The Main Event Begins

"Ah!! Go easy!!"

Zhou Huasheng looked down at his bandaged thigh, then raised his head and stared at Xu Tong. That damn liar! If not for him, he and Yang Zixuan would have found the legendary Ascension Bureau by now. Why else would he still be stuck here, out of luck?

But no matter how much he hated Xu Tong, he didn't dare show it on his face. He asked in a muffled voice, "What exactly are you planning to do?"

Xu Tong didn't answer. Without even looking up, he used the special bandage to wrap Zhou Huasheng's wound. Time was tight. If he moved too slowly, he might miss the show he'd carefully prepared.

"I want you to be an audience member." The grand performance he was directing was about to begin. How could it do without an audience?

"An audience?" Zhou Huasheng had even less idea what this liar was up to now.

Still, the [Quick Hemostatic Bandage] worked even better than he'd imagined. Before long, Zhou Huasheng's leg had stopped hurting. He could even walk normally.

Once the wound had healed, Xu Tong calmly took out his pistol. "Sorry, old man, we're in a hurry from here on. If you have any other ideas, I'll have to take you offstage early."

Zhou Huasheng was just an ordinary man. Nothing intimidated him more than the cold muzzle of a gun.

The little scheme that had just started to form in his mind was immediately snuffed out before it could take root.

After fixing his hair, Zhou Huasheng followed Xu Tong up the mountain to their side, looking thoroughly unwilling.

Meanwhile, Yang Zixuan and Xiong Tao were searching the forest aimlessly for Xu Tong and the others.

They were sure the kid couldn't have gone far, but no matter how much they searched, they couldn't find the slightest trace of him.

"Let's go wait at that Ancient City. The main quest hasn't started, so I refuse to believe that kid can force his way out of the Script World!"

Looking at the vast forest before them, they knew this wasn't working. Neither of them was good at tracking. If that kid had crawled into some hole in the ground, they could search until dark and still not find him.

"No. We have to find him!"

Yang Zixuan's eyes were bloodshot. Even now, Xu Tong's every move kept replaying in his mind. He had always trusted his own judgment, but now he was beginning to seriously doubt his supposedly sharp eyes.

Deep down, he still clung to a sliver of hope. Maybe Third Brother had been so badly wounded that the man surnamed Xu had been able to kill him?

Or perhaps he'd had no choice but to kill Third Brother?

Yang Zixuan had even started imagining what would happen when they found that damn piece of livestock. Would he obediently kneel and beg for mercy, telling him he'd had no choice but to kill Third Brother?

It wasn't that Yang Zixuan was overconfident. He simply couldn't understand what had given a piece of livestock the courage to defy him.

Just as he was lost in thought—

Bang!!

A sharp gunshot snapped him out of it. "A gunshot?"

They looked toward the sound and saw an even more astonishing sight. A figure darted through the trees like a ghost. The next moment, it flashed past them, then turned and plunged into the forest on the other side.

"Third Brother!!"

The figure was fast, but both of them had seen clearly that he was wearing Third Brother's clothes.

"Quick, after him!"

They didn't know who was impersonating Third Brother, but they absolutely couldn't let him get away.

But after they'd taken only a couple of steps, Xiong Tao's brows shot up as a powerful sense of danger hit him. He raised his hand and struck to the side.

Bang!

Xiong Tao slapped a copper bullet aside. He looked up and saw a man charging toward them with a gun raised. It was Captain Wang himself.

"This guy..."

A vicious grin spread across Xiong Tao's face. Third Brother had once said Captain Wang was a skilled fighter, apparently a former serviceman who'd given him quite a hard time. Xiong Tao had regretted not getting a chance to test himself against such an opponent.

He hadn't expected Captain Wang to show up on his doorstep today.

"You go after him. I'll take care of this guy!"

Xiong Tao called out to Yang Zixuan, then charged toward Captain Wang.

Though his disguise made him look average in stature, every step Xiong Tao took carried the force of an avalanche.

A layer of pale golden Light Armor covered him. Even before his fist came down, it radiated a suffocating pressure.

Sensing the violent aura radiating from Xiong Tao—several times stronger than Zhang Hu's—Captain Wang's expression changed. He leaped back to dodge, but he was still a step too slow. The compressed air slammed into him like a hammer, splattering blood as it sent him flying.

Like a cannonball, he crashed straight into the trees behind him. Branches snapped one after another, and the treetops shook as swathes of trees came crashing down. The force of the blow clearly hadn't let up; no one could tell how many trees Captain Wang had smashed into as he flew!

Even Xu Tong and Zhou Huasheng, watching from a distant hillside, were shocked by the terrifying display of strength.

Zhou Huasheng's jaw dropped. He knew his three students were capable fighters, but he hadn't realized they were this powerful.

Xu Tong, meanwhile, was surprised by just how wide the gap between Zhang Hu and Xiong Tao's abilities was.

When Captain Wang had faced Zhang Hu, he hadn't exactly had the upper hand, but he'd stood his ground without fear. Against Xiong Tao, however, he was completely overpowered.

"Die!!"

Xiong Tao didn't stop. Like an unstoppable tank, he charged into the trees, intent on finishing off the police captain, who was at least a decent fighter, with one punch.

As danger descended, Captain Wang's eyes seemed to blaze with fire. He rolled back to his feet and dropped to one knee, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Then he lunged forward, bent low, and wrapped his arms around Xiong Tao's iron fist. He sprang up on both legs and drove a hard kick into Xiong Tao's chest.

But Xiong Tao's body didn't even sway under the force of the blow. The pale golden Light Armor around him easily blocked the kick.

"Against absolute strength, your so-called technique is worthless."

Xiong Tao sneered and swung his arm down at the ground.

Bang!!

Even from far away, Xu Tong and Zhou Huasheng could feel the force of the blow. A spray of blood shot from Captain Wang's mouth and struck Xiong Tao's cheek like an arrow.

The blood didn't actually touch Xiong Tao; the Divine Light Shield blocked it. But it obscured his vision.

As Xiong Tao reached up with his other hand to wipe the blood from his face, Captain Wang suddenly bent his left elbow and slammed it into the back of Xiong Tao's right knee.

The strike made Xiong Tao's knee buckle, throwing him off balance in an instant. In that split second, Captain Wang sprang to his feet and drove a short punch straight into Xiong Tao's chest.

His fist naturally couldn't break through Xiong Tao's Divine Light Shield, but what shocked Xiong Tao was that he'd felt a pain he hadn't experienced in a long time.

As he reeled from the surprise, Captain Wang's fists rained down on him. Xiong Tao couldn't understand it. His Divine Light Shield should have protected him from even powerful physical attacks, so why could Captain Wang's punches still make him feel pain?

After a brief moment of shock, the killing intent in Xiong Tao's eyes grew even more intense.

He let out a deafening roar and began to furiously counterattack Captain Wang.

In an instant, the two iron-blooded men were locked in a vicious brawl.

"So this is the show you wanted me to see?"

When Xu Tong offered no explanation, Zhou Huasheng gave a cold laugh. "You're playing with fire. That girl and Old Bart aren't Bai people at all. They're true Mountain Miao!"

Zhou Huasheng took a deep breath and spoke to Xu Tong.

The Mountain Miao were Miao people who lived deep in the mountains. Unlike the Han Miao, who had embraced Han culture and been influenced by the Han people, they still followed the most primitive laws of survival.

And only the true Mountain Miao knew the secrets of Gu magic. They could kill without anyone noticing, and make their victims die horribly.

At the mention of the Mountain Miao, deep fear showed in Zhou Huasheng's eyes, as if he'd remembered something terrible.

Hearing him, Xu Tong paused. With a strained smile, he said, "So you were the one who set the village on fire and burned everyone there alive?"

"Not me!!"

Zhou Huasheng hurriedly denied it. "Don't listen to her. She knows nothing about what happened more than twenty years ago."

In fact... Yang Guanjin had never mentioned any of this.

Last night, Yang Guanjin had asked him for help with only one thing. That was the price of his assistance.

He hadn't asked any questions either.

But after Zhou Huasheng and Yang Guanjin's conversation just now, and what Captain Wang had said about the old case on the way to the Forest Farm, it only took a quick comparison of the dates for the simple revenge story to become clear.

That was why he hadn't asked Yang Guanjin. Asking would only leave him more disappointed. By not asking, he could preserve a little hope.

Zhou Huasheng tried his hardest to explain what had happened back then.

His expedition team had gone into the mountains, gotten lost, and accidentally wandered into a forbidden area. Everyone else had died, but the local Miao people had rescued him.

Among them was Yang Guanjin's mother. Zhou Huasheng had been in his forties then, in the prime of his life. With his eloquence and wide knowledge, he had easily won her heart.

That was how he learned many secrets of the Sheng Miao. The mysterious, primitive powers had deeply shaken Zhou Huasheng.

He had wanted to stay there longer and study the secrets of Gu magic. But Yang Guanjin's mother had become pregnant, and according to their customs, he would have to stay there for the rest of his life.

He would also have to eat a Gu worm called Love-Sickness when the child turned one month old. Zhou Huasheng had been afraid. He didn't want to spend his whole life there. That wasn't what he wanted.

So, just before the child's first month, he chose to run away.

He hadn't started that fire. Someone else was responsible. That person was the real culprit.

"That person was terrifying. Maybe it was him who came to take the Golden Dagger earlier."

Zhou Huasheng seemed to remember something. His face grew increasingly grim, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Just as the terrible face returned to Zhou Huasheng's mind, an angry roar suddenly rang out in the distance. A huge flock of birds startled by the sound rose into the sky, darkening it as they surged upward.

"The real show's about to begin!"

Xu Tong raised an eyebrow at the commotion in the distance. If Captain Wang and Xiong Tao's clash had merely raised the curtain on this show, then the main event was about to begin.