16. Hunter and Prey (I)

Gray fled through the forest at fast as he could. He veered off the established trail, afraid of further ambushes. He crashed through the bushes and thickets in a random direction without regard.

The arrow in his back was hurting his breathing. The arrow in his right thigh was slowing his running speed. Yet even with these wounds, he was way faster than his pursuers. His physical ability was freakishly good, even though he had yet to enter cultivation.

He ran until he couldn't anymore and stopped by the foot of a large tree. His wounded leg gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. He gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrows. Blood poured out but he ignored the pain and directly slapped all of the medicinal herbs he had just bought into the open wounds. He had no bandages so he could only rip apart his shirt and pants to wrap around his leg and his back.

Treatment complete, he leaned on the tree to catch his breath. But soon, he heard angry yells getting closer and closer. They had caught up to his trail and he had to flee once again.

Gray continued to run with everything he had, going every which way trying to shake off his pursuers. He disregarded the jagged pain in his thigh and ran like mad. Since the situation had gotten to this point, they would probably kill him if they caught him.

He was still faster than them but he had to rest often due to his wounds. Old Wu and his gang were hunters and he was the prey. They knew how to follow his trail using crushed leaves, footprints, broken branches, and blood splatters. These old farts were hard and unyielding. They chased him relentlessly and refused to give up.

The hunt lasted the whole day and finally ended after nightfall. Gray used his eyes to run straight into the region of deadly spiritual beasts which forced his pursuers to stop. Even experienced hunters did not dare walk around at night in such a place.

Gray was able to rest and recover enough energy for the trip back home. He then set about properly covering his tracks so that the hunters would not be able to find him the next morning. He circled aimlessly in the forest several times, through streams and ponds. He made sure that they could not follow him back to his mountain cave.

It was already the next day when Gray finally returned. He was at his limit after running and fighting for so long. Once he entered and found that Xueling was still there, he let out a huge breath of relief and collapsed to the ground.

"Who… Gray! Why are you naked?" Xueling cried out.

He had fallen to the stone floor face down. His bare buttocks were white and taunting. She threw out some more insults but then realized he was already unconscious.

He was covered in dried blood and dirty pieces of cloth. Her bashful anger disappeared. It still hurt to move but she crawled over to check his body.

"What… happened to you?" She whispered.

She ripped apart his ragged bandages and examined the two terrible wounds. The flesh was mangled when he forcibly pulled out the arrows. She was surprised he didn't bleed to death. The wounds were packed with some sort of herb. She recognized it as the same ones he had put on her arm.

She didn't have a lot of experience with treatment but she knew enough from lessons in her youth. She took out some spare clothes to use as a rag and, with the water from the pot, cleaned off his wounds. His herbs were too trashy and she wiped those away as well.

She withdrew a bottle of medicine from her spatial bag. She spread the thick, fragrant liquid into his wounds before using some more cloth to cover them. The medicine, like all of her other possessions, was expensive and highly effective. With it, she expected he would recover without issue in two days.

With that finished, she turned him around to examine his front. Her eyes drifted downwards and she realized that he was completely naked.

She paused and contemplated. She had never seen a man completely naked this close. Her feeling of fascination only briefly before she caught herself… What the hell was she even doing?

She huffed in anger and threw some rags over him. She couldn't help but feel some irony in her actions. Gray wanted to marry her but she refused. Yet now, she was tending to wounds on his naked body and examining his stuff. If her pesky suitors could see her now, they would surely fall over dead from shock. Or perhaps, her detestable relatives could die instead…

Sometime later, Gray awoke on the familiar stone floor of his home. Strength returned to his body and he jumped to his feet. Immediately, some clothes were thrown into his face.

"You're naked, wear some clothes!" Xueling cried, trying her best not to look at him.

"Sorry," Gray said and turned around.

He examined the clothes in his hands. They were the same pale-yellow color as her dress and were extremely rich and soft. He had never felt anything so luxurious. He could also smell a sweet flowery fragrance. Did… did she give him her clothes?

He peeked at her and was disappointed to see that she was still dressed.

"Where did you get these?"

"Just wear them, hurry up!"

The outfit was, of course, much too small. It was tailor-made for Xueling and had no chance of fitting him. Gray eventually gave up and wrapped the entire thing around his waist like a skirt.

"Uhhh… how long was I out for?" He asked, stretching his sore body.

Xueling had a strange expression, "Between you running back into the cave and coming back to, I say probably almost the whole morning."

"Okay." He shrugged and sat down.

"What happened during the trip?" She asked.

He described the whole journey, the ambush, as well as the chase and eventual escape.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Your injuries."

"Oh…"

Gray scratched at his back and checked his leg. He was almost fully recovered. There was only a thin scar left over from the mangled arrow wound and that would also disappear in a short time.

He shrugged, "I guess I heal pretty fast."

"…" She struggled to find words.

She couldn't believe how quickly he recovered. It should have taken at least two days with the medicine but he was simply freakish.

The pair fell into an awkward silence which was eventually broken by Gray's rumbling stomach. He remembered that he still had nothing to eat. He felt bitter. This woman was the cause of all his misfortunes. He had never been so starved in many years. His injuries were also the most serious he had ever suffered.

"Fairy sister, I think I am better now. I will go out and try to hunt something for us to eat. If luck is bad, I will directly go fight a spiritual beast. I will definitely get you food!" He vowed.

"Here… use this."

She held out something shiny for him. An astonishing jeweled sword and scabbard appeared out of thin air. He took it wordlessly and pulled the blade out. It shined with a strange blue-green glow.

"What… is this?" Gray asked.

"It's just my sword. Use it to kill a spiritual beast." She said, "Be careful, it's very sharp."

"Okay." He nodded, "Leave it to me!"

He went outside with the sword and tested it. He never had the opportunity to learn how to use a weapon like the hunters but the sword in his hands required absolutely no skill. With only a casual swing, he was able to slice off a large tree branch like it was nothing. The sword's edge wasn't even damaged in the slightest afterward. Even the best quality iron ax could not compare.

Weapons made all the difference in a fight with spiritual beasts. They were just as strong as him but had sharp claws and fangs he didn't have. This in addition to weird abilities made them impossible to beat. This was why he never tried to fight them even though he knew where they were.

With treasure sword in hand, Gray was filled with confidence. He aimed for the spiritual beasts that he always avoided and there was a particular one he had in mind.