Chapter 62: Interception at the Foot of the Mountain, Murder for Hire!

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Interception at the Foot of the Mountain, Murder for Hire!

On the other side, Fang Xu was being choked by a pair of slender, jade-like hands. His meridians felt completely sealed, rendering him unable to muster even a sliver of strength.

However, the owner of those hands didn’t seem to have any intention of killing him. She simply carried him through the jungle by his neck. It wasn’t until they arrived before a turbulent waterfall that the figure finally threw Fang Xu to the ground!

The moment he regained his freedom, Fang Xu immediately executed a combat roll. Kicking off the ground with immense force, he lunged straight at the figure in hemp garments standing before him.

Lu Zhiyuan had once told him that aside from their bizarre methods, witches did not possess high personal combat strength.

The hemp-clad figure before him was very strong. Fang Xu knew that his only chance lay in close-quarters combat.

BAM!

But just as he dashed forward, a snow-white leg kicked out at him.

Fang Xu couldn’t even see how his opponent had launched the attack. A flash of white simply crossed his vision, and the next thing he knew, he was struck.

The kick carried tremendous force, sending Fang Xu flying backward for ten to twelve meters. He staggered back a few more steps, THUD THUD THUD, before finally managing to awkwardly stabilize himself.

"Is this the master chosen by the Divine Attendant?

"He isn’t just ordinary weak."

A slightly hoarse voice echoed from beneath the bronze mask, causing Fang Xu to furrow his brows.

He wondered how the other party knew about the Divine Attendant. Was it possible... Fang Xu was somewhat stunned. Was the faction behind his master, Lu Zhiyuan, actually the witches?

"Since the Divine Attendant recognized you as its master, it proves you have some potential.

"As the disciple of that butcher Zhao Wuji, Li Xun will undoubtedly die today. Don’t go back and get involved."

After the hemp-clad figure finished speaking, she slowly turned around to face the rushing waterfall, completely unconcerned that Fang Xu might launch a sneak attack.

"How should I address you, Senior?"

Knowing he was no match for this person, and well aware that she was connected to his master, Fang Xu held back from attacking again.

"You may call me South Witch," the hemp-clad figure replied indifferently.

Fang Xu found South Witch to be a very strange name.

The person named South Witch was absolutely certain she could kill Li Xun. It seemed that everything that had happened today was a meticulously designed trap targeting him.

Sinking his consciousness deep into his sea of mind, Fang Xu saw that the Life Value next to Li Xun’s name on his friends list had dropped to 60%. It was lower than the initial 75%, but it didn’t seem like he was going to die either.

"Senior South Witch, you should probably go back and take a look. I’m afraid the backup plan you prepared won’t be enough to kill Li Xun."

Hearing this, South Witch slowly turned around. She looked at Fang Xu curiously and asked, "What makes you think we can’t kill him?"

Fang Xu remained silent. Regardless, the system showed that Li Xun definitely wasn’t going to die right now.

"Follow the river downstream. Once you exit the mountain, you’ll reach the river outside Fenglin Town. You can find your own way out."

Li Xun had Xu Liang by his side, who was a Martial Venerable of the Third Realm. Although he was only just recovering from serious injuries, he was still a genuine Martial Venerable. South Witch was indeed a little worried. After giving Fang Xu his instructions, she immediately hurried back in the direction they had come from.

"Senior!"

Fang Xu shouted loudly, only to see that South Witch’s figure had already disappeared into the jungle behind him.

"You could have at least beaten me up. It would have been best if it looked really serious but wasn’t actually a heavy injury..." Fang Xu muttered, looking somewhat helplessly at the waterfall in front of him.

He had been abducted by the witch right under the noses of Li Xun and the others. If Li Xun and the rest suffered heavy casualties while he returned to Fenglin Town completely unscathed, there would be no way to explain it!

Should he jump down from here? Looking at the cliff over thirty meters high before him, the thought of jumping down popped into Fang Xu’s mind. But he immediately rejected the idea.

They were deep in Tilan Mountain. If he jumped down and injured himself from the fall, he would face certain death if he encountered a high-level ferocious beast before making it out! He decided it would be better to head toward the outskirts of the mountain first. Once he reached a safe area on the periphery, he could figure out a way to make himself look a bit more miserable.

Without worrying about how the battle on Li Xun’s side was going, Fang Xu carefully followed the river toward the outside of the mountain.

It seemed this area was originally the active territory of South Witch and her tribesmen, or perhaps the ferocious beasts living here had all been summoned by her people to deal with Li Xun. As Fang Xu continued his journey, he surprisingly didn’t encounter a single ferocious beast.

After traveling for four hours, the dense forest ahead finally became noticeably sparser. He knew he had finally reached the periphery of Tilan Mountain.

Compared to the depths of Tilan Mountain, this place was significantly safer.

Just as he was trying to figure out a way to give himself a few colorful bruises so it would look like he had escaped by the skin of his teeth, two figures suddenly appeared in the nearby jungle.

A Hunting Team? Fang Xu was slightly taken aback, but then he realized that wasn’t right. A Hunting Team usually consisted of at least a dozen people; it was very rare for just two people to enter the mountain. Moreover, his current location was the transition zone between the periphery and the depths of Tilan Mountain. The probability of high-level ferocious beasts appearing was very high, so very few Hunting Teams would ever come to this kind of place.

Fang Xu hid behind a large tree and quietly watched the two men walk in his direction.

"Liu, do you think the Wu Family Ancestor is lying? A bounty of fifty gold for a kid at the Second Realm of the Martial Disciple stage? Is he crazy?"

As the two approached, Fang Xu vaguely heard the tall, lanky Martial Artist on the left complaining to the bearded Martial Artist beside him.

"Ah! Who cares!

"We just came into the mountain today to try our luck. If we happen to run into him, we’ll conveniently slaughter the kid and take his head to the Wu Family to claim the reward.

"If we don’t run into him, we can just hunt a few ferocious beasts along the way to stock up on some Blood Food," the bearded Martial Artist said optimistically.

The lanky Martial Artist nodded. As his gaze swept the surroundings, he suddenly caught a fleeting glimpse of a corner of clothing behind the large tree ahead.

"Who is it!?

"Who’s there!?"

Seeing this, the bearded Martial Artist immediately gripped the Hand Axe in his hands, staring vigilantly ahead.

"Liu, there’s someone behind that tree!" the lanky Martial Artist whispered, pointing at the large tree where Fang Xu was hiding.

The bearded Martial Artist looked at the tree and pursed his lips at the lanky Martial Artist, signaling for them to flank the target from the left and right.

The two slowly approached the large tree.

Behind the tree, Fang Xu leaned his back against the trunk, his expression calm. From the conversation between these two men, he had obtained two pieces of information.

First, Wuhuan had indeed started hiring killers. A bounty of fifty gold was equivalent to a full five thousand taels of silver just to kill a Martial Artist at the Second Realm of the Martial Disciple stage like him. He believed many people would be tempted by such a sum.

Second, someone knew he had entered the mountain and had leaked this information to the nearby Martial Artists. Looking at it this way, there would definitely be no shortage of Martial Artists in this vast mountain wanting to kill him right now.

If he was going to kill these two, he absolutely couldn’t make too much noise, otherwise other Martial Artists in the vicinity might come swarming over. It was easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. The Martial Artists who frequently operated in Tilan Mountain were mostly skilled hunters by origin; they were all very professional when it came to setting up traps and shooting arrows from the shadows. Although he could easily kill most Martial Artists in the Martial Disciple realm, he was ultimately still made of mortal flesh and blood.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

As he pondered his countermeasures while listening to their continuously approaching footsteps, Fang Xu’s muscles tensed up, and he clenched his fists tightly.

The footsteps grew closer and closer. Fang Xu’s gaze darkened, and his body suddenly sprang out!

BOOM!

A punch containing one hundred and twenty percent of his total strength blasted directly toward the bearded Martial Artist wielding his twin Hand Axes!

With terrifying force coupled with unexpected speed, the fist smashed directly into the bearded Martial Artist’s head!

SPLAT!

A large section of the bearded Martial Artist’s head instantly caved in. Half of his skull was shattered by Fang Xu’s punch! Under the weight of this punch, the bearded man didn’t even have the chance to let out a scream before dying on the spot!

After taking care of him, Fang Xu pressed his body against the large tree and pushed off nimbly, instantly detouring behind the lanky Martial Artist! Before the man could react, Fang Xu immediately threw a punch right at his back!

Not even someone at the Great Perfection of the Martial Disciple realm like Wu Yuanqing could withstand this punch, so this Martial Artist at the Seventh Realm of the Martial Disciple stage before him would undoubtedly die.

THUD!

His fist landed solidly on the man’s back, but Fang Xu noticed that something felt wrong! Logically speaking, his punch should have been fully capable of snapping the man’s spine and shattering his internal organs. However, when the fist struck the man’s body, it was blocked by something rock-hard!

Taking the brunt of the punch, the lanky Martial Artist coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood. His body was sent flying straight out, but he didn’t die immediately.

"It’s you... Fang Xu!

"Fang Xu is here!"

Having witnessed with his own eyes how Fang Xu shattered half of his companion’s head with a single punch, and how he himself was almost beaten to death despite wearing a piece of Soft Armor he had fortuitously acquired, the lanky Martial Artist knew he was absolutely no match for Fang Xu. Therefore, he began shouting loudly as he ran.