Prey and Predator

The few thugs stood at the edge of the woods, looking at each other.

Waiting for someone to make the first move.

The minion under Housekeeper Lee kicked one of them on his ass and shouted, "You are paid for the job. Now go do it."

The thugs grumbled among themselves and slowly approached the woods.

Even though it was evening, the thick canopy of the woods blocked out most of the sunlight.

Their expressions changed from cocky to wary as they held their breath in the dark and menacing woods.

Distant howls and beasts' roars made them more and more nervous.

Lin Fan, hiding behind the thick tree trunks, seeing that they had come in, shouted, "Come and get me, you cowards."

His voice echoed in the woods, confusing the thugs as to where the voice came from.

"You, check over there. And you, go to this side."

The minion drew out his knife and shouted instructions at the thugs.

The thugs also drew out their knives and went on their way.

Lin Fan targeted one of the thugs and slowly followed him.

When he got close enough, he activated his Magnificent Leap ability.

Wham!

Lin Fan gave the thug a kick in his back.

With his leap that had enough force to cover 50 meters, his kick broke the thug's back.

The thug twitched on the ground for a few seconds before he lay still.

[Ding! Congratulations on terminating malevolent intent.]

[Vengeance points + 10.]

[Current Vengeance Points: 10]

Finally, some vengeance points.

Lin Fan wasted no time and began rummaging through the thug's body for any valuables.

As someone who cares about recycling, it is better not to waste these valuables.

Not bad.

The thug had a string of copper coins on him.

Lin Fan kept the string of copper coins and then shouted, "Please let me go. I have some taels of silver hidden. You can have it all if you let me go…"

When the remaining thugs heard him, they cursed and started to furiously slash aimlessly at the foliage.

All they could think of in their minds was the silver, and that the guy who had apprehended Lin Fan had better not keep the silver for himself.

Lin Fan took the chance to slowly creep close to the thugs.

"Argh…"

Before the thug could say anything.

Lin Fan had stabbed his arrow into the neck of the thug.

[Ding! Congratulations on terminating malevolent intent.]

[Vengeance points + 10.]

[Current Vengeance Points: 20]

This time, the thug didn't have much on him.

"Two down, three more to go."

Lin Fan then hid in the darkness to regain some energy first.

"Come gather around me! He wants us separated."

The minion had realized what Lin Fan was trying to do.

Get them separated and finish them off one by one.

The remaining two thugs calmed down and slowly backtracked.

After a few minutes, the three of them were back together.

They stood in a small clearing in the woods with not much foliage around.

No way would they venture into the dark and be ambushed by Lin Fan again.

Lin Fan looked at where they were and started to come up with a plan.

He took a deep breath, armed his bow with an arrow, and then ran towards the three of them.

Thud!

Before they could react, one of the thugs got shot in the head by the arrow.

Lin Fan then activated his Magnificent Leap and dealt a knee blow to the minion's head.

"Argh…"

The minion fell back and immediately lay still.

"Damn you!" The last thug slashed at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan was waiting for this and activated his Swift Foot ability.

He sidestepped, and with his ability, he was so fast that he turned into a shimmer and got to the thug's back.

Before the thug could turn, Lin Fan plunged an arrow into the thug's neck.

The thug held onto his wound and made a bubbling sound as he tried to gasp for air.

When it finally ended, Lin Fan gave out a huge sigh of relief.

He felt tired and drained, but it was not time to rest.

Hurriedly, he searched for more things to reuse and recycle.

He found a few more strings of copper coins.

To his surprise, the minion had some silver bits on him.

Not bad for half a day's worth of work.

Lin Fan started digging to try and bury the corpses but stopped when he heard beasts growling.

Run!

His instinct told him that he was no match for the beasts.

Lin Fan picked up his belongings and leaped out of the woods with his Magnificent Leap ability.

Rustling sounds were heard as he got further away.

Most likely the sound of the bodies being dragged away by the beasts.

When Lin Fan got back to the village, he washed up at the village's well.

All the blood would make the villagers suspicious.

With the coolness of the night, he turned on the system's interface in his mind.

[Current Beast Ability: 1]

[Wild Rabbit Abilities Level: 1]

[Current Physique Level: 1 (100 Vengeance Points to upgrade)]

[Current Vengeance Point: 50]

He just needs 50 more vengeance points to upgrade his physiques.

…

"What do you need? I'm closed for the day."

The blacksmith said when he saw Lin Fan come into his shop again.

"I caught some rabbits. Please take one for the arrows and bow."

Lin Fan lifted his hand and showed him the wild rabbits he had caught.

"I can't help you with much, you know…wait, you caught some rabbits?"

The blacksmith was shaking his head, giving his prepared speech before realizing Lin Fan's actual purpose.

He stopped and looked at what Lin Fan was holding.

Lin Fan really did it.

That helpless kid just picked up a bow and arrows, went hunting, and caught some rabbits.

What are the odds?

"Thanks. You be careful out there; the beasts in the woods are not to be trifled with."

The blacksmith hid his astonishment, took one of the rabbits, and said.

"I will."

With the debt settled, Lin Fan went over to Uncle Liu's place.