Chapter 41 Skirmish

Seven lord’s guards emerged from the roadside forest, subtly forming an encirclement.

Zhou Jing gripped his knife hilt, surveying the area, his gaze finally settling on Maggee.

*I barely had a minor conflict with this guy, and he dares to ambush me with so many lord’s guards.*

*When did the lord’s guards become so arrogant, daring to deal with a hunter like this? Even if I had a little conflict with Maggee, would the other lord’s guards disregard the consequences and listen to him?*

*Something’s not right. There’s probably some hidden agenda I don’t know about…*

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes.

“What is it?”

Hearing this, Maggee wore an arrogant expression, emboldened by his backing: “The lord wants to see you. Drop your knife and come with us obediently.”

“So, he told you to be fully armed and intercept me halfway?”

Zhou Jing remained unmoved.

Maggee didn’t hide his malice: “The lord said, if you resist, we should teach you a lesson and bring you back, just don’t kill you.”

“Bring me back this way… what’s the reason?”

“What do you think? You stole my things, and your domineering behavior is something even the lord can’t stand. He specifically allowed me to teach you a lesson and capture you!” Maggee touched the bandaged wound on his neck, growing angrier as he spoke, “Just because you’re a hunter doesn’t mean you can bully us commoners! Today, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

Hearing this, the other lord’s guards closed in on Zhou Jing from all directions, faces revealing eagerness and pleasure, united in their hatred.

The Beast Hunters had been despising them for more than a day or two, always scowling and looking down on them.

Between people, or between groups, there will always be emotional preferences and dislikes, which are not easily eliminated just because someone has done something good.

Emotions are two-way. Even if the hunters protect the town, so what? Their always disdainful and targeted attitude has long dispelled the guards' gratitude.

The guards couldn’t force the hunters to respect them, and they had always been dissatisfied with the hunters' attitude, feeling only resentment and unable to let go.

Hunters are great, hunters are noble… but we earn our wages peacefully, what’s the problem? Always wearing that condescending expression, showing off your superiority!

Who isn’t a different-blooded warrior?

Every time they saw the hunters' contemptuous looks, many guards wanted to smash their heads.

But the hunters' status was special, and they usually could only swallow their anger. Now that they finally had a chance to teach a Beast Hunter a lesson, some couldn’t wait to vent their pent-up resentment.

This time, the guards were not only acting on orders, but also taking the opportunity to vent their emotions, their motives strong.

Although, apart from Maggee, the others had no personal grudges with Zhou Jing… but since Zhou Jing was a Beast Hunter, he should pay the price for the actions of this group. They didn’t care who it was, as long as it was a hunter.

“The lord sent you…”

Zhou Jing’s mind raced.

The reason was definitely not what Maggee said.

*I handed over two inside traders to the lord not long ago, yet he’s turning his back so quickly… If it’s so sudden, it must be related to that matter.*

*Did powerful inside traders get wind of it and want to attack me? Or is it really the lord’s order?*

*Either the inside story is beyond imagination, and Lute has other plans, or someone is taking the opportunity to make trouble, falsely conveying the lord’s order to mobilize the guards, or Maggee has grown bold and is causing trouble behind the lord’s back…*

Zhou Jing flashed through various guesses in his mind.

Just then, Maggee stepped forward, feeling confident in his advantage, and sneered:

“Now there’s no one around to support you, aren’t you domineering? Show me how domineering you can be!”

*Clang!*

Zhou Jing drew his knife and slashed.

Maggee was startled, not expecting Zhou Jing to attack without a word, and hastily raised his shield.

*Crack!*

The blade cut into the edge of the shield, creating a gap.

Zhou Jing crashed into him, and his vigorous force exploded, slamming against the shield along his shoulders and back.

*Bang!*

Wood chips flew, and the shield shattered!

Maggee staggered backward, almost tripping.

Before he could steady himself, a cold, sharp blade suddenly approached.

Maggee hurriedly blocked with his sword.

*Clang!*

The blade pressed down on the sword.

Zhou Jing held the knife in one hand, pressed the back of the blade with the other, and pushed down hard.

Maggee felt an immense force coming at him, impossible to resist. His legs buckled, and he knelt on the ground with a thud.

Veins bulged on his face as he gripped the sword tightly with both hands, trying to push it back up, wrestling with the long knife pressing down on it.

However, his strength was not enough, and the blade slowly approached his head in an unstoppable trend.

Maggee looked at the approaching blade, and the expressionless face of Zhou Jing behind it, and his heart couldn’t help but tremble.

*This guy really wants to kill him!*

*Surrounded by so many people, how dare he!*

Maggee was incredibly shocked and angry inside.

He had imagined that Zhou Jing would be wary of the large number of people and probably wouldn’t dare to attack. He could humiliate him, take back the different-blooded potion, and then bring Zhou Jing back to the lord.

But he didn’t expect Zhou Jing to be so tough, attacking directly…

In that case, it wouldn’t be easy to end things simply.

*Doesn’t this guy consider the situation at all?*

*Is he really not afraid of angering us and being hacked to death on the spot!*

Zhou Jing moved suddenly and quickly, and the other lord’s guards were taken aback before reacting and drawing their weapons to besiege him.

Everyone felt a surge of anger.

Being surrounded and still daring to act wildly, simply not taking them seriously, did he really think they wouldn’t dare to do anything to a hunter!

“Tsk.”

Zhou Jing sensed the danger approaching from behind, kicked Maggee away, turned around to block the attacks of several people, and fought fiercely.

Regardless of the group’s motives, Zhou Jing couldn’t possibly drop his knife and surrender. Since it was impossible to end things peacefully, he attacked without hesitation.

These lord’s guards were all once-strengthened different-blooded warriors, with basic enhanced physical qualities, and had practiced combat skills for many years, unlike dealing with ordinary people who could be crushed at will.

Maggee was able to become a lord’s guard, so he had some ability. Although he was in a mess during the hasty encounter, he at least blocked the attack. Zhou Jing realized that he couldn’t kill the other party immediately, so he turned to resist the other six people attacking.

Although gang fights require catching one and beating them, that is based on the premise that the attacks of others cannot immediately severely damage you.

Facing a group of enemies wielding sharp weapons, if you are not careful in responding, you will have more than a dozen bloody holes in your body in the blink of an eye.

The basic attributes of this Star Realm Apostle "Jason Wood" are higher than ordinary people, and his strength after different-blooded strengthening is directly chasing the second strengthening. Dealing with a once-strengthened different-blooded warrior, if it is a one-on-one fight, he should be able to slash the opponent until they have no power to fight back.

If it is a one-on-two, the odds of winning are also very high.

One-on-three is difficult, but you can still try.

But one-on-seven… this is beyond the limit. Although the effect of his initial strengthening is good, his physical fitness has not reached such a crushing level.

However, combat is not easy to calculate simply. Real-time reactions and changes are more critical. Even if you have strong physical fitness, you must know how to use it to have considerable combat effectiveness.

*Ding ding dang dang—*

Cold light flashed in the field, and weapons collided frequently.

Seven lord’s guards coordinated their attacks with knives, axes, and spears, constantly filling in the gaps in the attacks of others. Every moment, they attacked Zhou Jing from multiple directions.

Zhou Jing’s double knives rotated like wind, his knife light like a cover, blocking the continuous attacks of the seven weapons.

He didn’t have any martial arts routines. He relied on his enhanced speed and reaction force, as well as his precise insight into the actions of his enemies, using a well-trained knife technique to fight fiercely.

Surrounded by seven people, Zhou Jing was unparalleled in his bravery for a time. He was able to dodge and roll in the crowd, his knife light surging, without any sign of decline.

Maggee had just encountered a surprise attack and was kicked in the chest. At this time, blood was on the corner of his mouth, and he was also participating in the siege.

He slashed and stabbed fiercely with his sword, but all of them were intercepted by Zhou Jing’s fast knife in the middle and blocked to the side. He was always unable to hit, and he himself was almost hit by Zhou Jing’s counterattack from time to time, causing a chill to rise on his back.

The attacks were not effective, and Maggee was both surprised and angry.

Seven against one should have been easy to capture. Even against a twice-strengthened different-blooded warrior, there was a chance to subdue and solve the problem, but Zhou Jing’s combat power was unreasonable.

Everyone is at the level of the first strengthening, how come you are so outstanding!

After fighting back and forth for a while, the seven lord’s guards had discovered that Zhou Jing was quite difficult to deal with. Not only was his strength higher than theirs, but he was also extremely agile.

These were all right, but the most important thing was that his combat power was amazing when he really fought. His double knives always blocked attacks from unexpected angles, and he even had the ability to counterattack when besieged by seven people.

A little too good at fighting!

“Surround him, trap him!”

Everyone immediately stopped fighting and pressed in with their weapons, wanting to trap Zhou Jing with their bodies, leaving him no room to dodge or block.

Now their advantage was numbers. As long as they worked together to press him down, locking his hands and feet, Zhou Jing would lose space and would no longer be able to fight.

Zhou Jing saw the intentions of the seven people and slashed with his double knives, rushing in different directions several times.

Each time, at least three people would cooperate fully, fighting him head-on until sparks flew, working together to force him back.

As the encirclement closed, he had less and less room to maneuver, and he gradually suffered injuries, his flesh being cut by cold weapons.

“Tsk.”

Zhou Jing’s eyes rolled quickly, observing while fighting.

Dealing with seven people at the same time consumed more energy and stamina. Although he could support himself for a while, he couldn’t grasp any flaws to severely injure any enemy.

As long as there were signs of pursuit, the other enemies would immediately work together to contain him and relieve his comrades.

Between the weapons, danger passed close to his eyes many times, making his fighting spirit even more excited.

‘If you don’t want to pay the price, it’s impossible to reduce the enemy’s numbers…’

Zhou Jing took a deep breath and suddenly held his breath.

In an instant, an electric-like current flowed through his body, immediately entering the "Thunder Assault" state.

Zhou Jing stepped on the ground with both feet, his movements suddenly accelerated, and he suddenly darted towards Maggee, as fast as lightning.

*Swish!*

Maggee’s eyes blurred, and he realized that Zhou Jing was close in front of him.

He hurriedly raised his sword, and the two lord’s guards beside him also attacked Zhou Jing at the same time.

Zhou Jing’s eyes did not change.

A long sword was falling head-on, and short spears and war knives were attacking from both sides, with the pursuit of others behind him.

The explosive power of the Thunder Assault state allowed his muscles to instantly pump out amazing strength.

Zhou Jing slightly dodged, avoiding the vital points of the attacks from both sides.

Then, he crossed his double knives and slashed out fiercely in front of him.

*Clang!*

The tyrannical explosive force of the double knives directly broke through Maggee’s stance and knocked him away.

Maggee leaned back urgently, his back almost bent in half, so he wasn’t beheaded by a knife, but his face was still scratched by the tip of the knife, and blood instantly blurred his vision.

“Ah!”

Maggee screamed and retreated quickly as if touching fire.

From his forehead to the corner of his mouth on the other side, there was a deep cut, and his nose was cut off, with blood flowing straight down. If he hadn’t retreated and leaned back in time, Zhou Jing would have almost split his face open with one knife.

At the same time, the attacks of the lord’s guards on both sides also fell on Zhou Jing.

The short spear on the right brushed against his waist and abdomen, drawing a deep blood mark, while the war knife on the left, which was originally aimed at his neck, slashed on Zhou Jing’s left shoulder.

With a *poof*, blood splattered.

Zhou Jing took advantage of the situation to lower his shoulder and unload his strength. The right knife, which had just been cut out, folded back and slashed coldly at the arm of the enemy on the left holding the knife.

The lord’s guard on the left quickly let go, not wanting his arm to be cut off.

And in the same period of time, Zhou Jing’s feet did not stop. He lifted his leg and stepped on the short spear on the right that was passing by and about to stab upwards, and used his strength to flip up.

The next second, he leaped into the air and quickly pounced on the enemy on the left, half a beat faster.

The left-hand knife then stabbed out.

*Poof!*

The long knife pierced through his throat.

The momentum of the dive did not stop. Zhou Jing held the long knife and pinned the guard with the knife through his throat to the ground.

The guard widened his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe everything that had happened, and reached out randomly, trying to grab his pierced throat.

Zhou Jing didn’t stop, he ran forward quickly to dodge the attacks from behind, and the long knife was pulled out.

*Poof!*

A stream of blood spurted out of the guard’s throat.

Zhou Jing endured several attacks on his back, but because of the momentum of the forward charge, the cuts were not deep.

After rushing out several steps, he immediately turned around and slashed.

The sweeping blade temporarily forced back the others who were chasing up, scattering them around and staring at him warily.

At this time, Zhou Jing had the opportunity to observe again.

Maggee’s face was covered in blood from the cut, looking like a demon.

And the lord’s guard who had been pierced through the throat was writhing on the ground, with only a dying struggle left.

The other five were shocked and angry, seemingly not expecting Zhou Jing to be so fierce, suddenly erupting and costing them one of their members.

In a flash, there was one death and one injury.

Zhou Jing exhaled the breath he was holding in, his body wet with sweat, and the soreness after the "Thunder Assault" erupted.

He pulled out the war knife embedded in his shoulder, and the wounds on his body were burning, but the pain was not as intense as he imagined.

His endurance seemed to be suppressing these pains, and the injuries didn’t have much impact on his actions.

“Is the [Tenacity] talent taking effect…”

Zhou Jing’s heart stirred slightly.

The "Thunder Assault" state consumed a lot of stamina. Although the lightning-fast eruption allowed the enemy to reduce their numbers, the enemy’s offensive was not slow, and he was also injured.

At most, he could do it two or three more times, but the enemies were prepared and would no longer be so easy to succeed.

Zhou Jing quickly estimated in his mind that with the current intensity, if he continued to fight desperately, he might be able to kill two or three more people, but with the accumulation of injuries and fatigue, the chances of winning were not great.

After all, his once-strengthened physical fitness had not formed an absolute crush. Seven against one, the disadvantage is on my side.

Just as Zhou Jing was calculating in his mind, the enemies surrounded him again.

But one of the lord’s guards did not step forward, but turned his head and walked towards Ross.

From the beginning of the fight, Ross had been standing aside holding his luggage, staring blankly.

The guards were wary of him, constantly preventing him from joining the battle or running away.

But Ross never moved, like an idiot, silently standing in place, extremely lacking in presence.

Seeing that he didn’t move before, the guards were surprised, but didn’t immediately send people to deal with him.

After all, at the beginning, most of the guards just had the idea of teaching him a lesson, and didn’t have the firm intention of killing a Beast Hunter.

But now that Zhou Jing had killed one person without hesitation, causing a death, the guards were both shocked and angry, and no longer had any scruples, planning to catch this follower who was with Zhou Jing.

“Hold down his follower!”

The lord’s guard approached Ross, about to put his knife to Ross’s neck.

However, just as he approached within three steps—

Ross, who was originally standing blankly at attention, suddenly moved like a rabbit, rushing forward!

The distance was short, and the speed was fast. The guard couldn’t dodge in time and was hit full force.

*Bang! Poof!*

The guard’s body shook violently. He looked down and saw that Ross had taken out a dagger at some point and stabbed it deeply into his abdomen.

Ross was expressionless and was still twisting his wrist hard.

The guard was in pain and quickly grabbed Ross’s hand, not letting him continue to twist.

“You’re asking for death!”

He was filled with hatred and anger and was about to stab Ross to death with his knife.

But the next moment, Ross reached out and grabbed his arm, and his strength actually formed a stalemate with him.

“This person is also a different-blooded warrior!”

The guard was shocked and shouted out.

He hurriedly wanted to withdraw.

But at this moment, Ross leaned back slightly and then slammed down with his head.

Without holding back any strength, as if his head didn’t belong to him!

*Duang!*

Their foreheads collided, and the guard instantly became dizzy.

Ross was also staggering.

He didn’t even consider whether his head could handle it before hitting.

The two fell to the ground together, dazed and unable to get up.

If they fought head-on, with Ross’s half-baked combat skills, even with the physical fitness of different-blooded strengthening, it would be difficult to defeat another different-blooded warrior.

But showing weakness to the enemy, he was able to carry out a surprise attack at this time, directly severely injuring the enemy and himself!

Using a mutually harmful method, he temporarily resolved one enemy’s combat power for Zhou Jing.

There’s another expert!

The guards were shocked and their attention was distracted by the changes here.

Just then, Zhou Jing used the Hunter’s Breath technique and darted out, delivering a jumping slash.

The attacked lord’s guard hurriedly raised his sword to block.

*Clang!*

The sword stance broke open.

The guard quickly rolled on the spot to unload his strength and took the opportunity to dodge.

The others quickly regained their senses and were about to go up to support.

However, Zhou Jing did not chase after him. After slashing the lord’s guard blocking the way out of position, he temporarily escaped the encirclement.

Taking advantage of the short gap where the enemies had not yet surrounded him, he decisively put away one of his knives, freed his hand, took out the Howling Wind Tiger potion, and drank it all in one gulp on the spot.

Seeing this, everyone was stunned.

What kind of death-seeking operation is this!

The last bit of potion flowed into his mouth.

Zhou Jing exerted force with his fingers.

*Crack!*

The potion bottle was crushed into pieces.

Not knowing if he could escape today, he simply drank the different-blooded potion first. Even if he died, he wouldn’t leave it to the enemy.

With the [Tenacity] talent, the severe pain when the potion changed his body didn’t affect his combat power.

Moreover, even if the final strengthening failed and he died violently, during the period when the different-blooded potion took effect, his strength would slowly increase… It should be enough to kill the group of enemies in front of him!

Zhou Jing was expressionless, holding his double knives flat and open, posing for a fight.

Visible black blood vessels bulged, spreading from his neck to his face, gradually becoming hideous.

“Today, either I will be hacked to death, or you will be hacked to death by me, come on!”

Looking at this scene, everyone swallowed subconsciously, their hearts wavering.

The hunter’s bravery and fortitude were unexpected.

They finally understood it at this time.

This person is really not afraid of death!