Unleashing His Might, Then Getting Entangled

Several more dull thuds rang out. Even more people fell this time—more than twenty in total. Huo Hai alone had killed nearly half the men He Wang had brought. How were they supposed to keep fighting? There was nowhere to hide.

Whoosh! A flying knife suddenly shot out from a corner, aimed straight at Huo Hai. Huo Hai seemed utterly unaware and did not react at all. He Wang practically saw the knife piercing through Huo Hai.

This was an expert he had worked hard to win over. When dealing with Ji Mu earlier, he could not kill her, so this man had not appeared. He had thought there would be no need for him today, only for a Huo Hai to emerge halfway through. But what happened next filled everyone with fear. It was not that Huo Hai had failed to react—he simply had no need to.

Specks of starlight rapidly gathered around Huo Hai, forming the shape of a shield. The incoming flying knife entered the starlight shield and vanished in a bizarre fashion. Only Huo Hai knew that his Star Gu had eaten it.

Metal objects could not provide much energy. Later, the Star Gu would spit out the scraps themselves, so it would not affect him. But now was not the time to think about that. Huo Hai stretched out a hand and lightly flicked a finger.

Another Star Gu shot out. When the Star Gu attacked, those who had not reached the Spirit Practitioner Realm had no ability to evade. With a muffled groan, the expert He Wang had painstakingly recruited collapsed to the ground, losing all breath.

The smile on He Wang's face froze for the second time. What exactly was going on? What had that spiritual energy defense been? How could the Huo Family possess such a powerful secret technique? He had never heard of it.

Damn it, his trump card had been wiped out just like that, and nearly half his men were dead. The rest had been scared out of their wits and did not dare rush forward to die. Even if they dared, He Wang was unwilling. Today's losses were already great enough. If he lost all his subordinates, not only would he gain nothing, he could forget about joining Imperial City Academy.

"Very good, Huo Hai. I'll remember you. This matter is not over between us. We're leaving." The last sentence was directed at his subordinates. He Wang's men had long since been frightened out of their wits. Upon hearing this, they hurriedly retreated.

Before long, every last one of them had fled. Huo Hai had wanted to keep them here, but after glancing at Ji Mu beside him, he could only stop. Otherwise, if this woman exposed him, things would become troublesome.

A soul from Earth had never been stingy about viewing others through the worst possible lens. Even if this was someone he had saved, who knew what she was truly thinking? Back on Earth, people did not even dare help an old lady cross the street over something so simple. Did good people even have a way to survive in this world?

"Alright, you're safe now. I should be leaving too." Huo Hai shook his head, turned around, and walked away. He did not want to get too deeply entangled with others. The secret of his insects could not be exposed for now. He would wait until he reached the Spirit Practitioner Realm.

"Hey, wait! I know you—you're Huo Hai!" Ji Mu came to her senses, called out, and followed after him. Her subordinates had all died in the recent conflict. With only her left, how was she supposed to survive?

In the Southern Mountain Jungle, being born into a great Lineage while also being a beautiful woman was no good thing. Huo Hai alone could match such a large group of experts. For her own safety, of course she had to follow him. Besides, judging from Huo Hai's behavior, he should be a good person, right? Huo Hai did not yet know that he had been labeled a good person.

Most importantly, no matter how stale or melodramatic the tale of a hero saving a beauty might be, so long as it was not an act put on deliberately, the beauty who had been saved would always feel something a little different in her heart.

Ji Mu had already developed a trace of interest in Huo Hai. Huo Hai, however, had no such interest. He felt as though his stomach were about to boil. Too many people had died today. In the end, Huo Hai still had not fully adapted.

Blergh! Huo Hai opened his mouth, braced himself against a large tree, and vomited violently. He did not stop until he had thrown up everything he had eaten that day. Ji Mu, who had followed him over, widened her eyes as she watched him vomit his guts out.

"Pfft." Ji Mu could not hold it in and laughed. "Um, you... don't mind me. I just never expected that you could kill so decisively just now, yet vomit like this afterward." The more Ji Mu spoke, the funnier it became. Even she, a woman, would not mind seeing a few corpses. Yet this big man was reacting like this—it was truly strange.

Although Huo Hai was several years younger than Ji Mu, that was nothing. Spirit Masters had long lifespans, and they were not ordinary people. Huo Hai's behavior was simply... simply beyond words.

"If you want to laugh, then laugh. Didn't you feel bad the first time you killed someone?" At the mention of killing, Huo Hai could not help dry-heaving again. It sounded easy enough, but actually doing it was quite difficult.

Ji Mu nodded and said softly, "So it was your first time. Sorry, I didn't know." Though she said that, she did not think much of it. Having been steeped in such things since childhood, Ji Mu had not vomited even the first time she killed someone.

She had been taught that the weak were prey to the strong, and often heard of people dying. She had even seen corpses from a young age. When they grew older, the Lineage would arrange for them to hunt wild beasts, even bandits and brigands with little strength.

Someone like Huo Hai, who had grown this old before killing for the first time, was truly unusual. Wait, had Huo Hai not lost his memories? Perhaps he had forgotten what he did in the past, and this really was his first killing since recovering his memories. With that thought, Ji Mu became even more interested in Huo Hai. Just how had this little fellow trained those techniques?

She remembered that it had only been around two months since his amnesia. At last, Huo Hai had emptied his stomach completely. For a while, he did not want to eat anything. The Star Gu also crawled out of their wounds at this time and secretly flew back to Huo Hai's side.

"Miss Ji, it's safe now. You should leave quickly as well. I still have to continue my trial." Huo Hai truly did not want to travel with anyone else. He did not want his secrets exposed. Ever since coming to this world, Huo Hai had carried a certain fear within him.

Whenever his secrets were exposed, the fear in Huo Hai's heart would always deepen for no reason.

"You want me to leave? That won't do. Are you really going to watch a weak woman wander alone through the mountain forest? What if I run into spirit beasts? What if I meet other people with improper intentions toward me? Just help me out and take me with you. I won't cause you trouble. Besides, I still need to repay you properly." Rarely, Ji Mu acted coquettishly.

After acting coquettishly, Ji Mu's face suddenly turned crimson. How could she make such a gesture? This was not home, and this guy was not her family. How could she behave like that? It must have been because she had just been saved, leaving her mind unsettled.

Ji Mu told herself this, yet she also felt as though Huo Hai were family. She did not know why, but looking at Huo Hai made her feel extremely calm. People who were neither affected nor wore hypocritical masks were truly rare.

Huo Hai showed no unusual reaction, and Ji Mu's complexion recovered slightly. "Hmph, I don't care. I'm following you anyway, so don't even think about shaking me off." Ji Mu spoke with her lips puffed out. It was all this fellow's fault for making her embarrass herself. She had to make him pay.

Huo Hai shook his head helplessly. And she called herself a weak woman? Her cultivation had probably already reached the Spirit Blood Peak. One more step and she would enter the Spirit Bone Realm. If she broke through, even all those people combined would not have been able to stop her. But what could Huo Hai do? He could neither beat this woman nor kill her, and in cultivation, he was no match for her.

Huo Hai might be very capable of killing people, but when it came to speed, he was lacking. During this period, he had cultivated and studied some combat techniques, but they were all for attacking and defending. As for movement techniques, he only had simple evasive maneuvers.

Huo Hai discovered that wherever he went, Ji Mu followed. She was completely carefree, not worrying about her situation in the slightest. Huo Hai was helpless. Had he known, he should not have shown himself. He should have saved her from the shadows and then left.

"How long are you planning to follow me? How about I give you a hundred cards, and you leave the mountain forest now? That way, you'll be safe, and you'll also pass the Imperial City Academy entrance trial." The trial could end early, so long as one obtained more than a hundred cards. Though there were surely quite a few people lying in ambush at the exit.

Ji Mu pouted, looking thoroughly displeased. "Hmph, I'm following you. If you refuse, I'll go to your home and tell your father that you bullied me." What kind of rogue tactic was that? Was she a child?

Huo Hai did not see that Ji Mu's face had already turned scarlet. What's wrong with me? How could I say something like that? Honestly. If he really bullied me, wouldn't that mean... Ah, what am I even thinking? Although she was already in her twenties, Ji Mu had spent most of her time cultivating. Deep down, she was still like a little girl.

Huo Hai was helpless. He could not shake her off, so it seemed he could only proceed in secret. After Huo Hai left, several Star Gu flew back to the place where the battle had just taken place. They devoured all the corpses on the ground, along with everything else.

All of it was energy, so it would be a waste not to use it. Besides, destroying the corpses and covering the traces would prevent anyone from discovering anything. Presumably, He Wang would not speak of such a matter himself. If he did, so much the better—Huo Hai would not even need to act.

He had privately raised a large force of personal soldiers. The other heirs of the He Family would never let him off. Huo Hai had not thought of this during the battle, but after it ended, he recalled it bit by bit. Thinking it over, that really was how it was.