The Reckoning at Last After Three Days of Toying with the Bandit Chief

The pursuing youths hurriedly stopped, staring gravely at the five men and one dog that had suddenly appeared before them.

Yu Zhutou gripped one man's head in his large hand and lifted him up, exerting a little force.

With a scream, the Red Dog Zheng in the man's arms fell out and was steadily caught by Yu Zhutou's other hand.

He casually tossed the Red Dog Zheng to a subordinate behind him. The mountain-searching hound in front of him barked wildly in a certain direction.

A sliver of a smile spread across Yu Zhutou's face. His laughter gradually grew louder until he threw back his head and laughed uproariously.

As he laughed, his emotions became extremely agitated. The force in his hand seeped into the man's skull, cracking it bit by bit as the screams continued without end.

"Too noisy." Yu Zhutou tightened his grip, and the man's entire head burst apart like an overripe melon.

Such a bloody scene truly terrified the youths. Quite a few turned deathly pale and staggered straight backward.

At the same time, he held nothing back. The aura of a peak Tendon Forging martial artist erupted with a bang!

Their faces filled with horror. Every time Yu Zhutou stepped forward once, they involuntarily retreated three steps.

Liu Tianlin remained calm, as though the scene before him had not frightened him at all.

"Who are you? This is a hunting ground organized by Green Grain Martial Academy. Our instructors are all outside Azure Radiance Mountain—how dare you slaughter people so wantonly?"

Yu Zhutou did not bother responding to Liu Tianlin. He swept his gaze around recklessly, pausing briefly on the Golden Radiance Lion before revealing a satisfied look.

"I didn't expect an unexpected gain as well."

Tao Xiaoyun's brows drew tightly together. These martial artists who had appeared so abruptly were of unknown origin, and their leader radiated a cold, vicious aura from head to toe.

The rest carried no small amount of bloodshed about them. Clearly, they were all people seasoned by slaughter.

There were very few forces in Verdant Grain County capable of producing such vicious men. Outside the city, there were only mountain bandits.

Yu Zhutou led the mountain-searching hound and headed straight in a certain direction, his subordinates following closely behind.

For a time, no one dared stop them.

Liu Yunche watched the cold middle-aged martial artist draw ever closer and quietly shifted backward.

Shi Qingyue did the same. Those people were obviously mountain bandits; the bandit air about them was far too glaring to conceal.

Quite a few people around them were retreating, so their actions did not draw Yu Zhutou's notice.

On the other side, Liu Tianlin saw that no one paid him any attention, yet he did not fly into a rage at once.

He was indeed arrogant, but he also knew how to weigh urgency against importance. This man's aura was profound, and he was clearly no ordinary person. Sometimes, following one's heart was a form of courage.

At last, the mountain-searching hound pounced upon a crack between rocks and began digging madly with its paws.

Before long, a strange pellet rolled out.

Yu Zhutou bent down and picked up the Demon-Luring Incense with his fingertips, his eyes brimming with fury.

Again!

Just who was it that had been so cautious?

He ground out bitterly, "Good! Good! Good!"

His tone carried a hysterical release of pent-up rage.

He Chaoyang watched the man laugh wildly one moment, then suddenly shout for no reason the next, and muttered to himself,

"Could this man be afflicted with madness?"

He had no intention of provoking the man. After all, his injuries were far from light.

After putting away the pellet, Yu Zhutou did not stop. He led the mountain-searching hound farther in this direction.

Seeing this, Liu Yunche's heart sank completely to the bottom.

Sure enough, Yu Zhutou's sinister gaze settled on Liu Yunche and Shi Qingyue.

"You two, come out!"

In an instant, everyone present turned their eyes toward Liu Yunche and Shi Qingyue.

Yu Zhutou narrowed his eyes, danger gleaming within them. Lowering his voice, he slowly said, "Where are the clothes you two were wearing?"

Liu Yunche remained unflustered in the face of danger and replied calmly,

"They were torn apart by demonic beasts while hunting."

Shi Qingyue said reluctantly, "Same here."

Only then did everyone notice how strangely the two were dressed. One wore tiger hide, while the other wore snake hide over half his body and cowhide over the rest.

They exuded a dense wilderness air, living embodiments of rough heroes from the grasslands.

Compared to them, the others seemed as though they had come on holiday.

Yu Zhutou nodded slightly and shifted to one side, seemingly preparing to leave.

Then, without the slightest warning, Yu Zhutou struck. One breath ago, he had still been ten paces away; in the next instant, he had closed in on the two of them.

His hands resembled vicious tiger claws as they shot straight toward their faces.

Liu Yunche had kept his eyes fixed on Yu Zhutou all along. In that lightning-flash instant, he activated his Divine Movement Gift at full force, unleashing a speed no Iron Skin martial artist should possess.

He twisted aside and dodged the powerful claw strike. Not daring to pause, he continued to hurtle backward.

Shi Qingyue did not possess such speed, but he was experienced and had remained on guard throughout. His arms transformed into copper pillars, raised before his face to block.

Yet the sharpness of that claw exceeded all expectations. Three bloody claw marks appeared across Shi Qingyue's pair of copper arms.

Still, he used the force of that claw to retreat backward.

Shi Qingyue looked at the bloody marks on his arm, his expression grave and his face darkening. He shouted, "Yunche, run!"

Liu Yunche did not run. The speed he had displayed just now was already the utmost he could currently achieve.

And even that extreme speed had only barely allowed him to evade one of Yu Zhutou's claws. There was no hope of escape. Their only chance now was to stall him and release a signal flare.

Without a second thought, Liu Yunche shot backward again while pulling out a signal flare and setting it off.

A streak of silver light exploded in the sky with a tremendous boom, enough to alert the nearby Tendon Forging martial artists.

"So it was you." A flicker of astonishment crossed Yu Zhutou's eyes. The speed the tiger-hide brat had unleashed in that instant was truly startling.

Tao Xiaoyun watched that orange-clad figure, surprise flashing through her eyes. That was a Tendon Forging martial artist, yet Liu Yunche had actually managed to evade the strike.

Even a Copper Muscle martial artist like Shi Qingyue had failed to dodge it.

The gap between them was simply too great, stirring a trace of curiosity in her heart.

"Not only did you kill my men, you even dared toy with me like this!"

"Three days! Do you know how I spent these three days?!"

As he spoke, Yu Zhutou did not stop moving. His eyes were filled with hatred. Over these three days, he had led the mountain-searching hound across the outer regions of Azure Radiance Mountain and found fifteen scraps of clothing.

A full fifteen pieces!!!

On tree branches, beneath rocks, buried in the dirt.

During that time, Thornspike Beasts had shot him, weasels had leaped at him... the list went on and on.

His gaze was sinister, and the killing intent in his eyes poured forth without concealment. He wanted to see fear, terror, shock, and every such emotion in their eyes.

Yet the tiger-hide brat's gaze was as calm as a stagnant pool. The other brat ground his teeth as if Yu Zhutou owed him something.

This made Yu Zhutou's fury blaze even higher. His attacks became faster and several degrees more vicious.

He had to finish this quickly. In a moment of carelessness just now, he had allowed that tiger-hide brat to release a signal flare.

If this dragged on until the Martial Academy's Tendon Forging martial artists arrived, things would turn unpleasant.

Yu Zhutou's tendons and membranes stretched, his arms abruptly lengthening by several inches. He thrust out both palms, carrying a cold, hidden force.

This was his signature martial art, the Tendon-Sundering Bone-Misplacing Hand. Whoever was struck by this hidden force would have their tendons and bones thrown into disorder, living the rest of their life in endless regret.

However, the Martial Academy's Tendon Forging martial artists arrived even faster than he had expected.

"Stop!"

A thunderous shout rang out.