Mercenary Harem in Murim Novel

Many corpses, if they could be called so, could be seen. People with half-destroyed heads, missing limbs, and torn clothes were scattered everywhere. A hole could be seen on all corpses' chest, and their hearts were gouged out.

It was a massacre.

And it was fresh. Probably only happened 3 to 5 days ago.

"This is something." Zhen whispered, clenching his fists. Blood drained from his face as he averted his gaze.

Leo's heart sank. He was reminded of the worker society in his life. It was a similar situation where everyone was a puppet and couldn't live freely.

Meanwhile, Shui was reminded of his hometown. His gaze turned cold and his fist trembled. Blood trickled down from the wound created by his nails digging into his flesh.

"Leader, what do we do now?" He asked, trying to be as calm as possible.

"... We can't stockpile here. But this... Did you mention that you felt an ominous Qi, Zhen?"

"Yes, I can still sense it. The same Qi came from these villagers on the ground. But... even if I concentrated, the source of this Qi has been long gone. I only felt a faint trace moving toward the direction of the next village."

'Next village...' He thought, rubbing his chin.

Whatever caused this was a martial artist. Maybe it was a wandering monster or a demonic faction. Anyway, it was too late to help these people.

"Let's get out of here." Leo muttered, and the group returned to the Humvee.

He explained the situation to Jack and Chiaki before making a decision.

"The next village probably has the same fate as this one. But, we will chase whoever caused this and kill him."

"Is there a reason for such action, Leader?" Chiaki asked, tilting her head.

A reason for such action?

There were plenty of reasons.

Chapter Stay:

One, the perpetrator that killed all the villagers, moved toward the direction where Venom Sect's ruin was located. In most cases, moving toward that place only meant that they also aimed for the epigraph.

Leaving a dangerous enemy that could massacre an entire village was not a wise choice. Especially so when there would be many enemies once they arrived at the location.

Two, Leo had a suspicion about the ominous Qi that Zhen mentioned after he looked at the villagers' bodies. There was something he read in the novel before, about a demonic martial artist titled Heartless Undertaker.

A demonic martial artist that could absorb the Qi of the living and the dead, turning them into puppets.

If it was him, then Leo couldn't ignore him. Because, if he reached the epigraph, the result would be a disaster. Many martial artists' corpses would become his plaything and would grow stronger with every victim.

Leo had to stop him before he reached the epigraph.

"Heartless Undertaker... If it's him, then it's possible." Zhen muttered after hearing Leo's deduction. "We have to hurry. If he's given enough time, then no one will be able to stop him.

"I know." Leo nodded, "Chiaki, call back all the mini-Cocos and recover your Nanites to 100%. This will be a race against time. We have to stop him before he reach the ruin. Reconnaissance is the last thing we need if that guy creates an army. We will need Coco at full strength to fight him."

Chiaki obeyed and took back all the mini-Cocos she planted all over the place.

"Roger. Mini-Cocos will return in 3 hours at the fastest." She reported.

"That's okay. Based on the corpses, I believe the man has gone far from this place, most probably he already reached the ruin ahead from us. Let's get out of here. The smell of death is suffocating."

With that, the group returned to the Humvee and drove toward the next village.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Jack muttered, his expression grim. "This is the first time I felt like this in this place."

Leo couldn't agree more.

If it was a normal enemy, he wouldn't worry. But this was a demonic martial artist. He prayed that the epigraph wouldn't fall in the wrong hands. No, there was no need to pray. He would be the one to secure it as it was his job to do so.

'The novel mentioned Heartless Undertaker was suspected to be Supreme Evil's follower, but it has never been confirmed. But if it's true, then we are facing a dangerous enemy.'

After driving through a bumpy road for an hour, they managed to spot another village. Black smoke rose from the houses, and no one could be seen.

"I can feel ominous Qi from the village, the same one as before." Zhen informed, and Leo nodded.

"Another massacre."

Everyone in the Humvee had a gloomy face.

"Leader, let's get off and check the situation." Shui suggested. "I can go alone if needed. Who knows there is a lucky survivor among them.

Leo thought about it a little and nodded, letting the swordsman check the village alone.

Being a mercenary sometimes required one to be heartless. However, that didn't mean they stop being humans.

After waiting for a while, Shui returned from a village while holding something in his hand.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A small long creature with scale and sharp fangs.

A snake.

"This is the only survivor." Shui said, showing the snake in his hands. "I found it slithering inside one of the bodies, eating the corpse's heart. It's a pretty fierce creature and has a strange body."

"Let me see it."

Zhen leaned forward and observed the snake. He was an expert in identifying animals, so he could tell what it was.

Upon looking at it closely, his expression changed.

"This snake is a mutant. It has a strange body and a different genetic structure than normal snakes. It might be a new species or a mutation. The scale is something you often find in Green Swamp Snake, a dangerous creature that lives in the swamp and attacks its prey by spitting poison. However, this one seems different and has a stronger venom. It's not something you find around here."

"It's a weird snake." Chiaki added, using her specialty as the infirmary nurse and the smart lenses to scan it. "Its genetic structure is unstable and mutated. It's not something a normal snake can do. It has a different brain and eyeball. The brain is larger and the eyeball can detect heat."

Leo fell silent, staring at the snake. He opened his note secretly, making only him able to see the hologram screen through his smart lenses.

If he remembered correctly, he took a note about this snake in the novel. It was called Green Poisonous Mutant and was a dangerous creature that lived in the swamp.

However, the snake that Shui held was different.

Its skin was black and didn't look like the one that was described in his note.

"Kill and burn it." Leo said, "It's a mutant and dangerous. If it grows and multiplies, we will have a problem."

Shui obeyed and used his sword to stab the snake. Once it was dead, he burned the body with a lighter. They watched the snake turn into ash, but Leo knew that they were lucky to not encounter any trouble.

They couldn't relax yet.

After burning the body, they headed to the next village.