Strategic Retreat

Whoosh~

An arrow shot out.

It pierced a pheasant just as it was about to take flight. The bird fluttered twice, then dropped stiffly to the ground.

"Tsk, tsk. Junior Brother really does have some skill."

"Senior Sister, if I didn't have a little skill, how would I dare take this job?"

Li Yun and Yu Qingqing emerged from behind the tree, one after the other.

This hunt was to see whose prey would be worth more in the end.

But keeping himself in second place was proving rather difficult.

They had no way to share information in real time. Who knew how much Miss Huang, in first place, could hunt?

Yu Qingqing's solution was this:

They would hunt as much as they could. At the end, she would go ahead and check everyone else's catch.

Then she would signal Li Yun, who would be trailing behind, so he could bring in precisely the right number.

Fists, power, and money really were wonderful things.

Say the right thing, and someone would naturally find a way to make you happy.

They put the pheasant away, then plunged back into the woods to continue hunting.

Yu Qingqing had promised that she would pay him for however much prey they caught.

So Li Yun held nothing back, making the best possible use of the "ancestral" knowledge in his head.

At this time of year, if they managed to bring down a wild boar, the outcome would be obvious.

But that would make it hard to control their ranking.

Li Yun left the problem for Yu Qingqing to solve herself.

"Senior Sister, this is the wild boars' breeding season.

"The males will be active more often as they compete for mates.

"I'd like to look around the pine grove.

"But if we really do manage to bring down a wild boar, then the result..."

Yu Qingqing pondered Li Yun's words for a while.

She didn't dismiss the idea. Instead, she recalled Huang Shengnan's behavior earlier.

"Fine, let's hunt wild boars.

"I don't think Miss Huang really cares about winning or losing.

"Perhaps winning would even have a better effect."

Having made up their minds, the two turned around and headed toward the pine grove.

Wild boars lived outdoors for long stretches, and their hides became infested with parasites, making them unbearably itchy.

So they often rubbed against trees to relieve the itch.

When pine trees got rubbed, they oozed sap.

That was resin.

The resin stuck to the wild boars' hides, and over time, it formed a kind of "armor."

It kept mosquitoes and other insects from biting them, and also strengthened their defenses.

Finally, rubbing against trees let them mark their territory with their scent.

So in places where wild boars were rampant, if there was a pine grove nearby,

then there was a good chance of running into wild boars.

Sure enough, it didn't take them long.

The two spotted a pair of wild boars in the pine grove.

Yu Qingqing took one look and seemed a little uncomfortable. She muttered a curse under her breath.

Li Yun wondered what was wrong, then realized it was only two wild boars getting affectionate.

What was there to make such a fuss about?

He took the Bull Bow in his left hand and an arrow from his quiver with his right. He nocked the arrow, raised the bow, drew the string, took aim, and fired.

The whole sequence flowed seamlessly.

Whoosh~

The arrow punched straight through the male boar's thick neck. Warm blood beads clung to the arrowhead as it kept flying, slamming into the nearby pine tree. The shaft continued to vibrate with a buzzing hum.

That had only been the Bull Bow drawn to "Half Moon."

Even with the bowstring curved only halfway, it had this much power.

If he drew the bowstring all the way to "Full Moon," its power would be...

Just thinking about it made Li Yun's heart race.

"If only I could get one someday..."

Once he had the money, he would definitely buy one.

Who knew what might happen in the future? This bow might become one of his hidden cards.

"Junior Brother, shoot!"

"Huh?"

Li Yun froze.

It turned out that after his arrow killed the boar, he had stopped.

The sow had noticed them, but instead of running away, she grunted at the two of them.

Her heavy snorts kicked up flecks of mud from the ground. Her small eyes were bloodshot, and she dug at the ground with all four hooves, bracing to charge.

Li Yun nocked another arrow and fired.

The sow gave a muffled grunt. Her front legs buckled, and she crashed to the ground.

"Wow, Junior Brother, you're amazing!

"Now let's see what that shameless flirt has to compete with me!"

Seeing the two wild boars fall, Yu Qingqing was thrilled. She raised her clenched fist and punched the air.

Clearly, the chance to get one over on Lin Biling was something worth celebrating for her.

"Senior Sister, it's still early. Shall we keep going?"

They had only been in the mountains for a short while, and there was still plenty of time before the hour of Shen.

Since they were already here, Li Yun wanted to hunt a little longer, but he still had to listen to their employer.

Yu Qingqing shook her head. She had no intention of continuing the hunt.

She hadn't forgotten the reason they'd come this time.

"Forget it.

"Two wild boars are already plenty.

"Miss Huang might not care about winning, but if she loses by that much, it won't look good for her.

"One of us can carry a boar. Let's head down."

"All right."

The two walked over.

Li Yun bent down, grabbed the sow by the hindquarters, and lowered his back. He levered the black carcass up with his arm and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

The wild sow weighed three or four hundred pounds, but it wasn't especially heavy to carry.

As for the wild boar, which must have weighed six or seven hundred pounds, that naturally went to Yu Qingqing.

She wasn't some frail woman. Her bones and muscles rang as one, and she was a Bright Force martial artist capable of nine resonant cracks.

She was only a hair's breadth from Dark Force.

This much weight was nothing to her.

The two slowly made their way down the mountain. When they reached halfway down,

they suddenly heard the faint sounds of fighting in the distance.

Li Yun frowned to himself. He didn't want to get involved in someone else's business.

But before he could say anything, Yu Qingqing had already dropped the boar and hurried toward the sounds.

"That direction is very likely where Miss Huang is.

"If something happens to her, the consequences will be serious.

"Junior Brother, hurry down the mountain and tell her servants to go back to the city for help."

Before she could finish speaking, Yu Qingqing was already nothing but a figure in the distance.

Li Yun hadn't even had a chance to get a word in.

Yu Qingqing had told him on the way here that Huang Shengnan's guard was a skilled Dark Force martial artist.

If the enemy was weak, fine; they could go over and claim credit for rescuing her.

But if things had gotten noisy, didn't that mean the enemy wasn't weak?

Rushing over now would be like the calabash brothers lining up to get eaten.

If they really had to go, they should switch places.

Li Yun could at least use his bow to harass the enemy.

"Big breasts, no brains."

Li Yun hesitated for a moment, then followed after her anyway.

If Yu Qingqing hadn't been there, he wouldn't have bothered taking a look.

And even then, he would only assess the situation from a distance.

Then he would decide what to do.

If he could help, he could shoot a few arrows from hiding. If the enemy was too strong, he'd have no choice but to make a strategic retreat and go down the mountain for help.

He glanced around. Seeing no one, he immediately put both wild boars into his storage space.

Then he pushed off the ground with his toes and gave chase.

By the time Li Yun arrived and hid behind a tree, the situation looked grim.

Huang Shengnan and Lin Biling were sprawled on the ground, their limbs twitching uncontrollably from side to side.

Their hair was disheveled, their normally fair skin flushed an unnatural red, and their lips parted as they panted heavily. It was obvious something was wrong.

Huang Shengnan's guard and Yu Qingqing were working together to fight a muscular man armed with a saber.

He wore Leng Yifeng's clothes, but he no longer had the same face.

The man had sharply arched brows, bright eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. He stood about eight feet tall.

"Hm?"

Li Yun tightened his grip on the Bull Bow. His gaze fixed on the man's face, and his heart gave a sudden jolt.

There was something strangely familiar about that face.

Li Yun instinctively felt that something was odd.

Had I seen him somewhere before?