Chapter 134: A Slow Death

At the gates of Clearwater Stockade.

The fastest runners had all witnessed Lu Kuan leaping onto the tiger’s back, and cries of astonishment rose from the crowd.

“Whoa!”

“Can you even do that?”

Everyone stood gaping. Dai Guang and the three women wore the same stunned expressions as they watched the receding figures of Fishman King Yuka and the sabertooth tiger. Soon, they began discussing what they had seen.

“Dai Guang, did you hear what Uncle Tao said just now? Something about watching out for the pet?” A Kui asked anxiously.

Dai Guang nodded. “I heard him too... I wonder whether Old Lu caught it. Yuka is no kind soul.”

Of the group, only Qing Yi remained calm. In her cool, detached voice, she said, “It should be fine. He must have prepared for this...”

A Kui looked at her best friend in surprise, then nodded. That was true enough. With a slippery old fox like Lu Kuan, he had certainly kept an escape route for himself.

...

Whoosh!

The Concussive Arrow trailed a streak of white light as it struck Yuka squarely in the back. The Fishman King’s speed immediately faltered. Though the effect lasted barely a second, that was enough for Lightning to catch up and bring Yuka back within Lu Kuan’s range.

Lu Kuan promptly activated Arcane Shot and unleashed a barrage at Yuka.

Large crimson damage numbers rose above the Fishman King’s head, only to vanish behind him an instant later. It looked as though Yuka were wearing a red scarf that fluttered enchantingly in the wind.

“Wuka-kaka! Wretched human!”

When had Yuka ever been toyed with like this? He shrieked in fury and bounded toward Lu Kuan, thrusting out two arms as thin as withered bones.

“Roar!”

Seeing this, the sabertooth tiger immediately let out a furious roar and lunged forward with brutal force. Its powerful body sent the Fishman King flying. If Yuka had not reacted quickly—if Lightning had not merely flung his head aside—those jaws would have bitten him in half.

“Nyahaha! What’s wrong, little fellow? Getting angry? Come on, bite me!”

Lu Kuan threw back his head and laughed, thoroughly delighted. “To toy with a boss like this... In all my years of gaming, I doubt I’ll ever get another chance.”

During his battle with Uncle Tao, neither side had been able to gain the upper hand. But with Lightning’s help, Uncle Tao had ultimately possessed the advantage, severely wounding Yuka and forcing him to enter a berserk state in order to break through the encirclement and flee for his life.

Entering a berserk state voluntarily greatly increased Yuka’s speed and strength, but it also amplified the damage he received. After Uncle Tao had battered him so thoroughly, what defensive power could he have had left? That was what gave Lu Kuan his opening, allowing him to shoot the Fishman King until he howled in agony.

Poor Yuka. He was, after all, one of the overlords of the great lake’s underwater realm, the mightiest warrior the fishmen had produced in more than a decade. Yet here he was, being pursued and peppered with arrows by a player barely past level ten.

Hatred gleamed in the Fishman King’s great, bulging eyes. He had been left with an exceedingly deep impression of the human ranger before him. Both the battlefield and Uncle Tao’s attitude toward the ranger had made it clear that this human’s identity was far from ordinary.

If he had the chance, Yuka would have loved to stop right there and tear the smug-looking human ranger to pieces.

But whenever he glanced behind him, he could only run faster.

More than a hundred yards behind Lightning, the cavalry of Clearwater Stockade remained in close pursuit, without the slightest slackening.

Given the cavalry’s speed, it would be difficult for them to catch up with Lightning and Yuka. But if Yuka dared to stop and fight Lightning and Lu Kuan, the horsemen would need only a few seconds to bear down on him.

At that point, the Fishman King would have nowhere left to run.

Lu Kuan had seen this clearly, which was why he clung to Yuka at all costs. If the creature managed to return to the water, the mission’s completion would suffer terribly.

Thus Yuka led the way, Lu Kuan rode Lightning close behind, and a hundred yards farther back came the cavalry of Clearwater Stockade. The three forces formed a straight line as they thundered across the grassland.

Far ahead, just above the distant horizon, the pale-blue surface of the great lake was already faintly visible.

“Hey, dead fish-head!”

Lu Kuan drew and fired as he shouted, “I’ve killed all your little minions, so why are you going back? Won’t it be awfully lonely? Stay here. We can have grilled fish together tonight!”

Yuka stumbled, but did not look back. Instead, he ran even faster.

“Uncle Tao definitely won’t kill you. He’s always merciful to defeated opponents—I stake my reputation on it!”

The Fishman King drew a deep breath and glanced back at Lu Kuan, his eyes glacial.

“Oh, right. You and Old Blind-Eye grew up together, didn’t you? Go back and see him. You haven’t met in all these years. Old grudges are better dissolved than deepened...”

Lu Kuan fired one arrow with every sentence, maintaining a perfect rhythm. But when he reached the middle of his final remark, the Fishman King could endure no more. With a tragic roar, he abruptly wheeled around.

Yuka slowed sharply, and in the blink of an eye he was level with Lightning. Leaning to the right, he closed in on the tiger’s side.

Lightning refused to yield. His enormous head tilted slightly, and his cavernous jaws snapped toward Yuka.

But Yuka had changed tactics. This time, it was only a feint. He slowed again, dropped behind Lightning, then flung his right hand outward, splashing a mass of black liquid toward Lu Kuan.

What happened next nearly made the Fishman King’s dead eyes bulge from their sockets.

As though he had anticipated the move, Lu Kuan had already slipped sideways and flattened himself against Lightning’s belly the instant the black liquid left Yuka’s hand, avoiding the attack perfectly.

Specks of the black fluid splashed across the sabertooth tiger’s fur, and within moments wisps of black smoke began to rise. The liquid was astonishingly toxic.

“Trying to ambush your granddaddy, are you?”

Lu Kuan gave a cold laugh. Without wasting another word, he drew his bow and fired.

Yuka had fallen behind, yet he did not dare engage Lightning at close range. Under Lu Kuan’s direction, Lightning used his massive body to keep the Fishman King trapped behind him while gradually slowing down. The cavalry behind them quickly began to close the distance.

The Fishman King went completely mad.

It was too humiliating—far too humiliating!

“What in the world is going on? When I fought the lord of Clearwater Stockade, he fell victim to my attack. Why can this useless human dodge it?”

Yuka shrieked and leaped about, trying to get around Lightning and surge ahead. But Lightning was no fool, and Lu Kuan was far too shrewd. Having finally overtaken Yuka, how could they possibly give him another chance to escape?

So, under Lu Kuan’s control, Lightning repeatedly swung his enormous hindquarters from side to side, blocking Yuka behind him. Even when the Fishman King flung out another spray of poisonous black sludge, Lightning neither dodged nor flinched. Apart from losing some fur where the liquid burned through it, he seemed completely unaffected.

Yuka did not dare flee to either side, either. Endless stretches of land lay in both directions, and for him they amounted to nothing more than a slower form of suicide.

And so Lightning and Lu Kuan became increasingly relaxed, while the Fishman King sank deeper and deeper into despair. Behind them, the cavalry of Clearwater Stockade drove their mounts forward with all their strength, gradually closing in from every side.