The morning sunlight filtered through the leaves onto the ground, resembling butterflies dancing in the wind, speckling the forest with vitality. Luo Zheng's cold gaze swept the surroundings, noting places suitable for concealnt, retreat, and cover in combat, morizing the terrain. His resolute face briefly revealed a murderous intent as he quickly ran toward a dense shrubbery on the mountainside.
The underbrush was thick with weeds and littered with several rotting trees. Luo Zheng glanced around and was about to hide under a rotting tree when he saw a colorful snake slithering out, its tongue flickering. It was about a ter long with a golden-yellow body and a triangular, flat head. Luo Zheng startled, "A gold-eyed snake?" He was overjoyed and charged forward in a dash, reaching out and grabbing the snake at the vital spot seven inches below its head.
The gold-eyed cobra was alard and twisted its body, but with its vital spot seized, its ability to resist was limited. Wrapping tightly around Luo Zheng's arm, Luo Zheng, having hunted since his youth and dealt with snakes countless tis, hardly cared about this minor trouble. Letting go of his crossbow, he swiftly grasped the cobra's head with lightning speed.
Having secured the cobra's head, Luo Zheng was no longer worried. Coordinating his hands, he slowly extracted the entangled arm, picked up three crude arrows, and placed their sharp ends near the cobra's mouth. The angry cobra opened its mouth and sprayed out Poison Liquid, coating the arrows. Luo Zheng laughed and threw the cobra into the bushes.
Once freed, the Golden Cobra quickly burrowed into the undergrowth and disappeared. Luo Zheng crawled into the space under the rotting tree, supported by stones, spacious and cool. Considering the cobra had been there, he didn't worry about other venomous creatures harming him. Luo Zheng inspected the Poison Liquid on the arrows and patiently waited.
As ti ticked by, the surroundings remained silent. A small bird landed on the tree, singing joyously, oblivious to Luo Zheng concealed below. Soon, a figure in black appeared on the ridge, cautiously examining the tracks on the ground, his gaze unsure as it landed on the bush where Luo Zheng was hiding. Seeing the singing bird, he dismissed his suspicion—believing no one could be hiding where birds sang so freely, unaware of Luo Zheng's exceptional stealth skills.
Quickly, five figures in black appeared on the ridge. One of them signaled, and imdiately two of them rushed down the slopes on either side of the mountain, while the remaining three moved forward along the ridge, searching. The singing bird, startled by the approaching n, flew off and quickly vanished into the forest.
Luo Zheng coolly watched the approaching figures in black, less than ten ters from him, then moving on to search the other side, completely ignoring the shrubbery. Seizing the rare opportunity, Luo Zheng slid out like a giant python, nocked an arrow, and aid at his target.
A breeze stirred the leaves, allowing a ray of sunlight to slip through and fall on Luo Zheng's intense gaze. His tiger-like eyes sharply focused on the target's neck, the arrow bobbing with the movent of the body. Suddenly, the target stopped and scanned the surroundings. Luo Zheng was ecstatic, "Now!" he loosened his grip, and the Poison Liquid-coated arrow whistled through the Void, streaking a Black Shadow as it swiftly struck.
The man in black was vigilant and reacted swiftly, instinctively diving to evade the danger. Luo Zheng had aid at the left side of the neck, but the man fortuitously dove to the left. The arrow, missing its intended mark, grazed past the right side of his neck, drawing a streak of blood.
"Ah?" the man scread, clutching his neck.
Luo Zheng could not afford to check the outco of his battle. He quickly crawled out of the decaying tree trunk and dashed to a side, disappearing into the distance with a few speedy movents. However, he was still spotted by an equally astute man in black, who chased after his shadow. Luo Zheng had no choice but to speed up, rushing toward the canyon in one breath.
There was a shallow river in the canyon with calming, crystal-clear water and a wide riverbank scattered with stones of various sizes. Luo Zheng knew that being caught by the man in black would spell trouble. He needed to shake off the pursuit and find an opportunity to strike. Seeing the stones, an idea struck him.
Luo Zheng dashed into the water, running downstream, which helped to conceal his tracks. He stopped by a pile of inconspicuous stones, lying flat by the riverbank and moved the stones to cover his entire body. Just as he finished, Luo Zheng saw soone leaping down to the riverbank from the mountainside with the swiftness of a tiger.
After reaching the riverbank, this person did not attempt to hide. He wasn't recklessly bold but rather using himself as bait. At this mont, Luo Zheng could have shot to kill the man in black, but that would have exposed his position and attracted more retaliation. Unmoved, Luo Zheng calmly observed the other man bending down to examine the traces on the ground, quickly approaching the river where the traces disappeared. The man made several hand signals.
Shortly after, two n in black dashed down. The one who had been checking continued upstream, persisting in the pursuit, while the other two went downstream, quickly passing the spot where Luo Zheng was hiding. One of them stepped on the stone covering Luo Zheng and rushed past without noticing anything unusual.
Thanks to the family's Breathing Skill, Luo Zheng could blend in with his surroundings without giving away a single breath, so even exceptionally sensitive birds wouldn't notice him. After waiting a while and ensuring the n in black had moved far enough, Luo Zheng slowly moved the stones aside, poked his head out, and seeing no trace of the n in either direction, he let out a sigh of relief. He quickly got up and raced back up the mountainside the way he had co.
There were six n in black in total. Luo Zheng had killed one earlier, and now three had appeared, with two still unaccounted for. Luo Zheng surmised that he must have hit his target earlier, and since that man hadn't died, one had stayed to look after him. Seizing this opportunity, Luo Zheng decided to go back and check.
Soon, Luo Zheng reached the mountainside and hid in a bush to scout. Sensing no danger, he carefully made his way to a large tree not far from where he had initially hidden, peeking out to see two n in black. One was lying on the ground, either dead or unconscious, while the other stood by, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Seeing this, Luo Zheng sneered and stealthily moved forward. Getting closer, he crouched and proceeded crawling under cover of the bushes, his eyes fiercely locked on his target. Reaching a large tree, Luo Zheng coldly nocked an arrow to his bow, the target only five or six ters away.
At that mont, the man in black seed to sense sothing was amiss and turned to stare at the large tree where Luo Zheng was hiding. His expression turned grave as he raised his gun and cautiously started to approach, each step ticulously small, clearly suspicious. Luo Zheng hadn't expected such high vigilance from the man, and it shocked him internally.
"Squeak, squeak," a little squirrel, perhaps startled, quickly climbed up a tree. Luo Zheng grew anxious. The opponent had a gun and was an expert. He was only ard with his wooden bow. What to do?
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