The Highest Bounty

After escaping from the battlefield, Biggie quickly found a water source using an ability he still remembered from training in the past.

He found a little stream that looked less than two meters wide at most. The stream was shallow and the depth of it was not more than 50 cm. Nevertheless, the water looked clean and clear.

Since there was water, it meant that there was food nearby. However, it also meant that there were predators nearby as well.

Biggie carefully observed his surroundings as he hid in a big tree. It did not seem like anyone else was around. He finally got down the tree and quickly ran toward the little stream.

The foul taste of the Necrophagous Black Beetle was still in his mouth. He scooped some water from up the stream. He did not use the water to drink and instead used it to gargle.

The terrible taste in his mouth was finally washed away after a few gargles. However, the taste did not completely disappear. Biggie knew that he needed a proper mouth hygiene kit to get rid of it. He stopped the pointless gargling and began to drink the water instead. The water from the stream was cool, and it tasted sweet in his mouth. He could not help but gulp down a few mouthfuls.

He saw his blood-stained self from the reflection of the stream and decided to take off all his clothes. Scooping up more water, he bathed himself and took the opportunity to wash his clothes as well.

After a few minutes of bathing, he wrung his clothes dry and put them on. His clothes were still a bit wet, and they stuck to his skin. Nevertheless, all he could do was wait for the wind to dry them out.

After his bath, Biggie found a big tree near the stream and climbed up it. The place was dangerous, but there was a water source, vital for his survival. While the stream did not have any big fish, a few little fish that were the size of a finger inhabited it. They could be used for food and would surely taste much better than Necrophagous Black Beetles. Biggie planned to wait on the tree patiently and avoid encountering others.

Not long after Biggie had gotten onto the tree, he saw someone walking toward the stream. At first glance, the person looked like a skinny man who was about thirty-years-old. The man surveyed his surroundings just as Biggie had done and walked toward the stream when he was sure that there was no one else near him.

That man had crouched down and begun to drink when all of a sudden, footsteps sounded from the forest. In response, the man quickly ducked down and rolled toward a bush nearby. He crouched in it and hid in it as he stared toward the source of the sound.

Evidently, Biggie was observing the whole situation from high above. He could clearly see a woman nearby walking toward the stream. That woman looked to be about twenty-years-old and was quite pretty. However, her expressionless poker face was off-putting. Even though the sentence "Do not come near" was not stamped on her face, anyone with the same feeling about her was not far off from doing so. Needless to say, every single person was an enemy under the circ.u.mstances they were in. Hence, it was normal for her to have such a look on her face.

There was a bundle on the woman"s back. The bundle was made out of a piece of clothing. It looked like the previous owner of the piece of clothing was quite a huge person. There were still bloodstains on the bundle of clothes. The "bundle" had to be her spoils from victory.

“There can only be one thing in that bundle in this situation, and that would be food!” When the thought crossed Biggie"s mind, the man in the bushes came to the same conclusion.

“Carrying a bundle on her back in such a place. It can only mean that there must be food in there. All I need to do is kill that woman and steal her bundle. Then, I"ll have food.”

That woman was not aware of what was about to happen as she continued to walk straight for the little stream. She did not even bother to stop and observe her surroundings for any possible ambush.

She headed for the stream and began to scoop up some water. Without warning, the skinny man made a move from the nearby bush just as she was gulping down her first mouthful of water.

The sword in his hand glinted as he went straight for the woman"s throat.

However, what happened next was unexpected. The woman vanished right in front of his eyes, and the next thing he knew, he could feel a cold sensation coming from his neck. Right after that, the man felt liquid spurt out from his neck. He reached his hand out to his neck only to have his palm instantly drenched with sticky, red blood. Only then did he realize that the woman had cut the veins on his neck in one swift move.

Biggie was frightened to the core as he watched from afar. The woman"s speed surpa.s.sed the limits of a Rank 1 Gene Body. He could hardly catch the woman"s movements. Nevertheless, he could still tell that the weapon the woman had used was a sword, just like the skinny man.

“There are too many flaws in the way you move. Number one, I felt your intent to kill the moment I walked out of the forest. Number two, you"re wearing black all over and it sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of a green bush. Number three, you have terrible swordsmans.h.i.+p; there"s no force and speed when there should be,” the woman stood in front of the skinny man as she critiqued him with an emotionless expression on her face.

She sized him up. “Too bad you"re so skinny, but I guess I can make do with your pair of legs.”

With that, the woman swung her sword and immediately chopped off the skinny man"s legs. The man was still breathing, and he gave the woman a hateful look.

The woman cut off both his feet and threw them into the stream. Then, she swung her sword twice to slash off the pants that were still on the man"s legs. She folded up his legs and placed them in her bundle. When she saw that the skinny man was not dead, she rummaged through his bundle and found a hand. The hand belonged to the strong man Biggie had killed. “Take a good look at this. This is the hand of a real man. You could give me both your hands and I wouldn"t even bother eating them.”

It was only then, did the skinny man realize the woman"s bundle was filled with flesh from other dead people. Biggie, who was crouching at the top of the big tree, frowned slightly as well. Even though he had expected the bundle to be filled with human flesh, the sight of it still made him feel uncomfortable.

The skinny man died not long after as his main arteries had been cut open.

However, the poker-faced woman did not leave immediately. Instead, she found an empty spot and collected some dried gra.s.s along with sticks. She stacked them up and made a small fire. Then, she took out the thigh that belonged to a big man from her bundle, shaved the body part clean, and washed it with water from the stream. Next, the woman sharpened a stick and used it to hold the thigh up as she started grilling it on the fire.

The fragrant smell of the meat wafted through the area.

Biggie began to feel hungrier as his nose whiffed the scent of the aroma. It proved that human flesh had a similar aroma as other types of meats when grilled. Its fragrance made it appealing and appetizing.

The fact that the woman was brazenly grilling the meat at such a place was a telltale that she was quite confident with her abilities. For Biggie, her swordsmans.h.i.+p was also a reason for him to be cautious. He could only hope for her to leave after her meal.

Nevertheless, most situations do not develop the way people want them to.

Even after the woman was done grilling the meat, she did not immediately bite into it. Instead, she put out the fire by covering it with soil and took her bundle once again as she climbed up a big tree near the stream. It did not look like she was going to leave for quite a while.

Biggie did not feel safe with someone so dangerous near him. Additionally, the poker-faced woman had no qualms about whatever she did and was probably going to attract others to his place. In that scenario, there was a high chance he would be affected by her actions.

Running through all the potential problems, Biggie was convinced to move to a safer spot. Nevertheless, now was not a good time for him to do so. The woman could not see him in his current spot. On the other hand, if he got off the tree, he would immediately become an obvious target. He had to be patient and wait for the next wave of people to arrive so that the woman would attack them. Besides that, Biggie was pretty sure that the fire she had started just now would attract the arrival of others very soon. The moment chaos ensued, he would be able to escape in the midst of it.

The place where the poker-faced woman had chosen to hide did not have much cover. Biggie could still spot her when he poked his head out. The woman was sitting on a branch and happily eating her grilled thigh. Even though she still had an emotionless expression on her face, Biggie could tell that she was enjoying her meal. She did not seem to care about being discovered.

Biggie guess was spot on. Less than five minutes after the poker-faced woman had climbed up the tree, a few people could be seen running toward her direction. Biggie knew that those people who intended to strike first were not weak in their abilities. However, the poker-faced woman was the best among the ten thousand of them. As long as there were no surprises, those people would end up as her food.

The first to arrive at the scene was a dark-bearded man. He was wearing a half-b.u.t.toned up plaid s.h.i.+rt that revealed his very hairy chest. There were three long scars on his naked chest which made him look quite vicious. A sword hung from his right waist, while his right hand rested on the sword"s hilt in a very casual way. Nevertheless, he was obviously an expert in swordsmans.h.i.+p and seemed very vigilant.

He walked toward where the fire had been started and saw that smoke was still coming from it even though it had been put out. He reached out to touch where the fire had been lighted. It was still warm to the touch. Hence, he quickly came to the conclusion that whoever had started it was not far off.

He looked around him and quickly discovered a corpse without legs in the bush next to the now extinguished fire. He crouched down to examine the body. “It was a lethal attack with the main arteries of his neck slashed. He died from losing too much blood. The cut marks on his legs are very tidy and whoever made them clearly needed only one swing to chop off both his legs. It looks like the person is no simple opponent.”

As he deduced what had happened, a second and person appeared from the forest at almost the same time. One was a plump middle-aged man while the other was a young man who looked to be Gu Ding"s age.

They spotted each other and gave wary looks to the opposing party. Nevertheless, they did not attempt to attack in any way.

Both of them also noticed the bearded man at the same time.

“Hey, you were the one who built the fire, weren"t you? That"s very audacious of you,” the plump man shouted at the bearded man.

“I just arrived here. I only reached a minute earlier than you,” the bearded man rebuffed. Even though he knew that there was no way he could avoid fighting, he did not like to be maligned.

“He"s absolutely right. I was the one who built the fire,” the voice of a woman was suddenly heard from nearby as everyone turned to look at the source of the voice.