Fire Attack

Ye Chen sustained only minor injuries, while Xiaowaluwen was left bleeding on the spot, his Invisibility unable to be maintained any longer.

Seeing him in such a wretched state, Ye Chen's first instinct was to press the attack, intending to finish off this most dangerous prey right then and there.

However, a sudden surge of footsteps echoed from outside the dining hall.

Clearly, this meant the Elite Guard was closing in.

Ye Chen made a split-second decision; rather than risking a pursuit of the wounded Xiaowaluwen, he sprinted toward the other end of the corridor and vanished into the shadows.

The second and third waves of the Elite Guard arrived at the dining hall in succession. Upon seeing the ten corpses in uniform, their faces turned pale. They rushed to the back corridor, where they found Xiaowaluwen leaning against the wall, drenched in sweat and covered in blood.

"Lord Xiaowaluwen, are, are you alright?"

The group asked with trembling voices, but Xiaowaluwen merely waved them off.

"I'm fine. I can heal these minor wounds myself."

As he spoke, countless viscous, pitch-black mud surged from the skin beneath his shirt. It split into two streams, beginning to repair his severed left hand and shattered right shoulder, covering, filling, and replacing them.

Dozens of seconds later, Xiaowaluwen twisted his brand-new, pitch-black left hand and right shoulder. He stood up, looked at the incredulous faces of the group, and issued new instructions with a grave and serious expression.

"The enemy's reactions, techniques, speed, strength, awareness, and experience have all exceeded my imagination. If we handle him with even the slightest carelessness, today might be the day the Xiaowalu Family meets its end."

Xiaowaluwen spoke in a halting tone. He had been lurking in the dark for a long time, deliberately waiting for Ye Chen to focus on reloading before launching his sneak attack.

Xiaowaluwen had expected that surprise strike to finish him off, but he never imagined the opponent would react even to that. He had even been countered, nearly suffering a fatal injury himself.

Ye Chen's calmness, decisiveness, and pathological caution had already made him a terrifying existence in Xiaowaluwen's mind—the strongest opponent he had ever encountered in his life.

"Therefore, we must change our strategy. No matter the cost, tonight must be his death day!"

"Since the opponent excels at fighting in the dark, we will make the mansion bright enough to leave him nowhere to hide."

"Set the fire! Burn the building!"

Upon hearing Xiaowaluwen's new order, the faces of the remaining twenty members of the Elite Guard were filled with confusion and terror.

"Set the fire. Burn the building--!?"

"Lord Xiaowaluwen, are, are you sure?"

"This is the mansion that has been passed down in the Xiaowalu Family for hundreds of years!"

Yet, facing their questioning, Xiaowaluwen nodded with a firm expression.

"I have already decided. This is the tactic with the highest success rate for us right now. Even if this place must be reduced to ruins, I must avenge Lord Xiaowalus!"

"Go get the oil and set the fires now! Once the mansion is engulfed in flames, take up positions outside!"

"I will move my brother's body first, then head to the high ground to provide sniper support!"

After saying this, Xiaowaluwen headed toward the study without a moment's hesitation.

The guards looked at each other, but having no choice, they followed Xiaowaluwen's orders, preparing to sound the horn for a desperate, frantic counterattack.

Hiding in a bedroom on the second floor of the mansion, Ye Chen picked up the Red Blood Flower Tea he had retrieved from the handkerchief and took a large gulp. He then spilled some blood, which condensed into the third "Blood Bullet" of the night inside the revolver's cylinder.

In another five minutes, he would be able to create a fourth.

After the second round of combat with Xiaowaluwen, Ye Chen was certain that Xiaowaluwen could not maintain his Invisibility while launching close-quarters attacks.

Moreover, the types of objects the opponent could turn invisible were limited; currently, it only included his clothes and daggers. That massive sniper rifle was not within the range of Xiaowaluwen's Spirit Art.

With that established, the problem became much easier to handle.

Ye Chen leaned against the window, bathed in moonlight, and finished reloading his revolver. He began preparing for his next move, but his pupils suddenly caught a glimpse of an eerie crimson glow.

He turned to look out the window and discovered that thick black smoke was billowing from the attic on the opposite side.

Blazing flames danced joyfully inside the attic, showing off their enchanting movements, turning the once dim and silent building into a boiling, fiery red in an instant.

These people. They actually burned down their own home?

Ye Chen watched the fiery scene in the opposite mansion in astonishment. Several figures emerged from the flames, holding torches high, continuing to burn the rooms adjacent to the attic, causing a corner of the magnificent mansion to be engulfed in soaring flames.

Ye Chen could never have imagined that the enemy would go to such ruthless and desperate lengths just to flush him out.

But he had to admit, it was a good move.

After all, under the illumination of the flames, he could no longer lurk in the shadows as he had before to catch them off guard.

Furthermore, as the fire spread rapidly, there were fewer and fewer places for Ye Chen to hide within the massive mansion. He would eventually be forced out into the open, and at that point, he would likely fall into an ambush set by Xiaowaluwen and the others.

He believed that was exactly the intention behind their ruthless fire attack.

How cunning. Though, he wasn't really in a position to say that about them.

Ye Chen sighed inwardly, took a deep breath, and looked at the revolver ready in his hand before making up his mind.

Since Xiaowaluwen wanted to force him outside, he would reverse the situation—switch from defense to offense and take the initiative!

As long as he killed all his prey before the fire completely consumed the mansion, all his problems would be solved!

The logic was just that simple and brutal!

Ye Chen put away his revolver, took out the single-shot rifle he had just seized from the guard's corpse, and immediately charged toward the front line of the spreading fire.

Meanwhile, having finished moving his brother's body, Xiaowaluwen carried his heavy sniper rifle, opened the skylight on the top floor of the mansion, and quickly climbed onto the circular roof of the Xiaowalu mansion.

From here, he could not only see the expansive view of the grounds in every direction of the estate, but also observe most of the interior scenes on the first and second floors of the mansion through various doors and windows from different positions and angles.

Clearly, this was undoubtedly the best vantage point in Xiaowalu Manor, an excellent high ground perfectly suited for a sniper to lie in wait.

If Ye Chen wanted to run outside to escape Xiaowalu Manor, he would inevitably have to cross the open estate grounds, which spanned a radius of half a kilometer.

And when that time came, Xiaowaluwen would certainly not miss his mark as he had just now in the back corridor.

This time, he would focus all his attention on steadying the rifle, fully unleashing the marksmanship he had honed for decades to shoot Ye Chen into a tattered sieve, one bullet at a time, until his opponent could never stand up again.

"Alright, I'd like to see how long you can endure in that sea of fire."

Holding the rifle stock, Xiaowaluwen looked down at the Xiaowalu Mansion—a place filled with memories of his past life, now gradually being swallowed by the raging inferno—and instead of feeling regret, the corners of his mouth curled up as he let out a cold sneer.

This Frost White Person allowed the Abyss Matter beneath his neck to crawl and squirm across his cheeks, his eyes reflecting the towering flames as they flickered with a color known as madness.