all his strength into the blow. After all his training and system enhancements, Liu Zhi's strength had reached 3.2, matching his mental strength. Both were far beyond normal human levels.

The blow landed with a crack. Mr. York's hand twisted at an unnatural angle, and the dagger fell to the ground.

Only then did Mr. York see Liu Zhi. He stared at him, baffled.

"You... how are you here? Weren't you eaten by—"

"By the giant snake? You think you're the only jungle survival expert?" Liu Zhi gave a disdainful smile. "In this jungle, you can do just fine if you're willing to give some things up. And right now, you're going to give up your life."

Keeping his eyes on Mr. York, Liu Zhi kicked the fallen dagger into the air.

The moment he caught it, Liu Zhi flicked his right hand. A flash of steel, and the dagger sliced easily across Mr. York's throat.

Seeing the disbelief on Mr. York's face, Liu Zhi said coolly, "Sorry, I'm not in the habit of explaining myself."

He put the dagger away and silently watched the light of life fade from Mr. York's eyes. Then he grabbed a handful of dirt and wiped all the blood from his hands.

They were in the jungle, where even the slightest scent of blood could attract trouble. That was true even for Liu Zhi, an expert at surviving in the jungle.

The more skilled you were, the more you understood the need to be careful with the little things.

Just as Liu Zhi was about to leave, he noticed something and stopped to glance back at Mr. York's still upside-down corpse.

'+33'

[Valuable soul detected (white). Would you like to collect or absorb it?]

Liu Zhi noticed that when he looked away from Mr. York's corpse, the prompt disappeared. When he looked back, it appeared again.

He thought for a moment, then opened the descriptions for collecting and absorbing.

[Collect soul: Gain 1 standard unit of soul. Level 1 ghost creation success rate +37.5%, level 1 skeleton creation success rate +22.7%, level 1 zombie creation success rate +1.22%]

[Absorb soul: Jungle Survival Knowledge experience +3176, Toxicity Knowledge experience +2199]