Strangled by the back of the neck of destiny

Chapter 33

Shi An stood still, looking around blankly.

The canyon floor was silent, except for the clicking of the still struggling leg bone in his hand, and the small cluster of orange flames burning at the top stood out in the darkness.

At that moment, a loud cry suddenly came from behind, "Who's there!"

Shi An turned his head and followed the sound.

Only a few men in mercenary uniforms gathered around.

The leader of the group looked up and down at the lone teenager in front of him and asked, "Shi An?"

Shi An cocked her head in confusion, "You know me?"

"Sure."

The man laughed, showing his teeth yellowed by smoke stains, and his eyes radiated from deep sockets: "Come on, I'll take you to your companion."

With that, he came up and yanked on the teenager's arm.

Surprisingly, the teenager in front of him looks so weak, but ...... he yanked it actually didn t yank it.

The mercenary furrowed his brow and turned his head.

The young man's face was red from the cold, the pink and white fluff on the rabbit's ear muffs fluttered in the cold wind, a pair of beautiful round eyes were dark and moist, looking harmless, he sniffled, his soft voice was covered by the wind, sounding a little inaudible:

"I don't believe you."

The mercenary was a bit annoyed.

He wrinkled his brow, subconsciously increased the force of his hands, and his tone became tough and nonchalant: "You don't want to be punished for not being able to drink ......"

Shi An frowned, "You're hurting me."

"You'd better come with me obediently, little friend, or you'll be in for a world of pain later-" The mercenary grinned, his eyes glinting menacingly.

A few of the others let out a roar of laughter.

In the darkness of the night, the teenager with dark eyes fixedly looked over, in a chaotic blizzard, inexplicably some seepage.

For some reason, the mercenary's heart suddenly panicked.

He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, as if to cover up the fact that he was actually frightened by a child, his hand strength was vindictively increased by a few more points, and he yelled in a rude and venomous manner, "What are you looking at? Believe it or not I'll gouge out your eyes?"

Suddenly, the teenager raised his hand with its cute plush gloves and landed lightly on the man's arm.

His palms were small, even petite compared to the man's sinewy, strong arms, and he didn't even feel much weight when he hitched up, as if it were a snowflake falling silently and quietly.

In that instant, the mercenary's back suddenly went cold and his whole body stiffened.

The sense of danger came on strong and quietly, like a beast in the darkness of the night with its fangs pressed against its face, and by the time it was realized it was too late.

The next second--

"Click."

A crisp bone crack rang out in the dead snowy night.

For a moment, all was quiet.

The mercenary didn't even react.

The remaining few people froze, they hadn't expected that the teenager in front of them would actually strike so viciously.

Shi An grumbled as she rubbed the spot where she had just been scratched:

"I told you you were hurting me."

His voice was soft, like he was pampered.

But no one could forget that this was how the other party had twisted the arm of the mercenary who was several times taller and stronger than himself in a raw manner, and the expression on his face didn't even change for a few moments.

The remaining few immediately reacted, and they glanced at each other in a grave manner, taking up a belligerent stance.

The harmless-looking teenager in front of him was definitely a tough guy, much tougher than those of his companions.

Shi An raised her eyes and looked thoughtfully at the murderous number of people before her.

He blinked, his eyelashes wet with snow and appearing dark and glossy in the night as if they were raven feathers:

"It would seem that you would know the whereabouts of my companion?"

The teenager arched his eyebrows in an extraordinarily harmless smile:

"Tell me, will you?"

*

Wang Li and the remaining three members of the team sat in the mercenary's tent.

The magic-driven charcoal fire baked the modest tent warm, as if it were a small shelter in the snowy night.

But in the midst of this precious warmth, everyone seemed distracted.

There were mercenaries patrolling outside the tent, guarding the place to death at all times, giving them no possibility of escape at all.

They had just dealt with the leader of this group of mercenaries an hour ago.

The excuse of promotion travel the other side seemed half-hearted, but for a moment it was impossible to find a loophole.

In the midst of exchanging pleasantries, Wang Li reveals a bit of the family power behind the scenes.

However, as to whether it works or not, it is hard to say.

In the face of absolutely great benefits, all scruples disappear.

Moreover, because of the secrecy of this trip, they did not apply to the school to report this visit, which means that ......

Once these extra-legal people find this out, then there is a possibility that they may be targeted in order to hide information about the treasure.

Although they are all the best in their respective fields, the competition will not lose to any of the opposite side, but the opposite side is from the real sword in the fight mercenaries, each of them are ruthless, really on the actual combat, plus the number of superiority, they are afraid that they will not be able to defeat.

More importantly, Shi An is still missing.

Being the necessary fire type of the entire group, without him, even if they escaped the mercenary's camp, they would not be able to move an inch.

"Captain, what do we do next?" Zhao She came closer and asked in a lowered voice in Wang Li's ear.

Wang Li gazes down at the hot tea in his cup, a layer of vapor covering his glasses.

He shook his head silently:

"Wait."

There's no other way to do this now but to stay put for now.

The leader of that mercenary might have realized that the whereabouts of the most central Fire Department in their squad was unknown.

And of all the teams that came to the canyon, the Fire in the team must have been the strongest member.

So even if they did want to kill them, they would not do it before they found Shi An out of caution.

After all, they didn't know exactly how strong the opposite side was, so they had to leave hostages to hold the other side.

"How come Chen Meng hasn't returned yet?" Zhao She frowned and opened his mouth to ask.

A few of the others froze as well, raising their eyes toward the only clock in the tent.

Just now Chen Meng left the tent to go to the restroom, but strangely enough, almost twenty minutes have passed now, but he still hasn't come back.

Zhao She stood up with a flourish, "No, I have to go look for her."

His brow was furrowed and he looked extra grumpy.

Wu Huancheng : "Wait, didn't the captain just say that? It's best not to start a conflict with these mercenaries at this juncture, or I should go--"

Wang Li stood up, "Don't worry guys, I'll go ask."

But before he could reach the door, the tent was suddenly lifted and a gust of wind and snow instantly rolled in.

The mercenary leader they had just met with an hour or so ago walked in, closely followed by the stubbled man who had struck up a conversation with them in the canyon.

Wang Li stopped his pace and eyed them warily.

Immediately afterward, a slender figure was thrown in hard.

It's Chen Meng.

She collapsed on the floor, her hair disheveled, breathing heavily, half her face swollen, blood at the corners of her mouth.

"Stinking bitch." The stubbled man spat, his eyes bloodshot, his hand trembling, the three fingers behind it gone, the bruises from the frostbite still lingering in the wounds, looking miserable.

Chen Meng smoothed his hair and raised his eyes to look over.

Her eyes were bright, flashing coldly as if they were sharp blades, and she let out a laugh, "Well? Is the student chick still fun?"

Wang Li's expression was slightly austere.

Thinking of the way the other party looked at Chen Meng outside earlier, he guessed what had just happened nine times out of ten.

The leader said slowly, "Your companions injured my men like this, so you have to give an account."

Wang Li took a step forward, skillfully blocking Chen Meng's figure, and said in a nonchalant manner:

"With all due respect, I'm afraid your companion deserved it this time."

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Zhao She and Wu Huancheng immediately rushed forward to help Chen Meng up and led her backward in a vigilant manner.

The scruffy-faced man glared and took a furious step forward, "You fucking-"

The ringleader raised his hand, stopping the other man's cursing.

He grunted and threw the backpack he had been carrying in his hand, the backpack that Chen Meng had been carrying with him, which had now been torn into rags, its contents clanking and falling to the ground.

Immediately after that, he crouched down and took out a map from it.

Wang Li's heart sank.

Chen Meng's voice choked slightly, gritted his teeth, and whispered behind him, "Captain, I'm sorry ......"

I only saw the other man unfold the map slowly and methodically, pointing his index finger at the notes on it, "A school trip? Huh?"

He let out a contemptuous laugh, "I didn't expect that, ah, it's really true that people can't look at each other, you guys actually came here for the dragons as well?"

Wang Li was stunned.

...... Dragons? What dragon?

What does this treasure ...... have to do with dragons?

The atmosphere was tense and tense.

While this was happening, a mercenary walked in and whispered something in the ringleader's ear.

The leader let out a laugh, "Really? That fire family has been found? Yes, open the north gate and let them in."

Wang Li slowly clenched his weapon.

Oops.

It looks like Shi An has been found, so their last scruples are gone.

The leader let go of his hand and the map fell lightly, lying in a field of clutter, "Take them."

Several other people have also long been prepared, have drawn their weapons, magic fluctuations caused by the impact in the struggle to roar, the tent's surroundings have been raised, is at this time, the depths of the snowy night suddenly came a sharp hissing, as if a sharp blade instantly cut through the dead silence.

Immediately afterward, there was a commotion outside.

The leader froze, and the expression on his face immediately changed.

He remembered the voice.

This ...... is clearly the voice of that difficult skeleton horse!

How is that possible!

Obviously, he had set up a spell to cover his breath outside the camp, and had attached a light spell that the Necrotic species feared the most, so how could that skeleton horse have found its way to their camp?

A chorus of screams rang out through the snowy night, and the sound of hooves stomping heavily on the ground echoed through the camp like the sound of hypnotic drums approaching straight ahead in this direction!

"Quickly! Prepare for battle!" The leader drew his weapon and turned around-

But before he could do anything about it, the tent in front of him was violently crushed from top to bottom.

The morose white horse's hoof was the size of a bowl and smashed straight down.

Its body was still as large and horrifying, with ghostly blue light flickering within its black eyes, but for some reason, the tendons that were still attached to its body had disappeared, replaced by scorched black, as if it had been burned.

The skeletal horse snorted.

It stomped down ferociously, and the mercenary leader didn't even grunt as his brain was directly crushed, white splatters of brain matter spewing out, bubbling hot under the low temperature.

His body convulsed for a moment and lost its life.

"Run! Run!!!" The others saw the situation and fled with their asses in a row.

Behind the skeleton horse was the empty, endless darkness of the night.

The storm it summoned had completely destroyed the entire camp, leaving nothing but a mess with snow falling from the sky.

Wang Li clenched his teeth, his body chilling under the other party's terrifying aura.

The mercenaries had already died and fled, leaving only the four of them to confront the terrifying Necromantic Demon in front of them.

The instinct to run away whistled shrilly in his head.

"Prepare ......," he said, his voice catching.

Only to see the skeletal horse stomping on the ground twice with its front hooves and snorting, those dark eye sockets gazed fixedly at the human in front of them for several seconds before turning around and running off in the direction it came from, quickly disappearing into the depths of the dark night.

The four men froze.

They stood looking at each other in the midst of the mess.

...... What just ...... happened?

*

The camp is not far from the snowy slopes.

A small fire burned, radiating warmth.

Shi An was very afraid of the cold, curled up in front of the fire, the whole person shrunk into a small ball, his body was draped in three coats, his snow-white face was tinted with a layer of light red by the firelight, and the jumping embers were reflected in the depths of his pitch-black eyes.

Across from him, four mercenaries huddled close together, shivering, in front of the fire.

The four men were shabbily covered with an overcoat.

The distant valley echoed with mournful screams and the hissing of demons, making for a chilling background sound.

They shuddered, not wanting to think about what was going on in that mercenary camp.

They huddled together in terror, not daring to speak out either in anger or speech, only praying that the other party would see to it that they were very cooperative and leave them alive.

Click, click, click.

The regular sound of bones crashing was amplified from a distance.

The terrifying skeletal horse appeared in the field of vision.

Hesitantly, it stopped where it was, gazing at the fire not far away that sent a scent of panic through it, as well as - the human who had taken it apart and dismembered it, and after violently snatching the leg bones, put it back together again.

Shi An waved at it, "Come here."

The skeletal horse cautiously came forward and lowered his morose white brain.

Shi An patted it on the head, "Good job."

The remaining four mercenaries shivered even more.

This teenager had gotten so strong that he was completely out of the realm of humans, and was simply more like a monster!

Half an hour ago.

After they told all the information about the entire mercenary camp as if they were pouring beans out of a bamboo tube, the teenager pondered for a few seconds and said, "You guys come over here with me for a moment."

Immediately afterward, Shi An led them into a snowy field covered with a blanket of snow, instructing the way:

"Dig in."

"That ...... May I ask what we are digging for?" The mercenary who had his arm broken had completely lost his temper from earlier at this moment and asked warily.

Shi An shook the clicking leg bone in her hand, "This."

Four Mercenaries: "........................ "

It was then that they saw that the torch the other party had been holding in their hands was actually a huge leg bone!

And ...... is kind of like a horse's leg.

They swallowed hard, a sudden sense of foreboding in the back of their minds.

The mercenaries didn't dare to squeak, but began to bury their heads in the snow, digging and digging, and more and more skeletal remains appeared, piecing together more and more familiar shapes-

Grass! Wasn't this the same skeleton horse that had kept their entire team in place for almost a day!

The skeletal horse missing a hind leg struggled in place, letting out a sharp neigh, dark fire burning in its black eyes, staring dead at the four humans in front of it.

Those four mercenaries couldn't help but take a step back.

The revival of the memory of being pressured by this Necromantic Spirit Species earlier caused them to shiver in their hearts even now.

"Oh yes!" Shi An, who had been waiting a short distance away, seemed to have thought of something.

He tapped his head and walked over.

The fierce skeleton horse immediately quieted down the moment it saw Shi An, and the ghostly blue flames in its eyes danced a few points weaker, looking ...... as if it was afraid.

Shi An shook the leg bone in her hand, and the fire at the top of the leg bone immediately went out.

Immediately afterward, he crouched down and placed the leg bone in his hand on the skeletal horse, "That's good!"

Four Mercenaries: ".................."

They gazed in stupefaction at the over-the-top scene before them, hardly believing their eyes.

At first, they were able to deceive themselves that they might have misread the situation, how could that undead species of demon show fear to a human? But when they saw the Skeleton Horse attacking in the direction of the campsite according to Shi An's instructions, everyone lost their speech.

...... This, this is what it feels like to have your worldview refreshed?

Shi An stands up and stretches.

The skeletal horse took two steps back in terror at the sight.

Shi An kindly said, "Don't worry, I won't burn you this time."

He patted the horse on the head, "Go ahead."

The skeletal horse lowered its head and rubbed its skull against Shi An's shoulder before snorting and turning to disappear into the blizzard.

The four weak and pathetic mercenaries had numb faces.

There are times when ...... shocked and shocked ...... are shocked and used to it.

Shi An turned her head to look at them, "As for you guys--"

The four mercenaries shuddered and looked up in horror at the teenager in front of them, each one of them seeming to be on the receiving end of a severe beating.

"You can go too."

Shi An said with great compassion.

The reason why he had to let Skeleton Horse save the people instead of him was to prevent his true strength from being perceived by a few other people.

Since the goal had now been accomplished, it would be troublesome to keep these people around, so it would be better to let them get lost and find their own way.

"Know what to say and what not to say, right?"

The teenager tilted a harmless smile.

The four people in front of them were violently startled and hurriedly kowtowed like garlic - even if they said it, someone would believe them!

A high level, undead species capable of summoning a blizzard can actually be driven by an ordinary human teenager ...... This level of nonsense is something that will be put in a mental institution after it is said.

The four men, draped in an overcoat, wriggled to their feet and eyed Shi An's three overcoats, "That ...... Excuse me ......"

Shi An winked with a harmless expression, "What? Or do you want me to change my mind?"

"No, no, no, no, no!!!" The mercenary in front of him shook his head frantically.

Maintaining their comical posture of hugging each other, they ran as if fleeing in the opposite direction of Shi An, so fast that one wondered if they were being chased by some monster.

Soon, Shi An was the only one left in front of the fire.

He held out his hand, placed it in front of the fire and toasted it, then moved forward again.

Ahh so warm, don't want to leave ......

He sniffled and sighed sadly.

Alas, for the sake of the fabled treasure of the elves, one must still endure the cold and move on.

Shi An prepared herself mentally, then slowly batched her clothes in layers and extinguished the fire in front of her before heading in the direction of the camp.

Gotta hurry up and meet up with a few others to do that.

It was at this moment that Shi An sensed a slight disturbance that was out of place.

Slightly startled, he craned his head in the direction from which the fluctuations had come - it seemed to be humans, several of them, and none of them seemed to be very weak.

Could it be support from those mercenaries?

At that moment, Shi An heard a voice from a short distance behind her.

"Report sir, up ahead is where the magic fluctuation is coming from."

The voice ...... seemed a little familiar.

Shi An blinks as a long dormant memory is suddenly awakened.

Isn't this the same young lady who took herself out of the dinner party and gave him warm milk to drink!

Wait, now that she's shown up, ......

Shi An was in a panic.

Oops! If Bright Flash found out he was here, then the plan to go find the treasure would be ruined!!!!

From what he knew about that human, the other was bound to drag him back to the academy!

Gotta run for it!

Shi An hurriedly quickened his pace, walking forward with one foot deeper than the other.

He saw that the mercenary's camp was just ahead, but the four large cotton coats draped over his body were seriously slowing down his progress.

In a foggy blizzard, he looked like a round gobbledygook ball trudging through the snow.

Behind him, a familiar scent gradually approached.

Shi An was in a hurry, but her feet tripped over the thick snow.

Shi An : "!!!"

Day!

Shi An was about to roll down the snowy slope in a bone-jarring manner when suddenly a slender hand reached out from behind him and gently tugged on the back of Shi An's collar.

Eh ......?

Shi An felt his feet hanging in the air, and his entire body was carried in mid-air.

He struggled hard, but the four cotton coats over his body seemed to hold him in a deadly grip like shackles, making him look as if he were a turtle on its back, stirring its legs helplessly.

He made a final desperate struggle, but could only flail in the air, completely unable to escape the force behind him.

Shi An: "......"

He slowly turned his head toward the man behind him who was choking the back of his fateful neck.

Only Mu Hang lowered his eyes, silver-white eyelashes falling with ice and snow of the same color, a pair of chilly ice-blue eyes fixedly looked over, unreadable emotions falling on Shi An's body, blade-like pale-colored thin lips tightly pursed, tensed into an unapproachable straight line.

Shi An greeted dryly:

"What a ...... coincidence, hahaha."

Mu Hang's voice was low, with a slight upturn at the end, but there was little pleasantness in it, a hint of chill that seemed to freeze people to death:

"Indeed."