Hunter crouched behind his boulder, spiritual sense fully engaged now.
He could feel everything. The injured people. The panicking merchants. The murderous squirrels in the trees.
And somewhere, probably, Liu Mei taking notes on his performance.
"Cultivator Hunter failed to save civilians from rodents. Grade: F. Recommendation: Execution."
Perfect. Just perfect.
Twenty people. Maybe twenty-five. Mix of mortals and low-level cultivators. Multiple injuries.
And something else.
In the trees. Small bodies. Red fur. Black eyes. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
The squirrels. They herded the caravan here. This was planned.
Through the settling dust, Hunter watched the guard help people out of wreckage. The older guy with the spear moved like someone who'd seen combat. Someone who understood that hesitation meant death. His movements were economical, practiced. Not a single motion wasted.
The large merchant was shouting orders. Trying to organize chaos. Trying to save cargo while people were still bleeding.
Neither of them had noticed Hunter yet. Too busy dealing with the whole "surviving a flying wagon crash" situation.
I should leave. Right now. Before this becomes my problem. Before I have to explain why a Foundation Realm cultivator was just hanging out behind a rock watching Santa's evil twin brother crash into the forest.
But his spiritual sense picked up the squirrels closing in. Tightening the noose. These weren't animals. This was a coordinated hunt.
The caravan was dead. They just didn't know it yet.
Not my problem. Not my circus. Definitely not my flying murder rodents.
A child screamed. High-pitched. Terrified. The kind of scream that bypassed logic and hit straight primal fear response.
Hunter's chest tightened. His hands clenched into fists.
Damn it.
[LUNA] OOOOH ARE WE BEING HEROIC? (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧[LUNA] THIS IS VERY "AGENT OF THE HEAVENLY DAO" OF YOU[LUNA] I'M SO PROUD ♥
Shut up. I'm thinking.
[LUNA] THINKING ABOUT HOW HEROIC YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE? (◕‿◕✿)
Thinking about survival. Liu Mei is probably watching. Probably testing me. And hiding behind a rock while civilians get eaten by squirrels isn't very "righteous cultivator sent by the Heavenly Dao" behavior, is it?
[LUNA] SO YOU'RE BEING HEROIC FOR SELFISH REASONS[LUNA] THAT'S VERY ON BRAND ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Hunter wanted to argue. Couldn't. Luna was right. He was being heroic because the alternative was getting executed by an ice queen who could kill him by sneezing in his direction.
This wasn't noble. This was survival with extra steps.
I hate everything about this.
[LUNA] BUT YOU'RE DOING IT ANYWAY ♥[LUNA] THAT'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!
Hunter stood up. Brushed dust off his blood-stained clothes that probably needed to be burned at this point. Channeled qi into his voice the way he'd learned at Clearwater Village.
Time to be the hero. Or at least pretend to be one convincingly enough that Liu Mei doesn't murder me.
"EVERYONE! AWAY FROM THE TREES! NOW!"
The words boomed across the clearing. Enhanced by Foundation Realm cultivation. Impossible to ignore. The kind of voice that made mortals' teeth rattle and cultivators pay attention.
Every head turned toward him. Guards. Merchants. Children. All staring at the blood-covered stranger emerging from behind a boulder like the world's most reluctant savior.
Han Qiuyu brought his spear up immediately. His eyes narrowed with professional suspicion. The weapon came to guard position in one smooth motion, the kind of reflexive action that spoke of decades of training. "Who are you?"
Hunter opened his mouth to give some bullshit answer about being an agent of the Heavenly Dao on a righteous mission or whatever.
Then the squirrels attacked.
They came from everywhere at once. Dozens of red-furred nightmares dropping from branches like furry missiles. Their eyes were black. Completely black. Empty of everything except hunger and hate.
One landed on a guard. Bit through his throat before he could scream. Blood sprayed in an arc. The man went down, his body crumpling like a puppet with cut strings.
Another targeted a child. The mother threw herself in front, took the hit. Claws raked across her back, tearing through cloth and flesh like tissue paper. She screamed once, then went silent, hunched over her child protectively even as blood soaked through her robes.
The clearing erupted into chaos. Screaming. Blood. The wet sounds of teeth on meat.
This was Hunter's life now. Fighting squirrels. Literal squirrels. Not bandits. Not demons. Not even cool monsters with names like "Sky-Devouring Thunder Dragon."
Squirrels.
His tombstone would read: "Here lies Hunter. Killed by rodents. We tried to make it sound cooler but honestly there's no way to spin this."
[LUNA] YOUR EPITAPH IS GREAT THO (◕‿◕✿)[LUNA] VERY HONEST[LUNA] I'D VISIT YOUR GRAVE
Not helping, Luna.
Oh God. Oh God I'm not ready for this.
[LUNA] ◈ NEW MISSION ALERT ◈[LUNA] MISSION: SAVE THE CARAVAN[LUNA] OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE RED-MAPLE SHADOW SQUIRRELS[LUNA] ESTIMATED COUNT: 50-100[LUNA] DIFFICULTY: B-RANK[LUNA] ACCEPT? (Y/N)
Do I have a choice?
[LUNA] TECHNICALLY YES[LUNA] REALISTICALLY NO (◕‿◕✿)
Hunter pressed YES and drew his sword.
The rusty blade felt heavy. Wrong. He'd killed exactly two people with it. One by accident. One in self-defense. Neither had prepared him for this.
Okay. Shadow Step. I have Shadow Step. I can do this.
A squirrel launched at his face. Claws extended. Teeth bared. Its trajectory was perfect, aimed directly for his throat like it had done this a thousand times before.
Hunter's body moved on instinct. The Shadow Step technique activated automatically. Shadows wrapped around his legs like living silk. He glided left, impossibly fast, his feet barely touching the ground. The world blurred. Colors streaked past his vision.
The squirrel sailed past him. Crashed into a tree.
Holy shit that actually worked.
[LUNA] DON'T GET COCKY (◕‿◕✿)
Another squirrel came from behind. Hunter's spiritual sense picked it up before his eyes could. He felt its killing intent like a cold blade against the back of his neck. His Shadow Step carried him right in a burst of movement that left afterimages. His sword came up, clumsy but determined.
Steel cleaved through flesh and bones.
The squirrel split in half, bisected so cleanly it didn't realize it was dead until both halves hit the ground separately.
Hunter stared.
I just killed something so efficiently it needs a moment to process its own death. This is either really impressive or deeply disturbing.
[LUNA] BOTH! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧[LUNA] IT'S BOTH![LUNA] MULTITASKING
Blood sprayed across his face. Hot. Sticky. Smelling like copper and something worse.
I'm going to throw up. I'm definitely going to throw up.
[LUNA] THROW UP LATER. FIGHT NOW. (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧
Three more squirrels coordinated their attack. Smart. Too smart for animals. They came from different angles in a triangle formation, trying to overwhelm him. This was pack tactics. Predator behavior honed over generations.
Hunter's spiritual sense tracked them all. Felt their positions like glowing points in his mind's eye. His Shadow Step carried him between their attacks in a flowing sequence of movements. Left. Right. Back. His footwork turned clumsy survival into something that looked almost graceful, almost like he knew what he was doing.
His sword swung. Once. Twice. Three times.
Three bodies hit the ground in rapid succession, each death strike powered by Foundation Realm qi that his body channeled without conscious thought.
I'm killing and it's becoming easier. What's happening to me?
No time for existential crisis.
A squirrel landed on a merchant's back. Started burrowing. The man screamed, a sound that would haunt Hunter's nightmares for years.
The squirrel was literally digging into him. Like it was searching for nuts. Or maybe just trying to get out of the cold. Real estate was expensive these days. Free lodging inside a screaming merchant probably had great resale value.
Hunter's brain supplied helpful commentary: "Cozy studio apartment. One bedroom (if you count the lungs). Warm. Recently renovated. Tenant very vocal about amenities."
Stop it brain. Now is not the time for real estate jokes.
His brain continued anyway: "No pets allowed. Ironic, really."
Hunter's Shadow Step launched him forward. Twenty feet crossed in less than a heartbeat. His sword came down in a vertical slash that split the air with a whistle.
The squirrel died. The merchant collapsed, gasping, alive but traumatized. His back was shredded, blood pooling beneath him, but his heart still beat.
"Stay down!" Hunter's voice came out rougher than intended. "Don't move!"
He turned. Assessed. His spiritual sense showed him the battlefield in perfect clarity, like a tactical map overlaid on reality.
Fifty squirrels. No, sixty. They kept coming. Wave after wave of fur and teeth and murder.
Han Qiuyu was holding his own. Barely. His spear moved with practiced efficiency, the black shaft a blur as it traced deadly arcs through the air. Each strike was precise, economical. No wasted motion. The hallmark of someone who'd fought for their life countless times. He kept three squirrels at bay through sheer skill, but he was tiring. Ninth level Body Refining only went so far. Sweat poured down his face. His breathing was labored.
The merchant, Qiu Hengdao, was useless. Not a cultivator. Just a rich man who'd never fought anything more dangerous than a quarterly tax audit. He swung a broken wagon plank like a club, more liability than help.
The other guards were going down. One by one. Not weak. Just outnumbered. A younger guard fell, his sword knocked from nerveless fingers as three squirrels swarmed him. His scream was brief.
I can't save them all. I can't. There's too many.
A child's scream cut through the chaos. A little girl. Maybe six years old. Two squirrels had her cornered against a wagon wheel. She clutched a doll to her chest, tears streaming down her face.
Hunter didn't think. Just moved.
Shadow Step carried him across the clearing like a ghost, like a nightmare given form. His sword came up, powered by Foundation Realm strength he barely understood. Qi flooded through his meridians, filling the blade with raw power.
The first squirrel died instantly. His sword came down in a diagonal slash that took its head clean off. The body hadn't even hit the ground yet when he pivoted.
The second lunged at his throat, fangs bared. He caught it mid-air. Bare-handed. Stupid. So stupid. Its teeth sank into his palm, tearing through skin like razors through rice paper.
Pain exploded. White-hot. Blinding. Like someone had shoved his hand into a furnace.
Okay. Okay this was fine. He'd just caught a murder squirrel with his bare hand. The squirrel was currently eating his palm. This was fine.
This is not fine. This is the opposite of fine. This is the un-fine. The anti-fine.
[LUNA] ON A SCALE OF 1-10 HOW MUCH DOES IT HURT?
Seventeen. It hurts seventeen.
[LUNA] THAT'S NOT ON THE SCALE
BECAUSE THE PAIN EXCEEDED THE SCALE, LUNA.
The squirrel made eye contact while chewing his hand. There was judgment in those black eyes. Judgment and hunger and what might have been professional respect.
"Yeah," Hunter muttered through gritted teeth. "I hate you too, buddy."
Then he squeezed. Channeled qi through his grip without knowing how. His fingers closed like a vice. The squirrel's skull crumpled like paper, bone fracturing with wet crunching sounds.
He dropped the corpse. Blood poured from his hand. His blood. The squirrel's blood. Everything was blood. The world turned red at the edges.
He locked the pain in a box and lost the key.