Battle in the Mountains

Dian Jing did not linger. Having said his piece, he left Yunqian Village and headed straight for the mountains.

He had been planning to enter the mountains anyway, joining the other hunters in hunting those Savage Beasts.

He had indeed brought Su Yan this news to make amends.

After watching Dian Jing leave, Su Yan thought for a moment, then took two pieces of cured meat from his room and went to the village entrance to find the old Village Head.

Although Yunqian Village was not a hunters' village, plenty of its people ventured into the mountains. If any news came from the authorities, the Village Head ought to know something about it.

When he found old Zheng, the old man was holding his pipe, preparing to go out.

"Grandpa Village Head, are you heading out?"

Seeing Su Yan, Village Head Zheng Daqing smiled and nodded kindly. "I'm making a round of the village. There happens to be something I need to tell you all."

Su Yan's eyes flickered. Could it be the same thing?

He brought out the cured meat. "Grandpa Village Head, I made jerky from the Gray Rabbit I hunted a few days ago. It's ready today, so I brought some over for you and Uncle Gang to try."

Zheng Daqing paused, then his eyes crinkled with a smile. "Oh, I couldn't. I couldn't possibly take your things."

"Uncle Gang helped take my second uncle all the way to the Market Ward for treatment. If he could travel that far for us, why can't you take this?"

Su Yan pressed the cured meat into the Village Head's hands, making sure he held it securely before casually asking, "Grandpa, a friend told me things haven't been peaceful in the mountains lately?"

The Village Head looked at Su Yan in surprise and nodded. "You certainly are well informed, young Yan. Word only came from the officials in town this morning. Beasts are running wild in the mountains. Everyone who goes Mountain Trekking is to be careful and avoid entering the Inner Mountain unless necessary."

The Village Head knew no more than Dian Jing, but his information corroborated what Dian Jing had said.

After hearing him out, Su Yan settled on a plan.

Dian Jing was telling the truth. This is an opportunity.

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Village Head, he took his leave.

Back home, he changed into gear suited for Mountain Trekking, took his Broad Saber and Club, slung his longbow across his back, and strode into the mountains.

He bypassed the Outer Mountain entirely, released the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion among the shrubs, then headed straight for the Inner Mountain.

The dense forest spread like a canopy, vines tangled everywhere. What looked like paths between the shrubs and unruly grasses were nothing more than rotten mountain tracks covered in decaying leaves and mud.

Having reached minor mastery in Stance Training, Su Yan moved with steady steps, traversing these mountain paths as though walking on level ground.

He traveled for an hour, crossing two or three peaks before reaching a peak in the Inner Mountain.

"This should be about right. I can have the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion search for treasure plants and wild beasts."

Su Yan found an old tree with a relatively clear view and took his Hardwood Bow in hand. At his command, the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion moved off to either side, both disappearing into the shrubs.

Though the two creatures were small, they posed no small threat in this forest.

They burrowed among the shrubs, tangled grasses, and gnarled roots of old trees.

Before long, hares, water deer, pheasants, and other small creatures came scurrying out through the undergrowth.

Su Yan's gaze was hawklike. He drew and loosed, the ranks of trees and shrubs seemingly unable to obstruct his sight.

Since achieving major mastery in Basic Archery, his senses and handling of the bow had become especially keen in the forest. Drawing and shooting felt as natural as lifting a hand or taking a step.

In just a short while, Su Yan had hunted several pheasants and hares.

Suddenly, the shrubs shook incessantly, and a roar rang out.

A fierce beast seemed to be confronting the Darkwater Centipede.

Su Yan's eyes lit up. His fighting spirit rose, and he strode toward it.

"Roar!"

The deafening roar rumbled like muffled thunder. A huge, pitch-black creature stood upright in the shrubs.

"What a Black Bear!"

The great Black Bear bared its fangs, exposing the hooklike claws on its enormous paws as it brandished them menacingly.

Before it, the Darkwater Centipede raised its body and swayed slightly, releasing the aura of a ranked creature.

The great Black Bear clearly recognized that this venomous creature was no ordinary Darkwater Centipede. Despite their enormous difference in size, it did not dare risk a fight, instead instinctively using its massive bulk to threaten its opponent.

Su Yan's arrival, however, broke the balance.

The great Black Bear roared in fury and prepared to attack.

"Just in time!"

Su Yan was looking for combat to push his Stance Training, Fist Technique, and even his minor mastery of skin refining further. Why would he fear a fight?

The Darkwater Centipede retreated two or three meters to make room, and Su Yan charged forward with long, swift strides.

The Black Bear lunged like an enormous black cloth, a solid mass of darkness that sent a rank gust rushing into his face.

Su Yan's Stance Training generated strength beneath his feet. His step sank into the earth, power rose from the ground, and his waist stood firm as a sturdy pine. The strength of his entire body gathered into an upward brace—Old Ape Supports the Mountain—catching both paws of the vicious bear.

The great Black Bear was startled, then frightened. Even a tiger in this forest could hardly match its strength. How had another rival appeared—a two-legged creature that had always been nothing more than food?

Su Yan paid no heed to the stupid bear's reaction. Applying force through his hands, he shifted his body and slammed the Black Bear into the ground.

A dull crash sounded as countless shrubs snapped beneath it.

Pained, the great Black Bear rolled to its feet and charged like a heavy truck.

Its fat and fur rippled and shook, revealing the savagery of its charge and the weight of its body.

"You can certainly take more punishment than a tiger."

Su Yan rushed to meet it. The bear opened its jaws to bite, its claws raking in from both sides.

His arms lashed downward like whips, turning into Golden Ape Strikes the Crown and crashing heavily onto the great Black Bear's head.

The blow left it utterly dazed, arresting its movement.

Tremendous force erupted beneath Su Yan's feet. He drove one knee upward like Kui Xing Kicks the Dipper. With a crack, he shattered the Black Bear's lower jaw, forcing its head back.

Before the Black Bear could fly into a rage, he struck again with White Ape Offers the Peach.

The upward thrust of his hands carried one or two thousand jin of force, shattering its lower jaw along with the vertebrae in its neck and killing it outright.

Its enormous body crashed to the ground. Only then did Su Yan exhale and end his technique.

"My movements still aren't integrated well enough. Otherwise, I could have vaulted over it and landed Golden Ape Strikes the Crown on the back of its neck, killing it much sooner. Again..."

The fighting had fired Su Yan up. For the moment, he left the Black Bear's corpse alone and had the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion continue searching.

Some ten minutes later, a boar the size of a small calf came crashing through the shrubs, its tusks fully exposed.

Su Yan left his longbow unused and strode after it. With both hands, he seized it and slammed it down, then shattered its skull with two punches.

An hour later, a Black Panther appeared. Whether the Darkwater Centipede had flushed it out or it had set its sights on Su Yan first was unclear.

The panther suddenly attacked from an old branch high in a tree.

Sensing it, Su Yan engaged it in combat.

The panther was agile, its movements fierce and sharp, like a streak of lightning through the forest.

Su Yan remained composed, twisting and turning like a fierce mountain ape, responding with ease.

After more than ten exchanges, he forcibly dragged the panther down from the tree and broke its spine.

Night gradually fell. Su Yan stopped to rest but had no intention of descending the mountain.

He set a rabbit over the fire while the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion devoured the prey he had fought and killed that day.

Su Yan practiced his stance among the old forest's shrubs. The mountain wind rushed in with a chill, and the branches of ancient trees, unruly grasses, and bushes rustled all around him. It was wonderfully tranquil.

Martial techniques are killing techniques to begin with. Even the martial path is an art of struggling against others, against heaven, and against oneself. When they say not to practice a dead stance, they don't just mean you need to move. You need to be able to fight—and dare to fight.

Understanding dawned within him, and his stance grew ever more natural. His expression remained as still as water, but the blood and qi within his body surged like flames, continually tempering the skin across his body.

A layer of blood and qi circulated ceaselessly, gradually gathering beneath his skin to form a second layer of protection.

That day's battles had accelerated his progress toward a breakthrough, which had begun to slow. He had only fought a bear, a panther, and a boar, along with various other prey.

Yet the feeling was entirely different from merely practicing his fist techniques.

"Awooo!"

Suddenly, the wind rose beneath the moon, carrying a frightened wolf's howl.

Su Yan's eyes snapped open, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

Wolf howls rose one after another through the mountain ravine. Yet these were not the calls of a gathering pack. They sounded more like cries of panic and flight.

"What would dare hunt a wolf pack?"