Chapter 8

"Big Brother, there's nothing here, just a strong smell of urine!" Li Jiu's voice echoed from inside the cave.

"How can this be? The smell of urine suggests that the cave bear must have urinated here recently. Strange..." Li Bo frowned, looking around the small cave.

"Big Brother, forget it. Since the cave bear isn't here, let's leave. The competition is about to end. If we don't go, we'll be disqualified." Li Jiu worriedly said. This competition didn't require registration; one just needed to submit their prey by the deadline.

Li Bo felt something was amiss, but Li Jiu's words made sense. Reluctantly, he agreed, and the three of them turned and left the cave.

Once the three of them were gone and their voices faded away, a stone that seemed to be part of the cave wall began to move slowly, revealing Gu Xuyao, who was crouched beneath it.

This place was where the cave bear collected a certain type of tree resin. Most cave bear dens had such a small hidden compartment.

"Close call..." Gu Xuyao let out a long breath. The wound on his thigh made it hard for him to move, and the "clean freak" cave bear had tidied the area around the den, leaving no place to hide.

Having narrowly escaped death twice, Gu Xuyao felt as if his body was about to collapse. He dragged his weak body out of the cave.

Stepping outside, it was noon, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves, filling the air with hope.

"Is this the last day? It seems my skills are still lacking. I lost the rhinoceros bird, and now I'm injured. I won't be able to win the championship this time..." The opportunity to win had slipped away. Gu Xuyao gave a bitter smile, but at least he had survived. He started walking home, and the thought of Zhang the blacksmith's kind voice warmed his heart.

However, things were not over. Before Gu Xuyao had walked far, just as he left the range of the cave bear's den, a whistling sound came from the air, and something shot towards him!

Before he could react, the projectile struck his left shoulder!

"Ha ha ha, I knew there was something fishy about this cave. Cave bears love their dens, and the smell of urine can only last for three days. The bear couldn't have left if the urine smell was still fresh. It must be you, Gu Xuyao, who used some medicine to keep the smell fresh! Today, you will fall into my hands!" Li Bo jumped out from the tall grass, and his two brothers looked at Gu Xuyao with sinister smiles.

Li Bo was right. The day Gu Xuyao found the cave bear's den was the day the rhinoceros bird killed the bear. The soil in the den had a fresh smell of urine. Gu Xuyao, being cautious, collected the soil and, when needed, used the juice of the zizyphus to reactivate the urine smell, which could last for ten days.

"Heh heh, we once said that one day you would pay for everything you owe us. Today is your end!" Li Jiu held a long knife, his face twisted in a cruel smile. He took three quick steps and swung the knife at Gu Xuyao!

The battle was about to begin, but Gu Xuyao remained calm. He pulled the dagger out of his shoulder, enduring the pain in his thigh, and narrowly avoided Li Jiu's knife. With his right hand, he grabbed the axe from his back and swung it at Li Jiu's head!

Attack is the best defense!

Despite the unfavorable situation, Gu Xuyao would not back down!

However, no matter how hard Gu Xuyao tried, his body was already riddled with injuries, and the lingering effects of the anesthetic in his system made his attack ineffective.

"Third Brother, let Second Brother help you!" Li Tang saw that Gu Xuyao still had the strength to fight back, so he joined the battle. For the three brothers, outnumbering an opponent was not dishonorable.

With Li Tang's addition, Gu Xuyao's offensive quickly turned into a defensive struggle for survival. Soon, his defenses were on the verge of collapse.

The two brothers clearly had a lot of practice working together, attacking from both sides and targeting Gu Xuyao's injured areas. No matter how he tried to dodge, he ended up with several new wounds.

What worried Gu Xuyao even more was Li Bo, who was watching from the side. He was the strongest of the three, and the projectile earlier was likely his. Now, he was probably waiting for another chance to attack Gu Xuyao with a hidden weapon.

The force of the long knife's swings was immense, and Gu Xuyao's wounds multiplied. Blood covered his body, and sweat drenched his forehead. His body, already weakened, was struggling to keep up.

"This can't go on. I have to find a way to escape, but..." Gu Xuyao's mind raced. He had already noticed that Li Bo, who had not joined the fight, was blocking his escape route and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Gu Xuyao gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on the axe, and swung it at Li Tang with all his might. This attack was completely unguarded, and Li Tang, fearing a direct confrontation, chose to dodge, seeing Li Jiu's attack from behind.

"Thud!" Li Jiu left a deep wound from Gu Xuyao's right shoulder to his back, the flesh torn and blood gushing.

"Damn!" Li Bo immediately saw through Gu Xuyao's plan, but he was still not as quick as Gu Xuyao. By the time Li Bo reacted and threw a projectile, Gu Xuyao had already run into the forest, enduring the pain in his back.

Li Bo frowned, looked at the sky, and signaled his two brothers to chase Gu Xuyao!

Blood flowed continuously, and Gu Xuyao's lips turned pale. He ran for his life, leaving a trail of blood. He knew he couldn't run much further, and the strong scent of blood in the forest made him a moving target.

"Am I really going to die here..." This forest, which he knew so well, had always been a place of danger. He had never imagined he would die at the hands of his own kind.

"Gu Xuyao, running won't help. I advise you to come out and let me end your life quickly. Otherwise, when we catch you, we'll lock you in our cellar and torture you for months before letting you die!"

Gu Xuyao ignored them, enduring the pain and leaping through the trees, temporarily disappearing from the three brothers' sight.

"Roar!" The three brothers cursed and were about to chase after him when a roar stopped them in their tracks.

"It's a red lion!" The three brothers, being hunters, recognized the sound. Clearly, their pursuit had led them to a red lion, and the blood trail had attracted its attention!

The pursuit stopped, and the three brothers knew better than to provoke a red lion, especially an adult one. For them, such prey was too dangerous.

"Hmph! Let's retreat! Gu Xuyao is covered in blood; he'll become the red lion's prey sooner or later." The three brothers began to retreat.

"Roar!"

Another roar echoed, and the three brothers quickened their pace, quickly losing sight of Gu Xuyao. If Li Bo had listened more carefully, he would have realized that the sound was coming from where Gu Xuyao was.

Sensing the three brothers' departure, Gu Xuyao smiled. His plan had worked, and with no more will to fight, his body, weakened by blood loss, could no longer support him. He collapsed with a thud.

"At least... I wasn't killed by those three useless men..." Gu Xuyao lay in the red mud, a smile on his face. In his hand was a leaf rolled into a horn shape, blackened and emitting a pungent smell.

This was a combination of the leaves of the rattle tree and the ground elm, which, when mixed with other materials, could mimic the roar of a red lion perfectly.

However, even though he had tricked the three brothers, Gu Xuyao could not survive.

The wound on his thigh had already become infected, and the continuous movement and strain had worsened it, causing pus and blood to flow, and bacteria to attack his body.

The multiple cuts on his back and body had not stopped bleeding, and the blood was turning black, about to run out.

"Red mud blooms like flowers, red as the sky, drawing bows and arrows to fight beasts, my home within the walls..." Gu Xuyao looked at the red mud, where ants were busily transporting forest debris. He hummed a children's folk song known to every child in the Red Mud District, a song he had grown up with, now on the brink of death, he couldn't help but think of it.

As he sang, he remembered something and, despite the pain, reached for his waist.

It was the same piece of paper with a poem written on it, now stained with blood.

"I could never leave, could never find you. Why did you leave that day, and why did you leave this thing that I can't understand..." Gu Xuyao clutched the yellow, blood-stained paper, tears streaming down his face.

But this final thought could not bring him back to life. A thunderclap echoed, and dark clouds quickly covered the sky, bringing a heavy rain. It was the rainy season in the Red Mud District.

The rain mixed with the blood, soaking the paper in Gu Xuyao's hand, making the words blurry, just like his consciousness.

"Hisss... hisss..." The sound of a snake's tongue flicking, a large snake as thick as a child's arm slithered down from a tree.

"Rain snake..." Gu Xuyao's last conscious thought was that it was a rain snake, a snake that loved the rain and only came out to hunt during rain, with a deadly venom.

Despite knowing it was a deadly creature, Gu Xuyao could not resist the overwhelming sleepiness. His heavy eyelids closed, unable to resist the danger.

"Hisss... hisss..." The giant snake slithered to Gu Xuyao's side, its red tongue flicking as it examined the living being losing its life.

The rain grew heavier, and the rain snake's hunting instinct was aroused. It couldn't resist the urge to bite, regardless of whether the prey was still alive.

"Boom!" The sky rumbled, and lightning flashed.

"This boy has a strange appeal to me."

Suddenly, a man appeared beside Gu Xuyao, just as the rain snake's fangs were about to pierce his skin.

"Average talent, not suitable for cultivation, but that's fine. We cultivators don't fear a lack of talent..." The man was middle-aged, and the rain did not touch him, as a force protected him.

The man extended two fingers, slicing through the air, and the rain snake was cut in half.

"This trip has finally paid off. You, don't disappoint me..."

With that, the man lifted his hand, and a green force enveloped the unconscious Gu Xuyao, lifting him into the air. The man then flew away with him into the distance.