Chapter 100: Death's Hand

In the evening, a piercing white light streaked across the sky and suddenly landed on the land of the Ming Dou Shanmai.

The white light faded, revealing the silhouettes of over a dozen students; regardless of their cultivation level, they all couldn't help but vomit profusely as soon as they hit the ground.

Xuanzi's speed was simply too fast; with their current cultivation, they could barely withstand it.

Xuanzi curled his lip in disdain.

"Look at your pathetic ambition."

He lazily called out.

"Little Dai."

Dai Yaoheng's face twitched sharply, he wiped the corner of his mouth, and stepped forward.

"What's up, Xuan Lao?"

Xuanzi said calmly, "Our arrival made too big a commotion; the military has already noticed us, and they'll be here soon. You handle them. I'm going to get some sleep—old age makes everything tiring, but at least I ate well today."

Muttering that, his figure flashed and vanished.

Sure enough, not long after, beams of light descended from the distant sky, accurately falling toward their location.

Dai Yaoheng raised his hand and punched the air; instantly, a mass of white light exploded three meters above his head, spreading out a white halo.

The figures falling from the air immediately locked onto the position, and soon a squad of no fewer than thirty warriors, all clad in black tight-fitting leather armor, descended from the sky.

As they descended, they quickly formed a circle, completely surrounding the Shrek group; leading them was a stern-faced old man.

"Who are you, and what is your purpose in approaching our troops with flying soul tools?"

Dai Yaoheng hurried forward to meet him.

"Old Du, have you forgotten me?"

The old man froze at the sound, then his face lit up with surprise.

"Ah, it's the young master! Young master, why have you returned?"

Dai Yaoheng smiled and said, "This time we represent the Academy to support you; the situation is as follows..."

As he spoke, he gave a rough explanation of the Death's Hand affair.

After listening, the old man suddenly understood.

"I see; do you need me to take you in to see the duke?"

Dai Yaoheng quickly shook his head.

"No need; I'll go in with you, and let my classmates rest here for a bit."

It wasn't that he didn't want to bring the Shrek team into the military camp; he simply remembered that his own dim-witted younger brother was probably still staying in the camp.

That kid harbors deep resentment toward Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong; if he unexpectedly saw those two, who knows what he'd do, and all the goodwill Dai Yaoheng had painstakingly earned would be wasted.

He followed the old man inside, and after about half an hour he came back out, holding some documents.

"Professor Wang Yan, take a look at these documents; this is the intelligence our Western Group has gathered."

"Sure."

Coincidentally, this period also allowed Wang Yan to mostly recover; he took the documents from Dai Yaoheng's hand and examined them carefully.

Soon, he had made up his mind.

"Let's go, Yutong—use Mental Detection under my command to search." "Okay."

Huo Yutong nodded lightly, golden light flickering in her eyes, as a wide-range Mental Detection Sharing unfolded.

She is now completely different from how she was a year ago; her Mental Detection range has tripled, and with her help, Wang Yan's search speed increased dramatically.

Soon, he located the target beneath a hillside.

He instructed the students:

"Listen up: after entering, first confirm the enemy's identity; if it's Death's Hand, strike. The reserve team stays by my side to provide support. Yaoheng, the main assault is up to you."

"Yes."

Everyone lowered their voices in assent and entered the cave before them one by one.

The main team's members surged ahead, while Wang Yan's reserve team followed slowly behind.

Soon, a loud bang echoed from deep within the cave, followed by various curses—clearly, Dai Yaoheng and his group had engaged.

Wang Yan said solemnly, "Yutong, activate Mental Detection and share it with everyone, opening to maximum range. Your task is to clear any possible stragglers, ensuring no Death's Hand member escapes this cavern."

Huo Yutong nodded and released Mental Detection Sharing again.

In an instant, the expressions of all reserve team members changed.

On both cave walls hung over a dozen strips of human skin, and even an infant's corpse was impaled and suspended from a stalactite, fresh red blood continually dripping from it.

"Damn it!"

Even the usually refined and easygoing Bei Bei couldn't help but let out a roar, yet no one blamed him.

They were all deeply shaken by the vision presented in their minds.

Although they had heard before how cruel Evil Soul Masters could be, what they heard never matched the impact of seeing it firsthand; these skins, dripping with blood, revealed only the tip of the iceberg of Death's Hand's atrocities—they didn't even spare infants, what couldn't they do? Indeed, all Evil Soul Masters deserve to die! At this moment, everyone's thoughts were strikingly unanimous: absolutely no Evil Soul Master could be spared, and no member of Death's Hand could be allowed to escape.

Moving forward, corpses grew more numerous, and the fighting sounds intensified. The bandits inside the cavern died in all sorts of bizarre ways, yet evoked not a shred of sympathy from anyone.

Because human skins hung continuously on both cave walls, from when they entered the cavern until now they had seen no fewer than a hundred, some even already desiccated.

"Pull yourselves together—these are evildoers; killing one saves countless!"

Wang Yan shouted loudly, and everyone firmly nodded.

Moreover, this stronghold alone has over a hundred skins; considering how long Death's Hand has been active and the number of bases they've changed over the years, the death toll at their hands certainly exceeds a thousand.

The things in this cavern are no longer human, but beasts wearing human skins.

Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly, his face taut.

Have the people of the Ri Yue Di Guo ever witnessed this scene? If they knew what Death's Hand had done, would they still turn a blind eye to this evil faction? He doesn't know the answer, but if it were yes, he would inwardly look down upon the Ri Yue Di Guo nation.

Suddenly the terrain ahead opened up, and Tang Wulin's group had reached the center of the cave.

At this moment, the selected team members are carrying out a massive slaughter; the members of Death's Hand keep pouring out from deep within the cave, but they simply cannot match these elite among elites.

Whether it's Dai Yaoheng, Chen Zifeng, Zhang Zehao, or Xixi, each can handle a considerable area.

The importance of Gongyang Mo's assistance is demonstrated at this moment; with his help, let alone Dai Yaoheng, a true Soul Emperor, even these several Soul Kings led by Chen Zifeng can unleash combat power not inferior to that of a Soul Emperor.

(End of chapter)