Martial God Book 1 - What Is A Genius - Chapter 17 - Encounter In The Woods

He Yiming had left the manor along with the five servants allocated to him, and at this moment, was headed towards the county town.
As he looked at the road, which could be considered a part of his allocation, he faintly guessed that this time’s hunt basically had nothing to do with him.
Even an idiot would not be as brazen and audacious as to take such a passage. Not to mention an idiot could not even have made all the way up to here from the Linqiu region without falling into the net. Therefore, unless that Hubin’s brain had fried due to the pressure, they would not be meeting each other.
Beside him, these five servants were the best selections among the servants nurtured in the He family estate.
Apart from the influential family, people cultivating Internal Energy were extremely few. The total servants in the He family estate and the robust men cultivating fields for the family amounted to several hundreds of people. He Wude did not look down on them and had imparted them with cultivation techniques. However, due to the difference in the circumstances and the supervision from the family, being able to attain the peak of the third layer was already an extraordinary feat.
All the five servants at the side of He Yiming had cultivated to the peak of the third layer. Furthermore, every single one of them was proficient in at least one martial skill.
In this respect, the servants were different from the directly-related disciples. A third generation disciple like He Yiming was not allowed to touch any sort of battle skill before attaining the sixth layer. On the other hand, servants would be bestowed with the simplest kind of battle skills after they attained the Internal Energy’s third layer. On one hand, this would increase their battle strength by a quite a lot, on the other hand, they would not be able to have higher accomplishments in the Internal Energy cultivation.
This was the difference between directly related members and the servants. On the whole, all influential families opted to do so.
After walking behind Cheng family’s people for half a day, they reached the predetermined location.
At this place was a relay station connected to the county town’s main path. Staying here could be considered as beneficial for both sides. 1
Since He Yiming was near the county town, he naturally wanted to meet his parents. However, after making inquiries, he found out that his mother and father were not in the town but had joined the hunt as well.
Feeling regret in his heart, he gave up on the idea of entering the city and made inquiries about the information on Hubin from the Cheng family’s people.
Three cultivation-related families resided in the Tai Cang district; He family, Xu family, and Cheng family.
He family and Xu family had a tenth layer Internal Energy expert watching over them. This was the absolute peak strength with respect to a desolate and insignificant county. Although the Cheng family did not have a tenth layer Internal Energy expert, their family was the most ancient clan in the Tai Cang county and had deep-rooted influence. In this respect, He family, a family established by a Foreigner like He Wude, couldn’t compare to the Cheng family.
Even the current county town’s city lord was from the Cheng family.
Though, if it had not been as such, He Wude wouldn’t have given them so much face by dispatching all the younger generation who’d attained the sixth layer.
He Yiming, with his own understanding, came to realize why would Cheng family spare no efforts to catch or kill an insignificant fugitive.
Right after being sentenced to death for his heinous crimes, Hubin escaped while killing a high-ranking official in the process. Imperial Palace couldn’t tolerate this by any means. At the same time, the family of that killed official also promised many benefits to Cheng family in private. This was the true cause for Cheng family’s such a steadfast attitude on this matter.
After waiting for a day in the relay station, that initial feeling of excitement had long ago dissipated.
If he’d known this earlier, he might as well have slowly cultivated in the manor.
He was not the only person who understood that Hubin would not be coming here, even the five servants and the ordinary officials in the relay station, who just had a sprinkling knowledge of the matter, were extremely clear on this point. Thus, the atmosphere in the relay station was not tense at all.
Eventually, He Yiming couldn’t endure anymore. He passed some instructions to the servants under him and left for the mountains behind.
The relay station was constructed on the public path, however, Tai Cang district was not just a stretch of plain lands. Behind the relay station was a mountain range. In his extreme boredom, He Yiming suddenly became curious and decided to enter the mountain range.
But he didn’t know, about half an hour after he entered the mountains, an urgent message was delivered to the relay station. Hubin was escaping in this direction, following the mountain trails.
The servants and the officials at the relay station blankly looked at each other. Half of the man power promptly entered the mountains. However, what would they accomplish with this bit of people?
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After entering the mountains, He Yiming was just like a fish that had entered a sea. He shuttled about in the mountain forest at a lightning fast speed.
He’d a fairly abundant experience regarding the woods in mountains. He family estate was situated at the foot of mountains. In terms of denseness, the woods at this place were far incomparable to the woods there.
He completed a circle but didn’t come across any large animal that was worthy of him taking action. As for the rabbits, chickens, and other small animals, he didn’t even glance at them.
He Yiming faintly shook his head. These woods were, after all, near a public path, and were far incomparable to the ancient woods deep inside the mountains behind He family estate.
Just as he intended to return, he suddenly heard an extremely faint yet strange sound.
He slightly paused and inclined his ear, before perceiving a possible wild beast running at a fast speed not too far away from him. What surprised He Yiming was that this wild beast was capable of producing an apprehensive feeling inside him.
With a chill in his heart, he immediately determined that this was definitely not a small beast. He felt surprised to discover such a beast in these woods. Applying strength through his feet, he sped off in that direction.
Despite its movements being quick, the wild beast was clearly not using its entire strength. Thus, He Yiming was easily able to catch up. However, as he approached that place with caution, he discovered that the running sounds of the beast had disappeared.
He Yiming turned increasingly cautious. He had dealt with wild beasts before, thus, he immediately realized that the beast must have heard his footsteps and had softened its movements as a result.
But He Yiming was brimming with self-confidence. Even when he was just at the sixth layer and had not cultivated a battle skill, he could defeat a ferocious beast such as fox bear. His strength had an immense increase since then, hence, he obviously wouldn’t care about any ferocious beast.
If this had been ancient woods, some beasts might have been able to evoke fear in him. However, in such surroundings, he didn’t believe any beast could be more ferocious than a fox bear.
In a few steps, he arrived at the trail of that ferocious beast. However, as his gaze swept around the vicinity of the trail, his heart suddenly raced.
He’d seen a footprint. Although the footprint was only behind on a patch of weeds and was extremely shallow, He Yiming had no doubt regarding the fact that this was not a footprint of a wild beast, but a human’s.
After a momentary hesitation, He Yiming retreated a few steps and carefully surveyed his surroundings. Subsequently, his expression turned increasingly heavy.
After observing the traces nearby, He Yiming was absolutely certain that this was not just a human, but a human cultivator that possessed a formidable Internal Energy. The cultivator had a certain understanding about these woods. The signs he’d left during the entire way were extremely few. Though this cultivator seemed to have become quite frightened after sensing him, otherwise, even these few traces might not have been left.
Circulating a big amount of Internal Energy is his body, He Yiming raised his head and looked forward. Indescribably, the danger he was feeling kept intensifying.
Although no sound came from ahead, but he had a feeling that danger was getting increasingly closer to him.
Although such a feeling was somewhat strange, He Yiming was certain that he was not wrong.
With his spirits suddenly roused, He Yiming sucked in a breath of mountain woods’ ice cold air. He’d never clashed with anyone except his siblings.
Some of it had to do with his age, but the much bigger reason was, not much people in this county would dare to fight with a young master of He family.
But today, he could be certain that the opponent would not care about his identity as He family’s sixth young master.
Suddenly the feeling of danger in He Yiming’s heart increased by a million times. Without thinking, he dived to the side without caring about his status, before rolling on the ground and consequently arriving behind a big tree, and springing back to his feet immediately afterwards.
He’d heard an air-piercing sound next to his ear just now, while at his original positio was a crossbow arrow. .
After seeing this arrow, He Yiming’s suddenly felt a faint chill in his heart. Even his arms and legs felt cold.
He didn’t expect, the opponent would directly go for kill even before exchanging a single word. If he’d been struck by the arrow, his conclusion definitely wouldn’t have been anything good.
A crossbow was not something an ordinary person could use. It was a standardized equipment in the army. But, a tyrannical family usually possessed such self-defense weapons. Naturally, He family was not an exception. Thus, He Yiming was pretty familiar with a crossbow arrow. Therefore, he was able to recognize this lethal weapon at a glance.
His heartbeat suddenly quickened by a huge amount. His movements just now were purely a subconscious reaction. If he’d been a single step slow, he would have already suffered a serious injury.
He raised his head and looked in the direction where crossbow came from with an intense fury burning in his heart. His body slightly bent down and leaped forward like a cheetah.
Tl: I have no idea, what this line implies.