This sudden voice startled Su Ziyu, causing his heartbeat to skip a beat. Next to him, Lina also jumped in fright, then hesitantly looked ahead and said, "Rote?"
Su Ziyu didn't recognize the voice, but Lina did.
Lina seemed to want to walk a few steps forward to see clearly, but was quietly held back by Su Ziyu. This guy appeared too strangely, and Su Ziyu felt very unsettled. Nonetheless, at that moment, Ken walked toward Rote, saying, "Where did you go? I brought people to look for you for a long time."
Just as Su Ziyu was about to warn him to be careful, he saw Ken quietly make a special hand gesture behind his back.
Rote's figure stood there without speaking, shrouded in darkness, even his face was unclear. All around, there was only the whistling sound of the wind. Lina seemed a bit nervous, unconsciously tightening her grip on Su Ziyu's hand.
"Rote? Are you okay?" Ken stopped and seemed to hesitate as he closed the distance.
Then, as if relaxing a bit, he continued forward, "Thank goodness! I thought something happened to you!"
The distance between them shrank to about ten steps.
Just as the words 'thank goodness' were uttered, Ken suddenly accelerated forward, exploding with a speed comparable to a cheetah, pouncing like a shadow. In the darkness, only a flash of the sword light could be seen. His striking speed was even faster than Su Ziyu had imagined; he had never seen Sword Momentum so quick. Lina was still in the middle of an exclamation, but Ken's sharp sword had already pierced through Rote's body, freezing his insides.
Ken is extremely dangerous!
In an instant, Su Ziyu's evaluation of Ken skyrocketed. He had just felt that Rote's appearance was too bizarre, but for Ken to act a scene, approach the target, and launch a sudden attack for a critical hit? Su Ziyu admitted he couldn't do that.
It's not just about being ruthless.
Lina's exclamation finally burst forth, but the next moment, a spurt of blood flew from Ken, sending him hurtling backward.
Bam!
As Ken hit the ground, Su Ziyu drew his weapon and rushed forward, with Lina half a step behind, protecting Ken from either side.
"Cough, cough!" Ken struggled to rise.
Thank goodness.
He only suffered a minor injury to his waist, not a fatal wound.
At this moment, Su Ziyu and Lina finally saw Rote's appearance clearly and gasped because Rote no longer looked human at all. The skin on his face seemed to have been peeled off, exposing dark red flesh and hollow nostrils that made one's heart race. Blood-red eye sockets were pitch black, and his white teeth seemed stained with blood and bits of flesh. Only his forehead had a split, with a jewel-like eye forcibly embedded within, surrounded by dark blue veins.
Ken's previous sword had pierced his heart, but it seemed insufficient to kill the monster before them.
The whistling wind was unsettling.
The monster that Rote had become stood still, then suddenly lunged without warning, running on all fours like a beast. Its speed was astonishing, accompanied by a thick stench of blood. Su Ziyu reacted instinctively, stepping sideways swiftly and swinging his sword. This was a Sword Momentum from the White Crow Swordsmanship, narrowly missing the monster's sharp black claws by less than two centimeters, then cutting across its waist. It felt like slicing through tough leather, without any spurting blood.
Beside him, Lina almost mirrored his actions, resulting in Ken being exposed behind them. The monster ignored its wounds and pounced toward Ken.
Fortunately, Ken, being an experienced warrior, awkwardly rolled away to gain some distance.
Rote had entirely transformed into a beast on all fours, with no trace of human instincts. It frantically scratched the ground with its black claws, while its eerie single eye wandered over the three of them. Whenever that strange eye stared at Su Ziyu, he felt a chilling freeze as if paralyzed, the malicious glare highly unsettling. The monster was swift, but each attack was oddly stiff, resembling the Ghost-faced Monkeys in its attack style. However, the human body's structure differs from the Ghost-faced Monkeys', making the four-limbed movement unsuited for human limbs to exert power.
The monster's repeated attacks fell short, and it was pierced several times by them instead.
Then, a burst of aggressive growling erupted, and the monster stopped its attack, frantically tearing off its clothes. Its body began making strange noises, akin to the sound of snapping human finger bones. In the dimness, changes occurred in its body: its arms seemed elongated, its entire spine hunched over, the body surface began covering with black fur, and its limb muscles visibly swelled.
Its speed increased!
After only one encounter, cold sweat broke out on Su Ziyu's back. This time, the monster's claws managed to tear through his clothes, leaving five faint blood marks on his abdomen. Even though he had dodged in advance, a slower reaction might have resulted in being gutted.
Heavy breaths were heard.
The monster climbed a nearby tree, its eerie single eye fixated on the three of them.
Noticing that the monster's attention mainly focused on Su Ziyu, often targeting the black short blade in his hand, Ken quietly shifted his position, secretly looking for an opportunity to strike.
Su Ziyu felt unease!
The monster had launched six attacks, three of which targeted him directly. At that moment, he didn't know why, but the pressure was mounting, exhausting his stamina rapidly. Without the system's power mastering the White Crow Swordsmanship, he might have already been torn apart by the monster.
The howling wind struck!
Once more, the monster aimed at Su Ziyu, this time more cunning, not only evading his swinging weapon but also crashing into him. The immense force flung Su Ziyu away, a metallic taste surging up his throat, likely with several ribs fractured by the collision. Yet, at this moment, Su Ziyu couldn't dwell on his injuries, as the monster turned into a shadow once again, seemingly intending to completely tear him apart.
"Damn it!"
In the face of life and death, Su Ziyu's ferocity erupted, turning everything around him into slow-motion frames. He felt his Spirit depleting rapidly, hearing Lina's distant exclamation of 'Su', with the monster's sharp black claws closing in, the stench nauseating.
There was only one chance!
Initially, Ken's stealth attack pierced its heart, yet the monster lived as if nothing happened.
Su Ziyu was unsure of its fatal vulnerability, unsure of where to strike to kill the beast before him. Thus, he chose the most glaring target that seemed most likely to kill it – the head, the single eye on the forehead.
A cold flash.
Su Ziyu's blade struck the monster's single eye, like shattering a gem. The exceptionally sharp black short blade even embedded into the monster's incredibly hard skull. Suddenly, a fierce wind erupted, faintly accompanied by a wailing sound. The monster seemed to have its skull split by his strike, yet the tremendous forward momentum still hurled Su Ziyu backward, sending both figures rolling down the roadside slope. Su Ziyu's thinking was chaotic now, feeling his body tumbling down, hitting some rocks, leaving him in pain all over. He could only protect his head as much as possible.
"SU!" Lina's exclamation echoed.
Seeing Su Ziyu tumbling down the slope with the monster, she rushed over quickly, but Ken suddenly reached out to stop her. In the darkness, they couldn't clearly see what had just happened. Ken only saw Su Ziyu and the monster fall down the slope. He had personally pierced its heart but couldn't kill the beast, leading Ken to believe that Su Ziyu's chances of survival were slim. Ken glanced at the nearly twenty to thirty-meter steep slope, then decisively said, "Go! Or none of us will survive!"
The whistling wind carried distant wailing!
Lina's expression was one of immense struggle, her eyes red and tear-streaked, fixated on the slope. Ultimately, however, Ken forcibly pulled her away quickly.
In the darkness.
Only a silent hillside remained, with a figure gasping as they arduously supported themselves to stand.
.........