From the Dragon and Tiger Cavalry to Hunting Sins and Becoming Saints

Chapter 23 Spotted Lynx

The existence of the alternate painter allowed Fu Que to grow from a helpless original body to one capable of killing Blood Gate warriors and joining the ranks of the strong in Gaoyang County in just about two months.

However, in the cultivation system, a Blood Gate Warrior is not even at the entry level. Only when the three elements are combined to open the Qi Sea and successfully refine Qi into the body can one be considered a true warrior.

Gaoyang County is just one of the many inconspicuous counties in Dazhao.

To put it bluntly, Fu Que hasn't even fully explored the beginner village map yet.

The convoy moved quietly through the silent forest.

On both sides of the carriage, pairs of vigilant eyes constantly swept across the shadowy areas of the surrounding woods, hands resting loosely on the weapons at their waists, ready to deal with any unexpected situation at any moment.

The protection of the mountain king can allow caravans to clear paths through forests and build bridges over rivers, but it cannot stop predatory beasts or disguised snakes, insects, and rodents.

"Pfft!"

The knife was plunged into the soft soil, and when it was pulled out, a twisting and writhing brown scaly snake was already attached to the blade.

Its body color blends completely with the dead branches and leaves on the forest floor, making it extremely difficult to spot when it lies in wait.

The brown-scaled snake lurked along the roadside as the convoy traveled, and for some reason, it ignored the two guards who passed in front of Fu Que.

When Fu Que got close, he was about to launch an attack, but Fu Que, who was in the state of the Scroll Blade Master, beat him to the punch and pierced his seven-inch mark.

Looking at the suspicious, crystalline liquid secreted from the teeth of the writhing brown scale snake, Fu Que had no interest in studying it whatsoever. With a casual flick of his wrist, the scale snake on the blade was flung away, smashing into a tree trunk and instantly turning into a bloody pulp.

"This is so incredibly annoying."

Fu Que was somewhat speechless. During his time in the deep forest, he hadn't encountered any real ferocious beasts, but he had to kill one of these brown-scaled snakes every two or three minutes.

Although they are not necessarily scaled snakes, sometimes they are leeches, sometimes they are toads, but without exception, they are all poisonous insects.

However, Fu Que observed that the other guards were not as unlucky as him. Although they were attacked occasionally, it was not as frequent as it was for him.

It's unclear whether Fu Que was just unlucky or if they had some other preparations.

The convoy traveled for another half an hour.

"Next time I go into the mountains, I'll have to figure out what to bring first."

Fu Que thought to himself as he swatted away the leeches that were falling from the tree branches overhead and trying to cling to his neck to suck his blood with the blade of his knife.

Just then, a disheveled figure suddenly darted back from the dense forest on the left, his hair and body covered in mud.

"Striped lynx, watch out for its claws!"

The disheveled figure rolled lazily to dodge the sharp claws attacking from behind, ignoring the half-filled mouth of rotten leaves and mud, and immediately cried out.

Before the words were finished, a beast resembling a raccoon cat rushed out of the dense forest like a shadow. Its claws missed, and without hesitation, it pushed off the ground, bared its teeth, and tore at the neck of the rolling guard.

Qin Lie, in the lead car, was the first to react. His eyes sharpened, the iron-tipped whistle slipped from his hand, and he was about to take a step.

"Whoosh!"

The boots left clear footprints in the muddy ground. The owner of the boots spun around, picked up a line of withered branches and leaves, and rushed forward.

Fu Que.

Exhale and make a sound.

His figure swooped down like a hawk in flight, the standard waist knife in his hand flashing with a cold light like a bolt of lightning. The invisible wind amplified by the Mountain Lord Banner pushed aside the wind resistance, and this strike was silent yet arrived first.

It struck the spotted lynx's eyes with perfect precision.

"Pfft!"

With a tearing sound, the lynx's amber eyes were instantly filled with blood.

Before it could even let out a scream, a dagger plunged straight into its upper jaw, down to the hilt, piercing its skull and ending its life cleanly and decisively.

With a single, decisive move, Fu Que sheathed his sword and landed lightly on the ground.

At the same time, the spotted lynx's carcass fell heavily to the ground.

The whole process was clean and efficient, taking only a blink of an eye.

"Thank you, Fu Huqi."

The disheveled guard scrambled to his feet, spitting out the mud from his mouth, and thanked them with lingering fear.

He might not necessarily be afraid of this spotted lynx in a head-on confrontation, but this is a deep forest, the lynx's home turf, and who would dare to make a loud noise during a hunt?

Caught off guard by the covert attack, the guards lost the initiative and had no choice but to flee back to the escort convoy for help.

"You're welcome, just call me Xiao Fu."

Fu Que smiled.

Although the striped lynx cannot be called a monster or a strange beast, its fur and front paws still have some value, which can be considered as extra income.

A dark ripple appeared in Fu Que's eyes. He deftly peeled off the fur and removed the sharp claws. He always killed the spotted lynx by targeting its eyes, so he couldn't afford to damage them while skinning it.

The price difference between a complete piece of leather and a damaged piece of leather is enormous.

"Such a fast blade, such a fierce momentum, is this the inherited martial arts from the Imperial Guard's armory? No wonder Old Hu released you without worry."

Qin Lie took in everything that had just happened and silently thought to himself.

After Fu Que stripped the striped lynx of its valuables, Qin Lie grabbed the lynx's naked carcass and threw it behind the convoy.

"Alright, let's keep going. Be vigilant, especially the pathfinders. We're already deep in the mountains, so we're bound to be attacked a lot more often."

After the attack by the spotted lynx, the convoy became much more cautious as it proceeded.

However, in remote mountain forests, it is impossible to completely avoid the hunting of wild animals like the spotted lynx.

After the caravan had been traveling for some time, the group was attacked by several more hunters.

Fortunately, none of the attacks involved monsters; they were all wild animals driven solely by their hunting instincts.

It was a close call, but ultimately safe.

After everyone in the caravan witnessed Fu Que instantly defeat Qiu Da and the striped lynx, even though it was his first time joining the escort caravan and he had little experience, his status rose accordingly.

In other words, as long as Qin Lie doesn't speak, Fu Que's words carry the most weight in the caravan.

Qin Lie led the way, while Fu Que brought up the rear.

There were two guards, Heng and Ha, whose strength was clearly beyond that of ordinary guards. Although the caravan guards were somewhat disheveled by the beasts' attack, none of them were injured.

As they ventured deeper, the surroundings grew increasingly dark. Years of withered leaves and decaying corpses accumulated and lingered, and the lack of sunlight had created a faint gray mist.

If it weren't for the invisible wind bestowed by the Mountain King Banner swirling around the convoy, everyone would need to take an antidote pill to combat the accumulated, putrid miasma.

Just as everyone was carefully wading across a babbling brook, a low roar of beasts and the clanging of metal could be faintly heard from not far ahead in the dense forest.

There's some noise.

Qin Lie immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, and everyone instantly held their breath and tried not to make a sound.

"You all stay here. Fu Que will lead the team to keep watch. I'll go and check it out."

Qin Lie made a few simple gestures, indicating that everyone should stay, while he quietly moved forward under the cover of the dense forest and lush bushes.