A Startling Explosion

Mu Yu Die's delicate body trembled, and she leaned weakly against the tree trunk as a stream of tears ran down her face.

Along the way, Luo Hao and Zhao Xin had done everything they could to protect her. She had been able to hold on until now only because Luo Hao had been her pillar of strength.

Hearing that both Luo Hao and Zhao Xin were dead, Mu Yu Die was overcome with grief. She no longer even had the will to keep fleeing.

Di Ya Lan's eyes seemed ready to spit fire. She clenched her teeth and asked in a trembling voice, "Who did this?"

Hu Long choked up as he quickly recounted what had happened, then added, "Besides Dark Nether and the Tusk Mercenary Group, the Mo Family of the Merchant Alliance must have been involved too. The lightning power that man released wasn't condensed from essence. It must have been the Mo Family's Lightning Martial Soul."

"The Tusk Mercenary Group! Dark Nether! The Mo Family!" Di Ya Lan ground out each name through clenched teeth. "I'll make them pay!"

Shi Yan furrowed his brows. When he heard Hu Long mention the Lightning Martial Soul, he immediately realized that the Mo Family might have been after him.

A strange scent suddenly drifted into his nose. Shi Yan sprang to his feet and circled Hu Long. His expression abruptly changed. "Brother Hu Long, there's a strange scent on you. You... you shouldn't have been able to escape alive. Sigh..."

"Kid, what do you mean?" Di Ya Lan glared at him. "Are you hoping Hu Long had been killed?"

Hu Long himself, however, understood as soon as he recovered from his surprise. He gave a bitter laugh. "So that's it. They spared my life so they could track me here. I thought I'd just been lucky. Ha ha."

Without waiting for Di Ya Lan to stop him, Hu Long suddenly knelt in front of Mu Yu Die and kowtowed three times. "Miss Mu, please, you have to stay alive! You must avenge us!"

He jumped to his feet and dashed away, but his grief-stricken voice carried back from afar. "Get out of here! Take another route. I'll draw them away and buy you as much time as I can!"

"Hu Long!" Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die cried out together, weeping.

"We have to leave now! Miss Mu, remember this hatred. We have to stay alive!" Shi Yan's face darkened as he held out his hand to Di Ya Lan. "Give me the Star Thunder. Take Miss Mu and leave at once. I'll catch up with you."

With one friend after another dying, Di Ya Lan was at a loss. She hesitated, then handed Shi Yan the three Star Thunders, her voice hoarse. "What are you going to do?"

"Collect some interest for Uncle first!"

Shi Yan's face was as cold as ice. He hurried to Tu Mu's corpse, took his dagger, and slashed open a bloody hole in Tu Mu's stomach. He stuffed two Star Thunders inside, then carefully smeared Seven Snake Saliva over them. Finally, he gently rolled Tu Mu over and laid him face down on the ground.

"Everyone's curious. When the Tusk Mercenary Group gets here and sees Tu Mu lying like this, someone will surely be unable to resist turning him over to see what happened. The Star Thunder will explode when it's jolted. What do you think will happen when someone forcefully rolls Tu Mu's body over?" Shi Yan sneered.

"I understand." Di Ya Lan's face was just as vicious. "I hope it kills a few more of them!"

"I also added poison powder inside Tu Mu's body. After the Star Thunder explodes, some of the broken blades should be coated with it. As long as one of them gets even a scratch, they're dead!" Shi Yan's expression was icy. "Let's go. We have to stay alive! Only then can we avenge Uncle!"

"I hope Hu Long will be all right." Mu Yu Die's eyes were unfocused as she murmured to herself.

Shi Yan sighed inwardly. He knew Hu Long was as good as dead, but he comforted her anyway. "Don't worry too much. Our trap might seriously wound them. We may still get to see Hu Long again."

"Really?"

Mu Yu Die asked weakly. She knew it wasn't realistic, but still hoped someone would give her a definite answer, even if it was a lie.

"Mm. He'll be fine." Shi Yan nodded firmly, then gestured to Di Ya Lan.

Di Ya Lan understood at once. She stepped forward, scooped Mu Yu Die up, and ran into the woods.

Shi Yan drew a deep breath, gathered all his strength, and hurried after them.

A quarter of an hour later.

Dark Nether, the Mo Family, and the Tusk Mercenary Group appeared together, following the scent on Hu Long until they reached this spot.

"Tu Mu!"

When Barnard saw the battle-axe beside Tu Mu, he immediately realized that the man lying face down was one of his. His expression changed dramatically, and he exclaimed, "How is this possible? How could they have killed Tu Mu?"

"Didn't you say that once we got here, all we had to do was split up the men and women?" The Nether Moon Envoy from Dark Nether gave him a cold look and snorted. "It's a good thing I left Dark Moon Incense on that kid. Otherwise, we'd have had to search all over again."

Barnard's expression shifted between dark and bright. He ordered, "Zuo Song, turn Tu Mu over and see what happened."

"That kid did it." Mo Yan Yu lowered her voice and said to Mo Chao Ge beside her, "Everyone he kills ends up dried out all over. His weapon must be coated with poison!"

"That kid's not simple." Mo Chao Ge nodded slightly and whispered, "Be careful in a moment. Don't act rashly."

"I understand, Father."

While the two were speaking, Zuo Song of the Tusk Mercenary Group had already dashed over to Tu Mu's corpse at Barnard's command.

Zuo Song grabbed Tu Mu by the shoulder and rolled him over, wanting a closer look at the condition of his corpse.

"Thud."

Tu Mu's corpse slammed onto its back.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

A series of violent explosions suddenly rang out!

In an instant, Tu Mu's body burst into countless pieces!

Blade fragments mixed with bits of Tu Mu's flesh shot out in every direction, like stars filling the sky, with Tu Mu at their center!

The blast came without warning. The moment it sounded, blade fragments mixed with flesh came hurtling toward everyone.

The Tusk Mercenary Group was closest to Tu Mu and bore the brunt of it. Its members were the first to suffer!

Under the storm of flying blades, three mercenaries from the Tusk Mercenary Group were riddled with holes.

Zuo Song, who had set off the trap, was blown apart on the spot. His flesh mingled with Tu Mu's as the blast sent it flying in all directions.

Caught off guard, the people from Dark Nether and the Mo Family suffered too!

Though they were dozens of meters away, the Martial Artists from both groups were struck. The Mo Family's Martial Artists, most of whom were only in the Postnatal Realm, had no way to fight back. The flying blades simply sliced into them.

Screams rang out without end. The sudden explosion of the two Star Thunders turned the whole area into a living hell. Flesh flew everywhere, and the ground was strewn with entrails and severed limbs.

Terrified cries rang through the scene. Everyone was plunged into utter panic.

Mo Yan Yu, protected by Mo Chao Ge, couldn't bear the sight of flesh and severed limbs flying everywhere. Her face turned pale, and she bent over, retching again and again.

Several Martial Artists from the Mo Family and Dark Nether had been cut, but they were still secretly congratulating themselves—until they gradually felt numbness spreading through their bodies and their vision began to blur...

"Damn it! The blade fragments were poisoned too!" Mo Chao Ge's face looked as if someone had stamped on it; it couldn't have been uglier. He stared at the wounded Mo Family Martial Artists and shouted, "Cut away the injured flesh, quickly! Hurry!"

The giant Qiang Sen's arm had also been pierced by a blade, leaving him drenched in blood.

Qiang Sen's face was full of terror. Gritting his teeth, he hacked off half his left forearm with a single slash. He crouched down, screaming in agony. "Miss Mo, please... please bandage me!"

"Ugh!"

Mo Yan Yu had just stood up. One look at Qiang Sen's severed arm made her feel sick again, and she crouched down to keep retching.

Looking at the ground littered with rotting flesh, entrails, severed limbs, and corpses turned blue all over, Barnard and the others were so furious they could have spat blood. Their faces twisted with malice, their eyes flashing with murderous intent. They wanted nothing more than to bite the person behind this vicious trick to pieces and eat him alive.

Among the three groups, Dark Nether had lost three people, and the Mo Family had lost five.

Barnard had been closest to Tu Mu, so his losses were greatest. After the explosion, he was left a one-man commander; every member of his group had been wiped out!

"I'm going to kill them! I'm going to kill every last one of them! I'll make them wish they were dead!" After a long moment, Barnard threw his head back and roared like a beast driven mad.

"Hmph!" The Nether Moon Envoy from Dark Nether snorted and said to Mo Chao Ge, "We'll keep chasing. Don't mind him."

He had lost three people and blamed Barnard for it. He believed that if Barnard hadn't ordered Zuo Song to turn Tu Mu's corpse over, this earth-shaking explosion would never have happened.

"We'll keep chasing." Mo Chao Ge nodded. He paid no further attention to the nearly crazed Barnard and left with the people from Dark Nether.

"I'll kill every last one of them!" Barnard panted. His sinister gaze darted toward the direction Dark Nether and the Mo Family had disappeared. After a long while, he followed them, murder in his eyes.