"Quit playing tricks. I want to see what you're trying to do!"
Primal Qi surged through Chen Xia, his mind clear. Perhaps it was because the yang energy in his body was so abundant that he felt not the slightest fear.
Before long, an iron door beside the standing woman opened, and seven or eight burly men charged out. They headed straight for him.
At that moment, a blood-red humanoid shadow appeared above the woman's head. It was transparent, and its face was just visible: a man with indistinct features and a vicious stare.
As soon as the shadow emerged, the woman lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
Was this the red figure Zhang Feng had mentioned?
Chen Xia gripped his knife and frowned. Just as he prepared to face the seven or eight men charging at him, the red shadow moved faster than they did. It rushed at him like a phantom.
The next second,
a chill ran through Chen Xia, and his scalp prickled. Everything before his eyes turned black. Then the whole world glowed red. A gigantic Blood Moon appeared in the sky, and the alleys around him, the dilapidated walls, the damp ground, the discarded cardboard boxes, the heaps of garbage, and even the eight knife-wielding men ahead of him all vanished in an instant!
He found himself in a boundless Sea of blood, submerged in its waters. A nauseating stench of blood filled his nose, while cries of terror and screams of agony rang in his ears.
Not good!
Chen Xia's heart tightened. How had the world changed?
An illusion!
He quickly realized the world couldn't have vanished. Something was wrong with his senses. As the men charged, the red shadow had seized control of his mind, intending to destroy his body.
If he let himself be deceived, he would be doomed.
Chen Xia fought to keep his mind clear and break through the dark, bloody landscape. Just then, a red shadow appeared out of nowhere in the sky of the world around him. Its cold eyes fixed on Chen Xia, trying to bewitch him again.
But a powerful surge of Seven Injuries Inner Strength welled up from his dantian, flooding his whole body. It completed a Greater Celestial Circuit and crashed into Chen Xia's mind.
Boom!
The entire spiritual world in his mind was destroyed, and heaven and earth shattered. A flicker of astonishment crossed the shadow's eyes, but it didn't know that Chen Xia had lived two lifetimes and cultivated the Seven Injuries Fist. His mind was exceptionally sharp, far beyond that of an ordinary person, so naturally he could break through the illusion.
When Chen Xia came to, everything before his eyes was unchanged. Only an instant had passed, and he had already reacted.
Without hesitation, Chen Xia stopped holding back. He gave his opponent no chance, gripping his knife and charging forward.
"Kill him!"
The leader of the seven or eight men fixed Chen Xia with a murderous stare and slashed his long blade toward Chen Xia's neck. But the moment he struck, a flash of steel swept across his throat first. A bubbling sound came from his neck. Clutching it, he crumpled to the ground.
Boom! Chen Xia dodged several slashes, seized his chance, and kicked one man flying. The tremendous force sent him crashing into the men behind him.
Several of them fell to the ground, only to be cut down by Chen Xia as he pursued them.
"Ah!..." Blades flashed, killing intent filled the air, and the stench of blood saturated the alley. Chen Xia unleashed his full strength. Every strike carried more than 1,600 kilograms of force.
Squish!
His blade knocked a man's weapon flying, then plunged into the man's chest and carved a deep gash in the wall behind him. The blade ran straight along the wall. Gripping the hilt tightly in both hands, Chen Xia suddenly poured on his strength and hurtled forward with his blade for seven or eight meters. Everyone in his path was driven into one another by the impact. They were like kittens facing a tiger, their strength worlds apart. The charge displayed a perfect blend of speed and power, leaving no time to react. Three of the men who tried to stop him were cut in half at the waist and fell to the ground.
The fight had barely begun, and six of the eight men were dead. One was gravely injured and out of action. The last man stood frozen, his legs trembling as he stared at the scene before him. He breathed hard and swallowed. He wanted to run, but in the next instant, a chill ran through his body. Darkness swallowed his vision, and he lost consciousness.
Phew!...
Chen Xia lowered his knife and panted.
It wasn't that he was out of energy. The scene had shaken him so badly that he'd nearly thrown up. His knife skills weren't an official Martial Skill, but amplified by his strength, they were devastating. These men had never stood a chance against him.
Glancing at a head on the ground, Chen Xia wiped the blood from his blade on a corpse, then looked toward the red shadow ahead.
The shadow seemed taken aback, but quickly attacked him again. Chen Xia's blade passed through its body again and again, to no effect.
The red shadow let out a strange laugh, as if mocking Chen Xia's helplessness. But the next instant, in the midst of their exchange, Chen Xia punched with his left hand, releasing Inner strength. "Ah..." The red shadow's face suddenly twisted in panic. Then it let out a silent scream, and its body collapsed on the spot.
Was it dead?
Chen Xia looked closely.
But the shadow hadn't vanished. Wisps of red mist drifted upward from it. The clouds parted slightly, and a sliver of silver moonlight spilled down. In its glow, Chen Xia clearly saw the shadow transform into a small red bat and fly away toward the moonlight.
A bat?
It couldn't be killed!
Chen Xia found the sight incredible.
He'd only ever heard people on online forums say that the Evil Cult's methods were terrifying. Seeing one for himself today had certainly been an eye-opener.
"Looks like my Seven Injuries Fist has the power to break evil! It must have controlled that woman and tried to get through that iron door so it could cultivate an Evil Technique."
"I'll go inside and see what's there."
Chen Xia steadied himself and hurried forward without wasting time. Perhaps the person behind the Evil Technique was inside the room.
Boom!
Chen Xia went over and glanced at the unconscious woman on the ground. She didn't seem to be dead. He kicked the iron door open and went in.
The men who had charged out had all been dealt with. Even if someone else was inside, he could handle them.
Beyond the door was an ordinary back room, somewhat dim, but Chen Xia quickly spotted the door to a basement in one corner.
He opened it and saw stairs leading down. Frowning, Chen Xia used his phone to light the way and descended.
After just two steps, Chen Xia caught a strong stench of blood coming from the basement. When he reached it, he found a basement about two hundred square meters in size. Strange symbols covered the walls. Broken candles and bloodstained strips of cloth lay scattered across the floor, along with ropes. In one corner were lunch boxes, bags, cigarette ash, and beer bottles.
Most eye-catching was a stone platform in the center of the basement. A blood pool, about a meter across, encircled its base. It seemed to contain human blood. On the highest part of the platform lay a totem.
The image on the totem showed a pair of outspread, blood-red bat wings. Beneath them stood a red figure with both hands resting on the hilt of a sword planted in the ground. Thorny brambles and blood-red roses covered the square border. At the very top was a blood-red moon, its light bathing the earth. The whole image struck the eye as cold, dark, mysterious, and evil.
With the walls covered in mysterious symbols as well, Chen Xia's pupils contracted.
As he continued looking around, he soon spotted something that made him giddy with excitement. A thick Red Book lay right beneath the totem.
A secret manual... an Evil Technique?
Chen Xia took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings. Once he was sure no one was there, he hurried over and picked up the red-covered book.
He flipped through it. There wasn't time to read it carefully, but he could tell for certain that it was an Evil Technique.
"I finally found the Evil Technique I've been looking for!"
"This Gathering Justice Mercenary Group really is connected to the Evil Cult. They're probably cultivating an Evil Technique here, and the way they bewitched that kidnapped woman must have something to do with their cultivation."
Chen Xia mulled it over. Of course, he didn't know the exact reason. His priority was to get back. The bat had escaped, and he couldn't stay here for long.
Before leaving, he searched the place once more, until he noticed a small wooden box in the southeast corner of the underground chamber.
A flicker crossed his face. He went over and opened it. To his surprise, it was filled with stacks and stacks of brand-new cash.
Chen Xia's brows jumped. This time, he'd struck it rich! He quickly picked up a large bag from the floor, stuffed all the money into it, and hurriedly ran off with the bag.
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