Scared Off

Li Yan was somewhat startled.

He recognized Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng had been there during both encounters with Gu Erniu. They were clearly close, and Gu Sheng had displayed archery comparable to Gu Erniu's.

So Li Yan had shown no mercy at all just now. That arrow had been aimed at Gu Sheng's right leg.

But he had not expected Gu Sheng to react so quickly, noticing it ahead of time and swiftly dodging even while carrying a wild deer.

"Kid, why are you alone? Where's Gu Erniu? Why isn't he with you?"

As Li Yan clicked his tongue and smiled, lowering Gu Sheng's guard, he subtly signaled to the three hunters beside him.

The three immediately understood and lowered their bodies as they spread out to either side.

Once they widened their formation and gained clear shooting angles, Gu Sheng would be unable to escape even if he grew wings!

Gu Sheng hid behind a tree, his chest heaving as his eyes brimmed with fury and killing intent.

They were robbing a robber!

It was not as if he had never encountered this bastard before, but this was the first time the man had attacked outright without a word.

The tempting wild deer was one reason, but Gu Sheng's relationship with Gu Erniu was another.

Because Gu Erniu had married Li Lian, he and Li Yan were irreconcilable enemies. Their conflict had deepened by the day and had now reached the point where they wanted each other dead. Gu Sheng was simply being dragged into it.

Li Yan deliberately kept chattering, trying to distract Gu Sheng.

But Gu Sheng was extremely vigilant. As he steadied his breathing behind the tree, his keen senses immediately detected the other three hunters spreading out to both sides.

Once the four men on the other side dispersed, Gu Sheng, being only flesh and blood, would be outnumbered no matter how close his archery was to perfection.

If even one arrow struck him, his fate would practically be sealed.

I have to strike first!

Gu Sheng's gaze turned cold. He had never killed anyone before, but now that they had pushed him this far, he was not afraid.

His greatest advantage was that they believed his archery was merely on par with Gu Erniu's. In truth, Gu Sheng's archery had already neared perfection and far surpassed Gu Erniu's!

I need to make good use of this information gap and create an advantage.

Gu Sheng occasionally watched from the corner of his eye. Li Yan truly was an experienced hunter; he used the forest trees to conceal himself as he moved, making it difficult for an ordinary person to find an opening to shoot.

Gu Sheng focused completely, predicting the movements of Li Yan and the other three while calculating his escape route.

Suddenly.

His eyes lit up as he seized a fleeting opportunity.

"Now!"

Gu Sheng shot out from cover at blazing speed. His eyes were sharp and focused like an eagle's, his bow drawn into a full moon. The arrow pinched between his fingers flew out in an instant with a piercing whistle, aimed straight at Li Yan's heart!

Then, without even looking at the result, Gu Sheng trusted in his archery.

Without turning his head, he rolled forward and sprinted into the distance with the wild deer on his back.

With his current stamina, running for a short time while carrying the deer was no problem. At a critical moment, it could even serve as a shield.

Seeing that he refused to abandon the deer, those men might continue their pursuit. Then, once they exposed an opening during the chase, his near-perfect archery would teach them a lesson!

Killing intent filled Gu Sheng's heart as he raced forward with his head down, using the trees of the forest as cover.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Gu Sheng moved like a startled hare, revealing an astonishing level of archery. In an instant, he caught the slight opening in Li Yan's position, loosed an arrow, and fled at once with utmost decisiveness.

Horror appeared in Li Yan's eyes.

The change had come so abruptly that he was completely caught off guard. Everything had happened far too quickly. He was still trying to distract Gu Sheng when that tricky arrow came hurtling at him.

Whoosh!

The arrow flashed like lightning, shrieking through the air and growing larger in Li Yan's pupils, leaving him no time to dodge.

Gu Sheng's archery far exceeded what he had displayed before. The arrow was about to pierce Li Yan's heart!

However.

The imagined scene of the arrow sinking into flesh and Li Yan screaming never appeared.

Clang!!

A crisp metallic sound rang through the mountain forest. The arrow dropped weakly to the ground, and Li Yan's face twitched. Though the object protecting his heart had blocked the arrowhead, the impact was no small matter, sending waves of pain through his chest.

His expression was incomparably ugly, fear, lingering dread, and fury tangled together.

So close—just that little bit closer, and he would have died!

Seeing the three hunters who had just fired an arrow and were about to continue the pursuit, Li Yan could not help shouting:

"Don't chase him! Come back!"

Upon hearing that crisp clang, Gu Sheng immediately realized that Li Yan had blocked the arrow. The bastard had some sort of iron plate or heart-protecting item over his chest!

He touched his own chest, where an iron plate was similarly strapped.

Gu Sheng could not help feeling regretful. There had been no angle just now; otherwise, that arrow would have been aimed at Li Yan's throat.

"That bastard is cautious. Lucky you!"

Gu Sheng moved with agility. He knew that after exposing himself to fire that arrow, he would certainly draw attacks from the other three hunters. But their archery might not even have reached the minor accomplishment stage, so Gu Sheng was not too concerned.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three arrows came from different directions, but Gu Sheng had already calculated his route.

With a twist of his body, two arrows embedded themselves in trees, while the third grazed the deer carcass on his back, tearing away a chunk of flesh.

Gu Sheng did not dwell on the failed shot and continued sprinting.

Once he escaped the encirclement, if those men still dared to pursue him, that would be when the real course began.

Several hunters from Li Family Fort gathered around Li Yan and asked in confusion:

"Brother Yan, why didn't we keep chasing him? That kid is carrying a deer; he can't run far. Even if we can't kill him, we should at least force him to abandon the prey. Are we really just letting such a fat prize get away?"

The men looked unwilling.

If they continued chasing, they would catch up to Gu Sheng sooner or later.

Li Yan's scarred eye twitched continuously, his face grim. He took a deep breath and pulled a palm-sized heart-protecting mirror from his chest. A shallow crack ran across its surface.

"That kid was playing the fool to catch the wise. He'd been hiding his archery all along. I was caught off guard just now and nearly died from that arrow. If not for the heart-protecting mirror my sister gave me, what you would be looking at now would be my corpse!"

"Chase him? Are you prepared to trade your lives for his?"

Li Yan sneered mockingly, though fear filled his heart.

The archery Gu Sheng had displayed made his scalp tingle. Even in such a predicament, he had managed to fire that tricky, life-taking arrow. Li Yan did not dare imagine the consequences if they continued the chase.

Even if they used their numerical advantage to kill the kid, they might end up dragging two men down to the underworld with him.

Li Yan could not guarantee that he would not be one of them.

So despite the fury in his heart, he still chose to abandon the pursuit.

The three men looked at the crack in the heart-protecting mirror, and all their expressions changed. Everything had happened too quickly for them to see clearly just now. They had not expected Gu Sheng's arrow to have struck Li Yan squarely in the chest.

For a moment.

The three felt their chests prickle as cold sweat broke out.

If that arrow had been aimed at them, and they did not possess such a treasure as a heart-protecting mirror, they would likely already be cold corpses.

They immediately stopped mentioning the pursuit.