Five minutes later, within the dense forest, Xi Jiang bowed his head and lit the cigarette at the corner of his mouth. He took several hateful drags, grabbed a subordinate by the collar, and pointed at something hanging from the tree.
"What is this?"
"..."
In the silence, the subordinate hesitated for a long time, unsure of what Xi Jiang was referring to. Tentatively, he read the two blood-red characters carved into the trunk, "Gift… maybe?"
Xi Jiang, enraged, kicked him against the tree, hanging him up beside the blood-red gift.
"Gift my ass!"
The veins on his forehead bulged as he angrily chewed the burning cigarette to pieces, turned around, and roared at several panicked subordinates, "What is this called? This is a fucking disgrace!!!"
"You seven, sent to capture a seriously injured little brat who escaped, failed to find him and ended up strung up on a tree like this! If this isn't a disgrace, what the hell is it!"
In the silence, no one responded. Only the suffering victim hanging from the tree emitted difficult, gurgling noises as blood slowly dripped from the chest viciously flayed open.
Mosquitoes and flies rose in swarms, landing and making an annoying buzzing sound.
Xi Jiang fell silent for a long time before pulling out his pistol and firing repeatedly at the tree.
After the roar of gunfire, a severely maltreated Golden Coin finally fell to the ground.
"Old Li suffered terribly. When we get back, give him ten percent more from your shares. Any objections?" Xi Jiang asked.
The subordinates hastily shook their heads.
"Good."
Xi Jiang nodded in satisfaction and then bellowed, "What the fuck are you standing around for? Go find them! Find those two bastard brats! I'll tear them to pieces! Otherwise, get ready to be torn apart by them!"
With Xi Jiang's bellows, the sound of giant trees collapsing resonated from afar.
Flames rose.
In the thickening smoke that gradually ascended, a malignant crimson spread throughout the forest, burning everything to ashes.
Angry Ravens screeched, circling in the sky. More and more pitch-black birds plunged down, only to wither swiftly in the spreading smoke, turning into shriveled corpses.
Within the smoke, shadows of Snakes slowly merged, becoming clearer, until they finally plunged into the cauldron of boiling abyssal poison.
Morphing into an eerie liquid that resembled liquid darkness.
It was no longer in the realm of Magic Potion brewing, but more like the creation of life itself, greedily scavenging all Source Substance around, nurturing the Evil Spirit within the womb.
"Soon, very soon…"
As various precious materials were cast into the cauldron, Lin Yu's smile grew increasingly joyful. Amidst the hoarse laughter, the ghastly scar on her cheek barely sealed before it burst open again, so hideous.
Blood droplets fell, sprinkled into the cauldron, giving rise to wisps of blood-colored smoke that dispersed in the wind, slithering like tiny Snakes.
Nearby, Zhen Sui couldn't help but take a few steps back, dodging the blood smoke that swept past his nose. With so many people in the team, why did I have to get stuck as a bodyguard on this utterly hopeless job?
Yet, when he regarded Lin Yu's silhouette, his initial displeasure and resistance were also laced with a trace of wariness.
Witches, those female Sublimators who reveled in the brewing of negative Source Substance and the extraction of Disasters, were notorious for their terrifying poisons and curse-infused Magic Potions. Although not recognized as Alchemists, the havoc they wrought was even more terrifying.
Nevertheless, nine out of ten were completely mad, with the remaining one thoroughly psychotic. The kind who would kill your entire family and your neighbor's family just for glaring at her was considered quite reasonable among Witches.
After all, by constantly using Magic Potions as a conduit to summon monsters from Deep Hell, their souls were nearly assimilated by the Abyss. Even if each one appeared as beautiful as a blossom, their nature was no different from a man-eating plant.
Any slightly sane person wouldn't want to be targeted by a walking cherry bomb, right?
Serving a cherry bomb up close is even more unbearable…
In the oppressive silence, he looked toward the distant forest that resounded with thunderous noise, hoping for some good news amid the rising flames.
Perhaps those two have finally been captured, and I can get out of this sooner.
But soon, an irate Xi Jiang emerged from the ashes with his face covered in soot, spitting out a wad of black spit, his expression steel-blue. Zhen Sui's heart sank.
"Didn't find them!" From a distance, Xi Jiang shouted irritably in their direction, "They've run off! In my opinion, we're wasting time!"
He walked back.
"Wait a minute!" Zhen Sui instinctively raised his gun, aiming at the approaching Xi Jiang. Two Guards beside him also rose to obstruct Xi Jiang's path. "Give the password!"
"What bloody password, you even need to check me!" Xi Jiang's expression grew even uglier, continuing to curse, yet he did not stop moving forward. Zhen Sui pulled the trigger without an ounce of hesitation.
The bullet struck right in front of Xi Jiang's feet, a final warning.
"Password!"
But Xi Jiang didn't stop. Instead, he quickened his pace, sprinting towards them. He was still fifteen meters away, but his speed was so incredible it seemed like flight.
In the air, dozens of trailing red lines suddenly shot past, piercing through him.
In his sprint, Xi Jiang leapt up, changing his posture midair, narrowly dodging a dozen or so blood-colored trails, but he couldn't avoid Zhen Sui's bullet.
With the boom of the gunshot, Xi Jiang's figure flickered until at last Huai Shi's face was revealed.
"Been waiting for you!" he roared with laughter, as a burly shadow suddenly burst forth from the empty air.
Guo Nu, hiding on the side with an iron fork in hand, had long been ready to strike. Once he confirmed that the target of his attack was Huai Shi, he burst forth, stabbing with the iron fork that stirred the sound of the wind, aiming straight for Huai Shi's chest!
It pierced right through! Under the extraction of Fang Liang's Stigma, a rich negative Source Substance congregated on the iron fork, making Guo Nu utter a pleased moan uncontrollably.
But soon, something felt off, an empty sensation in his grasp... as if he had pierced through a mist.