After Lin Mu killed the careless Gu Master, the scales of battle didn't fundamentally tip in their favor.
Though the matchups had shifted somewhat, the situation remained a brutal one-sided affair.
On the main battlefield, Lin Feng stood back-to-back with a loyal household servant, barely holding on against the siege of three White Bone Stockade elites.
The white-haired youth's bone spear struck like a venomous dragon, each thrust forcing Lin Feng to activate his Iron Armor Gu to block head-on.
The tooth-grinding clash of metal on bone rang out again and again.
Another servant was barely managing to tie down the one-armed Gu Master, both of them already bleeding from multiple wounds.
The most critical situation belonged to Lin Wan'er.
As the squad's only healer, she had long since become a thorn in the enemy's eye.
A Bone Path Gu Master with eerie movement had slipped past their defensive line. The bone blade in his hand flickered with ghastly green phosphorescence, each strike aimed at her vitals.
Lin Wan'er could only scramble desperately among the scattered rocks.
Her once-pristine white dress was now caked with mud and blood. She looked moments away from death.
Lin Mu crouched behind the supply pack, his gaze as cool and precise as a finely calibrated instrument.
"Save her, or don't?"
If he didn't, Lin Wan'er would die. Without their only healer, the squad's collapse was just a matter of time.
Then he'd face multiple attackers at once—even burning all his trump cards might not be enough to survive.
But if he saved her—killed the pursuer with a single strike?
No. Too conspicuous. He'd instantly become everyone's primary target.
"I need to save her without stealing the spotlight. In that case—besiege Wei to rescue Zhao."
Lin Mu made his decision in an instant.
He stopped hiding behind cover. Snatching up a sharp-edged stone shard from the ground, he quietly channeled his Gu worm, then used the explosive burst of the Earth Ring Body to launch himself forward like a hunting leopard.
"Go!"
He didn't charge directly at the Bone Path Gu Master. Instead, mid-sprint, he hurled the stone with tremendous force.
This strike didn't employ the Iron Leaf Gu's deadly edge, but it was infused with Rank 1 Middle Stage Primeval Essence. The angle was wickedly precise—aimed directly at the path the enemy's blade had to travel.
CLANG!
A sharp ring.
Just as the bone blade was about to slice through Lin Wan'er's throat, the stone smashed into the flat of the blade with pinpoint accuracy.
The massive impact numbed the Gu Master's grip. The blade veered several inches off course, shaving past Lin Wan'er's scalp and severing only a lock of hair.
"Who?!"
The Gu Master whirled in alarm, instinctively raising his blade to guard.
Seizing that moment's respite, Lin Wan'er scrambled away on all fours, desperately wrapping herself in a layer of pale-green wooden armor.
And by then, Lin Mu had arrived—"gasping for breath."
He gripped a steel blade with a curled edge in his hand, but made no move to attack. Instead, he assumed a defensive stance, planting himself in front of Lin Wan'er and bellowing:
"You won't touch her!"
The Gu Master glanced at the brawny corpse on the ground, then at Lin Mu—who appeared haggard but whose lower body stance was rock-solid. A flicker of wariness crossed his eyes.
"This kid killed Third Brother? Something's off about him."
He chose not to force a confrontation. With a feinting slash, he drifted away, probing for a new opening.
Lin Mu was more than happy to oblige. He acted as though he was barely holding on, circling with his opponent. As long as he kept the healer alive, his job was done.
As time wore on, the tide of battle quietly began to shift.
This was the essential difference between having a healer and not having one.
Lin Feng had absorbed the brunt of the enemy's assault. The pressure was immense; his iron armor had cracked in multiple places.
But as Lin Wan'er poured out wave after wave of faint healing pulses—burning through her Primeval Essence without reserve—his surface wounds visibly scabbed over and stopped bleeding. He clung to that last breath and refused to fall.
The White Bone Stockade side, however, was another story.
Their formation was built for high-mobility ambush tactics—designed to end fights in a single overwhelming wave. Now they were mired in a protracted struggle.
Their earlier wounds were slowing them down. Primeval Essence and stamina were draining fast.
"Damn it! Why won't these turtle shells break?!"
Li Huang's bone spear still struck with lethal precision, but beads of sweat had begun gathering at his temples.
His planned "blitzkrieg" had been ground down into a war of attrition. This wasn't just a tactical failure—it was a fatal liability. After all, this was Black Blood Stockade territory.
Lin Feng sensed the enemy's growing desperation.
He knew that in a pure contest of strength, his side was already on its last legs. That servant over there was about to collapse.
If they wanted to survive, they needed a different approach.
Attack the mind.
CLANG!
Lin Feng took another heavy blow. But this time, instead of roaring and fighting back furiously, he rode the impact and stepped back—smoothly, deliberately.
The retreat was utterly composed.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His previously savage expression suddenly calmed, and a chilling smirk curled at his lips.
"Li Huang. I know it's you."
Lin Feng's sword dropped to point casually at the ground.
He made no move to attack, instead adopting an air of perfect leisure. His tone was so flat it might have been idle chatter:
"You think buying off one mole inside our stockade is enough to swallow us whole?"
"Didn't you ever wonder—why would I deliberately bring so few people, including several dead weights, and stroll around the middle zone so openly?"
Li Huang's assault faltered. His expression darkened with uncertainty. "What are you getting at?"
"What I'm getting at is..." Lin Feng chuckled softly, his eyes full of mockery. "To bait a big fish like you, I've invested quite heavily in the lure."
He tilted his head up to study the darkening sky, as if confirming some signal. Then he sighed:
"By my calculations, my reinforcements should have sealed off the exits to Black Wind Valley by now."
"So—do you want to surrender quietly and become our trophy for Black Blood Stockade? Or shall I take you apart bone by bone and carry you back myself?"
The Empty Fort Strategy.
Hearing this, Li Huang's face instantly turned grim as death.
He didn't fully believe it—but Lin Feng's composure, that air of a man who had everything under control, left him deeply unsettled.
More importantly, Lin Feng had called out his name and intentions without hesitation. That meant the enemy had been prepared from the start.
Li Huang's mind raced.
Their ambush advantage was gone. The enemy had a healer. A prolonged fight would break his side first.
And they were too close to Black Blood Stockade. If there really was an ambush—even just a patrol squad—his entire team would be wiped out here.
As the Young Master of White Bone Stockade, risking his life for a few random targets wasn't worth it.
"Hmph."
Li Huang fixed Lin Feng with a long, hard stare, then swept his gaze over the unfathomable Lin Mu. With a cold snort, he said:
"Lin Feng. We'll settle this score next time."
He raised a shrill bone whistle to his lips and blew.
"Retreat!"
The White Bone Stockade fighters, though unwilling, immediately contracted their formation at the command.
Several smoke bombs burst open, and under cover of the haze, they withdrew in alternating leapfrogs—clean, decisive, without a moment's hesitation.
Seeing the enemy actually retreat, a flash of wild joy crossed Lin Feng's eyes. But he knew the performance wasn't over yet.
If he relaxed now and the enemy realized the truth and came back for a counterstrike, it would be total annihilation.
"Think you can run? Kill them! Don't let them escape!"
Lin Feng's eyes blazed. With a powerful roar, he charged forward, leading the pursuit.
Though the Black Blood Stockade survivors were exhausted, seeing their captain's ferocity sent their morale soaring.
Believing reinforcements were truly coming, they howled and threw themselves into a frenzied counterattack.
"Damn it! It really was a trap!"
The retreating Li Huang heard the roar of the pursuit behind him. His last shred of doubt vanished.
He didn't dare linger another moment. Taking the main force, he fled at full speed.
But those left to cover the retreat weren't so lucky.
The one-armed Gu Master whom Lin Feng had maimed earlier was too slow from blood loss. Lin Feng caught up and took his head with a single sword stroke. The skull rolled into the underbrush.
Another enemy covering the retreat was surrounded by two blood-crazed servants and hacked to death.
But cornered beasts fight the fiercest.
In his dying counterattack, one of Lin Feng's most loyal servants took a bone spear through the throat and died without even a scream.
And so the battle ended.
Li Huang vanished into the endless sea of trees with his battered remnants.
The cost had been steep—but killing three of the enemy was an exceptional achievement.
Once they confirmed the enemy had fully withdrawn, a deathly silence reclaimed the clearing.
Lin Feng, who moments ago had been so commanding, so full of righteous fury—suddenly swayed.
Pfft—
He dropped to one knee, spraying a mouthful of black blood across the dirt before him.
His hands shook violently. He couldn't even grip his sword anymore. It clattered to the ground.
"Young Master!"
Lin Wan'er rushed forward, voice breaking with tears. "Where are the reinforcements? Why aren't they here yet?"
"There are no reinforcements..."
Lin Feng laughed bitterly. His face was ashen, nothing like the composed commander from moments ago.
"If I hadn't said that... we'd all be corpses by now..."
Hearing this, the surviving servant and Lin Wan'er both froze—then felt a wave of delayed terror wash over them.
In the shadows nearby.
Lin Mu silently wiped the blood from his blade. Watching Lin Feng collapse to his knees in exhaustion, he offered a fair assessment in his heart:
"Smart. Ruthless. And knows how to act. This Young Master... is interesting."
This battle had given him a new understanding of the main family's capabilities. These people might be arrogant—but they were far from useless parasites content to wait for the wait.