Night was as dark as ink, swallowing Black Wind Gully whole.
The bonfire was the only source of light in this dead, silent land. Its orange-red flames crackled, twisting and stretching the shadows of those gathered around it across the cold cliff face behind them, like struggling ghosts.
The wind howled ever more fiercely, whipping sand and stones from the ground against the faint barrier Leader Liu had raised. They made a rustling sound, as though countless invisible hands were scratching at it from outside.
Lu Chen sat silently beside the bonfire, taking over from the scar-faced strongman, whose snores had shaken the air.
He kept his head lowered, appearing to focus on adding firewood, but in truth he had already pushed the Turtle Breath Meditation Method to its limits.
A faint, warm current within his dantian slowly flowed through his limbs and bones. It not only drove away the chill that had seeped into his marrow, but also made his senses sharper than ever before.
He could clearly hear the faint crumbling of weathered rock in the distance. He could smell, mixed with the Killing Intent in the air, a hint of something sickly sweet, like rotting plants.
Even more alarming was the faint, intermittent scraping sound.
It was light and fine, like someone slowly dragging a fingernail across coarse sandpaper. It came and went, yet seemed to be everywhere.
The other strongmen had clearly noticed nothing. Only Leader Liu, the most experienced Imperial Guard, occasionally furrowed his brows and warily looked into the darkness, though he seemed unable to pinpoint the sound's source.
Lu Chen gave no warning.
His identity did not allow him to display any ability beyond that of a useless man who was simply lucky.
He merely added a piece of dry pine to the fire without drawing attention, making the flames burn a little brighter.
At the same time, he adjusted his body into a stance best suited for exerting force. His right hand rested casually on his knee, but was only a hair's breadth from the hilt of the Boning Knife at his lower back.
Time trickled by.
The eerie scraping did not fade. Instead, it grew clearer, as if something were slowly closing in on their little camp from every direction.
Suddenly, the bonfire's flames shrank sharply inward and flickered violently. Their light dimmed in an instant!
The strongman guarding the other side was startled and instinctively tightened his grip on his saber.
"What's going on? Did the wind get in?"
"No!" Leader Liu's old but piercing voice rang out. He sprang to his feet and stared hard at the ground around the camp. "The baleful energy underground is surging upward!"
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth,
everything changed!
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A series of muffled sounds came from the earth around them.
One by one, strange vines as thick as an infant's arm burst from the ground. They were pitch-black, covered in barbs, and writhed like venomous snakes!
They emerged without a sound. A slit opened at each tip, revealing a dark red structure like a set of mouthparts. A nauseating, sickly-sweet stench wafted from them.
The black vines seemed to have minds of their own. They carefully avoided the blazing bonfire and shot straight toward the strongmen who were asleep or pretending to be.
"Ugh..."
The scar-faced strongman, snoring like thunder not far from Lu Chen, didn't even have time to let out a full cry. A black vine whipped around his neck and tightened!
Another vine clamped over his mouth and nose, reducing all his struggles to muffled groans.
The scar-faced strongman's eyes bulged, bloodshot with terror. He kicked and thrashed wildly, but couldn't break free of the iron-hard grip.
At the same time, several other strongmen came under the same attack. The camp descended into silent chaos!
In that split second between life and death, Lu Chen did not hesitate!
But he did not draw his knife.
With everyone entangled in black vines and unable to see what he was doing, any counterattack that looked too professional could expose his strength.
"Ah!"
Lu Chen let out a terrified shriek, his voice warping with fear, as if the sight before him had scared him out of his wits.
In a panic, he snatched a glowing-hot stick from the bonfire and charged toward the scar-faced strongman nearest to him, scrambling forward like a madman.
With all his strength, he jabbed the burning stick into the black vine wrapped around the man's neck!
"Sizzle—!"
A cloud of foul-smelling white smoke billowed up!
The incredibly tough black vine recoiled violently at the touch of the flames, like a snake burned by a branding iron. It let out a piercing "hiss" that no living creature should have been able to make!
It released the scar-faced strongman and whipped back underground in an instant!
"Cough, cough! Cough!"
The scar-faced strongman collapsed to the ground, clutching the deep-purple mark around his neck as he coughed violently. His face was full of terror and relief at having survived.
"Fire! They're afraid of fire!"
Leader Liu, the most experienced of them all, was the first to realize what was happening.
He severed the black vine wrapped around his leg with one slash and roared, "All of you, get the hell back to the fire! Use torches!"
His shout cracked like thunder, jolting the strongmen still struggling against the black vines into action.
Everyone scrambled back to the bonfire, frantically lighting torches and waving them wildly to drive back the vines trying to approach again.
For a time, firelight danced wildly across the camp, amid a ceaseless chorus of screams and curses.
"Whoosh!"
A black vine shot slyly out of the shadows, aiming for a strongman's back.
Lu Chen's foot "caught" on a stone, and he pitched forward in a spectacularly clumsy fall.
As he tumbled, the sharp Boning Knife at his lower back seemed to know what was coming, meeting the black vine's path of attack.
Thup!
A soft sound.
His Shadow Step, at the minor mastery stage, gave him exquisite control over his body; his Demon Suppressing Saber Technique, at the great mastery stage, let him see right through a monster's weaknesses.
The slash looked like an accident, but in truth it embodied his perfect calculation of timing, angle, and force.
The blade cut precisely into the black vine's weakest joint, severing it in one stroke!
The strongman felt only a chill behind him. When he turned, he saw half a vine writhing on the ground—and Lu Chen, sprawled there with dust all over him. A look of surprise flashed through his eyes.
"Th-thanks, brother!"
Lu Chen ignored him. He sprang to his feet, still wearing the same look of sheer terror, and waved his torch as he dashed chaotically through the crowd.
Yet every time he dodged in a panic, he just happened to avoid a deadly attack.
"This kid... was he seriously that damn lucky?"