Rat-a-tat-tat!

Bei Feng's hand froze on the bowstring.

For the first time, bewilderment appeared in those eyes that had always been cold, treating human lives like weeds.

The figure charging out of the bushes was as black as a lump of charcoal freshly raked from a stove.

Even more absurd was what that "lump of charcoal" held in his arms.

A... pig?

It was black too, and had wings.

Such a ridiculous combination should have been laughable.

But Bei Feng could not laugh.

Because the pig's two huge nostrils were aimed straight at his face.

"Oink-pfft!"

He had no time to wonder, What precious technique is this?

Dense blue light bullets poured toward him like a raging storm.

There was no buildup of runes, no violent fluctuation of the essence of heaven and earth-only speed, so fast the shots joined into a blue whip of light.

"Scatter!"

Bei Feng barely managed to shout before instinctively sliding down the giant wolf's flank.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The head of the giant wolf beneath him was instantly riddled like a sieve. Without even a howl, its limbs stiffened and it crashed to the ground.

Bei Feng rolled several times through the dirt in a sorry heap, his face covered in dust and his finely made hide armor caked with mud.

The people from Bei Village behind him were not so lucky.

"Ugh-"

"My hand!"

A series of dull impacts set everyone's teeth on edge.

The dozen or so riders at the front fell like wheat beneath a sickle.

They were not dead, nor had they lost much blood, but every one of them convulsed violently on the ground, frothing at the mouth, their limbs flailing uncontrollably as though someone had ripped out their spines.

Those strange blue beams not only disrupted the bone text they were forming, but also directly blocked their nerve signals.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!"

Shi Hou was still supplying the sound effects.

He planted his legs in a horse stance, cradling the black pig as he twisted at the waist and swept his muzzle across the enemy.

Kang, the pig, had gotten carried away too. Perhaps he had eaten too many radishes; the blue light spewing from his nostrils came thick and fast, thoroughly plowing the fan-shaped area before him.

A scorched smell filled the air.

"What... what is that?"

Shi Shoushan, who had been ready to fight to the death, stood holding the Broken Sword, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.

He stared at the son who normally did nothing but cook, and the pig who normally did nothing but sleep.

His brain could not quite keep up.

"Overheated!"

Shi Hou suddenly let out a strange yell and abruptly stopped.

Kang let out a "Gah!" in his arms. Two streams of black smoke rose from his nostrils, his tongue lolled out, and his body went limp as a puddle of mud.

"Useless pig. Extra training when we get back."

Shi Hou cursed, casually tossed Kang behind him, and roared:

"Little One, go! Beat him up!"

There was really no need to shout.

The instant Bei Feng tumbled off the wolf, before he could regain his footing,

a tiny figure had already closed in like a ghost.

Fire blazed in Shi Hao's big eyes. Without a word, he used the momentum of his charge to drive his little fist, wrapped in silver runes, straight at Bei Feng's face.

"Get lost!"

Bei Feng was a genius, after all, and reacted extremely quickly.

With no time to rise, he slapped the ground with one hand and twisted his body at an unnatural angle. His great bow swept sideways like a battle saber, dazzling runic light flaring along its limb.

Clang!

Fist met bow with the ringing clash of metal.

Shi Hao did not budge. Instead, the iron bow in Bei Feng's hand creaked under the unbearable strain.

"Impossible! Your strength..."

Bei Feng's pupils abruptly contracted.

This milk-drinking toddler's physical strength was even more terrifying than that of a primordial remnant's young!

"You're the one I'm beating!"

His little face taut, Shi Hao opened his fist into a palm, seized the bow's limb, and yanked hard.

Snap!

He tore the treasured bow handed down through Bei Village clean apart.

The next moment, that chubby little fist grew impossibly large in Bei Feng's terrified gaze.

Bam!

A solid punch smashed into the bridge of his nose.

Blood spattered.

The young master of Bei Village, normally so haughty, his face fair as jade, now looked like a porcelain doll struck by a sledgehammer. He flew backward, his nose caved in, tears and snot instantly smearing his face.

"Again!"

Shi Hao gave him no chance to catch his breath. He straddled him and pummeled him with alternating fists.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Every punch landed with the crack of breaking bone.

Those dull, flesh-pounding impacts made the scalps of the nearby Bei Village people prickle, but their paralyzed bodies left them helpless to do anything except watch their young master take a savage beating.

"Stop! Stop hitting me!"

Bei Feng's face was covered in blood. He shielded his head with both hands, all his former icy menace gone from his voice, leaving only a shrill, sobbing plea.

"I lost! I surrender! Spare me!"

Shi Hao's raised fist stopped in midair.

He looked at the boy beneath him, beaten beyond recognition, and at those eyes filled with fear and pleading.

Some of the fury faded from Little One's eyes.

He was only four, after all.

Though he had grown up in the Great Wilderness and witnessed slaughter, his innocent heart made him hesitate before someone of his own kind who could no longer fight back and was weeping bitterly.

"Leave what you stole, and the antidote."

Shi Hao released Bei Feng's collar and stood up off him, his voice childish but earnest.

"Don't bully anyone from our village again."

"All right, all right, you can have everything. I'll leave right now..."

Bei Feng struggled to his feet, swaying with his head lowered, as though the beating had completely cowed him.

Shi Hao turned to help his injured clan uncle.

At that very instant,

a glint of utter malice flashed beneath Bei Feng's lowered eyelids.

His right hand was behind his back. At some point, a pitch-black bone needle had appeared between his fingers.

It had been ground from a venomous fang shed by Bei Village's sacrificial spirit. Its poison killed the moment it drew blood, and it was designed to pierce runic defenses.

"Die, you little brat!"

His face twisted, Bei Feng suddenly lunged, stabbing the bone needle straight at Shi Hao's back, toward his heart.

He was too close.

Less than three steps separated them.

Shi Hao sensed the vicious rush of air behind him, but his body reacted a fraction too late.

"Watch out!"

In the distance, Shi Linhu's eyes widened as though their corners would split.

Thud!

An exceedingly heavy impact rang out, like a blow against a muffled drum.

The vicious grin froze on Bei Feng's face.

His bone needle had indeed struck something.

But not Shi Hao's back.

It was a large hand-pitch-black, rough, and hard as divine iron.

Shi Hou had appeared behind Shi Hao without anyone noticing. He seized Bei Feng's wrist with that hand, letting the deadly bone needle strike his palm.

Sparks flew.

The bone needle snapped.

It had not even pierced Shi Hou's black skin.

"I gave you a way out, and you spat in my face."

Shi Hou's voice was cold, without the slightest inflection.

He twisted his hand.

Crack!

Bei Feng's wrist was instantly wrung into a twisted braid, pale splinters of bone piercing through his flesh.

"Aah-!"

The scream had barely begun when a large hand clamped tightly around his throat.

Shi Hou lifted Bei Feng off the ground with one hand, like a chick awaiting slaughter.

He slowly raised his other hand. Blood and vital energy thundered in his palm as two hundred thousand jin of strength gathered at his fingertips.

His resolve to kill was set.

Since this man was a scourge, he should put an end to any future trouble here and now.

Just as his palm was about to smash the crown of Bei Feng's head.