Who's Next?

To surround Li Xingluo, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group arrogantly sealed off the mountain and set up checkpoints. Anyone who wasn't a member of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was forbidden from passing through Green Mountain Town to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Li Xingluo stood on a rocky ledge. In the woods below, a patrol from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was just passing by.

"I heard Li Xingluo turned into a ghost and came back for revenge."

"I heard that too."

"Come on, tell us more."

"I heard the young group leader led over a hundred men to surround Li Xingluo last time. Li Xingluo was badly wounded and jumped off a cliff. Think about it. Could anyone survive a fall from a cliff over a hundred zhang high?"

"Right, right. I also heard the young group leader's corpse looked like he'd been possessed."

Listening to the patrol's talk from below, Li Xingluo couldn't help finding it amusing.

How had the story become this twisted as it passed from person to person? Still, it was a good thing. Now fear had settled over their hearts.

The patrol continued on, but in the very next moment, Li Xingluo silently appeared behind them.

He clamped a hand over the last man's mouth and twisted hard. A sharp crack came from the man's neck, and he fell to the ground, his face frozen in terror.

"Who came into the mountains with you this time? Where are they?"

Li Xingluo left one man alive. Only then did he realize that he was the last one left in the patrol. The others had all fallen to the ground behind him.

He was beginning to believe the rumors that Li Xingluo was a ghost. Otherwise, how could he have appeared beside them without a sound and without anyone noticing?

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

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

The man snapped out of his terror and began kowtowing furiously, pleading that he had it hard.

"Relax. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you live."

Hearing that, and seeing Li Xingluo's firm assurance, the man finally began to tell him everything he knew.

But once he'd finished talking, he was no longer useful.

"You..."

"Too bad. You just said you'd capture me for the reward. I won't spare anyone who's set their sights on me—even if they used to feel that way."

Li Xingluo rose slowly, weighing his options. He was now an Eight-Star Dou Zhe, and he was on the verge of breaking through to Nine-Star Dou Zhe. Then you'll be my next target.

Before that, I'll give you something fun to play with. As Li Xingluo thought this, a strange smile curled across his lips.

Outside a mountain valley, several tents stood scattered about, surrounded by a fence.

Several bonfires burned in the camp. More than a dozen members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group either sat around the fires roasting meat or stood guard.

Every so often, a woman's wanton cries came from the tent in the middle.

Li Xingluo was hidden in a tree outside the camp, counting the people inside over and over.

After three days of watching, he had counted twenty-four people in the entire camp. For those three days, Li Xingluo had seemed to vanish without a trace, and the patrols they sent out hadn't found him.

What they didn't know was that Li Xingluo had been hiding outside the camp of Hemon, their third group leader. He'd observed that Hemon, a lecher, had been keeping a woman by his side these past few days.

And that woman was the key to taking down Hemon and reducing the resistance he'd face.

Night fell again, and a sharp reprimand came from Hemon's tent.

"What are you all good for? It's been so many days, and you still can't find one man. What a bunch of useless trash! Do I have to go out and find him myself?"

Faced with Hemon's scolding, his three subordinates didn't dare utter a word.

As Hemon's woman, she never went in while he was handling business.

The woman was carrying a tray with wine and meat when a sword, gleaming coldly in the moonlight, suddenly pressed against her throat.

She was just about to cry out when she saw a man gesture for silence, then make a motion across his own throat.

The woman who had been with Hemon understood what he meant and immediately shut her mouth.

Li Xingluo was quite satisfied with how obedient she was.

"Do you want to live or die? Nod if you want to live. Shake your head if you want to die!"

The woman nodded without hesitation. Who wouldn't want to live?

Satisfied with her answer, Li Xingluo calmly took out a packet of powder and handed it to her.

He gestured for her to put the powder in the wine. At first, the woman refused, but when her skin brushed against the cold Wind Spirit Split-Form Sword, she had no choice but to obey Li Xingluo.

She could only pour the powder into the wine. Li Xingluo snatched the jug from her, shook it, and put it back. At the same time, he slipped something that looked like a pill into her mouth. Before she could react, she swallowed it.

The three subordinates emerged from the tent with their heads hanging. They looked as though they'd been thoroughly chewed out.

Then a voice came from inside: "Where the hell is that woman? Get in here and keep your group leader company!"

At that moment, the woman knew she had no way back. She looked troubled, but Li Xingluo glared at her, ordering her to do as he'd said—or else.

Li Xingluo disappeared into the night. The woman looked around. She knew he was watching her from somewhere nearby. Helpless, she had no choice.

With Hemon shouting curses from inside the tent, the woman pretended nothing was wrong, picked up the tray, and went in.

The woman was on edge, glancing toward the entrance every so often. Hemon found this strange and seemed to sense something was off.

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

The woman smiled as she offered him the freshly poured wine. "My lord, I was just wondering if Li Xingluo might suddenly appear. I heard the others say he's incredibly powerful. I'm scared."

A woman's coy act really was the easiest way to make a man lower his guard.

Especially when she leaned her delicate body against Hemon. In an instant, his suspicions vanished.

"Hah! He just hasn't run into me. If he had, I'd have chopped him into eight pieces long ago."

Hemon took the wine from her and drained the cup as he spoke.

Seeing him drink, the woman relaxed a little. She kept acting coquettish, coaxing Hemon to drink more. Before long, he'd finished all the wine she'd brought.

The woman took the opportunity to go out and fetch more wine. Hemon didn't stop her. He simply gazed at her alluring figure as she walked away, still wanting more.

The woman returned to the spot where she'd met Li Xingluo, but he didn't appear. She whispered, "It's done!"

"Mm, good. This is for you."

The woman picked up a pill from the ground and studied it, unsure whether she should trust him. But she had no other choice, so she swallowed it.

Only then did the woman notice how quiet the entire camp was. The men lay scattered around the bonfires, foaming at the mouth.

Perhaps she was truly frightened. Perhaps she had simply tripped over a corpse. Either way, the terror of the fall overwhelmed her.

The woman let out a shrill scream, then fainted from fright.

Hearing her cry, the drunken Hemon stumbled out of his tent.

Hemon saw several people lying on the ground, but because he was drunk, he couldn't make them out clearly.

Hemon walked closer. He saw the woman lying on the ground, and his desire flared. With the woman the only thing on his mind, he bent down to pick her up.

Then Hemon realized the people lying on the ground were already dead, and a strong smell of blood hung in the air.

The cool breeze blew over the tipsy Hemon, jolting him halfway back to sobriety.

"Who is it? Who killed my men?"

Hemon stood up and looked around. Everything was pitch-black, and the only answer he heard was his own voice.