Wolf Bandits at the Door

Swish—

In an instant, that pair of steel whips seemed to transform like the Great Sage's golden cudgel, stretching abruptly from three feet nine inches to ninety-nine feet, hoisting Li Hai ten zhang into the air.

At this very moment, Li Hai suddenly unleashed a secret technique of the Raging Flood Dragon Whip, his terrifying physical strength surging as he slammed both whips backward into the air.

"Flood Dragon Covers the Water, Quake!"

BOOM!

It was as if a hundred-pound bomb had detonated in mid-air. Accompanied by the continuous tremors of the entire training ground below and the violent, layered sonic shockwaves sweeping in all directions, Li Hai shot straight into the sky, trailing rings of grayish-white sonic boom clouds as he rocketed toward the depths of the dark tunnel above.

Indeed, he intended to blast his way through the air, piercing the entire length of the tunnel to return to the surface.

This single whip strike from Li Hai propelled him a full seven or eight hundred zhang high before his speed began to plummet and a downward momentum took hold.

He gripped his steel whips once more, channeling his true energy to turn and strike the air behind him with the force of a flood dragon covering the water.

BOOM!

As the dark tunnel suddenly shuddered and exploded, thousands of stone fragments flew in a frenzy and rolling shockwaves roared, Li Hai reversed his descent and shot upward once again into the deep, distant reaches above.

It was dusk in Ox-Horn Town, yet the streets and alleys surrounding the Tea Hall were packed with a sea of people—a throng of vicious-looking thugs wearing black headscarves, all brandishing blades and weapons.

In the areas closest to the Tea Hall, in particular, stood circle after circle of murderous men, some nocking arrows to bows, others holding spears with cold expressions.

The arrowheads and spear tips of these thugs were all aimed at one location: the main entrance of the Tea Hall.

These men were none other than the bandits of the Black Wolf Bandits.

As for the reason they had descended upon Ox-Horn Town, it was to surround and kill Li Hai, the man who had slaughtered the entire Zhou Family.

The leader of this band of thieves was a member of the Zhou Clan—the Second Master of the Black Wolf Bandits, Zhou Hu.

He sat upon a tiger-skin chair atop a wooden platform three hundred zhang away, clutching a long-handled broadsword and staring at the Tea Hall with eyes full of murderous intent.

"Second Master, I have a question."

At this moment, a pig-like thug with a face full of jowls asked Zhou Hu, "Why not let the brothers charge into the tea house and slaughter that man surnamed Li, instead of waiting outside for him to come out?"

"Impossible." Zhou Hu gritted his teeth, saying each word clearly, "That Tea Hall is a property of the Demon-Slaying Division. To provoke them rashly would only invite disaster."

"Demon-Slaying Division?" The fat man looked blank, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

Zhou Hu had no heart to explain; he kept his eyes locked on the Tea Hall, ready to strike at any moment.

Stifled by the heavy atmosphere, the fat man dared not speak further, and the high platform fell into a deathly silence.

BOOM—

Just then, a violent, heart-shaking muffled sound erupted from within the Tea Hall, sweeping across the surrounding streets and alleys and causing hundreds of Black Wolf Bandits to wince in discomfort.

"What was that noise?"

Zhou Hu, further away, naturally heard the muffled sound, but he did not know what it signified; a sense of panic rose inexplicably from the depths of his heart.

It felt as if a great catastrophe were about to descend.

"The sound was dull, as if it came from beneath the tea house," the fat man beside him pondered. "It feels like something is about to emerge."

Zhou Hu's face was cold and silent, but a trace of anxiety flickered in his murderous eyes.

"Could there be a complication?"

"No! Li Hai... you will die today!"

BOOM—

Suddenly, another muffled sound erupted from the Tea Hall, sending dust and debris swirling in all directions and forcing the surrounding Black Wolf Bandits to stumble back several steps.

This disturbance was clearly much more violent than the last, causing some of the nearby thugs with mediocre martial arts to double over and retch.

On the distant platform, Zhou Hu, who had also heard the sound, felt his inner anxiety deepen.

Yet, consumed by a rage that felt as if it would burst his gut, he could not afford to dwell on such trivial concerns.

At this moment, Zhou Hu only wanted to hack Li Hai into a thousand pieces and eat him alive.

While he was still fuming, the Tea Hall emitted yet another violent, muffled sound, shaking the thousands of Black Wolf Bandits in the vicinity until they swayed and cried out in agony.

"What on earth is causing trouble underground?!" Zhou Hu stood up abruptly from his chair.

The fat man beside him said with fear in his eyes, "Could it be... a monster trying to crawl out from the earth?"

Slap!

Zhou Hu slapped him to the ground and barked, "What nonsense are you spouting? If you dare say that again, I'll kill you!"

The beaten fat man sat on the ground, trembling and silent, but Zhou Hu himself was not without a sense of dread.

"Could there really be a monster?"

Zhou Hu, who knew of the Demon-Slaying Division but lacked deep understanding, could not help but suspect, "What exactly is hidden beneath this Tea Hall?"

Just as he was feeling uneasy, the Tea Hall three hundred zhang away caused another massive disturbance.

Only this time, it was not a loud sound, but... an explosion.

BOOM!!!

Under the gaze of hundreds upon hundreds of eyes—some wary, some suspicious, some fearful—the Tea Hall, surrounded by a dense throng of wolf-bandits and brigands, was suddenly pierced from bottom to top by a force of hair-raising violence. It collapsed entirely, shattering into dust as a raging sonic boom and a fierce shockwave roared outward, abruptly sweeping across every direction.

In an instant, dozens, hundreds, perhaps even more of the nearest bandits were blasted by the tidal wave of debris erupting from the Tea Hall, leaving the ground littered with wails and corpses; there was no telling how many had died.

"Ahhh, I can't see! My eyes!" cried a brigand whose eyes had been shredded by flying debris.

"Where is my hand? Who saw my hand?!" screamed a brigand whose arm had been severed.

"Wuu wuu wuu, my legs are broken! Both of them are gone!" sobbed a brigand whose legs had been crushed.

"Mama! Help me, my guts are spilling out! Mama! Ahhh!" shrieked a brigand who had been disemboweled.

Beyond these wounded, there were even more dead bandits who hadn't even managed a single scream.

Their mangled corpses lay scattered haphazardly across the area, mixed with dust and stone fragments like refuse that no one cared for.

"A monster! A real monster has come out!"

From a high platform in the distance, a fat man shouted and hollered, "Second Master! Let's run! The monster is coming out to eat people..."

Swish—

A flash of a blade streaked by, and the fat man's head immediately tumbled to the ground.

"Quit your incessant yapping!"

Zhou Hu retracted his broadsword, lifted his head to stare fixedly at the figure that had punched through the Tea Hall and soared into the high sky, and growled through gritted teeth, "Just... what kind of monster are you?!"

At that very moment, the "monster" he spoke of—Li Hai—having surged from the depths and flown a hundred zhang into the air, also caught sight of the thousands of bandits densely occupying the streets and alleys below.