Chapter 105: Hei Mo
The narrow valley path sandwiched between two mountain walls served as the only entrance and exit to this reclusive little village. At this moment, that sole passage was tightly blocked by a group of men exuding an aura like wild wolves, each with malicious and mocking eyes fixed on the terrified crowd before them.
"I've said it many times already. This is just an ordinary little village. There are no so-called treasures here, and certainly no one you're looking for." Feng Baichuan clenched his fist, doing his utmost to suppress his fury. Any one of these villains ahead could easily overpower any member of their clan. This was a group of evil men they had no hope of resisting.
"An ordinary little village? Hahahaha! An ordinary little village would be located in the center of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range? And would be guarding such a strange sealing formation? I think you're clearly a declining Guardian Clan!"
Amid a burst of wild laughter, a middle-aged man wearing a black hat, with a face full of bulging muscles, stepped forward from the Black Demon Mercenary Group. Three men followed behind him, all wearing sinister grins and exuding profound aura so powerful that it made Feng Baichuan's face turn pale. He glanced sideways at Feng Baichuan and sneered, "I am the chief here, Hei Mo, leader of the Black Demon Mercenary Group. We have absolutely no interest in slaughtering trash. I'll give you one last chance. If you obediently hand over the treasures and the beauty, I swear on my honor as chief that we'll turn around and leave immediately, without harming a single person here. If you dare to be ungrateful again..." Hei Mo brandished the thick spiked club in his hand and grinned fiercely, "Then we wouldn't mind adding another hundred or so kills."
Panicked cries rang out softly. Behind Feng Baichuan, everyone's faces were a mix of anger and fear. Some children huddled in their mothers' arms, crying in fright. Some elderly people trembled with rage, shouting repeatedly, "You villains... you'll definitely get what's coming to you!"
Feng Baichuan clenched his teeth hard and said, "I've already said there's nothing! As for that sealing formation, even we don't know what it is! Even if you kill us all, we still wouldn't know."
"Oh ho! Quite a tough mouth. Looks like we need to spill some blood before you'll behave. No matter, we have plenty of time to play with you slowly." Hei Mo grinned and glanced at a middle-aged man carrying an axe in the back, "Hei Zi, teach them a lesson! Kill or cripple, whatever you like."
"You've got it, Chief!" The man called Hei Zi stepped forward, brandishing a large chopping knife. He swung the blade showily, licked his lips, and looked at them with a contemptuous gaze as if they were ants. "Ungrateful bastards. Your grandpa here will teach you a lesson."
With that, he swung his blade horizontally and slashed at Feng Baichuan.
"Don't you dare harm our Clan Leader!"
Three elders behind Feng Baichuan rushed out together to meet Hei Zi. These three elders were all at the tenth level of the Initial Xuan Realm. Even with Feng Baichuan added, they were no match for Hei Zi, who was at the sixth level of the Xuan Entry Realm. On Hei Zi's first strike, the domineering blade aura directly sliced through the first elder's profound defense, leaving a long bloody gash on his left chest.
"Split Mountain Blade!"
Hei Zi sneered coldly, his blade style growing even more vicious. He was not from a sect, so naturally he had no profound arts to speak of, and his profound skills were the lowest grade. But with his profound power level, even without using any skills, he could easily crush Feng Baichuan and the others. Once he used his skills, it was like sweeping away fallen leaves in the autumn wind. Wherever his blade passed, it left wounds on the three elders' bodies. Then he suddenly kicked out heavily, striking Feng Baichuan's lower abdomen, sending him flying more than three zhang away, spraying a large mouthful of blood.
"Clan Leader!!"
"Father!"
Feng Zuer and Feng Xianer cried out simultaneously as they rushed out from Feng Caiyun's arms, throwing themselves beside Feng Baichuan, tugging at his body and wailing loudly. The three elders also collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from their wounds, despair written all over their faces.
"Heh heh, these two brats are your children, right?" Hei Zi dragged his blade, walking step by step toward Feng Baichuan, his voice sinister. "Then let me see if your mouth is still so hard after I gouge out your daughter's eyes!"
As he spoke, with Feng Baichuan's pupils violently contracting, Hei Zi suddenly reached out, grabbing toward the terrified Feng Xianer.
"Stop right there!!"
A furious, delicate shout suddenly came from the side. At the same time, a snow-white sword light shot over like a shooting star. Hei Zi reacted quickly, hurriedly withdrawing his hand and stumbling backward. A jade-carved white sword precisely pierced the spot where he had been standing a moment ago, startling him into a cold sweat. Then, a snowy white graceful figure descended, pulling the jade sword from the ground and pointing it straight at Hei Zi, her gaze icy and furious.
The moment Lan Xueruo appeared, the Black Demon Mercenary Group erupted in a chorus of sharp intakes of breath and sounds of swallowing. They all stared blankly at Lan Xueruo, eyes wide, pupils bulging, expressions stupefied. More than half of them had drool dripping from their mouths without even realizing it.
"Ch-Chief! It's her! It's her!" The axe man from yesterday said excitedly to Hei Mo. "Didn't I tell you? Isn't she like a fairy?"
Hei Mo's eyes had already widened, and even his hands began to tremble. He swallowed hard and said hoarsely, "Beautiful! Damn, so beautiful! There's actually a woman this beautiful in the world! Damn it! Compared to her, all the women I've played with before aren't even worth looking at!"
"I have to get that woman! If I can sleep with a woman like that for even one night, I won't have lived this life in vain."
"Heh heh, since she's already come out, she's already yours," the axe man flattered. "But although she looks young, her profound power has already reached the True Xuan Realm. Chief, taming her might take a bit of effort."
"Me, Hei Hu, Hei Gui, and Hei Lang—four at the True Xuan Realm, plus over a hundred brothers—how can we not handle a little beauty? Hahahaha!" Hei Mo rubbed his hands together and laughed heartily, his heated gaze as if Lan Xueruo was already his prize.
"Hei Zi, fall back. This little beauty, I'll handle her myself."
Hei Zi stepped back obediently. The members of the Black Demon Mercenary Group all stared fixedly at Lan Xueruo but could only swallow their saliva dryly. A woman like this would definitely be enjoyed by Hei Mo alone; they could only fantasize at most.
"Hey, beauty, what's your name? How old are you?" Hei Mo shouldered his spiked club, revealing a mouthful of disgusting yellow teeth, his eyes lecherous.
The aura of profound force emanating from Hei Mo made Lan Xueruo's brows tighten slightly... True Xuan Realm, Level 3. He was not weaker than her at all. She took a deep breath, her expression indifferent, and said coldly, "You are a mercenary group. You take commissions and do jobs, not a group of bandits! Persistent evil will lead to heavenly retribution! This is not a place you should be. Leave immediately!"
Seeing Lan Xueruo up close, the faintly emanating aura of a celestial being and nobility made Hei Mo's bones feel weak. He swallowed hard again and leered, "Make us leave here? Easy, easy. Since the beauty speaks, this matter is very simple. As long as the beauty agrees to return with me and become my chief's wife, I, Hei Mo, guarantee we'll leave right away and never come to this place in my lifetime. What do you say, beauty?"
"How dare you!" Lan Xueruo shouted angrily, then quickly realized that phrase wasn't quite suitable, making her even angrier. She knew speaking any more to these villains was useless, so she thrust her sword directly at Hei Mo... to resolve the immediate crisis, the only method she could think of was to defeat Hei Mo, then take him hostage and force the Black Demon Mercenary Group to retreat.
Hei Mo hadn't expected Lan Xueruo to attack so suddenly. He hurriedly raised his spiked club to block, momentarily flustered as Lan Xueruo pressed him back with several consecutive sword strikes.
Lan Xueruo's sword was coated with golden light, the sword shadows gorgeous and swift, dazzling Hei Mo. With two "chi chi" sounds, the light armor on his body was cut open in two places, and even his protective profound force was sliced through, a large chunk of flesh flying off directly.
The mercenaries of the Black Demon Mercenary Group were all dumbfounded. This girl, who looked only seventeen or eighteen, had wounded their chief, Hei Mo, with her first strike... and Hei Mo was at the True Xuan Realm, Level 3!
Having taken a not-insignificant wound, Hei Mo's temper flared up. With a loud roar, he swung his spiked club fiercely. Suddenly, three strange snake-like sparks of lightning flickered on the club's body, crackling with a dangerous force.
A lightning-type profound skill? Lan Xueruo felt a slight shock. For the chief of an ordinary mercenary group to possess a lightning-type profound skill...
"Mad Snake Lightning Dance!"
The massive spiked club, crackling with lightning, swept a huge arc, completely covering the area where Lan Xueruo stood. With no room to dodge, Lan Xueruo's sword blazed with golden light, and she met it head-on.
Ding!!
Sparks flew everywhere. Lan Xueruo's jade sword bent sharply. The violent force sent her flipping backward. But the moment her toes touched the ground, her entire body shot toward Hei Mo once more. Deep within her beautiful eyes, a golden light flashed, and from her mouth came a low chant that only she could hear...
"Em...peror... Sword..."
Since subduing Hei Mo was the only hope of resolving the crisis, Lan Xueruo had no reason to hold anything back. Her strongest profound skill stabbed straight at Hei Mo.
The moment that sword thrust out, Yun Che's eyes shook violently... because the sword momentum carried by Lan Xueruo's sword at that moment was a kind of momentum he had never seen before. It was just a plain, straight thrust, yet the sword momentum was fierce and domineering, with an unconcealed pride, like an emperor looking down upon the world, arrogant and irresistible, unstoppable.
"Mad Snake Lightning Dance" was immensely powerful. Hei Mo had never imagined that Lan Xueruo, after blocking that strike head-on, could counterattack so quickly. He hurriedly swung his spiked club to block. The moment the sword tip touched the club, Hei Mo's expression suddenly changed drastically, because an astonishing force that he could not resist came through the club. With a "ding," his body was sent flying backward, and the spiked club was knocked out of his hands, flying far away. But Lan Xueruo's sword momentum was undiminished; the sword tip stabbed straight into Hei Mo's left shoulder, cutting through his protective profound energy like tofu and piercing out from the back of his shoulder... directly punching a transparent hole in his shoulder.