In the blink of an eye, two soldiers died, too quickly for anyone to react.
Splash!
Under the gray-robed middle-aged man's control, the enormous crocodile lunged again, carrying a surge of muddy water and the stench of blood and flesh as it snapped viciously at Hong Yuan.
Shock surfaced on Hong Yuan's face, though his heart remained as still as an unruffled lake. He flicked his steel spear, drawing a short, piercing whistle, and thrust it into the crocodile's lower belly.
Clang!
It was like striking metal. Sparks burst from the spearhead as a tremendous force surged from the ferocious crocodile. Hong Yuan's palm seemed to recoil from the impact, and the steel spear flew from his grasp.
The enormous crocodile lunged forward almost completely unhindered. Facing Hong Yuan's head, it opened its hideous jaws, which still held severed limbs and chunks of corpses.
Hong Yuan ducked and rolled across the ground, seemingly escaping the bite by a hair's breadth. As he rolled, he snatched up a steel spear dropped by one of his fallen comrades.
Before he could regain his footing, he heaved it with a sudden burst of strength.
Whoosh!
The steel spear shot through the air like an arrow loosed from a bow, hurtling toward the gray-robed man's chest.
The gray-robed man gave a startled murmur, clearly surprised that Hong Yuan had escaped the fatal blow. Still unhurried, he formed another hand seal. With a hum, golden light blossomed around him, and a golden bell descended over him.
Hong Yuan's thrown spear struck the golden bell as though it had hit walls of bronze and iron, and immediately bounced away.
Yet that brief delay allowed the others to recover from the ambush. Lynn was the first to act.
However dispirited he might have been, a threat to