Kingdom: The Black Moon Assassin

"The killing intent in this area is extremely intense! However, there's not a single scent of blood, nor do I see a body. It's far too strange for a situation like this to arise out of nowhere!"

The man leading the rest was Ba Tei, a general tasked with wiping out the villages of assassin clans or tribes one by one within the Zhao territory.

The King of Zhao did not want a single assassin's den left unscathed. He wanted each of them eradicated until reduced to ashes.

"Sir, there is nothing in the surroundings," a scout dressed in black quickly reported after surveying the area.

"Yes, it seems they fled..." Ba Tei murmured with a serious expression. He wore an imposing white armor, and his head, adorned with a feathered helmet, constantly scanned the ground as he searched carefully. For some reason, the air here felt a bit off.

No one spoke, and everyone followed their general's orders, trusting his vast experience to lead them out of this place alive.

After another two minutes, Ba Tei concluded, "Two very different but extremely strong killing intents were here, intertwined with one another. From the looks of it, a fight did happen here. However, the rest of the group did not participate in the battle."

"It's a shame there were no women in the group," complained a man named Jiang after learning that only men had been here just moments ago.

"Jiang, you filthy dog, aside from looking for women to kill, what other use does that dog nose of yours have on your disgusting face?"

Upon hearing Ba Tei's irritating remark midway through his observation, Jiang, the second-in-command of a five-thousand-man general handpicked by the King of Zhao for this secret mission, naturally felt very displeased.

Truth be told, from the moment he saw that the perverted tracker dog was accompanying them, the experts traveling with Ba Tei were already somewhat annoyed.

Why did they have to travel with this human trash and endure all his ranting? They, who had been trained since childhood, had no reason to put up with Ba Tei's subordinate.

"Experts sent by the King of Zhao, what is the meaning of this?" Jiang rolled his eyes lazily. "I enjoy killing and killing young girls, but what does that have to do with you?"

The two men dressed in black were called Ruan Yin and Ruan Yang, twins whose bond on the battlefield ran thicker than blood. There was only an hour's difference between their births. The elders used to give them a nickname reflecting their names: Black and White, a perfect combination.

Ruan Yang, speaking coldly, said, "Jiang, look at your own repulsive face when you utter those words; I can't even bear to look at you due to the disgust you cause!"

"What's wrong with my appearance? You really find it that unpleasant?" Jiang scowled and retorted with a sharp voice that was truly grating. "Even if I have strange tastes, I'm still not as dirty as your sister, you hypocritical killer. Worry about your own home first!"

"What did you just say?" Ruan Yin and Ruan Yang turned simultaneously, their hands moving to the hilts of their swords. "Jiang, you're going to pay for those words right now!"

Seeing this, Ba Tei quickly stepped forward and stopped them, his expression filled with authority. "What do you think you're all doing? We are facing a powerful enemy right now. Our glorious soldiers are hunting down those assassin villages that disrespected the King of Zhao. At this moment, we are bound by a hatred for a common enemy, and we must unite against the external adversary. How can we start fighting among ourselves over a few words? If we all kept quiet about what we think, wouldn't we avoid more trouble?"

At the same time, Ba Tei sighed deeply in his heart. Look at the people assigned to this group: aside from the wicked soldiers best at following orders, there were nothing but lunatics in this special army for exterminating assassins!

After days of traveling together, no one could tolerate another for even an hour without exception, and it was basically impossible to form a proper team! He had become the general of this group, yet he still couldn't control these few individuals at all.

What a bother! He would have preferred to be deployed on the battlefield.

"Ba Tei! Who the hell do you think you are? Do you really think you're the absolute leader of this operation? Mind your own business! A mere lunatic general like you can't order us around."

As expected, the twins turned to confront General Ba Tei, who was merely the leader of the cannon fodder trailing behind them.

Ba Tei's face twitched, and he grew angry with these so-called martial arts experts. In a grim tone, he said, "Fine, fine, fine! Go ahead and fight then! Fight until both sides are gravely wounded, and don't stop until the other is dead! And with any luck, when you're done with your brawl, those disgusting assassins might show up, and we could invite them to join the fun too."

His subordinate Jiang, along with Ruan Yin and Ruan Yang, had almost come to blows numerous times along the way. Perhaps their internal energies were naturally opposed, like water and fire, as they never stopped arguing during their journey to these mountains.

Ruan Yin snorted coldly and turned away. Apparently, the mention of the assassins still instilled some fear in their subconscious minds.

With a slight nod to his younger brother, the two resumed inspecting the ground for other clues as they distanced themselves from the group.

But just then, suddenly, a cracking sound echoed around them as a sharp aura rushed towards their backs.

Clang!

Ruan Yin turned with lightning speed, stretching out his hand before retreating. His body spun in a quick circle as he held the object in his hand.

The object gleamed in the daylight, feeling exceptionally cold to the touch. The moment the attack was repelled, it shimmered for a moment and melted into the air as if it were water. It had actually been a giant ice needle!

That sense of death had vanished, but the enemy still lingered nearby.

Did those worthless fools really dare to attack him from behind?

Ruan Yin immediately flew into a rage as his body shot backward. With a metallic sound, a thin sword appeared in his hand.

The blade flashed, and he attacked Ba Tei while shouting, "You bastard general! You're truly despicable! Under the King's orders, we've been lenient in ignoring your subordinates' constant disrespect, but now they even dare to attack me from behind!"

Though Ruan Yang didn't know what had just happened, seeing his older brother's outburst, he instantly shared in his twin's rising fury!

Without hesitation, he also drew his sword and followed his brother into battle, shouting like thunder as his intent to strike Jiang grew.

Though Ba Tei had disagreed with the twins throughout their journey, he was still someone who could see the bigger picture.

Moreover, both sides had their own reservations, and things had not yet escalated into a fight. At this moment, however, he had been completely caught off guard by them—who would have thought these two would ignore their current situation and attack directly!

Caught completely by surprise, Ba Tei was almost destroyed by the combined attack of the two brothers. Like a comet, his body flew backward, and with a thunderous noise, he crashed into the trunk of a tree.

That sword strike pierced through his armor, and if it weren't for the chainmail underneath, he would be dead right now.

The cotton cloak on his body had been torn, and even his shirt beneath the chainmail had been sliced in two, revealing his large, muscular chest.

A red line of blood could be seen on his chest, clear evidence that he had been wounded by one of the twins' swords! With just a few more millimeters, he would have been dead!

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he felt about how close he had come to dying. Ba Tei felt as though he had walked alongside the gates of hell, barely missing them. His hair stood on end as his eyes reddened with fury, and he shouted, "Ruan Yin, Ruan Yang, you two crazy bastards, you're just the King's shadows; who do you think you are to attack me?"

Ba Tei reached for the hilt at his waist, and a long sword gleamed in his hand. Then, with a movement of his left hand, countless hidden iron needles appeared in his palm.

Roaring wildly, the two sides began to fight fiercely! The Ruan brothers were even more enraged at this point.

"Do you think that as a mere general you are capable of taking our heads?"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Loud sounds echoed as the four leaders in the front began an intense battle!

This anomaly, not to mention the soldiers who were scouting the area, and Jun, even Chen, who remained silently like a turtle, froze—not from the cold but from shock!

What the hell was going on?

It had clearly been just a verbal argument between the attackers Zhao had sent to massacre the assassin villages, but how did it suddenly turn into a deadly fight?

Chen had used the weather to his advantage and sneaked beneath a snow mound, preparing to strike first.

He had already identified his targets—Ba Tei and the Ruan brothers, of course—so he could use this moment to eliminate them!

But who would have thought that before he could make a move, the four of them would suddenly start fighting amongst themselves? And it clearly wasn't the kind of probing strikes seen in small skirmishes. This was a real battle where both sides launched their attacks with full strength to kill!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Were they really determined to kill each other right now, in unknown territory?

Not to mention that there were powerful enemies who could attack them at any moment; in such critical moments, were the three of them truly careless enough to fight each other?

Chen couldn't understand their behavior, especially Jiang's.

The ice needle that Ruan Yin had been struck with had not been fired by Ba Tei. It was the work of Jun, who was hiding in the shadows! Ba Tei obviously didn't know what had happened and was now too enraged to think about it!

When he saw the four of them fighting, thanks to Jun's "goodwill" and his principles of inciting chaos and adding fuel to the fire, how could he pass up the opportunity to make his move?

The more his enemies fought amongst themselves, the better! It would be ideal if it escalated into a life-or-death hatred—how much more pleasurable and advantageous that would be.

The two assassins waited in the darkness, ready to strike at any moment. Chen used everything around him and his strange techniques to hide perfectly.

As for Jun, he prepared his stun bombs to surprise the enemy.

But upon reflection, he had already made his move! And the effects of this move became immediately apparent—it was absolutely incredible!

Ba Tei was just a general and was naturally no match for the combined assault of the twins, who were martial arts experts!

The soldiers in the distance didn't know what was going on, so they didn't move.

But how could Jun allow the internal fire he had managed to ignite with such effort to die down so easily?

What a waste it would be, ah, how unsatisfying...

It would be a pity if a general died, especially one who had been sent to exterminate the assassin tribes.

That's why Jun held in his hand a new ice needle, which he took from a tree. One after another, they shot out in his direction. The trajectory of these ice needles was extremely strange, but all of them aimed at the fighting targets.

'Let's even the playing field.'

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"Ahhhhhhh!" The Ruan twins screamed in agony, deeply miserable.

Ba Tei, fighting alone against the two, only grew stronger as the fight went on. It was as if wherever he pointed his sword, the Ruan brothers were frightened and retreated. Feeling immensely relieved, he couldn't help but laugh arrogantly.

Even if Jiang was on the side acting as a mere spectator, pretending to be dead, he wasn't bold enough to join this battle after having been struck down. In the end, he could only sit and watch the spectacle. However, he hadn't expected that the fight between the three would intensify more and more.

He thought that as long as he crawled to where the soldiers were and warned them that they were under attack, he could gain an advantage.

But when he saw that those martial arts experts were being suppressed in a two-against-one fight with Ba Tei, at critical moments, they always ended up suffering a loss!

At that moment, his hatred for Ba Tei had sunk deep into his bones. For the sake of his reputation with the King of Zhao, they couldn't afford to lose!

Clang! Clang!

The Ruan twins' thighs had already been pierced countless times by small ice needles. Even though they were skilled with swords, the damage was severe, and now they were bleeding profusely.

And if that weren't enough, their buttocks were constantly being stabbed by ice needles, which infuriated them even more!

It was possible that the area where they had been injured wasn't dangerous enough to endanger their lives, but it was incredibly humiliating! This strike wasn't intended to kill them but rather to shame them.

The eyes of the two brothers had already turned completely red! At first, they just wanted to teach Jiang and Ba Tei a lesson. But as they fought, their fury shot up to the heavens, reaching a level where they wouldn't rest until the bastard was dead.

This relentless killing intent arose from a very simple matter... Ruan Yang had received an extremely sinister ice needle in his buttocks.

The difference was that this ice needle had pierced a very important area. It had actually punctured his sacred hole.

As everyone knows, the flesh in that area is exceptionally sensitive; it's a place that's completely unprotected by any muscle. Therefore, the pain was even more unbearable than being cut by a knife.

The unfortunate Ruan Yang howled loudly and jumped straight into the air! The temperature in that area was also higher than most parts of the body, so before he could do anything about the ice needle, it was already melting.

Ice-cold water and blood flowed together, and at that moment, the idiot Jiang, who was playing dead, couldn't help but think that he was witnessing some sort of male menstruation.

Humiliation!

This was unbearable humiliation!

Especially for someone like Ruan Yang, who had suffered this disgrace despite being a martial arts expert personally chosen by the King of Zhao.