Chapter 458: Lord Xi's Fist!

Arrogant, overconfident, thinking he's right, unable to see his true strength, always wanting to show off his skills and stand out.

People like that will eventually be beaten to death by someone with a stick.

However, Ji Ming isn't some pretentious face‑slapping machine; he possesses the two divine skills of mockery and reducing intelligence, and wherever he goes he wants to cause a big scene.

So he's still happy to watch a monkey show, while in his heart he bets with the little boss on whether Little Deng will flare up right now, or wait until he's sitting on the chest of the next fierce beast before flaring up.

However, there was none, none at all.

Although this kid kept a deadpan face the whole time, with every move he made clanking and clanging, he looked like someone on the verge of anger, seeing everyone as a nail.

He didn't utter a single word of nonsense; when he said to exert force, he exerted it to the end, ignoring everything else, just gripping the beast's flesh and stabbing hard, his arms shaking yet still applying force.

'Damn, how can he endure this?'

As someone who is absolutely dedicated as long as the rewards are sufficient, Ji Ming's favorite is exactly this kind of persistent and determined guy.

If this condition is met, even if it's a jerk who spends all day opposing himself, he can give that person a quick death.

Moreover, this brat at most is just a bit wicked mixed with stupidity, hardly a heinous crime; at least Ji Ming can't find a reason for him to deserve death.

Besides, not looking at the monk's face but at the Buddha's, at the very least I should give my Tiger Brother a chance to live… uh, a quick death!

Exactly, the one suffering under the brat's hands is a tiger-type magic beast with extraordinarily long fur, a full twenty‑five levels strong.

When the lackeys first subdued it, the big cat was still quite ferocious, constantly huffing and even nearly bit the brat.

But now it's completely subdued, lying on the ground with tearful tiger eyes, wishing to kowtow to everyone present, just begging for a quick death.

——What the fuck, this love‑tiger TV, are they torturing me with lingchi?

Thus the ever‑benevolent Ji Ming walked over.

'Classmate, your point of entry is problematic.'

Perhaps because his brain was also trembling along with his over‑exerted hand, the first thing the brat said after lifting his head was actually:

'Huh?'

Then he felt his tool being flicked by something, and the resistance at the blade tip instantly became much lighter.

'Hmm?'

'Don't be surprised; I should be the one asking you.'

Ji Ming pointed with his iron rod at the snowy white beside his blade.

'Why are you cutting against the bone? The feel is off; shouldn't you just switch direction quickly?'

'Moreover, tiger hide is tough; you should first make an opening, then insert the blade and slowly slit it open—why keep hacking away?'

'And even if you hack, the impact points are inconsistent, so this gap was made purely by brute force, which of course is exhausting.'

'Stop looking; come, follow the grain of the meat, go around the bone, and cut into the soft spot.'

'This is a task that inevitably takes time, and the more you try to save time, the less you actually save.'

'Don't just cut wherever's nearest; think more!'

Under Teacher Ji's guidance, the empty‑headed brat hesitantly tried a bit and discovered……

Ah, indeed it is so!

Thus Tiger Brother relievedly closed his eyes—'Good, good, good, Grandpa can finally die.'

As the dagger pierced the tiger's heart with a puff, hundreds of experience points floated up and sank into the brat's body.

But without even pulling out the dagger, he quickly bowed to Ji Ming and said in a hurry:

'Thank you, Teacher Ji, you've really helped me out a lot!'

So this time it's Ji Ming's turn.

'Ah?'

One can only say that, as a hundred‑year‑old aristocratic clan, they indeed have great wisdom in the art of survival.

Grandfather and grandson both mastered this art, knowing the best way to deal with a boomerang is to lower the head quickly when things look bad.

Furthermore, relying on his youth and the fact that the other party is, no matter what, a teacher, the brat pushes his luck, lavishing praise on Ji Ming at every chance.

Yet this trick really works; at least Ji Ming, who considers himself lawful good, will surely find no fault after their over‑the‑top apology.

But by now, even if it really returned, it means nothing to the little brat.

Because the time is already approaching noon, all usable resources have been exhausted, leaving hardly any big monsters for him to catch.

And after another round of wandering, finding nothing at all, they simply gave up searching the outskirts of Fallen God Mountain and instead found a spot to boil water.

'Everyone, take a break; don't waste your energy on such pointless matters.'

But since this place is specifically emphasized as the outskirts of Fallen God Mountain, it shows they still have monsters on the mountain itself to keep farming.

However, that area is, no matter how you put it, a higher‑level zone, so a low‑level player like the brat definitely can't be brought there.

Thus, after sharing a farewell meal together, the brat left regretfully under the escort of a few lackeys.

'All right, Divine Chosen Sir, let's also go up the mountain.'

'Hmm.'

Here, although some people made the same choice as them, there really aren't many teams with both the courage and the strength to go deeper.

As a result, after three full hours into the mountain, the only humans they saw were just two small groups.

But it's strange that while few humans are normal, the number of magic beasts has also plummeted dramatically.

They searched several points on the map, and out of ten, seven were empty; aside from the distinctive bloody stench of beast dens, they didn't even find a tiny offspring.

Even the remaining three might not hold the target creature, for in one cave they actually found a corpse half‑eaten.

'This is the Mountain God Ox mentioned on the map; it must have been killed by some carnivore, and from the scorched hair here we can tell it's a special creature innately capable of fire magic.'

Moreover, this situation isn't limited to them; the expressions of other teams they met on the road were also grim.

They all looked sighing and groaning, utterly miserable.

Moreover, they couldn't help but mutter.

How's it going, old brother? Did we get any harvest this afternoon?

Not really, little bro. We only caught two, and they're only level thirty-something.

I'm even worse off—I only got one, and it's just a level-twenty-something small fry.

……

Little bro, can I take a look at your map? I think mine might be off.

No need, big bro. Everyone's map is the same—I didn't even catch a few monsters this afternoon.

Eh, that's weird—why are all the supposed good spots empty?

Nobody suspects the mountain patrol of faking it—after all, we're all high-ranking officials of the kingdom; deceiving them would be basically suicide.

So.

Even though many people tried to piggyback on the king's health excuse, using student relatives' connections to sneak in for extra experience, so the crowd's earlier enthusiasm for fighting was a bit heightened.

But the magic beasts on ShanShang aren't pushovers either, and there are countless Beast King–level entities that dominate a mountain peak, so humans couldn't possibly scare all those monsters away.

Things have come to this; the situation is definitely off.

I think we should get in touch with the mountain patrol ASAP—there's an eighty percent chance something's happened here.

Then they realized with surprise—right, where's the mountain patrol?

Even though these days are open days, with more personnel surely sent down the mountain, such an important place couldn't possibly be completely unmanned, could it?

Now there's definitely a problem—right away, an expert in this field cast magic to try contacting the rest stop.

But after several attempts, the other side of the magic conduit remained completely silent.

……No way!

No no no, don't panic—my communication spell just isn't linked up.

Although the worst-case scenario didn't happen, having the magic signal blocked is still absolutely a major horror.

Thus the mage wore a bitter expression.

What do we do, Duke?

Stay calm—just because the signal's blocked doesn't mean we're cut off!

He glanced at the God's Chosen, and the old duke slowly furrowed his brows.

Let's first go out and see how things are, then hurry back to call the others on ShanShang—don't be greedy, pull back first!

Being able to have someone step up in a crisis and make calm, decisive decisions is practically a blessing, so everyone naturally agreed.

Understood!

And this was indeed a foolproof plan, so the duke who had already brought two groups in immediately led them into action.

But the joy didn't last long—this enthusiasm was slammed into the valley by reality.

Your Grace the Duke, this……

Because after walking out of a grove, several human corpses lay scattered around a sunlit pond.

Among them was even a level-forty-five individual who, in the Royal Capital, was also a renowned count mage.

Good heavens.

Maybe just a few days ago, or even yesterday, they had just gotten together and happily chatted about their likes and worries.

How did it come to today, when the other side was suddenly—just like that—eviscerated in the literal sense?

Moreover.

A level-forty-five mage has so many tricks, and this cautious guy even had a handful of level-thirty-something warrior bodyguards in his entourage.

In such a situation, even if the beasts coming to kill them were incredibly fierce—able to kill a person with three punches, unmatched in bravery, a natural killing machine—

At the very least, couldn't the poor guy at least let out a humiliating yell as he died?

However, there was nothing—nothing at all.

From just now until now, the forest has been utterly silent, as if dead.

Ah!

So that mage in their party was truly terrified—no wonder, since he's also a level-forty-something old count.

But Xijueye, true to his reputation as a stubborn old-timer who's weathered many storms, kept his old face calm and just patted his shoulder.

Don't be scared, I'm here.

That line is incredibly useful—no way around it, that's the sense of security a level-seventy-three warrior professional brings.

Then, moving forward, they ran into other explorers in a canyon, though each of those explorers was injured and near collapse.

Don't rush—I can handle this!

Fortunately, among the earlier party we'd met was a Holy Light Cleric; a few soothing spells cast down, even a lunatic could learn their ABCs.

Don't be scared, calm down a bit—what happened to you?

I… I… *sob*…

Again, it's Jueye's worth—the guy who even lost his sword fell before the believers like they'd seen a god, kneeling on the ground and wailing.

But the crying didn't stop him from explaining the situation; with input from his companions, they quickly grasped the full picture.

You mean…… there's a ghost on ShanShang?

That statement is laughable, because in this world so-called 'ghosts' basically don't exist—they're just used to scare kids into sleeping.

But according to their description, it comes and leaves without a trace, its form is undefined, it can pass through anything, even pluck a heart from through the chest—this thing is truly too much like a ghost!

……Er, of course, in children's stories ghosts usually sneak toys from a box to keep bad kids from sleeping; gouging out hearts and such is still not that wild of a moonlight route.

So they would have died otherwise, but the party had a holy knight who bought them a little time with his life, letting them barely survive.

Ah, I see.

Hearing of the hero's fall, Jueye also couldn't help but sigh.

But now wasn't the time for regret; he didn't dare let the group linger, and hurriedly urged them to keep moving.

But their good luck eventually ran out, for not long after they started running, a black shadow fell from the sky.

One person in the group instinctively caught it, but upon seeing what it was, let out a piercing scream.

Because it was a head—and it was the head of that holy knight.

Hehehe!

And amidst his panic, a sharp laugh that seemed to echo across the whole sky also came down.

Under normal circumstances, this court-jester-like weird laugh would only have made them burst out laughing.

But now.

Ahhh, here it comes again!

Those few who had just escaped death were frightened into screaming as well, and in an instant the human formation fell into chaos.

But as everyone knows, disorder is the beginning of destruction.

So while they were busy trying to out-shout each other, even the laughter from above didn't cease; a black shadow silently appeared beside them, revealing the blade hidden beneath its robe.

However, before he could strike, another shadow rushed to his side, bearing a fierce wind that seemed capable of scraping off a person's skin.

Next came a stern shout, accompanied by a sandbag-sized iron fist that slammed straight into his chest.

However, aside from the crisp sound of his sleeve striking his arm, the punch connected with nothing, for that shadow quickly vanished again.

Timid as a mouse!

Naturally, the one who struck was Lord Xī Juéyé; aside from Ji Ming, he was the only one in the crowd who could keep his composure in the chaos and throw a punch upon noticing the abnormality.

Too bad that shadow could come and go as it pleased; even though his fist wind was fierce enough to seem like it had crossed over from Blade Fang or Sea Tiger, it could do nothing against it.

But this didn't stop him from shouting a torrent of curses amidst the surging earth-brown aura enveloping his whole body.

"Where the hell did this road-blocking ghost come from? Dare you come out and take a punch from me!"