Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Eating Snake Meat Soup Cang Mountain. Gu Sheng moved forward cautiously. Although he had entered the mountain more than ten times and was quite familiar with the surroundings, this time was different—it was his first time entering alone, and Gu Sheng was exercising the utmost caution. Without teammates to remind or guard him, he had to pay attention to everything himself. His nerves were tightly wound, not daring to relax even the slightest bit. In the forest, the chirping of insects rose and fell. Occasionally, the breeze brushed through, tangling with dry leaves and branches, producing faint sounds. Gu Sheng gradually acclimated to it all. For his first solo venture into the forest, Gu Sheng chose not to hastily go too deep. Everything has a process; Gu Sheng needed to adjust step by step to this transition. "This time, I'll stick to the outskirts and familiarize myself slowly. If I'm lucky enough to bag some wild rabbits or pheasants, that'll be ideal. Even if I leave empty-handed, that's fine." Gu Sheng made up his mind to accept the possibility of no harvest. Holding a bow in his left hand and a machete in his right, he cut through the grasses and overgrown branches ahead. Slowly, a sense of ease began to wash over him. Compared to hunting in a group. Gu Sheng felt far more liberated; there was no need to deliberately hide his own skills. Should danger draw near, he could spring into action at any moment. Rustle— Gu Sheng's ears suddenly perked as he caught the faintest of sounds. It was the noise of a small animal darting quickly through the underbrush, its movements brushing against wood. Having hunted for over two months, Gu Sheng was familiar with such sounds. However, the sound came from a direction roughly fifty meters away. Gu Sheng's eyes lit up. An ordinary hunter faced with such prey would have to give up, but he did not. Gu Sheng suddenly sped up. He moved swiftly through the forest, maneuvering toward the prey. At the same time, the prey seemed to sense the looming threat and began to dart away, widening the gap. Others might have no choice but to give up, but Gu Sheng had the ability to keep pursuing. He pushed himself even faster. Suddenly. His vision opened up to reveal a clearing ahead. Eighty meters away, a plump wild rabbit sprang into view, soon ready to vanish into the next patch of woods. Given this distance, ordinary hunters—even someone like Gu Erniu—could do nothing but sigh in frustration and give up the chase. But Gu Sheng, whose archery had now reached Great Success, had further increased his skill proficiency by 30% over the past month, making even a wild rabbit at a hundred meters an easy target! Gu Sheng focused his gaze, his eyes sharp as blades. The figure of the fleeing rabbit grew larger and clearer in his mind, its movements seeming as slow as a drumbeat or a wobble. He planted his machete firmly into the ground, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and locked the tip firmly onto the rabbit's figure. The sequence was smooth and fluid like water. Whoosh!! A piercing sound split the air. Combining his Great Success archery with Gu Erniu's hunter bow amplified its potency significantly, making the arrow's speed astonishingly fast, almost invisible to the naked eye. The eighty-meter gap bridged in an instant. The running rabbit was impaled through the heart, blood slowly oozing from the base of the arrow. A clean kill! The sheer force drove the rabbit hard into a withered branch, leaving no room for struggle. Fast, precise, steady! Gu Sheng's eyes revealed a trace of joy. This plump rabbit must weigh at least four or five pounds—a feast that would last several meals! Remaining vigilant, he approached, collected the rabbit, and placed it in the leather bag he carried for storing game. He couldn't help but muse to himself. "If I were hunting with the group, I couldn't freely display my Great Success archery. This rabbit might have gotten away. Even catching it would mean dividing it among several people. Now, hunting alone, I get to enjoy the whole reward myself. Even if today's only catch is this fat rabbit, it's still worth coming into the mountain!" "If I could solo hunt a muntjac or a fawn, that'd be even better!" Solo hunting carries great risks, but the rewards are just as substantial! Especially with Gu Sheng's archery at its peak, even more so than other hunters. In merely a short time after entering the mountain, he already had a notable success. Gu Sheng felt quite pleased. His decision had been right. However. He didn't let his success cloud his judgment, instead glancing toward the depths of the forest, restraining his greed and impulsiveness. "Stick to hunting along the outskirts!" ... Gu Sheng weaved through the outer forest. With each moment, he grew increasingly adept at solo hunting. Now that there was no need to conceal his archery skills, Gu Sheng felt a tremendous sense of relief. He unleashed his full strength, effortlessly hitting prey from a distance of a hundred meters. The satisfaction and thrill of it were beyond what ordinary people could fathom. Time passed. Gu Sheng's leather bag now contained two wild rabbits and one pheasant. Altogether, they weighed around thirteen or fourteen pounds! Today's fortune was undeniably good—even while remaining on the outskirts, he had such a bountiful harvest. "Autumn is truly the season of abundance. Not just for crops, but for hunting as well." Gu Sheng smiled sincerely. At that moment, the sun angled toward the west, and he glanced upward. It was time to head down the mountain. Otherwise, once night fell, the forest's level of danger would increase dramatically. Even Martial Artists dared not spend the night alone in the forest—that would be virtually suicidal. Gu Sheng walked cautiously through the woods. Unquestionably, solo hunting was more exhausting, primarily mentally—it demanded constant focus on the environment, not allowing for even a moment of carelessness. Gu Sheng estimated that after one trip into the mountain, he'd need at least three days of rest to recover his energy fully. Otherwise, repeated trips would invite trouble. His machete swung through the air, endlessly chopping away at the encroaching undergrowth. The forest's wild grasses grew rapidly; even though hunters often cleared paths, they were quickly overtaken by new growth. Suddenly. Gu Sheng's scalp prickled, his body erupted in goosebumps. Without thinking, he dropped immediately to the ground, rolling to dodge. Looking up, he discovered a red-scaled snake hanging overhead, its tongue slithering in and out. The snake measured over three meters long, its lower half coiled around a branch while its upper half stood upright. Its brownish-green eyes radiated a detached, chilling malevolence that sent shivers down one's spine. Had Gu Sheng let his guard down for even a second, this snake might have killed him with its venom. Gu Sheng knew this species didn't eat humans; it had likely sensed the prey in his bag and decided to ambush him. Hiss~! The forked tongue flickered, and the red-scaled snake showed no sign of retreat. Perhaps starving, the snake looked to snatch an easy meal. Throwing away the rabbits and pheasant in the bag would guarantee his survival, but Gu Sheng wouldn't have it. How could he easily surrender his day's hard-earned hunting spoils? Gu Sheng's expression turned icy. The red-scaled snake slithered rapidly along the tree trunk, its coils writhing with astonishing speed, closing the gap in mere moments. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 At such close range. There was no time to draw the bow, nor was there any guarantee an arrow would hit; at this distance, the snake's reflexes could easily evade the shot. Yet Gu Sheng remained fearless. Archery was not his only skill! "Chopping Wood," an art he had mastered to perfection, remained kept under wraps. It was now nearing a level even beyond perfection, with a 70% proficiency! Shwoosh! The upper half of the red-scaled snake coiled and shot forward like a spring-loaded weapon, moving like an arrow through the air, accompanied by a sharp gust. Its jaws gaped wide, and its fangs gleamed. A foul stench hit his nostrils. Gu Sheng was eerily composed, as if transported back to the night of the wolf attack. Only now, he was far stronger than he had been then. The unique perception granted by "Chopping Wood" perfection pulled him into a strange state of mind—the snake transformed in his eyes into nothing more than a moving piece of wood, an attacking branch hurtling toward him. The muscles in his arm tightened and bulged as he drew on all his strength. Gu Sheng swung his machete—a clean, flowing arc as if slicing water. Sharpened to perfection, the blade struck precisely along the snake's open maw, cutting downward. Gu Sheng seemed to 'see' layers of texture—the grain of wood. That grain was the snake's bone. "Chopping Wood" mastery—breaking bone and severing sinews! Slash! The machete descended sharply. Gu Sheng hardly exerted much force; the red-scaled snake's own propulsion sufficed to let its body impale itself upon the blade, splitting it neatly along its spine. The cut was exquisite, smooth beyond measure, without the slightest resistance. Blood spurted and sprayed. The red-scaled snake split cleanly in two, dropping onto the dry forest floor, writhing briefly before lying still. Gu Sheng exhaled slowly, his gaze falling on the exposed crimson flesh of the snake with undisguised delight. "Tonight, snake meat soup!"