From Robinson Crusoe

The bowstring hung on his fingertips, and the taut feeling not only permeated the bow but also spread throughout Chen Zhou's nerves.

He could smell the blood emanating from the man in black robes getting closer and closer; the scent seemed to be following him, either to his left or right, or above his head.

As he walked close to the jade-like tree trunk, he suddenly heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

The instant Chen Zhou turned his head, a dark figure descended from the sky, like a fierce bird swooping down on its prey.

"careful!"

Before Paul could finish speaking, the man in black robes jumped down from the tree, gripped his long sword tightly with both hands, and slashed at Chen Zhou with the force of splitting Mount Hua.

If an ordinary person were to encounter such a sudden attack, they would have no chance to react at all.

But Chen Zhou is no ordinary person.

At the critical moment, he raised his longbow and used the bow arm to firmly block the black-robed man's knife, while simultaneously retreating backward.

With a painful cry, the blade sank three-quarters of the way into the bow arm, then dragged the longbow down a short distance.

As the man in black robes drew his long sword, the bow arm had been almost severed in half, its layers of structure creaking and groaning as it crumbled.

Having lost his longbow in a single encounter, and sensing the black-robed man's power, Chen Zhou became even more certain that this was a formidable opponent.

He decisively lowered his longbow and the arrow in his other hand, drew his spear from behind his back, and stared at the man in black robes—

Only by getting close can you observe just how strange this person's attire is.

The black-robed man's wide black robe was made of a matte fabric, which could greatly conceal his figure in dim light, making him virtually invisible to ordinary people with poor eyesight.

Beneath the black robe, the man wore light armor, with prominent diamond-shaped protrusions on his chest and waist, making his physique appear exceptionally robust.

Chen Zhou guessed that the protrusions were probably metal plates installed inside the armor to protect against damage.

The man in the black robe wore a mask that obscured his features. The mask was plain, without any markings or undulations, except for a pair of cold, gray eyes.

There was no emotion in his eyes, as if the failed sneak attack was something he had expected all along.

Seeing that the victim was alert, the man in black robes gave Paul a deep look behind Chen Zhou, then glanced at the three fanged tigers that were baring their canines and poised to attack, and made the same choice as before—

run.

He took a step forward, drew his sword as if to strike, then sheathed it and turned around. All the movements were done in one smooth motion. The man in black robes used the tree trunk beside him as leverage to leap forward, and in an instant, he was already seven or eight meters away.

If you don't nip the problem in the bud, it will lead to endless troubles.

Knowing that the man in black robes liked to ambush and was highly skilled in ambushes, making him difficult for even Chen Zhou to spot, how could Chen Zhou let him leave?

He casually untied the quiver and tossed it next to the longbow. Without wasting time explaining to Paul whether to wait where he was or leave, Chen Zhou decisively chased after the man in black.

……

In terms of speed, Chen Zhou has hardly encountered any rivals since the end of the isolated island challenge.

Even the most agile Japanese ninjas could only barely dodge his attacks while he was wielding the bone hammer. Once he put down the bone hammer, the outcome would be decided in an instant.

But this mysterious man in black robes was a rare and powerful figure in his life.

Perhaps the black-robed man's absolute speed was not as fast as his, but his movements were exceptionally strange, and he could use tree trunks to change his direction of travel multiple times in the forest, or grab tree branches and use the "swinging" force to move forward.

He started with a lead of seven or eight meters, and Chen Zhou chased for several minutes before closing the gap to three or four meters. If the man in black robes hadn't slowed down a bit due to exhaustion, the chase would probably have lasted even longer.

……

Chen Zhou was surprised by the black-robed man's speed, and the black-robed man was equally shocked by Chen Zhou's speed.

Realizing he couldn't outrun his opponent with speed, the man in black changed his strategy and began to climb upwards—

The jade-like ancient tree is as solid as a rock, with branches in the upper canopy not far apart. With the help of these "aerial passages", he can move more flexibly than on the ground.

Chen Zhou fears nothing but people striving for higher positions.

His excessive weight, coupled with the slender branches of the jade-like ancient tree at its upper reaches, made it difficult for the black-robed man to pursue him once he shifted his escape route to mid-air and encountered branches that were not thick enough.

Seeing the man in black grab the tree bark and rise rapidly like a spider, Chen Zhou became anxious and increased his speed, relentlessly chasing after him.

Unlike the man in black robes who used both hands and feet to climb, Chen Zhou only used his toes to push against the gaps between the tree bark, using the momentum to leap upwards, raising his body by more than a meter.

If the man in black robes climbed like a spider, then he climbed like a rocket.

After finding another way, the man in black robes not only failed to create distance, but the two actually got closer and closer.

He gripped the spear tightly in his right hand, and with only his left hand, he was able to maintain his balance while continuing his upward speed without slowing down.

Three meters, two meters...

The sharp spearhead, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, hovered beneath the man in black robes, making him realize that he might not be able to escape this fierce battle.

……

Two figures, one black and one brown, rapidly ascended the thick tree trunk.

When the two were about 10 meters off the ground, the dark figure above suddenly stopped moving and then swept to the side and downward, during which time it drew out a white light and slashed at the brown figure below.

With a clang.

The spearhead collided with the blade. Chen Zhou, holding the spear with one hand, deflected the black-robed man's long sword, and thrust the spear straight into the black-robed man's chest like a swimming dragon.

The man in black robes had spare strength in his attack, and was still able to nimbly dodge even while in the tree.

Despite being high in the air, his courage and agility remained unaffected. After dodging the bayonets, he launched a second attack.

The flash of blades and the chaotic shadows of guns filled the air.

The sound of metal clashing was incessant.

Amidst the clash of swords and spears, Chen Zhou's adrenaline surged, and he fully entered battle mode.

His attack speed is getting faster and faster, his dodging is becoming more and more agile, and his attack positions are becoming more and more tricky.

Most importantly, as the battle continued, he gradually memorized the black-robed man's swordsmanship. The longsword that had initially caused him some trouble had been thoroughly mastered by him and could no longer pose any problem.

As the tide turned, Chen Zhou's side grew stronger with each battle, while the man in black robes found it increasingly difficult to defend himself.

The longsword is a short weapon, which puts him at a disadvantage against the long spear. He could have used his skill advantage to suppress the enemy below him, but his sharp swordsmanship not only failed to produce the desired effect, but also became familiar to the enemy and a burden to him.

The muscle memory formed over many years of knife practice cannot be changed overnight.

The opponent's spear, on the other hand, initially had no variation in moves or patterns; it only relied on its speed and momentum to force him to dodge.

Now that the two sides have gotten to know each other better, the spear has become more and more cunning, always striking when he is sheathing his sword or exerting force. If it weren't for his superb swordsmanship, he would probably have been injured long ago.

……

Continuing like this is not a solution.

In the course of the battles, the man in black robes vaguely saw his own end: death.

So his fighting style began to change, from offense to defense. He retreated while using his sword to block the spear and thinking about how to escape.

As a seasoned assassin, the man in black preferred stealthy ambushes and swift, fatal strikes to direct confrontation. As he retreated, Chen Zhou realized that this cunning enemy was also planning to escape, and he became more vigilant.

Both men used one hand to hold their weapons while using the other to maintain their balance. One advanced while the other retreated, and before they knew it, they had fought their way down from a high place to a low place, only 3 meters above the ground.

This is an ambiguous level.

An ordinary person jumping from this height would be very likely to be injured, but a well-trained person jumping from here can be unharmed as long as they handle the moment of landing properly.

Chen Zhou noticed that the man in black robes was about to jump down, so he loosened his grip on the gun slightly.

He planned to wait for the man in black to jump down, then throw his spear from his superior position, piercing the man's heart.

Even now, he still has plenty of energy, but the black-robed man's movements are getting slower and slower. He is certain that the black-robed man will not be able to dodge this shot.

All that's needed now is the perfect timing.

In order to get the man in black into the script he had prepared, Chen Zhou deliberately intensified his offensive. His spear moved like a snake spitting its tongue, forcing the man in black to defend himself with all his might.

This torrential offensive continued for a while, and just as the man in black robes was about to give up and jump down from the tree to escape, Chen Zhou's attack suddenly stopped, as if he had become exhausted and slowed down considerably.

Like a fish poking its head out to breathe from the oppressive pre-rain weather, the man in black robes seized this rare opening in the attack, braced himself against the tree trunk, loosened his grip, and decisively jumped down.

The instant he jumped, a smug smile appeared on Chen Zhou's face, and he threw his spear like a leech after the black-robed man's leaping figure.

……

The gun struck with pinpoint accuracy, piercing straight into the back of the man in the black robe.

With a tearing sound, the spearhead ripped through the black robe. Chen Zhou could almost picture the black-robed man being pierced by the spear and pinned to the ground.

However, things did not unfold exactly as he had planned—

For some reason, the man in black robes was not pierced by the spear. He was only knocked to the ground by the attack, coughed up blood, and then got up in a sorry state. He even threw his long sword on the ground and continued to run away with his head down.

Unexpectedly, this didn't kill the man in black. In a moment of panic, Chen Zhou jumped down from the tree trunk and gave chase.

He had only taken two steps and hadn't yet retrieved his spear when he saw a cloud of smoke with a pungent odor erupt in front of him, obstructing his view.

Fearing the smoke might be poisonous, he didn't dare to rush in. After Chen Zhou went around to get there, he only saw a long knife lying on the ground and a wide, torn black robe, but the person inside the robe was nowhere to be seen.

……

"Damn it, how could we let him get away?"

Chen Zhou could hardly believe his eyes.

The spear he threw would have pierced the vital organs of not only a person, but even a mammoth. Just how strong must this black-robed man's physique be to survive such a spear thrust?

Not only do they not die, they also have the ability to escape in a short time.

At that moment, Chen Zhou felt a deep regret for his lack of offensive skills—

If he had focused on learning and mastering cold weapons, especially marksmanship, in modern times, he probably would have taken down this guy long ago.

During the fight, he could clearly feel that his opponent's strength and speed were inferior to his own, but his skills were superb. He knew how to deflect force and his dodging and blocking were also very methodical, which is why the fight had lasted so long.

If the battle hadn't dragged on for so long, until he deliberately created an opening to finish the job, this man probably wouldn't have been able to escape in such a short time.

Looking back now, the other party's slow speed and fatigue might not have been a trap.

It's hard to say whether he created this flaw himself or whether the other party wanted him to create it.

……

The smoke quickly dissipated, leaving behind a lingering pungent and foul odor. Chen Zhou picked up the spear, grabbed the black robe, and squatted down.

In front of him was a pool of blood, crimson in color, emitting a faint smell of blood.

Suppressed by the smell of smoke, Chen Zhou couldn't smell where the blood had gone for the time being, but he knew that although the man in black robes could still escape, he was already seriously injured. As long as he continued to track him, the man would definitely not be able to escape.

Folding up the black robe in his hand, tying it with a rope and carrying it on his back, then picking up the long knife dropped by the man in the black robe, Chen Zhou circled around to pinpoint the direction of the bloody scent before beginning his hunt.

……

The surface of the Black Forest consists mainly of low-quality lignite and hard rock, making it difficult to leave footprints.

For Chen Zhou, the only guide was the scent.

Fortunately, the thick tree trunks in the Black Forest blocked the wind, and the smell of the black-robed man's blood remained there, never dissipating.

……

After a fierce battle, they continued their pursuit, and by this time Chen Zhou was already very far away from Paul.

We followed the scent of blood through the forest, circling around it.

The smell of blood grew stronger and stronger along the way.

Just when Chen Zhou thought he was about to catch the man in black, he walked past a big tree and what appeared before him was a piece of clothing fixed to the bark.

The fragment clearly came from the back of the man in black robes; it had been cut off, and besides the cuts and bloodstains, there were also marks left by the tip of a kunai spear.

The fragment has diamond-shaped protrusions on both the top and bottom. These flat squares are covered by cloth, and the diamond-shaped objects are only revealed when the cloth is pierced by the gun head.

It was a layer of fiber mesh about 1.5cm thick, with an interlocking structure resembling chainmail.

The fiber mesh was clearly a special material used for stab protection. Even with Chen Zhou's strength in throwing the spear, the kunai still couldn't completely penetrate the fiber mesh. Only the spearhead pierced a small hole in the fiber mesh, wounding the man in black.

What should have been a sharp attack was neutralized by the thin net, turning into a blunt weapon. If Chen Zhou hadn't been strong enough, this shot probably wouldn't have been enough to seriously injure the man in black.

……

While picking up the pieces of clothing, Chen Zhou kept an eye on his surroundings, wary of a sneak attack from the man in black robes.

However, the anticipated attack never occurred, and the rocky forest remained as silent as ever.

Looking at the blood-stained fragments, and recalling the paths he had taken and the directions he had followed, Chen Zhou gradually formed a map in his mind—

From the moment I left Paul until the moment I arrived here.

In the first half, he followed the man in black robes into the depths of the forest; in the second half, the man in black robes fled, and he followed closely behind.

The two sections of road together form a highly irregular ellipse, and his current location is less than a kilometer from the starting point.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhou was startled—

The man in black robes went to great lengths to lure him here, probably not just to lure him away from the mountain.

Given his vengeful nature, it's possible that the man in black robes might launch a surprise attack, luring him here, and even more likely that he would attack Paul alone.

But there are always multiple possibilities.

Was this person planning to take the opportunity to attack Paul, or was he seriously injured and unable to go far, deliberately creating a mystery to lure him back so that he could then escape?

Chen Zhou hesitated. (End of Chapter)