At noon the next day.
The sky hung low and gloomy, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.
Ten Mile Slope, outside the city.
This had once been a rich iron mine, but the vein had run dry, and it had been abandoned.
Now, only hills strewn with rubble and the black mouths of mine tunnels remained.
Lu Chen rode to the foot of the mountain with twenty elite gang members.
"Whoa—"
Lu Chen reined in his horse and scanned the surroundings.
It was too quiet.
There wasn't even a birdcall.
Only the wind moaned as it blew through the mine tunnels.
"Boss, this place looks a little eerie."
Wang Xiaoliu hunched his shoulders and rested a hand on his saber, his face wary.
"Which mine tunnel did that defector say?"
Lu Chen asked expressionlessly.
"He said Cave No. 3, halfway up the mountain."
Wang Xiaoliu pointed toward a tunnel mouth half-hidden by weeds.
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes at the entrance.
His instincts told him there was danger inside.
But he had to go in.
This was not only Zhao Tieshan's order; it was also because of that so-called "Treasure Vault."
Fortune favored the bold.
If there really was a vault, the resources inside would be enough to cultivate him to the Meridian Connecting Realm.
"Leave five men outside to watch the horses. If we haven't come out in half an hour, fire a signal arrow for help."
Lu Chen gave his orders calmly.
"The rest of you, come in with me."
"Yes!"
The group lit torches and cautiously entered Mine Cave No. 3.
Inside, it was cold and damp, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.
The ground was uneven, strewn everywhere with rubble and puddles.
The farther they went, the darker it grew.
The torches could illuminate only a few feet around them; beyond that lay a vast, unknown darkness.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound of water falling onto stone rang especially clearly in the silent mine tunnel.
"Boss, there's no way forward."
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the scout leading the way suddenly stopped.
A cave-in blocked the passage ahead, with massive boulders sealing the way.
"No way forward?"
Lu Chen furrowed his brow.
Just then.
Click.
A faint mechanical clank rang out, jarringly loud in the deathly stillness.
Lu Chen's expression changed.
"Fall back! It's an ambush!"
Rumble!
Before his words had faded, the rock wall overhead suddenly split open.
Countless enormous boulders, mixed with sharp caltrops, came crashing down like a torrential rain.
"Ah—!"
Screams rang out at once.
Several gang members caught in the middle had no time to react before the boulders crushed them into bloody pulp.
"Defend! Get against the wall!"
Lu Chen roared. The Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand blurred into a mass of swordlight, knocking away the rubble and caltrops falling toward him.
But this was only the beginning.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Countless small holes suddenly opened in the rock walls on either side.
A dense rain of crossbow bolts, gleaming with a ghostly blue light, shot in from every direction.
Poisoned arrows!
"Shields!"
The surviving gang members hurriedly raised their Round Shields.
But under such a dense hail of arrows, the shields couldn't protect their whole bodies.
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of arrows piercing flesh rang without end.
Several more gang members were struck and fell. Their faces turned black at once, and they foamed at the mouth. They had clearly been poisoned.
In the space of a few breaths,
most of the fifteen elite fighters Lu Chen had brought with him had already fallen.
Only Wang Xiaoliu and two other capable fighters remained, huddled back-to-back in a corner and struggling to hold on.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
A shrill laugh suddenly rang out from deep within the mine tunnel.
More than a dozen figures slowly emerged from behind the boulders blocking the way.
At their head was a woman in a Scarlet Jing Suit, her beautiful face cold and her eyes alight with murderous frenzy.
It was Li Qingyi.
Behind her followed more than ten elite members of the Red Fish Gang. Every one of them had a fierce aura; they were clearly experts in the Flesh Refining Realm.
And behind Lu Chen and the others, at the original entrance,
a loud crash rang out.
A thousand-jin boulder dropped, sealing off their retreat completely.
Like turtles trapped in a jar.
"Lu Chen, didn't see this coming, did you?"
Li Qingyi looked down at Lu Chen, who was in a sorry state, and smiled cruelly.
"For the grudge over that palm strike, today I'll tear you limb from limb. Only then will I be satisfied!"
Lu Chen brushed the dust off himself and glanced at his brothers, who lay dead or badly wounded all around him.
There was no fear on his face, only a chilling calm.
"To kill a mere Flesh Refining Realm cultivator like me, you even came in person as gang leader and set this elaborate chain of traps."
Lu Chen lifted his head and met Li Qingyi's gaze.
"Should I feel honored, or should I say you're... afraid of me?"
"Sharp tongue!"
Li Qingyi's expression darkened, as if he had struck a nerve.
It was true. She was afraid.
That palm strike on that night had made her feel death's approach.
This young man was growing too quickly, and his methods were too ruthless.
If he were allowed to keep growing, the Red Fish Gang would be doomed.
That was why she had gone so far as to activate the mole she had kept hidden in the Black Water Gang for years and set up this inescapable deathtrap.
"Enough talk!"
Li Qingyi drew both swords, their blades gleaming with icy light.
"Today, this will be your grave!"
"Attack! Chop him to pieces!"
At her command,
more than ten elite members of the Red Fish Gang charged forward with roars.
Killing intent boiled in the narrow mine tunnel.
Lu Chen took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber.
The Iron Cloth Shirt within him surged to its limits, and his skin took on a faint blue-black sheen.
Vibrating Force gathered in his palm, ready to strike.
"Wang Xiaoliu, if you don't want to die, stick close to me!"
Lu Chen barked. Instead of retreating, he charged straight at the pack of ravenous enemies.
This battle was a death trap.
But it was also a path to survival.
Only by cutting a bloody path through them could they live!
"Kill!"
Roars echoed through the mine tunnel, shaking dust loose from the ceiling.
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