The outdoor BOSS that Huang Yi mentioned was none other than Man Lie.
In recent days, Man Lie had been constantly guarding the city gates, waiting for him to leave the city to exact vengeance for his slain child. Without killing Man Lie, he would never be able to leave Thornbush City. With Man Lie’s capabilities, even if he used another city gate to leave, he would still be chased down.
But with Huang Yi’s power alone, it was nearly impossible to kill Man Lie, and he couldn’t possibly release the criminals from Heroes’ Prison to help. Man Lie wouldn’t be foolish enough to fight to the death. If it couldn’t win, it would definitely hide. After all, this wasn’t its Wind Forest Stronghold; it had no need to protect the territory’s safety. Once Man Lie fled, there would be no one left to kill the criminal, and Huang Yi, the Prison Warden, would have failed his duty.
For now, Huang Yi could only rely on his own strength to accomplish this task. Dugu Lengcang was a super expert. Bringing him in to confront Man Lie would greatly increase their chances of success.
"However, I need to go offline to handle some things now. Let’s start the operation tomorrow! Here’s my business card, call me tomorrow," Dugu Lengcang said to Huang Yi, handing him a business card.
Huang Yi also took out a business card to exchange with him, and then Dugu Lengcang went offline.
Afterward, Huang Yi went to the auction house to deal with some equipment, and then he visited Sally Garden, sitting on the same chair and gazing at the silhouette of the girl imprinted on the window.
Just by looking at that silhouette, Huang Yi’s battle-worn heart would calm down, and he would sleep more peacefully amidst the scent of flowers.
...
The next day, Huang Yi and Dugu Lengcang separately completed both the solo and five-player modes of the Tower of Pantheons. Huang Yi’s level rose to 34, and Dugu Lengcang’s level rose to 41!
It was only in the evening that they began to discuss the matter of killing Man Lie.
"That Man Lie is a Half-Beastmen. He was seriously injured by the guards of Thornbush City a while ago and it would take at least a couple of years to fully recover. Now his strength has greatly decreased, and if we join forces, we have a great chance of being able to kill him," Huang Yi said, carrying Man Lie, to the city gate, looking out into the hazy night beyond the city.
Outside the city gate was a picture of tranquility, with no one coming in or out at that hour. The night enveloped the land, obscuring the distant view. But Huang Yi knew that, deep in the darkness, there were a pair of vengeful eyes coldly watching him, like a crouching Giant Beast that would strike with crushing force at the first opportunity.
"Half-Beastmen have high survival abilities, especially resistance to toxins and disease, which are almost completely immune. Your Plague Rune has been greatly weakened, and it probably won’t have much effect on this Man Lie," Dugu Lengcang observed, looking into the distance.
"That’s right! You’re a higher level than me, and your equipment is a bit better, and you have one more skill than me, so you’ll be the main damage dealer in killing Man Lie. I’m very familiar with this Half-Beastmen; when he uses any moves, I’ll notify you in advance," said Huang Yi, referring, of course, to the Eye of Time. He could see what action Man Lie was about to take, an important safeguard for their survival.
"Take these potions, I bought them specially at Free Port, rare stuff that you can’t find just anywhere! They’ll be very useful when we kill Man Lie," Dugu Lengcang said, handing Huang Yi several Magic Potions.
Huang Yi received them and took a look. The bottles of these potions were very exquisitely made, and the liquid inside was faintly emitting a mist, quite extraordinary. He checked the attributes of these potions; they were basically Superior Potions that could increase strength by more than 20%. Such Superior Potions couldn’t be bought in Thornbush City; they were only available in a financial hub like Free Port.
"Let’s go!" Huang Yi said, leading the way out of the city gate.
This time, Huang Yi safely left the city, not suddenly suffering a flying stone attack like last time. But he was not careless; Man Lie was definitely waiting for the right moment and might attack at any time.
Huang Yi slowly walked onto the protective bridge, with Dugu Lengcang following behind. The sound of their footsteps resonated abruptly in the night. At every moment, Man Lie could launch an attack, hidden in the depths of the night where they could not see; now it was the enemy hidden and they exposed, so both were fully alert.
After crossing the protective bridge, they still hadn’t suffered any attacks. Huang Yi cautiously summoned a hound and Falcon to scout ahead, while he and Dugu Lengcang continued to follow behind, walking deeper into the night, moving farther away from the city gate.
After a long walk, they had already left the city gate by a distance of two kilometers and now were in the midst of a forest. But Man Lie still had not appeared, as if he had vanished altogether.
"Could it be that he has already returned home to heal his wounds?" Dugu Lengcang turned his head to look around, asking with doubt.
"No, I can smell his scent. He must be hiding nearby, be careful." At this moment, Huang Yi took a sniff and immediately made a warning. Since his evolution into a Half-Beastman, his sense of smell had also greatly improved; it was one of the latent abilities of Half-Beastmen.
The air was permeated with a scent unique to Half-Beastmen, but Huang Yi couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. Man Lie was definitely close by, watching them.
Huang Yi carefully controlled Falcon to patrol the skies above, but similarly found nothing.
Occasional sounds of startled night birds and distant roars of beasts came from the forest. The night in the forest was fraught with danger, and peril could arise at any moment.
"Whoosh!" Just then, the sound of something cutting through the air arose. Huang Yi instinctively took a step back and immediately a stone whizzed past where he had just been standing, hitting a tree trunk and knocking down a swath of leaves. Had he stepped back a moment later, the stone would have struck him. Judging by the fierce force, he would have been maimed, if not killed.
"Over there!" Dugu Lengcang quickly struck in the direction from which the stone had come, sending out a slash of Sword Qi that struck a large tree deep in the darkness.
The next moment, Man Lie stepped out from behind the large tree. Staring at Huang Yi with bulging, furious eyes, he struggled to grip his massive hammer; his arm trembled unabatedly, and blood dripped from his palm.
It seemed Man Lie was seriously injured, so much so that he could hardly hold his weapon steady, which explained why he had been attacking with stones.
"Instakill, you’ve finally come out! How painfully I’ve waited for you!" Man Lie said through gritted teeth, stepping towards Huang Yi with imposing force, firmly locking onto him!
That’s when Dugu Lengcang made his move, waving the Ice Blue Longsword in his hand. He immediately released a fan-shaped Sword Qi that froze a sector in front of them, encasing Man Lie in ice along with it!