Fang Zhen stopped in his tracks.
His heart began to race, pounding in his chest, but it was still within his control.
He hid his body behind a large tree and carefully observed the situation ahead.
About twenty meters ahead, there was a small mound of earth. It wasn't very high, maybe a little over two and a half meters, and beneath it was a natural hollow large enough to hold several people.
In the hollow of the mound were some thick branches. Gray strips of linen and leafy boughs were draped over them haphazardly, concealing the hollow. It served as a crude shelter, blocking the sun and providing cover from the wind and rain.
The shelter was semi-open, allowing him to see part of the interior. Fang Zhen saw several goblins inside, and there were probably more.
These goblins were short, about the size of human children. A good number of them could fit in one shelter. They were all napping now; he estimated there were six or seven inside.
Fang Zhen figured this was likely a small goblin gathering point.
He scanned his surroundings.
Logically, there should be a lookout or some kind of hidden sentry near an outpost. Fang Zhen started looking for one.
After a moment of observation, Fang Zhen's gaze sharpened.
Sure enough, about ten meters from the shelter, there was a large tree with a hollow at its base. A goblin was sitting in that hollow.
The goblin's small stature made it hard to spot in the hollow, but its head was sticking out, its pointed green ears twitching back and forth rhythmically.
Fang Zhen watched for a moment and realized the Goblin Sentry by the large tree was dozing off.
'Heh heh heh...' Fang Zhen chuckled inwardly.
He observed for a while longer but didn't find any other sentries.
'That makes sense. With goblin intelligence, setting up a double watch or a hidden post would be too much to ask of them.'
Fang Zhen's mind raced as he formulated a plan of action.
There were six or seven goblins in the shelter, all asleep. The ideal scenario would be to take advantage of their slumber, block the entrance, and spear the little monsters one by one inside their own outpost. It would be the safest and most efficient method.
But first, he had to deal with the lookout goblin. It would be best to take it down without it making a single sound.
Once he had a clear plan, he mentally rehearsed it and felt there shouldn't be any major issues.
He moved silently and lightly, creeping toward the Goblin Sentry's position.
The Goblin Sentry was truly careless. Despite being on guard duty, it was dozing off, completely oblivious to Fang Zhen's approach.
Soon, Fang Zhen was about five meters behind the large tree where the Goblin Sentry was located.
Fang Zhen gingerly placed his longspear on the ground, then slowly drew the Nepalese Curved Saber from his waist.
The blade of the saber was chillingly cold, its polished surface glinting with a frosty light.
Fang Zhen shifted the saber to his right hand and continued his stealthy approach, sneaking toward the Goblin Sentry beneath the large tree.
He was going for a surprise throat-slitting.
Fang Zhen had never done anything like this before. The thought alone was exhilarating, making his heart pound violently.
To calm his emotions, Fang Zhen continuously drew on relevant experiences from his memories, psyching himself up.
In this moment, Fang Zhen was not fighting alone. He was Agent 47, he was John Wick, he was Sekiro, he was Solid Snake, he was Altair Ibn La'Ahad.
Fang Zhen pictured these legendary figures in his mind, imagining himself as one of them. Instantly, his entire demeanor seemed to shift, taking on a genuine hint of an Assassin's aura.
He slowly crept to the hollow at the base of the large tree where the Goblin Sentry was located. The entire process was silent; the Goblin Sentinel was completely unaware.
The Goblin Sentinel was just an arm's length away. It was leaning against the hollow of the tree, sitting on the ground and dozing off. Its body swayed back and forth rhythmically, and its snores were clearly audible. It remained asleep.
At this moment, Fang Zhen could feel the Goblin Sentry's breath and sense its body heat.
Fang Zhen's heart was pounding. The plan was to cover the Goblin Sentinel's mouth and then slit its throat with the saber, but he wasn't entirely sure he could pull it off.
After a second's hesitation, Fang Zhen steeled his resolve, his eyes turning sharp.
He imagined himself possessed by those master assassins from the games. No longer hesitating, he shot out his left hand, clamping it over the Goblin Sentinel's mouth. He tightened his left arm, locking the goblin in his embrace. With his right hand, he brought the Nepalese Curved Saber up and viciously swiped the blade across the goblin's throat!
Instantly, he felt a sensation like slicing through beef with a sharp kitchen knife.
The Goblin Sentinel finally jolted awake and struggled for a moment. But by then, the curved saber had already sliced through its windpipe and blood vessels. Blood gushed from the goblin's throat. It thrashed once or twice before quickly losing its strength. It tried to cry out, but Fang Zhen's hand clamped tightly over its mouth. With its windpipe severed, it couldn't make much noise anyway.
The Goblin Sentinel struggled a few more times, then went limp. Its body convulsed, and after another five or six seconds, it stopped moving altogether.
'That easy?'
Fang Zhen was a bit surprised.
He had been prepared for the goblin to put up a desperate fight, but the stealthy assassination turned out to be unexpectedly simple.
Although the Goblin Sentinel had struggled a bit, it had lost a lot of blood from the throat wound and wasn't very strong to begin with. To Fang Zhen, its resistance felt like holding down a medium-to-large-sized dog during a bath—not much force at all.
'Maybe I'm just an overpowered character with gear that's too good. Slitting a goblin's throat with a Nepalese Curved Saber is like wearing level-ten gear to go back and one-shot a level-three mob. It's so easy.'
Before he acted, he'd thought slitting a throat would be a difficult task. After all, not many modern people have ever done such a thing, so he assumed it would be hard. He'd even found watching someone kill a chicken difficult, which made him think he couldn't do it himself.
But now that he had actually done it, mimicking the master protagonists from movies and games, Fang Zhen didn't find it that hard. The nausea and discomfort he had anticipated never came. Instead, he felt as if his Spirit had broken through to a new level.
Fang Zhen even felt his psychological fortitude had strengthened. It was a breakthrough of heart and Spirit. In the future, he wouldn't hesitate over such matters; he had overcome a mental hurdle.
He let out a long breath and gradually began to relax.
Fang Zhen looked back. After he had assassinated the Goblin Sentinel, the goblins in the shelter hadn't reacted at all. Not a single one had woken up; they were all still sleeping inside the outpost.
Fang Zhen gently lowered the Goblin Sentinel's corpse, propping it up in the hollow at the base of the tree. He then slowly rose and walked back to where he had left his sharp longspear, picking it up.
After assassinating the Goblin Sentinel, Fang Zhen's mentality seemed to undergo a subtle change. When it was time to fight, he could still feel the strength from the adrenaline rush, but his state of mind had become much calmer. He wasn't as agitated as he had been at the start.
Carrying his longspear, he slowly walked to the goblin's makeshift outpost.
No goblins stirred.
"One, two... five, six, seven." Fang Zhen counted carefully. There were seven goblins in the shelter.
After confirming the number of targets, Fang Zhen took a deep breath.
Then, gripping the longspear with both hands, he thrust it toward the heart of the goblin closest to him!
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