Deep within the hunting grounds, signs of human activity were scarce. Most of the sunlight was blocked out by the dense, towering ancient trees, leaving the forest dim as though it were already twilight.
Bai Heting passed through a winding path only wide enough for a single horse. The moment his vision suddenly opened up, he saw the dying cheetah.
Blood had saturated the ground, torn organs were strewn everywhere, and the scattered, shredded flesh made it hard to distinguish any identifiable body parts. The leopard hadn’t even survived long enough for Bai Heting to finish it off; instead, it had already been ripped apart and disemboweled by a pack of hounds that had beaten him to the kill.
The discomfort in his stomach returned with a vengeance. Bai Heting gagged a few times, but his stomach was empty, and nothing came up.
There weren’t many bloody scenes that could make him feel nauseous, but this was one of them.
Bai Heting steadied his breathing, took down his bow and arrow, and aimed at the continuously twitching head.
The shrill, miserable cries in the dark, dense forest came to an abrupt halt.
He could detect Alpha pheromones in the air and immediately knew these hounds belonged to someone. Just as he turned his horse to leave, his way was cut off by several unfamiliar Alphas.
Nobles rarely armored themselves when hunting, yet the opposing group was uniformly dressed in full chainmail.
The royal hunting grounds had always been heavily guarded, making it absolutely impossible for ordinary people to enter easily, but Bai Heting had no time to delve into their origins at the moment.
Hot sweat had already soaked through his undergarments without him realizing it.
He had experienced this sensation for nearly ten years and was all too familiar with it, yet the surging heat had never been as intense as it was today.
Bai Heting silently counted the number of people.
Ten people, an even, round number.
The Alpha standing at the very back was heavily built with a long scar stretching from his temple down to his lip. He tilted his head back and sniffed the air, his expression faintly lazy. “I was wondering why there was such a foul stench. So, it turns out there’s a…”
He hesitated for a moment, then took a few steps forward and broke into a grin toward Bai Heting; though the scar made the smile look somewhat grotesque.
“Little kitty.”
Bai Heting’s gaze was overlaid with a layer of freezing coldness.
Even if this person had never seen his face, they should still recognize the black, blue, and silver tri-colored feathered coat of arms on his hunting attire.
No matter the origins of this group, their purpose was already self-evident.
They were here to find death.
He pulled a compact hunting knife from his waist and pressed the blade into his left palm, closing his hand into a tight fist as bright red blood streamed down. With that wounded left hand, he gently stroked his beloved horse’s mane, then leaned in close to its ear and whispered a single command, “Go to the camp.”
The scar-faced man also seemed to be observing Bai Heting’s condition and did not act rashly. The other nine, however, drew their swords at the same time. But Bai Heting’s next move left no time for anyone to react, like a shooting star, a swift arrow had already pierced the throat of the man blocking the entrance to the path in an instant.
The Omega dismounted, drew his bow, and loosed an arrow almost in one fluid motion. The Alphas’ attention was immediately diverted by their companion who had suddenly fallen to the ground. By the time they belatedly turned their heads back, the white horse had already burst through the crowd, and Bai Heting was already nowhere to be seen.
The scar-faced man spat out a curse, staring coldly in the direction from which the Omega’s pheromones were emanating. He gave the others a meaningful look and whistled to recall the hounds that had just finished feeding.
*
Bai Heting leaned his back against a thick ancient tree, took an inhibitor out of a small pocket in his quiver, and expertly plunged the needle into the crook of his elbow before ripping open an inhibitor patch to slap over the back of his neck.
The death of their companion had clearly made the Alpha pheromones in the air even more excited. Given his skills, taking on ten opponents by himself in this kind of complex terrain wouldn’t normally be difficult, but the situation right now was a bit exceptional.
He had already struggled slightly to loose that last arrow.
Fortunately, his camp tent was pitched in the exact same spot every time, and Qiu Chen would be able to immediately grasp his meaning upon seeing the blood on his mount’s mane. He only needed to stall for time and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
“You don’t look very comfortable.”
Two Alphas gradually moved out from behind the trees, closing in on him from either side without bothering to conceal their footsteps or suppress their pheromones, while the scar-faced man’s amused voice drifted in from a farther distance.
“Don’t worry, we can help you out.”
Bai Heting closed his eyes and steadied his breathing for several cycles. The moment one of the Alphas came within range, he slipped out from behind cover, lifted his arm to intercept the attack, then smoothly disarmed the man while twisting his wrist into a reverse lock.
Before the Alpha could even make a sound, his throat was slashed.
*
As dusk fell, the light in the forest grew even dimmer. Bai Heting pulled the hunting knife out of the Alpha’s neck, fixing his gaze on the last remaining man as one realization clicked into place.
The scar-faced man seemed to know that his inhibitors would not take effect.
The sole purpose of these men was to drain his physical energy; they were nothing more than absolute cannon fodder.
The scar-faced man also finally stopped watching from the sidelines and slowly approached from a distance. “Though a cheetah possesses excellent explosive power, it has a fatal weakness.” Stepping over several corpses that had already gone cold, his gaze moved from the disemboweled leopard to Bai Heting’s face, already flushed from the onset of mating heat. He let out a meaningful laugh. “Its endurance is limited.”
Bai Heting sat on the ground with his back against the tree trunk, wiping both sides of his blood-stained hunting knife against his trousers.
The words were arrogant, but he could not refute them.
He could no longer stand steadily; just forcing his face to maintain this nonchalant expression took up most of his energy.
A shadow dropped over him as the scar-faced man crouched down in front of him, his brows drawing together in a thoughtful frown. “You killed nine of my brothers and six of my hounds. What on earth am I supposed to do with you?”
Bai Heting looked up at him. “That leopard was also raised by you.”
“Don’t feel bad for it,” the scar-faced man said with a smile. “It has already fulfilled its mission, and the Lord will grant it a good final resting place.”
Bai Heting imperceptibly tightened his grip on the hilt of his knife and asked, “Who sent you?”
The scar-faced man said nothing, merely giving him a shrug.
Bai Heting let out a soft sneer and abruptly raised his hand, but the hunting knife he thrust toward his own throat was effortlessly blocked by the other party’s bracer.
“You want to exchange one life for nine? You wish—” Halfway through his sentence, the scar-faced man’s expression suddenly morphed.
A furious, highly aggressive wave of Alpha pheromones crashed down upon them like a cataclysmic tidal wave.
In the next second, warm blood splattered across Bai Heting’s face.
An arrow pierced through the scar-faced man’s helmet, shattering his skull as the arrowhead exploded out from his right eye.
His vision was tinted a bloody red, and Bai Heting faintly curled the corners of his lips as he watched the figure running toward him.
The stench of blood was entirely overwhelmed by a bitter yet intense scent.
So, this kid’s pheromone turned out to be tequila.
