The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

"Whoosh..."

Watching the flock of birds fly overhead, a sudden sense of foreboding rose in Yang Zixuan's heart.

Looking around, he realized that a white mist had risen from the surroundings at some unknown moment, silent and imperceptible. As for the guy he had been tracking, he had already vanished without a trace.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Black shadows leaped through the trees right before his eyes.

"These monkeys again!"

Yang Zixuan was thoroughly annoyed. He had finally managed to shake off these damned monkeys last time, never expecting to be entangled by them again so quickly.

"Roar!"

That familiar, furious roar echoed through the forest. Within the mist, an Old Ape slowly stood up, its eyes glaring at Yang Zixuan with rage.

It was the Old Monkey King that had been disturbed last time.

They had killed quite a few monkeys during their previous encounter, and now, seeing their enemy again, the beasts were burning with hatred.

"Old thing, there is a path to heaven you refused to take, and no gate to hell you chose to crash through. You are courting death!"

Four flying blades appeared around him. He had realized that unless he slaughtered all these beasts, he would never have a moment of peace.

Man and monkey locked eyes, and in an instant, the sound of blades tearing through the air rang out across the entire mountain forest...

The sounds of slaughter played out in the woods.

Meanwhile, on the other side, a beast-like contest had just reached a fever pitch.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

Amidst heavy, ragged breathing, Xiong Tao stood tall on the ground like a statue. His pale golden light armor was stained with blood—not just from his enemy, but from himself as well.

Looking closely, it was not hard to see that the muscles beneath Xiong Tao's light armor were covered in blue and purple bruises.

These bruises, large and small, connected into a patch that looked truly terrifying.

But by comparison, Captain Wang's injuries were far more severe. After all, the gap in raw power was too great; technique could never fully compensate for that.

Drops of bright red blood trickled down his cheeks and onto the ground. His left arm hung limply at his side, but his bloodshot eyes looked exactly like those of a wounded beast—advancing without retreat, fighting without flight, choosing death over surrender!

A cool breeze blew, and with a "crack" of dry leaves, Xiong Tao's body swayed before he suddenly accelerated, sweeping a whip kick toward Captain Wang's chest.

Facing such an attack, Captain Wang did not dodge, instead taking the blow head-on. It felt like a thousand-pound hammer striking his abdomen; the sound of cracking bones followed, but he did not retreat. Instead, he lunged forward, and in the split second before Xiong Tao could steady himself, he landed three consecutive punches into Xiong Tao's gut.

The seemingly plain punches appeared to ignore his divine light barrier, making Xiong Tao feel as if his internal organs were being churned. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.

Under the searing pain in his abdomen, he found he couldn't even straighten his back.

Yet, the more dire the situation, the more terrifying Xiong Tao's combat power became. Like a bloodthirsty bear, he swung his arms, his iron fists smashing into Captain Wang from both sides and sending him crashing heavily to the ground.

Seeing this guy finally collapse and fail to rise, Xiong Tao felt his entire body lighten, a sense of relief washing over him. If the disparity in their strength hadn't been so vast, the outcome of a prolonged fight would have been anyone's guess.

He slowly reached out, intending to twist off the man's head and take it back as a trophy to cherish.

However, just as he was about to bend down, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do that."

Xiong Tao froze for a moment and slowly turned around. Those bloodthirsty eyes stared straight at Xu Tong: "Heh, if I were you, I would never have shown up at a time like this."

After speaking, he glanced sideways and saw Zhou Huasheng, his smile deepening: "Old Man Zhou, we've been looking for you for a long time!"

Zhou Huasheng's face twitched. Terrified by Xiong Tao, he hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, it has nothing to do with me! It was him, he did it all."

Hearing this, Xiong Tao turned his gaze back to Xu Tong, his crimson eyes unable to hide his disdain: "I knew you were nothing but trash. Trying to pick up your grandfather's scraps? You, a mere piece of livestock?"

"Then... what if you add me to the mix!"

No sooner had Xiong Tao finished speaking than a figure slowly emerged from the woods. Seeing the newcomer, Xiong Tao's eyes widened: "It's you!"

The person who arrived was none other than Mad Dog, who had returned.

His appearance was completely unexpected for Xiong Tao.

This man should have been dead; how could he be here?

But he quickly calmed himself and continued: "Even if there are two of you, so what?"

At this point, he still had the capital to be proud. He only needed to hold on a little longer, until his boss Yang Zixuan returned, and he would still be able to skin them both alive.

However, a strange smile crept onto Xu Tong's face: "I think you might have misunderstood. I never intended to kill you."

"What do you mean!!"

Xiong Tao was stunned. Before he could think further, tiny specks of fluorescence suddenly flickered in the surrounding air. Watching these specks, he instinctively reached out a palm, only to find that the light ignored his divine light barrier and landed on his skin.

"What is this??"

Xiong Tao looked up in shock, only to discover with horror that a massive swarm of butterflies had appeared above his head at some unknown moment. These butterflies flapped their wings, scattering more and more powder.

Xiong Tao felt a jolt of alarm. A peculiar fragrance filled his nose, and his vision suddenly blurred.

He shook his head vigorously, struggling to keep his eyes open, but then he noticed that beside Xu Tong, there wasn't just Mad Dog—there were two more people.

Aside from Old Bart, there was also the woman they had captured, Yang Guanjin.

Yang Guanjin produced a Bone Flute from nowhere and pressed it to her lips, yet not a single sound emerged, even as the cloying fragrance in the air grew increasingly pungent.

At that moment, Xu Tong unhurriedly took out a small bell and gave it a gentle shake.

"Clang!"

Under the hollow, ethereal chime of the bell, Xiong Tao's vision suddenly went black, and he lost consciousness entirely.

"Ha! It worked!"

Seeing Xiong Tao collapsed on the ground, Mad Dog was so excited he nearly shrieked. He rubbed his hands together and drew a large saber, preparing to step forward and lop off Xiong Tao's head.

This guy was so strong that even a fool could tell he must be carrying a wealth of top-tier prop cards; even just extracting the script points would be an incredibly lucrative haul.

However, Xu Tong grabbed him to stop him, sighing as he looked down at the fallen Xiong Tao. If Captain Wang hadn't repeatedly dealt him such heavy blows, Yang Guanjin's voodoo arts alone clearly wouldn't have been enough.

But now was not the time to kill him; he still needed to keep him alive for something more important.

"Are you sure?!"

With such a massive gift package sitting right in front of them, letting it go just like that left Mad Dog feeling more than a little unwilling.

Xu Tong rolled his eyes at him, walked over to Xiong Tao, and slowly placed a Paper Doll upon his head. "Sometimes, driving an enemy into a corner is exactly the same as driving yourself into one."

As he spoke, he began to shake the bell in his hand, chanting under his breath: "Soul Detention!"