Elite Yellow Turbans

Lin Maoxian cautiously crept toward the group, but just as he came within three or four meters of Wang Hu and the others,

"Who's there? Who's over there?" Wang Hu noticed something was wrong and shouted in Lin Maoxian's direction. He held his saber at the ready, cautiously on guard.

Wang Hu's shout woke the others. When they heard someone was hiding nearby, they immediately went on guard as well.

As soon as Lin Maoxian heard Wang Hu's shout, he knew he'd been spotted. He stopped trying to sneak closer and instead charged at full speed toward Wang Hu, the saber-wielding leader. As he charged, he used only the Copper Skin skill. He already knew that with his 15 points of Stamina, these men couldn't hurt him—not even knock him back a single step.

With his Agility at 15, Lin Maoxian covered the short distance and reached Wang Hu in less than a second. He punched him square in the chest.

Lin Maoxian had reached Wang Hu so quickly that Wang Hu couldn't react in time. He saw only a shadow rushing toward him, fist raised. All he could do was instinctively lift his saber and slash at it. He figured that whoever the shadow was, they'd have to pull back their punch to dodge his blade.

But he was wrong. Lin Maoxian had 15 points of Stamina alone, not to mention the bonus from his basic skill. He had no reason to fear Wang Hu's blade, because it simply couldn't hurt him.

"Thud!"

"Clang!"

Lin Maoxian's fist slammed into Wang Hu, the tremendous impact knocking the men behind him to the ground. They groaned in pain.

"Ugh!" Wang Hu spat out a mouthful of blood and clutched his chest in agony. It felt as though his internal organs had been crushed. In disbelief, he stared at the man before him. His saber had struck the man's chest, yet it had made the sound of blades clashing. He'd assumed the man was wearing some kind of armor beneath his clothes, but now he could see through the torn fabric that there was no armor at all. The man was simply that strong.

The man before him had taken a sword strike with his bare body and barely been hurt. And with one punch, he'd nearly killed Wang Hu. Ignoring the pain, Wang Hu begged, "Brave warrior, if we've offended you in some way, please spare our lives."

"Please spare us!" Seeing Wang Hu beg for mercy, the others followed suit and pleaded loudly.

Lin Maoxian gave them a cold look. In his eyes, they were already dead. He couldn't let them go just because they'd begged. If he spared them this time, they might report back, and then his wish to explore the valley would be ruined. Worse, he might face even greater danger. Most importantly, he couldn't afford to spare everyone who begged for mercy; if he did, he wouldn't survive for long. If it didn't put him at risk, though, he wouldn't mind letting them live.

Without another word, Lin Maoxian charged toward the spot where they'd fallen.

"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"

They had no room to resist. With four cold punches, Lin Maoxian ended the lives of all four men, Wang Hu included. When he saw a ball of white light flickering over Wang Hu's corpse, a faint smile appeared. He willed it into his Storage Space.

To Xiao Zhang, that faint smile made Lin Maoxian look like a demon. He didn't know why the demon had spared him instead of killing him with the others, but he still managed a smile he thought looked friendly. He was young; he didn't want to die from a single punch. He hoped the demon would spare him because of that friendly smile.

Seeing Xiao Zhang's awkward smile, Lin Maoxian said with a stern face, "What are you grinning about? Do you want to die? Keep smiling and I'll punch you."

"I'm not smiling, I'm not smiling... I'm not grinning. I was trying to cry." Xiao Zhang hurried to explain. He'd thought it was a friendly smile, but since this man didn't want him to smile, then it hadn't been a smile at all—it had been a cry. He didn't want to take that punch. He didn't think he'd survive it.

"So you're saying there's something wrong with my eyes, and I saw it wrong?" Lin Maoxian deliberately clenched his fists, making them crack ominously.

Hearing the terrifying cracking sounds and seeing his companions lying on the ground, Xiao Zhang quickly said, "No, no... that's not what I meant. I... I expressed myself badly. It has nothing to do with you."

"Good. You're a smart kid. Do you know why I spared you and only you?" Seeing how nervous Xiao Zhang was, Lin Maoxian stopped scaring him. He didn't want the boy to be too frightened to answer his questions.

Xiao Zhang replied timidly, "N-no... I don't know."

"I heard what you were saying earlier. I want to know what that monster you mentioned is, and what it has to do with General Earth." Lin Maoxian asked the question he most wanted answered. That was why he'd spared Xiao Zhang.

At the mention of the monster, Xiao Zhang said in terror, "That monster... it's not human, but it walks and eats just like a living person. And it's incredibly strong. Even the Centurion is no match for it."

"How do you know it's stronger than your Centurion? Did you see them fight?" Lin Maoxian wasn't surprised to hear the monster wasn't human. When Xiao Zhang first mentioned a monster, he'd assumed it was some kind of animal. What surprised him was that it could move and eat like a living creature. He'd thought it might be some kind of puppet, but now it seemed things weren't so simple.

"It wasn't just me. Everyone's seen it. The monster stays at the very back of the valley. Once, the Centurion got drunk and accidentally went in there. The monster chased him relentlessly, as if it meant to beat him to death. The Centurion sobered up right away and fought back, landing quite a few punches on the monster. But the monster was barely hurt. After it hit the Centurion a few times, he spat up some blood. He only survived because he managed to escape the inner valley in time." Xiao Zhang didn't dare refuse to answer, so he told Lin Maoxian everything he knew. He wouldn't dare lie—he had no idea what this man might know, and if he caught him in a lie, he'd surely be killed.

"The Centurion?" Lin Maoxian murmured. Then he asked Xiao Zhang, "Tell me, what position does Wang Hu hold in the Yellow Turban Army? How are its ranks organized?"

Xiao Zhang answered honestly, "Brother Wang doesn't have any position in the army. He's just an elite, so he ranks a little higher than us. As for the army's ranks, above ordinary soldiers like us and the elites are Squad Leaders. Above them are Centurions, then Commanders of a Thousand and Commanders of Ten Thousand, and above them..."

"Enough. I'm not interested in what ranks come after that. I can't run into those big shots right now anyway." Lin Maoxian cut Xiao Zhang off. If he ran into someone like that now, he'd be dead. There was no point in learning about them.

Lin Maoxian silently calculated. Ordinary Yellow Turban Soldiers probably had no more than 10 points in their attributes, while elite Yellow Turbans had slightly more than 10. Based on that, Squad Leaders should have around 20 points, and Centurions perhaps 30. If the monster was even stronger than a Centurion, how high were its attributes? He didn't know whether this world had a maximum stat limit. If it was like the last world, where the maximum was only 25, then he'd have a chance. No, his own attributes exceeded 30 after he used skills, so theirs probably could exceed 25 too.

Clinging to a glimmer of hope, Lin Maoxian asked the space, "Can the attributes of people in this world exceed 25 points?"

"Adventurer's permissions are insufficient. No answer will be provided."

Lin Maoxian wasn't too bothered by the space's response. He just thought he needed to upgrade his permissions as soon as possible. Looking at the trembling Xiao Zhang, he asked, "Do you want to live?"

Xiao Zhang hurriedly nodded. "I do... I do! I want to live."

"Good. Come with me." Lin Maoxian turned and headed toward the cliff. He wasn't worried that Xiao Zhang would run. With his attributes, he'd catch up in no time.

Watching Lin Maoxian's back, Xiao Zhang considered running. But then he remembered how fast the man had charged at them, and lost his nerve. He obediently followed.

Feeling Xiao Zhang behind him, Lin Maoxian smiled. If the boy dared to run, he'd be dead. But for now, he was still useful, so killing him just for trying to escape would be a waste. This was best: Lin Maoxian wouldn't have to keep an eye on him or worry that he'd run away.

Lin Maoxian quickened his pace. Before long, he spotted Old Man Sun's herb basket lying on the ground ahead. He walked over and took a look. A golden-yellow herb glimmered inside. This had to be the Dilong Grass. Seeing it shine, Lin Maoxian used the Probe skill to check its attributes.

Dilong Grass: An ordinary herb, an indispensable ingredient in certain medicinal formulas.

Lin Maoxian looked at its simple description. It didn't even have a grade. He'd thought it might be something valuable, but apparently he'd been overthinking it.