Chapter 8: Jungle Crossfire, Narrowly Escaping Death!

The summer heat blazed.

Yet the forest beneath Old Ginseng Mountain was unusually cold and gloomy.

Qin Shuo hid behind the tree trunk, his ox‑horn bow drawn to the full, ready to strike back at any moment.

"Did you really see nothing?"

From the direction of the thicket, the leading middle‑aged man spoke, his tone hesitant, as if weighing whether to let Qin Shuo go.

"I… I really didn't see anything!"

Qin Shuo spoke with a sobbing voice, looking terrified and on the verge of collapse.

Hearing this, the three men all showed smiles.

You could tell the other party was a youngster, probably also out hunting in the mountains.

If the other party were an experienced old hunter, they might still have a few misgivings.

After all, old hunters' archery is generally not bad, and they tend to be crafty.

Even if they could kill him, they'd likely have to pay a price.

But looking now, the person behind the tree is clearly a greenhorn kid, probably already scared witless, limbs weak, not worth fearing.

Thus, the leading middle‑aged man softened his tone:

"Alright, we believe you—you can retreat now!"

Saying this, the three men drew their bows to full, aiming at the left and right sides of the trunk; if Qin Shuo showed himself, they would strike to kill.

"Truly… really? You truly intend to spare me?"

Qin Shuo was overjoyed, his voice gaining a bit of liveliness.

"Of course, as long as you didn't get a clear look at our faces, we won't slaughter the innocent."

The middle‑aged man's tone was firm, as if he truly intended to let Qin Shuo go.

"Thank you, thank you—I'll retreat now; you stay behind the trees so I can't see you."

Qin Shuo resembled an inexperienced child, his tone innocent, mixed with a bit of relief and gratitude for having survived.

"Good!"

The middle‑aged man replied, a hint of a savage smile curling his lips.

He really is easy to deceive!

But thinking about it, it's normal,

An ordinary teenager, suddenly stumbling upon three bow‑wielding brigands committing murder, would already be scared out of his wits—what other thoughts could he have?

Not just this boy—if they were in his place, they'd likely be panicking, their composure shattered, clutching at any chance to survive.

"Alright, I'm retreating now."

Qin Shuo overjoyed, he suddenly stepped back a ways, leaving the cover of the big tree.

At that moment he also made out the positions of the three men opposite: two on the left, one on the right, the nearest no more than thirty meters away.

"Die!"

The three loosed their arrows together, aiming at Qin Shuo's head, heart, and ankle.

"Still too young!"

The leading middle‑aged man's face showed a smile of his scheme succeeding.

But the next second… the smile on his face froze abruptly.

All that could be seen was the boy who had just retreated suddenly charging forward, his body once again shielded by the trunk.

Whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!

The three arrows whizzed past Qin Shuo's body, yet none struck him.

"Uh‑oh, we've been tricked!"

The leading middle‑aged man turned pale with shock, hastily reaching for the quiver on his back.

It was already too late.

Taking advantage of the gap while they re‑nocked, Qin Shuo stepped sideways to the right, his arrow shooting out like a meteor.

Pfft!

The sound of the arrow piercing flesh rang out in the woods.

A black arrowhead protruded from the right‑hand man's nape, blood streaming down the shaft and dyeing the white fletching red.

The man clutched the arrow that had pierced his throat with his right hand, his eyes bulging wide.

He could not believe, even in death, that he had been shot down so easily.

One arrow felled one man; Qin Shuo ducked back behind the tree.

Meanwhile, the other two had already finished re‑nocking, retaken aim at Qin Shuo's position, and let out angry roars,

"Old Three!"

A chilling killing intent spread through the forest.

Even from far away, Qin Shuo could feel the remaining two men's surging rage and towering killing intent.

But he remained calm.

"At this moment, whoever acts rashly dies."

"You little bastard, today I will surely hack you to pieces!"

The man on the far left went berserk, his eyes turning red.

Having watched his own third brother shot dead before his eyes, how could this second brother not be furious?

He completely lost reason, charging forward to avenge his third brother.

"Don't go!"

Qi Lao Da was shocked, shouting angrily to stop.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sensing Qi Lao Er charging at him, Qin Shuo darted left, leaving the cover of the tree trunk.

Qi Lao Er, who had long lost his reason, immediately shot an arrow upon seeing Qin Shuo appear.

But Qin Shuo quickly withdrew, emerging from the right side of the tree trunk, drew his bow like a full moon, and aimed at Qi Lao Er.

At this moment, Qi Lao Da had two choices: let Qin Shuo shoot first to kill Qi Lao Er, then he would shoot to kill Qin Shuo;

or he would shoot first to drive Qin Shuo back, then pray that his younger brother could nock an arrow faster, and when the opponent flashed out from the left again, use an arrow to drive him back.

Thus, the two brothers would alternate shooting, steadily advancing, surely able to kill this cunning youth.

It is obvious that Qi Lao Da could not stand by and watch his second brother be shot to death.

So when Qin Shuo emerged from the right side, he decisively shot an arrow, not giving him a chance to kill Qi Lao Er.

However, he miscalculated.

Upon seeing Qi Lao Da release the arrow, Qin Shuo first turned to dodge, but instead of flashing out to the left, he emerged from the right.

Qi Lao Er also thought that, after being driven back by Qi Lao Da, Qin Shuo would certainly rush out from the left to attack him.

So, after hastily nocking a new arrow, he immediately aimed at the left side of the tree trunk.

The result was that, when Qin Shuo emerged from the right side of the tree trunk, Qi Lao Er visibly froze for a moment, wanting to turn the arrowhead and re-aim, but it was already too late.

Whoosh!

The arrow tore through the air, precisely piercing Qi Lao Er's heart.

At that moment, Qi Lao Da had just finished changing his arrow, hastily drew his bow and shot at Qin Shuo.

But Qin Shuo had anticipated this; after releasing his arrow, he immediately dodged back behind the tree trunk.

"Ahhh! Damn it! Damn it! You cunning little beast, I'll kill you!"

Qi Lao Da was furious to the point of madness.

This youth is clearly only seventeen or eighteen, yet his scheming is terrifyingly meticulous, playing their three brothers like fools.

First he pretended to be afraid, lowering their guard.

Then he feinted with a spear, causing them to lose the initiative, leading to the third brother's downfall.

Then he used a feint east, strike west, then strike east again, exploiting their mental inertia to lead them to misjudge and shoot the second brother.

Such meticulous thinking is downright monstrously terrifying.

He turned a situation that was certain death into a path of survival by sheer force.

What startled Qi Lao Da most was still the youth's archery skill.

The opponent seemed to need no aim; upon sight, it was a sure kill!

Such terrifying archery, combined with that monstrous scheming and disposition, made Qi Lao Da feel his scalp go numb.

What kind of monster have my three brothers provoked?

After a brief burst of anger, Qi Lao Da began to feel fear.

The Qi family brothers are not murderous bandits who kill without blinking; they are merely honest hunters from the foothills.

The reason they took the risk this time, ambushing the ginseng harvester, was that what the other side had unearthed was extraordinarily remarkable, enough to provide the three brothers with lifelong comfort, which sparked their greed and murderous intent.

Moreover, this old ginseng mountain is rarely visited; every year ginseng harvesters disappear, dragged away by beasts.

Even if they killed that ginseng harvester, it would be hard for anyone to discover it, so they decided to act.

Who would have thought that halfway they would encounter a youth with demonic intellect and divine archery?

Not only did he evade the brothers' encirclement, he also shot dead two of them, leaving only himself alive.

The more Qi Lao Da thought about it, the more fearful he became.

The fear of death in his heart overwhelmed the anger to avenge his two brothers.

Flee, he wants to flee!

There's no way; earlier, the three brothers were no match for that youth.

Now only he remains; how could he possibly win?

Fear spread like a tide in his heart.

Qi Lao Da, who had grown reluctant to fight, slowly retreated, wanting to create distance and run into the mountains.

Behind the tree trunk.

Qin Shuo panted heavily, his nerves highly tense.

Such high-intensity combat left him mentally and physically exhausted.

But he knew it was not yet time to rest; Qi Lao Da was still outside, and he could not let his guard down.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded in the silent forest.

The footsteps grew farther and farther from him.

Qin Shuo immediately realized that the remaining bandit wanted to flee.

"Want to flee? Dream on!"

Qin Shuo's eyes boiled with killing intent.

Back when he tried to leave, those three brothers certainly didn't give him a chance.

If it weren't for his calm demeanor and superb archery, even if an experienced old hunter were substituted today, he would still perish here.

With such a great grudge, Qin Shuo would certainly not let it go lightly.

"Don't even think about fleeing!"

Qin Shuo suddenly burst out from behind the tree, shouting angrily.

Elder Qi, already a startled bird, was frightened by this sudden shout, his heart and gall bladder torn apart; he had no time for anything else, shot an arrow at Qin Shuo, then turned and fled.

However, Qin Shuo flashed out, merely intending to scare him.

Seeing the opponent already in disarray, he immediately dodged the already off‑aim arrow and shot an arrow at the opponent's back of the head.

Swish!

The bowstring twanged, the arrow flew.

The distance between them was only about forty meters; even if Elder Qi fled at the first moment, he couldn't escape Qin Shuo's precise killing range.

Pfft!

The arrow pierced the skull, Elder Qi's corpse slowly fell.

Qin Shuo felt as if all his strength had been drained, he plopped onto the ground and gasped heavily.

Huff~

Finally won!

After surviving the disaster, Qin Shuo only felt that all his strength had been exhausted, his whole body weak.

A little more, and he would have fallen today on Old Ginseng Mountain.

Qin Shuo remained fearful.

Afterwards, he walked toward the ginseng picker who had initially been shot dead by the Qi family three brothers.

Able to make three old hunters risk their lives and commit murder…

What this ginseng picker dug up was absolutely extraordinary.