Mutual Prey

Under the night sky, towering mountains stood tall, and the dense forest was already filled with people, the sounds somewhat noisy.

The New Life individuals from each village were extremely indignant. Entering the mountains today was destined to be fraught with danger, and once they entered special Nodes, life and death would be unpredictable.

"What's all the noise? Let me see who dares to speak out of turn again?" A Golden Chicken Knight appeared, his face indifferent, his cold gaze sweeping over everyone.

The golden chicken he sat upon was fierce, letting out a high-pitched, drawn-out cry.

The Golden Chicken Knight scolded, "You all better be honest with me. We're just having you explore for minerals, what's with all the nonsense? Shut your mouths and do as you're told!"

The New Life individuals from the villages dared to be angry but dared not speak out. If it weren't for their wives, children, and elders, they would have risked their lives to fight him, because what he said was truly inhuman. Now, ordinary people already knew that in special Nodes, the Heavenly Light would severely erode the body.

"Let's go. Let's get the ugly words out of the way first, whoever dares to cause trouble for me, don't blame me for being ruthless!" the Golden Chicken Knight threatened.

Beside him, a large group of people were armed to the teeth, all New Life individuals from Golden Chicken Ridge, escorting the crowd like they were guarding prisoners.

They traveled silently all the way to the outside of the Great Rift Valley. In this area, some villagers were waiting, brought by people from the Three-Eyed Sect. The two local organizations had indeed cooperated.

The Great Rift Valley was vast, filled with ground fissures, and some areas were piled with large amounts of rock. The vegetation here was sparse, with a landscape of stone forests and ravines coexisting.

Few creatures usually ventured here, because a moment of carelessness could lead to falling into a ground fissure.

Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect had brought a large number of troops this time, and had been waiting here for a long time, not going to explore for minerals themselves.

"Oh?" In the Great Rift Valley, another Golden Chicken Knight saw Qin Ming, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He had once taken people to Old Man Liu's house, wanting to forcibly buy the fiery red little grass, but Qin Ming had directly told Cao Long and Mu Qing about it afterward, causing this person to be slapped a few times, and several of his right teeth to fall out.

"Take extra care of that young man later, and have him actively explore for minerals!"

He didn't dare to directly attack, after all, Cao Long and Mu Qing had both warned him, and hadn't left yet.

But this time it was the order of the bandits of Golden Chicken Ridge and the local high-level members of the Three-Eyed Sect, to have these villagers from outside the mountains enter the Nodes. He could "guide the situation," and with a casual order, he could torment to death someone who had only experienced New Life once.

Among the villagers, an old man with gray hair was worried, saying, "Hopefully we can find the so-called mysterious resources as soon as possible, otherwise, after a long time, even if we are New Life individuals, we will develop illnesses, and may not even be able to leave this place!"

"Shut up, did I let you speak?"

With a snap, the Golden Chicken Knight flicked a whip over, causing the elderly New Life individual to stagger, his chest clothes torn, and after his face was grazed, it left a bloody cut.

"Those who find the mysterious resources can not only leave immediately, but also receive a considerable reward. Note, it's not Night Silver, you will be given Day Gold at that time!"

The people from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect had not completely pushed everyone to the brink, at least they were giving hope now, making promises.

An old man from Golden Chicken Ridge came over and instructed, "You go underground, this area has been occupied by us and the people from the Three-Eyed Sect. Now the underground of the entire Great Rift Valley can be said to be worth its weight in gold, search carefully for me!"

The people from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect occupied an area near the entrance, not a very good location, after all, their strength was indeed not as good as those from Red Haze City.

Qin Ming followed the other New Life individuals into the underground, each with Sun Stones prepared in advance, otherwise the ground fissures would be too dark.

This was an underground cave, with many spiderweb-like passages, spreading in all directions. Some areas flowed with faint light, which was unbearable to approach, while other areas were darker, and being in such places did not make the body feel uncomfortable.

"Everyone, I don't think we need to ruin our bodies, or even lose our lives. Even if we enter those luminous areas, it will be difficult to find mysterious resources. It's better to find some safe roads underground in advance, and enter those dark areas, slowly passing the time..." an old man suggested.

In fact, many people had this idea.

A middle-aged man said, "Let's split into two groups, one group pretends to look for mysterious resources, and the other group quickly looks for a way out, looking for those deep passages, preferably ones that lead to the outside of the Great Rift Valley. I think these people may eventually fight each other, different forces will break out in conflict because of the competition for special Nodes, and will become bloodthirsty."

"That's right, let's prepare early!" Everyone nodded.

Qin Ming had originally wanted to suggest that these people hide first, but now he realized that those who made a living guarding the dangerous mountains were very strong when it came to survival instincts.

After that, he began to act alone, wandering around the entire underground cave, looking for possible mysterious products.

An hour later, the outsiders had not yet clashed with each other, but another powerful force intervened, and bloodshed broke out on the ground.

On the ground of the Great Rift Valley, apes howled and tigers roared, and various mutated creatures appeared one after another. Many raptors in the sky began to dive.

"The aliens are attacking!" A Golden Chicken Knight guarding the entrance to the Great Rift Valley shouted.

It wasn't that mutated creatures hadn't appeared before, and there had been conflicts, but there simply weren't so many, and there was no organization. Now it was completely different.

The leading white giant bear, which was five or six meters tall, didn't know if it had just woken up from hibernation. It was extremely irritable, and after grabbing two New Life individuals, it tore them apart directly.

On the other side, a golden giant bull spewed flames from its mouth and nose, rampaging all the way, piercing many members of the Three-Eyed Sect with its horns and throwing them into the air.

There were quite a few such aliens. Although they were of different species, they did not fight each other at all, and all of them came towards the humans.

The mutated raptors in the sky were assisting. A huge Silver Eagle swooped down and tore off the skull of a Second New Life individual on the spot.

"Earlier, there were only a small number of aliens, and they didn't appear on a large scale. They were waiting for us to enter, targeting us for hunting."

An old man from Golden Chicken Ridge spoke, and jumped up, grabbing a twice-mutated eagle owl in mid-air and snapping its neck.

"What can we do?"

Many people were anxious, because the entrance to the Great Rift Valley was blocked by a large number of aliens, who were rushing into the valley, and there were raptors in the sky monitoring them.

"The situation is not right, the ground is in chaos, let's hide quickly, block those hidden passages with rocks, and hide all the escape routes."

In the underground world, the hunters from various villages heard the movement, were extremely sensitive, and acted quickly.

Qin Ming noticed it immediately. He was fearless and could retreat towards the road where Heavenly Light overflowed. Whether it was the people from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect, or the aliens, it would be difficult for them to go deep into this kind of place for a long time.

On the ground, a large number of people from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect gathered together to defend. At this time, people were panicking, because there were aliens everywhere.

"High-level creatures won't personally come down, after all, they promised the higher-ups of Red Haze City that they wouldn't hunt secretly, but letting some mid- and low-level aliens come over is definitely no problem."

This was also a serious problem. Everyone understood that the aliens had wanted to attack for a long time and had been waiting for an opportunity.

The Blood Snakes, Silver Camels, fiery red grasses, etc. in the mountains were of amazing value to people outside the mountains, containing rich spiritual substances.

In the eyes of the aliens in the mountains, some two-legged beasts with deep foundations would also make them jealous, belonging to "herbs" containing rich spirituality.

"So, a large group of aliens came, not only thinking about the mysterious products, but also wanting to hunt us, regarding us as spiritual creatures?"

"That's right!"

In an instant, the faces of the New Life individuals from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect were extremely ugly. Weren't they the first to bear the brunt, occupying the area at the entrance of the mountain? "The high-level creatures in the depths of the mountains don't dare to let their subordinates wipe out all the people entering the mountains, that would completely anger the Ling Xu City Lord and others, and would be met with cold-blooded revenge, but letting the New Life individuals here be reduced by one-fifth, one-fourth, that probably wouldn't matter."

For a time, everyone's faces turned pale. If things really developed like this, it would be terrible, and many people were destined not to leave the mountains alive.

"Retreat into the cave, we can't stay on the ground, we two families alone are no match for these aliens!" said an old man from the Three-Eyed Sect.

"Go, enter the underground quickly!" These people immediately took action.

They used the narrow passages to defend, and under the circumstances that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, those aliens could hardly break through.

However, the underground passages were like a spider web, and some of the Heterogeneous, who were adapted to underground combat, were finding their way, trying to lead other mutated creatures to detour and break in.

For a time, both above and below ground were in chaos.

Many New Life from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect rushed towards different passages, hoping to find a way out of the Great Rift Valley.

After all, this was the exit area.

"What a coincidence?" Qin Ming saw a familiar face at a glance, the Golden Chicken Knight who wanted to forcibly buy Old Man Liu's spiritual substance, who had previously shown malice towards him at the entrance of the valley.

"It's you?" This Golden Chicken Knight had already abandoned his mount and was wandering around in the underground passage alone, looking for a way to escape.

"Come here!" He beckoned to Qin Ming and said, "Have you found any mysterious resources? Also, you must have heard the commotion above. Tell me in detail about the terrain here."

Qin Ming was too lazy to respond and walked over unhurriedly.

"Are you looking for death? So slow. I'm asking you a question!" The Golden Chicken Knight's eyes flashed fiercely.

His malice was obvious. He had wanted to arrange for Qin Ming to explore more mines, forcing him to be constantly eroded by the Heavenly Light and die. Now he felt that it would be fine to kill him directly here. Who would know? Afterwards, it could be blamed on those Heterogeneous. Dead men tell no tales.

Therefore, he no longer concealed it and even lashed out with a whip. He could guess that it must have been this young man and Old Man Liu who complained to Cao Long and Mu Qing, because they were the only two involved.

Naturally, Qin Ming would not let him hit him, and he blocked with the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer.

"You dare to resist?" His eyes were cold, and he was about to attack again.

Qin Ming did not have the habit of being passive. How could he tolerate him trampling on the "red line" again and again? As fast as lightning, he thrust forward with the hammer.

With a bang, the Golden Chicken Knight saw stars, and the pain was unbearable. The Black Gold Hammer made intimate contact with his mouth and nose. His front teeth fell out, his nose collapsed, and he felt dizzy, almost falling to the ground.

"Sorry, my hand slipped, and I didn't grip the hammer handle." Qin Ming said.

"I... damn you!" The Golden Chicken Knight's speech was a bit leaky after his teeth fell out. He was so angry that his words were not clear.

He endured the pain in his face, tears streaming down his face, and anger rose from his heart. He drew his long knife and was about to slash the young man.

He was a Second New Life, so he naturally thought he could easily kill a kid who had just undergone New Life once.

However, before his long knife could be swung, his right hand felt a tearing pain. It was hit by the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer, and his flesh was blurred. The long knife fell directly to the ground, and his entire right hand was spasming, twisted after the fracture, very much like the claws of the golden chicken he rode.

"You used this hand to give Old Man Liu a Yellow Mud Palm, right? Then you can taste my Black Gold Fist." Qin Ming no longer wasted time and gave him a few thumps on the face with the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer, instantly turning his face into a meat pie. His frontal bone was smashed in, and his dead body fell to the ground.

Before he died, the Golden Chicken Knight could hardly believe it. How could this be so outrageous? He was a Second New Life, so how could he be inferior to that young man in terms of strength or speed? In his fading consciousness, he understood that the other party had already undergone Second New Life, and was far stronger than him! Qin Ming dragged his body into a very open area, where Heavenly Light flowed, which was relatively safe at the moment.

"Hmm?" He suddenly turned around and saw an old man walking out of another passage, silently approaching him.

"Who are you, and what are you doing?" The old man's face was gloomy.

"I am from the Three-Eyed Sect. I just saw this person being eroded by the Heavenly Light and fainted. I am saving him," Qin Ming replied.

With a bang, the old man shattered the hard ground and rushed over swiftly, with a faint white light on his body. This was human Heavenly Light, obviously a Third New Life.

He was not so easily fooled. He immediately took action when he found something was wrong. Even if it was a young man, he would kill him.

Qin Ming knew that he had met a great enemy. This was an unprecedentedly strong opponent. He had never fought against a Third New Life before.

"I'll risk it. If I kill a great expert like you who is a Third New Life, I might be able to wipe out all the men from Golden Chicken Ridge here!" Qin Ming became ruthless and decided to go all out to kill this old man.