Slaughtering the Wilderness

With Li Hai's vision, sharp to the point of being outrageous, he instantly spotted the black scarves worn by these men and the wolf-head emblem upon them.

He understood everything in a heartbeat.

These Black Wolf Bandits had come knocking on his door, begging for a beating.

As for why these bandits had come to Ox-Horn Town, or who had led them here?

Honestly, that didn't matter to Li Hai in the slightest.

Who was he?

He was a Wood-Rank Lieutenant of the Great Jing Demon-Slaying Division, a proper official of the realm.

And these people? They were nothing but a pack of thieves and brigands.

Does an official need a reason to slay bandits?

"I just broke through to a new realm and my hands were itching; you lot delivered yourselves right to my doorstep."

Beneath the azure sky, Li Hai grinned broadly. "Hahaha, to hell with the reason! I'll slaughter a thousand or eight hundred just to get my fill first."

With that, he turned, lifted his foot, and stomped violently into the air.

BANG!

A continuous explosion of sound erupted, followed by rolling shockwaves.

The air for several yards around was instantly compressed into a vacuum by Li Hai's kick, and he used the recoil to rocket toward the earth below.

Whoosh—

Dozens of yards were crossed in an instant.

But just as Li Hai was about to reach the ground, he suddenly opened his mouth and roared a terrifying, visible sonic wave at the crowd of bandits who were staring up at him.

ROAR—

In an instant, the dozens of bandits closest to him were shaken by the sonic blast until their bodies trembled; blood poured from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses as they collapsed to the ground, dead or dying.

While those further away didn't suffer from hemorrhaging, they all clutched their ears, screaming in agony as they fell one after another, losing most of their ability to fight.

At that very moment, Li Hai reached the ground, smashing into the center of the crowd like a meteorite with a savage grin.

BOOM!

As if hit by a missile, the ground for several yards around his landing point collapsed two feet deep. The dozen or so bandits standing in that area were instantly pulverized into a mist of blood and gore, splattering everywhere and sending the surrounding bandits scrambling back in terror.

Before these Black Wolf Bandits could retreat more than a few steps, two crimson whip-shadows lashed out from the dust and debris of the crater. Like a pair of high-speed, oversized propellers, they swept across a ten-yard radius, cruelly whipping the bandits into pools of blood and piles of shattered bone and flesh, coating the ground in carnage.

Only after the slaughter of these dozens of bandits did the churning dust finally settle, revealing Li Hai's tall, inhumanly muscular frame and his murderous expression.

"Li Hai?!"

High up on a platform in the distance, Zhou Hu witnessed the figure and let out a low, wide-eyed growl. "The monster underground is actually him? How could he be this powerful?!"

As a Steel-Grade Martial Artist, Zhou Hu's judgment was naturally sharp.

Although Li Hai had only tested his strength, his terrifying performance—leaping into the sky and crashing back down like a descending star of death—gave Zhou Hu a glimpse of his true caliber.

He was certain that this Li Hai had absolutely, definitively surpassed the level of an ordinary Steel-Grade.

"And... what about the tremors from underground?"

Zhou Hu gritted his teeth, his pupils trembling. "Was that this man's doing, too? This... this is not something a Steel-Grade martial artist is capable of!"

While he was lost in turmoil, Li Hai had already begun his ruthless slaughter of the remaining bandits.

"Hahahahaha!"

Under the terrified gaze of a thousand Black Wolf Bandits, Li Hai let out a wild laugh and stomped his foot against the ground.

BANG!

The earth shuddered. His figure blurred, instantly shattering layers of air as he charged toward the gathering of bandits with a thunderous roar of wind.

His speed was so fast, so incredibly fast, that the gale he generated even swept up the nearby bandits, tossing them into the air before they slammed back down with twisted limbs and broken bones, meeting a miserable end.

As for the groups of bandits he collided with head-on during his charge, they didn't even leave behind a whole corpse; they were smashed into blood-paste and meat-slurry on the spot, plastering the walls and ground.

The bandits further out in the perimeter could not escape their fate either.

The two crimson steel whips held in Li Hai's hands lashed out incessantly, acting like the grim reaper's summons. Whoever he struck died; whoever he whipped exploded.

In a short span of time, the streets and alleys around the Tea Hall and a wider area of Ox-Horn Town were painted crimson with flowing blood. Across every corner of the dark-red ground lay mangled corpses, scattered like discarded ragdolls.

This scene, horrific to the point of being outrageous, caused all the residents of Ox-Horn Town—who were hiding in their homes and peeking through cracks in doors and windows—to squeeze their eyes shut, terrified to look any longer.

As for the Black Wolf Bandits facing this directly, they were so frightened by Li Hai's brutal massacre that they screamed and fled in every direction, acting like spineless quail, unable to mount even the slightest resistance.

"Run! Run for your lives!"

"Help! Second Master, save us!"

"The monster is coming!"

"Damn it, fight him!"

"Ahhh! Fight him, damn it!"

Dozens of bandits who had fled into a dead-end alleyway saw Li Hai strolling toward them, swinging his blood-red steel whip. With nowhere left to run, they broke down, screaming and cursing wildly as they opened fire.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

A hail of bullets instantly descended upon Li Hai.

Yet, he did not dodge or weave, allowing the leaden rain to strike his body.

In an instant, his entire frame was adorned with the sparks of ricocheting bullets.

"It doesn't even tickle."

Standing amidst the intense barrage, Li Hai slowly raised his hand. Watching the bullets "slowly" fly toward him and shatter into sparks and dust against his palm, he couldn't help but sigh, "Have I truly become a monster?"

As he spoke, he deliberately widened his eyes, leaning into the incoming fire and letting seven or eight bullets strike his pupils in succession.

Even with bullets hitting his eyeballs—multiple times, no less—Li Hai felt nothing more than a faint sensation akin to using eye drops, a feeling so negligible it was barely worth noting.

This forced Li Hai to sigh once more: "It seems I really am a monster. Well, I like being a monster."

He grinned broadly, then casually whipped his steel weapon forward with a fierce swing.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—

Following a chorus of tearing flesh, those dozens of armed bandits were sliced clean in half by the whip, leaving nothing but a pile of mangled corpses.

"I heard someone shouting for the Second Master earlier."

Li Hai flicked the blood from his whip and offered a cold smile. "Could it be that Zhou Hu has arrived as well?"

After interrogating a few bandits, Li Hai followed their directions to a high wooden platform.

However, the place was empty; not a soul was in sight.

It seemed that Zhou Hu was as cowardly as a mouse, having fled at the mere sight of him from afar.

"I don't believe you can be that fast."

Li Hai chuckled softly, then gripped his pair of steel whips and, with a relaxed expression, slammed them violently into the ground beneath his feet.

"Flood Dragon Overturns Water, quake!"