Damn it, Don't Steal My Kill!

The blazing heat came quickly, and faded just as fast.

In the instant between its coming and going, the wolf's tail was sent flying away.

Seizing the chance, Wei Xuanfeng swung his blade backhandedly and slit the throat of the wolf demon before him.

"Do you still have the strength?"

At some point, Wen Shihan had arrived beside Wei Xuanfeng. After glancing at the wounds large and small covering his body, she asked in a low voice.

"I do." Wei Xuanfeng nodded.

"This place is too cramped. Help me fight our way out."

"There are at least twenty wolf demons outside. Are you sure?"

Wen Shihan said nothing. A glint of killing intent flashed through her eyes.

She raised her delicate hand, and a streak of red light shot straight at the Xuanlan Wolf Demon charging in once more.

The wolf demon had no time to react and could only brace itself, using its wolf head to meet the red light head-on.

Wolves had always been said to possess heads of bronze, limbs of iron, and waists of tofu. Their skulls were the hardest bones in their entire bodies.

Even if it had reacted in time, it would have disdained to dodge!

Pfft!

The next second, Wei Xuanfeng's mouth fell open despite himself...

That red light had pierced straight through the wolf's head.

When it returned, he could even smell the rich, meaty scent of roasted brain.

Wen Shihan said nothing, but the confidence radiating from her was practically overflowing.

"Got it. I'll help you fight our way out!"

Wei Xuanfeng stopped wasting words. This time, instead of kicking the wolf demon's corpse out, he hoisted it one-handed before him as a shield.

"Thank you." Following behind him, Wen Shihan spoke softly.

If Wei Xuanfeng had not bought her time, she would likely have died beneath the wolves' fangs long ago.

And now...

She owed him another life.

"Don't mention it. Let's make a deal."

"Mm?"

"Don't kill them outright. Let me finish them off."

When that wolf had died just now, Wei Xuanfeng's heart had ached terribly!

Damn it, his hundred gold coins!

"Fine."

Though Wen Shihan did not understand why he wanted this, she did not ask. She only needed to do as he said.

"Thanks. Once we're back, I'll buy you a drink!"

Wei Xuanfeng roared those last two words.

Gathering all his strength, he rammed the corpse out of the cave.

Almost by himself, he drove back the pack of wolves and cleared enough space for one person before the entrance.

"No need. I'll buy you one!"

In that instant, bolstered by One Reed Crossing River, Wen Shihan's body became a streak of black light as she shot straight out of the cave.

Before the wolves could react, she had already set the meteor hammer in her hand whistling through the air!

Empowered by her inner force, the Li Fire Pearl burned hotter and shone brighter than a fireball.

In the pitch-black night, it was like a fluttering butterfly—and like Death's scythe.

The Xuanlan Wolf Demon closest to Wen Shihan instinctively lunged at its prey, never realizing that it itself was the prey!

Bang!

The Li Fire Pearl traced elegant arcs through the air before smashing precisely into the wolf demon's foreleg.

With a dull crash, the wolf demon collapsed to the ground.

That single blow had torn bone from flesh in its foreleg.

But it was not over. With a move like Iron Crutch Li, Wen Shihan hooked the silk chain around her heel and controlled the Li Fire Pearl, smashing it viciously into the wolf demon's spine.

"Awroo..."

The wolf demon let out a miserable cry and went limp on the ground.

After its hind legs twitched twice, a stream of murky yellow liquid flowed out...

But the fall of a single wolf demon did not frighten the pack.

The next second, four wolf demons pounced at Wen Shihan from different angles at the same time.

Yet there was not a trace of panic in Wen Shihan's eyes.

She swiftly drew in the Li Fire Pearl, her hands flying as she formed a barrier of light before herself with the pearl under the control of its chain.

The instant the four wolf demons touched the barrier, their skulls burst apart, brains splattering everywhere!

As the corpses hit the ground, pools of yellow-white matter lay scattered across the earth, still giving off faint heat...

Seeing this, Wei Xuanfeng clutched his chest in anguish...

Another four hundred gold coins, gone!

"Looking at that expression, does it hurt?"

Clutching her chest, Fox Murong sidled up to Wei Xuanfeng.

By then, Wen Shihan had already charged out, pushing the battlefield onto the open ground outside the cave.

Alone, she flitted and weaved through the wolf pack like a butterfly.

For a time, she actually suppressed the entire pack by herself.

"It hurts like hell!" Wei Xuanfeng nodded.

"Hmph, if it hurts, why aren't you going to help?" Fox Murong snorted, displeasure thick in her voice.

"Help... me?" Wei Xuanfeng pointed at the crimson Li Fire Pearl. "This girl's meteor hammer can't tell friend from foe within thirty feet of her. What am I supposed to do if I go up there—get in her way?"

Fox Murong opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say...

Not far away, Jiao Yu stood on a tree branch, taking in everything.

A man stood beside her as well.

"You can relax now, can't you? Look how worried our beauty Jiao was just now."

"My apologies, Pacification Envoy Wu. I was too hasty."

A rare look of shame appeared on Jiao Yu's face.

Her original intention had been to intervene the moment Wei Xuanfeng and the other two were in danger.

With Wu Santong holding down the fort, the three of them certainly would not have faced any mortal danger.

But who could have imagined that Wei Xuanfeng would lead the two women straight into the cave?

That left Jiao Yu unable to know what was happening inside.

If not for Wu Santong's profound cultivation, which allowed him to vaguely sense that the three people in the cave were brimming with life force, she would have been unable to hold herself back from acting long ago.

"No. These are troubled times, and our Northern Pacification Bureau desperately needs young fighters like them." Wu Santong waved a hand. "At first, when you asked me for the Li Fire Pearl, I was rather reluctant to part with it. Now I see that I was shortsighted..."

"It is because Shihan is such a promising child, and because of Pacification Envoy Wu's... your discerning eye for talent..."

"Hahaha, enough. If you don't know how to flatter someone, then don't." Wu Santong laughed. "Our Northern Pacification Bureau doesn't play the Southern Pacification Bureau's hollow games! When we return, submit your memorial, and I'll approve it!"

Jiao Yu's eyes lit up at those words.

"Thank you, Pacification Envoy Wu!"

"Times of peril are also the best times to earn merit and make a name for oneself." Wu Santong continued, "Lord Yang still needs three months to finish forging, and our bureau is short on manpower. So, beauty Jiao, you and the three young people under you will have a hard three months ahead..."

"Through boiling water and raging fire, even ten thousand deaths would not make us hesitate!"

"Our bureau... has already lost too many people. Don't speak so lightly of dying. All of you had better stay alive!"

"Yes!"

"Enough. Wen Shihan can handle these few wolf demons herself. I'm not needed from here on. Beauty Jiao, keep an eye on them. I'll be leaving first."

Jiao Yu cupped her fists, then suddenly felt a gust of wind rise beside her.

When she looked again, Wu Santong was nowhere to be seen.

"Farewell, Pacification Envoy Wu."

Though he had already left, Jiao Yu remained respectful.

When she turned back again, the battle had already reached its end.

Fox Murong was bandaging Wen Shihan's wounds, while Wei Xuanfeng was cutting the throats of the wolf demons that had not yet died, one by one.

The three of them had performed far beyond her expectations.

As expected of...

Three martial arts prodigies, one in ten thousand—their combat strength

was greater than that of a fifty-man squad!

The more Jiao Yu thought about it, the more delighted she became. She leaped down from the tree and walked toward the three of them.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

As Jiao Yu drew near, she smiled and applauded.

"Not bad. Oh, right—starting today, I should address you as..." Jiao Yu beamed like a flower, "Banner Leader Wen, Banner Leader Wei, and Banner Leader Hu."

Hearing her voice, Wei Xuanfeng and the other two all turned to look.

The moment they saw it was Jiao Yu, they immediately surrounded her.

"Brothers, flatten her!"

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Trying to overthrow your superior? Damn, you're actually hitting me! Shihan, why are you joining in the nonsense too? All right, all right, I admit I was a little too aggressive. This boss was wrong, this boss knows her mistake. This boss will treat you to drinks—drinks..."