In the Great Yan Mountains, more than twenty Silver Flood Dragon Army soldiers were enraged, surrounding Teng Yongfan!

"Hah!"

Teng Yongfan's eyes bulged wide, as if forging iron. The precious steel spear in his hand swept out horizontally, like a massive cleaver slicing through!

Whoosh!

Seeing this, the soldiers quickly retreated and dodged. This instantly created a large open space around him. At this moment, Teng Yongfan could only rely on this move to avoid being hacked at simultaneously by a crowd!

And Teng Yongfan's wild swing carried the force of several thousand catties. If struck, even with heavy armor, the body would be violently injured.

"This brute has internal energy, immense strength. Brothers, be careful, wear him down!" the one-eyed soldier roared loudly. The more than twenty Silver Flood Dragon Army soldiers converged on Teng Yongfan, like a pack of wolves surrounding a tiger, nipping at him. Every time Teng Yongfan attacked wildly, they would instantly evade and withdraw.

The deadly issue was that this group all wore heavy armor; unless stabbed in a weak spot like the visor, these soldiers could not be killed.

"Puff!" A new saber wound appeared on Teng Yongfan's left arm; he now bore over ten cuts. Fortunately, his Tiger Fist cultivation had reached minor mastery, allowing him slight control over his muscles. Combined with internal energy control, the bleeding was not severe.

"Don't run!"

The moment he was cut, Teng Yongfan immediately roared, his body lunging out. His left hand became like an iron claw, gripping the opponent's wrist. "Good!" Teng Yongfan's eyes brightened. He used the soldier's body as a weapon and swung it fiercely—

Crack!

He exerted too much force; the soldier's frail wrist actually snapped. The severed hand, encased in a steel gauntlet, remained in Teng Yongfan's grip. Meanwhile, the soldier cried out in agony as he was flung away! After all, the heavy armor of the arm guard was not connected to the gauntlet; the force of several thousand catties acting upon the weak wrist made the fracture unsurprising.

The soldier was sent flying entirely, crashing heavily into three other soldiers.

"Aaaah~~" A hand was brutally severed, and the soldier wailed in pain.

Clutching the detached hand, Teng Yongfan let out a wild, maniacal cry: "You sons of bitches, come on! I’ll take one of you down today to break even. Every extra one I kill is a bonus! Come on, you bastards!" His eyes were bloodshot, completely insane, and Teng Yongfan ignored his own injuries. He had to seize every single opportunity—

If he could kill one, he would!

The soldiers exchanged glances.

"Brothers, don't fear injury! Let's flay him alive in one go!" the one-eyed soldier shrieked in fury. Those twenty-plus soldiers immediately charged forward regardless of the danger. They had initially intended to kill Teng Yongfan without sustaining injuries themselves, but now, it seemed impossible.

"Bastards!" Teng Yongfan, whose body was stained crimson with blood, stared with burning red eyes at the leader, the one-eyed soldier. In that instant, disregarding the sharp blades hacking at him from the other soldiers, he let out a low growl, powerfully pushing off with both legs, leaping out like a ferocious tiger!

This reckless, sudden leap managed to evade several incoming blows. Years of iron-working had forged his arms into thick, muscular columns, pouring tremendous strength into the precious steel spear in his grasp. "Die!" Teng Yongfan's eye corners seemed ready to burst!

A black lightning streak!

The only offensive technique of the Teng Family Village—the Middle Level Thrust!!!

The one-eyed soldier also roared and swung his saber!

"Clang!"

Only a sharp crack sounded. The precious steel spear scraped against the battle saber, and the spear tip actually pierced directly through the visor, instantly piercing the one-eyed soldier’s remaining eye!

Thwack!

The long spear skewered his skull!

"Ah!" Teng Yongfan's body convulsed violently. Behind him, a battle saber struck heavily across his back! "Pffft—" Blood sprayed wildly, devastatingly vivid.

Though he had taken many cuts in the fight so far, none had been immediately fatal. But this blow instantly rendered Teng Yongfan's entire lower body numb and powerless, and he began to slump uncontrollably towards the ground.

"Aaaahhh!!!" Teng Yongfan let out a final, low roar from his throat, then spun and hurled the spear in his hand violently.

"Whoosh!"

The spear cut through the air, leaving a blurred shadow, striking a Silver Flood Dragon Army soldier squarely in the chest, denting the heavy breastplate slightly from the impact. The soldier himself was thrown backward by the sheer force of the momentum.

"Kill him!" Seeing Teng Yongfan collapsed on the ground, the remaining soldiers immediately swarmed him.

"Roar~~~"

A deep, thick, soul-shaking, terrifying roar suddenly erupted from a cave several yards away. Just hearing that sound made the twenty-plus Silver Flood Dragon Army soldiers tremble and turn to look... They saw, at the mouth of the bottomless pit, a figure rocketing out.

"Quick, run!" The person who burst out had eyes wide with terror.

"My Lord!" The twenty-odd soldiers gasped in shock. The person who rushed out was the leader of the twenty men who had entered the bottomless pit—their Centurion!

"Whoosh!"

A black shadow shot out of the cave, instantly tackling the fleeing Silver Flood Dragon Centurion. "Ah!" The unwilling scream was cut short, and a thick, foul stench spread out, reminiscent of rotting, dead fish. Looking at the monster that had emerged, all the soldiers stood stunned.

It was a centipede-like monster, fully two zhang long, but only three feet high. Each of its claw-like appendages shimmered with a cold gleam, like sharp blades. Its body was covered in pitch-black scales. Its enormous eyes possessed only a single black dot in the center; the rest of the eye was ghastly white. From its mouth extended two large tusks, resembling a massive pair of shears.

"Demon Beast!"

After killing the Centurion, the beast immediately lunged toward the other soldiers. At this moment, the fallen Teng Yongfan gritted his teeth: "No other place to run!" Although he felt nothing below the waist, he thrust hard with both arms and launched himself directly towards the cave entrance. The demon beast immediately snapped toward Teng Yongfan.

"Splat!" One of Teng Yongfan's legs was torn off by the monster, blood gushing profusely, but Teng Yongfan immediately braced himself with both hands. With no reduction in speed, he shot straight into the bottomless pit.

"Roar~~"

Amidst the beast's roars, the Silver Flood Dragon Army soldiers initially resisted, but after losing more than ten men in quick succession, they all fled in a desperate panic.

**

At dusk, on the fringes of the Great Yan Mountains.

Teng Qinghao stared from a distance at the Teng Family Village below, carefully discerning: "No soldiers from Qinghu Island!" He immediately shot toward the village. Exercising caution, he did not enter through the main gate but instead vaulted over the western wall directly into the Teng Family Village.

In truth, the Qinghu Island soldiers had already withdrawn. Even if they were patrolling, they would not station soldiers within the compound itself.

On the training ground of the Teng Family Village, numerous clansmen were gathered, all feeling uneasy.

"Patriarch, Master, and Brother Qinghao—why haven't they returned yet?"

"They will be back soon enough."

"Sister Alan, the Patriarch will return quickly."

Yuan Lan, now over forty, her hair slightly yellowed with a few visible strands of white, stared at the training ground's main gate with swollen, red eyes, gazing into the distance. She longed... longed to see her man appear within her line of sight.

"Brother Qinghao is back!" Suddenly, a joyful exclamation rang out.

Everyone immediately turned to look where the sound originated. They saw a figure, covered head to toe in dirt, running over from the west, accompanied by several other clansmen—it was Teng Qinghao, captain of the Teng Family Village hunting party.

"Qinghao!"

"Father!"

Teng Qinghao’s wife and two children rushed forward in ecstatic joy. The other clansmen also excitedly moved toward him. "Qinghao is back, Brother Fan should be back too," Yuan Lan showed a flicker of happiness and rushed over as well.

Hugging his two children, Teng Qinghao couldn't stop the tears streaming down his face. So close... he almost never saw his children again, never saw his wife again.

"Qinghao, where is your father, and where is Uncle Yongfan?" the old Patriarch, Teng Yunlong, asked urgently.

Teng Qinghao flinched, then looked up at the crowd, especially at Yuan Lan, whose eyes were red and swollen with expectation. He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Those bastards from Qinghu Island ordered the death of all our hunters! My father died saving me. Uncle Yongfan was surrounded by those soldiers... Only I managed to escape."

"You said—what did you say?" Yuan Lan's eyes widened, refusing to believe it.

"Uncle Yongfan was surrounded by a group of Silver Flood Dragon Army soldiers... I didn't see Uncle Yongfan die, but..." Teng Qinghao’s voice trailed off.

Everyone fell silent. Without heavy armor, everyone could guess the outcome for Teng Yongfan surrounded by soldiers.

"No, no..." Yuan Lan shook her head repeatedly. She could not believe that the man she had spent most of her life with was simply dead! From the moment she could remember, they were together; childhood sweethearts, then married, and after many years, they had a son—Teng Qingshan. Three years later, they had a daughter—Teng Qingyu. Over so many years, the couple had hardly ever argued. They didn't have earth-shattering passion, nor did they fully understand it; she only knew to prepare his meals early and make his clothes... That care, that mutual support, had sunk deep into their bones. Over decades, the two were like inseparable birds, neither able to live without the other.

"No, no..." Yuan Lan's face turned ashen, completely drained of color.

"Alan, Alan," Teng Yunlong called out repeatedly.

"Pfft." A trickle of scarlet blood flowed from the corner of Yuan Lan’s mouth. Her head spun, and her body went limp, collapsing onto the ground.

Teng Yunlong caught his daughter and rushed toward the doctor’s house within the compound. "Quick," Teng Qinghao urged, "Find a horse! I need to go to Jiangning." The reason he returned to the Teng Family Village was to secure a horse for Jiangning; if he relied on his two legs, how long would it take to get there?

"Qinghao, don't rush," his wife interrupted. "When you and the Patriarch were taken today, the Old Patriarch immediately arranged for Uncle Yonglei to take men to Jiangning to find Qingshan. He should have arrived in Jiangning by now."

...

Dusk gathered, the sky darkening, outside the Teng Residence in Jiangning County.

The one-armed Teng Yonglei and three other men from the Teng Family Village arrived, led by a black-armored soldier.

"This is the Commander’s residence," the black-armored soldier stated.

"Thank you," Teng Yonglei said gratefully, then immediately walked toward the main gate. Just as the guards at the entrance were about to stop him, Teng Yonglei shouted loudly, "Qingyu!"

Qingyu, who was walking past the front courtyard, turned and cried out in delight, "Uncle!" She immediately rushed out cheerfully.

"Uncle, Brother Qingyang, why are you here?" Qingyu sounded excited.

"Quick, take me to see your brother," Teng Yonglei urged her.