Inside Kitchen 3, if anyone could see Nangong Ling's face, they would have noticed the veins bulging on his forehead, his expression dark and menacing.
His subordinates nearby occasionally let out muffled whimpers, struggling to contain themselves.
Wei Yu whispered, "This can't go on. You've accidentally injured too many people. There might even be deaths."
Nangong Ling argued, "This is Qin Yang's trick! He fires arrows at the same time I attack, making you all think I did it!"
Wei Yu remained silent. Even if the subordinates couldn't tell, he and Nangong Ling were at the same cultivation level as Qin Yang. If Qin Yang had attacked, how could they possibly not know?
"Three hours have passed," Nangong Ling shouted. "Qin Yang, how long will you keep hiding?"
Suddenly, a screen lit up on the nearby wall.
The screen showed Qin Yang slowly walking down a corridor, muttering to himself.
"Considering the two hours wasted searching for treasures and spirit medicines earlier, plus nearly half an hour spent treating injuries, that makes three hours now..." Qin Yang muttered. "I wonder how the Treasure Rat is doing playing with Nangong Ling and the others. Do they realize I left from the beginning?"
Inside Kitchen 3, a deathly silence fell.
Using the screen's glow, Wei Yu found a magical lamp. After inserting a spirit stone, the light blazed brightly.
Suddenly, the sound of a cleaver handle clattering to the floor echoed nearby. Nangong Ling, Wei Yu, and the others tensed, turning toward the noise. Nangong Ling even drew his bow, an arrow nocked and aimed instinctively.
For a moment, everyone froze.
Simultaneously, the Treasure Rat on the chopping board froze mid-motion. It had been reaching to toss the handle, but now stood rigid as stone, unmoving.
Time seemed to stop. A group of men and a single rat locked eyes in a tense standoff.
"Chirp?" the Treasure Rat squeaked.
"We've been wasting three whole hours arguing with a rat?" Wei Yu's face darkened. This was utterly humiliating!
Nangong Ling's expression grew even more grim. He'd been trying to justify himself earlier, but now the truth was laid bare!
The men surveyed their injuries - some minor wounds, others fatal. Without exception, all had been struck by arrows. The corpses lying nearby bore arrows marked with Nangong Ling's unique insignia!
"Damned rat!" Nangong Ling roared, loosing another arrow.
"Chirp!" The Treasure Rat leapt in fright, somehow dodging the projectile through sheer luck!
Clutching its lower body with tiny paws, the Treasure Rat stared wide-eyed.
The arrow had failed to hit its mark, leaving Nangong Ling even more humiliated. This rat had been toying with them for six hours, and now it still...
"How dare you mock me?" Nangong Ling demanded.
"Chirp? Chirp?" The Treasure Rat squeaked innocently. It wasn't mocking them—it was genuinely terrified! Though its lower body remained unharmed, a cold chill had settled in...
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Arrows rained down on the Treasure Rat, forcing it to dart frantically about the room.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The arrows' destructive force left chaos in their wake. Stoves cracked, chopping boards shattered.
Wei Yu's expression turned grave. This wasn't an ordinary Treasure Rat! It had already outwitted them, and now it was evading Nangong Ling's arrows with ease...
"This is a high-level demonic beast!" Wei Yu warned.
"So what? It's still dead!" Nangong Ling's eyes burned with murderous intent.
Wei Yu shuddered. There was something else in that killing intent.
The Treasure Rat was clever. It knew that endless dodging would eventually pin it to a wall, leaving it stuck there like a mounted specimen. It began weaving through the crowd instead.
Wei Yu narrowed his eyes, studying Nangong Ling. A flicker of madness glinted in the man's eyes.
Wei Yu's heart tightened as he glanced at their subordinates. Every face wore expressions of growing resentment.
"Could it be..." Wei Yu whispered, his voice barely audible. "Have you gone mad?"
Nangong Ling snorted coldly. "This is all Qin Yang's fault!"
With these words, he had already prepared to shift all blame onto Qin Yang.
Nangong Ling cast a deep look at Wei Yu. Wei Yu took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
If these lackeys were allowed to leave, what had happened here would inevitably be exposed. This would be disastrous for both Nangong Ling and the Nangong Clan.
These people would eventually need to be silenced. Better to do it now before they had a chance to reveal anything...
Whoosh! An arrow shot out. One of the lackeys stared in disbelief at the arrow protruding from his chest.
Nangong Ling shouted, "All of you, get out of the way! Don't obstruct me while I'm hunting the beast!"
The other lackeys scattered in panic, but how could their speed compare to that of the Treasure Rat?
In an instant, Kitchen 3 descended into chaos. Screams of terror erupted from the men.
"Hmm? What's all the commotion? Seems like they're having fun!" Qin Yang approached the entrance of Kitchen 3, listening to the sounds within. He quietly extinguished his magical lamp, unlocked the door, and peered inside.
The scene inside was so chaotic that his movements went completely unnoticed.
Unbeknownst to Qin Yang, the surveillance artifact that had been tailing and secretly filming him was now squeezed against the doorframe above his head.
"They have lights? Then why..." Qin Yang looked utterly confused. Had Nangong Ling gone mad? Why was he slaughtering his own men?
Nangong Ling's subordinates suffered heavy casualties. They finally realized - this wasn't about killing Treasure Rats at all. The rats were just a pretext to eliminate them!
But their realization came too late. One by one, they fell to Nangong Ling's arrows.
Soon, only Nangong Ling and Wei Yu remained in Kitchen 3.
"You know what to say about today's events," Nangong Ling said calmly, his murderous intent finally subsiding.
Wei Yu forced a smile. "Of course. It was all Qin Yang's doing. And he displayed archery skills rivaling yours. Blaming him will make it believable."
"Rivaling mine?" Nangong Ling's eyes narrowed.
"Nangong's archery is peerless. Qin Yang only has a superior magical bow," Wei Yu said with a slight sneer. Right now, Nangong Ling was a god of slaughter - best not provoke him.
Wei Yu even wondered if, given their similar strength and close proximity, Nangong Ling might have targeted him too.
"Strange? This screen..." Wei Yu frowned, his brow creasing as he stared at the monitor. Why were the images of himself and Nangong Ling displayed here? And what was with all those corpses littering the ground?
Nangong Ling glanced at the screen, a shudder running through her body.
Qin Yang, standing by the door, also peered curiously at the monitor, his face clouded with confusion.
Suddenly! A beam of light shot out like a spotlight, completely exposing Qin Yang's figure.
The source of this illumination was none other than the surveillance artifact that had been secretly filming him from above all along!
"When did this happen?" Qin Yang jumped in surprise. "Holy shit! That thing has this kind of function?"
He shrank back as the screen's image transformed to focus on him.
"Qin Yang?" Nangong Ling's gaze sharpened.
Wei Yu's fists clenched tightly.
"I saw nothing!" Qin Yang shouted, hastily moving away from the spotlight's range.
But the surveillance artifact kept its beam fixed on him, its glow brighter than any magical lantern!
"Wait, this isn't right!" Qin Yang took a few steps before stopping abruptly, scratching his head. "It seems like they should be the ones running away..."
Outside the Demon Hunter's Field, several elders of the Qin Family stood with dozens of elite clan members along the perimeter wall. Gongsun Ming, Lou Mengyu, and Jin Wanshan were also present.
All except Jin Wanshan had come to surround and kill Qin Yang after receiving the news. Jin Wanshan, however, had come specifically to ensure Qin Yang's safety.
At that moment, everyone was staring at the formation screen on the wall, their attention fixed on the figure who had taken a few steps before stopping.