Late at night, in the quiet and eerie forest, the sound of wind rustling through the treetops and occasional bird calls echoed through the darkness.
However, a faint light emanated from a small hill at the edge of the forest. This was the hideout of the notorious evil spirit masters, known as the Bloodthirsty Fiends, who had committed countless gruesome massacres in nearby villages.
At this moment, an old man dressed in a white healer's robe was walking leisurely towards the cave on the hill, carrying a little girl who appeared to be only six or seven years old under his arm.
The old man's robe, once pristine white, was now stained with blood, and a gruesome bloodied handprint was visible on his lower leg. His once sinister and cruel eyes now gleamed with an unsettling excitement, a clear sign that he had just finished a bloody slaughter.
"Such bad luck! The whole village, and the only child I could find was you. I really got the short end of the stick this time. Yin Shan and the others gathered plenty of flesh and souls, damn it!"
The old man's thin, elongated face twisted with jealous rage. The thought of his companions soon surpassing him in cultivation and gaining higher status in the Holy Spirit Church made his eyes flash with a hint of viciousness.
Rustle.
Suddenly, a slight noise came from a nearby bush, and the old evil spirit master was startled. He moved cautiously towards the source of the sound.
However, just as he turned around, a ripple in the air appeared behind him, and in the blink of an eye, a pair of hands swiftly and decisively snapped his neck.
Huo Yuhao, dressed in black combat attire, materialized from the shadows, followed closely by Ning Tian, Wang Dong, and the other six reserve team members.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's swift and practiced killing method, along with the evil spirit master's bulging eyes and the tongue protruding from his mouth, the others turned pale, barely stopping themselves from vomiting.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Ning Tian, who were from prestigious families and had witnessed bloodshed before, managed to keep their composure. However, Jiang Nannan, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao quickly shut their eyes, unable to bear the sight of the corpse.
The little girl, just saved, was about to cry out, but Huo Yuhao quickly covered her mouth, signaling her to be quiet with a "shh" gesture. He then handed the girl over to Ning Tian, instructing her to keep watch over her.
"Take care of his body. Don't leave it on the main path. We don't want to alert anyone," Huo Yuhao instructed. "I'll go scout the situation at their camp. You all stay hidden and don't expose yourselves."
"Yuhao, are you sure you'll be okay?" Ning Tian asked, a bit worried.
"For me, doing this is as natural as breathing," Huo Yuhao replied with a faint smile, saying something that left the others a bit puzzled. He then disappeared into the night.
Huo Yuhao approached a forest area a few hundred meters from the hill, where he used his Simulation ability to transform himself into the dead evil spirit master. His attention to detail was meticulous; even the bloodstains on his body were identical, making it impossible to tell them apart.
"Damn it, just my luck," Huo Yuhao cursed loudly, striding forward purposefully. Suddenly, he sensed several auras from the nearby woods locking onto him. These individuals were not weak, most of them at the level of Soul Elders.
"Who goes there?!" A burly man with several hideous scars on his face, dressed in a gray robe, approached.
But upon seeing Huo Yuhao's current appearance, he burst into laughter, the murderous intent in his eyes vanishing.
The burly man waved his hand, and three more gray-robed men emerged from the bushes, laughing heartily at Huo Yuhao.
"Lambo, it's you, the black-hearted healer! What happened? Judging by your appearance, did someone steal your wife?"
"Screw you! If anyone's wife gets stolen, it'll be yours first!" Huo Yuhao retorted in feigned annoyance. "We all put in the effort, but Yin Shan and the others are gorging themselves while I got nothing this time, not even a feather!"
"Hahahaha!" The men laughed uproariously at Huo Yuhao's exasperated expression.
"Well, can't be helped. Even though we're all members of the Holy Spirit Church, you took a different path, using living human flesh to grow your medicinal herbs and only targeting children. With that method, your gains are bound to be limited!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed with cold light at their words. Using children's flesh to cultivate medicinal herbs? Such a cruel method indeed deserved death.
"Sigh, just my bad luck this time! But I did find something interesting in that village. You know what I mean, the kind of stuff we all like."
Huo Yuhao grinned wickedly, whistling a playful tune. Seeing his gesture, the men's eyes lit up, and they crowded around him.
"What kind of good stuff? Damn it, those women we captured a few days ago have drained me dry. Just what I need!"
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth curled up, and in a flash, his hidden right hand slashed across their throats like lightning.
"The good stuff is right here!"
Swish!
Four heads flew into the air simultaneously, but the blood was instantly frozen by a surge of icy blue spirit power. Knowing how sensitive evil spirit masters were to the smell of blood, Huo Yuhao had acted to prevent any chance of detection.
He kicked their corpses aside, his eyes flaring with rainbow-colored light as his Spiritual Detection was pushed to its limit, scanning the hill ahead.
In an instant, the entire structure of the hill, where the evil spirit masters were hiding, was revealed to Huo Yuhao.
After fully comprehending the layout of the hill, he paused and then shrugged, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He couldn't decide whether these evil spirit masters were clever or foolish. When his Spiritual Detection spread across the area, he discovered that the entire hill was hollow.
The hill, standing over ten meters tall, had been completely hollowed out, divided into three levels with dozens of rooms inside. To his surprise, it even included recreational areas, dining areas, and toilets—all fully equipped.
Unbelievable! What should have been a sinister and evil hideout suddenly felt like the set of a sitcom, a far cry from the terrifying image one would expect.
These bastards are living better than the students at Shrek Academy. They're asking to be wiped out!
Given the size of the structure, it was no surprise that there was a ventilation system to ensure adequate airflow.
Huo Yuhao easily located the main ventilation shaft, which connected to the ducts in all the rooms, serving as the largest air exchange passage.
"Teacher, I have an idea. That thing I practiced making earlier might come in handy," Huo Yuhao said with a sly grin.
"Uh, are you sure you want to use that?" The elder in his spiritual sea chuckled helplessly. "Although in life-and-death combat, one should resort to any means necessary, this approach of yours is a bit unorthodox."
"Since these guys are so inhumane, I'll give them a fitting death," Huo Yuhao replied with a devious smile.
"They'll die enjoying themselves!"