Shen Che circled around to the back mountain, where a sheer cliff a hundred zhang high rose straight into the sky, as though carved by blades and axes.
The cliff face was slick with moisture and covered in moss; even finding a foothold was difficult.
Wang Changshou had been right. Let alone a man, even a monkey would have to despair here.
Shen Che loosened his limbs, the muscles in his arms swelling slightly.
He reached out and felt along the rock wall. With force at his fingertips, he actually gouged several shallow indentations into the hard stone.
The next moment, he pressed himself against the cliff like a gecko, using all four limbs to begin climbing upward.
There were no ropes, no tools of any kind.
What he relied on was that inhuman, terrifying body born from both the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Shirt breaking past their limits.
Every exertion was precise and efficient, sending his body shooting a great distance upward.
To him, the hundred-zhang cliff was merely a somewhat longer flight of stairs.
A few minutes later, his hands caught the edge of the cliff. With a flip, he landed soundlessly inside the stronghold.
This was the rear of the stronghold, a messy open area piled with odds and ends and firewood, with no one guarding it.
Not far away came waves of boisterous shouting and noisy drinking games, mingled with the smell of alcohol and the scorched fragrance of roasting meat.
The bandits within the stronghold were remarkably lax in their vigilance.
Then again, who would have imagined someone could climb up from the sheer cliffs behind the mountain?
Shen Che's goal was clear: to capture bandits, first capture their king.
But he did not know where the three chiefs were.
The best method was to first seize someone and question him thoroughly.
He concealed his presence, his figure ghostlike as he slipped toward the brightest-lit area.
Just as he was about to strike at a lone patrolling bandit.
"Assassin!"
A shrill, miserable roar abruptly ripped through the stronghold's night sky.
Immediately afterward, the entire Iron Furnace Stronghold exploded into chaos.
The ringing clatter of weapons being drawn arose from every direction. Countless torches were lit, illuminating the stronghold as bright as day.
"Over there! The Hall of Brotherhood!"
"Quick! Protect the Great Leader!"
Chaotic footsteps and shouts all surged in one direction.
From afar came the violent clash of weapons, along with dull sounds of flesh being torn apart.
Shen Che stopped beneath the shadow of an arrow tower.
Someone else had infiltrated Iron Furnace Stronghold?
And judging from the commotion, they had already been exposed and had begun fighting the bandits.
Interesting.
Instead of acting in haste, he changed direction and stealthily made his way toward the Hall of Brotherhood, where the disturbance had broken out.
The Hall of Brotherhood was already packed to the brim.
Several hundred bandits wielding sabers and spears surrounded the center of the hall, every face ferocious.
At the center of the encirclement stood three people clad in black nightwear—two men and a woman—standing back-to-back, already trapped in a tight siege.
One of the black-clad men, somewhat older, held a steel saber still dripping with blood. A throwing knife was embedded in his left shoulder, and blood had soaked through his clothes. Every swing of his saber took a bandit's life, but his wounds were also making his movements slower and slower.
The other man was younger and likewise carried a steel saber. His saber techniques were sharp and fierce, each swing carrying arcs of saber qi that kept the surrounding bandits from rashly advancing. As he fought, he shielded the veiled young woman behind him.
"Damn it, you still dare resist!"
A burly one-armed man—Tie Feng, the third chief of Iron Furnace Stronghold—clutched the stump of his still-bleeding arm, his face filled with venom.
"Capture them alive! Especially that woman! I'll make her beg for life and plead for death!"
He had been enjoying himself in his room when these three burst through the door and began killing without a word. Only by paying the price of one arm had he managed to sound the alarm.
"Third Brother, who dares be so bold?"
A rough voice came from outside the hall. Immediately afterward, a giant nearly two meters tall, built like an iron tower, strode in with the gait of a dragon and tiger.
Behind him followed a refined-looking, triangular-eyed man carrying an iron fan.
The Great Leader of Iron Furnace Stronghold, Tie Xiong!
The second chief, Tie Yi!
At the sight of them, Tie Feng's face broke into the wild joy of a survivor of catastrophe. "Big Brother, Second Brother! You came at just the right time! These fools who don't know whether they're alive or dead actually dared to assassinate me!"
Nangong Wen, the young man trapped in the middle, felt his heart sink without end.
They had failed.
Their target had originally been Tie Feng, the third chief. They had wanted to cut off one arm of Iron Furnace Stronghold.
Who could have known that this fellow would be so alert? Not only had they failed to kill him in a single strike, but he had even managed to send a signal, trapping all three of them here.
Now, the three great chiefs of Iron Furnace Stronghold had gathered, along with countless bandits. Forget breaking out—today, they would likely all be buried here.
"Boy of the Nangong family, there was a road to heaven and you would not take it; hell had no gate, yet you forced your way in." Tie Xiong's voice boomed like a great bell, making everyone's eardrums tingle. "Today, not one of you will leave."
A desperate situation.
Just as Nangong Wen and the wounded Nangong Wu were preparing to fight to the death.
Unhurried footsteps sounded from the entrance of the hall.
The footsteps were steady and distinct, utterly out of place amid the chaotic clamor.
Everyone's movements paused for a moment, and they all turned toward the entrance as if by prior agreement.
A youth wearing the standard black robes of the Demon Suppression Division slowly walked into the hall.
"Looks like I came at the wrong time."
Tie Feng and the others were filled with uncertainty and alarm. Did they have another accomplice?
When Nangong Wen and the veiled young woman saw Shen Che's attire clearly, their faces were filled with disbelief.
Someone from the Demon Suppression Division?
Why was he here?
"Who are you?" Tie Xiong frowned deeply. From this youth, he smelled a trace of danger.
"Demon Suppression Division. Shen Che." Shen Che gave his name.
The Demon Suppression Division!
Tie Xiong's expression darkened.
Bandits like them feared the authorities most of all, and the Demon Suppression Division was the most troublesome and unreasonable violent institution among them.
Being targeted by that pack of madmen was absolutely no good thing.
"A man from the Demon Suppression Division dares to storm my Iron Furnace Stronghold alone?" Tie Xiong sized Shen Che up. "Should I say your skills made you bold, or that you're stupid beyond measure?"
"Kill him!" Without wasting words, he gave the order.
Who cared who Shen Che was? Since he had come, he could forget about leaving alive.
Several bandits closest to Shen Che grinned viciously and raised their sabers and swords, striking straight for vital points such as his neck and heart.
Nangong Wen's heart tightened, and he instinctively wanted to cry out a warning.
But what happened next made him swallow every word.
Facing several sharp weapons, Shen Che neither dodged nor evaded. He did not even assume a defensive stance.
Clang!
Clang! Clang!
Several piercing clashes of metal erupted.
Those sabers and swords, powerful enough to split steles and shatter stone, struck Shen Che's body as though they had hit the hardest black iron.
Sparks flew in all directions.
The edges of those blades even curled and chipped.
As for Shen Che, not even a corner of his clothes was damaged.
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