Hu Qi did not leave immediately.

His gaze fell upon the woman’s corpse, or more accurately, her bulging abdomen.

As a Martial Artist at Qi Blood Realm Perfection, coupled with his cultivation of the White Whale Stance, his senses had reached an astonishing level of acuity.

At this moment, he could clearly perceive the constantly active, beating little life within her abdomen, seemingly unaffected by the mother's death.

“What astonishing vitality, but what a pity!”

His expression was cold as he suddenly swung the long blade in his hand.

Pfft!

Black and red blood splattered everywhere, foul beyond compare.

A palm-sized infant, still connected by its umbilical cord, fell out, as the woman’s waist was severed in two.

However, unlike a normal infant,

this infant was entirely black.

Its mouth and fingers were equipped with sharp teeth and nails.

Now, after being cut open by the blade,

it actually let out several piercing squeals.

Hu Qi, annoyed by the sound, simply chopped it into a bloody pulp with a few more strikes.

After the surroundings became quiet,

and confirming it was truly dead,

he then went into a room.

He found a tin box under a bed.

According to what the other party had just said,

a flash of his blade.

The box was directly cut in two.

Revealing several Gold bricks and checks inside.

Seeing this scene,

a smile appeared on Hu Qi’s face.

During this period, as he continuously carried out missions to hunt Black Blood Species,

he had gradually transformed from a novice to an experienced veteran.

He also learned about some hidden benefits.

When carrying out missions, Zhu Xi’s members could obtain money and other items, which were considered extra wealth, and Zhu Xi would not interfere.

At the same time, he also understood why Xie Guang, that idiot, had so much money to put a bounty on him.

There were many illicit ways to make money in this line of work.

After all, earning is not as fast as robbing.

A few more times, and achieving financial freedom would not be a distant dream.

Moreover, and most importantly, all of this was legal and compliant.

After all, robbing one's own kind is called robbery.

How can robbing these Outliers be considered robbery? Besides, these guys having such wealth clearly indicates their dubious origins.

His actions were for the benefit of the people, and he was taking the money as a matter of course.

He skillfully put it into his In arms.

He then went down the stairs.

Ignoring the headless bodies on the ground.

His gaze swept towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was open-plan, with no obstructions.

Standing there, he could clearly see something simmering on the gas stove.

As time passed,

a faint aroma of meat wafted through the air, mingling with the pungent smell of blood.

Hu Qi frowned, walked over, and lifted the pot lid.

He saw that the water was boiling, and an infant lay within, its skin swollen and pale, its face rotting, due to being boiled.

Seeing this scene,

even Hu Qi couldn't help but frown deeply.

He recalled the description of this mission.

Frequent disappearances of infants from the obstetrics department of a certain hospital in Anshan City.

It seemed these infants were all boiled and eaten by this family.

With understanding dawning on him,

Hu Qi reached out and replaced the lid, then turned off the heat.

He opened the door and walked out.

After the sound of footsteps faded,

on the top floor of the villa, a wardrobe was slowly pushed open by a small hand.

Immediately after, an eleven or twelve-year-old boy with a cute face emerged.

He walked down the stairs.

Upon seeing the bloody scene on the floor,

his eyes turned red, revealing bone-deep hatred, and his fists clenched tightly.

“No matter who you are, I will kill you!”

As he spoke, he revealed a mouth full of sharp, saw-like teeth.

“Is that so? What a pity, it seems you won’t have the chance in this life!”

Suddenly,

a voice abruptly rang out behind him.

The moment he heard it, a look of fear appeared on his face.

Before he could react,

Pfft!

A flash of a blade suddenly lit up the dimly lit bedroom.

The little boy hadn't even reacted.

He saw a line of blood appear on his forehead, then rapidly spread downwards.

His entire body was directly split into two halves.

Instantly, internal organs, flesh, and blood splattered across the floor, deader than dead.

“What a cunning little thing, good thing I came back to check.”

Hu Qi looked down.

He flicked off a trace of blood clinging to his blade.

Then, he meticulously checked again, confirming there were truly no living things left, before finally departing.

...

In the time that followed,

Hu Qi’s life returned to peace.

Cultivating, carrying out missions, consuming exotic beasts.

This kind of life, lacking much social interaction, might seem monotonous and boring to others.

But for Hu Qi, it was incredibly fulfilling.

For him, the days in his previous life, where he had to wake up and go to work to earn money every day, were a torment.

He enjoyed his current feeling.

Every day, he felt his own strength continuously growing.

This made his mood exceptionally joyful.

This was truly living, not being a beast of burden.

If possible, Hu Qi would rather continue like this forever.

Another half month later,

estimating the time was right,

Hu Qi proactively revealed that he had entered Qi Blood Three Transformations.

Regarding this situation,

everyone was already numb.

Among them, the fastest progressers had not yet touched the threshold of the second Transformation.

...

“An explanation?”

Anshan City, at the location of Zhu Xi.

Inside a spacious reception room.

Helinta sat in the main seat.

The lingering glow of the setting sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto her, as if draping her in a Gold veil.

At this moment, her red eyes looked coldly at Han Luan, who stood before her.

Her expression was slightly odd.

“That’s right, Ice Arsenal is an asset of my Saint Rain Gate. Now that this branch in Anshan City has been destroyed, it must have been done by a Martial Artist.

In Anshan City, besides your Snake Heart Gate, who else could it be?”

Han Luan’s gaze was cold and clear, directly meeting Helinta’s.

“What a joke!”

Helinta’s expression turned cold.

“Your Saint Rain Gate engages in murder for hire, offending people everywhere. Who knows who did it?

Now that something has happened, and people are dead,

you come running to question our Snake Heart Gate. Are we your babysitters? Do you really think we’re easy to bully?”

At this point,

Helinta stood up, and a strong killing intent, like the biting cold wind of winter, swept outwards.

“Hm?”

Han Luan’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

However, she remained standing still.

A scorching aura also surged from her body.

The auras of the two collided.

In this room, a strong gust of wind arose out of thin air.

The wind stirred the hair of both of them.

Han Luan stared intently at Helinta.

“What are you doing? Do you intend to make an enemy of my Saint Rain Gate!”

“Bullshit! I just simply don’t like the sight of you. Take a strike from my blade first, then we’ll talk about anything else!”

Helinta scoffed.

As her words fell,

she grabbed the red long blade placed nearby.

The blade was drawn.

Clang!

In an instant,

a strong, pungent, terrifying killing intent, as if from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, surged forth.

Dismembered limbs, fresh blood, corpses—various gruesome scenes came thick and fast.

Han Luan’s face changed drastically.

She was no longer as calm as before.

With a flick of her palm, a silver-white long sword appeared in her hand.

It went straight to meet the incoming strike.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing resounded.

The next moment,

the long sword broke, and a flash of the blade directly pierced through her head.

Darkness obscured her eyes, and in that instant, she lost all sensation.

...

Whoosh!

Han Luan suddenly opened her eyes.

She saw a long blade pressed against her forehead.

It was only a hand's distance from her glabella.

A feeling of discomfort, as if her skull was being split, surged forth.

The nerves in the glabella region are relatively dense and sensitive to external stimuli.

Generally, when an object approaches, it triggers an overreaction of the nerves, leading to a feeling of discomfort.

For example, gradually bringing a finger close to the glabella will produce a feeling of soreness, swelling, and itchiness.

Not to mention such a sharp long blade.

“How is this possible?”

Her face turned ugly.

The exchange just now, the process of her being killed, was actually just an illusion.

But she knew that if the other party hadn't stopped at the critical moment, that so-called illusion would have become reality.