Chapter 405: Bizarre Changes
It seemed the monsters were exceptionally intelligent and cunning, having changed their tactics. They had long anticipated that humans would eventually fall into their trap while searching for water sources. The reality was indeed as he had imagined.
Black Double-edged Sword lay on a patch of grass below a stone peak, his legs already bearing a gash from Beast Number Three’s tail, from which blood gushed.
Beast Number Three stood on the high stone peak, glaring down at him ferociously. Its long tail swept across him with a snap and then slithered back up the peak like a snake.
It was guarding the only entrance to its lair, protecting its kin. That’s right, Beast Number Three had become the supreme commander of this group of demonic beasts.
It had broken through the large iron gate of Fei Bu Fan’s Training Base and killed the Beastmen guarding outside, escaping only after being summoned by the Beast Mother, sparing no expense. Its trip to Ming Du City earlier had been merely an accident.
Seeing that Beast Number Three had stopped attacking him, Black Double-edged Sword endured the pain and sprang up. Wielding a long saber in his right hand and a short saber in his left, he launched a direct assault on Beast Number Three, intending to attack once and then retreat quickly.
Beast Number Three hadn’t expected Black Double-edged Sword, injured as he was, to still have so much spirit. It let out a roar, and its long tail suddenly stood erect like a tall flagstaff.
The dark red scales on its tail opened one after another, vibrating like a rattlesnake’s. Black Double-edged Sword was startled and quickly retreated backward to the edge of the forest, no longer daring to rashly attack.
Strangely, Beast Number Three did not pursue but chose to retreat into its lair.
Black Double-edged Sword understood that the monsters had captured enough prey to feast for a while, making his death or survival irrelevant. He hadn’t expected to escape with his life at such a critical moment. This must be heaven’s favor.
Black Double-edged Sword tore a piece of cloth from his clothes to bandage his wound and then walked along the edge of the forest. His mission had been to eliminate Madam Xiao and Lin Ye and others, but he hadn’t expected the outcome to be like this.
Not only had he failed his mission, but all the people he brought had died at the hands of the demonic beasts. He felt unwilling just thinking about it.
After walking for about half an hour, Black Double-edged Sword felt his leg wound was a bit strange, with a tingling sensation. Just as he was about to sit down and rest, two people holding torches suddenly emerged from a pile of rocks in the cliff.
It was Lin Ye and Mo Ming.
Black Double-edged Sword was startled, raised his long saber emanating a cold aura, and shouted at them, “None of you come closer! All of you, stop right there.”
“You’re already so injured by the demonic beasts, and you still want to do something? Black Double-edged Sword, you are a complete brute. Do you still want to complete the mission your master gave you? If you do, then come at me. I’ll be damned if I don’t chop off your dog head,” Lin Ye slowly raised Hell Sword in his hand, his eyes chilling as he glared at Black Double-edged Sword and roared.
He didn’t believe Black Double-edged Sword would stubbornly refuse to change his ways even at this point.
Mo Ming, holding a long weapon, stood on a large rock beside Lin Ye, looking at Black Double-edged Sword with a cold smile.
Black Double-edged Sword said, “Even if I had the inclination, I wouldn’t have the ability. My leg was injured by the demonic beast. I just want to find a safe place to rest. Please don’t be on guard against me. Rest assured, I won’t make things difficult for you.” Madam Xiao, Little Fairy, and Molly suddenly appeared from the rocks about ten feet away.
Madam Xiao said, “Black Double-edged Sword, your subordinates were all eaten by the demonic beasts. If you don’t want to die, you’d better not play any tricks. Otherwise, you’ll die a terrible death.”
Little Fairy and Molly remained silent, both keeping a wary eye on Black Double-edged Sword. They had witnessed his combat prowess, and even Madam Xiao had to show him respect. Black Double-edged Sword might suddenly attack one of them when they let down their guard, which would lead to trouble.
Black Double-edged Sword chuckled and said, “I have no choice. If I have offended you in any way, I hope you will forgive me.” Madam Xiao smiled but said nothing.
Lin Ye stepped forward and said, “How about this? Shall we cooperate? Because if you don’t cooperate with us, with you alone, it will be very difficult to survive this damned forest.”
Black Double-edged Sword burst into laughter, “What a joke! As a warrior under the command of Fei Bu Fan’s general, I would rather die than cooperate with you!”
Lin Ye was not angry and added, “Don’t be stubborn. I see that your leg injury is not easy to deal with, and you will eventually die from poisoning.”
“Poisoning?” Black Double-edged Sword laughed dismissively, “I was just injured by the monster’s tail, not my bones or tendons. What poisoning? Don’t try to scaremonger here, or I won’t be polite to you.”
Lin Ye roared with laughter, “Since you don’t believe me, so be it. I’m too lazy to argue with someone like you who doesn’t know their limits.” After speaking, he simply sat down next to Mo Ming.
Mo Ming said, “My little brother has already told you our intentions. Whether you cooperate with us or not is your decision, and we won’t force you. Please, do as you wish.” With that, he pulled Lin Ye and disappeared into the pile of rocks. At the same time, Madam Xiao, Little Fairy, and Molly from a distance also disappeared.
Black Double-edged Sword found it strange and rushed to the pile of rocks, but saw nothing. There was no trace of them.
What was going on? Black Double-edged Sword stood there, astonished and bewildered.
Could there be a secret passage hidden in these rocks? Black Double-edged Sword pondered. He then bent down and searched the pile of rocks carefully, but after searching high and low, he found nothing suspicious. Feeling a bit disappointed, he sighed. Had he really been poisoned, causing his eyes to play tricks on him?
Then he shook his head and suddenly thrust his saber into a crack between two rocks. A strange, soft sound came from below, as if the tip of the saber had hit something.
Based on Black Double-edged Sword’s experience, what he had hit was definitely not a rock or any other object. He felt something bizarre and quickly pulled out his saber to inspect it.
Surprisingly, there were clear traces of blood on the blade. He was greatly alarmed, thinking, “I finally hit one of them. I hope it was Lin Ye; I hate that man the most.”
With this thought, he bent down and peered into the crevice. Just as he was looking into the crevice, another bizarre change occurred.
A sharp, scaled tail like a snake’s suddenly slithered out of the crevice and with a “噗” sound, pierced his left ear, passing straight through. Then, the tail bent like a spring into a hook shape, wrapped around Black Double-edged Sword’s ear, and began to drag him into the rock crevice.
Black Double-edged Sword reacted quickly, swinging his saber at the tail. However, the blade slid off the scales of the tail as if hitting a slippery, hard object, quickly deflecting to the side.
How could this be? Black Double-edged Sword froze for a moment. In desperation, he suddenly looked up and retreated backward. With a “噗呲” sound, his left ear was ripped off, and blood flowed profusely.
