Chapter 62: Killing Another Great Strength Cultivator (2)
Su Yu did not join the others. Instead, he carefully followed about three hundred meters behind the two groups. He was not planning to become the vanguard of this mission. Instead, he was going to wait further away and see if there was an opportunity for him to get a kill.
Nobody knew how many enemies they were going to face. The report claimed that there were three enemies, but these experienced officers knew that the information they received might not necessarily be accurate. More enemies might be hidden nearby.
In fact, each year, there would be officers dying from inaccurate intelligence. That was not something they could avoid. And even if there were really only three enemies, if one of them was an Infinite Strength or even a Skysoar cultivator, things would turn troublesome as well.
They might still stand a chance against an Infinite Strength cultivator, but if there was a Skysoar cultivator, the officers could only blame their bad luck for the encounter.
...
Finally, an ordinary-looking house appeared not far ahead. The houses in this neighborhood shared similar designs. Near the house was a small field with some crops grown on it.
The house's location granted its inhabitants a clear view of its surroundings. This was the favorite kind of hideout for the cult members as they could easily discover their enemies and flee before being surrounded.
This wasn't the first time the Windcatcher officers were facing the cult. They had plenty of experience and were good at concealment. In fact, even Su Yu would not be able to notice them if he hadn't been following behind them from the get go.
All thirty of them were crawling on the ground as they advanced. Even Su Yu was staying low, hiding inside a small hole on the ground. The team leader carefully looked back. When he saw that Su Yu wasn't visible anywhere, he breathed out in relief.
He was afraid that Su Yu would be careless and expose himself. That could potentially end up exposing them as well. When he was reminding Su Yu earlier, he had been afraid that the kid would be disobedient. But it seemed like that was not the case. As the son of a soldier like Su Long, Su Yu did not have the arrogance that was almost always present in those from the capital.
...
Tightening his grip on the handle of his saber, Su Yu breathed softly to calm the slight excitement he was feeling. Before long, he was fully calm. This wasn't his first rodeo. He had killed several Great Strength cultivators before.
At that point, the Windcatcher officers were roughly a hundred meters away from the distant house. They could no longer conceal themselves effectively so the team leader raised his hand. With that signal, everyone stood up.
Without uttering a single word, all thirty of them charged the small house.
"Windcatcher Department!"
A shout rang out. Evidently, someone was keeping watch in the house. That person had only noticed the intruders now, and with one look, he realized who the intruders were: the Windcatcher Department.
"Run!"
With a shout, six individuals rushed out of the house. There were more than three! The cult members scattered in different directions, not bothering to work together. The lucky would escape while the unlucky ones would end up captured by the Windcatcher Department.
That had always been the cult’s strategy of survival. When encountering opponents they couldn't beat, they would run without hesitation. There was no teamwork to speak of. Luck would decide if one could escape or not.
This strategy was surprisingly effective as the Windcatcher Department rarely split their people. After all, without their group formation, their combat strength wasn't anything special and could easily end up defeated by the cult members instead.
Thus, the thirty officers did not spread too far apart. They could only surround the house from three directions. That allowed the additional cult members to escape.
Unsurprisingly, the officers did not pursue all the cult members. Instead, they split into three groups of ten. Two of them went after the escaping cult members while the last group was led by the team leader toward the house. After kicking the door open, they rushed inside.
Su Yu was hiding hundreds of meters away, granting him a clear view of the entire encounter. Even observing how these officers worked was a learning process for him. If it was him leading the team, he would have probably ended up chasing after the escaping cult members, forgetting that there might be more enemies hidden in the house.
"That's the value of experience..."
Su Yu was not disheartened. With more experience, he would be able to make better calls as well. The two pursuing groups were able to catch up to their targets. Soon, they started fighting. Sounds of weapons clashing filled the air.
These officers weren't too strong, but they had excellent teamwork. Su Yu estimated that the surrounded cult member he was looking at was at least a sixth-stage Great Strength cultivator. However, he was instantly killed by the group of officers. The group of ten officers didn't even have a seventh-stage Great Strength cultivator among them.
Su Yu only gave them one look before ignoring them. He started sweeping his gaze across the area. Six enemies had rushed out of the house earlier. Two had been instantly killed. The two groups continued their pursuit, but some cult members had still managed to escape. Those fellows were quite fast. In the blink of an eye, they had all vanished.
"This is actually a bad hiding spot for the cult. The area is too flat. They can easily detect intruders, but escaping is difficult as well. They should choose a terrain that is more beneficial for escaping..."
Su Yu continued learning what he could. The valuable experience he gained here might come handy in the future.
"My position is not very good either. Hiding behind the Windcatcher officers, the enemies might not dare to escape in this direction. Even if they have the courage to do so, they might not be able to get through the officers. Then again, I'm only here to try my luck. It is always better to be careful."
As he was thinking, a shout rang out in the house. Next, several figures rushed out. Sure enough, there were more enemies inside. The two groups of officers were already quite far away, so nobody was there to stop the escaping cult members. Su Yu could see one of them running in his direction. He instantly focused on that cult member.
It was time for him to join the fight.
"This speed...is similar to the fellow I fought before. He must be a sixth-stage Great Strength cultivator."
Behind the cult member, the Windcatcher team leader separated from his group and ran over while shouting, "Stop running and surrender your weapons! There has been a change of policy. The higher ups have decided that the Myriad Race Cult is not that bad after all. Any captured cult members can be deployed to the front line to battle for humanity instead of being executed!"
Su Yu was doubtful, but he immediately understood. The team leader was trying to reduce the cult member's will to fight. No such order had been given. The policy had always been to execute every cult member found.
Every cult member knew that there was no surviving being captured by Great Xia. Thus, they would generally struggle until the end. That would only make the battle more difficult. Su Yu wondered if this cult member would buy the lie.
Clearly, the cult member was not fooled. Or maybe he was still hopeful that he could escape. He continued running.
Two hundred meters. One hundred meters.
The enemy was nearer and nearer to Su Yu, but he seemed to be running toward a slightly different direction. Still on the ground, Su Yu silently crawled over to the direction the cult member was heading toward. Before long, the enemy was dozens of meters away from him.
Su Yu stood up and raised his saber. Gathering his source qi, his blade shone with a dim glow. He then roared, "Stop!"
It did not seem like he would be able to ambush this enemy. Thus, he could only face the enemy directly.
"A Source Opening cultivator?"
The cult member was stunned. A Source Opening cultivator! And this person was not wearing the Windcatcher Department's uniform either! Was this...a civilian? A mere Source Opening cultivator dared to get in his way? Was this person crazy?
"Don't even dream of escaping!" Su Yu continued shouting, "By stopping you, I'll be awarded merit points! That will give me more marks during the entrance exam!"
"Courting death!"
The cult member did not waste any breath. He raised his blade and swung it at Su Yu.
The two approached each other rapidly. Suddenly, Su Yu's eyes widened, "Chief!"
The cult member blanked out slightly. Someone new had suddenly appeared. Standing beside the Source Opening cultivator was a middle-aged man. That was the Windcatcher Department's chief, Zeng Hua.
"Shit!"
The cult member's face fell. The Infinite Strength Realm Zeng Hua was here as well! He turned around without any hesitation. At the same time, Su Yu prepared his Lightning Source Blade and swung his blade out.
The cult member was still in the middle of changing directions when he suddenly heard the sound of a blade being swung. As Su Yu was attacking with all his strength, he could no longer maintain the illusion. The cult member recovered his clarity of mind, but it was too late.
"Fake..."
That thought had barely surfaced in his mind when the saber struck him like a bolt of lightning.
Boom!
A head dropped onto the ground. A few moments later, the body collapsed as well, dying the ground red with blood.
Su Yu was pale. As he pulled his blade back, he looked around carefully, afraid that a new enemy would suddenly appear. He was nibbling on the capsule of blood essence hidden in his mouth, ready to use it if necessary.
p>The next moment, the squad leader arrived. Looking at Su Yu, he nodded before saying in astonishment, "Not bad. There is no hesitation behind your blade."
The squad leader did not waste any time and left immediately after. The battle was not over. Su Yu heaved a long breath of relief. He had accomplished his goal. It had been accomplished much faster and easier than he had imagined. He had killed the opponent with one hit.
Since he had exhausted all his source qi, he did not dare to wait around. He hurriedly swallowed a drop of source qi liquid to replenish his source qi.
“There goes a hundred thousand...I wonder if I'm making a loss or a profit here."
He smiled helplessly. Killing a middle-stage Great Strength cultivator would grant him two merit points. After using a drop of source qi liquid, would this still be a profit for him? Then again, the source qi liquid could still help with his cultivation and it would stay active for a while, so it wasn't exactly a complete waste.