Several men with ferocious expressions were chasing another man around, with over ten men holding Japanese swords pursuing them from behind.

Rows of houses were lit up with lights, and many people pushed open their doors to see what was happening.

Those chasing the man ran extremely fast. One of them suddenly leaped up and pounced on the front man, bringing him down.

“What’s gotten into you all?” the fallen man shouted.

Soon, piercing screams cut through the night sky.

The person on top of the fallen man lowered his head and bit into the man’s neck.

The others who caught up quickly gathered around and began frantically gnawing at the man’s limbs.

The men carrying Japanese swords suddenly stopped, each showing expressions of terror.

“My God, people are eating people on this island.” Yang Houcheng said, cupping his chin.

Ye Luo quickly described the scene in Shao Mingyuan’s ear.

Shao Mingyuan’s expression grew slightly grave as he raised his hand.

All the personal guards quietly dispersed and hid themselves.

“What are you standing around for? Quickly deal with those madmen!” A man who appeared to be a leader pushed open a door, hastily putting on his pants while shouting.

The men with Japanese swords quickly surrounded them and struck the nearest mad person with a blade.

That strike directly severed the madman’s shoulder, but he seemed to feel nothing. He turned around, quickly grabbed someone’s ankle, and bit into his calf.

The man screamed: “Let go of me, let go!”

While screaming, he swung his blade wildly. The madman was soon hacked beyond recognition, but even so, he still bit tightly onto the man’s calf, so much so that those who came to help couldn’t pull him off, no matter how hard they tried.

The person being frantically gnawed by several madmen had already stopped moving. They all turned around in unison and pounced toward the men with blades.

This terrifying and bloody scene was soul-crushing. Though the men held weapons, they couldn’t help but turn and flee.

“Why are you running? There are only a few of them, you cowards!” The leader cursed angrily. Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, he took down the conch shell hanging from his belt and began blowing it.

The wailing sound of the conch arose, and dozens of Japanese pirates quickly assembled.

“General, those pirates number roughly eighty-odd by visual estimate.” Ye Luo whispered in Shao Mingyuan’s ear.

“Wait and see what happens.” Shao Mingyuan gripped the longbow in his hand tightly.

This longbow was made from premium ebony wood, had a long range and great killing power, and had accompanied him for several years. He had thought it was time for it to show its prowess again, but unexpectedly, the situation on the island was so beyond expectations.

The leader shouted: “Quickly kill those people!”

The pirates surrounded the mad ones.

The madmen seemed to have lost all reason, showing no fear of the many people surrounding them, not even fearing the long blades in their hands. With blood-red eyes, they pounced and bit anyone they saw.

The scene became increasingly chaotic.

“Boss, how did they become like those mad dogs we just killed, biting anyone they see?” one person asked in terror.

Another shouted, “Boss, look quickly! Those people are on all fours, they look like those mad dogs!”

“My God, are they possessed by the spirits of the dead mad dogs?”

“I remember now—all of them were bitten by those mad dogs!”

“Oh no, many more people were bitten by those mad dogs!”

The pirates suddenly became chaotic, with many immediately distancing themselves from their companions.

The several madmen had already been hacked to mincemeat by the random blades, but this still couldn’t prevent panic from spreading through the crowd.

Those who had been bitten by mad dogs were quickly isolated. Under everyone’s gaze, these people looked at each other. One of them suddenly trembled all over as if struck by lightning, then slowly bared his teeth and pounced toward the crowd.

This person’s actions seemed contagious. The dozen or so isolated people almost instantly all became like this, howling as they pounced on the nearest people.

The pirates screamed in terror.

“Don’t panic! Quickly kill these people—kill them all, and everything will be fine,” the leader shouted to calm their spirits.

However, he could say no more, his words replaced by a piercing scream.

The leader was the backbone of these pirates. Hearing this scream, they all looked over to see their usually imposing leader with a column of blood spurting from his chest. Those close enough could see clearly that a sharp arrow was embedded in his heart, but the entire arrow had entered his chest, leaving only the tail feathers trembling continuously.

“The boss is dead, the boss is dead—”

Without their backbone, the pirates immediately fell into chaos. Many, in their panic and confusion, were viciously bitten by their mad companions, and screams immediately rose one after another.

From behind the distant trees, Shao Mingyuan lowered his longbow and raised his hand in a gesture.

The personal guards immediately and quietly retreated into the dense forest.

Yang Houcheng took quite a while to recover, asking Shao Mingyuan, who had retreated into the woods, “Tingquan, how did you shoot so accurately?”

At such a distance, in such dim light, even a master archer might not necessarily hit the target with one arrow. His friend clearly couldn’t see—how did he manage it?

Could his friend be the reincarnation of a war god?

Shao Mingyuan smiled slightly: “The direction the sound comes from cannot deceive anyone.”

“So we’re just waiting here now?” Yang Houcheng asked with complete admiration.

Xie Shengxiao suddenly spoke up: “Can you talk less nonsense? To capture the bandits, first capture their king. The Marquis killed their leader, so they’ve become scattered sand. With those mad people among them, those people will quickly fall into mutual slaughter. Of course, we’re waiting to reap the fisherman’s profit.”

Yang Houcheng had been beaten half to death by Xie Shengxiao not long ago, and that bit of guilt had long been thrown to the back of his mind. He pursed his lips and said: “Of course, I know the principle of reaping the fisherman’s profit. It’s just that we came here all excited to kill pirates, but who knew they’d fall into chaos without us lifting a finger? It’s a bit disappointing.”

“Chongshan.” Shao Mingyuan called out.

“What is it?”

In the darkness of the forest, the young general’s expression was unclear, but they heard him say in a low voice: “War means people will die.”

Not only would enemies die, but their people would die too. If he could solve problems with the most effortless method, he would never let his subordinates sacrifice themselves needlessly.

The shouting in the distance grew louder and louder, and those hidden in the dense forest could hear it particularly clearly.

The forest was lush with vegetation and full of mosquitoes. The personal guards, including Shao Mingyuan, remained motionless, lying in ambush behind trees or in grass throughout the forest until dawn broke.

Yang Houcheng had nearly scratched his arms raw, muttering: “We weren’t troubled by the pirates but nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes. This night was quite an ordeal.”

“How are things over there?” Shao Mingyuan ignored Yang Houcheng’s complaints and inquired of Ye Luo, who had gone to scout the situation.

“General, those pirates killed each other all night. Only thirty-odd remain.”

Shao Mingyuan stood up: “Prepare to attack—quick victory!”

Zhaozhao was probably getting anxious waiting.