Today is the day that the newly appointed leader of the Golden Guard, Jin Yi, reports to the elders, as is customary.

Based on his abilities, he originally had no chance of being promoted to leader. However, the Ding family was running out of talent, so he was chosen from among the less capable.

Last time he came, the elder rewarded him with two low-grade energy crystals.

He wasn't particularly talented, so low-level energy crystals weren't very effective against him.

Thinking about it, he realized he had gotten a lucky break today, and maybe the elder would be so pleased that he would reward him with two high-grade energy crystals.

With this thought in mind, my steps became lighter, and my spirits lifted considerably.

Just as I reached the cave entrance, I heard the elder shouting, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

He crept closer, pressing his ear against the cave wall, trying to hear more clearly.

"Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?"

Jin Yi was startled, thinking that he had been discovered by the elders for eavesdropping, and was so frightened that he almost lost his mind.

He answered cautiously:

"Elder... Elder, it is... it is me, Jin Yi, here to report to you."

No one answered, so Jin Yi forced himself to speak:

"Elder...our people have discovered a coal mine at the border of Sichuan and Yunnan. We would like to ask you for advice: should we cooperate with the Zhao family to develop it, or should we keep it all for ourselves?"

After waiting for a while, the cave was quiet.

Jin Yi was puzzled. The trees on the mountain were almost stripped bare, and coal was a scarce resource. Even if the elder was still angry, he would temporarily put aside his unhappiness upon hearing the good news of the discovery of a coal mine.

He tentatively called out twice, "Elder, Elder."

Still no one responded.

Jin Yi realized something was wrong. "Elder, are you... alright?"

There was no sound from inside.

The elder had an accident? Impossible! With the elder's abilities, who could possibly harm him?!

"I, I... I'm in."

Slowly pushing open the door, I saw an old man lying face down on the ground, completely lifeless.

Jin was startled and rushed forward to help the old man up.

"Elder, what's wrong? Elder, Elder..."

A sharp pain shot through my neck. "Elder... Elder, you..."

The reclusive elder held a transcendent position and was ruthless in his methods. Jin Yi had never looked directly at the elder's face before, as they were far apart.

But now, he would rather never see it.

A hideous face loomed large before Jin Yi's eyes, the veins on that face seemed about to burst, and each vein looked as if worms were rapidly surging within it.

Jin Yi was desperate. Those weren't insects; they were his blood, and his blood was rapidly flowing into the elder's body.

If he could do it all over again, he definitely wouldn't push open that door.

In his final moments, he thought about how members of the Ding family had mysteriously disappeared. So that's how it was!

He grinned, laughing at his own naiveté, thinking that becoming the leader of the Golden Guard made him superior to others, but he was nothing more than nourishment for the elders.

Jin Yi's body rapidly withered, but the old man was still not satisfied, and his fingertips conjured branches that pierced into his flesh.

Moments later, the ground was covered with hair and teeth.

Jin Yi arrived just in time; otherwise, the old man would have been helpless.

More than 80% of the blood vessels in the heart-shaped object have been removed, and what remains is dull and lifeless, its vitality fading away little by little.

You think you can cut off my escape route? Not so easy!

With a series of hand gestures, five stones engraved with strange patterns emitted a dazzling light.

The old man made another gesture, and the stones began to move slowly around him.

The five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth intertwine to create countless patterns. When each point of intersection is connected, it forms a bizarre and mysterious pattern.

With a flick of his finger, a black bottle flew out from the corner of the house. The cap opened, and the black liquid transformed into dozens of black streaks of light, striking the rapidly shrunken heart-shaped object.

The heart-shaped object was gradually filled with ink, and the ink pipes of different thicknesses seemed to come alive, pulsating joyfully.

"Come on, let me treat you to a feast."

Those poisons had caused him unbearable pain, and the thought of the despicable intruders tasting the suffering he had endured filled the old man with a sinister smile.

Pei Nansheng was loading the fourth shell when Bai Hongwei stopped him:

"Brother Pei, the vampire vines have retreated, we don't need to fight them anymore."

"Yeah?"

Pei Nansheng pretended to be stupid.

Looking around, the island was filled with smoke and riddled with holes, its once lush greenery seemingly never to have existed.

Only a few bloodsucking vines remained, and the soldiers were finishing them off.

"Yes, he has stepped down."

Pei Nansheng hadn't intended to fire any more. He had already fired three shots in a short time, and the cannon barrel was already hot. He was afraid that if he fired any more, the barrel would explode.

He was just trying to scare Bai Hongwei; after all, he didn't care about his sister's safety.

Bai Hongwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

These two guys are such spendthrifts, they squandered 6 artillery shells, worth 360,000!

Those weren't ordinary shells; they were FGM-148s, capable of sinking warships.

Thankfully, there are still 4 shots left.

Bai Hongwei ordered his men to quickly remove the ammunition boxes.

Xiao Hao tugged at his brother's sleeve:

"Brother, sister hasn't come back yet. I hope something happened to her. Let's go look for her."

As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Bai Hongwei.

Bai Hongwei's heart skipped a beat. 128, no, 134 shells, fired continuously... Sister, can you really dodge them?

Considering Zuo Ling's large-scale movement in a short period of time, it should be... possible... probably!

Just then, several screams, not human voices, rang out. The sound came from... the direction of the white headscarf!

Thinking the danger had just passed, Bai Hongwei ran in that direction after the white-turbaned men started causing trouble.

Pei Nansheng also wanted to go and see what was going on, but Xiao Hao grabbed him:

"Go find your sister."

Pei Nansheng thought to himself, "Your sister is fine, she's probably watching the show in her space."

Suddenly everything went black, and Xiao Hao's face changed drastically as he cried out, "Brother!"

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