“You truly are as troublesome as you claim,” Ford said, “To have actually leapt to such a place by sheer luck.”

“Pah! Luck?” Feng Bujue shamelessly retorted, “It’s skill! This move of mine is the legendary qinggong *Shǐ Shang Piào* (Light as a Feather on Shit).”

The Boss did not dignify his foul language and absurd remarks with a response, silently pulling out a handgun from his person…

“Crap!” Upon seeing this, Feng Bujue vanished with a *whoosh*.

Looking closely, one could see he had hidden himself behind the large, protruding rock at his feet. He held the rock, his body hunched, a flashlight clenched in his mouth. Due to the distance, his body was precisely in Ford’s blind spot.

Although it was not yet dawn, Ford’s eyesight was far superior to that of ordinary humans. With the aid of the faint light from the flashlight behind the rock, he could see clearly, but unfortunately, there was no angle from which he could shoot.

Feng Bujue gripped the rock tightly with both hands and feet, only his buttocks touching the mud, and this small contact area was not enough to make him sink. He should be able to maintain this position for quite a while before his Stamina Points ran out.

“I really should have brought the hunting rifle,” Ford said, smiling as he put away the handgun, “Although my marksmanship is not bad, a handgun is not suitable for aiming at targets at medium to long ranges, especially in such darkness.”

“You were just scared witless by this Great One’s peerless qinggong, that’s why your arms are shaking!” Feng Bujue shouted. To provoke the Boss in such a brazen manner, he even risked losing the flashlight in his mouth, spitting it into the mud beneath him as he opened his mouth.

“Heh… you really think you can remain unscathed hiding there?” Ford sneered, “You really think I wouldn't dare come over there directly?”

“Enough nonsense!” Feng Bujue retorted with even more arrogant tone, “I’m a busy, respectable man with no time to beat you up, so please be quick and run towards my fist yourself.” He took two seconds to release one arm, extend his hand, and give the Boss the middle finger, then quickly hugged the rock again.

“Rude bastard…” The Boss was actually angered enough to utter a curse.

Ford then left the edge of the swamp, retreating a distance to gain a running start. Feng Bujue's *Shǐ Shang Piào*… Ford certainly didn't know it, nor had he read any wuxia novels, so he couldn’t comprehend it. But with Ford’s combat skills, as long as he prepared adequately, he could jump directly onto the large rock that Feng Bujue was clinging to.

At this moment, Feng Bujue’s flashlight had completely sunk into the swamp, while Ford had not brought any lighting equipment at all. The surrounding environment was dark. The moon was gone, but the sun had not yet risen, and the sky was a dark purple. Even in the wide-open space of the Death Swamp, Feng Bujue’s eyesight only allowed him to see the outlines of objects within about five meters.

At this moment, the surroundings were eerily quiet, and even the sound of bubbles rising in the swamp could be heard. Feng Bujue held his breath and concentrated, listening to the movements on Ford’s side. Soon he heard… footsteps, the frequency of which was much higher than when he was chasing him, and very forceful, with short strides, indicating that these steps were not to pursue high speed, but to accumulate power and release it.

Finally, there was a heavy *thud* as a foot landed heavily on the muddy ground.

Ford leaped out in an arc like the back of a whale, bouncing high and flying through the air.

The instant he heard the other party’s jump, Feng Bujue desperately climbed back onto the rock. Without hesitation, he drew his handgun and fired two shots into the air. He wasn’t trying to hit anything with these two bullets, but only to use the muzzle flashes to see where Ford had jumped to.

These two shots did indeed miss, and by a wide margin. Even worse, about a second later, Ford had arrived, standing on the same rock as Feng Bujue, less than two meters away.

Feng Bujue had no time to hesitate and immediately fired another shot, hitting Ford’s body. In this visibility, there was no way to aim for the head; it was enough to hit him at all.

Even someone wearing a bulletproof vest would surely fall backward, unable to breathe or even go into shock after being shot at such close range. But Ford didn’t even take a step back, his expression only tightening as if he had just taken a punch.

“Heh heh heh…” Ford laughed triumphantly. He knew it was over. This Boss didn’t plan to use the gun either; he was going to tear this uneducated bastard apart with his own hands.

“Heh heh heh…” Feng Bujue laughed even more triumphantly, using his remaining two uses of the consumption skill [Naughty Child’s Sweep Kick], sideways kicking his leg towards Ford.

Ignoring specialization levels, it had a 100% chance of tripping any monster that could theoretically fall. This effect used here, on this Boss, was perfectly suited.

Ford fell backward and sideways, his hands flailing in the air, his expression horrified. In fact, a Boss with his strength could have reacted while falling, twisting his body or changing direction, or even flipping over to regain his footing… but under the influence of Feng Bujue’s skill, any monster had to be “tripped.” Only when the “falling” action was completed would the skill end.

And so… Ford fell sideways off the rock and into the swamp…

Without another word, Feng Bujue released his skill and then hid behind the other side of the rock, returning to his position of hugging the stone, separating himself from Ford and refusing to appear in the other party’s sight.

Having fought to this point, Feng Bujue would never reveal any weakness again. If Ford pulled out his gun and fired randomly before he died, or grabbed a piece of mud and threw it over, reducing his 1% Survival Value, all his efforts would be in vain.

Whether it was necessary or not, it was always right to be careful, so Feng Bujue maintained this posture, silently listening to Ford’s dying curses and his struggles in the mud. After about three minutes, the sound finally stopped. Ford was still cursing a second before his mouth sank into the mud, until the filth poured into his lungs, blocking his breathing, and finally stopped.

[Current Mission Completed, Main Quest All Completed]

[You have completed this scenario, automatic teleportation in 180 seconds]

It seemed that according to this plot, killing the Boss would not trigger Ivan’s berserk event. Of course, it should be like that, otherwise this main quest would be too exaggerated.

After climbing onto the rock, Feng Bujue immediately thought, “Perhaps after seeing General Zaroff’s last words, another way to clear this scenario is to sneak into the castle, find the location of the underground port while dealing with Ivan, and finally escape by boat. But that kind of situation is probably only possible if there are more players. Simply put, use himself as bait to lure Ford away from the castle, while others take the opportunity to go into the castle…”

He was teleported away soon after, because his Survival Value couldn’t afford him to stay any longer.

Not long after Feng Bujue left, Ivan’s tall figure appeared from the dense forest. He stood at the edge of the swamp, staring at the mud in front of him, planning how to retrieve his master who had sunk to the bottom…