Only then did the first drop of blood on the blade slide down its edge and fall to the ground.

 

The way to hunt beastmen was like this: three or four of the hunters would transform into beast form. They would pounce on the target, bite and hold him down, forcing him to transform into his beast form and cutting off his escape. The other beastmen would only transform halfway. One hand would become a beast claw, while the other held a weapon. Their legs would also become half-beast legs. This allowed them to remain standing while gaining the explosive strength of a wild beast. While their companions held the target down, they would use their sharp swords and beast claws to kill the person trapped in the middle.

Hua Yi knew this process very well. During his long escape and his years as an Exiled Traveller, he had gone through thousands upon thousands of hunts like this.

He was very experienced at dealing with this kind of thing.

Hua Yi knew that as long as he was agile enough and could keep up his speed, it was difficult for the half-beasts to catch a giant beast that had fully transformed. The hunting party would easily be split into two groups. If he seized the right moment, he could use the dense forest and its limited space to take them down one by one.

Although he was somewhat tired after days of being harassed again and again by those endless little pests, this was actually nothing to him. Exiled Travellers traded their lives for their rewards. As long as he still had the strength to run and shake off his pursuers, he had not yet reached the point of risking his life. This meant that this mission was not particularly dangerous.

But he was determined to succeed, because the reward for this mission was very important to him. He needed that person's help. Hua Yi had pushed his patience to its limit. He was waiting to tear open the throat of his dear second elder brother with his own hands and taste the feeling of revenge.

This was only the first step of his revenge.

Hua Yi easily shook off the three or four giant beasts that had caught up with him and quickly ran deeper into the forest. The giant beasts instinctively chased after him. Before long, the whole group had been clearly split into two ends.

Hua Yi suddenly leapt high into the air and planted his feet against a tree trunk. The snow-white giant beast turned neatly in mid-air and bit the neck of the beastman running at the front. The beast did not even make a sound. Two bloody holes appeared in his neck. When they landed, the beastman in Hua Yi's mouth was already dead.

A string of blood droplets landed on Hua Yi's face. He did not care and simply shook them off before pouncing towards the second beastman.

However that man suddenly turned and ran. His movement was completely without hesitation. Hua Yi stopped for a moment and immediately realised that something was wrong, but it seemed to be too late.

A sharp arrow tore through the air with a shrill sound. Hua Yi rolled away on the ground and felt the arrow scrape across his back before hitting the ground. He hurriedly looked back, and his heart sank.

The arrowhead had a very strange, sinister green colour.

"How could those birdmen get mixed into this? This is troublesome!" Hua Yi cursed inwardly, but he did not dare hesitate. He turned and ran forward.

The giant beasts formed by beastmen were generally similar in appearance. An ordinary adult beastman's beast form looked like a giant lion. It was a little larger than a real lion; from head to tail, it could be more than a zhang long (NT: around 3 m). When standing on all fours, it was about as tall as a male beastman in human form. Most looked like lions, while some looked like tigers. Their claws and fangs were sharp. The bravest beastman warriors of a tribe would usually grow fangs more than half a foot long after transforming. They could crush an animal's skull in the blink of an eye.

In the marshlands of the far north, however, there was a very special kind of beastman. Their beast forms resembled birds, and they had a pair of wings. They were not known for their fighting ability and were very mysterious. Outsiders rarely found the tribes where they lived. Most troublesome of all, although these winged beastmen had weaker claws and fangs than other beastmen, they could fly. They were also very skilled at making poison and using hidden arrows. They were extremely difficult to guard against.

Hua Yi had only seen the green substance on the arrowhead once before. He knew that it was a very powerful poison. Even a little contact would paralyse the whole body within ten steps. The poison would take a whole day and night to wear off. If the dose was larger, the victim could even suffocate to death because he could not breathe.

Hua Yi was not sure whether they wanted to suffocate him to death or capture him alive.

The sound of wings beating came closer. When the great bird swooped down at him from above, Hua Yi quickly dodged. He then sprang forward more than three zhang in one step and avoided a row of poisoned arrows. He swung a claw and knocked away the bold winged beastman. A warning growl came from his throat.

But that flat-feathered brute did not react at all. It was almost as if he had come looking for death. He flapped his wings and covered Hua Yi in foul-smelling feathers. The footsteps in the forest also grew closer and closer.

If the situation had not been so urgent, Hua Yi would not have wanted to confront these winged beastmen directly. But now, it seemed that he had no choice.

He suddenly jumped into the air, startling the great bird. It seemed not to have expected a land-dwelling beastman to jump so high. Its wings flapped once, probably intending to fly into the sky, but it was too late. The next moment, a sharp pain came from its neck. Before the bird even realised what had happened, its head had already been separated from its body.

Hua Yi bit the winged beastman to death, but he immediately realised that he had made a mistake.

He spat out the bird's head with a "bah". An indescribable numbness came from his mouth. Then it slowly spread from his face and neck through his entire body.

Damn chicken-feathered man. Even his blood was poisonous!

Hua Yi clearly felt his heartbeat becoming slower and his body becoming harder to control. He remained calm, but for the moment, he could do nothing.

The next moment, the snow-white giant beast, panting heavily and looking dishevelled, suddenly disappeared. A man's figure appeared in its place. His forehead was covered in cold sweat. His knees weakened the moment he stood up, and he nearly fell. He barely managed to steady himself. His chest rose and fell violently as he staggered over to a large tree and leaned against it. Yet his face still wore a calm and unhurried smile.

The poison made the wound on his chest itch. Hua Yi coughed softly several times and smiled at the people coming out of the dense forest. "I never thought the Winged Clan would get mixed up in this mess. You really gave me a fright."

Several people came out of the forest. The leader was in human form, with three or four land-dwelling giant beasts beside him. Another winged beastman had transformed into a bird and was perched on a branch very close to Hua Yi. They did not even look at their companion lying in two pieces on the ground. It was as though that unlucky fellow had come out only to use his own body to briefly paralyse Hua Yi.

The leader had a body similar to an ordinary beastman, but his head was so small that it looked completely out of proportion. Even the head of an undergrown little girl was probably bigger than his. His voice was also very unusual. It sounded almost like singing, with a soft rhythm. All these physical features showed that he was also a member of the Winged Clan.

He said softly, "Since you know to be afraid, hand over the thing. Then we can all save ourselves some trouble. What do you say?"

His voice was soft, but the hand he held out was not soft at all. The tips of his five fingers curled up unnaturally like chicken claws. His nails gleamed coldly. No one would doubt that those fingers could easily pierce through a person's chest.

By now, Hua Yi's tongue was stiff, and every word was difficult to say. Yet he calmly showed his trademark honest smile. "I'm just a traveller travelling alone. What do you want me to hand over? Are you trying to rob me of my provisions?"

The winged beastman gave a mocking laugh. "Silver Fang, I respect you as a hero. Don't play innocent."

Hua Yi rubbed his forehead. He sighed and shook his head as he said, "Since you know who I am, shouldn't you know that although I'm no good man, I do have a few good brothers? If I had accepted that job, wouldn't I have travelled with them? Did I separate from them just to make it easier for you to rob me?"

The winged beastman did not react. "They separated from you because they are decoys."

Hua Yi looked at him for a moment, as if he could not believe that someone in this world could be so stupid. He said, "If everyone under heaven thinks the thing is on me, then why would I keep it on myself? Just wait for you to come and rob me?"

The winged beastman frowned. For a moment, he actually thought Hua Yi made sense. But this man was too cunning, so he had to be careful.

"Fine. If you don't believe me, you can come and search me. I don't mind taking my clothes off myself." As he spoke, Hua Yi really did slowly begin taking off his clothes. Then his eyes fell on the broad and muscular beastmen in front of him. He immediately looked troubled again and said, "What a loss today. I've gone to all this trouble to take everything off, but who am I supposed to do it for? There isn't even a beauty here…"

A knife pressed against his neck stopped Hua Yi from speaking. At the signal from their leader, a beastman strode forward and glared fiercely at Hua Yi. "Stop playing tricks. Hands out. We're searching you!"

Hua Yi raised his hands. They trembled slightly from weakness. He looked at them with an innocent expression.

The winged beastman in the lead walked over. His sharp nails slowly traced across Hua Yi's bare chest. He spoke in that singing voice that made one's skin crawl. "You can still stand at this point. You're quite impressive."

Hua Yi blinked at him. His expression became even more honest and innocent.

The beastman holding the knife gave a cold laugh and pulled the cloth bundle from Hua Yi's arms.

Hua Yi hurriedly said, "Hey, don't get my sprouted-wheat steamed bun dirty…"

He really did look anxious. The winged beastman emptied all the miscellaneous things from the bundle onto the ground and kicked through them. He had not paid much attention to them at first. But when he saw Hua Yi's expression, he suddenly stopped. He bent down and picked up the sprouted-wheat steamed bun, which was already covered in mud, and gave a cold laugh. "A steamed bun?"

The winged beastman suddenly broke open the cold, hardened bun. It split down the middle, and a hollow sound came from inside. The small-headed, large-bodied birdman laughed and said quietly, "Oh? So it's a stuffed steamed bun…"

A flash of light passed through Hua Yi's eyes.

At the moment the winged beastman completely broke the steamed bun open, a cloud of grey smoke suddenly burst out from inside. It instantly blinded him. At the same time, Hua Yi used the strength he had painfully gathered while talking to form a beast claw. Before the beastman holding a knife against his neck could react, Hua Yi thrust his claw straight through his throat. He then grabbed the knife and, with one clean movement, slashed the throat of the winged beastman who was leading them.

Without hesitation, he killed two men in a row and immediately moved back. Using the large tree for support, he tried to slip into the forest.

Only then did a roar come from behind him. The giant beasts who had not reacted at first roared and one of them pounced on Hua Yi from behind.

Hua Yi had already planned his escape route, but his legs were too weak. He happened to trip over a tree root. He could barely feel his limbs, and at this point he was relying entirely on sheer willpower to keep going. This fall nearly killed him.

Hua Yi's vision went black for a moment when he fell. His heart tightened. Damn it!

But the enemy he expected did not reach him. Hua Yi only heard a strange sound, as if someone were drawing an enormous weapon. There was a sharp "shing" as the weapon left its sheath, followed by the sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone. Hot blood sprayed across Hua Yi's back.

He turned around in shock and saw the sub-beast youth he had thought he had already shaken off.

Chang An was holding a sabre almost twice as long as he was. It had a thick, black iron hilt and a blade that gleamed like snow.

The youth suddenly flicked his wrist. The corpse of the giant beast, which had nearly fallen on Hua Yi, was flung away like a piece of roasted meat stuck on a tree branch. It rolled several feet before crashing to the ground with a loud bang.

Only then did the first drop of blood on the sabre slide down its edge and fall to the ground.

 

Translator : DarNan