Bitter Wine Burns the Heart.jpg

"This matter requires long-term consideration; we must not act rashly." After giving it some thought, the Cavalry Captain's eyes suddenly lit up, as though he had remembered something. "Didn't we pass by a five-hundred-man unit led by a Deputy Thousand-Household on our way here? Their camp should have a Spider Silk Net!"

The remaining nine slapped their thighs, suddenly enlightened.

"Hahaha, Eldest Brother is indeed Eldest Brother. None of us thought of that. Deputy Thousand-Household Li is Second Brother's fellow townsman from Quanzhou. Borrowing the Spider Silk Net will be easy—we can make up any excuse and fool him."

Well then, the ten of them had never considered sharing out the credit. Every last one of them was plotting to swallow it whole.

He Zhao's eyes darted about. If this plan failed, then the next time he entered [Campaigning], he would directly divert the disaster toward Deputy Thousand-Household Li's five hundred infantrymen.

If ten cavalrymen could not kill that bastard, five hundred men spitting one mouthful each would be enough to drown him.

"Second Brother, let's go. You eight stay here and keep watch."

As the words fell, the two raised their whips and disappeared into the shadows beneath the afterglow of the sunset.

About half an hour later, the sky had completely darkened, and a flickering firelight gradually approached from outside Xiahe Village.

Everyone grew wary, drawing sabers and nocking arrows. The moment anything seemed amiss, they would spring up and kill.

"It's me."

The Cavalry Captain's voice rang out, rather cold. The eight men immediately lowered their weapons and hurried forward.

"Eldest Brother, did you get the Spider Silk Net? And where's Second Brother? Why didn't he come back with you?" They fired off questions all at once. Their futures were at stake—how could they not be anxious?

"I got it. But Deputy Thousand-Household Li kept Second Brother behind to catch up. That fellow has been in the army for fifteen years, and when he met a fellow townsman, he was enthusiastic beyond measure. Second Brother had no choice but to stay and keep him company."

The Cavalry Captain held a torch high in one hand and tossed a bundled white silk net from behind his back with the other.

Bang!

The group caught it together. These big, brawny soldiers nearly got smashed flat by it.

"It's so heavy!"

Unlike the delighted cavalrymen, He Zhao could not help casting their captain a deep glance. This man's strength was truly unfathomable. It took three of them working together merely to catch the Spider Silk Net, yet he had tossed it one-handed.

Clang!

Pfft—

The Cavalry Captain drew his Curved Saber and slashed at He Zhao's arm.

Ruthless He Zhao forcibly suppressed the urge to dodge and took the slash head-on.

"Find a place walled in on three sides and light up the surroundings. We'll appear at the right moment. If you successfully capture the Corpse Demon, we'll spare your life." With that, he tossed another bundle of torches from horseback, and a heavy smell of pine oil spread through the air.

He was not particularly angry about the Cavalry Captain using him as bait. He had died more than a hundred times already—this was a small scene.

Besides, was he not borrowing a knife to kill someone himself?

They were using each other. Nothing more than each other's Tool Person.

He Zhao walked step by step toward Xiahe Village, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"Eldest Brother?" The men did not quite understand what their captain was doing.

"The Corpse Demon will seek out injured prey first. Monsters like this have an abnormally terrifying sense of smell and are especially obsessed with the scent of blood. Enough questions. Everything goes according to my command."

Apparently annoyed by the questioning, the Cavalry Captain raised a hand to stop them and barked the order.

The men frowned. They all felt that Eldest Brother's temperament had become somewhat irritable since returning. In the past, no matter what his brothers said, he would patiently explain.

Meanwhile, He Zhao, who had died more than sixty times in Xiahe Village, easily found the place the Cavalry Captain had mentioned.

This had once been an ancestral hall, probably, but it had been destroyed by war—or rather, by Vagrants.

In a sense, calling the Vagrants a Mob was not wrong at all.

Unable to survive, they rose in rebellion, roaming everywhere to burn, kill, and plunder, transforming from victims into perpetrators.

Amid the ruined walls and broken remnants, He Zhao lit the torches and fixed them around the area. With his back against a wall built of fire-baked bricks, he narrowed his eyes as though asleep, waiting for the hunter to come knocking.

The day of avenging his blood feud had arrived!

Whoosh—

Bang!!

With his eyes closed, warning bells blared in He Zhao's heart. A Death Omen hung over his head like dark clouds, and he instinctively tilted his head aside, dodging the spear that would have nailed his throat.

The cavalrymen lurking in the shadows could not help clenching their fists, wishing they could shout a word of praise.

Dodging a Fatal Strike with such composure was truly admirable.

To be fair, if any of them had been in He Zhao's position, they absolutely would not have been able to avoid that sharp spear embedded in the wall.

"Eldest Brother, this thing really does have intelligence. It even knows how to use weapons."

"Quiet. Wait until it shows itself, then we surround it." The Cavalry Captain shot the brother who had spoken a glare.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sounds of objects tearing through the air rang out one after another, and He Zhao narrowly dodged every one.

Bang!

When the tenth spear sank into the wall, the hunter hidden in the darkness grew anxious.

It was the first time it had encountered such a troublesome prey.

Swoosh!

A Gray Shadow flashed out, shooting from the ruins straight at He Zhao.

!!

It was too fast.

The warning from the Death Omen made him want to evade, but his body could not keep up with his reaction at all.

Bang!

A sturdy, powerful foot viciously kicked He Zhao in the lower abdomen.

If he had eaten anything in the past few days, that kick would have sent shit flying out of him.

His internal organs churned as though twisted into a knot. At last, he no longer understood "liver and intestines torn asunder" only on the surface—he experienced it firsthand.

Clang!

Pfft—

His whole body slammed into the wall, even leaving behind a human-shaped imprint.

The Gray Shadow clung close behind like a Bone-Chasing Maggot.

A glint of cold light burst through the night, and a rust-covered dagger plunged into He Zhao's chest.

The light in Ruthless He Zhao's eyes gradually dimmed, then vanished completely as he fell silent.

"Attack!"

Seeing that the moment had come, the Cavalry Captain led his men charging out of the shadows. Five or six of them spread open the Spider Silk Net and cast it over the Corpse Demon.

Pfft—

"Third Brother!"

"Eldest Brother, save me!"

Under the torchlight, the two sides engaged in brutal combat.

Before long, the sounds of fighting faded into silence, leaving only the heavy breathing of a few people.

"third brother, Fifth Brother, Little Nine, Youngest Brother!!"

Cavalryman Fourth Brother's eyes were split wide with fury. Four brothers had died in a single battle, and three more were severely injured. Only he and Eldest Brother had suffered minor wounds. He had never imagined that their stepping stone to advancement would be bought at such a terrible price.

He Zhao, who had been playing dead all along, listened to the Corpse Demon's continuous furious roars and thought, That did it. This is solid now.

Borrowing a knife to kill someone (√)!!

Pfft—

The sound of a steel blade piercing flesh rang out, and Fourth Brother roared the next instant.

"Eldest Brother, what are you doing?"

"Ending the suffering of those three."

Sprawled beneath the wall, He Zhao quietly opened one eye and furtively peered at the battlefield.

He saw the Cavalry Captain gripping the Spider Silk Net in one hand, the Corpse Demon within struggling desperately. In his other hand was a blood-dripping blade. At his feet lay three cavalrymen with disbelief frozen on their faces.

On the other side, the wounded Fourth Brother wore an expression of shock and fury.

"You want to swallow all the credit for yourself!"

He Zhao: "."

Bitter wine burned his throat, and his heart ached.jpg.

Glug glug glug~~~

It seemed I had crashed and burned again!

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