Chapter 78 Water Source

The moment the cannibal's attack connected with his sword, Duncan knew that this one was different than the others that had come before.

The force behind the blow that he was experiencing was stronger than what came from the other cannibals. Normally, his sword would have cut clean through the nails or hand when he attacked, but this time the sword was rebuffed with force.

Duncan had to struggle a bit to regain his footing from the sudden resistance he experienced. The same was true for the cannibal as well. The cannibal roared in challenge and once more attacked Duncan.

Duncan hastily evaded the blow and came up with a cut to its back. However, the cannibal was quick to react and it blocked the blow once more. Duncan frowned as he realized that this would be a long fight.

Looking around, Duncan realized that this place wasn't the ideal one to battle a cannibal for a long time. If he got bogged down by this cannibal, the others that would arrive could easily overwhelm Duncan.

Duncan immediately fled the scene after escaping the cannibal's next attack. He wasn't surprised when the cannibal left the corpses and came after him. While hunting these cannibals, Duncan realized that these cannibals preferred him over the corpses of their kind.

Each and every time a cannibal smelled him or identified him in some form, they would not hesitate to move towards him, abandoning the corpses. It was as if Duncan was more delicious than their usual fare. Duncan didn't know why and had no plans of finding out either.

All he knew was that he was their preferred meal and they would go after him every time. This further deepened his determination to hunt these abominations down.

Duncan fled as the cannibal chased after him. By now, Duncan had gotten used to the low level of light present in the cave. While his eyesight wasn't what it could have been outside of this cave, it was far better compared to when he came in, after getting accustomed to the atmosphere here.

Duncan used the <Wind Chasing Steps> to get away from the cannibal, but the cannibal was still able to follow him. This made Duncan realize that the chances of losing this particular cannibal inside the tunnels were slim. He also realized that his normal speed was slower than the cannibal's.

If not for the <Wind Chasing Steps>, the cannibal would have caught up to him by now. Combined with their ability to hear and smell him far better than he was able to do them, Duncan knew that his chances of escape were slim. That meant the only option available to Duncan was to kill this cannibal.

As Duncan fled, his eyes roved to find an ideal battleground that he could use to his advantage. Pretty soon, Duncan turned a corner and came upon another one of the pathways filled with tunnels. This was an area he had never ventured forth. There were signs of frequent movements across multiple tunnels in this area.

While Duncan noticed those things, his mind was not focused on these oddities now. He was desperately searching for a good battleground where he could face the cannibal in.

By now, Duncan was also running low on qi. Continuously using <Wind Chasing Steps> was a little draining on him. He could also feel the cannibal closing in fast. He knew that it was time for him to make a stand. After all, if he completely exhausted his qi, he would have no chance against this particular cannibal.

Duncan slightly altered his path to angle a bit towards the wall present on his left side. While battling with the cannibals realized that the cannibals only used qi to strengthen their bodies. Their application of qi was limited in their usage and they preferred to be a little more straightforward.

Duncan suddenly veered to the left and ran up the wall using his momentum and qi. He flipped over the pursuing cannibal using qi-enhanced strength and landed behind its back.

Before the cannibal could stop its forward momentum, Duncan slashed it from behind and sent it rolling forward with a kick to its ass. The cannibal fell forward and rolled a few times before coming to stop. It roared angrily and turned to face Duncan.

However, Duncan wasn't idle. By the time it turned around, Duncan was already running up the wall to build momentum and jumped from it with a horizontal cut toward the cannibal's head.

The cannibal hastily ducked under Duncan's blade. Its reaction time was enough to escape Duncan's attack in a hurried manner, but when Duncan followed it up with a slash to its midsection, it wasn't able to avoid it.

Duncan's sword scored yet another injury on the cannibal's body causing more green blood to leak out. Duncan didn't give the cannibal any reprieve. Running his <Absolute Cut Sword Art>, Duncan once more delivered a vicious cut.

This time the reaction of the cannibal was a tad bit slow. So, Duncan was able to cut off the cannibal's right arm and send it flying. The cannibal wailed in pain and looked at Duncan hatefully.

Duncan merely smirked at the cannibal and motioned it to come after him.

But, the cannibal didn't move. It looked around anxiously for a few seconds and immediately fled the scene causing Duncan to be a little surprised. So far, this was the first time one of the cannibals had acted cautiously toward him. Its act of fleeing the scene was entirely unexpected, causing Duncan to stand there surprised for the moment.

By the time he came back to his senses, the cannibal was already far away, making a chase a moot point at this time. Duncan looked around in confusion to see if there was anything else that had scared away the cannibal. He knew the cannibals were more akin to beasts in their nature than humans and beasts have good instincts for danger.

Duncan decided to move away as well, just in case the danger the cannibal felt was not from him. Without delay, Duncan once more executed the <Wind Chasing Steps> and left the area.

A few minutes later, another cannibal sniffed at the place Duncan and the first cannibal had been fighting. It sniffed for a few moments before turning and roving its eyes to see if anything was still present there. Seeing no sign of the combatants, the cannibal leisurely walked towards the severed arm and ate it in one gulp before loitering away from the area.

If Duncan had been still present there, he would have realized that this new cannibal's presence was way stronger than the one he had been battling a few minutes ago. If the cannibal that lost its arm could be considered a hill with its presence, the new one felt like a mountain.

*****

As Duncan traveled further away from the place he had been battling in, he slowly realized that he was now heading deeper into the cave. The air felt even more gloomier down here and the light in the surroundings was practically non-existent. He had to squint his eyes to even make sense of the path he was traveling in.

As much as Duncan wanted to head back, there was one particular sound that has been drawing him into the interior for the past few minutes. Duncan could hear the sound of water dripping somewhere in the distance in the direction of the path he was traveling.

Duncan knew that he has spent quite a bit of his qi in the last fight. He needed to find a place to hole up and cultivate currently. Duncan figured that finding the water source and making a camp near there would be ideal.

​ With no food or rations with him, Duncan felt that it would be better to find the water source that he had been hearing about for some time now. That way, he would at least have water to sustain himself for the week. If not, then he would only get tired as the days passed on.

As for the probable danger he might encounter there, Duncan wasn't in the mood to care about it. He was moving as stealthy as he could currently, but simply turning away was not an option. He was ready to face whatever challenge awaited him there.

Navigating a bend in the pathway, Duncan came upon a large spacious place connected to the pathway. The area was rugged as the pathways, but the space was really wide. Duncan spied another pathway leading away from the place on the far end.

However, what grabbed his attention was the moonlight shining through a hole that was present in the ceiling. The moonlight fell on a large rock that was in the center. A few paces away from the site where the moonlight fell, Duncan saw a tall reef-like structure jutting out. The source of the water drops was that structure.

There was water dripping from the reef onto the rock below in a steady stream. It wasn't anything large, but the water was trickling down in a consistent manner. The water at the bottom was collected in a shallow hole. The overflowing water seemed to drain some distance away.

The scenery was quite ethereal if Duncan had to be honest with himself. It had a mesmerizing beauty to itself. But, Duncan was not lost in the beauty. His eyes were vigilant as he scanned the area for any kind of danger.

After searching for a while and not finding anything, Duncan slowly made his way to the reef and cupped his hands to collect some water. Testing it a little, Duncan felt that this water was drinkable, as he couldn't find any problem with the taste. Despite that, Duncan decided to wait a while to drink his fill.

If there were any subtle side effects, then they would make themselves known soon. A cultivator's body had a faster metabolism than a normal human's. And ever since he started cultivating, Duncan had been intuitively aware of the state of his body. So, if a side effect showed, he would be able to determine that the water was not safe.

Likewise, if there were no side effects, Duncan decided that this was the place he could make his base in. Looking around for a while, Duncan noticed several footsteps leaving and coming toward the small hole that collected water on the ground.

He figured that this place was acting like a water source for several cannibals in this vicinity. That meant it wouldn't be ideal for him to stay on the ground here. Duncan looked around and decided to check the reef the water was dripping from. After all, there must be a source for this water.

The best way to find that out was to retrace the stream's path.

*****

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