Chapter 91 - 69 : The Hunter’s Night (2)

Chapter 91: Chapter 69 : The Hunter’s Night (2)

Ethan watched the air gather around Lu’s arm. The moonlight revealed the faint distortion in the air, while the trees around them stood mostly in darkness, their branches creating broken patches of shadow across the ravine. Ethan glanced at the branches beneath him.

He can sense where I am, but he can’t keep up with my movement.

The wind blade came.

Ethan stepped from the branch.

The pale blade passed beneath him, close enough for him to feel the rush of air against his legs before it tore through several leaves behind him. They fluttered violently through the darkness as Ethan dropped toward another branch lower down.

He landed lightly.

Lu followed the movement almost immediately, his eyes tracking the falling leaves and the shifting branches.

Another wind blade formed.

Ethan moved again.

The blade cut through empty branches, snapping thin twigs and sending leaves spinning into the air. Ethan used the uneven trees around him to change direction, never staying in one place long enough for Lu to settle his aim.

A fourth wind blade tore through the darkness and struck the trunk of another tree with a heavy crack.

The man cursed.

"Damn coward!"

"Come out!"

Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the words.

So I’m a coward now?

He stayed behind the tree, watching the cultivator through the darkness. Lu’s expression had tightened, his eyes moving carefully between the trees as he tried to predict where Ethan would appear next.

Another blade formed.

This one came from a different angle.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

He dropped behind the tree just as the pale blade swept through the darkness. It sliced into the trunk with a sharp crack, sending pieces of bark flying. Ethan felt the vibration travel through the ground beneath him.

He glanced toward Lu.

The cultivator was no longer attacking blindly. His eyes kept moving, and his stance had shifted slightly as he watched the surrounding trees.

He’s learning.

Instead of striking the same place again, Lu was changing his angles, trying to cover the paths Ethan might use.

Ethan watched carefully as the man’s movements grew faster and his breathing became heavier. Wind blades continued to tear through the ravine from different angles, forcing Ethan to move across the slope, climb higher, and drop between the trees whenever necessary.

Sharp bursts of wind filled the darkness, cutting through branches and sending leaves scattering across the ground. Lu’s attacks became more deliberate, but Ethan kept changing his position before each strike could reach him. The cultivator finally looked around, his eyes searching the trees as frustration began to show on his face.

"Where are you, damn it?!"

His voice carried through the ravine, louder than before. He had been fighting an opponent he could not see, and by now he was getting frustrated. He glanced toward the darkness where the others should have been. They should have come to help him by now, but no one was coming. He waited for a moment, his eyes still searching the darkness, as if expecting someone to appear.

Nothing came.

He slowly lowered his hand, his breathing rougher than before. For a moment, he looked toward the darkness where the others should have been.

"Boss!"

The call sounded less confident this time.

No answer came immediately.

He called again, louder.

"Boss!"

A few seconds passed before a distant voice finally carried through the ravine.

"I’m coming! Keep him busy!"

The boss’s voice was sharp, carrying clear anger across the darkness.

The cultivator’s shoulders eased slightly when he heard the response, though his weapon remained raised. Ethan listened carefully. If the boss was coming, he couldn’t keep this going much longer. The cultivator then turned his head toward the direction of the voice.

That was the opening.

Ethan dropped from the branch.

He did not come straight at the cultivator. Instead, he slipped around the side of the tree, using the darkness and uneven terrain to approach from the man’s blind spot. By the time the cultivator sensed the movement behind him and turned, Ethan was already within striking distance.

The cultivator’s eyes widened. He tried to raise his weapon, but Ethan’s short dao was already moving. The blade swept across his throat in one clean strike.

The cultivator’s eyes widened as he tried to steady himself, but the strength quickly left his body. His weapon slipped from his hand, and he collapsed to his knees.

His hands immediately went to his throat, trying to stop the blood pouring through his fingers. His mouth opened as he tried to speak, but only a broken gasp escaped. His eyes remained fixed on Ethan, filled with shock and disbelief, as if he still couldn’t understand how Ethan had appeared so suddenly.

Ethan caught his shoulder before he could fall heavily against the ground and lowered him into the leaves.

He glanced toward the direction the boss’s voice had come from.

He’s coming.

Ethan looked back at the wounded cultivator. The man was still struggling weakly, blood running between his fingers.

Ethan didn’t have time to stay here.

He dragged the man a short distance into the deeper darkness, putting more space between the body and the direction the boss would approach from. If the boss arrived now, Ethan didn’t want to be caught standing beside his latest kill with nowhere to move.

He released the man and immediately disappeared into the darkness.

A voice came from higher up.

"Lu!"

The boss was already coming. Ethan moved away from the blood trail and slipped deeper into the darkness.

Moments later, the boss appeared between the trees, his heavy blade already in his hand. He was breathing harder than before, his steps quick and heavy as he made his way toward the voice. Anger still burned in his eyes. He had been coming here expecting to find Lu, expecting to finally have someone beside him to deal with the enemy who had been picking them off one by one.

Then he stopped.

His eyes fell on the ground.

Blood.

For a moment, he simply stared.

Broken branches lay scattered around the clearing, and a dark trail of blood marked the ground beneath them. His expression slowly changed as he followed the trail with his eyes.

"Lu?"

There was no answer.

The anger on his face faltered.

He looked around the clearing, then turned slowly, searching behind the trees and along the uneven ground. His breathing became heavier.

"Lu?"

Still nothing.

He took several careful steps forward and crouched beside the blood. His fingers touched the wet ground.

He stared at the blood on his hand.

His face tightened.

For a moment, he seemed unwilling to accept what it meant. He had been rushing here, angry and ready to fight, but now the place was silent. Lu was nowhere to be seen.

The boss slowly raised his head toward the darkness.

His grip tightened around his blade.

"Everyone!"

His voice carried through the ravine, harsh and full of anger. But he got no response, which only seems to fuel his rage.

"Answer me!" He shouted.

A frightened voice answered from somewhere in the darkness.

"Boss?"

Another voice quickly followed from farther away.

"I’m here!"

A brief silence followed.

Then one of them called out, his voice uncertain.

"Boss... is everything okay?"

The boss stared at the blood on his hand. His mouth opened, but for a moment, no words came.

"Just... stay where you are."

His voice was lower now, but the anger in it had not disappeared.

The two cultivators fell silent, neither asking anything else. While the boss remained crouched beside the blood, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.

Lu was gone.

And he had no idea where Ethan was.

For several breaths, no one spoke. The ravine became quiet again, with only the faint movement of leaves breaking the silence.

The boss looked up.

For the first time, his face showed something Ethan hadn’t seen when they first entered the ravine.

Uncertainty.

The boss slowly rose to his feet, his eyes moving across the trees as he tried to understand what had happened. From behind a cluster of bushes a short distance away, Ethan remained crouched in the darkness, watching him through the gaps between the leaves.

The man’s face had changed. The anger was still there, but the confidence he had carried earlier was no longer as clear. He looked around the ravine again, as if expecting to find some sign of Lu or the person who had killed him.

Ethan watched quietly.

There was a strange sense of satisfaction in seeing the change. These men had chased him for hours, laughing and treating him as though he were already in their hands. Now their group had been reduced to three, and even their leader was beginning to realize that the situation was no longer under his control.

The man was shaken.

But he wasn’t losing control.

Not yet.

His grip remained firm around his blade, and his breathing was still controlled. He was forcing himself to stay calm while his eyes moved from one part of the ravine to another, trying to piece together what had happened.

Ethan stayed hidden in the darkness, watching him without making a sound.

Ethan could almost see the thoughts running through his movements. Three people had disappeared, and none had returned. There had been no prolonged fight and no obvious struggle, only blood. The boss looked toward the slope where Ethan was hiding, his eyes lingering there for a moment. Ethan remained still behind the bushes, watching him carefully.

Then the boss stepped toward the blood trail. Ethan watched as the man followed it for a short distance before slowing down. He stopped when the trail suddenly disappeared into the brush.

He looked at where the blood trail vanished into the darkness and called out.

Brother Lu!

And again, his voice was louder this time.

"Lu!"

Silence.

The boss swallowed and looked toward the narrow entrance of the ravine before turning his eyes back toward the darkness. Ethan remained hidden, watching him. He could keep moving through the shadows and try to strike from another blind spot, but this man was different from the others.

The wind cultivator had been easy to catch off guard, but the boss had been alert from the moment he arrived. If Ethan tried the same trick again, there was a good chance the man would sense him before he got close enough. Ethan’s eyes narrowed. There was no point forcing the same approach against someone who was already expecting an attack. He had the speed to fight this man directly, and with the others still scattered, this was probably the best chance he would get.

Ethan stepped out from the darkness.

The boss saw him.