Ma Han and Zheng Han exchanged a glance and nodded, "Be extra cautious on your own; there's someone called Hyena in their team who, although only a Ninth Layer Martial Apprentice, has an exceptionally good nose. He might have already smelled the blood here and be prepared."
"Rest assured, hurry up and go," Lin Feng said.
"Until we meet again!"
"Brother Lin Feng, take care!"
Ma Han and Zheng Han both clenched their fists in a gesture of farewell; of course, with Zheng Han missing an arm, he could only gesture, and then Ma Han, carrying Lu Keke, quickly left the area with the three of them.
After they had left, Lin Feng's gaze fell on the bodies of Purple Scorpion and Wang Wei. Getting them to leave this place of trouble was one reason, but more importantly, Lin Feng wanted to let the Demon Dragon Star devour their essence blood and stars without anyone else knowing the secrets of the Demon Dragon Star.
He immediately sat cross-legged, activated the Demon Dragon Star, and instantly, faint glows appeared on the bodies of Wang Wei and Purple Scorpion. They were their stars—Wang Wei's Bow and Arrow Star, and Purple Scorpion's Purple Scorpion Star, the latter being more brilliant due to its higher grade.
"Refining!"
Lin Feng shouted softly, and the two glowing orbs were devoured by a vague silhouette of a 'giant serpent' star behind him. Instantly, the shape of this 'giant serpent' star became a bit clearer, especially the very distinctive four horns that could vaguely be seen.
"Hasn't broken through to Fifth Grade yet?"
Lin Feng frowned, continuing to devour the flesh and blood of Purple Scorpion and Wang Wei. The two bodies visibly shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if they had been drained of essence blood. Their essence blood became nourishment for both the Demon Dragon Star and Lin Feng himself.
A moment later, Lin Feng stood up, his expression unavoidably showing helplessness. It seemed that in this life, the Demon Dragon Star was somehow restricted; even after absorbing the stars and bodily power of two individuals, it was still just a Fourth Grade.
"Never mind, there's no hurry, there are still seven or eight more guys."
Lin Feng muttered to himself, and at that moment, he looked up in one direction.
It was a series of footsteps, and besides that, some people were panting heavily. Soon, seven or eight people appeared in Lin Feng's line of sight. Lin Feng saw them, and they also saw him, along with the bodies of Purple Scorpion and Wang Wei on the ground.
"Big Brother Purple Scorpion!"
Hyena incredulously screamed, signaling his brothers to stop.
"That, that person is Big Brother Purple Scorpion... what happened exactly, how could this be?" The people behind him couldn't believe their eyes. How could Big Brother Purple Scorpion be lying on the ground, looking as though... he was dead?
"Big Brother Purple Scorpion is dead. I can smell the blood," Hyena said, his expression grave.
"He's dead, Brother Hyena, you mean, Big Brother Purple Scorpion was killed by a demon beast?" Several people said in disbelief. In their eyes, only those powerful demon beasts could have killed Big Brother Purple Scorpion.
Hyena didn't speak, but he felt something was off. If a demon beast had killed him, then why was Purple Scorpion's body not missing any limbs? Of course, that didn't rule out creatures like venomous wasps, which seemed not very dangerous but could be deadly with just one sting.
His gaze fell on the only person standing in the middle of the field, "Who are you? What did you see, what happened, where are Ma Han and the others?"
The others finally came to their senses. A stranger had appeared at their temporary resting place, and he appeared to be just a lad around fourteen or fifteen.
"Kid, we are from the Wolf Fang Brigade. Tell us, what happened just now? Was there a demon beast?"
Lin Feng looked at them and smiled faintly, a smile that made Hyena furrow his brows, feeling vaguely that there was something off about Lin Feng, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it immediately.
"Demon Beasts are not present," Lin Feng stated lightly.
"However, there is someone here to kill you."
To kill us?
Hyena and the others were taken aback, then realization dawned upon them, and their expressions shifted slightly.
"What nonsense are you spouting here, kid? You want to kill us?"
Lin Feng nodded seriously and said, "To chop the grass without removing the roots, the spring breeze will bring it to life again. Unfortunately, you all must die."
"Ha ha ha, what a big joke—wait... are you implying?"
Hyena instinctively wanted to burst into laughter. Lin Feng, a lad whose whiskers hadn't even grown yet, saying such words—it sounded pretty comical to them as they were seasoned professional mercenaries. However, halfway through their laughter, they processed the meaning of Lin Feng's words about removing the roots.
"Could it be that you killed Purple Scorpion Bro?"
Lin Feng nodded again, "Not too dumb. You keep mentioning Purple Scorpion Bro affectionately, looks like you were close. But it doesn't matter anymore, soon you'll reunite with him in the underworld, not a lonely journey at least."
With these words, the expressions of Hyena and the others changed slightly. This young man actually killed Purple Scorpion Bro?
"Ha ha, listen to this little brat bluffing and blabbering; how old is he to have killed Purple Scorpion Bro, who does he think he is? Damn it, since he wishes for death, I'll grant it to him!"
Saying this, a hotheaded youngster grabbed the steel knife in his hand and chopped down towards Lin Feng.
Although this youngster lacked any combat skills, he had solid fundamentals, and his strike was merciless.
Bang!
Yet, before his blade could strike Lin Feng, he was sent flying backwards like a cannonball, crashing into the ground after rolling several times and twitching before going motionless.
"Is he dead?"
Hyena and the others were completely dumbfounded. That youngster was a Martial Apprentice at Seventh Layer, and he died just like that?
"Not good, this guy is thorny. He probably wasn't lying; Purple Scorpion Bro must have been killed by him when caught unawares. Hurry and get the crossbows, shoot him dead. Even if he is a martial master, he can't withstand the power of crossbow arrows!"
Hyena was the first to react, his expressions changing as he yelled. The others were quick to respond, their moves even swifter, as they took out the Strong Crossbows strapped to their backs usually reserved for Demon Generals. These crossbows, especially lethal at close range, could pierce through the skins of Demon Generals. Coated with deadly poison, these were their ultimate weapons, capable of teaching any martial master or Demon General a harsh lesson when fired together.
But such crossbows were too expensive and prone to malfunctions, hence only well-backboned and revered mercenaries like them had access to these. Ordinary folks like Ma Han couldn't even dream of them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In almost no time from realizing Lin Feng's strength to firing their triggers, a volley of six crossbow arrows were launched simultaneously.