Free Web NovelChapter 224: Chapter 216: Killing Chen Scarface 2
His movements were as fluid as if he had practiced them a thousand times over.
The second confidant crumpled to the ground, his short dagger clattering to the floor.
From Ian’s appearance to killing two men, only two seconds had passed.
Chen Scarface gripped his blade tightly, but his hand trembled so violently that he could only draw it halfway before it got stuck.
He raised his head and met Ian’s eyes.
There was no anger in them, no hatred, only the calmness one reserved for looking at an inanimate object.
"Li... Li Xing... We can talk about this..."
Chen Scarface staggered backward, tripping on a loose stone and nearly falling.
"I... I’ll give you the whole group! I won’t go to Blue Cave Mountain anymore! Just spare me, I..."
"Too late."
Ian cut him off, his voice as soft as a sigh.
The blade flashed again.
Chen Scarface only felt a cold sensation on his neck before the world started spinning.
He saw his own body, still standing, blood gushing from its neck. Then, his vision grew darker and darker until it was plunged into absolute blackness.
Ian flicked the blood from his sword, his gaze unwavering as he looked at the three corpses on the ground.
He crouched down and patted down Chen Scarface’s body, pulling out a small cloth pouch.
Inside were a few pieces of dry rations, a small waterskin, and half of a tattered, hand-drawn atlas.
Besides these, the most valuable items were six milky-white, prismatic crystals and over thirty smaller, fingernail-sized crystal flakes.
This was the Extraordinary currency of this world. The six larger ones were Standard Elemental Crystals, and the smaller ones were Dust Crystals, with an exchange rate of 1 to 100.
’This is good stuff. I wonder how Chen Scarface got his hands on it.’
He put away the Elemental Crystals and glanced at the map.
It roughly marked the route from Maple City to Blue Cave Mountain, along with some dangerous areas.
Ian closed the atlas and stood up.
The camp had already fallen deathly silent.
Everyone stared wide-eyed as Ian walked back out of the shadows, step by step, the tip of his sword still dripping with blood.
Li Yao was the first to rush over, anxiously grabbing his arm and looking him up and down.
"Brother! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Ian shook his head and smoothly sheathed his longsword with a reverse grip.
He turned to face the crowd, his voice low but carrying clearly to everyone’s ears.
"From this day forward, this group will have only one voice. If anyone objects, you can leave now. I won’t stop you."
No one moved.
Their faces were etched with terror and shock.
The Corrupted Beast, Chen Scarface... in a single night, this seemingly quiet young man had proven his strength and decisiveness in the most brutal way possible.
It was unclear who knelt first.
Then a second, and a third...
Except for Li Yao and the trembling old man, everyone prostrated themselves on the ground. Their voices were jumbled but unusually clear.
"We’ll follow Lord Li!"
"That’s right! We’ll go with Lord Li!"
Ian’s gaze swept over the crowd, and he gave a slight nod.
"All of you, get up. Pack your things. We leave at dawn."
Only then did the people rise, their movements much swifter than before. But the way they looked at Ian had completely changed.
It was no longer simple reverence, but an almost instinctual obedience.
As the sky began to lighten, the group set off once more.
Ian walked at the very front, his [Starlight Perception] spreading out like an invisible net, keenly capturing the subtle shifts in the flow of Energy around them.
He would occasionally raise his hand to signal a halt or change their route.
He led the group around two areas with anomalous Energy and avoided a swarm of corrupted flying insects circling in the air.
During their midday rest, Ian called Li Yao to his side.
"Watch closely," he said, drawing his Iron Sword and tracing a smooth arc in the sand with its tip.
"Whether it’s a Mutant or a Corrupted Beast, they all have a node on their body where their Energy is most chaotic and their defense is weakest."
"Use your [Starlight Perception] to find it. Once you do, a single strike will be fatal."
Li Yao’s eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously, staring intently at the marks in the sand.
"Brother, can... can I learn this?"
"The noble Star Bloodline flows within you. Of course you can."
Ian looked up at the group, his eyes falling on a few young people who appeared composed.
Two Guards, and a boy of sixteen or seventeen.
"You all, come here."
The few of them gathered around, and Ian began to explain the most basic techniques for exerting force.
How to inflict maximum damage with minimal effort, how to coordinate and cover each other, and how to avoid burdening their companions in a crisis.
His explanation was detailed, breaking down and demonstrating each movement without holding anything back.
Not far away, the white-bearded old man watched this scene quietly, a complicated look flashing through his murky eyes.
’Winning people over like this... he’s no simple character.’
These skills were secrets not passed down to commoners, yet Li Xing was teaching them just like that.
When the rest was over, the group continued onward.
In the afternoon, Li Si’s condition took a sharp turn for the worse.
The black spots on his face had already spread to his neck. His eyes were shot with blood, and he began to mutter incoherently.
"Stars... so many stars... They’re calling me..."
He suddenly grabbed the arm of a Guard next to him, his nails nearly digging into the man’s flesh.
"Take me... take me to see the stars..."
The Guard’s face went pale with fright, and he hurriedly shook him off.
Li Si staggered and fell, curling up and beginning to convulse violently.
Beneath his skin, something seemed to be squirming slowly.
Ian stopped and walked over, crouching down beside him.
Under his [Starlight Perception], the foul Energy inside Li Si’s body had wrapped around his blood vessels like black vines and had already Eroded his heart.
The Purification Power of the Starfall Core could cleanse it, but he wouldn’t use it on this man.
"It is time."
After a moment of silence, Ian slowly rose. "Hold him down."
The two Guards hesitated for a second, but ultimately went forward and pinned down Li Si’s struggling limbs.
Li Si struggled to lift his head, his unfocused pupils reflecting Ian’s cold face.
"Save... save me..." his voice was hoarse, carrying the last shred of his humanity in a final plea.
Ian didn’t answer, only slowly drew his sword.
The blade glinted with a cold light under the dim red sky.
The surrounding crowd held their breath. A few women hurriedly covered their children’s eyes.
Ian flicked his wrist.
SHINK!
The tip of the sword precisely pierced the center of Li Si’s brow, running through his brain.
The motion was as fast as lightning, leaving only an afterimage.
Li Si’s body suddenly went rigid, then fell limp.
The last bit of light in his eyes extinguished.
Ian withdrew his longsword and flicked the blood from the blade, his voice calm and without a ripple of emotion.
"Bury him."
The Guards quickly dug a shallow pit and buried the body.
Throughout the process, no one spoke. There was only the sound of the wind and the soft scraping of shovels against the dirt.
After the burial, Ian turned to face the group.
"You all saw that clearly. From now on, if anyone is spattered with corrupted blood, report to me immediately. If I can save you, I will do my best. If I can’t..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over every face like the edge of a blade.
"I will give them a quick death. I will not allow them to turn into a monster and kill any of you."
The people either lowered their heads or bit their lips. No one dared to speak out in protest.
The group set off once more.
Though the atmosphere was heavier than before, a silent sense of unity had begun to form.
Night fell.
Ian chose a stone ruin with three walls to make camp, leaving only one side that needed to be guarded.
He divided the Night Watchers into four groups of two, rotating every hour.
"Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open,"
he instructed in a low voice. "There’s more than just monsters in this Wilderness."
In the latter half of the night, it was Ian’s turn to rest.
He sat leaning against a corner with his eyes closed, resting, but his [Starlight Perception] remained spread out like a silent spiderweb.
No disturbance, no matter how slight, could escape his notice.
「On the third day.」
After the group had been traveling for about an hour, Ian, who was at the front, suddenly stopped.
He bent down and brushed away the loose sand on the ground, revealing a series of clear footprints.
The prints were wide and hoof-shaped, not like human footprints. They were also fresh, no more than a day old at most.
The spacing between the prints was even and the steps orderly, completely lacking the panicked disarray of refugees.
Ian stood and looked in the direction the footprints led—the path to Blue Cave Mountain.
"Someone is ahead of us,"
he said in a low voice. "A large group, and well-organized."
The white-bearded old man came forward to take a closer look, his expression growing serious as he examined the especially deep and wide sets of prints.
"This stride and depth... I’m afraid it’s a small merchant caravan. They might have a powerful expert protecting them."
Ian’s eyes narrowed. ’In this world, any merchant caravan that can travel through the wilderness is bound to be strong.’
"Let’s follow them and see."
He waved his hand, and the group set off again, following the trail of unfamiliar footprints.
In the distance, gray clouds hung low.
Crevices of dark red light seeped through the clouds, dyeing the Wilderness a silent sea of blood.
