21: Chapter 21 Chen Hao and the others were shocked. To wipe out the entire Iron-skinned Pig herd, it must have been done by an elite squad!

However, they had only walked a couple of steps when a thick scent of blood drifted over on the wind.

The group paused in surprise, instinctively following the scent.

Soon, they arrived at the clearing that had been "cleared out" by Gu Yuexi and Chu Sheng.

When they saw the scene before them, everyone was stunned, standing frozen in place, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

On the ground, blood flowed like a river; everywhere were chaotic hoofprints and traces of battle, and the soil had been stained dark red.

"Th-this is..." Chen Hao looked at the scene, which resembled a shura field, his voice trembling.

"It's Iron-Hide Boar blood! No mistake! Here... at least a dozen of them died here!" A classmate crouched down, picked up a bit of soil, and said in horror.

A dozen?! Wiped out?! The group looked at each other, seeing the shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

"Are you kidding me? The herd we just encountered only had about a dozen, right? Who on earth did this? This is too intense!"

Chen Hao's brain whirred at high speed as he guessed with great certainty: "To be able to silently wipe out an entire Iron-Hide Boar herd in such a short time, without even the Boar King managing to escape... This must have been done by a professional hunting squad from the Beast Hunting Guild! And it's at least an elite squad led by a Rank 2 martial artist with excellent coordination!"

The more he spoke, the more it made sense, and his gaze towards the battlefield became filled with awe.

"So professional! Look, although there are many traces at the scene, it's not chaotic. This shows the battle was conducted under extreme control; the other party didn't give the herd any chance to resist or escape! This technique is simply art!"

The classmates nodded repeatedly, their eyes becoming vigilant as they scanned their surroundings, afraid that the hunting squad hadn't gone far.

They followed the bloodstains on the ground, carefully walking forward for several dozen meters, and soon discovered the pile of boar carcasses covered by leaves and branches.

Looking at the mountain of boar carcasses, the group couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Holy crap!! Over a dozen Iron-Hide Boar carcasses! If all of these were sold, how much money would that be?!

A thought arose in all their minds simultaneously.

"H-Hao-ge..." The tall, thin classmate licked his dry lips and whispered, "How about... we just take three? There's no one here anyway, and no cameras..."

Chen Hao's heart began to pound. Reason told him that stealing another martial artist's prey was a major taboo, and if discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But the temptation was simply too great! Just taking three would complete their mission! If they took one more... they could save a huge sum of money for the Wind-Blade Wolf's medical fees!

Chen Hao fought an internal battle for a moment, then carefully scanned the surroundings again. After confirming no one was truly there, he couldn't resist the temptation in the end and gritted his teeth: "Let's do it!"

The group immediately scrambled to push aside the leaves, preparing to pick three boar carcasses in good condition. However, the moment their hands were about to touch the carcasses, a cold, clear voice, like ice from the netherworld, drifted from behind them.

"What... are you doing?"

Chen Hao and his group stiffened abruptly, as if cast under a petrification spell, and cold sweat broke out instantly. They stiffly, bit by bit, turned their heads.

They saw Gu Yuexi standing quietly under a tree not far away, with that ferocious black "giant mosquito" perched on her shoulder, her cold eyes watching them emotionlessly.

"G-Gu Yuexi?" Chen Hao was stunned, as were the classmates beside him. The hearts that had been in their throats dropped back down with a "whoosh." So it was her! A false alarm!

Of course, they couldn't possibly believe that the scene before them was caused by Gu Yuexi. What kind of international joke was that? Just her, a Rank 1 early-stage martial artist, plus a mutated mosquito that didn't even have a beast rank? Could she wipe out an entire Iron-Hide Boar herd? The Boar King would laugh out loud hearing that!

In their view, Gu Yuexi was one hundred percent just like them—lucky enough to have stumbled upon this "treasure."

"Holy crap, it's just you, you scared me!" The tall, thin classmate breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest.

Chen Hao's expression also softened, though he was still a bit nervous inside; after all, they had been caught red-handed preparing to steal.

He cleared his throat, pretending as if nothing had happened, and took the initiative to speak: "Classmate Gu Yuexi, you found this place too? You're lucky!"

He paused, glanced at the pile of boar carcasses, his eyes flickering, and lowered his voice: "How about this... let's just pretend we didn't see anything today! Let's not take all these pigs, so we don't get in trouble when the real owners come back!"

"We'll take three, you take one, and we'll leave immediately after, how about that? I'm being generous, right? If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be this generous!"

He spoke with a look of self-righteousness, as if sharing one boar with Gu Yuexi was a massive favor to her. In his view, for a Rank 1 early-stage martial artist like Gu Yuexi, being able to carry away one boar was already not bad, and with such a "fair" distribution, she had no reason not to agree.

"Share one with me?" Gu Yuexi was so angry she laughed on the spot: "I killed all these pigs; what do you mean 'share one with me'?"

"..." "???" The air instantly froze. The expressions on Chen Hao and his classmates' faces were like they were all constipated at the same time—incredibly colorful.

After a full several seconds, the tall, thin classmate seemed unable to hold it in anymore and let out a "pfft" laugh.

"Wait... I'm saying, Gu Yuexi, did you not wake up properly? Or did you suffer some kind of shock?"

"You're saying these pigs were killed by you? Look at your small frame, and then look at that big mosquito on your shoulder—what did you use to kill them? Your mouth?"

"Exactly, at least prepare a draft before bragging! These are over a dozen Iron-Hide Boars, plus a Rank 1 late-stage Boar King! Our five-person squad was chased around by another group of pigs, and you expect us to believe you did this?"

The group chimed in one after another, looking at Gu Yuexi as if she were a crazy person with mental issues. No wonder she contracted a mosquito! She must be a total lunatic, right?

Chen Hao also shook his head, a look of disappointment appearing on his face. "Gu Yuexi, I originally thought you were just a bit cold by nature, but I didn't expect you to be so... vain." "If you want to hog it all, just say so; why make up such a ridiculous excuse?"

He completely lost his patience and didn't want to waste any more breath on this brain-damaged woman, so he waved his hand at his classmates. "Ignore her, let's take three and go!"

Chu Sheng, perched on Gu Yuexi's shoulder, saw and heard everything, and he was almost angered to the point of laughter. 666, these brats have truly unique thought processes! Caught red-handed stealing, they not only didn't run, but instead turned around and accused the owner of being a thief? How the hell could one endure this?!

"Damn it, don't we have to wreck them? I've long been annoyed by this Chen Hao!" Chu Sheng grew angrier the more he thought about it. Meanwhile, Gu Yuexi's gaze also turned cold. A faint trace of killing intent quietly gathered in her eyes.