Chapter 50: Targeted Clash

"Muddle the waters? You mean, attack the Li clan now while they're busy chasing after him?" Sun Mengmeng asked for clarification.

Fang Yi nodded. "That's right. However, we have to do so under the guise of our captain!"

"Under his guise? Isn't our captain's identity a secret? How can we pretend to be him?" Yang Ze seemed quite confused.

Fang Yi explained, "We might know his identity, but no one else in the settlement does, do they? To them, Li Hong's killer is a man cloaked in black and skilled at stealth! Can't you pretend to be such a hunter? Can't I? Even Sun Mengmeng could!"

"What do you mean, even I can? I bet I could portray his likeness better than either of you with some careful makeup!" Sun Mengmeng scowled.

"You mean, we should all disguise ourselves as the captain and strike at the Li clan while they're all gone, so as to draw attention away from him?" Yang Ze finally seemed to understand.

Sun Mengmeng smiled. "That's right. It sounds like a simple plan, but the execution will be quite difficult. If we're ever caught off-guard, we might easily die from the Li clan's retaliation. As a result, we'll need a careful plan of attack. I already have a few ideas in mind, but since we're short on time, let's talk as we head out. Pack your bags and we'll meet at the door!"

Moments later, six black-clad men suddenly emerged from the settlement gates. Their outer appearance made them look quite similar to Zhang Lie.

Back in the Bloodcrystal Valley, Zhang Lie, sitting with Chu Xun near the top of the hill, was happily roasting a blood ant. After a few hours of gliding, he had harvested essentially all the blood whiskers in the Bloodcrystal Valley.

The blood ant smelled so good that she was salivating.

"Hey, Blackie, are you done yet? I'm hungry!" Her strange nickname for Zhang Lie left much to be desired, but given her status as the prized grandchild of the Chu head, he couldn't say much about it. He handed her a skewer from above the fire pit.

She bit into the crispy ant meat with gusto, her lips glistening with oil.

Just then, Zhang Lie discovered a horde of hunters from the southwest heading in their direction. He didn't pay them much mind at first, thinking that they were from some clan who had decided to hunt the blood ants, but when they were near the bottom of the hill, Zhang Lie spotted Li Jin amidst the crowd.

Li Jin? Wasn't he in the middle of investigating Li Hong's death? What was he doing here? Zhang Lie glanced at the hunters beneath him, then at Chu Xun by his side, instantly understanding the situation. Of course, they had to be here for him!

Instead of panicking, however, he smiled.

By that time, they were making such a fuss that even Chu Xun had noticed.

"Blackie, what's going on down there? Isn't that Li Jin and his team?"

"I suspect they're here for me. Well, I won't be able to accompany you anymore. If I'm not wrong, you should have a venombane-scorpion soulshard on you. Why don't you find a place to hide and get ready to watch the show?"

There was no trace of urgency in Zhang Lie's voice.

"For you? Why, what did you do? Ah—you couldn't have been the one who killed his brother, Li Hong?!"

Zhang Lie didn't deny it. "He deserved it. Well, go hide! I won't be able to spare you any attention later."

"No, there's no need. Li Jin wouldn't dare to touch me, or he would—"

"Stop talking nonsense, and never joke around with your life on the line. It's a terrible habit to pick up, and you'll be much safer if you just hide!" She was quite a stubborn character, but Zhang Lie would tolerate no refusal. He seemed like he would beat her up if she were to rebut him again.

She didn't know why, but she, who feared almost nothing in the world, instinctively backed down. Pursing her lips, she leapt up into a nearby tree and then turned invisible.

Zhang Lie sat back down and continued enjoying his ant skewers.

Footsteps pittered and pattered around him as Li Jin's large group split in two. One group blocked the valley off from below, and the other, with Li Jin at the lead, headed straight for him. By the time he had finished consuming a blood ant, Li Jin was only fifty meters away.

"What laudable efficiency!" Zhang Lie praised. "You found me so quickly after Li Hong's death."

He tossed the skewer in his hand aside.

"You bastard, you won't be getting away today! Reveal your identity and hand over all your soulshards, and I might grant you a painless death. Otherwise, I'll make you regret being born!"

"You think someone like you deserves to know my name, to hand over my soulshards? You'll make me regret being born? What a joke!"

Zhang Lie spat on Li Jin's shoes.

"Li Hong deserved to die. If you back down now, I'll spare you on account of the upcoming Void Cup! Otherwise, the five clans of the Blacksteel settlement might soon become four, you understand?"

"Haha! You, a lone hunter, capable of bringing down the Li clan? What a farce! Today, I'll show you what it means to be dominated by absolute strength! Charge! Destroy him!"

Zhang Lie's brash words had completely enraged Li Jin. On his command, his gathered hunters shot toward Zhang Lie like arrows loosed from a bow.

Zhang Lie leapt down from the hill.

"You think I haven't planned for this? Ranged attackers, prepare to loose!" With Li Jin's shout, arrows brimming with all colors of genetic energy shot toward Zhang Lie, forming what seemed like a multicolored net ready to entrap him.

Of course, Zhang Lie anticipated this. He curled his arms around his body and began to twist rapidly as he went into a dive, repelling the projectiles with the force of the wind around him. Only a rare few made it past the wind barrier and onto his white-grub armor, but they had been sapped of most of their momentum and were all but harmless.

Zhang Lie's speed was so extreme that, after the first wave of ranged attacks, he had already flown out of range. As he glided over the largest cave in the valley, where the strongest blood ants were located, he threw a little black and red object inside.