Chapter 5 (1/2)

”Cha!”

The sound of footsteps drew nearer and nearer Eager to clear the path, the bandit ferociously hacked at the branches and shrubs that had fallen between hi farther away from him

”You're very crafty, but where do you think you're going? I' to cut you in half with my blade”

His sight was focused on the fleeing youngto catch up His stance started to relax as he moved his blade from one hand to the other, confident that the scoundrel before him was almost completely burnt out

He followed closely behind, hacking and slashi+ng whatever obstacle came in between him and his prey

”Hua!”

The forest was deep and dense Even though Pei Zi Yun was very fas, he still constantly checked the ground There had been rumours that the forest was littered with unutilized anie It was such a shame that he did not have the luxury of time

The persistent rustling of leaves could be heard fro too close for co away slave! Your time's up!”

With his body hurting fro strides in a desperate bid to survive Although he still had his skills fro to bloith the skilled bandit Even if he were to have more power, he would still fall to this bandit's blade Thankfully he was familiar with this forest and thus had the upper hand It initially seey left to execute so had left hiued

All of a sudden, Pei Zi Yun recalled that there was a se was actually an animal trail He could make use of the traps scattered around there

As he devised this plan in his head, his left hand stroked his blade, laughing enored the pain in his lungs, determined to endure

Disregarding the nuht Countless thorns pricked his body like knives cutting his flesh a little at a time

The Black Wind bandit followed closely behind but slowed down to avoid being pricked by the nu at a considerable speed Seeing Pei Zi Yun's h

This slave had already expended all his strength, and yet was still running ”He will be dead in no tiain at this prospect He radually gained ground

The dense and thick forest soon lead to a small pathway It went on for as far as the eye can see to the top of the mountain The pathas extremely narrow and seeh at any given tirass grew sparsely everywhere

To see a s was a pleasant surprise Taking another ten strides before turning right anda roll, he exited the forest and arrived at a plain This field was halfway up the mountain, where several small trees were visible There were also a nu fruits the size of a thumb The fruits were sweet and sour and the bark of the trees were lined with thorns

At this point, his mouth and throat felt like they were on fire Without a care in the world, he plucked so his mouth As soon as the skin of the fruit was punctured, succulent juices dripped out into hishiasp for breath

So desperately thirsty was he that shoved the entire clu down vigorously Wiping his mouth, Pei Zi Yun turned his head and desperately listened for sounds from the pathway as he counted, 'One, two, three!'

Just as Pei Zi Yun had counted to three, he heard a rustling of leaves and so

Just as soon as the sound ca breaking

All he could hear was ”kacha, kacha” as the leaves and plants began shaking violently

'Oh no, the rope trap wasn't effective—tiht in his mind

At this point, he heard a sed bandit revealed hi forward

Just in front of Pei Zi Yun, there were several sweet potatoes scattered on the ground, almost as if there had been a wild boar here just seconds before, feasting He was only ten steps away from, but he couldn't walk anymore Thus, he spun around and faced the Black Wind bandit

The et a better look at the person he had been chasing all these while He could not make out his exact features but noticed that despite the mud and dirt on his face, he had a somewhat soft and tender look about him He was dressed in a shi+rt that had been patched up several ti that his prey could run no farther, the bandit looked at hi uncontrollably He approached slowly, knife raised

”Why aren't you running anymore?” The bandit et fro heavily,exhausted fro all those trees

In that moment, he stared dead into Pei Zi Yun's eyes Then, he let out a sinister laugh and took advantage of the fact that Pei Zi Yun was catching his breath to survey his surroundings The field they were on was at most ten metres wide Should the other try to escape, a few steps was all it would take to catch up again

Stepping forward and abrupting shouted, ”Go to hell!”, before rushi+ng right at him

Pei Zi Yun licked his lips and tasted the berry he had devoured earlier, sweet and sour, as if conflicted He looked around the grassy plains, desperately

The light fro it dark The feeling of stepping into soft and irl with ponytails fell into a pitfall here

”Thankfully I bought these clamps yesterday, how did you fall in?

Watching him jump into the pitfall, her tears flowed freely ”Silly boy! Silly boy! Why didn't you call soerous!”

The ain Thebut broke into a run anyway He covered six metres within four strides