Chapter 83: Learning to Hunt
Ye Zan crept through the woods behind Yang Xiu, trying to move as quietly as possible. Whatever he was doing wasn’t good enough for Senior Sister, who kept glaring and him and Huang Yimun, his fellow guard who was even worse about finding every dead leaf than Ye Zan was.
Less than a month and a half ago, he’d never left the city. He’d never walked through woods. He’d certainly never crept through the woods in an attempt to kill a spirit beast. It still amazed him every day that he’d somehow arrived at such a place in his life.
Not that he was complaining. He never thought he’d amount to anything. Prior to accepting Elder Kang Ya-Ting’s offer to guard a caravan belonging to a friend of the Poison Claw Sect, Ye Zan’s best-case scenario for his future was dying on some nameless battlefield contested by two nobles, neither of whom even knew his name. If he were really lucky, he’d actually have someone for them to send his death benefits to.
With Master, Ye Zan was not only likely to die in a battle that actually mattered while protecting people who he cared about, but he was treated with respect. He was valued.
Whatever Master required of him, he’d do.
“You two are hopeless,” she said. “If we were depending on an ambush, we’d be dead.”
“Pardon, Senior Sister,” Ye Zan said, “but we’re supposed to be guards. We’re not supposed to be stealthy.”
She grumbled under her breath. “That’s good because you’re not!”
They sped up their pace, foregoing any attempt to be quiet until finally she stopped in a clearing.
“We should be getting close,” she said. “You remember the plan?”
“Huang Yimun and I separate, trying to each get on one side of the beast. I am the primary attacker. Huang Yimun should only defend himself if the beast darts at him. If I miss my attack, you will kill the beast with an arrow.”
Ye Zan had never even seen a spirit beast. In the stories he’d heard, mainly from older mercenaries, they were fast and ferocious opponents. Even a squirrel became a deadly whirlwind of teeth and claws once it grew a core. It usually took an entire squad to take one down, and such was only usually accomplished by luring it into a trap.