Chapter 289: Killing Intent!
Sou!
Not too long after leaving the Duke of Liu Residence, an abrupt ruckus within the walls caught the duo's attention.
"Gongzi, that person has left the Duke of Liu Residence," Old Eagle said. He glanced at Wang Chong in astonishment, knowing that the latter's instincts were spot-on.
"Not bad! He realizes that something is amiss quickly!" A hint of commendation flashed across Wang Chong's eyes.
Right after he left the Duke of Liu Residence, the masked figure also left as well. He didn't think that there were too many people who possessed astute senses on par with him.
"Let's go and take a look!" Wang Chong beckoned Old Eagle and headed toward the area the masked figure was leaving from.
---
Sou!
A cold gale blew in the night sky. The masked figure leapt across the wall to escape from the Duke of Liu Residence.
Beneath his sleeves, his hands were clutched together tightly. His face was pale, and frustration filled his eyes.
Without a doubt, his operation had failed utterly.
Sou sou sou!
As soon as he landed on the other side, the masked figure immediately dashed toward the forest.
"Hmph! Brat, do you think you can get away?" a cold sneer sounded out, and a shadow suddenly emerged from the forest, standing right before the masked figure.
Astonished, the masked figure immediately tried to turn around and flee in another direction. However, yet another shadow surfaced from the darkness, blocking his path.
"Where do you think you are going?" Those two shadows were well-built, and appearing from their hiding spots, they didn't rush into taking down the masked figure. Instead, they slowly proceeded forward to close the encirclement, preventing the masked figure from escaping.
Even though the masked figure was completely clothed in black, the sneers from those two shadowy figures surrounding him seemed to reflect that his identity was no longer a secret.
"Not speaking eh? Do you think that you can conceal your identity just by remaining silent?" the brawny man leading the team chuckled with a cold edge to his voice.
"Let me tell you, you might have been able to fool others and enter Kunwu Training Camp under a different alias, your disguise won't fool our gongzi or old master. Lad, our old master knew that you would come here eventually."
Hearing those words, the composure in the masked figure's eyes finally cracked, revealing even deeper coldness and hatred.
"If you had been in Kunwu Training Camp, we would still be unable to do anything about you. But it is a pity that you simply refuse to give up despite all these years and adamantly charged right into our trap!" the brawny man sneered.
Weng!
In that instant, the masked figure's eyes turned crimson, and a savage aura reminiscent of a ferocious tiger emanated from him, inducing a strong sense of fear in those around him.
The brawny man had initially put on a haughty attitude, staring at the masked figure as if a cat toying with a mouse. However, under the overwhelming aura of the masked figure, a sense of discomfort abruptly crept onto his heart.
"Brat, how dare you look at me with such eyes? You sure must be tired of living! Since that's the case, allow me to send you on your way. Brothers, come out!"
Sou sou sou! In an instant, as if spirits materializing into existence, innumerable shadows appeared all around the forest, encircling the masked man tightly.
Yi!
The crisp and sharp call of a majestic beast echoed from above the forest, and a large eagle spread its steel wings and glided down from the sky.
"Right, I forgot to tell you this, but you are completely surrounded. It's impossible for you to get away, so I suggest you surrender peacefully." The brawny man smiled sinisterly as he gazed at the masked figure like cornered prey. At the same time, he grabbed a piece of dried jerky from his pouch and threw it out. With a sharp cry, the ferocious eagle grabbed it with its beak before flying back into the sky, disappearing into the darkness.
Seeing the massive eagle vanishing into the night sky, the masked figure seemed to have suddenly realized something, but there wasn't the slightest panic in his eyes.
Klang!
The masked figure retreated a few steps backward before drawing his sword, expressing the stand that he would take.
"You're courting death!" Furious, the brawny man raised his hand, and an expert amidst the group charged forward with a sneer.
"Lord, I don't think that there's any need for so many of us to be present just to deal with this brat! I'll suffice for him!" Leaving behind those words, the expert cut down his sword right toward the masked figure. At the same moment, a powerful surge of Stellar Energy gushed forth from his body along with this slash.
Sou!
But something astonishing happened. While the expert was making a move, the masked figure suddenly leaped up. Instead of retreating, he advanced to the attacking expert instead.
Boom! Under everyone's eyelids, an astoundingly powerful surge of Stellar Energy burst forth from the masked figure like the eruption of a volcano. Appearing alongside this burst of Stellar Energy was a brilliant greenish-black halo.
Hong long long! A cloud of dust carrying little pebbles were blasted away with the immense force from the outburst. The two very different Deluges of Stellar Energy clashed against one another, reminiscent of two ferocious beasts biting each other's neck. A humongous gale was whipped up, creating a bone-chilling sound of rustling leaves within the forest.
"AH! ——"
Before anyone could fully process what was going on, a cry of agony echoed in the air.
That clash ended swiftly.
The sword of the masked figure was knocked several zhang away. The expert from the Duke of Liu’s Residence had managed to pierce the masked figure's left chest, the tip of his sword protruding slightly from the other party's back.
However... like an incomparably sharp blade, the right hand of the masked figure had penetrated deep into the heart of the expert.
With frosty eyes, the masked figure stared down at the lifeless man before him.
Silence!
The gleeful faces on everyone's faces from before vanished in that moment, and a cold intent that threatened to freeze even their bones embraced them.
In that moment, everyone suddenly realized that they had been underestimating the reticent masked figure.
Never had they seen such a brutal fighting method before—a strong determination to slay one's opponent even if it meant suffering grievous wounds!
While the masked figure suffered severe injuries in the encounter, it was clear that he had won in this face-off. After all, he was the one standing after the clash.
Puchi!
The masked man calmly tightened his grip, crushing the other party's heart, before retracting his hand from the other party's chest. With eyes wide in disbelief, the expert from the Duke of Liu's Residence collapsed onto the ground.
"Kill him!"
After seeing this sight, the brawny man immediately charged forward with a savage expression. This time, everyone moved together
---
"Gongzi, their fight is growing more and more intense," Old Eagle said. Even though he couldn't see anything at all, he had many birds in the surrounding relaying information regarding the situation to him, thus allowing him to create a vivid image of the scene.
"They have a lot of people, and they are heading to the northwest!"
"Our target is injured!"
"Yet another group has arrived!"
---
Old Eagle led the way through the night while filling Wang Chong in on the present situation. Even though Wang Chong had seen how Old Eagle trained his birds, he still couldn't understand the language which the latter used to communicate with them.
Along the way, some birds would suddenly appear and chirp, dance, circle the area, or flap their wings. These were nothing more than perfectly ordinary movements to Wang Chong, but in Old Eagle's view, they were a message rich with information.
Through these bird scouts, Wang Chong and Old Eagle were able to follow their target precisely.
"Hmm, to think that there would be another eagle here." Old Eagle suddenly came to a halt.
"I was careless. Duke of Liu knew that someone would come and prepared an eagle in his residence. Gongzi, you are right. This was indeed a trap!" Old Eagle sneered. As a person who specialized in training birds, he had spent his entire life interacting with all kinds of avians. Before conducting any operation, he would always make sure to sweep through the sky to check if there were any other possible “eyes”.
This was his usual practice, and he had always made sure to do so before an operation.
Thus, Old Eagle was certain that there wasn't such an eagle in the vicinity of the Duke of Liu’s Residence before this incident.
The only possibility was that the eagle had come from the Duke of Liu’s people.
It wasn't a common practice for those in the Central Plains to rear eagles. It was extremely suspicious how they had one prepared even though the Duke of Liu Residence had been calm for many years.
Old Eagle realized that his evaluation of this matter had been wrong all along.
"There's no need to hesitate, get rid of that eagle," Wang Chong instructed calmly.
As long as the eagle continued to watch from the sky, that masked figure wouldn't be able to get away. On top of that, it was possible that their presence might also be detected by that eagle.
"... Also, send the signal," Wang Chong said.
"Yes, gongzi." Chuckling, Old Eagle reached into his left sleeve and took out a small, golden bird.
Its entire body was huddled together, but its eyes were exceptionally bright. On top of that, its feathers were exceptionally tough, reminiscent of steel. With just a look, it was clear that it was no ordinary bird.
Wang Chong had been with Old Eagle for some time already, but he never knew that the latter had such a bird. It seemed like Old Eagle also had many secrets behind him.
Yi!
With a resounding call unlike that of its small stature, the golden bird flew from Old Eagle's hands. Even Wang Chong wasn't able to clearly see how it disappeared.
After releasing this bird, Wang Chong and Old Eagle continued rushing forward.