The bushes rustled. Wang San and Zhao Fu were constantly hitting the weeds, both to drive out any poisonous snakes that might be hiding and to see if Su Yan was concealed in the thick growth.
"Damn it! When I find him, I'm going to skin him alive." Wang San muttered curses, his triangular eyes full of spite.
Zhao Fu frowned slightly but said nothing, his hand tightly clutching the iron fork.
Whether by luck or misfortune, their search led straight to the area where Su Yan was initially hiding.
'Light poison.'
Su Yan gave a silent command to the Dark Water Centipede. The purple centipede burrowed into the bushes and quickly approached Wang San and Zhao Fu.
"Ow! What the—!"
Wang San was searching, using his wooden stick to beat the weeds. Suddenly, a purple shadow flashed through the grass. Before he could see clearly what it was, the next moment, it bit him on his ankle.
Blood spurted out, and Wang San collapsed onto the ground. His entire ankle was mangled; the large gash looked as if it had been forcefully clamped open by pliers.
Hearing Wang San's cry of pain, Zhao Fu quickly rushed over with his iron fork and was immediately horrified. He saw a large, purple centipede, as thick as a forearm, now turned toward him, its menacing jaws ready.
Swoosh!
He thrust his iron fork forward, aiming to pin the poisonous bug down. The Dark Water Centipede simply twisted, easily dodging the incredibly fast iron fork.
Not good! That poisonous bug was incredibly agile!
Zhao Fu tried to pull the iron fork back to defend himself, but once a long-handled weapon is committed to a thrust, it's not easy to retract. The moment he tried to pull back, the Dark Water Centipede reared its body, shooting two streams of venom like arrows.
Zhao Fu felt a burning sensation in his eyes. His eyeballs felt like they had dropped into boiling oil, instantly searing with unbearable pain. The agony made him fall to the ground, hands clamped over his eyes. Involuntarily, he squeezed hard, and his scorched and corroded eyeballs were gouged out.
"Zhao Fu!"
Li Hu heard the commotion and quickly rushed over with his hardwood bow. He was midway when he shouted, "Who's there?!"
The words were barely out of his mouth when an arrow, like a shooting star, zipped through the trees and thwacked into his shoulder.
Li Hu cried out in pain and stumbled, nearly dropping his hardwood bow. He endured the agony, trying to draw his bow for a counter-attack. He looked toward the side of the woods where Su Yan's figure was now completely unconcealed.
Before he could knock an arrow, Su Yan fired again, the arrow directly piercing his other arm. The arrow went through his bicep. The hardwood bow, stained red with blood, clattered to the ground.
Su Yan showed no mercy. He drew and released two more arrows in quick succession, piercing both of Li Hu's knees. Blood streamed from the arrowheads. The large man fell to the ground, writhing uncontrollably, unable to stand again.
When Huang Tian finally reacted with his iron fork, he saw Li Hu and Wang San sprawled on the ground. Terror surged through him. He immediately abandoned all thoughts of getting rich and turned to flee into the deeper forest, desperate to escape this menace, Su Yan.
Fueled by fear, Huang Tian was incredibly fast. In an instant, he was a hundred paces away, his body mostly swallowed by the weeds and bushes.
"Do you think you can run?"
Su Yan's voice was calm, and with a swoosh, an arrow shot out like a meteor, flying through the gaps in the trees and striking Huang Tian directly in the back of his heart. Huang Tian, like a shot bird, stumbled forward a few steps out of inertia, then plunged to the ground. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth; he was dead.
Thump, thump, thump...
Su Yan walked over, stepping on the bushes, which made a snapping sound that contrasted sharply with the pained wails.
Pfff!
Su Yan fired two more arrows, one into Wang San's calf and the other into Zhao Fu's knee, then warned them in a flat tone, "One more sound, and you get another arrow."
Whether it was the effect of adrenaline or sheer terror, Wang San clamped his hand tightly over his mouth, not daring to scream again. Zhao Fu was blind and in unbearable pain, completely ignoring the warning. Su Yan showed no hesitation, raising his bow and shooting an arrow through Zhao Fu's head.
Only three living people remained in the entire forest.
"Brother Yan, please let me go! It's all a misunderstanding..."
Wang San had never witnessed a killing scene like this. Su Yan, barely fifteen or sixteen years old, acted like a natural-born demon star, killing without batting an eye, and with that bizarre bug-controlling ability.
He truly was possessed by a demon to seek trouble with this menace.
Wang San was trembling so violently that his pants were already soaked. He dared not call him "Brother Yan" in a mocking tone anymore; all he wanted was to live.
However, Su Yan merely sneered: "That nonsense won't save your life. Think carefully about what you should say. I'll come back to you later. Don't answer wrong."
Su Yan didn't bother with Wang San and walked straight toward Li Hu.
Wang San and Li Hu's faces instantly paled with alarm.
"It was all Li Hu who ordered it!"
"It was Wang San who instigated me! It has nothing to do with me!"
The stray dogs who had gathered for profit naturally turned on each other instantly when that profit was threatened. In a flash, both men looked at the other with shock and fury.
Su Yan grabbed Li Hu by the collar, dragging him toward the nearby woods like a dead dog. The pulling and dragging aggravated his wounds, causing him to cry out in pain, veins bulging on his face.
"Wait! Wait! I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Su Yan dragged Li Hu into the thicket. Concealed by the bushes, Wang San could no longer see them. His heart grew even more panicked, terrified that Li Hu would pin everything on him. He pleaded repeatedly, but there was no reaction from beyond the bushes. This only intensified his dread; he felt seven or eight-tenths of his life had been scared out of him.
Inside the thicket, Li Hu was no tough guy. The moment Su Yan stopped and held his hardwood bow steady, Li Hu started confessing everything like spilling beans.
"It was all Wang San who instigated me. He said you found a Treasure Spot, which is why you were able to find so many Treasure Plants. He instigated me to follow you and steal the Treasure Spot..."
"How many of you?"
Su Yan interrupted Li Hu before he could finish. Wang San might have suggested it, but only stealing the spot and not killing anyone? This was deep in the forest. Was that believable?
"Fo-four. Four people."
Li Hu didn't dare to lie and spilled the details, though he often tried to distance himself from the murder plot. Still, Su Yan managed to piece most of the story together and form a plan.
"It's all Wang San's fault! Brother Yan, if you let me go, I promise to follow your lead from now on..."
"How many times have you done a trade like this?"
Su Yan interrupted Li Hu again, but this question sent a chill down Li Hu's spine.
"Brother, please let me go, I..."
"I asked, how many times."
Su Yan spoke deliberately, his hardwood bow slowly drawing back.
Li Hu knew he couldn't hide it and blurted out, "Three times! I've only done it three times. I have ten tales of silver on me; I'll give you the money..."
Su Yan grinned: "Foolish. If I kill you, it's all mine anyway."
He drew the bow and released the arrow. The sharp shaft entered Li Hu's eye socket, instantly ending his life. Blood sprayed from his eye, the stench making one's stomach turn.
Su Yan's face paled slightly but quickly regained its composure. After days of shooting games and seeing blood, though killing a man was different from killing a wild beast, he had, in the end, forged seven parts courage and three parts killing intent. While his first act of killing was unsettling, he felt as free as a bird soaring through the open sky. His courage was nascent; he dared to take a life.
Su Yan retrieved the ten taels of silver from Li Hu's body and put it into the Bug Realm space. He then pulled out the blood-stained arrows one by one, casually wiping them with a handful of weeds, and slowly walked out of the thicket.
The arrows were bloodied, and his expression was indifferent.
Li Hu's sudden silence completely unnerved the remaining Wang San.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!"
Before Su Yan even got close, Wang San was shouting at the top of his lungs, begging to confess.
"It's time for you to go."
Su Yan said simply. Although only Li Hu had confessed, Su Yan had already pieced together the general sequence of events. Combined with Wang San blocking his path earlier, the two incidents corroborated each other, making the situation clear. No one was behind them. With everyone dealt with cleanly, the matter would end here. He would have the Dark Water Centipede gnaw at the arrow wounds later and disguise the footprints. The bodies would be gone in the forest in a day or two.
Seeing Su Yan's attitude, Wang San grew desperate.
"Your father, Su Dahe, didn't fall to his death! It was Niu Han and his gang who did it!"
In a moment of panic, Wang San blurted out the truth.
Su Yan's eyes flashed, piercing Wang San like a knife.
"Explain in detail."