Deceit and Treachery

On the roof of the mansion, Xiaowaluwen's gaze was locked firmly through his scope onto the door of the piano room on the first floor.

That was the only exit to the piano room. Once Ye Chen, who was hiding in the corner, left the blind spot of Xiaowaluwen's vision and attempted to escape through the door, Xiaowaluwen would fire without hesitation, aiming to kill his target in a single shot.

Of course, Ye Chen could choose to remain in the blind spot forever, but if he did, the fire from the adjacent room would soon spread, and the longer Ye Chen delayed, the more agonizing and miserable his death would be.

"Come on, let me see which end you choose."

Xiaowaluwen licked his lips, whispering in excitement.

However, Ye Chen had no intention of leaving the blind spot of Xiaowaluwen's vision, nor did he have any thoughts of staying in the corner to wait for death.

He swung the blood-stained short sword wrapped in bandages in his left hand several times, and with the sharpness enhanced by the Blood Spirit Art, he instantly carved a human-sized square hole in the center of the thick wall of the piano room.

Ye Chen climbed through the square hole and returned to the corridor, leaving Xiaowaluwen alone on the roof, foolishly squatting and guarding the door of the piano room.

Although the extreme sharpness of the blood-stained short sword meant Ye Chen could have cut through the top of the building piece by piece to climb onto the roof and duel Xiaowaluwen directly, if he failed to kill the man in one strike, Xiaowaluwen would surely activate that troublesome Invisibility ability again and escape.

In that case, the chance of Ye Chen wasting his effort would be far too high.

Therefore, he decided to clear out the remaining Elite Guard first before slowly settling the score with Xiaowaluwen.

Since that was the case, there was no need to keep a "Blood Bullet" in the chamber.

As he thought this, Ye Chen removed the precious blood-crafted bullet from his revolver and replaced it with a standard bronze bullet.

He wondered how many men his trap would cost them.

If the remaining men had all escaped outside, he would head to the roof early to drive Xiaowaluwen away, seize the high ground, and then slowly snipe the remaining prey.

And if they had not chosen to risk moving forward, but instead chose to double back...

Then the first thing they would do was set an ambush and prepare to sneak attack him.

Walking in the corridor around a corner where he could not be seen by Xiaowaluwen, Ye Chen briefly considered his response to different scenarios, then took a small mirror from his handkerchief and quietly extended it past the corner from the floor.

Then, through the reflection in the mirror, he instantly saw a dark and silent narrow passage.

The passage was empty, with only a row of glass display cabinets filled with strange antiques lining both sides.

However, by the bright moonlight, Ye Chen noticed that the glass surface of a cabinet at the end of the passage reflected a long, thin black shadow lurking on the far side.

Looking at that blurred shadow, the first thing that came to Ye Chen's mind was the barrel of a rifle.

The youth paused for a moment, then walked into the room adjacent to the passage and slowly raised the blood-stained short sword.

"If you hear footsteps in the passage, don't rush to fire. Wait until he has walked half the distance before you strike, to ensure the enemy has no time to escape."

Kaminge gripped his gun tightly while whispering instructions to his subordinates.

"Understood."

Receiving the unhesitating reply from his men, Kaminge immediately focused his entire attention on listening, and soon he heard a sound.

However, it did not sound like human footsteps at all; it was as if something heavy was constantly crashing to the ground.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Captain, is that sound him coming?"

One of the Elite Guard frowned after hearing the strange noise and lowered his voice to ask his companion.

"No, this must be the fire in the mansion being too intense, causing some parts to collapse. Don't worry about it."

Another Elite Guard reminded him with a calm expression, signaling his companion not to lose his composure.

Kaminge did not speak. Although he felt a vague sense of unease in his heart, he could not name the exact reason, so he could only maintain the formation with his men and wait like a hunter waiting for a rabbit.

Then, in less than a few dozen seconds, the wall to the side of the Elite Guard suddenly trembled.

Everyone looked at it in shock, only to see four cracks suddenly appear on the wall that should have been perfectly fine.

They connected to each other, forming a human-sized square, and it looked as if it were about to fall directly out of the wall.

"Fire! Fire at this wall--!"

At this moment, Kaminge roared hoarsely, and he was the first to turn his muzzle and fire at the square formed by the cracks on the wall.

Bang!

Xiaowaluwen was wondering why there was still no movement from Ye Chen even though the fire had already surged into the piano room, when a gunshot suddenly rang out from the other end of the mansion, causing his face to be instantly flooded with deep shock.

"What's going on?"

Xiaowaluwen muttered in confusion, then immediately turned his scope toward the source of the gunshot.

Led by Kaminge, the Elite Guard followed suit without hesitation, and eight "Abyss Bullets" instantly shattered the huge cube on the wall, revealing a dark, square tunnel that pierced through the wall right before their eyes.

Seeing the hole in the wall from afar through his scope, Xiaowaluwen's face instantly turned ashen.

He understood Ye Chen's method of escape almost immediately, realizing that the piano room he had been aiming at for so long was nothing more than him playing a game of wits against thin air!

"He, he dug a tunnel from the room next door!?"

"Are you kidding! How could he possibly do such a thing alone?"

"Watch out, he must be in the tunnel! Everyone, reload your weapons!"

The Elite Guard fell into a panic, and their exclamations became the perfect cover for Ye Chen.

When Kaminge discovered that the tunnel in the wall was empty and instinctively turned his head to look back at the long, narrow corridor, he was horrified to find a figure sprinting toward him at breakneck speed.

The appearance of that tunnel was merely a feint to draw everyone's attention, and even Xiaowaluwen on the roof was one of the intended targets.

The moment he finished the tunnel, Ye Chen had immediately doubled back, and by the time Kaminge spotted him in the corridor, Ye Chen had already covered half its length.

At this very moment, the distance between the Hunter and his prey was closing in!

"He's coming from the corridor! Open fire--!"

Kaminge was drenched in cold sweat, his face twisted in terror as he shrieked.

Upon hearing their captain's roar, the members of the Elite Guard turned toward the approaching grim reaper almost instantly, raising their guns to fire.

However, Ye Chen was a step faster, drawing his revolver and putting on a show of six rapid-fire shots into the crowd.

After gunning down six figures among the Elite Guard, the youth immediately leaned forward and pulled his Gold-Patterned Black Cloak tight to shield his vital points.

Bang! Bang!

Two Abyss Bullets left their muzzles and slammed directly into the surface of the Gold-Patterned Black Cloak, leaving two deep indentations.

The significantly reduced impact of the bullets penetrated to Ye Chen's chest and arms, immediately triggering a dull sound of fracturing bones.

However, as long as it wasn't fatal, it was enough.

The Hunter could still move, while the prey had no time to fire a second shot; for Ye Chen, that was all that mattered.

It was time to bring the curtain down on this hunt!

Tomorrow is the first round of promotional testing for this book, and the results are crucial for its future, so I hope that readers who have the ability and time will comment, vote, and help spread the word. The author would like to thank you all in advance!