Chapter 36: Hunting
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
He fell onto the ground slowly and softly, like falling leaves.
“How useful Yanfu Inner Strength is!” Junior Leopard smiled when he touched the ground. He knew nothing about Lightness Skill when he was staying at the Wu’s. In Wu Family’s Ironware Shop, people were good at hammering skills as well as internal and external strength, but they were not experts on Lightness Skill.
Because of this, his knowledge about Lightness Skill was limited to rumors from the Jianghu. He knew only that Lightness Skill was a general term, and that there were four different types of Lightness Skill. They are Qing, Ling, Zong, and Heng. Yanfu Inner Strength was a type of Lightness Skill that belonged to the Qing branch which used the mental cultivation methods of internal qi to make the body as light as a swallow. Through this method, one could fall softly to the ground like a falling leaf, suffering no injuries. Ling emphasized body movements, guiding the person to evade attacks. The simplest explanation of Zong was that it was powerful and strong, like picking up gra.s.s from the dry ground. Eight Movements Chasing Toad and the Floating Technique were kinds of Heng Lightness Skill.
The Lightness Skill he learned from Wu Family’s ironware shop was the most common one, called the Floating Technique.
As for the Yanfu Inner Strength he got from Xue Wuya, it was one of the best mental cultivation methods in the Qing branch. This was why he had been able to jump from such a high cliff with no problems, despite still only being a novice in this technique.
“I have to admit, the scenery here is quite beautiful! If only I wasn’t being a hostage… My martial arts skills progress far more quickly if I could practice here instead of practicing outside the mountains!”
Junior Leopard greedily took a deep breath and felt intoxicated by the fresh mountain air. Suddenly, excitement flashed on his face as his eyes fixed upon the stream. To his great surprise, there were about a dozen wild beasts below the waterfall and all along the stream, young and old alike. The most eye-catching one was the big wild boar. It was as huge as ordinary cattle, but its body was covered with black fur which was thin like needles and tough like steel. The snow-white fangs sticking out from the corners of its mouth were curly, sharp and s.h.i.+ning softly like metal. Perhaps because the other wild beasts knew how fearsome it was, all of them seemed to keep their distance from this wild boar.
But the wild boar was not careless at all. Although it was drinking water with its head down, its eyes were looking around vigilantly on the look-out for any incident. Maybe this was the instinct of all creatures living in Misty Mountain.
On seeing the wild boar, Junior Leopard had begun to wonder if Xue Wuya would agree that this wild boar could be counted as two animals when he presented it to him, as n.o.body could deny that it was a rather good prey.
But on second thought, he dropped the idea. Since Xue Wuya had ordered him to bring back 10 animals, Junior Leopard would indeed bring back 10 animals before midnight. It was not for Xue Wuya’s sake, but rather for the sake of Junior Leopard himself.
In his previous life, it had become an instinct of him to fulfill the tasks of the leader. Although he had been reborn into a new world, the instincts from his previous life would serve him well in this particular situation too.
Xue Wuya was his leader now, and it is widely acknowledged that all leaders love obedient subordinates. Even though Xue Wuya had revealed his murderous motives, the relations.h.i.+p thus far had been mutually beneficial. He had only met Xue Wuya for one day, and had already gotten great benefits from him. Xue Wuya was a strong Level Eight expert. If he could stay with him for a bit longer, the benefits he could get would no doubt be beyond his imagination… That was if Xue Wuya didn’t kill him.
And naturally, to keep himself from getting killed, he must try his best to please Xue Wuya.
It might be difficult for some people to b.u.t.ter a leader up. However, in Junior Leopard’s previous life, he had been a civil servant working in the new century and thus pleasing leaders was as natural as eating and drinking.
So what was the purpose of b.u.t.tering a leader up? Obviously, the most important thing was to ensure his satisfaction. Then how to ensure that he was satisfied? It was his first day working with Xue Wuya and he had to make a good impression. To leave a good impression, he had to ensure that the a.s.signed task was accomplished perfectly. Or even better, he could exceed expectations.
Junior Leopard did not dare to be lazy anymore, he shook his hands and took out two Kunais from up his sleeves and gripped them tightly in his hands. Now he was about 10 feet away from the wild boar. 100 feet, 30 meters… it was within his reach. Judging from his accuracy and the size of that wild boar, it would be quite easy for him to take it down.
For whatever reason, he lost concentration just when he was throwing out his Kunais. The Kunais slipped away from his hands with a weird curve, which was exactly the concealed weapons technique that he had learned from Xue Wuya a short time ago.
Then things became complicated. The Kunais left his hands and began to buzz around aimlessly like headless flies, not flying toward the wild boar at all. The only thing he had succeeded in was frightening away the wild beasts that were drinking water along the river.
“Dudu — !” The sound of two Kunais slamming into two tree trunks echoed back.
“s.h.i.+t!” Junior Leopard cursed in disappointment. He took out the coal dagger he had gotten from Xue Wuya and rushed to the wild boar. The wild boar noticed the danger but it didn’t turn to flee… On the contrary, it bared its two sharp fangs at Junior Leopard and dashed to him, focusing on the place where he would fall on the ground when he lost his strength.
“Bravo!” Junior Leopard sped up on seeing the wild boar das.h.i.+ng nearby. He began to use Yanfu Inner Strength. Suddenly, he jumped up to float in mid-air like a leaf in the wind. The wild boar’s attack failed, but it couldn’t stop immediately. The wild boar stumbled a couple more steps forward, and before it could stand firm it saw the flash of Junior Leopard’s coal dagger.
“Clang!” With one dagger, both fangs of the wild boar were broken and a sound of metal clanging echoed.
“Ow — !”
The wild boar cried out as its fangs were cut off. Its charge came to a halt and it suddenly turned to flee. Within a second, it had disappeared from Junior Jeopard’s sight.
“Good boy!” Junior Leopard was expecting the wild boar to fight for its life against him, but to his great surprise, it had turned around and ran immediately. From das.h.i.+ng towards him to escaping, the contrast was so sharp that he was still shocked. It took him a few moments to react, and then he delved into the woods without further hesitation to pursue the wild boar.
“Beast though it is, it still thinks and acts swiftly!”
The wild boar was racing ahead. There was no path in this dense forest for the wild boar to follow, but it managed to create a “road” through the shrubbery using its iron skin and huge frame. As for Junior Leopard, this only made his hunt easier. He followed the road that it had created without his feet even touching the ground. The coal dagger shone faintly in his hand, giving it an uncanny appearance in these dark woods. Quick as the wild boar was, it still had to clear the barriers while running, but the only thing Junior Leopard had to do was to follow its path. Moreover, he was not flying slowly. With the wild boar slowly fleeing and Junior Leopard flying quickly, he was edging ever closer to the wild boar. Suddenly, the wild boar’s body tumbled forward through the air as if it had stumbled over something on the ground.
Junior Leopard felt a bound of joy as the wild boar fell down. Although he was getting closer and closer to it, he had spent much of his strength and internal force on the way. Who knows how much longer he could fly for? Now that the wild boar had fallen down, he was naturally thrilled. But joy begets sorrow, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in the air, blocked his way. He was moving too quickly to stop in time and fell with his head down too.
“What’s this?!” A fishy smell wafted in the air as he fell down. Junior Leopard was terrified. He s.h.i.+elded himself without hesitation, the coal dagger in his hand.
“Pu — !” The dagger stabbed into something thick and soft like old leather. Then a hot flow of blood burst out and sprayed all over Junior Leopard’s face. Only then did he find that a White-scale Python that was longer than ten feet was lying in front of him!