Chapter 578 - 378: Destruction and Creation

Chapter 578: Chapter 378: Destruction and Creation

"The General’s Tomb instance has appeared. General Lu, lead your men inside!" Lu Hongyan said indifferently.

Lu Junsheng looked excited and immediately called out to his "subordinates" to enter the stone archway.

Pang Damao was shocked once again, because anyone who walked into the stone archway vanished instantly.

"What’s going on?" Pang Damao didn’t understand. He dawdled, hiding at the very back.

Soon, Lu Junsheng and his group, including Lu Hongyan’s Golden Lion Mount, all walked into the stone archway and disappeared. Only Lu Hongyan and Pang Damao were left at the scene.

Lu Hongyan glanced at Pang Damao and asked, "Why haven’t you gone in yet?"

Of course, Pang Damao wouldn’t go in. He had encountered too many incomprehensible things today and decided to go back and report to the Roasted Chicken Immortal. Without another word, he simply turned and ran.

Lu Hongyan watched Pang Damao run away in confusion. "What’s wrong with you? Why are you running? Although I’m the Second-in-Command of the Black Mountain Stronghold, I don’t murder people for their money!"

"Black Mountain Stronghold!" The fleeing Pang Damao suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look at Lu Hongyan, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. "You are the Second-in-Command of the Black Mountain Stronghold?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Yes, what about it?" Lu Hongyan asked in return. She felt that the Indigenous Person in front of her was acting a bit strangely.

"Everyone from the Black Mountain Stronghold deserves to die!" Pang Damao shouted loudly, seemingly turning into a different person. With bloodshot eyes, he unexpectedly charged straight at Lu Hongyan.

"What are you doing?!" Lu Hongyan took a step back, looking slightly flustered, but she immediately calmed down. Drawing the Longsword from her waist, she said coldly, "You’re courting death!"

Pang Damao was now fully healed as well, without a single wound to be found on his entire body.

"Da Mao, you’ve always been pretty clever. What happened this time?"

"If the Immortal Master hadn’t saved you, you’d probably be buried in the dirt by now!"

"Who slashed you?"

"Da Mao, don’t tell me you ran into bandits!"

Pang Damao listened to the crowd’s chatter in a daze. His eyes darted around a few times before he suddenly knelt in front of Wang River. "My Lord, I ran into the Second-in-Command of the Black Mountain Stronghold! Please avenge me, my Lord!"

"Black Mountain Stronghold?" Yang Wanli’s expression grew solemn. He stepped closer to Wang Yi and said, "My Lord, the Black Mountain Stronghold is the den of a group of formidable Mountain Bandits. They are powerful and ruthless; even the bandit-suppression troops from Kaiyuan County have to detour around them! Ten years ago, Da Mao’s entire family was beaten to death by the people from the Black Mountain Stronghold. This child has actually had a very bitter life."

Wang River looked at Pang Damao, who was completely different from his usual lazy self, and muttered, "So that’s how it is!"

Yang Wanli then asked Pang Damao again, "Da Mao, are you sure you didn’t see wrong? What would people from the Black Mountain Stronghold be doing in our remote backwater?"

"She said it herself, how could it be fake?" Pang Damao insisted.

The crowd listened quietly as they learned that Pang Damao had actually dragged his slash-wounded body, crawling all the way back from the General’s Tomb. According to his description, the General’s Tomb was about three miles north of Pottery Village. To get here from there, even if it wasn’t ten miles, it was absolutely at least seven or eight miles. To be able to crawl such a long distance with severe injuries, this Pang Damao was truly astonishing.

Hearing his account, Wang River immediately understood that the Lu Family Stronghold was a Player’s territory, and Lu Hongyan was definitely a Player. However, Wang River was still a bit unsure whether the Lord of the Lu Family Stronghold was her, General Lu, or if both of them were Players. He would have to see it with his own eyes to be certain.

Pang Damao stated his desire for revenge, wanting Wang River to kill the Second-in-Command of the Black Mountain Stronghold, Lu Hongyan. Completely different from his usual frivolous and sloppy demeanor, he was entirely serious.

However, Wang River did not state a clear position, merely telling him to go back and get a good rest.

"My Lord!"

Alright, based on the provided Chapter content and your requests, I have conceptualized Lu Hongyan’s ending, focusing on Yang Wanli’s slip-up due to physical exhaustion, and Pang Damao’s desperate return out of deep-seated hatred to ultimately complete the counter-kill:

Lu Hongyan’s Ending (Continuing from the end of Chapter 32)

In the dense forest, it was muddy, wet, and cold. Lu Hongyan slumped to the ground, leaning against a large tree, panting heavily as cold sweat mixed with blood slid down her forehead. The cold broadsword was pressed tightly against her neck, the chill exuding from the blade making the hairs all over her body stand on end.

The blade-wielding Yang Wanli was similarly short of breath. Although he had been saved by the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles, his recently recovered body was ultimately still weak. Just now, he had chased her all the way here relying entirely on a ruthless drive to exact revenge. Stopping at this moment, he only felt his vision repeatedly darkening, his arms sore and heavy.

"Hmph, little girl, you run pretty fast." Yang Wanli forced himself to hold on, his voice carrying suppressed pants. "Falling into my hands means your time is up. My Boss wants your life, so don’t even think about walking out of here alive!"

Lu Hongyan’s shock settled slightly, her survival instinct overriding her fear. While slowing her breathing to feign submission, she rapidly scanned her surroundings from the corner of her eye. Yang Wanli’s exhaustion and the faintly trembling blade against her neck gave her a sliver of hope.

"Old man..." Lu Hongyan’s voice was hoarse, carrying a deliberately softened tone of weakness. "Wang Yi... what benefits did your Boss give you? The Black Wind Stronghold can give you ten times as much! Gold? Women? Or... your son’s life?" Observing that Yang Wanli was quite elderly, she intentionally threw out a bait to test him.

"Bullshit!" Yang Wanli spat. His hand tightened, the blade sinking into Lu Hongyan’s skin, causing a thread of blood to ooze out. "I am a man of Stone Village! The Boss saved the lives of my entire family! Who cares about your filthy stronghold’s..."

This was the moment!

Lu Hongyan had been waiting for the exact instant when his emotions were agitated, his focus scattered, and the strength in his hands unsteady! She violently shrank her head back, her neck scraping past the blade by a hair’s breadth. At the same time, all her accumulated strength erupted into her right leg, viciously kicking Yang Wanli’s unhealed, weakest left leg!

"Argh—!"

As intense pain struck, Yang Wanli’s left leg gave way. His tall body lost its balance, and he staggered backward uncontrollably before collapsing. The broadsword flew out of his grip, landing in a distant pile of fallen leaves with a loud CLANG.

"Old fool! You’re courting death!"

Lu Hongyan instantly flipped up. Her agile movements were entirely contrary to her fragile appearance. A cruel, triumphant, and ferocious glint flashed in her eyes. She couldn’t care less whether the fallen Yang Wanli was dead or alive. Her only thought was to escape back to the instance entrance or deeper into the dense forest. As long as she found Lu Junsheng or any of her subordinates, she would still have a chance to turn the tables!

She didn’t even bother to deliver a finishing blow to Yang Wanli on the ground, turning around to dash into the depths of the dense forest.

However, at the exact moment she turned, a figure charged out from the flank! It was Pang Damao!

Pang Damao had originally been the first to exit after the instance was cleared. Seeing Wang Yi and the ground covered in corpses, yet no sign of Lu Hongyan, he immediately guessed she was making a run for it. He chased her all the way by following her tracks, arriving just in time to see Lu Hongyan kick Yang Wanli down from afar. He could have hidden in the shadows and waited for Wang Yi or Man Datou to provide support. However, seeing Uncle Yang—a respectful term used by the villagers for Yang Wanli—who had once given him warmth, food, and respect, fall to the ground, a surge of hot blood rushed straight to his head.

"You treacherous dog! Don’t even think about escaping!" Pang Damao roared angrily. Like a cannonball fired from its chamber, he threw himself recklessly at Lu Hongyan’s back.

Hearing the wind behind her back, Lu Hongyan’s heart skipped a beat. She subconsciously dodged sideways while simultaneously clawing backward with a backhand grip! RIP! Although she couldn’t evade completely, she used all her strength to grab onto the front collar of Pang Damao’s clothes.

"It’s you, you ungrateful traitor!" Lu Hongyan saw the incoming person clearly and recognized him as the clever, bootlicking "Personal Guard." Her fury became unstoppable. Twisting her body, she borrowed the momentum of Pang Damao’s charge to viciously slam him into a thick tree trunk nearby!

THUD!

With a muffled thud, Pang Damao felt as if all his internal organs had been displaced in an instant. The back of his head smashed heavily against the tree trunk. He saw stars in his vision as a metallic sweetness surged up his throat, and he violently spat out a large mouthful of blood. The intense pain left him paralyzed on the ground, his consciousness beginning to blur. He bitterly regretted it; this burst of heroism was indeed fatal, and he knew he should have waited for the Boss to arrive.

Lu Hongyan panted heavily. Looking down from above at the paralyzed, blood-spitting Pang Damao, she spat disdainfully. "You overestimating piece of trash! A cheap wretch like you thinks he’s worthy of stopping me? If it weren’t for the stronghold..."

She stopped speaking at this point, suddenly realizing she had let something slip, and immediately shut her mouth. However, that word—"stronghold"—was like a bolt of lightning, viciously striking deep into Pang Damao’s chaotic consciousness!