I made a sound in the grass to attract the attention of the bearded man and his group, took the bow from my shoulder, nocked an arrow, and shot it directly at them.
Get out of the way!
The bearded man was quick-witted and shoved the pale-faced youth aside, then grabbed a wooden stick and charged towards me.
Seeing the bearded man's movements, I ran out of the bushes: "Wang Qing, save me!"
"You little brat, you're asking for it!"
With a loud shout, the bearded man swung the wooden stick in his hand and swept it towards me.
Seeing the bearded man's movement, I gripped my spear tightly and thrust it straight at his chest.
The bearded man dodged my attack by sidestepping, then grabbed my spear and pulled it back with all his might.
I intended to take the spear back, but this guy was incredibly strong. As soon as we started to pull, I felt a tearing sensation in my hand and instinctively let go.
Immediately afterwards, the young man behind the bearded man wielded a stone hammer and violently smashed it down on my head.
"call out!"
Another arrow shot out from the bushes beside me, and the young man who attacked me screamed before falling to the ground.
"Splash!"
When the others saw that I had been exposed, they all rushed out of the bushes and surrounded me.
The pale-faced youth on the other side saw Wang Qing and his expression changed immediately: "Fourth brother, that guy who uses poison is here too, be careful!"
"You bastard! I finally caught you!"
Upon seeing Wang Qing, the bearded man's eyes blazed with fury. He abandoned me and charged at Wang Qing, shouting, "Take care of this poison guy first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other party rushed towards Wang Qing.
I knew that the bearded man and his gang had a long-standing feud with Wang Qing and his sister, and the outcome was exactly as I expected. After the two sides met, their primary targets were the two of them.
Faced with the pressure from the bearded men, Wang Qing didn't dare to fight back and was soon driven into the woods with Wang Hong.
Manjing saw the bearded man who attacked me chasing after Wang Qing, and he grabbed his stone axe and was about to follow: "You bunch of bastards, don't run!"
"What are you doing! Let's go!"
Taking advantage of the conflict between the two sides, I grabbed Manjing and quickly led the others to run wildly in the opposite direction.
We ran for half an hour until we were completely exhausted, then we stopped and squatted under the shade of a tree, panting heavily.
Jiang Man wiped the sweat from her forehead and asked me, "If Wang Qing and those bearded guys were to clash, who would be the ultimate winner?"
"It's hard to say."
I replied, panting heavily, "Wang Qing poisoned the bearded man a few days ago, but he's still alive and kicking here today, which means there are experts in their group who can cure poison. And Wang Qing's poison isn't immediately fatal, so it's hard to say who will win when they're outnumbered."
The monkey replied nonchalantly, "Oh well, who cares? We've already shaken them off. Even if Wang Qing really gets rid of the bearded gang, he doesn't understand feng shui, so he can't catch up with us even if he wants to."
"We've shaken off Wang Qing, but don't forget there's still a group ahead of us. We absolutely cannot let our guard down until we get the second token!"
At this point, I felt like my throat was on fire. After catching my breath, I stood up and said, "Let's find a river to replenish our water first, and then continue on our way. Today we must get ahead of the other group."
For the next few hours, we dared not stop for a moment and kept moving forward at a steady pace.
Before I knew it, darkness fell, the moonlight was blocked by the tree canopy overhead, and the calls of unknown animals echoed around me, making me uneasy.
"Gurgle!"
Throughout the journey, my stomach kept growling; hunger seemed to have drained all my strength.
The grilled fish we prepared earlier had long since rotted due to mold. For the past few days, we've been eating food prepared by Wang Qing. Since his fellow students left the team, we haven't eaten anything for a whole day.
Even so, I don't feel sorry. After all, we and Wang Qing and his sister were enemies. Their purpose in following us was to steal things.
Once everyone finds the second token, they'll inevitably fall out sooner or later, so it's better to get rid of them now.
Just when I was so hungry I could barely hold on, we finally found a river in the small valley ahead, and the others quickly surrounded it.
Seeing Manjing bend over to drink water, I gently kicked his butt: "I told you there would be a lot of bacteria and parasites in this water, have you forgotten? Go find some leaves!"
The water we've been drinking these past few days has been filtered. We have to roll leaves into a cone shape, then fill it with sand, charcoal, or something similar, and filter it twice before it's safe to drink.
After drinking a lot of water, my hunger was temporarily suppressed. I sat down on a rock to rest for a while. Jiang Man sat down next to me and patted my arm that was on my lap: "Take your hand off, let me lie down for a while."
I advised, "Don't lie down. If you fall asleep, our itinerary will be delayed again."
"No, I'm exhausted!"
Jiang Man lay down on my lap without saying a word: "Duan Shenxing, we've been walking for about four or five hours since sunset. Don't you think we've already overtaken the group ahead?"
"Not really."
I shook my head: "We've been surrounded by towering mountains on both sides of the road, with only the valley in the middle suitable for travel. And when I was fetching water by the river just now, I found a few footprints that were not long ago. I suspect that the team ahead also chose to travel at night in order to maintain their lead."
Jiang Mandai frowned slightly: "Seriously? Are all these people crazy? Don't they need a rest?"
"This second competition tests not only feng shui knowledge, but also intelligence, perseverance, and physical strength. Although we are moving at different speeds, the teams that understand feng shui have almost all arrived in this area. Now it's the final sprint stage, and it's a battle of who has more patience!"
I rubbed my temples, which were aching from fatigue: "We feel tired, and so do the other teams. Now it's a matter of who can withstand the exhaustion and persevere to the very end."
Thump! Thump!
Just as I was talking to Jiang Man, two muffled thuds suddenly came from the woods, which startled me.
Jiang Man sat up abruptly: "What was that sound just now? Was it thunder?"
"It's gunfire!"
Xue Dong, who was resting not far away, suddenly sat up: "It's a domestically produced Type 56 automatic rifle. The sound of this kind of gun is easy to identify!"
"Type 56?"
Lin Que scratched his head: "Even the militia in our town don't use this kind of gun anymore, how come it's here? Could there be hunters in these mountains?"
"Impossible! Hunters don't use military firearms to hunt! We are located on the border, bordering several small countries. The border troops of Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam are all equipped with a large number of firearms produced in our country!"
Xue Dong's eyes sharpened, and he looked at me nervously: "Mr. Duan, have we already approached the border, or even entered the territory of another country?"
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