Deep in the Mountains, Striking from the Shadows (Please Keep Reading, Please Keep Reading)

Zhao Ya did not take the main road. Instead, he left the city by an extremely secret route.

Zhao Ya knew at least three such routes, all of which he had secretly explored himself. They were meant to ensure he could swiftly evacuate the city if anything ever went wrong within it.

By the time Zhao Ya climbed out through an inconspicuous gap in the city wall, the sun had already risen high.

Dancing Elephant City was surrounded by mountains, and not far away stood the enormous Wild Elephant Mountain. Wild beasts roamed within it, and powerful mutated beasts appeared from time to time. Other than professional hunters, few people dared to venture deep inside.

Zhao Ya did not dare barge in recklessly either. He first scouted around the outskirts, set up concealed markers for his return route, then organized his pack, covered his face with a cloth, and slowly made his way inward.

At first, there was still a path, but as he went deeper, the vegetation grew increasingly thick. In the end, the path vanished completely.

Zhao Ya drew his short blade and hacked through the grass and brambles before him, painstakingly carving out a route.

He had known hunting would be difficult, but he had not expected it to be this hard.

After walking for so long, Zhao Ya had encountered nothing but one unlucky wild rabbit.

Still, Zhao Ya was not discouraged.

He had never imagined that his first hunting trip would yield a full haul. This time, he was mainly here to scout the terrain and familiarize himself with the environment.

Zhao Ya continued on for more than two hours, only truly entering the depths of Wild Elephant Mountain near noon.

The area was filled with vast stretches of primeval forest. A moment of carelessness could easily leave one hopelessly lost.

Zhao Ya became even more cautious, leaving concealed markers every so often as he walked.

There were more wild animals here, but most of them took the initiative to avoid Zhao Ya.

To these animals, the vigorous vitality emanating from Zhao Ya and the short blade in his hand both spelled danger. Naturally, they kept far away.

Zhao Ya was in no hurry to chase them. Instead, he occasionally took out a notebook and wrote something in it.

His lunch consisted of a strip of dried earthworm meat and water. After eating, Zhao Ya planned to go a little farther before heading home.

Otherwise, he would not be able to leave Wild Elephant Mountain before the sun set.

Even though Zhao Ya was already a Second Realm martial artist, he had no desire to spend the night in this wilderness. It was simply too dangerous.

As he walked, Zhao Ya suddenly stopped. He had noticed signs that the vegetation ahead had been trampled.

The tracks were fresh, and several drops of blood were mixed in with them.

Zhao Ya immediately went on guard.

It looked like tracks left behind by hunters chasing prey. Along the way, Zhao Ya had encountered hunters entering the mountains before, but he had always kept well away from them.

After all, deep in these mountains, no one could guarantee whether another person was good or evil.

Especially since these hunters traveled in groups of three or five and possessed extensive experience in the wild.

He was alone. If they ran into each other and the other side harbored ill intentions, it would be troublesome.

Still, this was already deep inside Wild Elephant Mountain. Zhao Ya had not expected to encounter hunters here, and he could not help following the tracks.

He wanted to see what sort of prey in these deep mountains was worth taking such risks for, so he could be prepared next time.

After following the trail for over a mile, the tracks became increasingly obvious, but Zhao Ya's expression abruptly changed.

He could vaguely hear the sounds of fighting ahead.

Zhao Ya immediately used his lightness skill and rushed toward the source of the noise.

Several hundred meters away, behind a huge boulder, three men were besieging another man. A massive deer lay on the ground nearby.

All of them were dressed as hunters. The besieged man was already wounded, but the mountain-cleaving saber in his hand showed no weakness at all. It even forced the three men back again and again.

Seeing this, the three simply stopped attacking and switched to a strategy of wearing him down.

They knew that as time passed, the hunter's injuries would worsen. Once that happened, dealing with him would take no effort.

What was more, as they circled and harassed him, the three men kept verbally provoking their opponent.

" Niu Yuan, I advise you to save your strength. Surrender now and hand over that giant deer. We can spare your life."

"That's right. Keep this up and you'll definitely die. Is a giant deer really worth all this?"

The besieged man's face turned livid, his eyes brimming with fury.

"Bullshit! I spent days of effort to finally hunt this giant deer. Why should I hand it over to you?"

"And even if I did, you still wouldn't let me go. Deng Daqiang, we both make our living as hunters. Do you really think I'm a three-year-old child?"

Deng Daqiang chuckled. "Good that you know. Blame yourself for being too greedy, trying to keep this giant deer all to yourself. You can't blame us brothers for being ruthless."

As he spoke, the three continued circling him, never giving Niu Yuan any chance to get close.

Niu Yuan's heart gradually sank.

He could feel his strength steadily draining away with every passing moment.

The wound on his back continued to bleed as well. If this went on, the three of them would wear him to death sooner or later.

Yet Niu Yuan had no solution.

Deep in these ancient mountains and forests, force was the foundation for settling everything.

He could only blame himself for being careless and allowing Deng Daqiang and the other two to ambush him successfully. Otherwise, what could the three of them possibly have done to him?

Niu Yuan gradually sank into despair. Suddenly, he stumbled, and the mountain-cleaving saber nearly slipped from his hand.

Deng Daqiang's eyes lit up at the sight. He immediately seized the opportunity, charged forward, and raised his blade to chop down.

Niu Yuan's heart filled with despair as he prepared to die.

Just then, a sharp whoosh rang out. An arrow shot through the air and buried itself in Deng Daqiang's throat.

Deng Daqiang's eyes widened, as if he could not believe what had happened.

At the same time, a figure sprang out from behind the boulder like a fierce tiger.

The remaining two were thrown into panic by the sudden change. They only thought of fighting back after the figure had already closed in.

But it was too late. Two flashes of blade light swept past, and their heads flew into the air.

Their corpses collapsed to the ground.

All of this happened in the span of a few breaths.

Niu Yuan was stunned as well.

Zhao Ya calmly removed the sleeve arrow embedded in Deng Daqiang's throat and put it back into his pouch before turning to look at Niu Yuan.

"You're a hunter from these mountains?"

Only then did Niu Yuan come to his senses and hurriedly nodded. "Y-Yes!"

Then he looked at Zhao Ya with some fear, having no idea what this suddenly appearing martial artist wanted.

In truth, Zhao Ya had watched everything that had happened from behind the boulder.

The reason he had intervened was naturally not to uphold justice. He had simply suddenly felt that Niu Yuan was a very suitable candidate.

After all, anyone capable of catching a giant deer that had clearly mutated in these deep mountains and forests must possess exceptional hunting skills.

And that was precisely what Zhao Ya lacked most.

Thanks to Black Cloud Daoist for the 100 book coin tip, and Qing Yuhuan for the 100 book coin tip.