Chapter 14｜The First Counter-Blockade: The Hunters Begin to Hunt Back

Deep into the night.

The village lay as if pinned down by an invisible hand, not even a dog daring to bark.

Black market operatives scattered at every intersection, seemingly at random, yet sealing off the village exits with seamless precision.

Li Xing stood behind the house, staring down at the footprints on the ground.

“They're not a single line.”

“Three layers.”

Zhao Yun narrowed his eyes: The outer layer watches the roads, the middle layer watches people, the inner layer... watches our house."

Li Yu added softly, “The information hub is in town.”

This wasn't sealing off the village.

This was cutting off its breath.

The first rule Father left behind

Li Xing recalled his father's words—

“When hunting, first cut off the wind, then strike.”

The wind didn't refer to direction.

It referred to the flow of information.

Their task wasn't to force through the blockade.

It was to make the black market blind, deaf, and clueless.

Counter-hunting begins at the outermost layer.

On the first night, Zhao Yun vanished into the woods.

He carried no Tang sword, only a Desert Eagle.

His target was clear—the outer perimeter lookouts.

In the dead of night, two sharp gunshots were swallowed by the mountain wind.

No one saw him.

By dawn, the salt peddler was missing from the village entrance.

Li Yu's Perspective

Li Yu held the high ground.

Her Type 56 semi-automatic rifle rested behind rocks, its range covering the entire village road.

She didn't fire.

She only recorded.

Who came, who left, shift change times.

Who feigned conversation, who remained motionless.

The system interface flashed:

“Reconnaissance efficiency increased.”

“Information control increased.”

The black market began sensing something amiss.

Li Xing's middle management severed ties

On the third night.

Li Xing entered the town alone.

He carried no gun.

Only the old hunting knife his father had left behind.

The black market's “contact” in town

lived behind the general store.

When the man awoke the next day, he found his room ransacked.

Ledgers, rosters, codes—

All gone.

No blood.

No bodies.

Yet more terrifying than death.

The blockade began to crack.

Day Four.

Fewer men at the crossroads.

Guard rotations grew frantic.

They started distrusting each other.

System alert flashed:

“Enemy information chain disrupted.”

“Blockade stability declining.”

Zhao Yun grinned. “They're panicking.”

The Black Market's Response

Fifth day, evening.

That familiar note reappeared outside the courtyard.

But the message had changed:

“Come out to talk.”

Li Xing stared at the note, his fist slowly clenching.

This was the first time

the Black Market had sought an audience.

Hunter and prey, positions reversed

Li Xing didn't respond immediately.

He lifted his head to gaze at the night sky.

His father's grave lay deep within the woods.

This time,

he wasn't defending.

He was advancing.

The system's final prompt appeared:

“Counter-Hunt Phase Initiated.”

“Initiative: Transferring.”

The Black Market finally realized—

they hadn't surrounded

an ordinary fatherless household.

They had surrounded

the one who inherited the rules of the hunting ground.