Mountain Lord Strikes

Yang Li waved a hand. "Come on, let's keep looking for pythons. There are four of us, and these three pythons aren't enough to go around."

He wasn't looking down on Zhao Han anymore. Anyone with the strength and courage to fight had earned the right to share the spoils.

But he was counting the python Zhao Han had killed, too.

Clearly, he wasn't willing to let Zhao Han keep the biggest python all to himself. He wanted a share of the spoils as well.

When he said that, the hunter acted as if he hadn't heard him. Even Zhou Fei, whom Zhao Han had just saved, didn't object.

It seemed only natural.

Yang Li was clearly the most influential of the group.

Zhao Han casually coiled up the python, tied it with a rope, and stowed it in his cloth bag. Then, with a false smile, he said, "Heh, true enough. How could three be enough? We need at least ten!"

Why hadn't they been so enthusiastic when he first showed up?

These three wanted to take advantage of him. They could dream on.

They'd be lucky if they didn't lose their lives along with their share.

The four continued deeper into Gutter Cave. The farther they went, the hotter it became.

At the end, they came to a vast underground lake. It was the end of the cave—a dead end.

The lake's surface was black, and they could see many strangely shaped fish in the water.

The area was completely still, without a ripple.

The hunter sat on the ground, panting heavily. He was feeling worse and worse. His shoulders and back grew heavier, and his body felt as if it were filled with lead, no longer his own.

"A lake this big—how are we supposed to search it?" Zhou Fei stood a little farther from the shore and looked at Yang Li, still shaken.

Yang Li was experienced and saw the situation at a glance. "The deeper you go, the hotter the lake gets. Pythons like the heat, so naturally they won't be near the surface. We'll have to go back and take another look."

With that, he turned to leave.

But after taking only a few steps, he exposed his back. Zhou Fei immediately cried, "Look out!"

At the same moment, a stabbing pain shot through Yang Li's lower back, as sharp as a blade piercing his heart.

"You... you..." Yang Li turned with difficulty and stared at the hunter, who had plunged a short knife into each of his kidneys.

That bastard had actually ambushed him!

He'd never wronged the man. Why? Why had he stabbed him in the kidneys?

"Heh heh heh..."

The hunter let out a bizarre, eerie cackle.

His movements were stiff as a puppet's as he turned and ran back the way they had come.

"Damn... it hurts..."

Yang Li struggled to move. With his kidneys stabbed, even the slightest movement widened the wounds, and the pain nearly made him pass out.

At this rate, he'd spend the rest of his life bedridden.

Or, without both kidneys, he might not even get the chance to lie in bed. A coffin would suit him better.

"B-Brother Yang, are you all right?" Zhou Fei asked, stepping closer with a dazed look.

Zhao Han shook his head. How could anyone possibly be all right in this situation?

"Quick, help me get out of here. That guy's not right," Yang Li gritted out.

Zhou Fei came to his senses and hurriedly nodded. "Right, right. I'll help you!"

"Young man, you'll have to take the lead and clear the way now," Yang Li said with difficulty, looking at Zhao Han.

"No problem!" Zhao Han said with a smile, then went ahead to lead the way.

But halfway along the path, Zhao Han suddenly "slipped" and fell into the Underground River.

"Help! A python's got me! You two, run!" Zhao Han cried in "panic," flailing his blade and shouting at them as he did.

Zhou Fei's face turned even paler with fright. He immediately ran off without looking back, supporting Yang Li.

Yang Li wanted Zhou Fei to stop and help Zhao Han deal with the python.

But Zhou Fei was too terrified to do anything but run, and Yang Li was too weak to say much. He had no choice but to let it go.

But Zhao Han was only putting on an act.

Once the two men were far away, Zhao Han immediately climbed out of the river and then crouched low as he followed them.

When they reached a fork in the passage, Zhou Fei and Yang Li were surprised to find Old Zhang and the hunter waiting there.

The hunter had his eyes closed and was leaning against the cave wall.

An arrow was embedded in his thigh, and he'd lost a lot of blood. He had probably passed out from blood loss.

"You're finally back. Old Yang, what happened to you? Eh, where's that young fellow?"

Old Zhang's eyes lit up when he saw the two of them return. He looked around and noticed one person was missing.

"What's wrong with him?" Zhou Fei ignored the question and glared angrily at the hunter as he asked Old Zhang.

Old Zhang immediately explained:

"I don't know either. He stumbled all the way here to ask for help. I heard the commotion and came over, then saw him stabbing himself in the thigh with an arrow..."

After hearing the explanation, Zhou Fei and Yang Li exchanged a look. They knew the hunter had been possessed by a demon.

There was no other way to explain such absurd behavior.

"Damn it. We're really unlucky to run into something like this," Yang Li cursed under his breath.

Zhou Fei's face was grim. "We need to get out of here. We can't stay."

"What, you're leaving already?" Old Zhang said with feigned surprise. Then he pointed at the hunter on the ground. "What about him? This old man doesn't have the strength to drag him out."

"Forget him. He's lucky I didn't cut him down," Yang Li snapped.

The two turned to leave.

But Old Zhang said, "Wait for me a moment."

Then he crouched and started patting the hunter down.

Yang Li and Zhou Fei turned to watch, cursing inwardly. As expected of an old hand—if there was a corpse, he'd always search it.

They naturally wanted a share of the spoils too, so they stopped. Zhou Fei set Yang Li down to lean against the wall and went over to lend a hand.

"Go!"

Suddenly, Old Zhang stood and flung a clump of white powder at Zhou Fei.

Zhou Fei didn't react in time, and the white powder hit him square in the face.

In a panic, Zhou Fei slapped at his face. "Ah... Old Zhang, what are you doing?"

Old Zhang, however, retreated into the passage on the right after throwing the powder.

Old Zhang knew full well that he was just an ordinary old man. If a Skin Refining Warrior so much as brushed against him, he'd lose a layer of skin.

Now it was time for Lord Mountain to act.

Yang Li wasn't a fool either. Seeing Old Zhang suddenly take Zhou Fei by surprise, he knew things had gone badly. He dragged his badly injured body and hurried to flee.

"Roar!"

Sure enough, after Old Zhang's attack landed, Mountain Lord immediately emerged from the passage and let out a great roar.

Its massive yellow-and-black body was a little over a head taller than an ordinary tiger.

A huge wound gaped in Mountain Lord's flank, as if something had pierced right through it. For Mountain Lord, an injury like that was severe.

"Skin Refining Warrior, just let me bite you to death!" Mountain Lord narrowed his eyes and grinned, speaking in the rough voice of an adult man.

"L-Lord Mountain..."

Zhou Fei was so terrified that he couldn't move.

Or rather, he had been caught off guard by the white powder. It was none other than the Soft Muscle Powder everyone carried.

His whole body was weak now, and even his legs gave way when he tried to run.

"Roar!"

Mountain Lord pounced and clamped its jaws around Zhou Fei's neck.

"Ugh...!"

Zhou Fei screamed in agony and beat at it with both hands, struggling desperately. But the more miserably he cried out, the harder Mountain Lord bit down.

A dozen seconds later, Zhou Fei could no longer struggle. His eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the ground.