Watching the Battle

Ming Lunyu kicked aside the man whose body had gone cold, his sharp gaze sweeping over the surroundings without the slightest fear of the countless greedy, predatory eyes fixed on him.

Perhaps seeing Ming Lunyu's confidence, quite a few malicious gazes shifted away.

Ming Lunyu let out a cold laugh.

He understood perfectly well that in a lawless place like this, if he did not want to be treated as a lamb awaiting slaughter, he had to bare his fangs first and make everyone with ill intentions understand that he was not someone to be trifled with. Only then could he avoid unnecessary trouble.

Just like the Outer City, the Inner City allowed people to claim vacant houses in the same manner.

Once an empty house had been claimed by someone, people generally would not barge in at will. It seemed to be an unspoken rule.

After all, no one wanted to be ambushed when they were at their most relaxed. Even a place as chaotic as the Inner City had developed such a rule.

Ming Lunyu and Ma Hongjun first found an empty wooden cabin to rest for a while.

At the same time, they discussed their future plans.

Before that, however, the two randomly captured two people and interrogated them separately, prying out the rules for survival in the Inner City.

What happened to those two afterward? Naturally, they were dealt with by the pair.

Every person here was guilty of heinous crimes and countless atrocities. Some could barely even be called human; they were nothing but beasts.

There was no need to show mercy to such people. Those who deserved to die should be killed.

Thus, following Ming Lunyu, Ma Hongjun also completed her first killing.

Though her stomach churned violently after she killed, she forcibly endured it.

Ma Hongjun understood that if she wanted to survive here, she had to make killing as commonplace as eating and drinking. Such things would happen often in the future.

"Brother, are we going to participate in that Hell Slaughter Arena?" Ma Hongjun asked.

Ming Lunyu studied the map they had taken from those two earlier. Hearing Ma Hongjun's question, he looked up and said, "We definitely will, but not today. We've only just arrived, and we need to gather more information. Later, we'll go watch a match at the Hell Slaughter Arena first."

The Hell Slaughter Arena held the most crucial means of escaping the City of Slaughter.

As long as one won a hundred matches in the Hell Slaughter Arena, one could earn the right to open the Hell Road. By passing through the Hell Road, one could return to the outside world.

Even aside from that, the Hell Slaughter Arena was a place no one in the Inner City could avoid.

That was because everyone was forced to participate in the Hell Slaughter Arena once every year. If they won, they could live freely for another year. As for those who lost...

No one lost in the Hell Slaughter Arena, because everyone who failed to win died.

The Hell Slaughter Arena truly lived up to its name. Its rules were simple: ten people entered at the same time and slaughtered one another without restrictions. The last person alive was the winner.

How utterly cruel!

"We must make sure not to enter the Hell Slaughter Arena at the same time in the future," Ming Lunyu said with great seriousness.

If things were mishandled and he ended up facing Ma Hongjun, it would be terrifying.

Ma Hongjun understood the severity of the matter and nodded solemnly.

Before long, the two arrived before a massive black circular building.

"Are you two competing or watching?"

At the entrance, a young woman dressed in black gauze asked politely.

The sudden sense of civility made Ming Lunyu and Ma Hongjun daze for a moment. If they had not known that the killing-filled arena lay behind her, Ming Lunyu would have thought she was asking whether they wanted to eat at a restaurant.

"Watching," Ming Lunyu answered succinctly.

The black-veiled girl smiled sweetly. "Watching requires one cup of Bloody Mary. It doesn't matter whose blood it is."

"Is that so? Understood." Ming Lunyu narrowed his eyes and gave the black-veiled girl a long, careful look before leaving with Ma Hongjun.

"Brother, that woman... it seems like everyone around her is afraid of her," Ma Hongjun muttered softly.

"Mm." Ming Lunyu lowered his voice as well. "I suspect she's an official of the City of Slaughter. We must avoid provoking her or coming into conflict with her if possible."

"Brother, let me get the Bloody Mary this time," Ma Hongjun volunteered.

Ming Lunyu nodded. "Be careful."

Ma Hongjun waved at Ming Lunyu, then walked forward alone.

She casually picked a fierce-looking woman and asked directly, "Can you provide me with a cup of Bloody Mary?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, like a young girl coquettishly speaking to her lover, yet the woman facing Ma Hongjun felt a chill down her spine.

The woman put on a fierce grin despite her inner weakness, revealing a mouthful of crooked buck teeth. "You think you can?"

Before her words had even faded, the woman suddenly lunged forward, pulling a long, slender dagger from inside her clothes and viciously stabbing at Ma Hongjun's lower abdomen.

Unfortunately, Ma Hongjun had been prepared. She had kept a close eye on the woman's every movement.

The instant the woman opened her mouth, Ma Hongjun decisively drew her steel blade and struck first, slashing across the woman's waist. At the same time, she lightly stepped back to evade the attack, then stepped forward again, driving her blade through the woman with tremendous force.

"Urgh... Ah..."

The woman's eyes lost focus as she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Ha!"

Ma Hongjun lifted her dainty foot and kicked the woman away.

She observed the spot for a moment and only approached slowly after confirming that the woman had lost all signs of life. She collected two cups of "Bloody Mary"—that was, blood.

Having completed the task on her own, Ma Hongjun could not help but feel delighted, and for a moment, she actually forgot to stay alert to her surroundings.

"Brother, I did it!" Ma Hongjun raised the cups in her hands and happily walked back.

At that very moment, something changed!

A swift black shadow suddenly lunged out from the side, a withered hand reaching for Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun's mind reacted instantly, but her body could not keep up with the sudden turn of events!

Whoosh!

A folding fan with razor-sharp ribs tore through the air and struck the charging figure at the critical moment.

"Ah!"

The folding fan accurately sank into the figure's forehead. The figure then collapsed limply onto the ground, devoid of life.

Ma Hongjun gave a small leap and assumed a defensive stance, only to see a corpse sprawled on the ground.

It was a sharp-mouthed, monkey-faced man who looked somewhat similar to the person they had encountered at the beginning.

"Was he here to avenge someone?" Ming Lunyu guessed his motive.

"Brother..." Ma Hongjun walked up to Ming Lunyu with guilt written across her face. "I... I messed up..."

Ming Lunyu did not blame her. He merely warned her sternly, "We must remember this lesson. We absolutely cannot let our guard down again!"

Ma Hongjun answered in a low voice.

"Alright, then it's time for us to see this so-called Hell Slaughter Arena for ourselves."

Returning to the Hell Slaughter Arena, they handed over two cups of Bloody Mary and successfully gained the right to enter the spectator stands.

The two quietly took seats in a corner of the stands.

Before long, a match began.

Calling it a match was merely a polite term. It was a gamble with their lives.

Of the ten contestants, only one could leave alive.

Even after leaving, they might not survive, because countless wolves outside were watching them hungrily.

Dangerous! Cruel!

Even such words were not enough to fully describe this twisted and insane place.

Soon, amid the spectators' frenzied and excited roars, the match came to an end.

The winner was a beautiful woman who looked delicate and frail. In stark contrast to her were the crimson ground and the scattered severed limbs around her.

This day's observation had deeply shaken Ming Lunyu and Ma Hongjun, yet it did not frighten them. Instead, it stirred their fighting spirit even further.

The more brutal the hell, the more it revealed the preciousness of peace.

Their determination to escape the City of Slaughter was not worn down by the cruel contest of life and death. Instead, it became even firmer.