Chapter 5

As night fell quickly, the sky over Leishi Village was still filled with cooking smoke, just as it was every day. Gu Xuyao sat at the dinner table, and tonight's meal was particularly abundant.

However, no one's mind was on the dinner that Xiulan had spent the whole afternoon preparing.

No one spoke, lost in absent-minded silence. The fragrant food soon cooled, and the dinner came to an end.

"Xuyao, come with me," Zhang Tieshang stood up and walked towards his workshop.

Gu Xuyao remembered that when he was a child, he loved watching Zhang Tieshang forge all kinds of weapons in his workshop. Because of his excellent craftsmanship, both the old and new hunters in the village liked to buy weapons from Zhang Tieshang. The unique sawtooth and blood groove design made hunting much more efficient for the hunters.

His axe lay on the stone platform ahead, having been tempered by the claws of the Red Lion, it now seemed to have an additional layer of ivory white. Zhang Tieshang looked at it and smiled.

"Do you remember when I helped you forge this axe?" The dim candlelight illuminated Zhang Tieshang's face, the deep lines on his face like the tracks of a cart wheel on muddy ground. Only then did Gu Xuyao realize that the man who had taught him all his skills had grown old.

"I remember. It was when I was seventeen. You started the furnace to forge a weapon for me, saying it would be a gift for my eighteenth birthday. You asked me what kind of weapon I liked, and I said I liked an axe..." Gu Xuyao also smiled. Three years of relentless hunting had changed his personality a lot. The obsession with finding his parents, which had been amplified by blood and the roars of beasts, now almost dominated his heart.

Zhang Tieshang nodded lightly and walked to the stone platform, picking up the axe. "Xuyao, I'm giving you this axe again. This might be your last hunt, and I hope the weapon I forged can help a hunter win the championship."

Saying this, Zhang Tieshang handed the axe to Gu Xuyao.

In front of him was something he knew all too well, something that had accompanied him in countless battles against beasts. "Uncle Zhang..." He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. "Thank you..." In the end, it all boiled down to these two words.

Zhang Tieshang smiled with satisfaction and patted Gu Xuyao's shoulder. "Take the axe and the necessary items and head into the forest. Good prey won't wait for you. I heard that many hunters in the village set out before dinner. If you want to win, you can't fall behind."

Gu Xuyao nodded firmly, took the axe from Zhang Tieshang, and turned to walk towards his room.

"Xuyao..." Watching Gu Xuyao's departing back, Zhang Tieshang sighed again. The wrinkles on his face, already deep, seemed to sink even deeper.

Gu Xuyao had already prepared the other necessary items for entering the forest in the afternoon. Although he learned about the competition time very late, he was always a man who planned ahead. He had all the items he needed for hunting ready. After entering his room, he carried everything with him, strapped the axe to his back, and left home, embarking on his hunting journey.

The village was very quiet at night. Gu Xuyao quietly passed through the southern village entrance and headed towards the forest he knew best. There was a faintly unusual atmosphere in the air.

The forest near Leishi Village was one of the three forests in the Red Clay Region with the most beasts. The Red Clay River, which ran through the forest, was at the junction of the middle and upper reaches. It allowed fishermen to fish in the middle reaches and hunters to hunt river beasts in the upper reaches. The location of Leishi Village was very advantageous, so the forest would not be peaceful tonight.

"Hmph, hunters from other villages, indeed, they came early enough..." After leaving the village, Gu Xuyao didn't spare his strength and rushed to the edge of the forest. However, he didn't immediately enter the forest but instead hid at the edge, watching unfamiliar figures enter the forest. Clearly, the three days of preparation, though rushed, did not stop the other hunters from coming.

"Unfortunately, although this forest has the most powerful beasts, you are not familiar with their habitats..." Gu Xuyao smiled coldly, turned around, and jumped into the river.

Yuan energy formed this world, and beasts, ordinary people, and cultivators were all composed of Yuan energy. In the world of cultivators, Yuan stones were a very precious and essential resource. The corpses of beasts in the ordinary people's area could be decomposed into Yuan stones through some means of cultivators. The key to how many Yuan stones a beast could be decomposed into was not its size but its strength.

"Phew..." The river water was very cold at night. The place where Gu Xuyao jumped in was the middle reach, where there were basically no fierce beasts, only fat fish.

"If we compare the amount of Yuan stones decomposed, then an adult Red Lion should ensure I at least reach the top five, but that's not enough. I need to be first." Gu Xuyao climbed ashore, tore off the bark of a nearby tree, and dried his hair.

This place was already inside the forest. Gu Xuyao moved quietly and soon came to a small hill.

The hill was not high but covered an area of about a mile. On it was a huge nest that almost filled the entire hill. Broken tree stumps were still visible around it, indicating that the owner of the hill had a very bad temper.

"An accidental discovery of a rhinoceros bird's nest, I didn't expect it to come in handy now..." Gu Xuyao held his breath and waited. Although the Red Lion was a unique beast of the Red Clay Region, it was far weaker compared to the rhinoceros bird.

The rhinoceros bird, as its name suggests, was a bird with a rhinoceros horn. Its body resembled a stork, but unlike the stork's elegance, the rhinoceros bird had a very bad temper, especially towards humans. It would only be happy after piercing a human with its horn.

After three years of hunting, Gu Xuyao knew that the rhinoceros bird was currently out hunting. The rhinoceros bird had a very strange habit: it liked to skewer its prey on its horn and fly back to its nest before slowly enjoying it. The rhinoceros bird was most relaxed and least alert when eating.

Time passed slowly. Gu Xuyao dug a small hole in the least noticeable spot on the hill. Due to the heavy rain the previous day, the soft mud was easy to dig, although it also made Gu Xuyao's body covered in disgusting red mud. However, this position, combined with the mustard tree sap he smeared on his body, was enough to deceive the rhinoceros bird.

"When the time comes, I will strike the rhinoceros bird with my newly tempered axe, giving it a fatal blow. Even if it doesn't die immediately, it will at least lose its ability to fly and escape. Then it can only fight me on the ground, increasing my chances of winning."

Gu Xuyao thought this, but things did not go as smoothly as he had expected. The rhinoceros bird had not returned, but Gu Xuyao heard a "rustling" sound.

"This, this is the rhinoceros bird's nest!" The grass was pushed aside, followed by a voice.

"Ha ha ha, as expected of the rhinoceros bird, its nest is so big. Second brother, if we work together, we can definitely kill the rhinoceros bird. Then we can take the money to buy delicious food for father and invite the best doctor in the village to treat him!" A man's voice, quite excited.

"But, big brother, we found this nest by chance, and we left many traces along the way. I'm afraid someone might follow us. Why don't you go and clear the traces, and I'll wait for you here?" Another voice, very calm.

"Ha ha, right, right, how could I forget that? Second brother, you stay here, and I'll be right back." After saying this, Gu Xuyao heard the "rustling" sound again, clearly indicating that one of them had left.

The other person standing there made no sound. Not long after the one called "big brother" left, the "second brother" also left the rhinoceros bird's nest. However, based on the direction he left, Gu Xuyao knew he did not follow his brother's route.

After a short while, another faint sound was heard. Clearly, the person who came this time was very cautious, and their stealth skills were not inferior to Gu Xuyao's. If it weren't for the quiet night, Gu Xuyao might not have heard their movements.

"One person..." Although the sound was very faint, Gu Xuyao could tell that only one person had come. From the smell, he knew it was the "second brother" who had left earlier!

"To monopolize the Yuan stones, he ignored his seriously ill father and even killed his own brother..." Gu Xuyao narrowed his eyes. From the order in which the two left, it was not hard to guess what had happened. After all, in the Red Clay Region, hunters were also prey.

In the Red Clay Region, most hunters went out alone. Brothers like the two who just left, or the Li brothers who hunted in groups, were mostly related by blood. Of course, there were also villages where hunting skills were not high, and they had to form hunting teams to help each other.

However, this was only done when absolutely necessary. Gu Xuyao still clearly remembered the first rule Zhang Tieshang taught him when he was learning hunting skills: never trust another hunter.

In fact, most hunters were instilled with this idea, so in general, if a hunter discovered another hunter's trail or saw someone else hunting, they would leave the area. Of course, there were also hunters in the Red Clay Region who enjoyed killing other hunters and stealing their prey. These people hid among ordinary hunters, and no one could tell who they were.

"Hmph, it seems this second brother isn't stupid..." Soon, Gu Xuyao's nose could no longer detect the person's smell, clearly due to the mustard tree sap. Soon, Gu Xuyao heard the sound of digging again. Clearly, the "second brother" had chosen the same hiding method as Gu Xuyao, waiting for the rhinoceros bird to return.

Rhinoceros birds usually started hunting when it was completely dark. Since most beasts were asleep at night, and the rhinoceros bird was unwilling to hunt immobile prey, its hunting would last for a long time, until just before sunrise. Then, the rhinoceros bird would return to its nest with its prey skewered on its horn and slowly enjoy it. When the sun was fully up, it would go to sleep.