Ambushed

Light suddenly brightened between heaven and earth, eclipsing the red sun at the horizon.

The hazy morning mist dispersed completely, and every traveler on both banks shut their eyes.

Lu Gang and the others saw nothing but boundless radiance filling their vision. They could neither see nor hear anything afterward, only feel something bite around their waists and carry them swiftly away.

Underwater.

Fat Catfish, Round Head, and the other beasts clamped onto Lu Gang, Xu Zishuai, and the others, wildly wagging their tails as they fled.

Little Mirage Dragon spat out Mirage Tiger and Mist Beast to lend aid, then hurriedly pulled them upward and shot away.

After a while.

The light dissipated.

The tidal waters churned and surged back, the river closed again, and half a mast tilted down and sank.

The five fingers gripping Liang Qu's skull had yet to loosen. Ragged breathing echoed beside his ear, and the distinctive stench of blood water flooded his nostrils.

"Haah, haah..."

Ning Gongcai's hair was disheveled, cold sweat covered his forehead, and blood and internal organs splashed into the water, staining it into a large mass of blood water.

From the chest down, his entire lower body, along with his left forearm, had been severed cleanly and smoothly. Only half his upper body above the diaphragm and the right arm clutching Liang Qu's skull had escaped disaster.

His bright-red heart had not fallen, suspended by blood vessels outside his chest cavity, beating violently like it was tied to a thick, tough rubber tube as it bobbed up and down.

"What skill! What methods!"

The instant he came to his senses, Ning Gongcai's eyes turned crimson, and his five fingers clenched savagely.

Liang Qu's skull cracked, blood spraying from his nose and mouth.

Bang! Another burst of golden light shattered.