Chapter 76: Ultimate Move

Chapter 76: Killing Move

When the people inside the villa recovered from the sonic shockwave, they saw the Spider Woman already dead by the window.

How did he do it? The official Walkers were both shocked and delighted.

The Spider Woman possessed tremendous vitality and regenerative abilities; ordinary attacks had little effect, only able to wear her down slowly.

Yet their colleague had slain her on the spot in just a few strikes.

He's a rookie, isn't he? How is he this strong... The Level 2 Walkers, amid their surprise and joy, felt confusion flash through their minds.

"Good, very good!" Li Dongze clutched his shoulder, leaning on his cane, hiding toward the kitchen direction, shouting loudly:

"Guan Ya, fully support White Dragon and Big Muscle Tyrant, don't bother with anyone else. Yuan Shi, you cooperate with Captain Qingteng to kill that insect. Tang Guoqiang, hold on a little longer."

Worthy of a Scout, truly orchestrating from behind the scenes.

White Dragon and Big Muscle Tyrant upstairs, Captain Qingteng and the others downstairs were greatly heartened; if they could spare the attention, they would have lavished praise on this kid Yuan Shi Tianzun.

Though a rookie, his combat strength wasn't weak at all, far more reliable than his squad leader.

Tang Guoqiang, clutching the giant snake's tail with a death grip, his body also coiled by the serpent's form, breathed a sigh of relief, focusing entirely on wrestling with the giant snake.

The Bewitching Fiend truly lives up to being a profession born for slaughter... Zhang Yuanqing felt the power fed back to him after the Bloodthirsty Blade drank blood, and a fierce battle intent and killing intent surged in his heart. He immediately charged toward the Insect Man.

After the Bloodthirsty Blade drinks blood, it plunders the corpse's essence blood and feeds it back to its master; the Bewitching Fiend has a similar passive, thus growing more courageous with each battle.

Guan Ya slid past Zhang Yuanqing with a sliding step, smiling: "Well done."

As the two crossed paths, the veteran driver switched magazines, pouring a barrage toward the second-floor corridor, punching hole after hole in the walls, greatly increasing the pressure on Hengxing Wuji.

Hengxing Wuji glanced at the situation downstairs, didn't bother with the giant snake, and shouted to another companion:

"Come up and help!"

The official Walkers divided the battlefield, attempting to defeat them one by one; Hengxing Wuji thought the same, but the Spider Woman died too fast, instantly worsening the situation.

Now was not the time for each to fight their own battles.

As for why he didn't go down himself, there were too many official Walkers on the first floor; if he descended, the Fire Master and Water Ghost would follow him down, and he would fall into the enemy camp.

Hearing the summons, the Insect Man bent its reverse-jointed knees, kicked off with both legs, floor tiles cracking with a "ka-cha," its tall body like a speeding car, heavily crashing into the cheongsam-clad beauty.

Zhang Yuanqing, charging this way, hurriedly stowed his willow blade, opened his arms, catching the flying curvaceous beauty.

But he underestimated the impact force; the two bodies collided with a slap, rolling to the glass cabinet under the television before stopping. Zhang Yuanqing faintly heard his bones making sounds on the verge of snapping, his heart stopping for several seconds.

The Insect Man, having knocked away the enemy, sprang up, unfolding its elytra in midair; the cicada-wing-thin vibration stirred up a fierce gale.

Captain Qingteng, lying in Zhang Yuanqing's arms, grabbed a vine from the void, flicked her wrist, and threw it.

The brown vine whistled through the air, wrapping around the Insect Man's ankles, suspending him midair like a kite.

A Wood Fiend's strength is this great? Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but examine this ageless woman, suddenly discovering that in the collision just now, the buttons on her chest had popped open, her collar skewed to one side, black lace supporting a snowy half-sphere, the visual impact extremely strong.

Captain Qingteng, your collar is flipped... Zhang Yuanqing silently reminded her in his heart, averting his gaze; he was still a child, absolutely would not peek at such indecent scenes.

"Burn his wings!"

Qingteng leaned her entire weight against Zhang Yuanqing, arms tensed, locking limbs in a dead struggle.

Upon hearing the command, the two Fire Masters immediately opened their mouths, inhaling deeply. At that moment, two soft *puffs* sounded from the Insect Man’s crotch, expelling a cloud of dark yellow gas that enveloped the Fire Masters below.

The two muscular brutes stiffened instantly. Then, as if they had drunk counterfeit liquor, they stumbled and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Even from a distance, Zhang Yuanqing caught a whiff of the faintly sour, acrid stench; his tongue went numb at once. He hurriedly held his breath. The pill he had held in his mouth earlier took effect, swiftly breaking down the mild toxin.

The Insect Man struggled for a moment but could not break free of the vines. Seemingly recalling something, he glanced down at his ankles. In the next instant, his lower legs below the knees dissolved into surging currents of water.

The vines could not bind water, and fell limp, powerless.

Acting on inertia, Captain Qingteng crashed hard into Zhang Yuanqing’s arms, her face draining of color: “Bad…”

Suddenly, the Insect Man—who had been about to pounce toward the second floor to assist Hengxing Wuji—began dodging and weaving in mid-air, as if matching wits and courage with the very atmosphere.

Qingteng whipped her head around and saw a viscous, pitch-black substance swirling in the boy’s eyes behind her.

An illusion technique! She understood immediately.

Without the slightest hesitation, Qingteng lashed out with her vines again, binding the Insect Man’s ankles.

Following combat instinct, the Insect Man once more liquefied his limbs from the knees down. Qingteng shouted:

“Now!”

The two Earth Golems understood tacitly. They dropped to one knee, pressing both palms to the floor. The living room floor split open; mud and sand burst through the tiles, swallowing the Insect Man whole.

The Earth Golem’s Sand Control, the Water Ghost’s Water Control, and the Fire Master’s Fire Control—these were signature skills all three professions could learn upon reaching Level 2.

The Insect Man plummeted from the air. His lower legs were gone, empty. A mass of turbid mud-water writhed nearby, struggling to rejoin his body, but contaminated by the soil, it could no longer return.

Earth counters Water.

Seizing the opening, Qingteng twisted her waist and sprang up in a violent rebound. She sprinted, leaped, and drove both knees down, pinning the Insect Man beneath her.

The two Earth Golems and two Wood Demons lunged simultaneously, clamping down on the Insect Man’s wrists and ankles.

Qingteng drew back her right fist, thrust her chest forward, her upper body coiling like a drawn bow, and brought her fist down with crushing force.

A drunken master beating a tiger could hardly be more fierce.

*Bang, bang, bang…* Under the barrage of heavy blows, the Insect Man’s head shattered into pieces. Gray-white brain matter and bright red blood splattered across the floor, mixed with a foul-smelling, ink-green fluid.

Another one down. Victory is assured… Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of joy.

The enemy had lost two monsters; his side had lost only one Level 3 Scout and two Fire Masters. Barring accidents, the scales of victory had already tipped toward the Officials.

Though perilous, it was manageable. I won’t need to use my trump card!

The thought flashed through his mind when Zhang Yuanqing suddenly saw a black shadow streak across his vision, slamming into Qingteng’s curvaceous figure like a cannonball.

It was Tang Guoqing, wearing his miner’s helmet. The two of them flew backward together, smashing furniture into splinters along their trajectory.

“Pfft…” Captain Qingteng’s face turned deathly pale as she vomited a large pool of blood.

What happened? Could Foreman Tang not hold off the Strange Snake? The thought had just crossed Zhang Yuanqing’s mind when he felt an itch in his throat, triggering a violent coughing fit. Simultaneously, a sour, bloated ache spread through his limbs, like the lactic acid buildup after extreme exertion.

His legs gave way, and he slumped to the ground, completely clueless as to why this was happening.

At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing heard Guan Ya let out a low moan as she leaned against a pillar, slowly collapsing to the floor.

Almost simultaneously, Li Dongze in the open kitchen, the four elite members beside the insectoid corpse, and Tang Guoqiang and Qingteng by the wall all began coughing to varying degrees, all exhibiting symptoms of creeping exhaustion and weakness.

The massive serpent that had hurled Tang Guoqiang across the room now let its tail dangle limply and powerlessly from the second-floor railing, seemingly affected as well.

"We've been poisoned... *cough, cough*..."

Captain Qingteng's face was deathly pale.

Poisoned? When did this happen? Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank; prior to this, he hadn't detected a single abnormality in his body, and as a Night Stalker teeming with vital energy, he should have noticed immediately if toxins had invaded his system.

Furthermore, the Wood Sprites of the Hundred Flowers Club possessed skills in the domain of life itself; they should have been the most sensitive of all to things like poison.

Yet the three Wood Sprites, Captain Qingteng included, had clearly failed to sense any anomaly whatsoever.

*Crack!*

The second-floor railing snapped, and White Dragon, clad in her racing suit, came crashing down along with her long black blade.

Immediately following her, a ball of fire drifted downward and abruptly expanded, transforming into a staggering figure clutching his lower abdomen—none other than Da Jiba.

A horrific, penetrating wound had torn through his belly, and vast torrents of fresh blood gushed out, defying any attempt to staunch the flow, while his burly frame was covered in a network of blood-drenched claw marks.

The two captains looked utterly drained, their limbs trembling and shaking, entirely sapped of strength.

A tall, dark shadow leaped down from the second floor, sending a tremor through the ground upon impact.

Hengxing Wuji, the scales coating his body heavily cracked and weeping traces of blood, charged rapidly toward Da Jiba.

*Snap!* He flexed his knees and launched himself into the air, unleashing a ferocious kick that resembled an upward-slashing blade.

If this kick connected, the Level 3 Fire Wizard’s jaw would explode like a watermelon.

At the critical juncture, Qingteng, as a healer, managed to summon a final shred of strength and flicked her wrist, sending out a vine that wrapped around Tang Guoqiang’s ankle and, with a whistling rush, flung him directly toward Hengxing Wuji.

Hengxing Wuji altered his attack mid-air, shifting from a straight kick into a savage whip kick.

*Thud!* Tang Guoqiang was sent flying across the room like a soccer ball.

Evidently harboring a deep grudge against Da Jiba from their recent clash, Hengxing Wuji ignored Tang Guoqiang completely, lunging forward into a bow stance as his fist pierced the air, sworn to slaughter his nemesis.

The faces of the various captains twisted in horror, forced to watch their comrade's impending sacrifice with absolute helplessness.

In that split second, Zhang Yuanqing, possessing astonishing regenerative powers, rallied a sudden burst of strength and stumbled forward, catching the airborne, soccer-ball-like Tang Guoqiang to position himself in front of Da Jiba, using the foreman as a human shield to block the oncoming assault.

*Thud, thud, thud!* Hengxing Wuji’s fists rained down like a tempest, relentlessly battering Tang Guoqiang's body.

Holding up his "shield," Zhang Yuanqing was forced backward step after step.

"You... you're taking this a bit too far..." Tang Guoqiang gasped out, coughing up blood as he spoke.

He possessed a thick skin and coarse flesh, so a few punches wouldn't kill him, but the experience was deeply unpleasant.

...Zhang Yuanqing explained, "I'm just taking emergency evasive maneuvers."

The words had barely left his mouth when a whistling whip kick swept both him and Tang Guoqiang off their feet, sending them flying.

"A futile resistance!" Surveying the official executioners slumped helplessly on the ground, he parted his hideous mouthparts and spoke in human tongue, laughing with smug triumph:

"I never said my trump card was these three idiots. With them? How could they possibly defeat fifteen official Walkers? Even with my modifications, it's impossible."

"Hahaha, they're merely a smokescreen to bewilder you. The true killing move is my secret artifact—it releases a colorless, odorless poison gas. Even a Walker at the Saint realm would be affected."

"But it has flaws. It requires a sealed space. It requires enough time. I told you—this is the slaughter feast I prepared for you. Do you like it?"

Captains Li Dongze, Qingteng, and Bailong grew visibly paler.

It turned out that from the moment their party stepped into the villa, they had already fallen into a trap—a meticulously prepared trap.

The several Level 2 Walkers stared at one another, faces etched with despair.

Hengxing Wuji turned his gaze to Zhang Yuanqing, his eyes locking onto the Bloodthirsty Blade sheathed at his waist, clicking his tongue. "Isn't that Ou Xiangrong's artifact? Heh, I've coveted it for ages. Thought I'd never get another chance after Ou Xiangrong died. Never expected it to walk right up to my door."

His gaze swept next to Tang Guoqiang's miner's lamp, Bailong's black longsword, Guanya's pistol, Qingteng's vines, Li Dongze's staff…

"Quite the haul. The boss was right—killing and looting is the path to wealth. To thank you fools for your generosity, I'll make it quick. Hm, though you three won't die."

Amber vertical pupils swept over Guanya, Qingteng, and Bailong one by one, lingering repeatedly on the curves of their bodies. This evil witchcraft master made no effort to conceal his desire, chuckling lewdly: "I'll remodel your bodies, strip away your reason, turn you into female beasts who know only to raise their rumps and beg me."

Captain Qingteng's expression changed. If that were the case, she would choose death.

"Pah!" Bailong spat a mouthful of blood, raising her brow in a cold sneer: "When the time comes, this old lady won't forget to bite your manhood off."

Listening to Hengxing Wuji's words, Guanya—who had shown little fear of death until now—shuddered violently, a wave of intense nausea and terror rising from the depths of her heart.

She whipped her head toward Zhang Yuanqing, her beautiful eyes holding a thread of hope.

She knew Yuanshi possessed a rule-type artifact.

He still had an ace up his sleeve. If anyone here could turn the tide, Guanya believed it was him.

Most evil professions were scoundrels not worth a hundred deaths… Zhang Yuanqing curled his lips, returning Guanya's gaze, forcing his limp limbs to rise as he summoned the Red Bridal Veil from his inventory.

After much consideration, only the Ghost Bride could insta-kill this thief.

He didn't want to play his trump card too early, but when the moment truly came, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Hm?" Hengxing Wuji sounded arrogant, yet he hadn't relaxed his vigilance for a second, keeping constant watch on the official Walkers' movements.

He immediately looked at Zhang Yuanqing, then his gaze fell upon the object in his hand—the Red Bridal Veil with gold-threaded edges.

Hengxing Wuji's reaction drew the captains' heads around in unison, all turning to stare at Zhang Yuanqing, watching him raise the Red Bridal Veil.

What is that thing? He still has tricks? Qingteng, Bailong, and the muscle-heads—baffled yet hopeful.

Li Dongze and Guanya, meanwhile, revealed shock and disappointment. The item Yuanshi produced was nothing like they'd imagined.

Zhang Yuanqing met Hengxing Wuji's gaze, flashing a strange smile: "Want to experience what it feels like to be a groom?"

The Mao Wang speaker at his waist crackled a few times, then erupted with a shrill suona melody:

"She laughs while she cries, guess how she laughs while she cries, cries, cries, watch how she cries while she laughs…"

The suona wailed, note after note—eerie, piercing, shrill.

Crash! With a flick of his wrist, he unfurled the red bridal veil, and beneath the crowd's baffled gazes, settled it upon his own head.

…