In the darkness, Zhao Mu continued his hunt.
Relying on his powerful [Night Vision] ability and the high-speed movement of [Light and Agile Steps], he possessed a unique advantage.
Within the dark jungle, he became the Incarnation of a night owl, harvesting one Trial Participant after another.
However, as the night deepened and silence fell, most Trial Participants learned their lesson and dared not move easily.
Some hid themselves in trees, while others found caves to take shelter in.
Zhao Mu used the big fire to eliminate a batch of people who came over to watch the excitement.
But trying to find those who were hiding would not be so easy.
Because they would definitely place traps near their nighttime resting spots.
"Right now, the biggest threat to me winning first place is the team led by Golden Elephant City."
Zhao Mu found a large tree and sat down leaning against it.
After fighting fiercely for a while, he was also a bit tired, so he pulled out the preserved biscuit from his pocket and slowly began to eat it. He also took out some wild raspberries he had picked earlier from his other pocket.
"According to what those guys said before they left, Golden Elephant City is looking for me. I shouldn't have offended him, so his purpose in looking for me must be at someone else's direction."
A conjecture quickly formed in Zhao Mu's mind.
"The person I offended who also has the ability to make the Young Master of the Jin Family target me, especially since Wang Qing and the other two are by his side, I can only think of one."
A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Mu's eyes, but the corner of his mouth curved into an amused arc.
"Shao Han, this is what you meant when you said you'd be waiting for me in the Entrance Trial, right?"
A few days ago, at the gate of Yuwu No. 2 Middle School, Shao Han had lost Face to Zhao Mu and said this exact phrase.
But at the time, Zhao Mu was puzzled, as Shao Han, being a Guaranteed Admission Student, shouldn't have participated in the Entrance Trial.
Now, everything made sense.
"He's clearly a B-rank Awakener, Combat Level 9, so much higher than me. Yet he doesn't even have the courage to fight me head-on, only knowing how to use these underhanded methods."
"Shao Han, you are destined to never amount to anything great."
Zhao Mu was dismissive of Shao Han's actions, but he was someone who held grudges, and he would find a chance later to settle the score with Shao Han.
"Rather than waiting for you to come looking for me first, why don't I take advantage of the current situation and let you suffer a little first!"
Zhao Mu had no intention of sitting still and waiting for death.
It was nighttime, and the Large Corps, due to their numbers, found movement difficult—this was the best time for him to attack.
He planned to reduce the manpower of Golden Elephant City's Large Corps first.
Based on the operational area of the previous Five-person Squad, he could roughly guess the resting area of the Large Corps.
After Zhao Mu replenished his physical strength, he counted the arrows on him: he had 12 arrows in total, including those he had left and those he had seized.
Zhao Mu organized his weapons and quickly slipped into the darkness... After confirming that the previous Five-person Squad was completely gone, a strange look flashed in the eyes of Golden Elephant City.
"They've been eliminated!"
Once they left the Xiuyun Mountain Trial Ground, they could no longer send any messages back inside.
"Zhao Mu is indeed an interesting person. E-rank Talent, Dou Level 2, yet his actual combat ability is so formidable."
Golden Elephant City said with a smile, his eyes sparkling with a hint of excitement.
"That's good, too. If he were too weak, the hunt would become meaningless."
When Wang Qing heard Golden Elephant City say that Zhao Mu had eliminated five people, he couldn't help but feel a sudden dread in his heart.
He inquired, "Shouldn't we take advantage of him being nearby and send people over to eliminate him? Before things get complicated."
Golden Elephant City chuckled, "It's fine. Everyone rest well now. No one is allowed to leave the vicinity of the camp!"
"And stop handing over headcount to that guy."
Around the entire camp, there were currently two Five-person Squads patrolling, and traps had been set up nearby.
Once someone triggered a trap, it would cause a commotion.
Not to mention the Pit Traps buried under the leaves; if you stepped into one, don't expect to climb back out, because sharpened wooden stakes were placed at the bottom.
"The next round of Combat Zone Contraction is at 3 a.m. That's when people's Mental Energy is at its weakest. When everyone gathers at the mountaintop and he has nowhere to run, we can enjoy the encirclement and hunt!"
Golden Elephant City had planned everything out, so he wasn't worried at all.
However, in the darkness, Zhao Mu had already sneaked up near his camp.
It was easy to find.
It was an area relatively close to the point of the fire, and to ensure they could quickly enter the mountaintop area after the Combat Zone Contraction, they would definitely be close to the boundary line.
At ten o'clock at night, the darkness was like a black cloth covering people's eyes.
There was faint starlight in the sky, and there was no moon tonight, making the forest pitch black and invisible.
Only Zhao Mu—everything he saw seemed to be covered in pure white moonlight; although it wasn't as clear as daylight, he could still see the outlines of people and objects.
He climbed onto a large tree and confirmed the location of Golden Elephant City's Large Corps.
Those people were still grouped in fives, with two squads patrolling the perimeter while the rest rested inside. It seemed they were rotating sleep shifts to ensure their physical strength later.
From afar, Zhao Mu could see Golden Elephant City; he was right in the center of the main camp.
However, the distance was too great, and Zhao Mu's arrows could not cover such a distance to snipe him.
But Zhao Mu was not in a hurry.
He silently climbed down from the tree. After confirming the positions of the opponent's two patrol teams, Zhao Mu crept over like a ghost.
His current effective sniping distance was 200 meters.
The Trial Participants in the patrol squad would not constantly maintain a state of Spiritual Energy Protection, so Zhao Mu's first arrow was aimed at the Archer of that squad.
He prioritized dismantling any enemy who posed a potential threat to him.
"Zheng!"
The bowstring vibrated violently, emitting a crisp sound, and as the sound rang out, the arrow had already pierced the air and flown away!
These movements were hidden within the chirping of summer insects.
The Archer didn't realize what had happened; he was hit directly in the neck by an arrow, let out a muffled groan, and collapsed limply onto the ground.
Because the ground was covered in fallen leaves, his collapse didn't make much noise, and the nearby members of the Five-person Squad didn't even notice immediately.
"Huh? Did you hear something?"
"What sound? It's the middle of the night, and all these insects are chirping, annoying me. I've got big bites all over my butt."
The two Trial Participants complained.
Zhao Mu was already calmly preparing the second arrow.
"Whoosh!"
Another arrow was shot, and a Shield and Sword Wielder fell, as simple as shooting a target.
Facing these students who lacked actual combat experience in Jungle Warfare, Zhao Mu was essentially carrying out a one-sided massacre.
It was only at this moment that someone realized something was wrong.
Looking closely, they saw two teammates lying unconsciously on the ground, sleeping very peacefully.
That Trial Participant's pupils sharply contracted. He first erupted with Spiritual Energy Protection, then yelled at the top of his lungs, "Enemy attack!!"
Zhao Mu smiled slightly, turned, and slowly retreated, deeply concealing his presence and name.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)