12: Chapter 12 The Monster-like Newcomer

The halo from the light stick fell upon a pool of dark red blood.

In the center of the blood pool, a Marsh Web-footed Beast had been disemboweled, its internal organs scattered across the ground.

"One strike to the flank, one strike to the cervical spine."

"Clean and efficient, no wasted movement."

Lao Zhou crouched beside it to inspect, a hint of surprise creeping into his tone.

Chen Hai didn't speak, but his eyebrows twitched.

He turned his head to look at the four newcomers.

"All of you, come over and look! This is what you'll be doing in the future!"

"Look closely; this is a perfect kill—using the minimum physical exertion to achieve the most certain result!"

The four students shuffled over hesitantly. The moment she saw the corpse, the girl named Zhang Li covered her mouth, while the others turned pale.

"This... Lin Mo did this?"

The boy with glasses swallowed hard, his throat feeling dry.

"Who else? Is there a second guy with a death wish in these mountains?"

"Urgh—"

Zhang Li couldn't hold it back any longer; she turned away and began to gag.

Chen Hai surprisingly didn't scold her, instead offering comfort:

"It's normal not to be used to it at first. You'll feel better once you're done throwing up. But remember this image; when you have to do it yourselves later, your hands must not shake."

He stood up and continued forward, though his opinion of that kid Lin Mo had changed.

At least the guy wasn't purely seeking death; he actually had some skill.

But soon, Chen Hai realized he had underestimated the situation.

A second monster corpse appeared.

A Cave Badger, its throat slit clean.

A third...

A Spine-backed Lynx, hacked into two pieces—quite violent.

A fourth...

A Venomous Rotten Spider, its head missing, having died very peacefully.

Every few dozen to a hundred meters, there was another monster corpse. The methods of death were clean and efficient, all killed with a single fatal blow.

Furthermore, judging by the coagulation of the blood, they had all been killed within the last hour.

This indicated that the kid's skills were no worse than those of veterans like them—fast and ruthless!

"This little brat... he's got quite the bloodlust."

Lao Zhou's tone shifted from surprise to solemnity.

"No."

Another veteran, Li Wu, crouched by the corpse of a lynx, pointing at several shallow saber marks on it.

"Look here, here, and here. These are all probing wounds. They aren't fatal, but they keep the prey bleeding and exhaust its stamina."

"Ah, why is he torturing the monsters..."

Another girl, named Wang Tiantian, spoke up in indignation.

Li Wu looked up, the light from the light stick reflecting off his stern face.

"Hey, young lady, were you just sympathizing with a monster? Do you know what you're saying!"

Wang Tiantian was startled, burying her head in her chest in shame.

"Old Li, forget it! Don't scare the little girl!"

Lao Zhou mediated from the side.

"I don't think this kid is torturing them for fun; it looks more like he's practicing. He's using monsters to practice and hone his saber technique!"

The captain, Chen Hai, flipped over the lynx's corpse, his tone clearly carrying a hint of admiration.

Hearing this, the four newcomers gasped.

"Using monsters to practice his saber? Just how much courage does it take to do something like that?"

"It's not a matter of courage, it's his temperament! He's calm enough!" Lao Zhou praised.

Zhang Li had nothing left to throw up and was just leaning against a tree trunk, panting.

The other three weren't much better. They finally understood the vast chasm that lay between the practical training at school and true slaughter.

After walking another few hundred meters, Chen Hai suddenly stopped.

Three Rotten Wolf corpses lay strewn across a forest clearing. The surrounding bushes were crushed and broken, and the ground was covered in claw marks and blood.

"Rotten Wolves! And three of them!"

Lao Zhou crouched to inspect the wounds and sucked in a breath of cold air.

"So many wounds... this guy has gone mad with his practice. I hope he doesn't accidentally get himself killed!"

"What?!" Chen Hai stepped forward quickly.

The light from the light stick shone on the three Rotten Wolf corpses, which were covered in dense, numerous wounds.

"Look at this—the wounds on the neck are all smooth and even. They were all killed from the front with a single strike. This requires extreme speed and precise power control."

The four newcomers watched this scene, their eyes wide and round.

"He... he killed three Rotten Wolves... alone?"

The boy with glasses spoke with a trembling voice.

"Aren't Rotten Wolves the most difficult among unranked monsters? They even know how to coordinate..."

"Therefore... he's in danger."

Chen Hai's voice turned heavy.

The three veterans exchanged a look, seeing the same solemnity in each other's eyes.

They knew Rotten Wolves all too well.

These beasts were vengeful and extremely cunning.

If a pack mate was killed, the surviving Rotten Wolves wouldn't retaliate immediately. Instead, they would lurk, track, and gather more of their kind...

"This is bad."

"That kid might have been targeted."

Li Wu said suddenly.

No sooner had he spoken—

"Awoooo——————!!!"

From deep within the jungle, a violent wolf howl tore through the night sky!

Chen Hai's expression changed abruptly.

"Oh no, it's that one-eyed beast!"

Lao Zhou blurted out.

"It actually dared to come back?!"

Li Wu's face also paled.

Chen Hai had already started sprinting toward the source of the howl.

"Fast! That beast is at the Tier 1 Late Stage; Lin Mo is no match for it. If we're late, we won't even get the chance to collect his body!"

Before the four newcomers could react, the three veterans had already shot out like arrows from a bow.

Seeing this, they could only grit their teeth and follow along as best they could.

Five minutes later, Chen Hai was the first to burst into an open valley, with the three veterans following closely behind.

Then, everyone froze in place.

The beam of the light stick trembled in the air—it was the hand of the person holding it that was shaking.

What met their eyes was a hellish scene.

Over twenty Rotten Wolf corpses were strewn across a thirty-meter radius.

Blood had soaked into the soil, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and rot.

Most of the corpses had been decapitated with a single strike, while a few were covered in saber marks of varying depths, clearly having undergone a prolonged struggle before being slain.

Four exceptionally sturdy Elite Rotten Wolves lay at the outer perimeter, their heads rolling several meters away, their dark red eyes still wide open, frozen in the shock of their final moments.

And in the center of the pile of corpses—

A One-eyed Giant Wolf, its size comparable to a small calf, lay on the ground, its chest heaving violently as dark red blood pooled around it.

Its single eye was fixed forward, filled with resentment, anger, and a hint of... disbelief?

Five steps away.

Lin Mo stood there silently.

His back was turned toward the patrol team, his right hand gripping that standard-issue combat saber. The blade was covered in thick gore that was dripping down bit by bit.

His combat uniform was torn in several places, and there was a significant claw mark on his left arm that was steadily oozing blood.

"He..." Zhang Li, who had just arrived, had trembling lips and couldn't say a single word.

The boy with glasses felt his legs go weak and slumped directly to the ground, gasping for air.

The other two newcomers weren't doing any better. Looking at the field of corpses and the figure standing amidst them, their worldview was completely shattered at this moment.

Is this really a student like them? Is this really something a human can do?

Chen Hai and the three veterans behind him all had their pupils constricted.

They were more experienced, so they understood better than the newcomers what this scene implied.

Over twenty Rotten Wolves, four ranked Elites, and one Tier 1 Late Stage Wolf King...

Wiped out!

And from the traces of the battlefield, this hadn't been a chase, but a... siege.

The wolf pack had besieged Lin Mo, and then Lin Mo had counter-killed the entire pack.

"This is impossible..."

Lao Zhou muttered.

"Does he have the strength of a Tier 2 Awakener?" Li Wu's voice was also shaking, his words full of disbelief.

One must know that their captain, Chen Hai, had only recently broken through to Tier 2.

Chen Hai didn't speak; his hand was already pressed against his saber hilt.

Not to attack, but instinctively entering a state of maximum alert.

The sense of danger this student gave him was even stronger than that of the one-eyed Wolf King!

At that moment, Lin Mo moved.

He seemed to have just noticed the movement behind him, tilting his head slightly to glance at the patrol team out of the corner of his eye.

Then, he turned, stepped forward, and swung his saber.

The saber light traced an elegant arc through the night, precisely slicing across the one-eyed Wolf King's neck.

"Pfft!"

The wolf's head rolled away, and its massive body gave a few final twitches before becoming completely still.

[Ding~ Killed Tier 1 Late Stage Rotten Wolf Leader, slaughter value +160 (Extra 100% for overstepping tiers)]

[Ding~ Congratulations to the host for completing achievement — Undefeated Against Higher Ranks (I), achievement points +1; Undefeated Against Higher Ranks (II), achievement points +2]

[Ding~ Basic Saber Technique proficiency +84.]

[Ding~ Basic Movement Technique proficiency +128, level increased to Lv8 (21/100)]

[Ding~ Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash proficiency +67]

Lin Mo glanced at this long string of system prompts before turning around to face Chen Hai and the others, who were completely petrified.

His gaze lingered on the veterans for a moment, focusing on the weapons in their hands. Lao Zhou and Li Wu's rifles were leveled with fingers on the triggers; Chen Hai's saber was half-unsheathed.

Then, Lin Mo spoke with a hint of urgency:

"Hey, these are my spoils. You wouldn't try to rob me, would you?"

After saying that, he quickly crouched down and began to skillfully dissect the Wolf King's corpse.

A Tier 1 Late Stage Wolf King's corpse was worth some money, especially the pelt. If sold on the market, it would be worth at least several months of his sister Lin Xi's salary!

Chen Hai opened his mouth to say something, but found his throat too dry to make a sound.

He looked at the corpses everywhere, looked at Lin Mo calmly dissecting, and then looked at the four newcomers behind him who were completely dumbfounded...

Finally, he slowly sheathed his saber and waved his hand at Lao Zhou and Li Wu.

"Put them away..."

"Tonight... we didn't see anything."

Lao Zhou and Li Wu exchanged a glance and silently lowered their rifles.

The four newcomers stood blankly in place, looking at Lin Mo's back as if he were a demon god.

For the first time, they realized so clearly that in this world, the starting point for some people might already be an end point they could never reach.