Who's Next?

To besiege Li Xingluo, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had arrogantly sealed off the mountains and set up checkpoints; apart from members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, no one else was permitted to pass through Green Mountain Town to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Li Xingluo stood upon a stone cliff, while directly below in the forest, a patrol squad from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group happened to be passing by.

"I heard Li Xingluo has turned into a ghost to seek revenge."

"I heard that too."

"Tell me more about it."

"They say that last time, the Young Leader led over a hundred men to surround Li Xingluo, and Li Xingluo was severely wounded before jumping off a cliff. Just think about it—can anyone survive a fall from a cliff over a hundred zhang high?"

"True, true. I also heard the Young Leader's corpse looked like he'd been cursed by an evil spirit."

Listening to the chatter from the patrol squad below, Li Xingluo couldn't help but find it amusing.

How did the rumors get twisted into this? Still, this was for the best; it would shroud their hearts in fear.

The patrol squad continued forward, but the next moment, Li Xingluo appeared silently behind them.

He covered the mouth of the last mercenary and gave a heavy twist; a "crack" sound emanated from the man's neck, and he collapsed to the ground with a look of terror.

"Which of you came into the mountains this time? Where are they?"

Li Xingluo left the final man alive, and only then did the mercenary realize he was the only one left of the entire patrol, with the others lying dead on the ground behind him.

He had already begun to believe the rumors that Li Xingluo was a ghost; otherwise, how could he have appeared beside them so silently without being detected?

Li Xingluo saw the fear in the man's eyes.

"What? Is this question that hard to answer?"

The man snapped out of his terror and began kowtowing violently, pleading about his own hardships.

"Rest assured, if you tell me what I want to know, I can spare your life."

Having received this answer and seeing Li Xingluo's firm response, the man finally spoke, revealing everything he knew.

But once the words were spoken, his value was gone.

"You..."

"It's a pity you said earlier that you wanted to capture me for the bounty. I won't let anyone who has designs on me go, even if those designs were from the past."

Li Xingluo rose slowly, calculating that he was now an eight-star Dou Practitioner and on the verge of breaking through to nine-star, so his next target would be him.

Before that, he would give him something fun to deal with; thinking of this, a strange smile curled the corners of Li Xingluo's lips.

Outside a valley, several tents were arranged in a crisscross pattern, blocked off by fences.

A few bonfires were lit in the camp, and over a dozen members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group were either sitting around the fires roasting meat or standing guard.

From the tent in the very center, the wanton sounds of a woman could be heard from time to time.

Li Xingluo lurked in a tree outside the camp, counting the people inside over and over again.

After three days of observation, there were twenty-four people in the entire camp. For these three days, Li Xingluo had seemed to vanish, and the patrol squads sent out had failed to find him at all.

In truth, they didn't know that Li Xingluo had been lurking outside the camp of the Third Leader, Hemon, and through his observations, he saw that the lecherous Hemon had been accompanied by a woman these past few days.

And this woman was the key for Li Xingluo to conquer Hemon and reduce his resistance.

Night fell once more, and shouts of reprimand erupted from Hemon's tent.

"What are you all good for? It's been so many days and you can't even find one person! You're all a bunch of trash—why do I, the Leader, have to go out and find him myself?"

Facing Hemon's scolding, the three subordinates didn't dare to make a sound.

As Hemon's woman, she would never enter when Hemon was dealing with business.

At this moment, the woman was carrying a tray with wine and meat when suddenly, a sword glinting with cold light under the moonlight pressed against her throat.

Just as she was about to scream, she saw a man make a gesture for silence, followed by a throat-slitting motion.

The woman following Hemon naturally understood the intruder's meaning and immediately shut her mouth.

Li Xingluo was quite satisfied with an obedient woman.

"Do you want to die or live? If you want to live, nod; if you want to die, shake your head!"

The woman nodded without hesitation—who wouldn't want to live?

Li Xingluo was satisfied with the woman's choice and calmly took out a packet of powder, handing it to her.

He signaled for the woman to put the powder into the wine. At first, the woman was unwilling, but when her skin touched the cold Wind Spirit Split-Form Sword, she had no choice but to obey Li Xingluo.

She had to pour the powder into the wine, and Li Xingluo snatched the flagon, gave it a shake, and placed it back. At the same time, he stuffed something like a pill into the woman's mouth, and before she could react, she swallowed it.

The three subordinates emerged from the tent, looking dejected; it seemed they had been scolded quite severely.

From inside, a voice immediately followed: "Where the hell did that dead woman go? Why isn't she in here to keep this Leader company!"

At this moment, the woman knew she had no way out. She looked slightly distressed, and Li Xingluo glared at her fiercely, signaling her to do exactly as he said, or the consequences would be dire.

Li Xingluo then vanished into the night. The woman looked around, knowing that Li Xingluo must be nearby watching her, and had no choice.

Coupled with Hemon's harsh cursing from the tent, the woman had to pretend nothing was wrong as she carried the tray and stepped into the tent.

The woman was restless, glancing toward the outside of the tent from time to time, which made Hemon feel strange, as if he had sensed something as well.

Hemon grabbed the woman's wrist and asked viciously, "What are you thinking about?"

The woman offered a fawning smile while handing over the wine she had just poured: "My lord, I was just wondering if that Li Xingluo might suddenly pop out. I heard them say that Li Xingluo is incredibly formidable, and I'm scared."

When a woman acts coquettishly, it is truly the easiest way to make a man lower his guard.

Especially with her supple body leaning slightly against him, Hemon's suspicions vanished in an instant.

"Heh, that's only because he hasn't met this Commander yet; otherwise, he would have been hacked into eight pieces long ago."

Hemon took the wine cup from the woman's hand and downed the contents in one gulp while he spoke.

Seeing Hemon drink the wine, the woman couldn't help but relax. She continued to act coy and cute, urging Hemon to drink more, and before long, all the wine they had brought was finished.

The woman took the opportunity to go out for more wine, and Hemon did not stop her, instead watching her incredibly alluring figure with lingering desire.

The woman arrived at the spot from before, but Li Xingluo did not appear. She whispered, "It's done!"

"Mm, very good. This is for you."

The woman picked up a pill from the ground and looked at it, unsure whether she should trust it, but she had no other choice and could only swallow it.

Only then did the woman notice that the entire camp was deathly silent, with members lying helter-skelter by the campfire, foaming at the mouth.

Perhaps it was genuine fear, or perhaps she accidentally tripped over a corpse, but the terror of falling overcame her.

The woman let out a shrill scream and immediately fainted from fright.

Hearing the woman's cry, a drunken Hemon stumbled out of the tent.

Hemon saw many people lying on the ground, but due to his intoxication, his vision was blurred.

Hemon walked over slowly. Seeing the woman lying on the ground, he was filled with excitement and had only her on his mind, so he bent down to pick her up.

As a result, Hemon discovered that the person lying on the ground was already dead, and there was a thick, pungent scent of blood.

The slightly drunk Hemon was jolted mostly awake by the cool breeze.

"Who is it? Who killed my men?"

Hemon stood up to scan his surroundings, but it was pitch black all around, and the only response was the echo of his own voice.