Chapter 983: Chapter 44: Humanity and Animality (Part 3)
“Shrrk! Shrrk! Awoo—!”
The sound of claws tearing through flesh instantly intertwined with the howls of the Hunting Dogs! Xiao Jie’s movements were as swift as a specter, precise and brutal! Each swipe of his claws brought forth a shower of blood rain! He was like a death god walking through the pack of dogs, either grabbing, tearing, or slicing! In an instant, three Hunting Dogs charging at the front were gutted, their intestines spilling out! Several others were wounded by the sharp claws, shrieking and Rolling away!
“What?!” The Hunters were terrified beyond words! They had never seen such ferocious and swift hand-to-hand combat! This wasn’t a human; it was clearly a human-shaped Fierce Beast!
“The rest, keep shooting arrows! Old Third, Old Fourth, come with me to stab him!” The Big-bearded Hunter shouted, and he and two other Hunters dropped their Crossbows, grabbed the Steel Forks behind them, and surrounded him from three sides.
These individuals dared to venture deep into the Wilderness Forest to hunt fierce Beasts, so they naturally had some skills, possessing not only the archery of the Hundred-step Piercing Willow but also close-combat Strength for fighting tigers and bears. A set of thirty-six Tiger Subduing Spear Technique, paired with the Steel Fork in hand, could easily handle any Normal Beast.
At this moment, the three men’s Steel Forks were like a Poison Dragon emerging from its lair, carrying a vicious wind aimed fiercely at Xiao Jie’s chest and abdomen! Other Hunters aimed their Crossbows again, waiting for an opportunity!
Xiao Jie’s figure flickered, easily evading the tips of two forks! The broken knife was already in his left hand at some unknown moment! The blade flashed like a cold moon piercing through darkness! There were no complicated moves, only the most direct and deadly killing instinct! The broken knife, with a chilling whistle, precisely blocked one Hunting Fork and then sliced across a Hunter’s throat!
“Ugh…” The Hunter clutched his bleeding neck, staring in disbelief as he crashed to the ground.
Seeing this, the Big-bearded Hunter was filled with terror, his hand wielding the Steel Fork in a frenzy, attempting to force Xiao Jie back. But Xiao Jie moved like a maggot clinging to bones, suddenly advancing low, the broken knife from bottom to top carving out a chilling arc!
“Splurch!” The Big-bearded Hunter’s arm holding the fork was severed at the elbow! Blood sprayed wildly! He let out a pig-slaughtering howl! This content belongs to novel⸺fire.net
Without stopping, Xiao Jie moved like the wind, rushing towards the two Crossbowmen frantically reloading. The blade flashed repeatedly! Like the scythe of death! One Crossbowman had his heart pierced by the broken knife, while the other had half his head sliced off!
The last Hunter attacked from behind, but Xiao Jie, seemingly having eyes on his back, suddenly swung his hand, and the broken blade plunged straight into the man’s throat.
The battle commenced quickly and ended even quicker! In just a few breaths, six adult Hunters and their Hunting Dogs were dead! The woodland was thick with the scent of blood.
Xiao Jie sheathed his knife, surveying the chaos and corpses on the ground with cold eyes. No, there was one missing.
His gaze finally locked onto behind a large tree. A boy named Fugui was curled there, his face pale as paper, trembling as if sieved grain, tightly clutching a small Dagger, staring at Xiao Jie with Fear and hatred.
Xiao Jie slowly, step by step, walked towards him. The heavy footsteps sounded like drumbeats, pounding at the boy’s fragile defenses.
Watching Xiao Jie approach like an Asura from Hell, the boy let out a scream of terror, gripping the Dagger with both hands, closing his eyes, and using all his Strength to Stab towards Xiao Jie! The motion was clumsy and powerless.
Xiao Jie didn’t even Block, casually lifting his foot, precisely kicking the boy’s wrist!
“Clang!” The Dagger flew out of his hand, landing far away in the grass.
Dragged by the immense Strength, the boy staggered and fell to the ground. He raised his head in despair, seeing the blood-stained broken knife descending with a deadly shine towards his neck!
“Ah—!” The boy let out a shrill scream, tightly closing his eyes.
However, the anticipated agony did not come.
The cold Blade halted less than an inch from the boy’s neck! Blood Beads remaining on the Blade dripped onto the boy’s pale face.
Time seemed to freeze in this moment. Xiao Jie’s hand holding the knife trembled slightly.
At this very moment, he saw the boy’s face clearly. It was merely a child.
The innocent, terrified face, marked by tears, hit him like a heavy hammer on the deeply buried lake of his heart obscured by beast-like ferocity and hatred! Ten years in the wilderness, dancing with wolves, killing had become instinct. Those Hunters and Hunting Dogs were but threats to his family in his eyes, killed without hesitation.
But this child… Alone at eleven or twelve, when did he become so merciless, not sparing even a child?
This thought, like a thunderclap, roused Xiao Jie to the almost forgotten, human understanding buried deep in his heart. A powerful surge of emotion, mixed with shock and self-doubt, arose—when had he turned so ruthless? So indifferent to the life of a similar child? Had ten years of beastly existence fully extinguished his humanity? This bloodstained killing, how was it different from the atrocities committed by Jiu Jianxian years ago?
Seeing the boy’s face twisted in fear, watching the frail body without any threat, the immense Killing Intent within Xiao Jie dissipated like a retreating tide, replaced by a sense of heavy, cold fatigue and deep confusion about his behavior.
Killing the boy was easy, but did it mean he had truly become a Beast?
He gently patted the boy’s face, grabbed his hair, turned his face towards the direction he came from, then kicked him on the backside.
The boy stumbled from the kick, turned back to see Xiao Jie not chasing him, and immediately realized, letting out a cry of extreme Fear, sprawling into the dense forest, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Whether the boy could survive in a Beast-infested forest, Xiao Jie was unsure and indifferent.
He mostly didn’t want to lose his last shred of humanity.