Chapter 144: Crisis at the Earthen Cliff

The men from the Wolf Team left, taking the bodies of their fallen comrades with them. These artificially domesticated beast-men were truly like wolves, moving together in packs and retreating as one, possessing a terrifying combat capability!

Hao Six-Finger was carried away by Seventh Master Gou, and Ye Dajun went along to treat his injuries while taking his parents home. Only Ye Xiaoxuan remained in the courtyard, kneeling blankly beside his parents' bodies, his heart heavy with a grief that made him want to weep aloud!

Even though they were his adoptive parents, Ye Xiaoxuan had never felt any different from other children. Mom and Dad had given him a complete childhood, entirely free of shadows!

Now that he had begun to grow up and take on the responsibilities of a family, his mom and dad were gone! And they had died such a miserable death. Should he blame the ruthless Wolf Team assassins, or the ultimate culprit who had triggered this unprovoked disaster?

Ye Xiaoxuan knew that the ultimate culprit was none other than himself! If he hadn't meddled in the archaeological team's affairs, Zhao Yanping and his group would never have obtained those treasures.

Without those treasures, dozens of lives on that boat would not have been lost in vain! Nor would it have aroused Chen Tianlei's greed, leading him to steal the treasures!

If he hadn't intervened to rescue Chen Tianlei, he wouldn't have driven away the Five Elements Assassins, and that wouldn't have brought the Wolf Team assassins down upon them. When all was said and done, he was the root cause of the whole affair! He was the murderer who had killed his mom and dad!

Kneeling on the ground, Ye Xiaoxuan slammed his head against the earth in agonizing remorse, wishing he could die to atone for his sins and trade his own life to bring his mom and dad back to life!

A warm pressure landed on his shoulder as someone patted him. Lifting his head, he saw the Baldy squatting beside him with a sympathetic expression, sighing as he said, "Condolences!"

Ye Xiaoxuan wiped away his tears. Fortunately, he was no longer shedding blood-tears, so it didn't look quite so terrifying.

Sitting directly on the ground, Ye Xiaoxuan asked Baldy, "Am I a harbinger of bad luck? Anyone too close to me never comes to a good end! My parents were implicated and killed because of me, and Yuer once died for me once before. Am I a jinx?"

Baldy sighed and said, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" Ye Xiaoxuan shook his head and said, "I don't want to hear anything. I know I am!"

Baldy smiled bitterly and said, "Whether you want to hear it or not, I have to say it! These are just two people; there will be even more people who die for you in the future—more than you can possibly imagine!"

With a gloomy face, on the verge of a breakdown, Ye Xiaoxuan demanded, "What do you mean?"

Baldy sat down as well, looking at him as he said, "The girl mentioned you to me some time ago, and I didn't believe it. Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I'm certain! You're not a normal person at all. Maybe you're a god, maybe you're a demon, but you're definitely not human!"

Clenching his teeth, Ye Xiaoxuan asked, "Are you insulting me?" Baldy shook his head vigorously. "I'm telling the truth! There are too many phenomena about you that defy common sense. Just now, I looked at the bodies of those Wolf Team members—this is not something humans can do! You are a terrifying creature, and this couple simply lacked the fortune to bear being your parents!"

Frowning deeply, Ye Xiaoxuan stared at Baldy and asked, "I still don't understand your meaning! What on earth are you trying to say?"

Baldy spread his hands and said, "I don't fully understand it either, but someone does! The Ancient Martial Sect has a scripture pavilion containing ancient secret scrolls that record accounts of the Martial God's reincarnation. The Old Shepherd said you are the reincarnation of the Martial God, and there's a high chance it's true. You might as well ask him to explain more about it!"

Ye Xiaoxuan cursed angrily, "What does this have to do with my parents dying?!"

Staring wide-eyed, Baldy retorted, "How could it not have anything to do with it?! If you really are the reincarnation of the Martial God, how could a mere pair of farmers ever be qualified to be your parents? A single call from you is enough to shorten their lifespans by three years!"

Ye Xiaoxuan snorted, "Utter nonsense!"

Baldy said earnestly, "You'll find out later! If you truly are the reincarnation of the Martial God, your life will never be mediocre. Heaven has destined that you will not live an ordinary existence, so the number of people who die for you in the future will only continue to grow!"

Suddenly, Ye Xiaoxuan recalled the dream he had experienced aboard the Fortune! That ancient battlefield, those heavenly soldiers and generals—could what Baldy was saying be true?

Coughing lightly, Baldy said to Ye Xiaoxuan, "There is one more crucial thing you must remember clearly! Regardless of whether Yuer becomes your wife or your concubine in the future, don't you ever call me father. I can't bear that blessing either; I still want to live a few more years!"

Ye Xiaoxuan: "...This is not the time for your jokes!"

Rubbing his head, Baldy replied, "Only a ghost would joke with you. I've never been more serious than I am right now. I certainly don't want to follow in their footsteps!" Glancing at the two corpses on the ground, Baldy shuddered, shook his head, and stood up.

A sudden sound of running echoed from the front gate, immediately followed by the wooden door being crashed open. Chen Ergou stumbled in, his face covered in blood and gasping for breath as he grabbed the doorframe and shouted, "Boss! There are a few beast-like enemies at the dirt cliff, and Brother Heitou is barely holding on!"

Ye Xiaoxuan sprang up from the ground like a coiled spring, rushed to the door, grabbed Chen Ergou by the arm, and demanded, "What beasts?"

Fear flooded Chen Ergou's eyes as he stammered, "Wolves! They've bitten several of our brothers, and there are five of them! Brother Dajun has already gone over, you need to—!"

Before he could finish, Ye Xiaoxuan had already darted out, shouting over his shoulder without looking back, "Stay here and help me guard my mom and dad!"

At the dirt cliff on the west side of the village, eight subordinates were holding hands, forming a tight circle around five girls in the center. Covered in scars and wounds, panic flickered in their eyes, yet their interlocked hands gripped each other with a death-like tenacity, refusing to let go.

On the ground lay six men, all in critical condition, the yellow dirt stained crimson with the blood flowing beneath them.

Heitou and Chen Tianfeng were also battered and bruised, alongside four subordinates who had all sustained injuries, glaring furiously at the three wolf-men standing before them, who possessed long fangs and sharp claws.

On the ground, two wolf-men had already been taken down at the cost of their lives, their limbs seemingly broken as they lay curled up, twitching incessantly.

The battle situation was starkly evident. Despite having an absolute numerical advantage, Heitou's force was at an absolute disadvantage in combat capability. At the cost of all fourteen men being injured and six whose lives hung in the balance, they had only managed to take down two enemies!

However, the most terrifying strategy of a wolf pack was swarming attacks. Losing even a single member had a massive impact on combat effectiveness, let alone the fact that two had already been eliminated!

Yet Heitou did not dare throw all fourteen men into the fray because he feared the enemy might have reinforcements in ambush. Therefore, he had split off the vast majority to protect the girls, leaving only the remainder to face the enemy and fight for their lives. Consequently, their combat strength was severely compromised.

Heitou's scalp had been partially torn away, dripping with blood that stained half his face red. Yet, wearing a fierce expression, he stared at the three Wolf Team disciples and cursed, "Grandchildren! If it weren't for your grandpa's quick thinking—anticipating trouble in the village and thinking to protect our sisters-in-law first—you bastards really would have caught us off guard!"

A deep slash carved across Chen Tianfeng's face, stretching almost from the corner of his mouth to his ear, causing him to hiss with every breath: "Unless I'm dead, no one lays even a single hair on our sisters-in-law!"