Transformation
If you do something in one go, fail and then try again with low spirits only to fail yet again, your spirit will be gone. Su Ming had taken Grandfather’s words to heart ever since he was small. Grandfather kept a lot of beast skin scrolls which he had read countless times. The great knowledge in those scrolls had appealed to him.
The knowledge had been carved into Su Ming’s mind without him knowing about it, and the knowledge was buried in his mind. But now, while chasing his enemy, this knowledge had started emerging bit by bit.
Yu Chi was very anxious. Initially he believed that he couldn’t escape, and he was prepared to turn back and fight for his life. After seeing the distance between him and Su Ming expand, he discarded that thought. When he was once again prepared to turn around and fight, he found out that the distance between them had lengthened even more..
After looking back a couple of times, he had lost his spirit to fight.
For Su Ming, this Barbarian cultivator from the Black Mountain tribe was just his prey, a frightened prey. As long as his prey could feel like he had a chance at survival, it would be easy to kill him.
Su Ming was using this method to weaken Yu Chi’s confidence and courage. His opponent would become slower and feel more relieved the longer this chase went on.
Su Ming remembered what he had read on a beast skin scroll. Once someone relaxed after continuous tension, his fatigue and pain will multiply exponentially.
Su Mind understood this concept. Utilizing this knowledge had become second nature, and he didn’t even need to think about it as it all happened naturally.
Today was the first time he had killed someone, the first time he had pursued someone, and it is also the first time his personality had changed like this. Unfortunately, this transformation could only be seen by Yu Chi alone.
Su Ming could feel this transformation clearly, but he had no idea what had caused it. He could feel his confidence and courage skyrocketing upon seeing the little monkey being kidnapped. As for Yu Chi, he was only losing his confidence and courage.
Subnconsciously, he had given up the idea of turning back and fighting. Although he knew that his opponent was in the second tier of the Blood Condensation realm just like him, he had a feeling that if he turned around, he would be doomed. Only by continuously running would he have a chance of survival.
His fatigue had increased tremendously, especially when he noticed that the young man who was behind him was now gone. The feeling of fatigue numbed both his legs, almost to the point where he couldn’t stand still. However, he couldn’t stop and rest now. He could only grit his teeth and keep running.
But all of this made him feel even more fatigued When he saw the young man appearing behind him again, he felt like he was going insane.
“Evil Barbarian!! He must be an evil Barbarian!!” Yu Chi was frightened. While he was running, he saw a cross road in front of him. Turning left would lead him into a forest and a road that would take him to the Black Mountain tribe, whereas the right turn would be a road that leads him on a path around the Black Fiery peak, ultimately taking him to the Black Mountain tribe.
Su Mind had known that there was a cross road right in front of them. Right at this moment, his eyes lit up, and his speed increased while he suppressed all of his fatigue. He was not running forward. Instead, he crossed the woods, approaching the road on the right side.
It was as if he knew that Yu Chi would take the right turn. That was why he chose the road on the right earlier, so that he could shorten the distance between them. When he was running he had already taken out his bow and some arrows, thus he could shoot a few arrows towards the junction on the right. Within the time of a few breaths, all the arrows had been released. The arrows penetrated the trees surrounding the road. The feathers on the arrows vibrated, creating a buzzing sound.
It was as if the buzzing sound carried some magical power. Yu Chi hesitated his steps when he heard the buzzing.
Su Ming continued pursuing. Yu Chi growled, and right before entering the right junction, Su Ming increased his speed even more, giving Yu Chu the wrong impression.
He felt that if he continued running towards the right junction he would soon be caught. But if he ran towards the left junction, his opponent would misjudge his movements, making the distance between them even greater.
The buzzing sound was still in Yu Chi’s ears, and he made up his mind and turned towards the left junction, beginning to run like lightning. Soon he disappeared into the forest.
Su Ming’s eyes lit up. A cruel expression emerged on his face together with fatigue, visibly smiling grimly.
He ran towards the trees and picked the arrows up before continuing to pursue Yu Chi.
“When you control the direction of your enemy’s escape, you control his body at the same time.,” Su Ming mumbled to himself. He remembered reading about this on a beast skin scroll. He couldn’t understand what it really meant back then, but now he had mastered it.
Time flew by as the pursuit continued. Soon it was midnight. The moon was shining bright in the sky, and the snow on the ground was reflecting the bright white rays, making the forest shower in silvery light even in the darkness.
Su Mind had made Yu Chi change his direction 3 times, and he slowly controller his body indirectly, making him go wherever Su Ming wanted him to go.
Reaching his hand into his chest pocket, a gentle look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. The unconscious little monkey was laying on his chest, it was thrown into the forest by Yu Chi in an attempt to slow Su Ming down and increase the distance between them to control Su Ming’s direction.
Yu Chi’s actions did have a positive result as Su Ming immediately ran towards the little monkey, making Yu Chi relieved. He instantly increased his escape speed afterwards.
But not long after that, Yu Chi discovered that there were arrows flying towards his back yet again, which almost made him want to go crazy.
Night arrived. Stars were blinking high up in the sky, almost as if there were numerous eyes looking down on the deadly pursuit within the forest.
Yu Chi was completely exhausted, his footsteps staggering. However, his body’s aches were nothing compared to his mind, which was filled with gaping wounds. He was deeply regretting finding that small cave, and he regretted chasing the little monkey. If he hadn’t done any of those things, he currently wouldn’t be suffering like this.
In front of him was another forest filled with gra.s.s. The gra.s.s was there even though it was winter. He couldn’t see too far into the forest. Not long after, Yu Chi decided to step into the woods. Su Ming appeared outside of the woods.
Su Ming stood there, breathing rapidly. His mouth released huge amounts of steam, a cruel look in his eyes. He didn’t continue his pursuit. Instead, he waited silently where he stood.
“Here, this is the grave that I arranged for you! If you can still walk out of this forest while being so tired, then you can count yourself lucky!” Su Ming’s breath started stabilizing as he started talking to himself.
Right after he finished speaking, a terrified scream could be heard from the forest. The scream would frighten anyone who heard it.
After some time, the terrified screams became weaker, gradually turning into pitiful cries.
Su Ming slowly started walking into the silent forest. He was very careful with each step he took. He would look around carefully after taking a few steps.
This was the spot where the Crow Mountain Tribe’s hunting group would catch animals. There were plenty of traps that only the Crow Mountain Tribe knew about. No other tribes would be able to locate these traps.
Su Ming only knew about some of the traps. There were more traps that he did not know anything about.
If Yu Chi was in peak condition, then it might have been possible for him to leave this forest alive. But with his current condition, stepping into these woods was equivalent to stepping into h.e.l.l.
Su Ming carefully walked around. The pitiful cries had become weaker. After carefully walking forward, Su Ming saw Yu Chi right in front of him. Yu Chi was nailed to a tree by a row of sharp tree logs.
His body was covered in blood, but he was alive. He was shivering and groaning.
Su Ming walked towards him silently. He looked at the man for some time, then he took out his bone horn and cut his throat.
Yu Chi struggled hard for a moment before dying. Both of his eyes were staring at Su Ming with endless hatred right before he died.
Su Ming remained silent. He removed Yu Chi’s belongings He then took some of his remaining red colored powder and poured it on Yu Chi’s wounds, immediately turning him into ashes.
Su Ming turned around and walked out of the woods. He stood outside the forest and stared at the bright moon in the sky, seemingly lost. This was the second time he had killed someone. He couldn’t explain what he was feeling… Anxiety, uncertainty…
After thinking about it for some time, he let out a sigh. The Black Mountain Tribe and the Crow Mountain Tribe both possessed the same origin, but after so many years they were constantly fighting each other. Once a tribe became stronger than the other tribe, the other tribe faced the risk of extermination. All of the men would be killed, and only the women will be spared. They would kidnap the women and make them work as breeders to produce children.
But luckily, this had never happened before. All the Grandfathers from all of the different tribes were at the same level, so they wouldn’t go to war with each other easily.
Su Ming took a deep breath. He felt extremely tired as he dragged his own body towards a location far away, feeling as if he was about to faint.
Time pa.s.sed by. When it reached dawn and the sun emerged, Su Ming went back to the quenching and dispersing place within the Fiery Black Peak. His face was yellowish, and right after he entered the small cave and reached the karst cave, he couldn’t force himself any more. He fell onto the ground, fainted.