Chapter 5

Outside the cave, the night was black as ink.

Apart from the occasional hoarse cry of a night crow in the distance, the entire mountain forest was silent as death.

Luo Qingchen lay in the corner without a sound, as though he had already fallen asleep.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the darkness.

Yang Ming walked up to him, gave his body a kick, then crouched to check his breathing. With a cold snort, he said, "Tough little bastard. He's not dead yet."

After saying that, he suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the cave entrance.

Zhang Dashan's voice came from inside. "Junior Brother Yang, what are you doing?"

Yang Ming wiped his hands on his clothes and said coldly, "The wind at the entrance is cold. Let him die sooner, so we won't have to do it ourselves tomorrow morning."

Zhang Dashan seemed to chuckle. "Have you ever skinned a living person? I'd like to try it."

Yang Ming said, "Then you can try it now."

Zhang Dashan laughed. "I wouldn't dare. Master said tomorrow, so tomorrow it is."

"I'm going to relieve myself."

Yang Ming said nothing more. He left the cave, went behind a boulder, and untied his trousers.

Zhang Dashan glanced at Luo Qingchen on the ground and followed him out.

The sound of Yang Ming urinating came from behind the boulder.

A sharp gleam flickered in Zhang Dashan's eyes. As he stared at the boulder and pondered something, he suddenly noticed a mottled venomous snake coiled atop it, twisting its body and hissing with its tongue flickering out.

"Junior Brother Yang, watch out!"

Zhang Dashan shouted sharply, immediately drew a dagger, and strode over.

Yang Ming had not finished urinating. Hearing the shout, he hurriedly turned and came out from behind the boulder. Still urinating, he warily glanced at the dagger in Zhang Dashan's hand and demanded, "Senior Brother, what are you doing?"

Zhang Dashan pointed at the top of the boulder with his other hand. "There's a venomous snake!"

Yang Ming immediately sidestepped several paces and looked up, but saw nothing. His gaze returned to Zhang Dashan as he said coldly, "Where is this venomous snake?"

Dagger in hand, Zhang Dashan approached the boulder and found that the mottled venomous snake from moments ago had vanished. Doubt immediately filled his heart as he looked around.

Yang Ming quickly finished urinating. As he tied his trousers, he backed away several steps, watching Zhang Dashan with dark, vigilant eyes.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

Zhang Dashan circled the boulder once, his face full of suspicion. "It was clearly just here..."

Yang Ming silently drew a dagger with his right hand as well. He sneered. "Senior Brother, there's already a fresh corpse in the cave. Master doesn't need another for now. Could it be that you need one?"

Zhang Dashan narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

At that moment, Zhang Dashan suddenly widened his eyes and pointed above Yang Ming's head. "Junior Brother Yang, that venomous snake is coiled on your head!"

Yang Ming gripped his dagger tightly and stared at him with a cold smile.

Zhang Dashan said urgently, "It's true! It really is coiled on top of your head!"

Then he suddenly cried out again, pointing at Yang Ming's neck, chest, and other places. "Oh no, there's more than one! There are so many!"

As he spoke, he instinctively raised the dagger in his hand.

Yang Ming had long since tensed his entire body, ready for battle. Seeing that Zhang Dashan truly meant to make a move, how could he hesitate? He immediately clenched his dagger and rushed forward first, intending to strike first and seize the advantage!

Whoosh!

The dagger flashed with a cold gleam as it stabbed straight at Zhang Dashan's chest!

"Ah! Don't come over!"

Zhang Dashan cried out and hastily retreated to evade it. When he looked closely again, there were no venomous snakes on the other man at all—only a dagger, its cold light biting deep, and those sinister eyes brimming with murderous intent!

"Junior Brother Yang, you actually want to kill me!"

Fury instantly surged in Zhang Dashan's heart. He raised his own dagger and stabbed back viciously.

Yang Ming sidestepped to dodge and was about to continue attacking when he suddenly saw Zhang Dashan's face twist grotesquely. Colorful little snakes crawled all over his face, and his entire body seemed to transform into a thick, massive snake. He was so startled that he froze.

Bang!

Zhang Dashan's dagger missed. Taking advantage of Yang Ming's stunned lapse, he immediately clenched his left hand into a fist and struck Yang Ming in the chest, producing a dull thud.

Yang Ming staggered back several steps, stepped on a pile of stone chips, slipped, and fell to the ground. The dagger in his hand flew away as well.

Seizing the chance, Zhang Dashan immediately pounced on him, his dagger stabbing without hesitation toward his throat!

Yang Ming was greatly alarmed and hurriedly raised a hand to block it.

With a pfft, the dagger pierced his palm!

He let out a miserable scream, yet endured the agony and gripped the dagger. His other hand clenched into a fist as he roared and smashed it into Zhang Dashan's eye!

Stars burst before Zhang Dashan's eyes. He tried with all his strength to pull out the dagger, but could not free it for the moment. He could only swing the fist of his other hand and smash it toward Yang Ming's eye as well.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two traded blows, their fists raining down as they desperately struck at each other.

A thick smell of blood spread between them.

By now, both men had embraced the determination to risk their lives. Each was determined to kill the other, so neither showed the slightest mercy, gritting their teeth and using every ounce of strength.

After several rounds of grappling, Yang Ming was ultimately at a disadvantage because his left hand had been pierced by the dagger. Overwhelmed by the pain, he was a step too slow and took a punch to the nose. His strength immediately scattered, and he could no longer hold onto the dagger.

Pfft!

Zhang Dashan took the opportunity to wrench out the dagger. With bloodshot eyes, he viciously stabbed toward Yang Ming's throat!

Unwilling to die, Yang Ming hurriedly raised his arm to block again.

The dagger immediately pierced his arm as well!

Under the double torment of agony and terror, strength came from nowhere. With a furious roar, he drove his knee up hard and kicked powerfully with his right foot, actually kicking Zhang Dashan off him.

Caught off guard, Zhang Dashan rolled down the slope.

And his dagger was still embedded in Yang Ming's arm.

Too terrified to care about the pain, Yang Ming hurriedly scrambled to his feet and staggered toward the cave, wanting to flee to Master.

But the moment he entered the cave, his foot suddenly caught on something. He stumbled and crashed face-first onto the ground.

Just as he was about to get up, the figure lying in the corner abruptly rose, yanked the dagger from his arm, and then, with a pfft, drove it straight into his throat!

Fast, precise, ruthless!

"You..."

Yang Ming's entire body jolted. He widened his eyes at the other man as blood spilled from his mouth.

Whoosh!

The other man said nothing. He pulled out the dagger and viciously plunged it into his heart again!

Silent and ruthless!

Yang Ming's mouth hung open. His fingernails dug fiercely into the other man's arm as his body convulsed violently several times. The light gradually faded from his wide eyes, while his pupils still held the terror and shock of his final moment.

The hand gripping the dagger trembled slightly, as though this was its first time killing someone.

Yet it was resolute and strong!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

In the darkness, it seemed possible to hear his heart pounding wildly.

Whoosh—

The bitter night wind blew in through the cave entrance.

The three bloodstained animal hides hanging on the wall beside them began to sway gently again.

Luo Qingchen gripped the dagger tightly. Afraid Yang Ming was not dead, he viciously twisted it several times in his heart.

Only when the other man had completely stopped moving did he finally feel at ease.

Huh?

At that moment, he suddenly discovered that his right hand holding the dagger had begun to heat up. Yang Ming's blood was rapidly flowing out, while the blood in the second spare Blood Bar within his body was increasing at an astonishing speed!

90%!

95%!

100%!

What astonished him even more was that after the blood in that spare Blood Bar recovered to its original 100%, it still did not stop increasing!

105%!

110%!

"This..."

At that moment, he suddenly understood!

The blood in the second spare Blood Bar could not recover automatically. It needed to absorb other people's blood!

He could actually absorb others' blood and use it for himself!

A blood-sucking art?

He looked inside his body again.

When the blood in his second Blood Bar reached 120%, he hurriedly released the dagger, moved away from the corpse, and stopped.

He could not keep absorbing.

If he drained Yang Ming's corpse dry, the "Master" in the cave would definitely notice.

If suspicion fell upon him then, he would be finished.

He hurriedly inspected himself carefully and found that there was not a trace of blood on him. He immediately lay back down in the corner, pretending that he was still unconscious.

At this moment, his heart pounded wildly. He felt both the tension and exhilaration of killing someone for the first time, as well as the excitement of discovering a new skill.

With a second spare Blood Bar and the Blood Sucking Skill, it seemed he really was born to cultivate demonic arts!

"Junior Brother Yang?"

Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the cave, along with Zhang Dashan's shout, heavy with ragged breathing!

Luo Qingchen's heart tightened, and he immediately softened his breathing.