Chapter 84: Terror

The search techniques mastered by the mages of the Justice Academy require a certain proximity to be cast; at this moment, the members of the Peace Sect were close enough, and their numbers were large, so he could perceive their general direction.

This meant that Li Fei no longer needed to lead the way.

"Xiao Fei, your mission is complete; you don't need to participate any further."

Cao Mu said to Li Fei.

His form of address for Li Fei had also changed to "Xiao Fei."

Li Fei said without hesitation: "If possible, I would like to participate in the following operation."

He had already charged in during the disadvantageous phase, so there was no reason to shrink back now that the tide had turned; he did not want to miss the opportunity to earn merit.

Cao Mu glanced at Hao Yi and nodded: "Fine, then you may join in."

He offered this favor without the slightest hesitation.

Afterward, the group quickly pursued toward the due east direction.

Not long after, they saw the members of the Peace Sect fleeing in the jungle ahead.

"Old Wu, Brother Jiang, Brother Wang, have your men carry the mages to circle around, surround this group, and then have the mages cast their spells."

Cao Mu said to the other few official martial masters accompanying them.

The few nodded, each leaving with several martial masters, martial artists, and one mage.

After Lu Sheng had brought people back earlier, although they didn't know how those four official martial masters were defeated, they were certain that they had fallen unconscious due to spells, which was why the Stop-the-Conflict Academy had applied to their superiors to bring along mages from the Justice Academy for this operation.

The mages brought along were not only there to help track the Peace Sect but also to guard against the opponent using the same methods as last time.

Besides that, the mages could also deal with the large number of ordinary cultists.

The young mage with markings on his forehead who remained by Cao Mu's side began to get busy; he walked to the front alone, took a sandalwood box from his backpack, then took out sheets of cyan talisman paper from the box and stuck them onto the large trees.

After sticking about fifty sheets of talisman paper, the young mage stopped, put away the wooden box, and retreated back to Cao Mu's side.

A few minutes later, the crowd several hundred meters ahead suddenly became restless, and bursts of exclamations rang out.

Soon, those Peace Sect members in front actually turned around and ran toward Li Fei and the others, everyone holding guns and carrying various bags and bundles.

When these people passed through the area where the talisman paper had been posted, the young mage beside Cao Mu reached out and pointed forward, shouting:

"Halt!"

The next second, the talisman papers on the trees ignited without fire; the Peace Sect members running this way seemed to have encountered something extremely terrifying, everyone widening their eyes, expressions of fear appearing on their faces.

"Ahhhhh—"

People screamed and fled in other directions.

This scene was very shocking to Li Fei, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at his master, hoping for an explanation.

Hao Yi indeed spoke up to explain to him: "This is the Terror Spell, a unique technique of the Great Lan Dynasty's Justice Academy. It can make the target feel immense terror; some people with weak willpower might even suffer a mental breakdown and become fools or lunatics!"

Li Fei suddenly understood; so Cao Mu having the others take the other mages to circle around was to surround those Peace Sect members and then cast the Terror Spell on them from all directions simultaneously.

With the Terror Spell present on all sides, the hundred-plus Peace Sect members were like flies trapped in a cage, bumping into walls everywhere, their psychological defenses gradually collapsing.

Seeing that the situation was about right, Cao Mu waved his hand:

"Charge!"

Then he led several martial masters and seven or eight martial artists and rushed up.

"Drop your guns, hold your heads, and squat down, or die!"

Cao Mu's voice was like a blade strike, resonant and forceful, echoing through the jungle.

"Drop your guns, hold your heads, and squat down, or die!"

The others also shouted one after another.

At the same time, the same shouts came from other directions.

The Peace Sect members in the jungle were already on the verge of a psychological breakdown; upon hearing these shouts, the vast majority cried and followed orders, dropping their guns and squatting down with their hands on their heads.

A very small number of cultists with strong willpower tried to resist, and gunfire rang out continuously in the jungle, but they were quickly dealt with by Cao Mu and the others.

Li Fei had originally thought that by coming along, he could snatch a few kills, but now he found that he only needed to stand on the side and cheer.

If not for the mages, relying only on martial artists like Cao Mu to deal with over a hundred gun-wielding cultists, it would certainly not have been possible to subdue so many people so cleanly, and Cao Mu's side might even have suffered casualties.

However, with the few mages taking action, the Peace Sect members before them were easily resolved.

"Are techniques truly inferior to the martial path?"

Doubts couldn't help but arise in Li Fei's heart.

Hao Yi seemed to see what Li Fei was thinking and said:

"Such techniques are useless against truly elite armies. If on the battlefield, once struck by blood energy, baleful energy, and killing intent, many techniques cannot even be cast. The true enemies of a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand in this world still depend on martial artists.

Our Great Lan Dynasty established the Justice Academy mainly to refine baleful weapons for the Imperial Guard Army, so they can form military formations and military baleful energy. If it weren't for the fact that the case committed by the Peace Sect was too large, these mages from the Justice Academy would not have come out. Their time is very precious, as they have to complete the refining tasks assigned by the imperial court; fighting others is not their job to begin with."

Li Fei nodded: "The student understands."

Hao Yi looked at the battle ahead that was nearing its end:

"It seems that the leader of the Peace Sect is quite sharp; he has already taken the elites and fled in advance, leaving these behind as abandoned pawns."

If there had been martial artists, sorcerers, and mages in this Peace Sect team, Cao Mu and the others would not have ended the battle so easily.

Next, Li Fei finally had something to do: help collect the guns thrown on the ground.

Under the deterrence of magic and powerful martial force, Cao Mu and the others easily controlled the situation, gathered all the Peace Sect members together, made them squat with their heads held, and confiscated all their firearms.

"The leader of the Peace Sect has fled with a group of elites and also took away Junior Brother Wang Ping and the others. I intend to take men and continue the pursuit."

Cao Mu walked up to Hao Yi and Li Fei and said:

"Brother Hao, and Xiao Fei, you don't need to follow anymore."

"Very well."

Hao Yi nodded.

He had come this time just to save Li Fei; now that the person was saved, he no longer cared about the rest.

Li Fei didn't intend to pursue anymore either; the merit he had earned this time was already enough.

"The people from the Inspection Academy are still behind; please, when you see them, ask them to rush here and take all these Peace Sect members back."

Cao Mu continued.

"Very well."

"Then let us part ways here; we shall meet again."

Cao Mu cupped his hands to Hao Yi, nodded to Li Fei, left half of his men to guard the hundred-plus Peace Sect members, and the rest continued to track Zhao Yu and the others.

"Let's go, it's time for you to go back and claim your reward."

A rare smile appeared on Hao Yi's face; he patted Li Fei and said with a smile.

Monthly tickets are quite important for the new book ranking now, requesting a monthly ticket~

(End of chapter)