A new week has begun. Er Gen begs everyone for recommendation votes!!! Let's see how high we can climb this week!!! Fellow cultivators, recommendation votes are extremely important to Er Gen. Please, I beg you!!
The saying "Strike while the iron is hot; once the first rush passes, the second falters, and the third dies out" was exactly right. Su Ming had followed Grandpa since he was little. He had read the many books written on beast hide at Grandpa's place countless times, and there was a great deal of wisdom in them that fascinated him.
This wisdom left behind by those who came before had seeped into Su Ming's mind over time, little by little. It had always lain there like something asleep, never waking. But now, as he pursued his prey after killing for the first time, he was slowly awakening that latent wisdom, piece by piece.
Yu Chi was feeling terribly anxious. He had thought there was no way to escape, and had finally steeled himself to turn back and fight his opponent to the death. But when he saw the distance between them widen again, his resolve had quietly died. Then, when he once more saw the boy's bloodshot eyes, the same thing happened.
After several rounds of this, he no longer had the determination to throw caution to the wind. It was difficult to muster that feeling again.
In Su Ming's eyes, the Black Mountain Tribe Barbarian Warrior ahead of him was merely his prey—a frightened animal. As long as he let his opponent believe there was still hope, he could slowly kill him.
That was the method Su Ming used. As he pursued Yu Chi, he gradually wore away the man's confidence and courage. As the chase continued, Su Ming even deliberately let the distance between them grow from time to time, giving his opponent a moment of relief amid the unbearable tension.
Su Ming vaguely remembered reading in one of the books on beast hide that once tension eased after being sustained for a long time, exhaustion and pain would surge out of hiding and spread many times over. That feeling was enough to drown a living creature.
Before, Su Ming had only understood these things in theory. But now, amid the pursuit, that understanding was gradually becoming instinct. He no longer needed to do it on purpose; the effect he wanted came naturally.
For Su Ming, today was the first time he had killed someone, the first time he had hunted another person, and the first invisible transformation of his life. Unfortunately, Yu Chi was the only one who could personally experience the process of that transformation.
Yu Chi felt it all too keenly, though he had no idea what was causing it. He only felt that his confidence and courage had diminished somewhat after witnessing the bizarre scene of the killing. But as he was hunted, they gradually disappeared altogether.
Without realizing it, he had even stopped thinking about turning back and fighting to the death. Though his opponent seemed to be at the second layer of Blood Condensation too, Yu Chi simply felt that if he turned back, he would certainly die, whereas if he kept fleeing, there was still a chance of survival.
What he failed to notice was that his exhaustion was growing without his awareness. In particular, whenever he realized the boy behind him had vanished from sight, the fatigue nearly made his legs buckle, leaving him teetering on the verge of collapse. Yet he could not rest. He could only grit his teeth and press on.
But not long afterward, when his pursuer appeared again at the edge of his vision, the strain became an even greater exhaustion. Yu Chi felt as if he were about to go mad.
"Evil Barbarian!! He must be an Evil Barbarian!!" Yu Chi was trembling with fear. As he fled, a fork in the road appeared ahead. The left path led deep into the forest, away from Black Flame Peak. The right path wound around Black Flame Peak and led toward the Black Mountain Tribe.
Su Ming had known about this fork for a long time. His eyes flashed. Though exhausted, he suddenly burst into speed—not to pursue Yu Chi directly, but to weave through the trees toward the road on the right.
He seemed certain that Yu Chi would take the right-hand path, so he headed there in advance to close the distance between them. As he leaped forward, Su Ming took out his bow and fired several arrows toward the fork on the right. In the space of a few breaths, each arrow struck a tree along the road, piercing deep into the wood, their tails vibrating with a humming sound.
That humming seemed to carry some strange power. It reached Yu Chi's ears and made him hesitate for a brief moment.
As Su Ming pursued him again, drawing his bow to its full length, Yu Chi let out a roar and was about to turn right. But Su Ming's speed increased once more, giving Yu Chi the wrong impression.
He thought that if he kept fleeing to the right, his pursuer would catch up at once. If he went left instead, the boy's mistaken judgment would let him put more distance between them.
The humming still rang in his ears. Gritting his teeth, Yu Chi suddenly turned and changed direction, racing to the left. He was incredibly fast and disappeared into the forest in an instant.
Su Ming's eyes flashed. A cold, murderous look surfaced through his exhaustion, and the corners of his mouth curled into a sneer.
He leaped into motion, swiftly retrieving the arrows from the tree trunks before continuing after the Black Mountain Tribe man.
"If you control the direction your enemy flees, you can control his body." Su Ming murmured. He remembered reading that sentence in one of the books on beast hide. Before, he had only understood it vaguely, but now he suddenly understood.
As the chase continued, time slipped by. Before long, it was deep night. The bright moon hung high above, its light shining on the snow and reflecting a pale glow. Even in the darkness, the forest was clearly lit with silvery light.
During the pursuit, Su Ming had already changed Yu Chi's direction three times. Little by little, he had indirectly controlled the man's movements, making him go where Su Ming wanted him to go.
Su Ming touched the bundle in his arms. His bloodshot, exhausted eyes softened. Little Monkey lay unconscious against his chest. Earlier, when Su Ming had made Yu Chi change direction, the man had thrown Little Monkey toward another path, hoping to widen the distance between them even more.
The move had indeed worked. Su Ming had raced straight toward Little Monkey, allowing Yu Chi to breathe a sigh of relief, and the man had moved even faster.
But it wasn't long before Yu Chi noticed another volley of arrows whistling toward him from behind. He was nearly driven mad.
Night had fully fallen. Stars glittered high in the sky, blinking like countless eyes watching the pursuit unfolding in the forest below.
Yu Chi was utterly exhausted. His steps faltered. The state of his body was secondary; what mattered most was that his heart had become a mass of countless wounds, filling him with endless regret. He regretted finding that little hole. He regretted chasing the Fire Ape. Otherwise, none of this would have happened.
Ahead of him lay a forest crowded with weeds and shrubs. Though it was winter, the undergrowth still seemed to stretch too thickly to see into its depths. Yu Chi stepped into it without a second thought. Before long, Su Ming appeared outside the forest.
He stood there, breathing hard, great clouds of white mist spilling from his mouth. But his eyes were filled with cold intent. He did not continue the pursuit. Instead, he waited silently where he was.
"This is the place I've chosen for you to be buried. If, in your current state of exhaustion, you can still walk out of here, then you'll have been lucky." Once his breathing had steadied somewhat, Su Ming murmured to himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, a piercing scream suddenly rose from the silent forest. It echoed through the night, chilling anyone who heard it.
A moment later, the scream gradually faded, becoming a faint moan.
Su Ming silently walked forward and slowly entered the forest. He proceeded with great care, checking his surroundings every few steps. Sometimes he backed away, sometimes he circled around, and sometimes he leaped straight over an obstacle.
This was an area where the Wu Mountain Tribe's hunting party had set traps to catch wild beasts. Countless traps lay within the forest, and no other tribe could possibly know about them.
Even Su Ming only knew some of the traps in general. There were others he knew nothing about.
If Yu Chi had been at full strength, he might have made it out alive. But in his current condition, stepping in here was the same as stepping into the Yellow Springs.
Su Ming cautiously made his way forward, while the moaning in the distance grew fainter. As he continued, he saw Yu Chi ahead, suspended in the air and pinned against a tree by a row of massive trees, each as thick as a man and sharpened to a point like the teeth of a rake.
His whole body was drenched in blood, yet he had not died. He trembled, letting out a faint groan.
Su Ming silently walked up to him and stood beside him, looking at the man. After a long while, he took out the Bone Horn and slit Yu Chi's throat.
Yu Chi's body struggled violently several times before he died. His eyes, fixed on Su Ming until his final breath, were filled with boundless hatred.
Su Ming said nothing. He cut the trap's rope, rummaged through Yu Chi's corpse for a few odds and ends, then took out the little Blood Powder fragments he had left. He turned the body into bones, which crumbled into ash at a touch.
Without a word, Su Ming turned and walked out of the forest. Outside, he looked up at the bright moon, confusion filling his eyes. This was the second time he had killed someone. He could not say what he felt—nervous, uneasy, lost...
After a long while, he let out a sigh. Though the Black Mountain Tribe and his own Wu Mountain Tribe had descended from the same people, over countless years they had become sworn enemies. If either tribe grew powerful, the other would be in danger of being wiped out. All the men would be slaughtered, and only the women would be taken captive to bear children for the victorious tribe.
Fortunately, that had never happened. For many years, the Grandpas of both sides had remained at the same level of cultivation, and neither would easily start a major war.
Su Ming took a deep breath. Exhaustion washed over him. Dragging his nearly unconscious body, he gritted his teeth and headed into the distance...
Time slowly passed. After dawn, as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon, Su Ming returned to the Powder Refining site on Black Flame Peak. His face was sallow. He crawled through the opening and emerged in the Fire Lava Cave, then collapsed beside it and passed out.
;
Before you continue