Chapter 393: Young Master Wan, You Must Have Had a Great Harvest, Right?
Many Divine Archers have a mysterious intuition; the moment an arrow leaves the bow, they know if it will hit their prey.
This was exactly how Wan Liang felt right now. He was certain, absolutely positive, that the deer in his sights was doomed.
Wan Liang was so confident that he had already given his orders, "Chen Ping, go fetch the deer in a moment! After all, it was your fault the trap failed."
"Alright, I’ll go!"
Chen Ping had no doubt that Wan Liang would miss. Based on the arrow’s trajectory, it was bound to hit the deer!
Xiang Fei and Luo Hou were already preparing to shower Wan Liang with praise, but they suddenly froze.
Because the deer, which had been drinking water nonstop, was suddenly spooked and leaped more than three meters to the side!
The arrow that should have struck it instead hit the water’s surface, creating a huge splash!
The herd of deer and other small animals by the water source scattered in a panic.
Xiang Fei asked, his face a mask of confusion, "What just happened? Young Master Wan’s shot was a guaranteed hit. Why did that deer suddenly get spooked?"
Luo Hou shot Chen Ping an annoyed glare. "It must have been the smell of Chen Ping’s sunscreen that scared the deer!"
Chen Ping didn’t dare take the blame for this and quickly retorted, "Luo Hou, don’t you go slinging mud at me! We’re downwind; a herbivore’s sense of smell isn’t that sensitive."
Wan Liang, an extremely experienced hunter, frowned deeply. "It would be one thing if the deer was scared by the smell of Chen Ping’s sunscreen, but I’m worried it was spooked by a predator!"
A predator??
The three men’s scalps tingled with fear, and their legs felt a little weak.
Never mind how they were all trying to out-boast each other on the way here; when faced with the real possibility of a predator, they were scared out of their wits.
Luo Hou’s voice trembled. "Young Master Wan, a predator lurking in the shadows is too much of a threat. Let’s get out of here, fast!"
Xiang Fei and Chen Ping also stared nervously at Wan Liang. If he so much as nodded, they would turn and run without a second’s hesitation.
Wan Liang was much calmer than the other two. He lowered his voice, "If there really is a predator, running now would be suicide! Stay alert and project a threatening presence. That’s our only chance of survival!"
The three men quickly raised their bows, their faces tense as they scanned their surroundings.
The words were spoken casually, but they gave someone an idea.
Hidden in the shadows, Cheng Yuan’s eyes lit up. ’Why not bring a few predators over and give Wan Liang and his crew a little surprise?’
No sooner said than done.
Cheng Yuan activated the second form of his Double Pupil and quickly spotted a muscular leopard hiding in a large tree above the water source.
If Wan Liang’s arrow hadn’t scared away the deer, the leopard would have likely already made its move.
The leopard was now staring intently at the four men in the bushes. If they were to flee, it would surely turn into a silent killer and stalk them.
Also, about eighty meters deep into the woods to his left, a small pack of seven or eight wolves lay in wait.
With a thought from Cheng Yuan, Little Silkworm popped out from his clothes.
Cheng Yuan pointed at the wolf pack, then at Wan Liang’s group, and whispered, "Little Silkworm, lead the wolves to them."
Little Silkworm rubbed against Cheng Yuan’s cheek, then flew off with a SWISH, heading straight for the wolf pack.
As a Poisonous Insect King that had fought its way out from among a hundred thousand Gu Insects, Little Silkworm identified the Wolf King in a single glance: the massive grey wolf.
Little Silkworm suddenly released an intimidating pressure directed at the grey wolf!
All the fur on the grey wolf’s body stood on end as if its tail had been stepped on. With an AWOOO, it shot off towards Wan Liang and his men!
The rest of the pack, confused, followed the Wolf King’s lead and charged toward Wan Liang’s group!
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
A series of violent rustling sounds came from the leaves and grass.
The men’s expressions changed. ’There really is a predator!’
The four men spun around in unison, drawing their compound recurve bows into a half-moon shape. The moment they saw the predator, they would release their arrows.
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
The wolf pack burst out from the bushes, charging straight for them along the water’s edge!
The faces of Wan Liang and his three companions turned green with terror.
In the forest, the most difficult beasts to deal with aren’t tigers, black bears, or leopards.
It’s wild boars and wolf packs!
Wild boars have thick skin and tough hides; even a seventy-kilogram compound recurve bow couldn’t kill one with a single arrow and would only enrage it.
And wolf packs were even more terrifying. They were numerous and had a degree of coordinated fighting ability.
Unless they could take out the Wolf King right at the start, they were all dead men.
"Wolves! It’s a wolf pack! Young Master Wan, what do we do?"
"Running into a wolf pack in a primeval forest is a death sentence! We’re dead! Chen Ping! It’s all your fault we’re in this mess!"
"Don’t panic, we can climb a tree!"
"Climb a tree? Are you kidding me? The nearest one is over ten meters away! By the time we got there, we’d be torn to shreds!"
Wan Liang forced himself to calm down and observed carefully. He quickly identified the Wolf King and barked in a low voice, "That grey wolf is the Wolf King! Kill it! It’s our only sliver of hope!"
The four men drew their bows and aimed at the grey wolf. Just as they were about to loose their arrows, Cheng Yuan released a tiny wisp of his aura, which terrified the leopard lurking in the tree.
As if it had run into its natural enemy, a tiger, the leopard shuddered in fright, leaped down from the tree, and bolted straight toward Wan Liang and his men!
Wan Liang caught sight of the leopard in his peripheral vision and instinctively sucked in a sharp breath. He whipped his aim around and fired an arrow at it!
The other three men weren’t as quick to react as Wan Liang and still shot at the Wolf King.
Unfortunately, their aim was off. The three arrows zipped past the grey wolf’s body.
Wan Liang was an excellent archer, but because he had changed targets at the last second, his aim was compromised. The arrow that should have pierced the leopard’s throat only managed to tear through its ear.
"ROAR!!"
The leopard shrieked in pain. However, the survival pressure from behind was too great, so it could only continue to charge forward blindly.
The four men were scared out of their wits. Even an experienced hunter like Wan Liang lost his composure and yelled, "Run!!"
SWISH!
Wan Liang was the first to take off. The others, as if waking from a nightmare, scrambled to follow him, wishing their parents had given them two more legs.
Fortunately for them, the wolf pack and the leopard were also in a state of flight and paid them no mind.
Otherwise, running like that, they would have died a hundred times over.
Scared witless, they didn’t even dare to look back, running all the way back to their camp in one go.
The feeling of having survived the ordeal drained them of all their strength. They collapsed to the ground with a THUD, gasping for air.
’It feels so good to be alive!’
The four of them couldn’t figure out why the leopard and the wolf pack had given up the chase halfway through.
’Did they start fighting each other?’
’That must be it!’
’They were so damn lucky!’
Just as the four were silently congratulating themselves on luckily saving their own skins,
Cheng Yuan ambled over, carrying a bucket of water in his left hand and a small deer in his right.
Cheng Yuan asked with feigned innocence, "Young Master Wan, brothers, back so soon? Even I, the one sent to fetch water, came back with some prey. You all must have had a great haul, right?"