The moment the sound carried over, Liang Hui had already gotten to his feet, simultaneously donning his Fine Iron knuckle dusters.
His gaze was vigilant, fixed on the direction outside the cave; the noise just now had come from the warning trap he had set up.
If the trap had been triggered without any animal's roar following, then the intelligence it provided was rather interesting.
He slowly stepped to the draft vent at the cave's mouth, preparing to observe the environment outside.
Suddenly, a cold metallic light streaked through the night sky, hurtling towards his eye sockets at extreme speed.
The young man's head retracted quickly.
Clang!
An arrow with barbs was now nailed into the ground behind him, its feathered tail still trembling slightly.
Liang Hui's eyes sternly fixed on the arrow's fletching on the ground, he stepped forward to pull out the long arrow, his breathing gradually steadying.
Without a word, without a reason, the two sides inside and outside the cave had both deemed each other as someone who must be killed.
Following the arrow's release, silence once more fell upon the air, with only the sound of cicadas and insects piercing the night.
An imposing voice made its way from outside the cave after a short while.
"Friend, are you alright? We thought there was a Blind Bear in the cave just now, sorry."
Liang Hui hadn't the slightest intention to reply, his grip on the arrow tightening again.
"Friend, it was a mis... "
Boom!
Stones from the cave exploded suddenly in all directions as a figure dashed with great speed towards the source of the voice.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two more arrows flew through the night, aimed at the dashing figure.
However, hidden by the veil of dust and Liang Hui's high-speed movements, neither found its mark.
By now, Liang Hui had already reached the spot where the voice had originated.
In the moonlight, the appearances of two figures came into Liang Hui's view.
One was a middle-aged man dressed in grey cloth, a short knife in his hand held with caution.
And the other, clad in black martial attire, a towering nearly two meters tall, a bare-handed Great Han.
Both of them looked at the approaching young man with surprise, clearly not expecting someone to come at them so decisively and suddenly.
The coldness and killing intent in Liang Hui's eyes intensified, and the hand holding the arrow stabbed it swiftly toward the neck of the middle-aged man.
Sinew, bone, and skin all exerted force together, making this stab.
Exceedingly fast! Exceedingly ferocious!
Slit.
With this stab, the middle-aged man had no time to react before it pierced through the enemy's neck.
Blood sprayed into the air, and his body helplessly slumped backward.
Only then did the Great Han in the martial attire react, bellowing furiously, his palms with a whizzing sound slapped towards Liang Hui.
At the same time, arrow(s) with icy-metallic gleam shot out from the shroud of the night.
And Liang Hui's blood-stained right palm released the arrow.
Bending his body, raising his knee.
He struck directly towards the Great Han's abdomen.
Thump!
The toughness felt at the site of the collision made Liang Hui's brow furrow slightly.
Refining Skin, and moreover, a considerable distance along that path.
Without a second thought, the combat experience from 'Entering Dreams' instinctively made him feel danger and retreat backward.
This retreat not only dodged the Great Han's palms but also the incoming arrow.
"Friend, we can... "
With blood at the corner of his mouth, the Great Han opened his mouth, trying to halt the sudden skirmish.
But before he could finish speaking, Liang Hui had already lunged again.
His fists, covered in knuckle dusters, punched towards the Great Han's neck.
The punches were so fast they whipped up a sharp screech through the air.
Thump! Thump!
The sound of metal colliding with flesh echoed through the jungle.
Both punches struck the martial attire Great Han's throat in succession.
At that moment, no matter how tough the Great Han's skin was, his neck simply folded under Liang Hui's iron fist like boiled noodles.
His body could only fall backward unwillingly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Another arrow flew toward him.
Liang Hui's feet slid, his head tilted slightly, easily dodging the arrow.
He picked up the short knife that the man in grey had dropped in the process.
His eyes cold and harsh, he looked in the direction the arrows were coming from and burst forward with great speed.
In the jungle, Liang Hui swung the short knife, deflecting the incoming arrows.
Soon, a figure hidden among the branches appeared in his sight.
The short knife left his hand in an instant, cutting through the night sky.
Ah!
Accompanied by the figure falling from the tree branch, a piercing scream echoed in the night.
Liang Hui strode forward, delivering a punch straight to the heart.
The screaming stopped abruptly.
Huff~ Huff~
Only then did Liang Hui start to breathe heavily.
From bursting out of the cave to the end of the skirmish, it took less than a short five minutes.
The victor and the vanquished, life and death, had been decided, with all enemies cut down.
Such a feeling of dancing on the blade's edge and beheading enemies was indeed exhilarating.
Liang Hui bent down to pull the short knife from a corpse, then stabbed it straight into the dead man's eye socket, scrambling the brain.
Only then did he drag the body toward the first battleground.
After making sure the middle-aged man and the Great Han were dead with additional knife cuts, he dragged all three bodies into the cave.
Gathering a large amount of dry wood from the surroundings, he lit a fire and threw the bodies into it.
Liang Hui stood outside the cave with his pack on his back, the red flames reflected in his pupils.
Reflecting on the recent skirmish, it was the first time he had killed enemies by relying on his own strength.
The ease of his victory was largely thanks to the combat experience he had gained in the "Dream" divine skill, as well as the boxing techniques and power application he had learned from the elder Tian Qing earlier that day.
However, since a fight had taken place here, it was no longer safe to stay.
That was what Liang Hui thought.
Then, he turned his gaze to the three items in his hands: a short knife, a bow and arrows, and a palm-sized silver disc.
These three items were relics from the deceased individuals, each containing a unique aura that could serve as instruments for entering the "Dream."
"Where is this territory? Why did you seek to kill a stranger? It will be clear soon."
Liang Hui surveyed the three items in his palm, murmuring to himself.
Enter the Dream!
Leizhou, Small Golden Mountain, a green wolf gravely injured, being hunted.
Scenes flashed by like streaks of light, finally settling on an image of three individuals wielding different weapons confronting a green wolf.
The Green Wolf was about the size of an adult bull, its face fierce, saliva dripping from its jowls, and a lengthy wound on its abdomen that was oozing fresh blood.
An Exotic Beast?
A flicker of surprise crossed Liang Hui's mind.
Exotic Beasts, by various freaks of circumstance, have come to wield formidable powers, with most being powerful and possessing a variety of special abilities.
Their flesh and bones are considered great supplements for Martial Artists and Daoists and are of exceptional value.
No wonder the three had resorted to killing him without a second thought.
But for Liang Hui, the flesh of the Green Wolf was secondary; what mattered most was the Green Wolf itself in the images.
Many human experts would watch these Exotic Beasts fight and hunt, creating various martial arts based on them.
Liang Hui's training in the Green Wolf Fist was a result of this.
But no matter how well one is taught, it can't compare to the profound lessons provided by the Green Wolf itself.
"This time, the harvest is so rich!"
Liang Hui whispered to himself.
The next moment, he had plunged into the body of the Green Wolf, feeling a torrent of powerful energy enter his heart.
It belonged to the mighty Exotic Beast: muscles, bones, unknown energies, all suggesting that the Green Wolf, before it was wounded, was no less formidable than a human at the Bone Refining Stage.
But in its strength, there was a touch of frailty.