Chapter 30｜High-Level Hunters Clash: The First Life-or-Death Showdown

The silence in the woods stretched on for nearly ten minutes.

During those ten minutes, there was no second gunshot, no footsteps, nor any clear sign of the enemy. Yet it was precisely this excessive stillness that kept Li Xing's nerves stretched taut as a hair.

He knew full well—

they hadn't left.

They were merely waiting.

The hound lay low at Li Xing's feet, body pressed to the ground, ears twitching faintly but never raising an alarm. It wasn't relaxation, but a suppressed vigilance.

“They're pinning us down,” Zhao Yun whispered.

Li Xing nodded, scanning the surrounding terrain. This area featured sparse yet towering trees with few shrubs, deliberately “stretching” the line of sight—ideal for long-range shots and splitting up squads.

It was textbook hunting terrain.

And whoever designed it understood this well.

Zhou Xiaoyu slowly moved her rifle barrel from a high vantage point, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. “They've shifted positions. Not just one group—at least three movement routes.”

Li Yu's breathing grew almost inaudible, her finger steady on the trigger of her Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. The system's assist prompts remained, but they were far fainter than usual. She had to rely more heavily on her own judgment.

Li Xing held off on giving orders.

He was waiting for an opening.

The First Shot

The opening came abruptly.

The hunting dog suddenly jerked its head up, a short, low growl escaping its throat.

Almost simultaneously—

“Right front!” Zhou Xiaoyu barked.

A gunshot exploded.

Not from a sniper rifle, but a medium-caliber rifle. The bullet flew from the right-front treeline, striking precisely where Zhao Yun had been moments before. Had he not shifted half a step earlier, the shot would have been lethal.

“They're firing!” Zhao Yun cursed under his breath, rolling into cover.

Li Xing hesitated not a second: “Return fire, but don't expose our full position!”

Li Yu fired first.

The crisp crack of the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle echoed through the woods. She didn't aim for a kill, but for suppression—bullets struck tree trunks and rock edges, forcing the enemy to reveal their movement patterns.

Almost simultaneously, Zhou Xiaoyu pulled the trigger.

The sniper rifle's shot was low and crisp. A figure froze abruptly in the distant shadows before tumbling to the ground and vanishing from sight.

“Hit, but not fatal,” Zhou Xiaoyu reported swiftly.

The enemy reacted too quickly.

This was beyond the capability of ordinary hunters.

Head-on Collision

The second enemy responded immediately.

Two consecutive gunshots rang out from the left forest line. Bullets skimmed the ground, forcing Zhou Yan to retreat. The hound growled fiercely, but Zhou Yan held it down tightly to avoid exposing their position.

“They're pinching us in,” Zhao Yun gritted his teeth. “Trying to force us to concentrate, then wipe us out all at once.”

Li Xing was unnervingly calm.

“Then let them think we're cornered.”

He flashed a quick signal. The team subtly adjusted their formation, feigning retreat while carving out a false passage.

Li Yu understood instantly, deliberately exposing a brief vulnerability.

The next second, the enemy took the bait.

A figure burst from behind the bushes, moving with crisp, professional precision.

“Target exposed,” Li Xing whispered.

Zhao Yun lunged from the flank, firing two shots from his Desert Eagle.

The first missed, a feint to force the position;

the second struck the hunter's shoulder.

The hunter grunted but didn't fall, rolling swiftly into cover with unbroken fluidity.

“Still standing?” Zhao Yun's heart sank.

“High-level hunter,” Li Xing said coldly. “Don't expect to take him out with one shot.”

On the Edge of Life and Death

The enemy launched a full-scale counterattack.

Gunfire no longer came sporadically but in rhythmic alternations—suppressing, shifting, suppressing again—like a net tightening around them.

Li Yu's ammunition depleted rapidly; she had to meticulously control her firing cadence. The system's ballistic assistance occasionally flickered, yet couldn't keep pace with the enemy's movement.

Zhou Xiaoyu's elevated position grew perilous.

“They're locking onto me,” she whispered. “I need to relocate.”

“Approved,” Li Xing responded.

The instant Zhou Xiaoyu prepared to retreat, a bullet whizzed past her previous position, embedding itself in the rock.

One second later, and she would have been pinned there.

Zhou Yan's breathing grew heavy as he stared intently at the shadows in the woods, his hunting knife reflecting a faint glint in his hand.

Suddenly, the hound broke free from his control, growling low as it charged toward a seemingly empty patch of bushes.

The next second, a dark figure leapt violently upward.

“Close quarters!” Zhou Yan roared.

A flash of steel, and the scent of blood instantly filled the air.

That was the first time—

they had truly engaged in close combat with a high-level hunter.

The Weight of Battle

After a brief, intense exchange, the forest fell back into a low, heavy silence.

The enemy had retreated.