Kill Them All

Bullets came flying in one after another, swiftly covering Li Hai from head to toe.

But he neither dodged nor evaded, letting the rain of bullets strike him.

No—Li Hai raised his left hand. The characters Naihe shone in his palm.

Buzz—

The next instant, an invisible vortex suddenly appeared in his palm, sucking in every bullet hurtling toward him.

The hundred-odd riflemen and Zhou Yushu, who had witnessed this with their own eyes, were all left gaping in shock.

"How is this possible? It's impossible! What kind of demonic magic is this?!" Zhou Yushu trembled all over as he turned and tried to flee into the estate.

But at that moment, Li Hai stomped down with a thunderous crash, blasting the ground beneath his feet and sending hundreds of bits of stone and dirt flying. Then he channeled force through his entire body, building it layer by layer until it merged into a single intent that surged into his palms. Finally, he thrust them forward.

Boom—

Centered on him, the air within several yards erupted at once, boiling and roaring as it swept up the hundreds of stones and hurled them toward the Zhou Family's estate like a fierce storm.

They flew so fast that they were no slower than bullets—and might even have been faster.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

The hundred-odd riflemen lined up at the estate gate bore the brunt of the attack. The surging hail of stone bullets tore through their bodies and pierced their skulls. Before they could even cry out, they were reduced to a heap of mangled corpses.

Zhou Yushu, who stood behind them and was shielded by wall after wall of bodies, escaped the worst of it and did not die on the spot.

But both his legs were gruesomely broken, and a gaping hole had been torn in his abdomen, his guts spilling out. All he could do was lie beside the gate, shrieking in agony.

Annoyed by the grating noise, Li Hai walked over and crushed his head with a single stomp.

What use was a good-for-nothing who knew nothing of martial arts and did nothing but evil and indulge himself?

Then Li Hai strode into the Zhou Family's estate.

After the bombardment, the grounds were now in utter disarray. There were corpses drenched in blood and missing limbs, wounded people screaming in agony with twisted arms and legs, and Zhou Family servants fleeing amid the chaos with valuables in their hands.

At the sight of it all, Li Hai suddenly lost interest.

Boring. Truly boring.

When all was said and done, they were just ordinary people who couldn't even withstand a firearm attack.

Li Hai didn't like killing ordinary people. He only wanted to kill ghosts and experts.

"Where are the experts?"

Following the vague guidance of his wild instinct, Li Hai charged off in a direction without the slightest hesitation.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

With each thunderous boom, clouds of dust and rubble filled the air. The pavilions, courtyard walls, and artificial rockeries blocking his path were all smashed straight through, no matter how sturdy they were.

As for the members of the Zhou Family who happened to be in his way, man or woman, young or old, they were unlucky enough to be smashed into sprays of blood and flesh, their bones shattered beyond recognition.

Li Hai felt no guilt whatsoever over their gruesome deaths.

They had enjoyed the Zhou Family's riches, so naturally they had to bear the Zhou Family's retribution.

That was only right and proper.

"Villain!"

As Li Hai made his way through the estate, a furious shout suddenly came from his right.

Then a pair of blue-green hands, wreathed in waves of foul, blackish qi, came slamming toward him, aiming for his broad back.

Faced with an attack that so clearly carried poison, Li Hai didn't dodge or evade. The characters Naihe merely lit up on the skin of his back, shimmering with blood-red light.

Buzz—

In an instant, the pair of blue-green hands were firmly devoured by the Cave Heaven Portal that had opened across Li Hai's back.

The portal absorbed the objects, then closed.

As the characters Naihe vanished, the pair of blue-green hands and their arms disappeared with them.

"Ahhh!"

Blood sprayed as a scream rang out. The ambusher had become an armless cripple in an instant.

In such a grievous state, how could he possibly keep fighting?

Thinking of nothing else, the man immediately gave up and tried to flee.

But before he could endure the pain and escape, Li Hai—who had been charging ahead—stopped abruptly and turned around. He raised his hands, and two blue-green arms streaked with blood suddenly burst out of his palms, one from each side. They slammed into the man's head.

Thud!

With a muffled bang, the ambusher's face caved in on both sides. He sprayed out a mess of red and white, swayed unsteadily, then crumpled to the ground.

Dead.

"Poison Sand Palm. A mediocre style, and mediocrely practiced, too. In a real fight, it's not even as good as Guo Huaijin. But it's enough to dominate a town. All in all... trash."

After leaving his review, Li Hai once again turned into a locomotive, smashing through walls and charging toward the next place.

Much later—

"Villain, I swear we'll never rest until one of us is dead!"

"Thief, prepare to die!"

Amid the rubble and ruined walls, two old men in brocade robes charged at Li Hai from either side, roaring furiously. One held a blade, the other a spear. Li Hai looked perfectly calm, and even seemed a little bored.

"For such a huge Zhou Family, there isn't a single one at Guo Huaijin's level."

Li Hai caught the weapons of the two old men on either side of him, one in each hand, and muttered listlessly, "There are only four little weaklings at the Force-Qi Circulation level. What a bore."

As he spoke, the characters Naihe suddenly flashed in his palms, devouring the two old men's weapons and both their arms, then storing them inside the Cave Heaven.

"Ahhh! My hands, my hands!"

"You used demonic magic! You're a monster, a monster!"

The old men's shrill wails were unbearable, so Li Hai furrowed his bald brows, raised his hands, and returned all their "things" to them.

A pleasing sound of flesh being pierced rang out. The two old men were impaled by their own weapons, then fell to their knees, heads bowed, and died.

With that, Li Hai had rounded up every last "gem" of the entire Zhou Family estate.

And he had also acquired the Poison Sand Palm, Poison-Infused Blade, Poison-Embedded Finger, Vicious Poison Staff, and the Southern Border Zou Clan Poison Manual (fragment)—a total of four martial arts techniques and one guide to preventing and using poisons.

"The whole family practiced poison-based techniques. That's something else." Li Hai shook his head, speechless.

Although he had little use for these poison techniques, they gave him a substantial foundation in the art of poison and would make it easier for him to deal with all manner of poisons and toxic creatures used by his enemies. All in all, this trip had yielded quite a haul.

At the same time, Li Hai had scavenged some money from the estate, enough to last him quite a while.

Then Li Hai leaped onto a three-story pavilion and looked out over the surroundings from above.

The whole Zhou Family estate opened up before his eyes.

The estate covered a full ten acres, its pavilions, gardens, courtyards, and covered walkways laid out according to some kind of feng shui design. At a glance, it was all glittering opulence and lavish splendor.

"Quite impressive."

Li Hai gave a cold laugh. "Must have been built with plenty of wealth squeezed from the people."

As far as he knew, the Zhou Family had been prosperous for little more than sixty years. Its foundations weren't especially deep.

Yet judging by the scale of the estate and what the people of Ox-Horn Town said about the family, the Zhou Family had amassed immense wealth in just sixty years. They must have committed countless evils to do it.

"They deserve to be burned to the ground."

With that thought, Li Hai pulled every Yellow Talisman from his pocket.