"Er Zaizi, next time you act rashly, watch your life!"
Huang Xie grabbed his nephew's ear and warned him, for fear that the kid might get himself killed next time.
Even considering extending the employment period, to keep an eye on his nephew.
He knew that although his nephew had some abilities, most of the time, he was somewhat... naturally dull!
Turning his head, he saw Zhong Shenxiu circling the Bear-man corpse, and couldn't help but approach, asking, "Mr. Su, did you find anything?"
"Since the eradication of the Bear Tribe, it's common for the remnants to turn into bandits, usually in groups of three to five, a lone one is rare though..."
Zhong Shenxiu forcefully flipped the Bear-man's body, revealing a gruesome wound where the armor on its back was shattered.
"Looks like, it encountered some enemy before, leaving only one?"
Xue San joined, his expression grave.
It took a group of them to barely defeat one Bear-man.
But a group of three to five Bear-men could easily annihilate them!
What kind of creature could inflict such heavy casualties on a small squad of Bear Barbarians?
'Could it be that only the Cultivator can handle it...' Xue San thought as a cold sweat broke on his forehead.
The Second Yan Han Empire actually had Sword Immortals and Swordsmen of high caliber, while ordinary military experts and heroes of Jianghu, even if they practiced to the peak and returned to the Innate, were merely at the entry level of others. The gap could be said to be as vast as that between heaven and earth.
Unfortunately, martial arts are easier to seek than the Immortal Dao.
So many people desperately seek the path of cultivation, but can never gain entry in their lifetime!
Er Ha lay on the Bear-man's back and sniffed a few times, then exclaimed, "I smell the scent of the wounded Bear-man, it's the same as the one that destroyed the farmland..."
"Does that mean... the monster is still lurking around?"
Zhong Shenxiu tensed up, realizing the seriousness of the situation.
Judging from the wounds, the attacker could very well be a creature from the Black Fog, which mostly harbored extreme hostility towards living beings. Now, with it lingering nearby and seeing so many villagers gathered, it was as if it saw plates of food.
There was a high chance it would come forth to feast!
As he thought this, screams rang out, "Look over there!"
Zhong Shenxiu looked towards the west and saw a mass of Black Fog, which under the scorching sun, wasn't diminishing but seemed like a monster with bared teeth and claws, continuously spreading its form towards the village.
The Black Fog was not fixed in one place, occasionally spreading and receding.
This kind of sudden occurrence would disappear after a while but would inevitably leave devastation in its wake.
The surging Black Fog, almost like the Qiantang Tide, crashed directly towards them; previously miles away, it approached in the blink of an eye.
"Quick, quick... back to the village."
The old village chief screamed desperately, many villagers crying and wailing, not even having time to gather their spoils of war or the bodies of their companions, they sprinted towards the village for their lives.
Xue San and the others had to run even faster.
After all, they were robust soldiers and trained martial artists.
Zhong Shenxiu clutched his chest, hearing the vigorous beating of his heart.
'Is it that thing? Is it related to the Black Fog?'
Zhong Shenxiu speculated but dared not verify, and with a misstep, he ran off far away.
Just as he was leaving, a thin mist had already enveloped the area, drastically reducing visibility, almost to the point of not seeing his own fingers.
Once he moved a dozen meters away, he completely lost his vision.
From within the Black Fog, suddenly there emerged several crimson tentacles, like old tree vines, with lumpy nodes resembling tree burls.
Upon closer inspection, those were not tree burls but eyeballs!
The crimson tentacles failed to capture Zhong Shenxiu, instead sweeping to the side.
One of Zhong Shenxiu's companions, who didn't even have time to scream, vanished without a trace.
Zhong Shenxiu burst out of the Black Fog, blinked his eyes, and realized he genuinely couldn't remember the name of this pedestrian who was in his party.
At that moment, Xue San, along with Huang Xie and Er Ha, also reached his side, staring at the boundary of the Black Fog and murmuring to themselves, "This kind of Black Fog erupts suddenly, typically because a dangerous species has escaped... it's likely to disperse soon."
Zhong Shenxiu saw that the Black Fog had expanded to its limit.
But immediately, within the Black Fog, two crimson eyes appeared, seemingly staring at this group of people.
A strange monster slowly emerged from the Black Fog.
It resembled a gigantic dog covered entirely in black, but it bore crimson vines, which seemed to have deeply pierced its flesh, replacing its bones and protruding from various places.
The earlier crimson vines were just a part of it.
At this moment, the giant dog clearly targeted them, growled softly, and then charged at them.
Er Ha yelled, "Friendly fire, no friendly fire!"
The giant dog, as if deaf, with its vines whipping around like iron whips, flicked Er Ha's spear out of his hand, who then fell to the ground shrieking.
Xue San, sweating profusely, realized they were targeted by this creature and that escaping was futile, roared, "Form the formation!"
But this time, the military sword formation was useless.
The giant dog lunged at them, its crimson tentacles flailing wildly as if it had sprouted dozens of arms, blocked the blade light, and with a big bite, snapped off the arm Xue San held his saber with.
Xue San screamed and fell to the ground, then saw Huang Xie toppled by the giant dog. The beast's huge mouth opened like a chrysanthemum, seemingly about to swallow Huang Xie whole, and he couldn't help but feel a grim sense of despair, knowing not only his group was doomed today, but also the nearby village would likely be entirely wiped out.
As he closed his eyes and prepared for death, he suddenly heard the sound of a saber.
Xue San's spirit was shocked, and he saw Su Daoshi holding the Yanling Saber, moving with the blade, miraculously cutting off several iron-whip-like tentacles, and valiantly fought his way out of the encirclement!
Even more, he slashed at the giant dog, rescuing Huang Xie.
Huang Xie, with wide eyes, was somewhat in disbelief.
He could see that what Su Daoshi was using was the purest form of military saber technique, but each move was as if tempered a thousand times.
"After years of being together, I never knew, Mr. Su, that you were such a Sword Dao... genius!"
Su Daoshi was of course not any genius, quite terrible in literature, martial arts, and completely muddled in Daoist Skill.
But Zhong Shenxiu was different.
He, at least, was the world's number one in the previous world, with extremely rich combat experience.
At this moment, with a saber in hand, he moved like a flying dragon, leaping forward, and thrust the blade into the giant dog's eyes.
The giant dog howled in pain but didn't die; instead, from the wound, countless fleshy strands spread, its entire body's flesh pulsated and swelled, transforming into a flesh ball, and rolled back into the Black Fog.
As the dense Black Fog dispersed, the injured monster actually fled.
Zhong Shenxiu, watching this scene, felt a deep chill in his heart, "Inside the Black Fog, even the most common monsters are this troublesome, no wonder the people of this world are so frightened of the Black Fog... However, after pulling through this time, I've finally gathered enough Heavenly Show Points..."