Chapter 75: Battlefield Perspective

Zhou You understood clearly; this group of hunters had long since planned their retreat, which was why they had the audacity to raise their prices without fear.

The bandits of the Cloud-Touching Stronghold relied on the terrain and feared not even the government troops, plundering merchants and ransacking villages everywhere; their track record was truly notorious.

It was rumored that in the valley of the Cloud-Touching Stronghold, corpses were piled high as mountains, and the miasma formed by their decay was something even birds avoided.

If they were truly allowed to join the stronghold, the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall would be unable to reach them no matter how great its influence was.

The "Second Master" mentioned by the other party was a ruthless character to have actually thought of this retreat.

"Heh heh, little brats, you are too green; the fuzz on your lips hasn't even faded yet."

"Wang Laohu has so many disciples and followers, yet he specifically sent you here to die; I truly can't bear it!"

Pan Laoda leered, reaching out to touch Li Hao's face.

According to a normal person's reaction, one would surely subconsciously shrink back to avoid his filthy hand.

Li Hao, however, did the opposite, actively leaning forward with a movement as fast as lightning.

He used one hand to pinch the other's wrist and push outward, while using the other to grab Pan Laoda's shoulder, lowering his head to charge forward violently.

"Do it!"

The moment Li Hao suddenly acted, he let out a loud shout.

In truth, there was no need for him to remind anyone; the rapport between his sparring partner Zhou You and him was far stronger than imagined.

Before the first word "Do" could leave his mouth, Zhou You exerted force through his feet and kicked off, disappearing from his original spot in the eyes of the crowd.

By the time the word "it" landed, Zhou You had appeared behind Pan Laoda, wrapping his arm around his neck and squeezing fiercely.

Pan Laoda suffered a sudden surprise attack; his face flushed red, his body temperature rose sharply, and the internal energy beneath his skin began to stir.

His limbs twitched and vibrated violently, attempting to fling the two of them away.

Zhou You and Li Hao exchanged a distant glance, understanding each other's intent.

Deep in the enemy's nest, surrounded by wolves, they had to capture the ringleader first; they absolutely could not fall into a bitter or chaotic battle.

This group of hunters was highly organized, having spent years hunting large beasts in the mountains; they were far from comparable to the ragtag mobs of a gang.

Once they reacted and utilized their advantages in terrain and numbers to launch a siege, the situation would become troublesome.

"You little bastards, you dare to mess with me?"

Pan Laoda spat out a few words through his teeth, his eyes filled with malice, "I'm going to tear your back doors apart."

The next moment, Zhou You and Li Hao exerted force simultaneously.

Two tiger roars rang out on the flat ground, and a fierce wind expanded to the surroundings, catching the many hunters off guard.

"Tiger Head Hammer!"

Li Hao delivered a headbutt, slamming violently into Pan Laoda's Adam's apple, causing the chicken-like protrusion to collapse on the spot.

Pan Laoda's eyes bulged, and he opened his mouth to spit out bits of flesh, his mouth and nose streaming with blood.

Under the intense pain, the internal energy throughout his body suddenly leaked away, and it was already too late to mobilize it again.

Taking advantage of this opportunity...

Zhou You unleashed his Level 16 Tiger-Subduing Fist power, concentrating his energy into his arms and attacking with full force amidst a roar.

With a crisp crack, he snapped Pan Laoda's cervical spine.

Zhou You exerted force through his leg muscles and bones, rooting himself to the ground, and pulled back violently, dragging the head off like a ball.

A few warm droplets landed on his face.

He stumbled back a few steps and heard gasps of shock erupting all around.

"The little bastard twisted off Pan Laoda's head, kill him."

Zhou You held Pan Laoda's wide-eyed, dead head in his arms, a segment of the spine still remaining at the severed neck; if he wasn't the killer, then who was?

The hunters in the Shan Shen Miao reacted, drawing blades and pulling bows one after another, calling for their companions to act and kill them to avenge Pan Laoda.

In an instant, the surroundings were filled with murderous intent, and even the sound of the wind became grim.

The *da-da-da* on the roof tiles was the sound of human feet sprinting; they were eager to trample the roof down.

These hunters were truly treacherous. The dozen or so hunters in the temple were only the visible force; they had also set up an ambush on the roof.

At the same time, a few whimpers came from the grass outside, immediately turning into a series of heart-wrenching dog barks.

These sounds were not from stray dogs, but from well-trained hunting hounds.

Hunting hounds, unlike pets with atrophied claws and teeth, were specially trained and often kept in a state of Hunger; their ferocity allowed them to fight bears and wolves, making them great helpers for hunters tracking prey in the mountains.

Judging by Pan Laoda's words earlier, the hounds they raised were often fed with human flesh.

There was an ambush in the grass too! "Trigger conditions met, Trial Task (Two-Star) initiated: Annihilate a group of hunters acting with malice in the mountains."

"Identified as a group battle, Battlefield Perspective activated; will close upon task completion."

The view instantly switched to a 3D mode, and the Shan Shen Miao, along with the entire mountain, turned into a transparent model.

Except for the green dots representing him and Li Hao, everything else was densely packed with red dots, representing the hostile hunters.

Under the Battlefield Perspective, Zhou You could clearly see everyone's position; even hiding was useless.

Zhou You decisively threw down the head, "Go!"

Li Hao kicked the ground, pouring energy into his legs, instantly transforming into a tiger shadow; he leaped over a distance of five or six meters and arrived at the entrance in an instant.

"Zhou You!"

Li Hao looked back, wanting to call out to Zhou You.

He discovered, however, that Zhou You's speed was faster than his, having stepped over the threshold first and leaving a back view for him.

Once the Level 2 Basic Lightness Skill was unleashed, sprinting ten meters in one breath was a trivial matter.

Li Hao was shocked internally; why was his speed so fast? The two of them rushed out of the Shan Shen Miao one after the other, and already seven or eight hunters were crouching at the entrance, holding bows and arrows aimed at them.

*Swish swish swish*, a wave of arrows descended.

The arrowheads used by the hunters were specially made for killing thick-skinned wild boars and mountain bears; killing people was even easier.

Zhou You could see where the enemies were even with his eyes closed; he dodged sideways against the arrowheads and charged forward, while arrows as thick as thumbs pierced the ground one after another.

The first wave of arrow rain had just ceased, and the hunters on the roof were still nocking arrows and drawing their strings.

By this time, Zhou You had already darted under the eaves, hunched his body to gather the strength of his limbs, waist, and abdomen into one, and compressed it to the limit before exploding outward.

"Tiger Leaps Over the Ravine!"

He leaped over the four-to-five-meter-high roof in a single bound, soaring high into mid-air, even clearing the heads of the hunters on the roof one by one.

Zhou You grabbed a corner of the eaves, exerted force to pull himself up, and his body arrived through the air.

*Clatter*, his soles stepped onto the roof tiles, shattering seven or eight of them on the spot.

Zhou You stretched out both arms, grabbed a hunter in each, and slammed them together with force in front of him.

Amidst screams, bones shattered and blood splattered.

The two half-dead hunters were tossed away by him like trash, knocking down four or five more hunters who were shooting arrows in a panic; their bodies smashed through the roof all at once and fell into the Shan Shen Miao.

The ambushers on the roof were completely wiped out! Zhou You stood on the eaves and scanned his surroundings; hunters were emerging from the grass one after another leading hunting dogs, with red dots gushing out like a spring.

On the ground, Li Hao was mired in a group fight, with dozens of hunters surrounding him so tightly not even water could trickle through.

"Awoo!"

A hunting dog bared its fangs and lunged, only to be kicked to death by Li Hao, its carcass landing in the dust.

In his field of vision, the red dots around the Shan Shen Miao were converging, gathering around two green dots as the core.

"There are at least 100 more people."

Counting roughly, the red dots representing the hunters exceeded a hundred; divided between Zhou You and Li Hao, that averaged 50 to 60 per person.

The hunting dogs were even smaller, faint red dots, with a 1:1 ratio to the hunters.

These beasts were no less combat-capable than adults, and being agile and quick, they would bite if one was even slightly inattentive.

(End of this chapter)