# Chapter 318: The Tracker Dies
The inconspicuous van slowly drove deeper into the woods along the uneven slope.
The two vehicles following behind slowed down. The woman driving the lead car said, "Is Hou Song messing with us? Wasn't Xu Huo's car supposed to be heading back to Ting City? Why is it running into the deep mountains and forests?"
"Can't you see? They've been discovered." The bald man in the passenger seat smiled nonchalantly. "Deep mountains and forests have their advantages. Kill someone, bury them on the spot, and even the King of Hell won't find their soul!"
The woman also smiled at this. Just as she was about to say something, a heavy thud suddenly came from above. A thick-bladed weapon pierced through the car roof, went straight through her head, and emerged from her neck!
The moving car swerved out of control and crashed into a nearby tree. The thick blade didn't even pull out after killing her—it simply tore through the metal roof and slashed toward the passenger seat!
"Emergency evac!" the bald man roared. He and the four players in the back seat were ejected from the car by some unknown force. The five of them rolled in different directions. Looking up at the person on the car, they saw it was a young girl holding half a pair of scissors, pulling the blade out from the window.
"This is one of Xu Huo's tough fighters. Tell Chen Er and the others to be careful!" the bald man shouted. But when his companions turned to look, they saw that the car behind them had its roof completely sliced off. After the front end crashed into a tree, the roof and several heads inside rolled off with a thud!
Before the group could recover from their shock, one of them suddenly grabbed his neck with both hands as he was dragged diagonally backward—straight toward the person emerging from behind the tree!
"Xu Huo!" The bald man recognized the sword-wielder as Xu Huo at a glance. He was about to move forward when a burst of bullets blocked his path. Sima Xiao'er and two Special Defense Department players surrounded him with guns raised. "Let's see if you can outrun bullets!"
The bald man was forced to hide behind a tree. Meanwhile, the player being dragged by the strings reached Xu Huo but suddenly transformed into a scarecrow!
"Substitute item?" Xu Huo sliced the scarecrow in half with one sword stroke, pulled out a lighter, turned around, and set fire to the player who had used the scarecrow substitute.
The weather had turned cool now, so everyone was wearing long sleeves and pants. The fire spread across his body in an instant, and tearing off his clothes wasn't fast enough. The substitute player rolled on the ground, while another short-haired female player leaped over and threw something like laundry beads at him.
The beads didn't seem numerous, but when they burst open, they released a basin's worth of water, all pouring onto the burning player!
But at that moment, hair snakes woven from long strands whipped in from the side, intercepting most of the water flow, then quickly lunged at the female player!
The female player retreated. The substitute player had also torn off most of his clothes. While dodging Xu Huo's attacks, he produced a glass water gun from his hand and pulled the trigger!
"Panda Charge!" Shen Xin charged in from the side, slamming into the player like a cannonball. The fired bullet grazed past Xu Huo's side and hit a nearby tree. The corrosive liquid splattered, instantly melting a fist-sized hole in the trunk.
"We'll handle that side!" Hu Wenhu chased after him.
Xu Huo turned and swept his gaze forward. Sima Xiao'er and the others were keeping the bald man occupied. Zhou Ning and Liu Jia were dealing with the female player. The remaining two were fighting Yan Jiayu.
After a brief pause, he quickly opened and closed the lighter, setting fire to several people. Except for the bald man who had dodged behind a tree, the other three were all hit. The female player was killed by Zhou Ning, while Yan Jiayu took the opportunity to break one player's arm and kick the other away!
The situation shifted to two-on-one and one-on-one. But just as Zhou Ning and Liu Jia were making their move, that player rubbed three fingers together. Something seemed to shatter in his hand, and the falling leaves in the forest turned into flying blades, shooting toward Yan Jiayu!
"Watch out!" Liu Jia shouted reflexively. But as she was distracted, the leaf-controlling player suddenly appeared before her. She instinctively raised her arm to block his punch, but a thin thread looped around her shoulder and yanked her away!
Xu Huo appeared behind her, swinging his sword forward. After forcing the player back, he quickly glanced at the slightly injured Yan Jiayu and immediately said, "Keep your distance from them. The item activation has a close-range condition!"
Yan Jiayu immediately understood. "He hit my shoulder earlier!"
As she spoke, she dodged another wave of leaf attacks, swung her large scissors to cut down a nearby tree, then leaped and kicked it over toward the two players.
Both sides separated. The leaf-controlling player circled around from behind another tree, seemingly trying to close the distance with Yan Jiayu.
Yan Jiayu didn't fall for it. Without a word, she retreated. The man angrily stopped in his tracks because Xu Huo and the other two were blocking his way!
"If I call your name, do you dare to answer?" Liu Jia suddenly shouted at him. The player turned around, and immediately his vision went dark.
It was darkness in the literal sense. The moment he turned his head, a layer of something like black paper covered his eyes!
The opportunity for survival was fleeting. Xu Huo instantly used the strings to change position and swung his sword from the side.
The man was split in two. But with this one dead, there was still another behind the fallen tree. Seeing the situation, that player turned and ran without a word.
Yan Jiayu was faster than anyone. Like a clearing machine, she swung her large scissors, continuously cutting down trees. The fleeing player was forced to dodge wildly as trees fell around him. He turned back and threw a black rat at her.
That rat was an item. After being thrown, it quickly split apart, producing dozens of rats in an instant. They were fast and could climb trees!
Seeing Yan Jiayu delayed, the player smiled. But then he suddenly saw someone standing ahead of him!
"Xu Huo!" He slammed on the brakes, but when he met the eyes of the person in front of him, he suddenly froze in place.
Xu Huo, who had cut ahead, glanced at the man's stiffened limbs. He used the strings to hook his throat and pulled him up into the air. Only when he was high enough did he let go.
The man screamed as he fell from a height of several dozen meters. His arms and legs were all broken, but he wasn't dead yet.
Xu Huo walked over and finished him off with a sword.
On the other side, the rats caught by Zhou Ning's hair snakes gradually disappeared, leaving only a single toy rat.
"This thing is pretty troublesome." Yan Jiayu picked up the toy rat and tossed it to Xu Huo.
Xu Huo stored it in his item slot. The group returned to their original positions. Shen Xin and Hu Wenhu's fight wasn't over yet, but their opponent was heavily injured and on his last legs. So Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu went to help Sima Xiao'er's side.
The bald man was probably the strongest among this group of players. He had been holding off several armed Special Defense Department players with only minor injuries.
He also had combat experience. After the previous fire attacks, he was consciously hiding behind trees.
Xu Huo didn't necessarily need to use fire to deal with him. He exchanged a glance with Yan Jiayu, and the two split left and right. Then he gestured to Liu Jia, who shouted at the bald man:
"If I call your name, do you dare to answer?"