Chapter 42: Desiccated Corpse

Bai Muxin lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment before resolutely leading the black horse away. Knowing there was a problem with it was far better than taking a seemingly problem-free horse only to have someone tamper with it later.

Zhang Lan nodded silently, whispering, "I understand...", while feeling utterly heartbroken and sorrowful at the prospect of leaving her homeland.

"Nine out of ten," Liu Qianjing's gaze dimmed with a complex mix of emotions. What she had hoped to see was a well-matched game where neither side could claim victory until the very end, rather than a game whose outcome was glaringly obvious from the start.

That night, Su Guo suddenly ran over to sleep with Ye Xiang. Considering Su Guo had almost fully recovered, she had previously moved back to live with Su Mo and the others, having not sought out Ye Xiang for a shared sleep for several days.

Zhang Lan closed her eyes as tears streamed down continuously. The pain in her hands had rendered her powerless to struggle, and even if she could, such efforts would be utterly futile.

The tea in the cup had already gone completely cold. The emerald-green, premium Longjing leaves were gently unfurling their tender tips in the water, releasing a faint, refreshing fragrance that cleared the mind and warmed the spirit.

Qin Mingzhou observed Shen Yaoxi as she spoke, and sure enough, a look of jealousy and resentment flashed across Shen's face, revealing her to be a woman of ambition.

The Eleventh Young Master was mentally rehearsing his lines and preparing to speak when Yan Aaonan's phone rang again. To her surprise, the caller was actually Zhang Yang, and she cast a somewhat bewildered glance at Long Yihuan.

Luli, unaware of how or when she had managed it, stealthily slipped back to the front, appearing once more in the spectator stand closest to the battlefield.

However, hearing Fang Yuan's voice, laden with emotion and tinged with a deep sense of compassion—as if he truly pitied that man—she could not help but feel a surge of curiosity.

Shortly after, Vegga began to sample the all-insect banquet prepared by Elder Shima, and the three of them ate with immense relish.

Along the way, Leopard enthusiastically introduced the uses of the giant spiritual plants lining the path to Shiwu, and even advised him on which items to use for trading with the elixirs and spiritual herbs sold within those giant vegetation areas.

As for Guan Su and his two companions, upon hearing Shiwu's words, all their tension vanished instantly. A renewed conviction blossomed in their hearts: as long as Shiwu was by their side, no one could use their power to oppress them.

"This... do the corpses also carry a large amount of electromagnetic radiation?" Chen Hao perplexedly sought guidance from Meng Zhen. Unfortunately, although Meng Zhen was more than willing to answer Chen Hao's questions, her lack of eloquence left her utterly at a loss for how to begin explaining.

Ah Da made a slight gripping motion with his left hand on the Judgment blade. Before Ah Six could even see how Ah Da moved, the fine iron axe in Ah Six's right hand had snapped in two, clattering loudly to the ground—and Ah Da's Judgment blade hadn't even been drawn from its scabbard.

He stopped breathing entirely. In his heart, he wanted to explain that he was only acting for the sake of the Grand Priest, but his mouth refused to obey, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably. He curled his legs, collapsed onto his knees in a huddled shape, and pressed his forehead desperately against the cold ground.

Using his chopsticks to stir the medicinal residue that had settled at the bottom, the old fellow poured the mixed red-and-green medicinal liquid completely into the medicine pot Yuan Anping had brought over, including all the dregs.

Yet strangely enough, while her side felt scorching hot like boiling oil, Qiong Xiao's side was freezing cold like the dead of a bitter winter night. If she lingered on that side for too long, it felt as though even her own body temperature would be completely drained away.

The face of the puppet golden body slowly shifted to resemble Su Ran's features. He raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and tested it; indeed, he possessed the strength of a Golden Immortal. For an avatar to reach such a realm was already quite remarkable.

As it turned out, Taishi Kun had long since decided that Zhang Dahao was a simple, honest man ripe for bullying, and had hatched a plan to extort him early on. Therefore, throughout their conversation, Taishi Kun peppered his words with threats of slaughter and destruction, letting his fierce, bandit-like nature show entirely, which scared the wits out of Zhang Dahao.

When a dozen bailiffs brandishing iron chains and wooden cangues burst into Wu Song's bedchamber, he was still fast asleep! Just like that, the strongman Wu Song was easily captured by the bailiffs and thrown into the death row.

"Please tell me where Naruto is now? I'm begging you, tell me," Hinata panted slightly as she ran up to the edge of the cliff.

Earlier, this dual-sword-wielding grim reaper phantom had been extraordinarily fierce. Even Uranus, the Lord of Heaven acclaimed as the supreme warrior of the God race, was unable to completely suppress it, and had even fallen slightly behind—forced mostly into defense rather than offense, looking far more wretched than originally anticipated.

Weiming Ah Wu still possessed a fair amount of confidence in his own martial arts, so whenever he wanted to go out for a stroll by himself, he would simply strip off his military uniform and walk right out the door.

In this world, there were countless legends surrounding Brother Kun. Across the vast lands of the Great Song, countless old folks firmly believed that Brother Kun was some celestial star monarch descended to the mortal realm. To them, it was only natural that Brother Kun possessed magical arts; if they were to witness today's scene, they would certainly not be surprised at all.

"She is here, and she is still alive." Meng Xinghui felt a great weight lift from his heart. He had been terrified that Christina might have met a tragic end, but this faint trace of life energy told him she was still alive.

Assassinate Wanyan Loushi! That was a pipe dream. The central military tent was heavily guarded by the most elite bodyguards; twenty men couldn't do it, nor could two hundred. Burning the grain supplies was equally delusional! The provisions were guarded by the Jin army's most elite troops, making them virtually unapproachable, let alone capable of being burned.

Though the old fellow had spoken with absolute resolve, his hands eagerly grabbed the plain white noodles brought by the monkey, eating them with immense satisfaction and relish.

"Shameless old bastard, what did you do to us?" Kuang Mie demanded angrily with a furious expression.

"Commander, you flatter me. Our victory today relies entirely on your brilliant strategic deployment and the valiant efforts of our soldiers. This subordinate dares not claim credit," Zhu Hao said modestly. Yang Sicong was currently the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Plains Bandit Suppression, and Zhu Hao nominally served under his command, so he laid the flattery on thick—after all, flattery cost nothing.

Zhu Hao smiled and said nothing, while the others wore expressions of sudden realization. This was tantamount to Zhu Hao tacitly acknowledging his status as a warlord building his own armed strength; as for whether he would obey the imperial court's commands or not, that entirely depended on his own intentions and whether it served the interests of the New Army. He was now separated from openly declaring independence by merely a single layer of window paper.

"The sect's law enforcement team? Heh, what if I insist on killing him today?" Han Haos's gaze met Xuan Chen's directly.

After all, the strongest figure in Tianjing City was the Xing family's aged head, a level-40 Soul Lord, which was precisely what made the Xing family the undisputed rulers of Tianjing City and the Xing Tian Mercenary Corps its most formidable mercenary group.

Xiao Yi looked toward the eastern side of the village. There weren't many residential households here, and most of the land belonged to the collective. The plot Yifeng had secured was right in this area, which connected directly to the water source on the mountain. As long as the roads were repaired, everything else would become much simpler.