Chapter 195: Chapter 185: Night Terror (Part 2)
Zhao Lin was hiding in a thicket, waiting for an elder to arrive and save the day, when he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps.
The footsteps were chaotic and scattered, coming from several directions. There were at least five people!
’These idiots, why are they coming over to watch the show? They’re going to get themselves killed!’
Zhao Lin’s expression changed. A thought suddenly struck him: although the signal flare could summon an elder, it would also attract curious disciples.
It was no wonder. During last year’s autumn harvest, his own first reaction upon seeing a signal flare had been to go see what was happening.
But they didn’t know that the danger this time wasn’t from beasts, but from people!
What was worse, two of the approaching disciples were running from a direction that put them on a collision course with the two masked men’s escape route.
The two groups were about to run right into each other!
’What should I do?’
Zhao Lin gritted his teeth, leaped up from the thicket, and broke into a sprint.
’Judging by the masked men’s actions, they’re probably at the Blood Realm. I should be able to protect myself with my speed. If I can just buy a little more time, the elder will be here soon.’
"Huh?"
The two disciples running over were none other than Zhang Xiaoshan and Guo Enze from the Water Mirror Department. They happened to be nearby and ran over to check things out when they saw the flare, not expecting to run right into two masked men.
The two groups met unexpectedly. Four people, eight eyes, stared at each other, all of them stunned.
"Who are you?" Zhang Xiaoshan asked, looking befuddled.
The shorter, stockier of the two masked men sneered, "Since you’ve stumbled upon us, we might as well kill you!"
"Get back! These two are spies, assassins!" Zhao Lin shouted as a warning.
Zhang Xiaoshan reacted instantly, turning on his heel and running. Guo Enze also turned and bolted in another direction.
The two masked men glanced back at Zhao Lin at the same time, but ignored him and split up to chase Zhang Xiaoshan and Guo Enze.
The distance between them wasn’t great to begin with, and with the obvious gap in their cultivation realms, it took less than ten breaths for the pursuers to catch up.
Seeing he couldn’t escape, Guo Enze spun around and thrust out a palm.
The masked man didn’t even break stride, meeting the attack directly with a palm of his own.
When their palms met, Guo Enze was knocked off balance. He was sent staggering back a dozen or so steps before he could barely regain his footing.
The masked man, however, was completely unaffected. He closed the distance and threw a vicious straight punch.
Guo Enze only managed to block three moves before a punch sent him flying backward. He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
The masked man laughed heartily and strode over to Guo Enze in just a few steps.
Energy pulsed from his palm as he was about to deliver the killing blow, but suddenly, a figure shot out from the side, heading straight for him.
Zhao Lin’s speed was astonishing. The masked man was initially startled, thinking he’d encountered a Blood Realm expert. But when he sensed the level of Zhao Lin’s Qi and Blood, he sneered in disdain. "In a hurry to get reincarnated?"
As he spoke, the masked man threw a horizontal punch. "Die!"
In his mind, a single casual punch would be enough to knock Zhao Lin back. He could kill Guo Enze first and then turn around to deal with Zhao Lin. It wouldn’t be too late.
He only used fifty percent of his strength. To avoid revealing his identity, he also used the most common of techniques: Stone Roar Fist.
Zhao Lin was slightly surprised. ’The opponent is clearly at the Blood Realm, so why is he using Stone Roar Fist?’
’And his power seems a bit lacking.’
He didn’t know the reason, but since he had an opportunity for a sneak attack, he wasn’t going to be polite about it.
Zhao Lin took a preparatory step and lunged forward, throwing an Ice Fist!
After throwing his punch, the masked man’s gaze had already shifted back to Guo Enze.
Just then, he suddenly felt a wave of cold. His face drained of color in shock, but it was already too late to change his move.
Zhao Lin’s cultivation was already at the Third Layer of the Qi Realm. This punch was even more powerful than the one he’d used to knock out Xiang Shaofeng.
BANG! Their fists collided. The masked man felt a sinister, cold energy invade his meridians. It was as if his blood had frozen solid, and he couldn’t muster the slightest bit of strength.
He hurriedly tried to circulate his Qi and Blood to dispel the cold energy.
Unfortunately, that single moment of hesitation was enough to decide life and death.
Zhao Lin had anticipated this momentary pause. He had his follow-up move ready. He closed in, bent his fingers into a claw, and pressed them against the masked man’s chest. The power of the Three Yin Claw erupted.
The masked man grunted. Before he could even deploy his protective energy, Zhao Lin had shattered his heart meridians.
His face was full of disbelief. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. With a THUMP, he collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoshan was in a perilous situation as well, but he was exceptionally slippery and had managed to turn danger into safety several times.
When the short, stocky man caught up to him, Zhang Xiaoshan grabbed a handful of things from his bundle and threw them back.
The stocky man thought they were hidden weapons and instantly dodged, only to discover it was a pile of beast ears. He couldn’t help but roar in fury, "You little bastard!"
As he closed in again, Zhang Xiaoshan threw a bottle, from which a swarm of black dots flew out.
The stocky man threw a punch, but suddenly realized the black dots could fly. They were a swarm of flying ants with pale golden wings.
He didn’t recognize them as Golden-winged Ants and worried they were poisonous, so he abruptly pulled his fist back.
In the time it took for this delay, Zhao Lin had already taken care of the masked man chasing Guo Enze.
The stocky man heard the sound and turned his head to see his companion collapsed on the ground, his condition unknown, while Zhao Lin stood there perfectly fine.
’Third Brother is dead?’
He was shocked. The thought of retreating immediately surfaced in his mind. Ignoring Zhang Xiaoshan, he turned and fled toward the woods to the side.
Zhao Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He waved to Zhang Xiaoshan, then walked over to Guo Enze and asked, "How are you doing?"
One shouldn’t move a heavily injured person, so Zhao Lin didn’t try to help him up.
Guo Enze grimaced in pain. "I’m okay. The wounds on my body aren’t serious, but I think my arm is broken."
Only then did Zhao Lin step forward and help him up.
A few other disciples emerged from the shadows. One of them asked, "Junior Brother Zhao, where did these two masked men come from?"
Zhao Lin shook his head. "I don’t know."
Zhang Xiaoshan chimed in, "Isn’t it obvious? They came to kill us."
"Who would be so bold? This is the Xingyun Sect’s territory..."
Just then, a figure swept over. Elder Huoyu had arrived.
"Who set off the signal flare? What happened?"
Elder Huoyu’s gaze swept over the crowd, then suddenly landed on the corpse on the ground. Their eyelid twitched. "Who is this?"
"I’m the one who set off the signal flare. I saw two masked men acting suspiciously..."
Zhao Lin explained the situation in a few words.
"The absolute audacity!"
Elder Huoyu’s anger flared. Their expression changed, and they opened their mouth to let out a long, piercing whistle.
The whistle was like thunder, carrying far into the distance. It startled birds into flight and was heard clearly throughout the entire mountain forest.
Down at the base of the mountain, the four other elders heard the whistle. Their expressions all changed in unison. Without a word, they sped up the mountain.
Elder Huoyu bent down to examine the corpse. They sent a thread of Primordial Qi into the body and discovered that the deceased’s organs were tough and his Qi and Blood were dense. His cultivation was at least at the Second Layer of the Blood Realm. The elder couldn’t help but shoot a questioning glance at Zhao Lin.
"You said there were two masked men. Where is the other one?"
Zhao Lin pointed to the nearby woods. "He escaped that way."
