Chapter 34 “Showcasing everyone’s skill”
Upon the start of the mountain hunt, the various factions and powers of Autumn Maple Town swooped into the mountain like raining arrows using the Ye and Song family as the arrow head.
The birds swooped into the air, the animals howled in deafening roars, the whole area soon became embroiled in full anticipation and excitement.
When all the participants have left for the mountain, Mayor Liu did something strange. Running over to a secluded place where a magnificent carriage was parked. One white and one black, the horses pulling this thing were at least double the size of a regular mount.
“Your grace, the mountain hunt has begun.” Old Mayor Liu at this time completely changed his earlier kind appearance. With a straight back and an upright stance, he gave off an aura like a dangerous sword sheathed inside a scabbard, peerlessly cold and strong.
Even though there’s a curtain shielding the looming figure’s face inside the carriage, the pressuring air coming out into the open inherently forced everyone on the outside to falter in fear, afraid to peep inside.
“Hmm” A low, languid voice then came from within the carriage,
Following a sudden gust of mountain wind from behind, Mayor Liu could only feel his cheeks going a little numb from the cold when the person inside the carriage disappeared, leaving behind a slightly shaking windows curtain and the empty carriage.
Meanwhile inside the Seven Star Mountain, Ye Saint and the other four children were standing at the mountainside, eager to get into action.
“The mountain hunt lasts for three days and three nights, and whichever side gets the greatest number of beasts in the hunt will be the winner. During the last mountain hunt, sister Liu One was away from home on apprenticeship so the Song House managed to take that opportunity to up one on our Ye family, thus taking the largest mining slope in the northern part of the mountain. But this time, no matter what happens, we will win and reclaim the mine back for the family, everyone hear me!” Ye Saint heroically makes his speech.
“Ye family’s win! We will win! Ye family’s win! We will win!” Ling Yue and the rest of her cousins echoed in cahoot with their cheers.
Then suddenly from the rear, a momentary howl of a hound startled the members of the Ye family.
Awhoo-Awhoo
Upon entering the mountain, the children of the Song family had abandoned their horses and followed up from behind with a snow-white mastiff leading their pack.
“Song Guang Zhi, you are bringing a Snow Mastiff to the mountain hunt!” Seeing that vicious Mastiff that’s no different from a wolf, Ye Saint and the others had a drastic change to their complexions.
The Snow Mastiff was animal considered to be a low-class spirit beast with a particularly keen sense of smell, very good for tracking a target. When brought to the main city of the county, a single Snow Mastiff would be worth no less than a thousand silvers at the very least. So the fact that the Song family would bring out a Mastiff for the hunt greatly shocked the participants.
“Who ruled that one can’t bring a hound to the mountain hunt? Besides, didn’t you lot also bring a dog along for the hunt?” Song Guang Zhi and his goonies all glanced over to Ling Yue and the big yellow fur dog by her side.
This has nothing to do with me okay! It’s all because of lazy bum Little Squeak who brought Big Yellow along! Regardless of the reason, Ling Yue can only make an awkward smile of guilt at the accusation and stuff her complaints.
Upon seeing Big Yellow, the Snow Mastiff arrogantly howled at his opponent.
But it was then on Big Yellow’s neck a small little claw came pawing out into the open.
Manning his own mount, Little Squeak’s been suffering the entire time from the arduous journey so it’s no wonder he’s in a bad mood. With the perfect target in sight to vent his anger, Little Squeak sharply roars out.
“Squeakk~!!!”
Frightened by the sudden call, the Snow Mastiff instantly jolted up into the air and dashed behind Song Guang Zhi for cover.
“Useless thing, why are you hiding behind me! Get back out there and move forward!!” Embarrassed, he angrily kicks at the Snow Mastiff and then grunts heavily at the mongrel breed.
“Ye Ling Yue, just you wait, we will see who gets the last laugh.” Song Han has changed out of his dirty rags by now and even had time to wash his face. Nevertheless, his face remains swollen and bruised like a pig as he walked pass Ling Yue with a ruthless glare.
The entire southern slope of the Seven Star Mountain was very large in size, but it remains difficult to find any wild beasts of decent size.
“We will also head into the mountains.” Although Ye Saint was very angry at the Song family for violating the rules, there’s no other way now. Forming a line, the five members of the Ye family headed into the mountain together.
“Ling Yue, thank you for that just now.” The only girls in the team consisted of Ling Yue and Ye Ning, so it’s not unexpected that the two would get along closely while they tagged along with the other boys.
“Ye Ning, why should you thank her. Even if she didn’t deal with Song Han, I can do it instead so don’t expect any thanks from me.” Whenever Ye Qing faces Ling Yue, he would inherently remember the humiliation at the competition.
As if she would be so kind to help me. In the end, it’s nothing more than a cat crying for the dead mouse sham.
“As members of the Ye family, what I did is nothing special, merely a little effort on my end.” Ling Yue nods at Ye Ning in affirmation and raises her pace for Ye Saint and the others, too lazy to even argue with the guy.
“Big cousin, since the Song clan have the Snow Mastiff to aid them, they will have an easier time finding the wild beasts than us. I suggest we head further up the peak in order to search for some prey, it will give us more chances.” Ling Yue proposes.
Regarding the proposal, Ye Saint did in fact consider it before.
Among the beasts of the mountain, they are divided into three categories: low-class herbivores, mid-class carnivores and high-class carnivores
Of these, the high-class carnivores are the toughest and was equivalent to ten low-class herbivores and five mid-class carnivores. In order to locate these high-class carnivores, they will definitely need to make the trek up to the peak where most of them resides.
“Alright, we will listen to your suggestion and head for the mountain peak. However, the terrain is rugged and rough so everyone be careful and don’t wander off alone!” Ye Saint immediately decided to divert for the mountain peak.
The higher and deeper they went, the harder the path became to walk. Pine trees as high as ten meters in height were everywhere and to make things worse, bushels of thorny shrubbery blocked their path at every turn.
ROARRRR~!!!
Then at this moment a Black Forest Panther jumped out of the greenery. Fangs bearing and claws ready, this dangerous beast instantly pounced for Ye Saint who was the closest in distance at the forefront.
The Black Forest Panther was a carnivorous beast in these parts that had unusually strong limbs and used its razor-sharp fangs as its main weapon.
When the panther came charging, the creature incredibly released a coat of energy similar to the Yuan energy used by a martialist.
Boom!!
Not backing down, Ye Saint immediately released a five streak Thunder Burst Fist against the animal, ruthlessly cutting into the cat’s waist area and cracking the panther’s backbone in the aftershock. Ye Saint didn’t even need to wait for the animal to fall to ground to know it had already lost its last breath, and by the time it did, rib bones were clearly protruding out from the side due to the impact it received.
“The Black Forest Panther’s striking power is not only immense; its speed is also extremely fast. However, it does have a fatal weakness as you all saw when it exerts itself. While it’s in midair during its pounce, the panther is wide open on the bottom for attack. When facing this wild beast, you must seize that opportunity and not retreat, do you all understand?” Among the group, Ye Saint had the highest cultivation and the only one to participate in the previous mountain hunt. As he explained the details, he also demonstrated some of the best moves and positions to attack.
During the explanation, a series of howling roars came once again, alarming the team in the process. It would seem the commotion from the first panther have attracted the rest of its companions hidden inside the forest.
From all direction, several black panthers came charging out of the greenery to attack the members of the Ye family.
Quickly reacting to the sudden danger, each person ended up facing a panther of their own.
In one snapping sound, Ye Saint’s attention was quickly attracted to his side.
Raising a brow at the sight, he was surprised to find Ling Yue aiming her hand out at a mother panther’s neck. Like cutting rock and jade pieces back at the forge, her action was smooth and precise without any dillydallying. Killing the panther in one single shot.
This… Ye Saint broke out into laughter, seems he’s been too paranoid over everyone’s safety.