Death's Hand

Chapter: Death's Hand

The seven reserve members of Shrek are Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, He Caitou, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Xie Huanyue.

During the freshman assessment, Xiao Xiao failed to form a strong team and was eliminated early after facing Xie Huanyue's squad. Consequently, despite her impressive abilities, she missed out on becoming a core disciple and remained only a core disciple candidate; thus, this preliminary selection and the subsequent mission had nothing to do with her.

However, this might have been a blessing in disguise for her.

At this moment, the seven main team members were approaching the Mingdou Mountain Range with the reserve team. Because the reserve members, with the exception of He Caitou, struggled to use flying Soul Tools, they had to rely on Elder Xuan to give them a lift ahead of time.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they first paid their respects to the Duke of White Tiger. When Dai Hao saw that both of his sons were part of the inspection team, he felt a sense of gratification.

Dai Yueheng would be able to graduate from the inner courtyard after this tournament and join his army to build a career, while Dai Huabin had been scouted by the inner courtyard at a young age and had a limitless future ahead of him.

With two such outstanding successors born into his generation, the Duke of White Tiger could rest easy for the next hundred years.

Especially Dai Huabin, who had Zhu Lu by his side. Capable of performing the Hell White Tiger, they seemed destined to become the future leaders of the Dai and Zhu families.

However, even Zhu Lu, who was inseparable from Dai Huabin, had not yet noticed that Dai Huabin had been spacing out more often lately. Sometimes, when she called his name, he would take a while to react, but Zhu Lu simply assumed he was pondering complex issues; after all, he was the future heir to the Duke's Mansion.

No one connected Dai Huabin's condition to that battle during the freshman assessment.

Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin were chatting happily with the Duke of White Tiger, and Ma Xiaotao even dared to speak rudely to him, which made Wang Yan, standing to the side, feel as though his role as the team leader existed in name only.

He comforted himself by thinking that his talents lay elsewhere. Shortly after, he received the intelligence brought by the White Tiger Guards and set off with the group toward the target location.

After venturing deep into the forest of the Mingdou Mountain Range, Wang Yan actively had everyone follow behind him while he conducted a meticulous search. At first, the inner courtyard students like Ma Xiaotao were unwilling to listen to him, but once he analyzed the tracks of Death's Hand, the inner courtyard members finally straightened their expressions.

Without any auxiliary detection skills, Wang Yan could only search step by step, relying on his own experience. At the very least, the knowledge he had accumulated over the years was not for nothing; after some time, he managed to spot the key clues.

"This Death's Hand is likely just below the hillside." He turned back to say to Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, "Yueheng, you take the lead in the attack; Xiaotao, you command the battle. I will lead the reserve team."

When they set out, Yan Shaozhe had given Wang Yan a heads-up: Ma Xiaotao's Sea of Consciousness had been frozen for a period of time due to an accident. Although she had been successfully thawed with the help of the teachers and had rejoined the team, she was still in a recovery period. That was why Wang Yan instructed Dai Yueheng to lead the assault.

As for what that accident was, Wang Yan's level was not high enough to know.

Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng nodded, ducked low, and charged rapidly toward the position Wang Yan indicated. Soon, the other inner courtyard disciples followed in formation. Wang Yan observed for a moment before waving his hand: "Reserve team, follow me."

The reserve students naturally fell into formation, with Bei Bei in the lead, Xu Sanshi covering the rear, and Xie Huanyue in the middle protecting the others. Wang Yan followed along the side of the team, observing the situation as they advanced to make it easier to notify everyone at any time.

As they progressed, a cave obscured by vines and curtains appeared before them, and five or six corpses were already strewn about the entrance. Wang Yan whispered: "Bei Bei, release your martial soul, we're going in."

Bei Bei responded by releasing his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul. At the same time, they all heard the sounds of fighting and angry shouts coming from within.

Jiang Nannan suddenly let out a cry of horror. Wang Yan followed her gaze upward and saw the human skin hanging in the cave, his own face turning slightly pale. At the same time, he developed a bad premonition.

This Death's Hand seemed truly capable of every evil, but to be this rampant made him feel uneasy. Those who dared to act so boldly must have some real skill up their sleeves.

However, the intelligence indicated that the leader of this organization was a five-ring Soul King. This cultivation was only on par with Wang Yan's own, and the inner courtyard had dispatched two Soul Emperors and several Soul Kings; logically, there should have been no difficulty.

So where did this unease rising from the bottom of his heart come from?

But for now, he could only tell himself not to overthink it and first fulfill his duties as the team leader. He shouted in a low voice: "Everyone, watch your safety. The reserve team, do your best; every one you take down saves countless lives, but do not put yourselves in danger."

The reason he only said this to the reserve team was that he couldn't control those inner courtyard disciples once they started killing!

Ma Xiaotao had long forgotten that she was in a recovery period; her pair of phoenix wings spread wide, and the temperature of the entire cave rose as she unleashed her power. Dai Yueheng's hair turned white, and his palms transformed into white tiger claws, tearing a bandit's body apart in an instant, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Witnessing this scene, Jiang Nannan's face turned as pale as paper, while Dai Huabin was clearly getting excited. Seeing his older brother display such power, he was eager to join in.

"Xu Sanshi and I will cover everyone, let's go," Bei Bei said. "Xie Huanyue, please protect everyone in the back."

"No problem." Xie Huanyue nodded and released his martial soul. At the same time, Dai Huabin could no longer suppress his excitement and charged forward.

Just as Bei Bei was about to rush in to fight the criminals attempting to flee to this side, a strange and evil shriek suddenly erupted from the depths of the cave:

"Who dares to oppose the Messenger of Death! You shall all die, you shall all become my Corpse Slaves!"

Hearing this voice, the bandits did not feel excited; instead, they retreated rapidly, and every one of them began to tremble uncontrollably.

Without any warning, the corpses and flesh on the ground began to swell and turn red at an alarming rate, as if something was about to burst out from within—

Terrifying explosions rang out in a chain reaction within the enclosed cave.

The moment he sensed the explosion, Bei Bei immediately retreated, while Xu Sanshi shielded Jiang Nannan with one arm and threw himself backward with a grim expression.

Because Dai Huabin had charged too far ahead, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were unable to reach him. At the most critical moment, Xie Huanyue lunged forward, his three soul rings glowing brightly, and pinned Dai Huabin to the ground.

Wang Yan stepped forward, shielding Zhu Lu, who had almost charged in after Dai Huabin and hadn't been able to react in time.

He Caitou's advantage as a Soul Tool master shone through at this moment. Several of his trigger-based defensive Soul Tools popped out; although his three layers of soul shields shattered one by one in the explosion, they gave him enough time to retreat and blocked a significant amount of flying flesh and blood for Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan nearby.

If the reserve team was in such a state despite Wang Yan's cautious demands, then the inner courtyard disciples were even less fortunate.

After all, without any warning, almost none of them had reacted to the explosion. Except for Dai Yueheng, who already had his White Tiger Vajra Transformation active, no one had managed to deploy a defensive soul skill in time.

Ma Xiaotao was thrown against the wall by the blast wave; she spat out a mouthful of black blood, but barely managed to stay conscious. Poisonous blood splattered all over her, but thanks to the toughness of her martial soul, the corpse poison had not yet entered her body—though it looked like it was only a matter of time.

Dai Yueheng, protected by his White Tiger Vajra Transformation, also suffered significant injuries. He was knocked to the ground, and the poisonous blood corroded large patches of his skin, but with his soul power protecting his body, the corpse poison only caused external wounds.

However, Chen Zifeng, who had no defensive skills or preparation, was now lying to the side, a bloody mess. Caught off guard, his injuries were not just to one leg; his entire lower body was gone, and one could vaguely see his internal organs through the torn wounds. The corpse poison was still spreading into the wounds; he was likely beyond saving.

Ling Luochen's soul power also provided some protection, but she still suffered heavy damage and had already lost consciousness. Yao Haoxuan and Gongyang Mo... among the debris, aside from the half of Yao Haoxuan's body that was still visible, it was hard to distinguish them from the other corpses.

Xi Xi's reflexes and speed were top-tier. After realizing something was wrong, she immediately dashed toward the reserve team, which was closer to the cave entrance. But when she noticed a piece of debris about to explode flying toward the reserve team, she resolutely turned back and activated a soul skill, attempting to block the explosion in front of her.

At this moment, she lay before the reserve team members, her arm used for the soul skill a bloody mess where the bone was visible, but fortunately, she had only fallen unconscious. Because she was close to Bei Bei and He Caitou, who were less affected, the two of them reacted immediately after realizing what happened and released their soul skills to help block some of the blast for her.

To protect Zhu Lu, Wang Yan's back was also a bloody mess. However, he couldn't spare the time to check his own injuries.

He looked at the carnage before him, his eyes filled with a chilling, sorrowful rage—

Elder Xuan, where are you?!