Severed Head

Whoosh!

The arrow streaked through the air at incredible speed. However, perhaps due to the intense pain in his leg, Gu Erniu couldn't fully concentrate, and this shot didn't showcase his true skill.

Li Yan's expression turned to horror.

Seeing the arrow flying towards him, he desperately dodged. Fortunately, he had intentionally stayed at the very back, giving him some time to react.

Thwack!

The arrow hit flesh. Li Yan let out a pained cry. In a near miss, he avoided a fatal blow, but his left arm was hit again.

Being shot in the left arm twice in a row, even if not in the exact same spot, would aggravate the previous wound.

The doubled pain made him contort his face.

"Gu Erniu!!"

Only then did the three of them realize. They had been so startled by the sudden arrow that they had forgotten about Gu Erniu, their prey!

Now that their prey was fighting back, cold sweat broke out all over their backs.

They quickly dodged, maneuvering to block the arrows from both the hidden assailant and Gu Erniu.

But Gu Sheng was incredibly fast.

After firing one arrow, he immediately shifted his position. Gu Erniu's shot had forced the three opponents to reposition again, giving Gu Sheng an opportunity.

Gu Sheng's eyes were utterly cold.

With his mind set on killing, he had no intention of showing mercy. His target this time was still not Li Yan.

The bow was a crescent moon, the arrow a shooting star!

The long arrow tore through the air, harvesting lives like a grim reaper's scythe.

Another hunter clutched his throat and fell to the ground, his eyes wide with lingering terror. The horror of watching an arrow pierce one's throat was something ordinary people could hardly comprehend.

But the greatest terror was reserved for another hunter.

Watching his two companions get their throats pierced and die, he trembled like a sieve. While he had engaged in killing before, it was usually when they outnumbered their opponents. He had never witnessed such a brutal scene.

"Aaaaahhhh!!!"

This hunter let out a wild roar, nocking his own longbow and firing wildly into the woods opposite him. However, consumed by fear, it was a miracle his aim was even remotely accurate.

Both arrows missed wildly, striking trees.

He was merely venting his fear in this manner, inadvertently revealing his position.

After firing his two arrows, the hunter tried to retreat behind a tree.

But Gu Sheng's arrow was faster.

The arrow, swift as thunder, flew with a powerful gust of wind. Its sharp whistling sound was like demonic music in his ears, filling the last hunter's eyes with dread and terror. In a fleeting glimpse, he could even see the chilling aura generated by the spinning arrowhead.

"My life is over!"

Before he could even form this thought, this hunter met the same fate as his two companions, also pierced through the throat with a single arrow.

Faint struggling sounds of 'gurgle' could be heard, then silence.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Gu Erniu had been anxious that his arrow hadn't killed Li Yan, but in the next moment, the remaining two hunters were all dead.

"Who is this person hiding in the shadows? Their archery is simply astonishing. None of the hunters around have ever heard of such skill. Even a seasoned battlefield archer wouldn't be this good!"

Gu Erniu was shocked and full of admiration.

But then.

His eyes widened. As the last hunter died, he finally saw the figure and face of the hidden assailant.

A slightly dark complexion, with a cold and stern expression on his delicate face.

"Ah Sheng?!"

Gu Erniu was both surprised and delighted. He hadn't expected Gu Sheng to arrive in the nick of time during this life-or-death situation, taking down their enemies. He was even more surprised that Gu Sheng's archery had become so incredibly proficient without him realizing it.

This level of progress was simply unbelievable.

But before he could even smile, his expression turned to one of alarm.

"Ah Sheng, be careful!"

He instinctively shouted a warning. In the distance, Li Yan, the last remaining hunter from Li Family Fort, was closing in on Gu Sheng, brandishing a short blade.

Gu Erniu was consumed by anxiety.

Although Gu Sheng's archery was extraordinary, once he was engaged in close combat, he couldn't utilize his archery skills. He was, after all, just a fourteen-year-old boy.

While Gu Sheng had grown much stronger in the past few months, he was still no match for a strong and robust young man like Li Yan.

Gu Erniu gritted his teeth and nocked a longbow, but the severe pain in his left leg made him sweat profusely, and his arm trembled.

With an arrow in hand, he didn't dare to shoot.

Li Yan was too close to Gu Sheng. If he missed and hit Gu Sheng, he would only be doing more harm than good.

He cursed fiercely, threw his longbow to the ground, drew his short blade, and limped his way towards the battlefield.

He couldn't stand by and watch.

In the distance.

Li Yan, holding a short blade, glared ferociously at Gu Sheng. They were very close, leaving Gu Sheng no time to draw his bow.

Li Yan's face twitched incessantly. An arrow still pierced his left arm, untreated. The pain gnawed at his heart.

But he knew this was his only chance.

When Gu Sheng had shot and killed those three hunters earlier, Li Yan could have fled. But he wasn't foolish; he knew that in his current state, fleeing would only lead to Gu Sheng's throat-piercing arrow catching up to him eventually.

So, he chose to face death head-on. Gritting his teeth, he closed in on Gu Sheng. Only by fighting him up close did he have a chance of survival.

"Kid, it really is you. You're a persistent bastard, aren't you?"

Li Yan's eyes blazed, and he stared fiercely into Gu Sheng's eyes, trying to intimidate him.

Gu Erniu's shout had revealed his position, but Li Yan didn't care.

Facing a teenager, even with one arm disabled, he was confident he could take him down.

Although he hadn't mastered martial arts in his youth, his brother-in-law, Du Jiangbo, had occasionally given him pointers. He knew a bit of boxing and weaponry, making him far superior to ordinary villagers or tenant farmers.

Not to mention the disparity in physical conditioning.

Gu Sheng's expression was calm and indifferent, showing no hint of panic.

Seeing Li Yan's menacing posture, he wiped his hand behind him, and a cleaver fell into his grasp. Ordinary hunters carried short blades, but Gu Sheng carried a cleaver.

His Wood Chopping skill was beyond perfection, and he had never truly tested it.

"Perfect, I'll use you to try it out!"

A confidence and assurance Gu Sheng possessed, which Li Yan couldn't comprehend, surged in his eyes.

"Stop playing games. I'll send you and Gu Erniu to hell together!"

Li Yan shouted, the pain in his left arm forcing him to end the fight quickly.

He initiated the attack.

Holding the short blade in his right hand, he charged forward with large strides. It wasn't a chaotic rush like an ordinary person; there was a method to his movements.

If not for his injured left arm, which prevented his body from fully coordinating and balancing, his footwork would have been both offensive and defensive, making him extremely threatening with the short blade in hand.

Li Yan's position as one of the leaders among the Li Family Fort hunters wasn't solely due to his brother-in-law; his own skills were also formidable.

As he charged, his body suddenly lowered, and the short blade thrust out with a whistling wind.

Gu Sheng's focus was razor-sharp. He brought his cleaver down naturally. Li Yan's heart filled with joy.

"This kid has no combat experience. He's a greenhorn."

This thrust was merely a feint. Once he blocked Gu Sheng's cleaver, he would follow up with a swift strike, stabbing Gu Sheng in the heart!

Gu Erniu, rushing to the scene, looked even more anxious.

But the next moment, he froze in place, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Gu Sheng remained as still as an ancient well.

In his eyes, Li Yan seemed to transform into a humanoid log. Layers of inexplicable patterns appeared. The heavy, black cleaver swung down unremarkably, just as it did during everyday wood chopping.

The excitement that had just surfaced in Li Yan's expression vanished before it could be shown.

His expression changed drastically, filled with incomprehensible horror. He felt as if the short blade he held wasn't blocking a knife, but a mountain!

Heavy, solid, and unstoppable!

An overwhelming force erupted. His right arm trembled, his palm split open, and the short blade was instantly knocked away.

The cleaver's momentum, undiminished, whistled through the air and lightly sliced into Li Yan's neck.

It was like tearing through thin paper. The cleaver met no resistance or delay as it cleanly severed Li Yan's head, even shearing off a small portion of his left shoulder.

Blood spurted half a zhang high, splattering onto Gu Sheng's face and arms. Li Yan's headless corpse thudded to the ground. His wide eyes still held a look of shock and terror as his head rolled to Gu Sheng's feet.

Gu Sheng's expression was slightly stunned.

The "Tear" effect was surprisingly potent!

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