Chapter 322: Encountering Elite Hunters

After Zhou You left with Liu Fengji and his companion, it was not many days before he discovered the situation beginning to deteriorate.

The world was vast and the four directions were wide, especially this stretch of land near the border of Beixuan Zhou, which was notoriously sparsely populated.

Even if Witch tribes migrated in, they settled in areas with abundant water sources and flat terrain.

As long as one avoided densely populated areas and stayed away from the checkpoints on the main thoroughfares, one would not be bumped into by the Witches.

However, after encountering Liu Fengji, this rule was broken.

The frequency of Witch sightings became increasingly frequent, and they were no longer at the level of small fry; on the panel's map, hunters at the Martial Master level appeared more than once.

"This is bad, I underestimated the difficulty of this mission!"

Zhou You glanced at the panel: "Trial Project (Four-Star): A Promise is Worth a Thousand Gold; what has been promised must be fulfilled; bring Liu Fengji and his companion out of the area controlled by the Witches."

The Witches were determined to have Liu Fengji and had very likely seen through the Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell ploy.

Counting the days, more than twenty days had passed since Liu Fengji separated from the Personal Guard and escaped on his own until now.

In these days, those Martial Master experts of the Personal Guard had likely suffered heavy losses.

It could not be ruled out that someone had defected and revealed Liu Fengji's true whereabouts, allowing the Witch army to narrow their target further and use their more abundant manpower to search everywhere for possible traces.

Zhou You looked at himself; his appearance, clothing, and accent were completely out of place among the Witches, and at a glance, he was identified as a member of the Zhong Yuan human race.

Under these circumstances, there was no possibility of blending in or slipping through.

Once discovered by the Witches, they would kill rather than let anyone go; he would definitely be captured and interrogated for information, with no hope of escape.

"If things come to the worst, I will have no choice but to start a massacre."

A thought flashed through Zhou You's mind, and light flickered in his palms as lethal poison pulsed incessantly.

His Palm Poison was infused with the Plague Ghost Crystal Core and possessed extremely strong infectivity, meaning it was particularly lethal to Commoners.

In normal times, he tried his best to restrain the spread of the Palm Poison, but now that he was in enemy territory, there were no such restrictions.

The Witch race was a nation of soldiers, far more brutal and fierce than the Zhong Yuan human race.

Zhou You had once seen with his own eyes how Witch elders and children would beat and kill villagers reduced to slavery at will, stripping their flesh to feed wild beasts and poisonous insects.

The war between the two races was absolutely a fight to the death; there was no room for reconciliation.

If it truly came to the worst, in order to escape, he would have no choice but to infiltrate the enemy tribe and release the lethal poison to infect the tribal Witches, causing chaos to delay the enemy's pursuit.

This was not insanity; it was survival!

As the saying goes, it is best not to think while walking; it is easy to run into trouble!

"..."

Zhou You suddenly raised his head, catching a strong scent—the body odor emitted by a Witch beast.

A hunter; a hunter had appeared in front of him.

The opponent had no mount, which clearly meant his strength was not top-tier, as he had not yet earned the qualifications to obtain a mount through battle.

"Wolf-head hunter."

Zhou You noticed that the hat the hunter wore was an entire skin stripped from a wolf's head, and where the empty eye sockets should have been, pitch-black gemstones were embedded—they were, shockingly, two Transformation Charm Cores of the near-potential level.

According to Witch customs, wearing trophies on one's body was a manifestation of glory.

This meant that the wolf-head hunter had hunted at least two near-potential level Transformation Charms, and one... wolf.

Moreover, this wolf was not an ordinary wild beast, but an Alienated Beast Charm, with a level no lower than near-potential.

Even if the opponent was also a Primary Martial Master, with these battle achievements, his strength was terrifying.

Hm?

Zhou You also noticed that hanging from the animal skin at the opponent's waist were three dripping human heads; judging by their features, they were of the Zhong Yuan human race.

The wolf-head hunter approached rapidly, not giving Zhou You time to react, and soon charged into view. He pointed at the heads at his waist and asked in a stiff tone, "Do you recognize them? Are they acquaintances?"

Did he not recognize them? Zhou You shook his head; he vaguely guessed that the heads were most likely members of Liu Fengji's Personal Guard.

At the very least, they were Primary Martial Masters, yet they had been killed, their heads severed and hung at the waist to air-dry.

"It doesn't matter if you don't recognize them; come and be a guest with them. The Witch Elder needs at least four for a Bone Bracelet, and you are the only one missing."

The hunter squinted at Zhou You. "If you want to live, you better confess honestly: have you seen this person?"

As soon as the words fell...

He struck out a mass of Qi and Blood from his palm, which writhed in the air, transforming into the likeness of Liu Fengji.

This move was truly beautiful, an extremely sophisticated technique.

Zhou You wondered if it was a Qi and Blood Secret Technique circulated within the Witches; at the very least, he had never heard of similar techniques in the martial artist circles.

He recognized Liu Fengji, which made him even more certain that the Witches were hunting Liu Fengji.

Liu Fengji's status was special; he was the legitimate son of the Liu family in Fucheng. No wonder the Witch army ignored Zunyang City and its martial strength to pursue him?

No!

Zhou You's gaze swept over the hunter's chest and arms, where indigo patterns like vines spread wantonly and exaggeratedly, covering a large area of his skin.

Was this a tattoo? No, it was the Witch race's unique culture: a Totem.

The Talisman Book he had seized from Kunpengzi's disciple contained a large amount of content regarding Totems.

A flash of inspiration struck his mind: what if the Witches had another purpose in hunting Liu Fengji?

It was known that Kunpengzi and the Witch race were in collusion, even exchanging the secrets of Totems; the degree of cooperation between the two sides was extraordinary.

This time, when the Witch race attacked Zunyang City, although Kunpengzi did not show his face, he had definitely played a part in it.

Then, the purpose of the Witches deploying countless armies and hunters to hunt Liu Fengji was not so simple.

Could it be for the birthmark on his back, that Nine Tripod Character? Zhou You's mind was clearer than ever; he finally understood that this great war was very likely just a scheme by Kunpengzi.

What was Kunpengzi's most formidable method? Seal Script Bewitchment!

If he used bewitchment to subtly influence the decision-making of the Witch leadership, could he really have made them abandon the direction of Gongliang City and Fucheng to attack Zunyang City, where Liu Fengji was located? What was the purpose? A Nine Tripod Character on Liu Fengji's body.

For the sake of a single character, they did not hesitate to drag hundreds of thousands, or even a million people of both races into a great war, sacrificing countless lives.

They even opened the gates to invite the thieves and brought the wolves into the house, leading the exiled Shaman Tribe into Zhong Yuan, which resulted in the devastation of all living things.

This old man is a bona fide war criminal! The major events Kunpengzi has carried out have let Zhou You witness just how much damage can be caused by disregarding all rules and human lives.

This old man wiped out Zunyang City, and his next targets are definitely Gongliang City and Fucheng.

So it turns out that whatever refugees or rebel armies there were, they were all just minor trifles; once the Shaman Tribe army marches in, everyone is doomed.

Gongliang City cannot be defended and is destined to be a death trap; one must absolutely not be tied down inside the city.

"Why aren't you answering? Have you seen this person?"

The Wolf-Head Ranger, seeing Zhou You's expression flickering between light and shadow, assumed he was afraid and spoke up to urge him.

People of different races all have "face-blind" filters when identifying others, feeling that men, women, old, and young all have the same face.

But the Qi and blood will not lie!

(End of this chapter)