He stayed exactly where he was, arms folded, expression amused, like a noble watching street performers argue over scraps.
He had already made up his mind the moment Chang Bo came charging at him like a cornered boar.
If Shang Jiao and her people weren't villains, he would help.
But Chang Bo's shifting eyes, his too-smooth words, and the faint tremble of killing intent leaking from him…
Something stank.
So Ryan chose to wait.
To watch.
To see what kind of game this "mad dog" intended to play.
"Mad Dagger Chaos!"
Chang Bo moved like a shadow filled with bloodlust, short blade flickering too fast for the ordinary eye. His knife lashed out in arcs of dangerous brilliance, every angle vicious, every strike aimed to maim.
But the Red Scorpion mercenaries weren't novices either.
Six swords formed a living cage around him, gleaming arcs weaving a tight formation, always supporting, always rotating, never exposing more than a moment's gap.
Not confronting strength head-on.
Not clashing blade for blade.
They played defense like veterans who'd bled before.
Shang Jiao at the center drove the rhythm, eyes sharp, expression solemn, calling shifts in footwork with the smallest tilt of her wrist.
Even Chang Bo, a one-star Upper Elite warrior, found himself contained.
For now.
But the man wasn't worried.
In fact… he was almost relaxed.
His stance is too loose.
His gaze drifted beyond the swords, toward the forest's depths...
As if he were waiting.
Ryan narrowed his eyes. So that's your scheme. Holding out for help.
"Dagger Breaks the Heart!" Chang Bo slashed forward again with his yellow rank technique. A jagged, blood-red light tore from his blade, fast, savage, humming with killing intent.
"Ah!"
One Red Scorpion member froze, terror hollowing his eyes. That move… four of their companions had died to it.
His legs shook. His sword didn't even lift.
"Qian Yun, move!"
Shang Jiao flashed across the circle, sword sweeping in a pale, snowy arc and collided with Chang Bo's attack.
CLANG!
The shock blasted her backward. She skidded across the ground, boots carving deep trenches into the soil.
Her hand trembled.
Her face paled.
A hot metallic taste shot up her throat, and blood splattered onto her white robe.
"Pfft!"
"Leader!" her team cried out.
Shang Jiao staggered but gritted her teeth, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Don't… look at me! Keep your eyes on Chang Bo! Qian Yun, no more mistakes. I can't save you twice!"
The shaken youth clenched his sword until his knuckles whitened. The others' gazes sharpened, fury igniting their strength.
Their swords lashed out harder, faster, driven by anger and fear.
Chang Bo's face tightened.
Now he felt the pressure.
He wasn't panic-stricken… but he was sweating.
His arms shook, and his legs shifted.
His breaths grew shallow.
He needed reinforcements before it is too late.
Come on… come on… hurry up!
Soon, Ryan felt it: the presence of more warriors. "Someone's coming," he murmured under his breath. "A lot of them. And strong."
Much stronger than Chang Bo.
Of course.
This was the real trap.
Ryan sighed. "Found your trick."
Chang Bo wasn't buying time randomly.
He was stalling, waiting for killers far deadlier than himself.
"If I were weak, I'd be dead already." Ryan's fingers curled slightly. His stance shifted, subtle yet lethal.
He was ready to step in at any second.
Chang Bo, meanwhile, stumbled, finally overwhelmed, and a sword slashed across his back.
"ARGH!"
Blood sprayed in a long, violent arc.
Another blade sliced his arm. Then another tore across his shoulder.
Gaaah!
He screamed.
The Red Scorpion mercenaries pressed harder, their eyes burning in hatred.
"Kill him!"
"End it!"
Just a little more, one more coordinated attack, and Chang Bo would fall.
"C'mon, c'mon, where are you!" Chang Bo roared in desperation.
And then...
FWIP!
Five shadows streaked through the forest like bolts of lightning.
They landed before Chang Bo in perfect formation.
Four wore grey combat robes, faces cold and expressionless.
The man in the center wore silver robes, aura pressing down like a mountain.
They were all Upper Elite realm experts and stronger than Chang Bo.
Chang Bo's face lit with cruel relief. "They're here!"
Meanwhile, Shang Jiao's heart dropped like a stone.
The five newcomers radiated oppressive power, far beyond what their team could handle.
No escape.
No chance.
If Chang Bo alone had cost them four deaths…
These five were a death sentence.
"This…" Shang Jiao whispered, voice cracking.
"Head… are they his?" Qian Yun choked out.
Shang Jiao clenched her sword. Despair hollowed her chest in realization at last. "No wonder he ran into Forest of Death… he wanted us to chase him."
Too late.
Too late to run.
Too late to fight.
Her team knew it, too.
Somewhere inside her, a last thread of hope trembled, and her eyes drifted toward the only person who had stood untouched since the beginning.
The boy.
Still calm.
Still watching.
Still… different.
He survived a battlefield full of monster corpses…
He evaded Chang Bo's full strength twice…
He stood in a place even beasts feared to approach…
Maybe… just maybe…
Her heart whispered: "Can you save us?"
*
Everyone in the Western Region admired the Wolf Sky Mercenary Corps. They were the "heroes," the "justice," the "shield" of the common folk.
Or so the world believed.
But behind the golden banner of justice was a shadowed empire dirtier than the deepest black.
The White Division punished evil and saved innocents.
The Dark Division… punished innocents and created evil.
Assassinations, theft of cultivation treasures, destruction of families, private vendettas, anything the bright side couldn't dirty their hands with, the dark side eagerly completed for profit.
And Chang Bo…
And the five men who arrived behind him…
They were all members of this hidden machinery of blood.
That badge Chang Bo showed earlier?
Real.
Yes, Deadly real.
But it is because he was part of the Dark Division.
And worse still...
The four grey-robed warriors behind him were all Elite realm experts.
And the silver-robed leader…
Zhang Yuxi.
He is a Nine-star Upper Elite, one step from becoming an Exalt.
Zhang Yuxi's gaze swept lazily across the ruins of the battlefield.
The presence of Shang Jiao's team, the young boy nearby, none of it concerned him.
In his eyes, every living person here was already a corpse. They simply hadn't fallen yet.
His gaze slid back to Shang Jiao, this time with a new hunger, the gaze of a predator savoring prey.
Her pale face.
Her trembling sword.
Her rising and falling chest in anger.
His expression twisted in satisfaction. "Good work, Chang Bo. This prey is top quality."
Chang Bo's smile widened, bowing low like a loyal dog, pride shining in his eyes. "Then, my reward?"
Zhang Yuxi nodded with a smile, "Of course, the Earth-level high-grade cultivation method will be yours."
Chang Bo nearly fainted from joy. That was wealth greater than gold.
Shang Jiao, hearing all this, felt her heart chill to ice.
These men…
These so-called "mercenaries"…
They weren't here for a bounty.
They were here to slaughter them.
And worse...
They were laughing.
Pointing at her.
Mocking her.
Chang Bo's eyes trailed boldly along Shang Jiao's body as he sneered: "Curse all you want in your head. Soon you'll be gasping instead of talking."
The grey-robed warriors burst into crude laughter.
Even Zhang Yuxi smirked.
Shang Jiao's body trembled, not in fear, but in fury, but her grip tightened helplessly on her sword.
Her men flushed purple with rage, fists trembling, but their hearts were sinking.
Chang Bo alone had killed four of their brothers. Now there were four foes far stronger than him.
"Did you think the task you took was a coincidence?" Chang Bo then sneered, engaging in a conversation with her. "That bounty, catching me alive? Killing me? That… was issued by us."
The color drained from Shang Jiao's face. "What…?"
"It's bait." Chang Bo grinned. "To catch idiots like your Red Scorpion mercenary Corps."
The rest of her team stiffened.
"So many groups took the mission before. All of them disappeared." Chang Bo tapped his blade against his shoulder. "You're just next on the list."
And suddenly, everything clicked into place.
The rich reward.
The old posting.
The lack of completion for two months.
It was a trap.
And Shang Jiao had led her men straight into it.
Her knees weakened. She clenched her teeth hard to stop them from shaking.
As team leader, she had failed her people. She brought them here.
She got four of her men killed already.
And the rest…would soon follow.
Unless… someone intervened.
Someone strong enough.
Someone who wasn't afraid.
Someone who...
Her eyes drifted, slowly, toward the young man who stood watching everything in silence.
Shang Jiao swallowed, her throat tight.
Could he…?
Could this boy…save them?
Her rational mind screamed, "Impossible."
But her instincts, the same instincts that had sensed danger in Ryan earlier,
whispered a different truth.
That boy wasn't normal.
He wasn't helpless.
Since he didn't leave, he was probably choosing when to act.
Her heart pounded wildly.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, she allowed herself to hope.
Allowed herself to believe that Ryan might be their last lifeline in this hell.