Killing

The bushes rustled as Wang San and Zhao Fu kept beating the tangled grass, driving out any Venomous Snakes that might be lurking inside.

They were also checking whether Su Yan was hiding among the weeds.

"Damn it, if I find him, I'll skin him alive."

Wang San muttered curses under his breath, his triangular eyes full of resentment.

Zhao Fu frowned slightly but said nothing, gripping his iron fork tightly.

Whether by luck or misfortune, they were searching in precisely the direction where Su Yan had been hiding earlier.

"Go easy on the venom."

Su Yan gave the Darkwater Centipede a command. The purple centipede slipped into the bushes and rapidly approached Wang San and Zhao Fu.

"Ah... what the hell was that?!"

Wang San was searching around, beating the tangled grass with his wooden stick.

Suddenly, a purple shadow flashed through a gap in the grass.

Before he could make out what it was, it bit him on the ankle.

Blood gushed out, and Wang San toppled to the ground.

His entire ankle had been mangled, leaving a huge gap that looked as though pincers had forcibly gouged it open.

Hearing Wang San's cry of pain, Zhao Fu immediately charged over with his iron fork, only for his face to drain of color.

A huge purple centipede as thick as a forearm had turned around, its hideous maw facing him.

Whoosh!

He thrust his iron fork at the Darkwater Centipede, intending to take down the venomous creature.

The Darkwater Centipede merely twisted aside, dodging the lightning-fast thrust.

Damn it!

This venomous creature was actually that nimble!

Zhao Fu tried to pull his iron fork back to defend himself, but once a long-shafted weapon had been thrust out, how could it be withdrawn so easily?

He had barely begun pulling back when the Darkwater Centipede reared up and spat two streams of venom at him like sharp arrows.

Zhao Fu felt heat sear his eyes, as though both eyeballs had fallen into a wok of boiling oil. The unbearable burning instantly sent him tumbling to the ground in agony.

He clapped both hands over his eyes. Unable to bear the excruciating pain, he inadvertently pressed too hard and clawed out both of his scorched, corroded eyeballs.

"Zhao Fu!"

Li Hu heard the commotion and rushed over with his Hardwood Bow, but he had only made it halfway.

"Who's there?!"

The words had barely left his mouth when an arrow streaked through the woods like a meteor and pierced his shoulder with a wet thud.

Li Hu staggered in pain, nearly dropping his Hardwood Bow.

Enduring the agony, he tried to draw his bow and return fire. When he looked toward the trees, Su Yan was already standing openly in view.

He had only just nocked an arrow when Su Yan fired again, piercing his other arm.

The arrow drove straight through his biceps. Blood stained the Hardwood Bow, and it fell to the ground.

Without a shred of mercy, Su Yan drew his bow and fired two more arrows in succession, piercing both of Li Hu's knees. Blood dripped steadily from the arrowheads.

The burly man collapsed and rolled about, unable to get back up.

By the time Huang Tian reacted, iron fork in hand, he could already see Li Hu, Wang San, and the others lying on the ground.

Fear welled up inside him. How could he still entertain dreams of getting rich?

He turned to flee deeper into the woods. First, he had to escape this harbinger of doom, Su Yan.

Driven by terror, Huang Tian ran exceptionally fast. In the blink of an eye, he was over a hundred paces away, most of his body swallowed by the tangled grass and bushes.

"You think you can get away?"

Su Yan's voice was calm. An arrow shot out like a meteor, threaded through the gaps between the trees, and struck Huang Tian squarely in the back over his heart.

Like a bird shot out of the sky, Huang Tian stumbled forward a few steps under his own momentum before crashing to the ground. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and he died on the spot.

Thud, thud, thud.

Su Yan walked over, trampling through the bushes. Their creaking beneath his feet jarred against the agonized screams.

Thunk!

Su Yan fired two more arrows, striking Wang San in the calf and Zhao Fu in the knee.

He warned them in an even voice, "Keep screaming, and you'll get another arrow."

Whether from adrenaline or terror, Wang San clamped his hands over his mouth, not daring to cry out again.

Blinded and in unbearable pain, Zhao Fu paid no heed.

Su Yan showed no courtesy either. He raised his bow and sent an arrow through Zhao Fu's head.

Only three living people remained in the woods.

"Brother Yan, spare... spare me. It's all a misunderstanding..."

Wang San had never witnessed killing like this. Su Yan was clearly only fifteen or sixteen, yet he seemed like a demon star born into the world, killing without so much as blinking.

And then there was that uncanny ability to command insects.

He must have had lard clouding his heart to dare come looking for trouble with this harbinger of doom.

His legs trembled, and his crotch was already soaked. He no longer dared call him "young Yan" in a teasing tone. Now, he only wanted to live.

But Su Yan merely sneered. "That bullshit won't save your life. Think carefully about what you should say. I'll come ask you later. Don't give me the wrong answer."

Instead of dealing with Wang San first, Su Yan walked straight toward Li Hu.

Wang San's and Li Hu's expressions changed abruptly.

"Li Hu ordered all of it!"

"Wang San talked me into it! It had nothing to do with me!"

Stray dogs brought together by profit would naturally turn on one another just as swiftly for profit.

In an instant, their gazes filled with fury and alarm as they looked at each other.

Su Yan grabbed Li Hu by the collar and dragged him toward the nearby woods like a dead dog.

The dragging tugged at his wounds, making him cry out involuntarily as veins bulged across his face.

"Don't... don't... I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Su Yan dragged Li Hu into the bushes to one side. With their figures obscured, Wang San could no longer see either of them.

His panic grew, terrified that Li Hu would pin everything on him.

He kept pleading, but there was no response from beyond the bushes.

That only deepened his terror, as though seventy or eighty percent of his life had already been frightened out of him.

In the bushes, Li Hu proved to be no tough man either. Su Yan had only just stopped, Hardwood Bow in hand.

Li Hu hurriedly spilled everything like beans pouring out of a sack.

"Wang San talked me into all of it. He said you'd found a treasure site, which was how you'd found so many Treasure Plants. He talked me into following you and taking the treasure site..."

"How many people?"

Before Li Hu could finish, Su Yan interrupted him.

Wang San certainly had ideas, but had they only intended to seize the treasure site without killing him?

Out here in the mountain woods, could those words be trusted?

"F-four."

Li Hu did not dare lie and laid out everything in detail, though he repeatedly tried to absolve himself along the way.

Even so, Su Yan pieced together most of what had happened and made up his mind.

"It was all Wang San's fault. Brother Yan, if you spare me, I'll follow your lead from now on."

"How many jobs like this have you done?"

Su Yan interrupted Li Hu again, but this question made Li Hu's hair stand on end.

"Brother, please spare me. I..."

"I asked how many times."

Su Yan enunciated each word, slowly drawing the Hardwood Bow in his hands.

Knowing he could not hide it, Li Hu blurted out, "Three times. Only three times! I still have ten taels of silver on me. I'll give you the money..."

Su Yan grinned. "You fool. Once I kill you, it's all mine."

He drew and fired. The sharp arrow entered Li Hu's eye socket, killing him instantly.

Blood spurted from his eyeball, and the bloody stench turned the stomach.

Su Yan's face paled slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

After days of shooting prey and seeing blood, killing a person was still different from killing a wild beast.

Yet he had cultivated seven parts courage and three parts killing intent. Though this first killing left him somewhat unsettled,

it also felt like a bird free to fly across boundless skies. His courage had begun to take shape, and he now dared harbor the intent to kill.

Su Yan searched Li Hu's body, found ten taels of silver, and put them into the Insect Realm Space.

Only then did he pull out the bloodstained arrows one by one. He grabbed a handful of weeds to wipe them clean, then walked out through the tangled grass and bushes.

His arrows were stained with blood, his expression indifferent.

Li Hu had suddenly fallen silent, sending the surviving Wang San into complete panic.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Before Su Yan even approached, Wang San was already shouting at the top of his lungs that he would confess.

"It's about time you were on your way."

Su Yan spoke mildly. Although only Li Hu had confessed, he had already pieced together the general course of events.

Combined with Wang San's earlier attempt to block his path, the two incidents corroborated each other, giving him a clear enough picture.

No one else was behind them. Once he disposed of them all, this matter would end here.

Later, he would have the Darkwater Centipede gnaw apart the arrow wounds and obscure the footprints a little. Out here in the mountain woods, the bodies would all be gone within a day or two.

Seeing Su Yan's attitude, Wang San grew desperate.

"Your father, Su Dahe, didn't fall to his death on his own! Niu Han and the others did it!"

In his desperation, Wang San blurted it out.

Su Yan's gaze sharpened, striking Wang San like a blade.

"Tell me everything."