Chapter 25: Audaciously Reckless

  According to the map, Yue Yu led Ruan Li east for about three more miles. Then, as expected, under a small hill package described by the old hunter, they found ten large scattered pits.

  This was where the hunters and medicine men from the city would spend the night, covering themselves with a layer of wooden boards to safely pass the night in the wilderness. According to that 120-year-old elderly hunter, these places were still in use about a hundred years ago. It wasn't until the Yue family drove out and killed the powerful demons nearby that they slowly fell into disuse.

  Next, Yue Yu quickly began to erase the traces of the two people along the way. In addition to setting up a smokescreen, there was also the scent of the two people.

  Yue Yu discovered very early on that as his inner energy increased, the five senses of the people in this world would also be enhanced to a certain extent. Some techniques could even make human senses rival those of the demon beasts. The method Yue Yu chose was the simplest and most violent one.

  Before he arrived, he brought several bottles of medicine with a pungent smell and rapid volatility. Spraying everywhere, enough to cover everything. Even if the sense of smell is sensitive, it will lose its effect here.

  When all this was ready, they carefully returned to the pit and covered it with a large quantity of fallen leaves.

  It was fortunate that it was the end of autumn, and the fallen leaves in this dense forest were already several feet thick. The two of them didn't need to do anything else to conceal themselves, and they could make it seem seamless.

  Then, in just over a minute, several faint footsteps were heard approaching. Ran Li didn't even dare to breathe at this time, and he felt both amazed and stimulated by what Yue Yu had done earlier. However, at this moment, his own life was the most important thing. Yue Yu, however, didn't care about that; earlier, he had set up several pieces of broken copper mirrors above the small pit. Using the principle of light refraction, even without sticking his head out, he could see some of what was happening above.

  The four newcomers were indeed four, one of whom was a mid-level martial artist with four silver lines on his sleeve. This was also within Yue Yu's expectations, and the only thing that made him somewhat stunned was that among the four people, only one did not wear the emblem of the Yue family. The other three, including the fourth-level martial artist, all had the mountain pattern embroidered on their chest.

  Yue Yu subconsciously raised an eyebrow, and this situation was once again far beyond his expectations. Being able to arbitrarily order a mid-level martial artist within the clan to do such private things for him showed that Jin Xu's power within the clan far exceeded his imagination. Of course, there was also good news - there was only one non-clan martial artist, which meant that Jin Xu's financial resources were lower than he had expected.

  It's not surprising to think about it, the Jin family father and son rose up in the city of Yuejia for only three generations, and their accumulation won't be too much. If they really had such great financial resources, they wouldn't have taken the risk of being criticized by the elders of the clan to plot against their fields.

  At this time, Yue Yu's mind had a nearly absurd idea. Seeing the four people dispersing and searching for their traces in all directions, with no immediate danger around him, Yue Yu lifted the leaves covering his head and gazed in the direction where the few people disappeared, falling into deep thought.

  "Ali, what do you say we take them down right here?"

  Originally, Ruan Li was about to get up and pull Yue Yu back into the pit to avoid being discovered by the four people who might return at any time, but he almost bit his own tongue.

  "Master, have you gone mad? Those are four martial artists!"

  "My eyes aren't blind!"

  Ran's forehead was beaded with fine sweat. He thought he was quite bold, but at this moment, Ran felt that in this regard, he couldn't compare to his young master.

  "There's actually a mid-level martial artist inside, and he might be able to take us down all by himself!"

  Yue Yu smiled slightly, without saying a word. His gaze swept to the back, where the six-stone longbow painted black and several bundles of long ropes in the pit were left behind by those hunters a hundred years ago. Yue Yu had tried pulling it earlier, and its toughness was still pretty good.

  At this moment, Ruan Li's pupils suddenly opened wide, and he knew that the arrow shot by Yue Yu that day was not a coincidence. Ruan Li himself had tried it out, but no matter what, he couldn't get an arrow to pass through even one leaf of a tree from over a hundred paces away.

  "Didn't you say before, Young Master, that we should hide our true strength?"

  "If we're going to take action, then let's finish them off in one go!"

  Yue Yu's face was cold and he sneered. Then, a cunning glint appeared in his eyes: "You say if those three martial artists died in this forest, what kind of reaction would the clan have?"

  Ran Li was taken aback for a moment, but then seemed to have an epiphany. He didn't know what kind of reaction his clan would have, but Jin Xu, who had been ordered to do private errands for him, would definitely be in a predicament.

  ※※※※

  Yue Youcheng is now very annoyed, not only because of the two prey being chased, suddenly disappearing without a trace under his own eyes. There is also a faint sense of guilt in his heart, as well as the anger of being treated as a household slave by that person.

  As a mid-level martial artist born into the direct lineage of the Yun clan, being caught and ordered around by someone who is still just a servant is already humiliating enough. Not to mention also being made to do such shameful things.

  What's even more infuriating is that this time, he can't refuse.

  Yue Youcheng is now over sixty years old, and twelve years ago he had already broken through to the thirteenth level of true energy. However, after decades of hard work for his family, he only managed to acquire about three hundred mu of land. Among them, only thirty mu were in the valley, while the rest were newly reclaimed wasteland outside the valley. Not to mention the insufficient output, even safety was far from guaranteed compared to being inside the valley. Yue Youcheng now has two sons and two daughters...

  If this were twenty years ago, it wouldn't be a big deal. At most, continue to fight for the clan for another few decades. One day, we'll definitely drive away those monsters from Gukou.

  However, recently, Yue Youcheng felt that his physical condition was getting worse day by day. The old injuries he suffered from when he was young were now aching severely. No matter how optimistic he was, he understood that his time was almost up.

  This made Yue Youcheng, who had always been eager to rush into battle and fight on the front lines, feel a sense of unprecedented panic. What he was worried about was his wife and children; while he was still alive, he could use the generous monthly allowance given by his clan to support his family's livelihood. But what if he were to die?

  So no matter what, I must leave something for my children and then find a way to die in battle - this is the idea that Yue Youcheng now holds.

  He had never felt ashamed in his heart, but this was also forced by Mrs. Yue Zhang. Before that, he had never agreed to use radical means, as long as the other party could compromise and give up some land, he would be very satisfied. But that stingy woman, she was so stingy that she wouldn't even spit out an acre!

  "Haven't you discovered it yet?"

  When Yue You Cheng returned to the place where they had parted ways before, there were already two fellow martial artists back here. This wasn't because his footsteps weren't as fast, but rather that Yue You Cheng's pursuit went further.

  As expected, he saw his two companions shaking their heads. Yue Youcheng's heart sank for the first time, regretting not bringing an experienced hunter this time. It was really hard to imagine before that two kids under sixteen years old would have such a formidable method.

  "How come he hasn't returned yet from the advantageous side?"

  Yue Youli, his cousin, was also one of the companions who participated in this action. Just as Yue Youshen spat out these words, a very obvious firelight rose from the northern sky. The three of them exchanged a glance, and their spirits were lifted, rushing towards that direction.

  Yue Youli was in charge of the northern direction. Although using the family's smoke signals here also had the possibility of being discovered by others, it couldn't be helped at this time.

  The place where the firelight was shining was about twenty miles away. At a speed of three people, it would take only a moment to arrive. However, when the situation in that direction entered into Yue Youcheng's eyes, who was rushing forward, his heart suddenly hesitated.

  All they saw was a lifeless human body hanging in mid-air, its back to them. What was shocking and inexplicable was that both the figure and the scar on his right hand were all too familiar to Yue Youcheng.

  Just then, he heard a sharp whistle by his ear. When Yue Youcheng turned his head in the direction of the sound, he only saw several residual shadows flashing across his field of vision. By the time he fully came to his senses, Yue Youcheng only saw that one of his companions beside him was covering his throat and falling down.

  Just as they were shocked, this third-class martial artist, who was only inferior to him, had already been shot in the throat by an arrow.