"What is even happening? First Liuxian, now Zexian. What's taking those bastards?"
Three hunters were sitting around a small fire. The sky had already darkened but neither the first hunter nor the hunter who had gone after the first one had returned.
"You think something happened to them?" Another said, taking a swig from a container that was full of alcohol.
"I told you not to drink, you bastard!" The third hunter slapped the one who was drinking on the back of the head.
"Oh, come on! We're just sitting here and doing nothing anyways! What's the damn problem?"
"We don't know when those bastards will be back. We gotta' be ready to finish the job tonight. If we take too long, some other group will find where the damn White Deer are."
"How many of them are there?" The first one asked.
"20, give or take. We can take 'em down easily if we strike in the dark."
"Man, I'm gonna' buy a nice mansion after selling off all of my portion. Gonn' buy a couple slave girls, enjoy life."
"Fuckin' low life."
The three hunters continued bickering about what they would do in the future, talking and laughing about the bright tomorrow that was awaiting them. All while merrily discussing how they would rob the futures of several others.
Yun Lei watched the entire scene play out in front of him with a cold look on his face. He was crouched atop a nearby tree branch, bow in hand.
He had sent the doe back to where her people were, while he had come towards the hunters' camp alone. He didn't believe everything he had heard from that one hunter so he thought it was best to go verify the information himself.
The doe's job was to go back and inform the Deers about what was happening but also stop them from panicking and causing a ruckus. If something of the sort were to happen, the hunters were bound to be alerted.
It seems he gave me accurate information. Yun Lei thought. Although Yun Lei could smell what someone was feeling, it wasn't completely reliable and it definitely wasn't a lie detector.
Since the only ones who knew about the Deers' location currently were the three hunters in front of him, he could simply get rid of them. Of course, that wouldn't be enough to avert the danger entirely. From the sounds of it, there were more hunter groups somewhat nearby. The Deers would have to find another spot to move to anyways.
Soon, two of the hunters retired to their tents while the third one stood on guard. The hunters had ultimately decided against attacking that night. The fire was barely big enough to light up a small area around the camp so there was no way for the one standing watch to notice Yun Lei.
Yun Lei, still perched atop the tree branch, focused his hearing towards the two tents and listened carefully. He heard their breathing slow down and get deeper as they fell asleep. The night guard, who was showing signs of fatigue, kept yawning and didn't look very alert at all.
He slowly pulled out an arrow from his quiver and aimed. The night guard only heard the faint whistle of an arrow before he lost his life.
Yun Lei had already dropped down from the tree and was heading toward one of the tents by the time the guard's body hit the ground. His movements didn't create a single sound as he moved like a ghost. It was almost as if not a single particle of dirt was misplaced when he walked.
The tent was barebones and badly put up, just a single flap prevented bugs and other unwanted things from entering. Inside was a thin bedroll and sleeping atop it was a hunter who stank of alcohol.
Yun Lei raised his knife before bringing it down in between the sleeping hunter's eyes. The sound was a bit louder than he would have liked it to be but that was the fastest way of killing the hunter for sure.
As he was exiting the tent, his eyes fell upon the third hunter who was looking at the arrow sticking out of the fallen night guard's head with his sword drawn.
"Who are you?" The hunter asked, eyes full of rage. The man was massive, nearly three times the size of Yun Lei. Without waiting for an answer, he swung down his sword towards Yun Lei who easily stepped to the side.
In a physical confrontation, Yun Lei stood no chance. After all, he was quite weak, even by mortal standards. But that was against cultivators. With mortals, such as the hunter attacking him, he didn't even need to be worried.
Yun Lei couldn't help but think that his opponent's movements were rather clumsy as he watched the hunter swing around his sword like a madman. He fought with just his physical strength, there was no semblance of technique in his style.
Stepping around those clumsy swings, Yun Lei calmly raised his bow and let an arrow fly. The hunter made an attempt to dodge but the arrow was simply too fast. He let out a roar of pain when the arrow dug deep into his thigh.
Yun Lei was only that nimble because he had been reinforcing his right leg with profound energy from some time ago. The reason the battle even lasted that long was because he wanted to see how well he could move in actual combat when he strengthened his body.
Since he was done testing and was even getting a bit bored of the hunter's mundane movements so he decided to end the show without any delays.
Yun Lei's eyes turned red as he fully unleashed his aura and made it suppress the hunter until he couldn't even breathe. He pulled back another arrow and let it loose. With a small whoosh, the arrow flew through the air before piercing right through the hunter's skull, instantly killing him.
There weren't many valuables to be found around the hunters' camp. He thought about taking the big hunter's sword but it was too heavy for him to use efficiently so he just passed on it. He collected the three pouches from the hunters' hips before checking around the camp for anything he might find useful.
Upon discovering that there was nothing he wanted or needed, he left the camp, moving towards where the Deers were.
The forest at night was a lot quieter as most animals would be holed up in their shelters, awaiting daylight. Although it was almost pitch black, Yun Lei could see without much difficulty. He thought this was weird but he didn't think much of it. That was not the only thing that had changed about him, after all.
He let out a sigh as he slung his bow over his shoulders. He was feeling rather hungry as he hadn't eaten for over half a day. He didn't want to waste any of his crystals so he had stopped reinforcing his leg which decreased his speed by quite a bit.
A small clearing with several shabby tents was where the White Deer Tribe had been staying for the last two weeks. A melancholic look seemed to be on the faces of all the people who had gathered in front of the tribe leader's tent.
"Is what you said true, Nuo'er? Have hunters arrived even this deep into the forest?" The frail-looking tribe leader asked while letting out several coughs.
The doe didn't say much but simply walked in front of the fire. Gasps of worry and shock rang through the clearing as the members of the tribe saw the deep wound on her leg.
"Oh, what will we do!?"
"Is the White Deer Tribe meant to end here?"
"When will we have peace?"
Several people started crying out in despair. It had only been a few weeks since they had last been attacked. Now, it seemed like they would be attacked again.
"About the expert..." The tribe leader spoke while looking towards the white doe. "Will he really be able to take care of them all?"
"You'll know once he returns, mother." The doe simply said before entering a tent.
The tribe leader told the rest of her people what the doe had told her. Nuo'er had been attacked by a hunter and almost ended up losing her life. She had been rescued from her predicament by an unknown expert and that expert had currently gone off to take care of the hunter's companions.
Of course, simply being told that some unknown expert would be helping them didn't set their heart at ease. After all, in the past, many people had pretended to approach them with good intentions in order to take advantage of them. They only became more anxious at the thought that someone more powerful than the hunters knew where they were.
But there was little they could do about it other than wait for the expert with bated breath. A sense of nervousness filled the air as they awaited what could be the end of their lives.
The wait seemed so very long yet so short at the same time. The adults were the first to notice but the younger ones noticed it not too long after. Someone carrying a very strong stench of blood was approaching them. The smell was so strong that many of the Deers started shivering.
A young lady who seemed to be about 17 years old came out of the tent where the doe had entered. While the rest of the Deers were frozen in shock, she walked towards the stench of blood with a bit of difficulty.
He was victorious. She thought with a small smile on her face.
Yun Lei exited the trees only to find himself standing in front of a smiling young lady. He couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion.
"I was expecting a bunch of deer." He said looking towards the crowd of people standing behind the young lady. Whoever he looked at started shaking like they were experiencing an earthquake.
"You didn't know I was a beast-kin?" The young lady asked, her voice full of surprise.
"I just thought you were a talking deer." Yun Lei replied with a bit of embarrassment. He had recognised that the young girl and the doe were one and the same but hearing her voice made him certain.
"I welcome the young sir." The frail-looking tribe leader walked forward. "Thank you for saving my daughter and my people."
The tribe leader was bowing so deeply that her head almost touched the ground. The young lady watched her mother with an awkward look on her face.
"Don't mind her," she said. "My name is Zuzhou Nuo. It isn't much but welcome."
"I'm Yun Lei." Came the reply along with a smile. Zuzhou Nuo knew that he wasn't lying this time.
"Well, what happened?" She asked.
The tribe leader, whose head was still bowed, started coughing rather violently at that point.
It wasn't just that, Yun Lei noticed all the Deer Tribe members were shaking while bowing their heads. The ones who had raised their heads were looking at him with eyes full of fear.
They could smell blood on him. The stench was like a thick, suffocating smog which made it difficult for them to breathe.
"The White Deer Tribe is sensitive to the smell of blood." Zuzhou Nuo explained softly. "To put it in simple words, you smell like a mass murderer."
"Nuo'er! What are you saying to our benefactor?" The tribe leader scolded her daughter before she started apologising profusely. "M-My daughter is still young, forgive her rude words."
"She's afraid you will harm us." Zuzhou Nuo calmly continued, as if she hadn't even heard her mother speak.
"Rest assured, tribe leader. I will not harm any of you."
"He's speaking the truth." Zuzhou Nuo informed not only her mother but also the rest of the tribe. "If it wasn't for him, I would already be dead. And the rest of you would have soon followed. It's fine if you don't trust him but those are the facts.
"Now then, perhaps we should invite our guest in and give him some hospitality. We, the White Deer Tribe, may be weak and poor but we aren't people who would forget our manners, are we?"