Chapter 36: Boo hoo hoo, my trump card is gone

Under the relentless assault, the thumping booms kept coming.

As for the Wolf King, his head was merely struck five times by something unknown, unable even to break through defenses.

But for Ji Ming, this was the inevitable result of successfully activating the Strike Mute Club after relentless attempts!

Though this skill is odd, it executes without discount once conditions are met, worthy of being called a Causality Law Weapon.

Thus, no matter how strong the Black Wolf King's HP and skill set, they were useless at this moment.

As the final blow landed, it only felt its head spin.

Sense and thought, everything, sank unstoppably into nothingness.

In the final moment before its thoughts vanished completely, its mind held only a single thought.

Ahhh, freed……

Having lost its consciousness, the Black Wolf King's legs gave way, and it collapsed helplessly into the flesh and blood it had just vomited, the corners of its mouth crimson, resembling a corpse.

The sound of the heavy object hitting the ground felt like a blow to each magic wolf's heart.

The Wolf King died?

The Wolf King died!

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, doubt—various emotions spread and fermented through the group.

Bereft of their lord's awe, the wolf pack instantly turned into loose sand.

The timid tucked their tails and slipped away, thinking to first leave this place of right and wrong.

The loyal immediately charged to avenge, wishing to tear this damned murderer to pieces.

The ambitious shifted their gaze, constantly calculating gains and losses, thinking who could become their aid.

But many more magic wolves had no opinion of their own.

They wandered anxiously in fear and suspicion, utterly unaware of their fate.

Amidst this chaos, two men from the adventurers—one tall, one old—silently threw something over.

Against the sunlight, sharp-eyed ones spotted that they were glass bottles filled with black liquid.

They looked somewhat familiar, like……

"Gah, it's the terrifying poison that brought the Wolf King to its knees—everyone, back off fast!"

Too bad, it's too late.

The glass bottles hit the ground and shattered into pieces among the wolves with a crackling sound.

If the stench had color, it would probably be a bunch of mushroom clouds.

The invisible shockwave tore open each magic wolf's mouth and nose like a bandit, forcibly stuffing the foul stench inside.

For canine creatures, having their olfactory system instantly destroyed feels like a massacre.

Centered on the blast point, with distance as the boundary, all the magic wolves emitted screams of varying decibels.

Some vomited nonstop on the ground; others had tears and snot streaming down; still others wailed miserably, fleeing the scene with loss of bowel and bladder.

Although some magic wolves still retained sanity and mobility, they absolutely had no energy left to concern themselves with humans.

If not now, when else to leave?

"Withdraw!"

Shouting lowly to his companions, Ji Ming swung his shovel, then tucked it away and sprinted first out of the valley.

Fleeing is a required course for every adventurer; the stronger the existence, the more adept they are at it.

He didn't even need to remind them—the whole Iron Chain Squad ran faster than rabbits.

By the time the lead, Lao Bo'er, stopped his steps to announce regrouping, that dangerous valley had already been left behind by five hills.

"How is everyone, all right?"

Si Tong began counting heads.

"It's fine; those wolf beasts blew up their own den, they had no time to bother us!"

Just like fleeing, greed is always an adventurer's nature, no matter when or where.

One can only say they truly are teammates of the same squad.

Even in this situation, each was not only unscathed but could also produce something from their person.

One yanked a stealthily chopped wolf tail, another grabbed a wolf tooth knocked out in a spare moment.

Even Lao Bo'er hehehed, producing a wolf head from his large cloth sack.

Nothing else—it was precisely the one-eyed head that flew out when the Wolf King gave a mighty toss!

Its expression froze at the moment of death, teeth bared, visage ferocious, counting as the pinnacle of its wolf life.

But now it has become a plaything in the palm of its former enemy.

"This is a great thing—I'll find a dwarf craftsman to work on it and hang it above the fireplace!"

But the most outrageous were Charlie and Bei Li.

I truly don't know how they managed it, but those two youths hauled two red-furred white deer out while running.

Leaning against a nearby large tree, they huffed and puffed while raising their hands.

"It's fine—just a little leg soreness, no problem."

"Haha, good."

Si Tong nodded, then noticed the doctor hadn't spoken a word, and hurried over.

"Doctor, are you alright?"

"Huh?"

Standing in the crowd, Ji Ming, who had gained nothing, looked bewildered.

"You bunch of bastards, when……"

Forget it.

This marginal gain, after we've killed Lei Nuo once, it's come back.

Then he chuckled and patted Si Tong on the shoulder.

"I'm fine; as long as everyone got out safely, that's good."

"Having said that, he tried to peel off the parchment on his face, but the talisman, having lost all its magical power, crumbled directly into dust."

Pure white ash floated down, drifting and fluttering, and was reflected in everyone's eyes.

This is…

Recalling how the doctor had silently vanished just moments ago and then suddenly appeared beside the Wolf King, Si Tong suddenly understood.

"This is a scroll inscribed with a breath-concealing magic, right?"

"I never expected the doctor to have such a miraculous treasure!"

Wait.

"So, to save the group, the doctor not only risked his life to assassinate the Wolf King, but also used such a precious magic scroll?"

No.

"Can we just rely on this scroll to go directly?"

"Then the doctor wouldn't be…"

Ignoring Si Tong's repeatedly flashing gaze, Ji Ming looked at the ashes on the ground, let out a long sigh, and said slowly.

"This thing, when I was expelled from the sect, my master, worried I might get into trouble, secretly slipped it to me; I never thought I'd use it here."

"The old man always told me that a person's life is forever more important than objects."

"In this way, I can be considered to have repaid his kindness in raising me."

Feigning sentiment, he patched up his own talisman; Ji Ming turned his head with a sorrowful expression and looked.

"I copied, it's hilarious!"

Si Tong was actually wiping away tears.

"You know how scary it is to see a bearded, big-bellied man crying his eyes out!?"

Ji Ming was so frightened he almost dodged straight back into the real world.

Before he could even move, Si Tong pressed down on his shoulder and said earnestly.

"Doctor, once again you have cleansed my spirit with your kindness and generosity."

Ji Ming looked around and saw that the other team members all seemed as if they had just watched a melodramatic episode.

Moved, they each brought out their own gains.

"Doctor, I don't have anything good, but I'll give you this string of wolf tails."

"I remember wolf teeth can be mixed into many kinds of potions and elixirs; this rightfully belongs to you."

"Alas, Du Yan, he was ultimately done in by the doctor's scheming; this honor should belong to the youth."

"No, you've misunderstood; I just wanted to make amends, to see if I could hide this trump card back…"

"Absolutely not, absolutely not!"

Ji Ming exhausted all his efforts to admit defeat, but his pockets were still filled.