Eating Snake Meat Soup

Cang Mountain.

Gu Sheng advanced cautiously.

Although he had entered the mountain more than ten times and was very familiar with the surroundings, this time was different. It was the first time he had entered the mountain alone, so Gu Sheng was extremely careful.

Without teammates to remind and alert him, he had to pay attention to everything himself. Gu Sheng's nerves were stretched taut, and he dared not relax even a little.

In the forest, the sounds of insects chirped one after another.

Occasionally, the wind brushed past, intertwining with leaves and dry branches, making noises.

Gu Sheng slowly became accustomed to it all.

For his first solo mountain expedition, Gu Sheng did not choose to venture too deep.

Everything had a process, and Gu Sheng needed to get used to this transition step by step.

"This time, I'll just get familiar with the outer areas slowly. If I can catch some wild rabbits or pheasants, that would be great, but it's okay even if I don't get anything."

Gu Sheng was prepared for the possibility of returning with nothing.

He held a bow in his left hand and a cleaver in his right, hacking through the weeds and bushes in front of him. Slowly, he began to feel like a fish in water.

Compared to entering the mountain with others.

Gu Sheng felt more at ease now, not needing to deliberately hide his strength.

If danger approached, he could unleash his power at any moment.

Rustle rustle—

Gu Sheng's ears twitched violently as he heard a faint movement – the sound of a small animal running quickly and brushing against the undergrowth. After hunting for more than two months, Gu Sheng was no stranger to such sounds.

However, the sound was coming from a distance, about fifty meters away.

Gu Sheng's eyes lit up.

If it were an ordinary hunter, they would have to give up when encountering such prey, but he didn't have to.

Gu Sheng suddenly accelerated.

He agilely weaved through the jungle, moving towards the prey.

At the same time, the prey seemed to sense the danger and also began to flee, widening the distance.

Others would probably have to give up, but Gu Sheng had the qualification to continue the pursuit.

He continued to speed up.

Suddenly.

His vision cleared, and he entered an open space. Eighty meters ahead, a plump wild rabbit's figure immediately caught his eye, just about to dart into the next patch of jungle.

At this distance, any ordinary hunter, even Gu Erniu, could only sigh in frustration and choose to give up.

But Gu Sheng's archery had reached perfection, and he had further improved its proficiency by 30% in the past month. Even a wild rabbit a hundred meters away could be hit with ease!

Gu Sheng focused his gaze, his eyes sharp.

The fleeing rabbit's form kept enlarging in his eyes, like a drum, like a winnowing basket. Its movements even seemed to slow down.

He planted his cleaver on the ground, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow, his aim locked onto the rabbit. The entire sequence was fluid and seamless.

Whoosh!!

A sharp whistling sound pierced the air. The perfected archery, combined with Gu Erniu's hunting bow, complemented each other perfectly, greatly increasing its power. The arrow was astonishingly fast, its flight unseen.

The eighty-meter distance was covered in an instant.

The running wild rabbit was instantly pierced through the heart. Blood slowly seeped from the arrow shaft, killing it with a single shot!

The immense impact force pinned the rabbit firmly to a dead tree, leaving it no room to even struggle.

Fast, accurate, steady!

Joy flickered in Gu Sheng's eyes.

This plump wild rabbit weighed at least four to five jin, enough for several meals!

He cautiously walked over, secured the rabbit, and placed it in the game skin bag he carried.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"If I had entered the mountain with everyone, I wouldn't have been able to display my perfected archery. This rabbit would probably have escaped. Even if I caught it, several people would have had to share it. Now, I get to enjoy the prey all by myself. Even if it's just this one plump rabbit today, it was worth coming into the mountain!"

"If I could hunt a muntjac or a small deer alone, that would be even more awesome!"

Entering the mountain alone carried great risks, but the rewards were equally greater!

Especially with Gu Sheng's archery reaching perfection, it was even more so compared to other hunters.

Having just entered the mountain not long ago and already achieving such a harvest, Gu Sheng was very pleased.

His choice was not wrong.

However.

He did not let the harvest cloud his mind. He glanced towards the depths of the mountain, restraining his impulses and greed.

"Keep hunting on the outskirts!"

Gu Sheng moved through the outer jungle.

He was becoming more and more adept at hunting alone.

Not having to hide his archery skills made Gu Sheng feel incredibly comfortable. He unleashed his full combat power, firing an arrow that struck its prey a hundred meters away. The exhilaration and satisfaction from that were beyond what ordinary people could comprehend.

Time passed.

Gu Sheng's game pouch was already filled with two rabbits and one pheasant.

Together, they weighed thirteen to fourteen pounds!

His luck today was exceptionally good; even on the outskirts, he had such a bountiful harvest.

"Autumn truly is a season of harvest, not just for grains, but for hunting as well," Gu Sheng said with a genuine smile.

The sun was now setting in the west, and he glanced up.

He decided to head down the mountain.

Otherwise, the jungle's danger level would significantly increase after dark.

Even a martial artist wouldn't dare spend a night alone in the jungle; it would be no different from seeking death.

Gu Sheng walked cautiously through the woods.

He had to admit, hunting alone was indeed more tiring, primarily mentally. He needed to constantly monitor his surroundings, unable to relax even for a moment.

Gu Sheng estimated that a trip into the mountains would require at least three days of rest to recover his energy and recuperate. Pushing himself to enter the mountains consecutively could easily lead to trouble.

He swung his cleaver, continuously chopping through weeds and small trees.

The wild grass in the forest grew quickly. Even though hunters cleared the paths regularly, they were soon covered by new growth.

Suddenly.

Gu Sheng's scalp tingled, and goosebumps erupted all over his body. Without time to think, he rolled on the ground, quickly dodging.

Looking up now, he saw a red-spotted snake hissing and flicking its tongue above him.

The snake was over three meters long, its lower body wrapped around a tree branch, while its upper body was raised. Its brown, greenish eyes were cold and chilling, sending shivers down one's spine.

If Gu Sheng had let his guard down just moments ago, he might have been poisoned by this red-spotted snake.

Gu Sheng knew this snake didn't eat humans. It probably sensed the prey in his bag and intended to ambush him.

Hiss~!

The forked tongue flicked in and out; the red-spotted snake had no intention of leaving.

This snake was likely hungry and wanted to snatch an easy meal.

If he threw out the pheasant and rabbits in his bag, he could naturally save his life, but how could Gu Sheng agree to that?

His hard-earned hunting results from a day's labor, just given away like that?

Gu Sheng's eyes turned cold.

The red-spotted snake slithered rapidly along the tree trunk, its body writhing with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, it was closing in again.

It was so close.

There was no opportunity to shoot an arrow, and at such close range, snakes, with their quick reactions, would likely dodge the projectile.

But Gu Sheng was not afraid.

Archery wasn't the only thing he was skilled at!

His cleaver skills, ever since reaching perfection, had never been displayed. Now, they were close to perfection, with a proficiency of 70%!

Whoosh!

The red-spotted snake's upper body coiled and sprang forward, like a crossbow fully drawn, shooting through the air with a sharp gust of wind.

Its mouth gaped open, revealing fangs, and a foul stench assailed him.

Gu Sheng was terrifyingly calm, as if he had returned to that night when wolves attacked.

However, he was far more powerful now than he was then.

The unique perception granted by his perfected cleaver skills put him in a peculiar state. The red-spotted snake before him no longer seemed like a snake, but rather a piece of moving firewood, striking at him.

The muscles in his arm tensed and bulged with exertion.

Gu Sheng drew his cleaver and swung, as if cutting through water.

The sharpened cleaver precisely struck down from the snake's mouth. Gu Sheng could seemingly 'see' the layered grain of the firewood.

That was the snake's bone.

Perfected cleaver skills could cut through bone and sever tendons!

Shred!

As the cleaver moved down, Gu Sheng didn't even need to exert much force. He simply used the red-spotted snake's own pouncing momentum to effortlessly slice it in half along its spine.

Incredibly smooth, without even the slightest resistance.

Blood sprayed and splattered.

The red-spotted snake was precisely split in two, falling onto the dead branches. It writhed for a moment before finally lying still.

Gu Sheng panted slightly, looking at the exposed, scarlet snake meat. Joy appeared in his eyes.

"Tonight, snake meat stew!"