Chapter 122: Showing One's Skills

"They are on the mountain! They are on the mountain!" the remaining men shouted.

"Kill them! Kill them for me!" the Altar Master gritted his teeth and ordered. "Go!"

A group of men headed up the mountain, but only those who were physically capable could make the ascent. After all, the intestinal cramping left them without an ounce of strength, and having suffered through a full day of diarrhea without replacing electrolytes, those who hadn't collapsed with high fevers were already considered to be in good physical condition. There was no way they could run up the mountain.

A few who were unaffected charged into the woods, vanishing into the shroud of shadows cast by the trees, unaware of what was waiting for them in the dark.

Within the gloom, the shifting shadows of the trees, combined with the tension in their hearts, made it nearly impossible to distinguish between a motionless person and a tree trunk without careful scrutiny.

A flash of cold light flickered by. Before the charging figure could react, he felt a warmth at his neck, followed by a hot stream flowing down. He tried to cry out, only to find he could no longer make a sound. Everything happened in utter silence.

Those still charging up the mountain in the darkness noticed that the person who had been running beside them a moment ago had suddenly vanished when they turned their heads to look. Realizing something was wrong, the man stopped in his tracks and raised his wood-chopping blade.

Suddenly, there was a rustle of leaves above his head. Before he could look up, a dark shape descended upon him. A hand clamped over his chin, muffling his mouth. Before he could utter a sound, he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his throat. Instinctively looking down, he realized an arrowhead was protruding from his own throat, having pierced through from the back of his neck.

Ah, he recognized this arrow; it was the same type carried by the hunters in their party. It had been snapped in half, with only the end holding the arrowhead remaining. The arrowhead had pierced his throat and exited from the back of his neck.

Dog-Er exerted force, pulled out the arrowhead, and released his grip. Without even a glance, he leaped back into the canopy and vanished.

Whether it was Boss Shi or Dog-Er, the two men had different ways of killing in the dark, but both were as fluid and seamless as flowing water.

Wei Renshi hid behind a massive boulder, his heart pounding violently. It was his first time witnessing a killing in person, and the increasingly thick scent of blood in the air was forcing its way into his nose. Boss Shi and Dog-Er were like ghosts in the night; Wei Renshi never once caught sight of them, nor did he hear a single scream.

Yet, he could constantly hear the faint thud of bodies hitting the ground.

Are you really just soldiers? Not assassins? Doubts stirred in Wei Renshi’s heart. With skills like theirs, could they truly just be common foot soldiers?

It was an incredibly strange feeling. You knew that killing and being killed were happening all around you, yet you couldn't hear a single sound—the night remained as silent as it had always been.

Suddenly, two dark figures appeared before Wei Renshi, accompanied by a heavy, suffocating scent of blood. They were none other than Boss Shi and Dog-Er.

"Is it done?" Wei Renshi asked.

Boss Shi nodded, his chest heaving slightly.

Dog-Er, however, was perfectly calm. He laughed, "Not bad. Looks like we haven't lost our touch." He seemed like a different person entirely; his eyes were sharp and piercing, and a slightly wicked smile played on his face, a stark contrast to his usual honest and simple appearance.

*Is this guy a split personality?* Wei Renshi suddenly wondered.

"With this, the remaining men down there shouldn't have much fight left in them," Wei Renshi remarked.

Boss Shi nodded and said, "Dog-Er, when we charge down, you have more strength than I do. Go capture that Altar Master first so he can't escape. I'll deal with the few who are still standing."

"Understood," Dog-Er agreed.

Boss Shi took a deep breath, turned around, and said, "Let's go!"

With that, the two of them charged down toward the road. On the road, the group of men was huddled together, keeping watch. They had heard the constant rustling of leaves from above but heard no voices, unaware that the men they had sent up were all dead.

Suddenly, two figures leaped out from above. The two shadows separated in mid-air; one jumped directly into the middle of the crowd, while the other landed on the periphery. With a flick of his arm and a flash of cold light, the sound of "pfft-pfft" immediately followed. It was the sound of skin and flesh being sliced open.

The one who leaped into the crowd charged like a wild bull. With a roar, he slammed into two men in his path, sending them flying, and then reached for the Altar Master behind them.

The men beside the Altar Master suddenly lunged forward to block him. Dog-Er grabbed the Altar Master’s shoulder and yanked him backward, knocking him down. Without stopping, he used the momentum of that pull to surge forward. The Altar Master turned to flee, but Dog-Er flicked his wrist, and the half-arrowhead he held flew out, embedding itself into the man’s calf.

The Altar Master stumbled and rolled onto the ground. Dog-Er stepped over him in one stride, grabbed his throat, lifted him up, and wrapped his arm around the man's neck to choke him, while his other hand came down in a swift strike to the back of the man's head. The Altar Master went limp in Dog-Er’s arms.

Dog-Er turned and kicked out. The man who had tried to block him earlier lunged again, only to be caught in the chest by Dog-Er’s kick. The man let out a miserable howl and flew backward, spitting out mouthfuls of blood before hitting the ground, twitching a few times until he went still.

"Your Altar Master has been captured! Surrender now!" Dog-Er roared.

Having killed those men in the woods, he was covered in blood. Now, with one arm pinning the Altar Master and his face illuminated by the moonlight, he wore a sinister smile, appearing like a vicious ghost in the night, terrifying to behold.

Boss Shi’s wood-chopping blade was embedded in the skull of a man he had already split in two. He kicked the head to free his blade, the red and white fluids dripping down from the steel. He scanned the surrounding crowd and shouted fiercely, "Whoever moves, I’ll kill him!"

The group was paralyzed with fear, not daring to move a muscle.

Wei Renshi’s stomach churned, feeling as if his gut were cramping. He pressed his hand firmly against his abdomen, which seemed to provide some relief. He wanted to take a deep breath, but the thick, bloody scent in the air felt like it was clogging his windpipe, making his chest feel even tighter.

Seeing that no one dared to move, Boss Shi kept watch while Dog-Er tore a strip of cloth from the Altar Master's robes, bound his arms behind his back, and stuffed a wad of cloth into his mouth.

Boss Shi brandished his blade at the rest of the group and shouted, "Tear off your clothes and tie yourselves up! I’ll count to ten—whoever isn't bound by then, I’ll be the one to split them next!"

The men were already terrified out of their wits. Hearing this, they scrambled to tear their clothes into strips and began binding their own hands. Boss Shi then tied the strips into slipknots, stringing them together one by one and tethering them to the belly of a horse.

"Young Master, mount up!" Dog-Er shouted.

Wei Renshi jumped down, ran to his horse, and climbed up using the stirrup. Boss Shi also mounted his horse and grabbed the reins of the horse tethering the prisoners. Dog-Er threw the Altar Master onto his horse and climbed on behind him.

Boss Shi yelled at the remaining men, "Whoever doesn't want to stay behind to feed the wolves, run after me!"

With that, he whipped his horse and started galloping down the road. Wei Renshi and Dog-Er followed suit. The group of men, already in a state of chaos and terrified of being left for the wolves, didn't think twice and began running after the three horses.