Chapter 20: The heart’s fire has not yet gone out

The night wind was cold.

A chilly breeze swept over the skin, causing an inexplicable shiver to run down one’s spine as the very air seemed to dim.

Within the boundless Lin Hai, the roars of wild beasts echoed through the woods.

The night breeze blew gently, and the foliage above blocked out the clear moonlight, making the gaps between the trees look like a series of ghostly paths.

Gurgle…

The sound of soil being churned by tusks rang out.

A sturdily built wild boar stood beneath a giant tree nearly 0.5 meters thick.

After prying a root loose with its tusks, it began to chew meticulously.

A pair of faint green eyes watched the wild boar from the darkness.

Under the shadows of the moonlight, the silhouette of a beast was vaguely visible.

It was a black panther, its dark fur serving as natural camouflage within the gloom.

Hah—

The black panther’s throat rolled.

Its heavy breathing was masked by the sound of digging.

Its barbed tongue licked its lips.

Just as its left paw stepped out of the shadows, the wild boar suddenly let out a strange cry.

Its four hooves skidded across the ground several times, and then it sprinted away with a whoosh.

Roar!

The black panther turned toward a certain direction and let out an angry roar.

Then… it turned and ran.

Its long tail was tucked between its legs as it fled like a stray dog.

Beasts possessed a very keen sense of danger.

With a whoosh, wind pressure swept past the giant tree.

Feng Nü clutched her abdomen, a slightly delighted expression on her face.

Just as Feng Nü ran past the giant tree, an afterimage attacked.

Her pupils shrank as she tapped her feet lightly on the ground, leaping forward like a fish.

With a shredding sound, Gu Lian landed in a pouncing stance.

Her clenched right claws pierced the ground, her palm gripping a piece of tattered clothing.

Feng Nü rolled several times on the ground before springing back into a crouch and sprinting forward at full speed.

Her groggy head did not hinder her desperate flight.

Sizzle!

Ten intersecting claw marks actually flashed with a purple light in the darkness.

Wherever the claw marks passed, trees fell like harvested wheat.

Feng Nü hurriedly dove to the ground.

The claw light flew over her, severing a few strands of her black hair.

“This is too exciting!”

Brilliance flickered in Feng Nü’s eyes.

she pressed her hands against the ground to spring up, but a beast-like hoof suddenly stepped onto her back.

*Boom — *

With a loud explosion, Feng Nü was slammed violently into the dirt.

Her body arched backward into an inverted C-shape, and blood sprayed from her mouth.

Under the force of the impact, her clothes tore, revealing her already bruised abdomen.

*Bang!

Bang!*

Two whistling bullets were fired from behind, trailing two spiral air currents as they flew toward Gu Lian.

Gu Lian shifted her steps, tilting her body to dodge one bullet.

Following the momentum of her rotation, she swung her left palm, manifesting a Silver Whip to intercept the other bullet.

With a clank, sparks flew high.

The deformed bullet fell from her palm.

Gu Lian crouched down, her hand—covered in vessel-like Grey-white Markings—reached out and grabbed the back of Feng Nü’s neck, exerting force.

Crack.

“Ugh…”

Feng Nü let out a mournful cry as blood welled in her mouth.

Her eyes rolled back, and she lay limp on the ground.

She looked dead, but she wasn’t; she was simply heavily injured.

“The second one…”

A melodious yet raspy voice rang out.

Lan, who was hiding in the distance, felt his jaw muscles bulge as he fled through the woods for his life.

He didn’t dare look back, feeling as though the almost unkillable Weiyi would appear behind him the next second, raising those death-scythe-like claws to harvest his life.

“Hah…”

Looking at Feng Nü beneath her feet, Gu Lian only gave her a glance before ignoring the Hunter who had lost her combat capability.

Shifting her gaze, she looked in the direction Lan had run, while also scanning the surrounding forest seemingly at random.

Gu Lian narrowed her eyes, a red light flashing briefly in their depths.

‘Only this once… I must endure it…’

With a blur, Gu Lian charged into the depths of the forest, heading straight for the man who looked the most deserving of a beating.

She remembered clearly; it was that bastard who had shot her dozens of times!

“Reporting, Ice Duke and Feng Nü have checked in.

I am currently luring B-707…”

“Checked in” meant their life or death was unknown, but anyone who understood knew that “checking in” during an encounter with a Weiyi was no different from being dead.

Lan knew that the best end for Hunters was to die fighting against a Weiyi, but the death of his comrades still pained him.

“Received!

Lan, you have to hold on.

The helicopter is already at the designated location.”

“How many have been picked up?”

Lan panted heavily as he ran.

The faint sound of footsteps coming from behind made his heart turn cold.

“Everyone is present except for you and the already ‘checked-in’ Ice Duke and Feng Nü.”

“You guys go first.

I’m going to go all out against that Weiyi!”

“Is it worth it?”

“The fire in my heart simply hasn’t gone out yet.

Anyway, I can’t escape anymore!”

Lan pulled off the earpiece and crushed it.

He stomped his heel to slide across the ground.

At the same time, he propped his right hand on the earth, swinging his legs in a half-arc to turn around, facing the approaching Gu Lian head-on.

“Beast over there, I’ll show you what I’ve got!”

Lan unbuckled his belt and tossed it into the air.

Five magazines full of bullets slid out one after another.

Click—

The empty magazines of his two pistols ejected.

Lan reached behind him as he charged forward, and the two spinning magazines slotted into the grips of the guns.

Gu Lian paused her footsteps, casually snapping a nearby tree in half.

She held it in front of her like a shield and charged with her head down.

*Bang!

Bang!

Bang!*

A dense rain of bullets swept toward her.

The bullets were so concentrated they formed a chain.

The bullets passed through the tree trunk shield without resistance.

One bullet, trailing a spiral pattern, grazed Gu Lian’s cheek, drawing a streak of purple blood.

Whoosh—

Strong wind pressure hit Lan head-on.

His black hair was whipped back by the fierce gale, and his dark pupils constricted as two more empty magazines ejected.

Lan spread his hands and hooked his right foot backward, kicking up three magazines that were about to hit the ground.

Two of them were caught mid-air by the downward-slamming grips of his pistols.

The muzzles of the two guns collided as he chambered the rounds simultaneously.

*Bang!

Bang!

Bang!*

Lan pulled the triggers repeatedly.

The bullets formed a barrage that slammed into the wooden shield.

As wood chips flew, bullets pierced through.

Many of them hit Gu Lian’s body.

After most of their momentum was bled off, half of them embedded themselves into her flesh.

Blood seeped out, but the bullets were soon squeezed out by her tough skin.

*Clang!

Clang!*

Her injuries were recovering rapidly.

One by one, the deformed bullets fell to the ground.

The distance between Gu Lian and Lan grew closer and closer.

When it reached 10 meters, she could even hear the beating of his heart.

“Haah!”

Lan’s eyes widened.

He discarded the pistol from his left hand after it ran out of ammunition.

As he reached back, a silver magazine fell and was caught in his hand.

Click—

Chambering, pulling the slide, aiming—the series of movements was so fast it was almost impossible to track.

What followed was a thunderous roar.

When the first bullet hit the tree, it immediately exploded.

Gu Lian’s body came to a sudden halt.

She pushed her hands forward as the enemy’s second bullet arrived!

Bang—

The second bullet pierced through Gu Lian’s arm, and a crack appeared on her limb.

A sense of crisis surged.

Gu Lian gripped the giant tree with both hands, her forward momentum stopping abruptly as she swung the trunk.

The power of the opponent’s bullets had suddenly become exaggerated.

No… these weren’t bullets; she would believe it if someone said they were armor-piercing shells!

The trunk was swung.

A bullet shot into the wood.

The scorching projectile first passed through the trunk, but as it did, Gu Lian hurled the trunk away.

The bullet collided with the internal structure of the wood with a sizzle, breaking through but having its trajectory knocked off course.

After firing two bullets, Lan shifted his aim toward Gu Lian’s limbs and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

*Bang!

Bang!*

Two more bullets.

One exploded on the tree trunk, sending out a massive amount of wood chips, while the other shot through Gu Lian’s calf.

Numerous cracks spread out, centering from the black hole left by the shot.

Gu Lian stumbled, her body falling toward the right.

As she fell, she looked through the hole in the center of the tree trunk and saw Lan raising his pistol.

Lan held his arm straight, the dark muzzle pointing at the wooden shield that had already been shot through.

Behind the shield, he could see Gu Lian’s chest and the heart beating within her left ventricle.

“This… is the final spark!”

All his preparations had been for this moment.

Lan didn’t know if this would kill the target, but he was certain this shot would pierce through her chest.

Bang!

A gunshot rang through the forest.

Like the final chapter of a movie, the surroundings fell deathly silent.

PS: This is the author’s new book, my first attempt at an original story.

I would appreciate it if all you readers could add it to your collections.

QAQ.