Likewise

A steady stream of vital essence spread from his stomach and intestines, mending the wound on his back.

The burning pain slowly faded.

Just then, a figure suddenly rushed out from Village Road.

"?!"

When Han Can saw the corpses on the ground, his pupils dilated.

He looked at Lu Mian, the only person still standing, and asked coldly, "Lu Mian, what happened?"

Without so much as blushing, Lu Mian said, "Captain Han, Yu Hao and the others seemed to have been possessed by Weird Beings or Evil Spirits. The moment they saw me, they attacked like madmen."

"I had no choice but to kill them all."

His cleaver was still dripping blood, so he certainly couldn't claim he hadn't killed them.

Lu Mian could only concoct another excuse.

In a place like Xu Family Village, possession by Evil Spirits or Weird Beings was a plausible explanation anyway.

Han Can wasn't so easily convinced.

He asked hesitantly, "All four of them were possessed?"

"That's right. All of them." Lu Mian sounded utterly certain.

Han Can's eyes flickered.

Just then, he abruptly turned toward his left.

It was as though something had appeared there.

Lu Mian instinctively followed Han Can's movement and turned his head too.

In that instant, Han Can struck, driving his palm toward Lu Mian's temple.

During their conversation, he had imperceptibly closed to within three meters of Lu Mian.

That was close enough for him to knock Lu Mian unconscious in an instant.

But the moment he struck, he caught a glimmer of white light.

Lu Mian had also attacked without warning, thrusting his blade at Han Can's lower abdomen!

Clang!

Han Can felt as though a sledgehammer had struck his belly. He staggered back more than ten meters, coughing blood.

"Hidden armor... what a shame."

Lu Mian shook his head.

Silver gleamed at Han Can's lower abdomen. He was clearly wearing armor beneath his clothes.

His cleaver's piercing power was indeed lacking; it hadn't penetrated the armor.

"You!"

Han Can had intended to catch Lu Mian off guard, only to nearly fall victim to the same trick himself.

"Captain Han!"

"Likewise!"

Lu Mian sneered, raised his blade in both hands, and unleashed a savage slash at Han Can.

His reason for killing Han Can was simple.

He needed to silence him.

If Han Can made it back alive, Lu Mian would certainly be in trouble.

"You think you can kill me?"

"That was your last chance."

Han Can smiled contemptuously, drew the long saber at his waist, and slashed back!

He was confident that his Blood-Qi Perfection strength would let him overwhelm Lu Mian!

Clang!

The two blades collided violently.

Lu Mian didn't retreat a single step. Instead, Han Can's hands went numb, and he was driven back several paces.

Even the webs between his thumbs and forefingers split open.

"How is this possible?"

"Your blood-qi hasn't reached perfection yet. How are you so strong?"

Han Can couldn't believe it.

"Because I'm a genius!"

Lu Mian grinned, swinging his cleaver with both hands and unleashing one ferocious slash after another.

Han Can quickly adjusted, wielding his saber as he fought Lu Mian.

Strength alone had never determined victory.

With my martial arts and the Soft-Scale Silver Armor I'm wearing, how could I possibly lose?

They exchanged blows at a rapid pace.

Lu Mian's blade work was as ferocious as a tiger, his momentum overwhelming. He seemed to have Han Can on the back foot.

But he soon realized that his opponent was merely dodging and defending, wearing down his strength.

Lu Mian changed his approach too, no longer pouring all his strength into every attack.

Han Can hadn't expected Lu Mian to see through his intentions.

He stopped holding back as well.

"Thousand Feathers Scatter the Sky!"

Han Can suddenly unleashed a killing move!

His wrist trembled as he exerted his strength, sending his saber stabbing forward at blinding speed. Like a flurry of sharp feathers, the strikes engulfed Lu Mian.

Clang, clang, clang!!!

Lu Mian swung his cleaver to defend himself.

But he had only mastered the basics of the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade, far from any profound level.

Besides, the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade wasn't suited to defense in the first place.

Cuts kept appearing on his arms, waist, abdomen, and torso.

Yet Han Can felt anything but reassured.

Lu Mian's skin was far too tough, and he was deliberately keeping his vital areas out of harm's way.

The wounds Han Can inflicted only broke the skin, drawing barely a few drops of blood.

The two remained locked in a stalemate.

But as the fight dragged on, Han Can began to sense something was wrong.

His mind felt muddled, and dizziness crept over him.

Had he actually developed a fever?!

Lu Mian seemed to notice the change in Han Can. He immediately switched from defense to offense, unleashing the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade in a frenzy of vicious slashes.

He was like a fierce tiger, sinking his teeth into his prey and refusing to let go.

His sudden onslaught dashed Han Can's hopes of escape.

Then Han Can began alternating between chills and heat. His nose ran, he sneezed incessantly, and his body grew increasingly weak.

"How could this happen?!"

"Did you poison me?!"

Han Can roared like a sick tiger.

Lu Mian couldn't be bothered to explain. He unleashed his blood-qi at full force, his blade growing ever more savage and violent.

Han Can couldn't fend him off and retreated again and again.

At last, Lu Mian caught an opening in Han Can's defense, and his cleaver became a vicious streak of white light.

Slash!

Han Can's head flew into the air.

His eyes remained wide with fury, filled with unwillingness to accept his fate.

According to his original plan, tonight should have been the night he broke through to First Realm: Qi Accumulation.

He had intended to humiliate those people in his clan!

Instead, his head had been severed from his body.

Han Can's head landed on the ground.

Blood gushed like a fountain from his headless corpse before it collapsed.

"Phew..."

"This Plague Miasma is pretty useful in a drawn-out fight."

Lu Mian let out a long breath.

As captain of the Falcon Squad, Han Can had achieved Blood-Qi Perfection and possessed superb saber skills. He was the most troublesome opponent Lu Mian had faced so far.

Lu Mian had only won by enduring with his abundant blood-qi while constantly spreading Plague Miasma.

During an intense fight, breathing became much heavier than usual, causing Han Can to inhale more and more Plague Miasma.

Despite his Blood-Qi Perfection and powerful physique, once enough Plague Miasma accumulated inside him, he still couldn't withstand it.

Lu Mian had prepared himself for this as soon as his first thrust failed to kill Han Can.

Next, he began searching the bodies of Han Can, Yu Hao, and the others.

Naturally, he wouldn't pass up Han Can's Soft-Scale Silver Armor. He stripped it off the corpse and put it on himself.

Since his clothes were damaged, he also stripped Gan Wenbin, whose build was similar to his own, and changed into his clothes.

Besides the Soft-Scale Silver Armor, Lu Mian found a Ritual Banner on Han Can.

The Ritual Banner was small, woven from black cloth and embroidered with a strange entity that had a human head, a snake's body, and six arms.

Each of its six hands formed a different, highly intricate ritual seal.

"What is this thing... it feels pretty sinister."

Lu Mian frowned slightly.

He wrapped the Ritual Banner in a strip of cloth and put it away, intending to study it later.

Apart from that, the bodies of Yu Hao and the others yielded little. He only found some silver, a little over a hundred taels in total.

After all, silver was practically useless outside Thousand Chimes Commandery City, so they wouldn't have brought much.

"And they called themselves scions of great clans... they're poorer than I am!"

"Fuck!"

Lu Mian couldn't help complaining.

Aside from those things, only the Talisman Water had any value left.

He removed all their Talisman Water pouches and hung them from his waist.