Chapter 40: Ghost Head Blade

"Shouhou, Pangdun, you two hold off Meng Yifan; once I finish off Meng Dayong, I'll come to help you."

The burly man, nicknamed Guitou Dao Wang Lei, was a ruthless character in the underworld of Luolong County; with his Ghost Head Blade, he had sent heads rolling and carved out a fearsome reputation.

This time, he had been hired to kill the Meng father and son; he had assumed it would be an easy task, but he hadn't expected the father and son to be so cunning. The courtyard was almost undefended, which made them lower their guard, but inside the room, they had set up bells to sound the alarm, as well as crossbow bolts and animal traps, causing them to suffer a great loss.

Shouhou's left foot had three toes severed by an animal trap, and Pangdun's right leg bone had been snapped by one; both were severely injured, but they were all desperate men who lived by the blade, and knowing it was time to fight for their lives, they ignored their wounds, their faces twisted with ferocity as they brandished their weapons and charged at Meng Yifan.

"Kill!" Meng Yifan snatched up a Bird Gun equipped with a Stabbing Blade and lunged straight at Pangdun.

Pangdun's weapon was a pair of nunchucks; seeing Meng Yifan's lunge, Pangdun circled his hands, the iron chain in the middle of the nunchucks ready to bind the Stabbing Blade, and then he gripped the two short sticks and smashed them toward Meng Yifan's head.

Pangdun's nunchucks had iron balls at both ends, like two small hammers, and at the very tips were one-inch-long spikes; they could be used to smash or to pierce, making them a versatile weapon.

If Meng Yifan were struck by the nunchucks, even as a Second Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist, his brains would be splattered.

At the same time, Shouhou kicked off the ground with his right leg, his body lunging forward, the Dagger in his hand striking toward Meng Yifan's neck like a viper flicking its tongue.

In the dim moonlight, Meng Yifan keenly observed that Shouhou's Dagger was coated in a blue liquid, surely a poison; if he were stabbed by it, even if he didn't die, he would be poisoned.

This group had such vicious hearts, striking with lethal intent from the start; they were here to kill. He and his father had only arrived in Luolong County today, so why were such formidable men in black here to kill them that very night? Who sent them? And for what reason?

Meng Yifan had no time to think; the attacks from Pangdun and Shouhou were already upon him.

These two killers had fought together for years and had experienced too many battles; even though both were injured, their coordinated attack—one a frontal assault, the other a sneak attack—was seamless, making it extremely difficult for Meng Yifan to handle.

Meng Yifan wanted to retract his Stabbing Blade, but he heard Pangdun shout, "Berserk Art!"

Pangdun's already thick arms swelled up another size, becoming thicker than Meng Yifan's thighs, and a massive force erupted, the chain in the middle of the nunchucks instantly locking Meng Yifan's Stabbing Blade tight.

Meng Yifan tried his best, but even by channeling his Manyuujin True Qi, he could not pull the Stabbing Blade back.

"Yifan!" Seeing Meng Yifan in danger, Meng Dayong disregarded everything, channeled his True Qi, and threw the Mountain Opening Blade in his hand, hacking toward Shouhou's neck.

The Mountain Opening Blade was fast, whistling through the air, and in the blink of an eye, it was before Shouhou.

At this moment, if Shouhou still insisted on killing Meng Yifan, his own head would be severed by the Mountain Opening Blade.

Shouhou was a desperate man, but he did not want to die, and he certainly didn't want to trade his life for another; he still wanted to enjoy this colorful world. In the critical moment, he could no longer worry about killing Meng Yifan and hurriedly used his Dagger to parry the Mountain Opening Blade.

"Clang!" Meng Dayong was a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist, while Shouhou was a First Grade High-Level Martial Artist; the gap between them was vast, and Shouhou was knocked back a meter by the powerful force contained in the Mountain Opening Blade.

"Haha, what a display of fatherly love, but unfortunately, your opponent is me. To dare throw away your weapon during a fight—you are truly courting death."

Guitou Dao Wang Lei laughed mockingly, then swung his Ghost Head Broadsword down toward Meng Dayong's head.

Meng Dayong's strength was already inferior to the burly man's, and now, without his weapon, he was immediately on the defensive, beaten back step by step and facing constant danger; several times, if not for his timely dodging, he would have been disemboweled by the Ghost Head Broadsword.

On the other side, Pangdun's nunchucks were about to smash into Meng Yifan's head when, at that very moment, Meng Yifan suddenly pulled the trigger; with a loud 'Boom', a Lead Bullet flew from the muzzle with a flash of fire, striking Pangdun directly in the head.

"Bang!" Pangdun's head was like a rotten watermelon, directly exploded by the Lead Bullet; his body twitched a few times, and then he fell to the ground, unwilling to accept his fate.

"Ding! Killed a First Grade High Stage enemy, gained 50 Experience Value." The prompt from the Game Panel sounded in Meng Yifan's mind once again.

Guitou Dao Wang Lei and Shouhou were shocked; they had charged in so suddenly that they hadn't given Meng Yifan and the others any time to reload. Could it be that these hunters had loaded their Bird Guns before going to sleep, ready to fire at any moment? Had they long expected that someone would come to kill them at night?

Pangdun was dead, and with Shouhou's strength, he was certainly no match for Meng Yifan; Wang Lei knew he had to finish off Meng Dayong as quickly as possible, otherwise, he would soon face the combined attack of the father and son.

"Looks like I have to use my ultimate move." Wang Lei's Ghost Head Blade swung out violently, slashing toward Meng Dayong's chest as fast as lightning.

Meng Dayong hurriedly dodged backward, but at this moment, Wang Lei channeled his True Qi into the Ghost Head Blade, causing the hilt to vibrate violently and emit a sound of Ghost Crying Wolf Howling.

"Woo! Woo!" The sound was extremely piercing; Meng Dayong was startled by the sudden noise and his dodging motion slowed by half a beat. By the time he regained his senses, Wang Lei's Ghost Head Blade was already at his chest.

"Go to hell!" Wang Lei shouted, and the Mountain Opening Blade was about to strike Meng Dayong; seeing this, Meng Yifan was terrified.

In his past life, he was an orphan, and after transmigrating into this world, he finally had a relative and experienced selfless fatherly love; though he didn't say it, he was deeply moved in his heart, and he decided that no matter what, he would not allow his father to be killed.

Meng Yifan desperately wanted to rush over to save Meng Dayong, but there was a three-meter distance between them; even though his body had 70 points of speed attribute, it would still take half a second to cover those three meters, and that amount of time was enough for the Ghost Head Blade to tear open Meng Dayong's chest.

"No!" Meng Yifan was trembling with fear, his Spiritual Power highly concentrated; the Lingbo Microsteps Lightness Skill suddenly flashed in his mind, his body stepped forward, and the True Qi in his body suddenly flowed through his meridians into his thighs.

This step of Meng Yifan's was like crossing space; he covered three meters in one stride and appeared beside Meng Dayong.

"Clang!" At the critical moment, Meng Yifan used his Stabbing Blade to block the Ghost Head Blade of Meng Dayong's attacker.