Confrontation, falsehood

Six elite Bronze Elite Green Demon lay staggering on the ground, their bodies stiff and cold. Thick blood seeped into the decaying leaves below, staining the dark soil a somber hue. The heavy, stagnant stench of blood hung heavy over the entire forest, refusing to dissipate.

The survivors lay limp beside the pile of corpses, their bodies covered in lacerations, their robes torn to shreds, and blood seeping from the gaping wounds. Having just escaped certain death, they had long lost their previous shrewdness and smugness in plotting and harming others; all that remained were exhausted gasps and a deep-seated fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

In the shadows of the trees, Lu Heng sat upright on the back of the Star Wolf, his aura completely concealed.

A clear-cut reckoning was abruptly and forcibly terminated by outsiders. A deep sense of annoyance welled up inside me; I wasn't angry or irritable, just simply felt it was superfluous and boring.

He neither revealed himself nor left. Calming his mind, he expanded his spiritual power once more, probing into the depths of the dense forest from which the arrow had just pierced the air.

Superficial perception is vague and weak, unable to capture details. This time, Lu Heng actively increased the output of his mental energy.

A fine, invisible network of senses penetrated through layers of intertwined branches, thick shade, and cracks in the damp soil, extending all the way to the deep, dense forest hundreds of meters away.

The next instant, a distinct, refined, and extremely oppressive aura of a living being precisely locked onto my senses.

Alone, without companions, without a squad, and without any trace of anyone following him.

However, its aura level far surpasses that of all conventional combat forces in this forest area.

Calm, substantial, and exuding a unique sense of suppression – Silver Tier.

A faint hint of surprise flashed across Lu Heng's eyes.

He had always assumed that he was the only one in this devastated area who had broken free from the shackles of the lower class and seized a special opportunity. Now it seemed that in the vast apocalypse, opportunities never belong to one person alone. In this chaotic mountain forest, there were also people who had been lying in wait and growing, stepping into a higher realm that ordinary survivors could hardly reach.

But this slight surprise was fleeting, immediately replaced by a cold, hard judgment of reality.

The monster Portal in the Hill Valley remains unbroken, and the core threat has never been eradicated.

The Portal continuously sends monsters outwards, causing chaos in the regional ecosystem, a fragmented power system, and an unstable, collapsing state across the entire area.

The Silver Tier warriors who emerge in this region, where the root of the problem remains, the rules are incomplete, and monsters proliferate endlessly, may seem impressive in terms of rank, but in reality, their foundation is weak and they are no match for high-level combat power in a truly stable environment.

Although it appears to be at the Silver level, its actual strength may not be enough to withstand a direct, life-or-death battle.

Having figured this out, Lu Heng completely let go of his fears, and his state of mind returned to calm and indifference.

He sat calmly on the wolf's back, motionless in the depths of the shadows, quietly waiting for the approaching figure.

A few breaths later, the sound of steady, rhythmic footsteps echoed from the depths of the dense forest.

His steps landed extremely lightly, with even weight and unhurried pace, without the slightest haste. Each step landed on the most secure point of leverage, a testament to the ultimate composure and competence honed through years of venturing alone into the forest, hunting monsters, and fighting life-or-death battles.

A tall, upright figure slowly emerged from the deep shadows of the trees and entered the low-lying area.

The outfit was that of a standard hunter in the wild: a set of durable, scratch-resistant dark leather armor, covered with countless scratches, claw marks, and old tears, each piece of damage a testament to long battles with monsters in the dense forest. A hardwood longbow rested firmly on his back, its sturdy and well-worn bow showing signs of age. His quiver was full and bulging, with dozens of magic-piercing short arrows neatly arranged.

The man had strong, long limbs, broad shoulders and back, and calluses on his fingertips and knuckles—the marks of years of drawing a bow and fighting. Most striking were his eyes, sharp as an eagle's, their gaze sweeping across the field with precision and clarity, his observational skills far surpassing those of ordinary survivors, possessing the keen alertness unique to hunters.

After he entered, his gaze did not fall on the corpses of monsters scattered on the ground, nor did he look at the three seriously injured and dying survivors with the slightest pity.

His gaze pierced through the scattered branches and layers of shadows, pinpointing precisely where Lu Heng was hiding.

His tone was calm, yet filled with absolute certainty:

"I know you're there, come out."

Lu Heng was clearly surprised.

He completely concealed all his aura from beginning to end, and the Star Wolf itself also remained completely still, without leaking even a trace of energy fluctuation. His hiding place was backed by a thick tree trunk and layers of branches and leaves, perfectly concealing any blind spots in his vision, and his aura completely blended into the darkness of the forest.

An ordinary survivor would not notice them at all, even if they walked right up to them.

He hadn't expected that the Silver Tier hunters in this region, whose foundations were so weak, would possess such precise detection and perception.

Now that it has been exposed, there is no point in hiding anymore.

Lu Heng leaped lightly from the wolf's back to the ground, his movements steady and silent. With a slight thought, the dormant Star Wolf transformed into countless tiny purple stardust particles, silently dissolving and returning to its own origin.

He stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing, his gaze fixed on the hunter opposite him, and asked in a detached tone:

How did you determine my direction?

Before the hunter could respond, the three survivors on the ground behind him suddenly erupted in anger.

The sense of relief at surviving the ordeal completely faded, replaced by a belated sense of fear and resentment that grew wildly.

Only now did they completely connect all the details.

The Bronze Elite Green Demon team that had just surrounded them, blocked all escape routes, and relentlessly pursued them was not a chance encounter during a patrol. It was a carefully orchestrated plan from beginning to end. Someone in the shadows was deliberately controlling the operation to ambush and kill the three of them.

Overwhelming fear overwhelmed their remaining rationality.

Ignoring the excruciating pain from their wounds, the three struggled to their feet, their faces covered in blood and etched with madness. They pointed at Lu Heng and screamed hoarsely and desperately:

"It was you! You're the one who did this!"

"Those monsters were controlled by you! You deliberately tried to kill us!"

A piercing scream echoed throughout the depression.

Lu Heng merely tilted his head slightly and glanced at the three of them indifferently.

There was no anger, no chilling intent, no reprimand.

It was merely a gaze that was utterly calm.

But that one glance choked all the screams of the three survivors into silence.

A bone-chilling cold shot up my spine to the top of my head, freezing my blood instantly.

They were suddenly jolted awake, a profound sense of lingering fear washing over them.

If this person truly intended to kill them, there would be no need for elaborate schemes or elaborate plans. With his abilities, crushing three low-level survivors would be a matter of a single thought or a flick of his wrist.

The reason they survived wasn't because the other side couldn't kill them; it was simply because the other side originally intended for them to die from the evil they themselves had sown.

A chilling fear gripped them; their faces turned ashen, their bodies trembled violently, and they dared not utter a sound. They huddled together, heads bowed, avoiding eye contact.

The forest fell into a deathly silence.

The hunter watched this scene without flinching and calmly answered:

"You just have to trust the hunter's intuition."

Lu Heng didn't waste any time with pleasantries; his gaze locked onto him, cutting straight to the heart of the matter:

"What is your purpose in interrupting my hunt?"

The hunter raised his hand in a gesture of restraint, adopting a righteous and awe-inspiring posture, his tone upright and composed:

"I don't know what personal grudges or conflicts you have with them. But the situation in the Hill Valley is currently dire, the threat of the Portal remains unresolved, monsters are rampant throughout the area, and everyone is in grave danger."

"At times like this, all survivors should stick together and overcome difficulties, not fight amongst themselves and waste their strength."

This high-sounding moral blackmail left Lu Heng speechless and bewildered.

His tone was cold and flat, directly exposing the other party's pretense:

"I'm not one of those survivors from your Hill Valley, don't try to flatter me like that."

I only have one question for you.

"You interrupted my hunt, and that's all you have to say?"

After a pause, Lu Heng's gaze darkened slightly.

"If that's all there is to it, then you'll be just like them."

The hunter was stunned upon hearing this.

As Silver Tier expert, he has always been a respected and admired top-tier fighter in this mountainous region where low-level survivors congregate, and has long since developed an arrogance and self-restraint befitting his high position.

He never expected that an unknown stranger, whose status was unclear, would dare to provoke him in public and threaten him so openly.

After the initial shock, a surge of intense anger welled up inside me.

His face turned completely cold, and his five fingers gripped the longbow behind him tightly. The bow tautened slightly, and the Silver Tier aura slowly rose and spread out, bringing the oppressive feeling of high-level combat power directly to Lu Heng.

His tone was filled with anger and an overbearing certainty:

Since you're so ruthless, let's have a showdown then.

"I'm protecting these people."

Lu Heng watched him quietly as he feigned righteousness, blindly defended his own, and acted arrogantly.

Without asking about the cause, good or evil, or who first framed someone, they forcibly interfered with the cause-and-effect settlement of others based solely on the empty phrase of "unity for survival".

All that remained in my heart was pure absurdity and contempt.

Foolish, hypocritical, and blindly self-assured.

Without further ado, Lu Heng's mind sank completely.

Beneath the skin and flesh, countless tiny Mycelium of the Blood Taisui silently proliferate and spread rapidly.

There were no explosive phenomena, no sound and light effects, and not a single leak or disturbance.

The Mycelium spread silently along the cracks in the soil, the veins of tree roots, and the bottom of decaying leaves, covering the entire low-lying battlefield, densely covering every inch of space, and silently locking down all routes of evasion, retreat, detour, and escape.

He had already silently taken control of the entire battlefield beforehand.

The standoff has fully materialized.

One side, arrogant and self-important due to its high-level Silver rank, was filled with fierce fighting spirit, relying on its rank advantage.

One side maintains control of the situation in a cool, indifferent manner, having already anticipated the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and awaits the start of the battle.

The mountains and forests were deathly silent, thick with the stench of blood.

A head-on clash is imminent.