The bloody moon glowed ominously overhead, staining the forest in shades of crimson. Shadows seed to stretch unnaturally long, and the air grew heavier, as though the night itself was holding its breath.
Yu Xuan’s eyes narrowed. "Sister, wait. Don’t charge at them."
Lingluo, though itching to strike, nodded and remained at his back, her aura suppressed. The soft crunch of approaching footsteps echoed faintly through the silence... and then, just as suddenly, vanished.
Both siblings stiffened.
Yu Xuan imdiately activated his sight. Through layers of trees and shifting shadows, he caught glimpses of them — figures moving silently, like phantoms.
They were tall, close to six feet, their arms unnaturally elongated, hands gripping jagged daggers that glead faintly under the bloody moonlight. Their faces, disturbingly handso, bore no humanity in their expressions. From their sockets glowed a sickly, bloody red light that made Yu Xuan’s chest tighten.
He shifted his vision further, scanning Lingluo’s direction. His expression was not good — more figures were slinking there too, far in the distance but closing in. They were being surrounded.
"The ones on my side will arrive first," Yu Xuan said in a low, steady voice. His hand tightened around his sword’s hilt. "Sister, be ready. They’re in your direction too. But we’ll deal with mine first."
Lingluo clicked her tongue, a grim smirk curling her lips. "Hmph. I knew this would happen."
The siblings lowered their stances, every muscle tensed. The forest seed to grow quieter, until even the wind had fled. Then, from the shadows, the figures erged.
But instead of attacking, the hunters stopped a short distance away, standing unnaturally still, as if waiting. Their blood-red eyes glead in the moonlight, fixed entirely on Yu Lingluo. As if they thought she was stronger here.
Yu Xuan’s face slightly darkened. Their silence was worse than a charge — it was like being asured, weighed, and marked for death. And it seems they would aim for his sister.
"We can’t let them tighten the net," he said coldly. His killing intent flickered to life for a second his eyes darkened before returning to normal.
"Sister, let’s strike first."
Without hesitation, the two of them launched forward, their figures blurring into streaks of light as they rushed the hunters standing before them.
***
Yu Xuan rushed forward, his sword gleaming under the blood-red moon. The tall figures stood like statues, their faces almost unnervingly handso, but their eyes — cold, bloody, and utterly indifferent, vastly different from a normal human.
There were nearly thirty of them. Yu Xuan narrowed his eyes, scanning their movents, yet their cultivations remained concealed, an unreadable haze.
He grit his teeth. ’Damn this tower... acting mysterious.’
Without another thought, he slashed. A crimson arc of sword-light burst forth, screaming across the battlefield. One of the hunters raised both arms to block—
Spusshhh!
Blood sprayed as the arc tore through flesh and bone, severing the hunter’s hands and carving deep into his chest. Yet the figure made no sound, not even a grunt of pain. He rely staggered back, crimson dripping freely, his bloody eyes still locked on Yu Xuan as if pain didn’t exist.
Yu Xuan’s expression hardened.
’Not even a scream? Are they puppets... or worse?’
He turned to face the others, readying himself. They didn’t charge recklessly. Instead, they shifted, their movents thodical, always defensive, as though testing him instead of fighting to the death.
A low growl escaped Lingluo’s throat. She had no patience for gas. With a burst of speed, she darted toward one of the hunters, twisting to avoid his dagger swipe. Her fist, shrouded in a dark purple aura, smashed forward with all her strength.
Crack!
The strike landed squarely on his skull.
The hunter let out an ear-piercing shriek "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" — before his head split apart like brittle stone, fragnts and blood scattering across the ground. The body dropped lifelessly with a heavy thud.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield froze.
The hunters froze, their glowing eyes flickering faintly. The silence that followed was suffocating — like the pause before predators pounced.
Yu Xuan’s eyes narrowed. ’So... their weakness is the head.’
He cast a quick glance at Lingluo, silently praising her ruthlessness.
But then, movent caught his eye. The hunter whose arms he had severed earlier staggered toward the corpse, Lingluo had crushed. The hunter raised a trembling hand—
And the body on the ground convulsed.
All at once, the blood within it surged out in writhing streams, flowing into the hunter’s broken form. Before Yu Xuan’s eyes, shredded flesh knitted together and bones reford, the crimson liquid fusing into his body like fuel.
Within seconds, the hunter stood whole again.
"Blood manipulation!" Yu Xuan’s face darkened.
He shouted, "Sister, aim for the head! They regenerate from their comrades’ corpses, be careful directly go for the kill!"
Lingluo’s eyes sharpened.
"Understood!" she yelled back, smashing her fist through another hunter’s skull, ignoring the spray of black-red blood that followed.
anwhile, Yu Xuan charged at the recovered one. With a flick of his will, he unleashed [Telekinesis], freezing the hunter’s movents for a heartbeat. His sword flared crimson as he swung—
But a blur sliced into his vision. Another hunter had darted in, dagger flashing toward his throat.
Too fast!
Yu Xuan twisted aside slightly, the blade grazing past his neck. His counterstrike missed its mark slightly, the red arc cutting only air. The targeted hunter slipped back, his eyes still locked on Yu Xuan with unfeeling malice.
Yu Xuan simply thought.
’This is getting troubleso.’
Their strength wasn’t low. Most of them carried the power of late stage Foundation Establishnt, and several pressed into early Core Formation. Worse, with their regenerative trick, the battlefield would soon be overrun if he dragged this out. And to add salt, the other hunters were approaching them fast.
He darted a glance at Lingluo, she had crushed eight skulls, her fists dripping with gore and purple light. Compared to her, he was lagging.
"...Well let’s get this done properly," Yu Xuan muttered.
Then, his figure blurred. In the eyes of the nearest hunter, Yu Xuan simply vanished.
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