The Arrogant Rats Digging Their Own Graves

A flash of cold light appeared as two sharp arrows suddenly tore through the air. Just as they were about to pierce Shi Hao's throat, Huo Yuhao, his gaze icy, moved with featherlight agility and precisely caught the shafts of the cold iron arrows.

Shi Hao frowned slightly. He was very familiar with the way these people were dressed. "You're from Bì Village?"

Tang Wulin said in a deep voice, "You actually dared to ambush people with hidden arrows. You're utterly inhuman. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

More than twenty people had come from Bì Village, led by their chief—Bì Liqing.

Bì Liqing immediately sneered. "They're just three little brats. What could they possibly do? Stop wasting precious blood on that beast and hand over the Suanni obediently. Then I'll consider sparing you."

"Why waste words on them? Let's kill them and take the treasure. What can they possibly do to us?"

Bì Feng, who considered himself a genius, did not wait for the three of them to respond before firing hidden arrows at them.

"You vermin refuse to mend your ways, bloodthirsty by nature. You insist on digging your own graves and forcing me to act, so don't blame me."

Shi Hao unleashed the Azure-Scaled Eagle Technique. A brilliant, luminous silver moon appeared behind him, faintly radiating the imposing aura of an ancient ferocious beast. It easily shattered several hidden arrows before transforming into an energy form of the technique and attacking Bì Feng.

Bì Feng hurriedly used the treasure bestowed by Bì Village's ancestral sacrificial spirit to block the attack. Forty-two beast fangs barely managed to receive Shi Hao's technique.

He had already learned a precious technique at such a young age. He would surely become a future threat. This child could not be allowed to live; he had to be eliminated now, roots and all.

With that thought, Bì Liqing ordered the more than twenty people behind him to fire at the threatening enemies before them. The arrows swept toward Shi Hao, Huo Yuhao, and Tang Wulin like a swarm of locusts.

Suddenly, the temperature plummeted, and snowflakes filled the sky. Huo Yuhao's eyes were cold, a frosty gleam flickering within them. The barrage of arrows froze and fell in an instant, as though fate itself had seized them by the throat and brought them to an abrupt halt.

Bì Liqing had long since lost his composure. This young man also knew precious techniques. The situation seemed far from good.

"Little one, are you all right?"

At last, Shi Yunfeng arrived with Stone Village's adult villagers, having followed the Azure-Scaled Eagle's summons to this place. On the way, they shot several villagers from Bì Village, taking the opportunity to avenge Shi Hao.

Shi Hao said anxiously, "Grandpa Chief, hurry and save Auntie Azure-Scaled Eagle! She's been poisoned."

Shi Yunfeng immediately stepped forward. After mixing several precious medicines he had brought with him, he fed them to the Azure-Scaled Eagle, successfully preserving its life.

After hearing Shi Hao explain everything that had happened, Shi Yunfeng turned to Bì Liqing. "It's time to settle the score between us."

Bì Liqing gritted his teeth inwardly. They had clearly brought too few people this time. In a group fight, they held no advantage at all. With that in mind, he softened his tone slightly.

"Fighting and killing between neighboring villages can easily leave both sides wounded, which benefits neither side's survival or development. Why not let the children compete? If Bì Feng loses, we won't fight you for the Suanni. But if he wins, the Suanni belongs to us."

Shi Yunfeng sneered. "Ridiculous! The Suanni was Little One's spoils to begin with. Your stakes are completely unfair. If you lose, leave behind the Beast-Fang Treasure in Bì Feng's hands. If you win, we won't pursue the underhanded deeds you committed behind our backs."

Bì Feng accepted the wager with a look of disdain, not even waiting for Bì Liqing's opinion. "The Azure-Scaled Eagle Technique is nowhere near a match for my treasure. You're destined to lose."

Tang Wulin leaned close to Huo Yuhao's ear and whispered, "Is this Bì Feng an idiot? If they win, shouldn't they be taking the Suanni? He agreed without even waiting for his chief to speak. Did he leave his brain at home?"

Huo Yuhao nearly failed to hold it in. He coughed lightly and said, "As expected of Wulin—you even noticed that. But is there perhaps another possibility? Whether Bì Village wins or loses, they'll eventually go back on their word and join us in fighting over the Suanni."

Tang Wulin immediately understood. "That makes sense. They really do seem like that sort of people."

As expected of a treasure bestowed by Bì Village's ancestral sacrificial spirit, it truly suppressed Shi Hao's Azure-Scaled Eagle Technique. Clearly, Bì Feng relied on the power of his treasure to seize the upper hand at the start of the battle.

The Azure-Scaled Eagle Technique alone was indeed somewhat insufficient against Bì Feng. However, Shi Hao had not merely learned the Azure-Scaled Eagle Technique—he had also comprehended an ancient art, the Primordial Demon Bird Technique.

Shi Hao made the two silver moons collide, producing a strange and powerful force. In the end, it transformed into the phantom of a primordial demon bird, which spread its wings and glided toward Bì Feng.

Even using the Beast-Fang Treasure, Bì Feng could not stop the Primordial Demon Bird Technique. He was ultimately defeated.

To repay the arrow he had taken, Shi Hao smashed Bì Feng's ribs with a punch and seized his Beast-Fang Treasure.

Bì Feng was Bì Village's genius youth, yet he had been humiliated so openly. Bì Liqing's eyes flew wide with rage as he roared at Shi Hao, "You went back on your word, and your methods are so vicious! I will never let you go!"

Tang Wulin pulled a face at Bì Liqing. "A hypocrite crying thief."

"Ancestral sacrificial spirit, avenge us! Kill them and seize the Suanni's precious body!"

Rather than launching a counterattack, Bì Liqing fell to his knees and begged the ancestral sacrificial spirit—Old Bì—to descend and help them kill the people of Stone Village.

Old Bì was suspicious by nature, so it first summoned a wolf pack to test the waters. Its true body watched everything from the shadows. Its ultimate goal was to obtain the Suanni's precious body, and it did not care whether the people of Bì Village lived or died.

The wolf pack could not distinguish friend from foe. It madly tore apart the Bì Village villagers blocking its path. Its eyes held only the Suanni's corpse.

When Tang Wulin raised a brow at him, Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head. "I didn't use Mental Confusion. It seems the people of Bì Village and their ancestral sacrificial spirit only share a relationship of mutual interest, so neither side cares whether the other lives or dies."

Once it obtained the Suanni's precious body, the people of Bì Village would lose all value and purpose to Old Bì. Thus, without the slightest emotion, it ordered the wolf pack to devour every Bì Village villager present, including Bì Liqing and Bì Feng, then used the wolves to convert their energy into its own.

To prevent the Stone Village villagers from being injured, Huo Yuhao cast Mass Weakening on the wolf pack. The wolves immediately collapsed to the ground, howling feebly.

The people of Stone Village were all astonished by Huo Yuhao's strength. However, Shi Yunfeng did not ask further questions. After all, the mysterious and unknown origins of Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin were a universal shield for any explanation.

Even knowing Shi Hao's background, Shi Yunfeng could not explain Shi Hao's talent through ordinary understanding. How much less could he explain Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin, whose origins were unknown?

Why they possessed such talent was no longer important. What mattered was how to develop and sustain it through the cleansing of precious medicines, cultivation, and experience.

Seeing that the wolf pack had lost its fighting strength, Old Bì could no longer resist showing itself. After all, the Suanni's allure was still immense to it.