The Second Qing Mu

Inside the deformed and twisted cave, the barking of mechanical hunting dogs echoed.

They followed a familiar scent, winding their way through a labyrinthine cavern to the banks of an underground river.

Along the way, on average, a drop of Qing Chen's blood would appear every 1.2 kilometers.

A total of 37 drops, spreading all the way into the deepest part of the cave.

A typical excellent hunting dog can track scents up to 0.5 kilometers away, while a mechanical hunting dog can track scents up to 1.3 kilometers away.

Therefore, the fact that Qing Chen's blood appeared every 1.2 kilometers, which was extremely even, indicates that Qing Chen was intentionally leaving traces in the hope that reinforcements from the rear could catch up based on this clue.

This discovery was very encouraging for everyone, because it meant that Qing Chen was still conscious and, even when he was seriously injured and on his deathbed, he was still able to find opportunities to save himself.

Their biggest fear was that Qing Chen had already collapsed.

In that case, Qing Chen would truly become a lamb to the slaughter.

Old Nineteen limped ahead, fearing there might be some traps in the cave that would cause his boss to suffer.

Only after confirming that everything was alright did he jog back to report, "Boss, there's blood ahead, but no signs of a fight. The trail stops at the underground river; the people from the Divine Era must have taken Qing Chen away through the underground river."

Li Changqing frowned as she walked to the shore. She looked at the severed arm that Kamiyo Yunhe had discarded on the bank, and the pits and craters left by corrosion on it. "How did this happen? And whose arm is it?"

The shore was a mess, with blood, water stains, and diving equipment scattered all over the place.

The Old Nineteen crouched down to examine the evidence. "There should have been eight sets of diving equipment on the ground, but now three are missing. That's strange. Some of the wet footprints on the road belong to two people, one is a mysterious expert from the Divine Era, and the other matches Qing Chen's characteristics. Why would they take three sets of diving equipment with them when they left? Was the distance too far, and one set per person wasn't enough? They should have taken four sets at least."

Zheng Yuandong glanced at the clues on the ground. "There were two people. After one of them left, he came back alone to retrieve a set of diving equipment."

"Is it Qing Chen?" The Old Nineteen paused, "Could he have escaped control and returned here alone?"

"No," Zheng Yuandong shook his head, "If he broke free from the divine era's control and returned here, he would definitely head towards the cave entrance, not continue into the water. Therefore, it was that divine era expert who returned, and this arm is his."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

He Jinqiu stood by the river with a smile, leaning on his black scepter. "If I'm not mistaken, the person who made the move this time should be Kamiyo Yunhe. According to the information of my Hu Corporation Intelligence Agency, there are 7 people in the entire Kamishiro Corporation who can control wild beasts, but only one of them has reached A-level, and the rest are below C-Class. Only Kamiyo Yunhe has the ability to control so many wolves."

"The Kamiyo Yunhe," Li Changqing continued, his eyebrows furrowing. His originally delicate willow-leaf eyebrows were now as fierce as knives.

"C-Class severed an A-class soldier's arm underwater. Who would believe that?" He Jinqiu laughed. "Under normal circumstances, even if there were a hundred C-Class, without using modern technology, they would be considered to have won if they could even touch an A-class soldier once. Of course, Kamiyo Yunhe is not considered top-tier among A-class soldiers."

If He Jinqiu were the Kamiyo Yunhe, with just his few Jade Sword, any number of C-Class soldiers would be sent to their deaths.

The gap between B-Class and Grade A is a chasm that every extraordinary person wants to cross; once crossed, it signifies true transcendence.

Even if Kamiyo Yunhe wasn't an A-rank expert in combat, the fact that a C-Class had one of his arms crippled was still shocking enough.

He Jinqiu tapped the black scepter. "Actually, I'm not very surprised. Someone who can remain calm and guide us here after being possessed by neurons three times seems to have a reason to sever one of Kamiyo Yunhe's arms."

Zheng Yuandong examined the severed arm from the side. "The wound on the arm was corroded by an unknown liquid. One half of the cut was clean, while the other half was rough. It should have been cut in half by Qing Chen, and then Kamiyo Yunhe severed it completely to prevent the spread of necrotic tissue. Qing Chen inflicted severe damage on Kamiyo Yunhe while he was in the water, and he himself should be seriously injured as well. Of course, the good news is that Qing Chen should not be dead."

In just a few simple sentences, the general description was conveyed.

Li Changqing ordered his men to collect the severed arm and take it back for comparison.

Their gene pool does not contain the Kamiyo Yunhe, but it preserves some genetic sequence samples from the Kamishiro family, which can be compared with kinship to roughly determine the identity of the arm's owner.

"The bad news is that Kamiyo Yunhe is still alive, and the good news is that Qing Chen is also alive," He Jinqiu said, looking at the rushing dark underground river. "The crows didn't even appear here; there wasn't a trace of them for dozens of miles around."

Given the Tribunal of Taboos's usual practices, if a battle between superhumans breaks out here and someone dies, the crows will definitely come to collect the superhuman's body.

Of course, this is also why Li Changqing hasn't completely gone mad yet.

You may not be able to believe the oaths spoken by men, but you can certainly trust the Tribunal of Taboos's containment capabilities; they will not miss any superhuman corpse now.

Qing Chen and Kamiyo Yunhe both at the Tribunal of Taboos's containment level, one C-Class and the other an A-rank.

Li Changqing turned to Old Nineteen and said, "Send professional diving equipment underwater to search. Also, have the Qingshan Hao expand the search area. Tonight is our best chance to search for Qing Chen. We must find him before Kamiyo Yunhe catches up with him again!"

After saying that, she turned to He Jinqiu and said, "Thank you this time. As for the Hu Group's board of directors, I can continue to be your ally. I owe you a favor."

He Jinqiu shook his head. "Although I enjoy discussing business, Qing Chen is also a member of my Jiuzhou, so you don't need to thank me."

Li Changqing paused, looking at Zheng Yuandong, then at He Jinqiu: "Which organization does Qing Chen belong to? Why has he added every organization in the Outer World to his list?"

Zheng Yuandong and He Jinqiu's expressions both became subtle...

I don't know how long or how far I drifted in the darkness.

It felt like an eternity.

In his dazed state, Qing Chen sensed fish from the underground river approaching him, probing his presence.

He mustered his last bit of willpower and unleashed the remaining power within him, using golden arcs of electricity to drive away the creatures that wanted to devour him.

This tactic worked; the greedy fish scattered and continued to follow the fish from a distance of several dozen meters, refusing to give up.

Did Kamiyo Yunhe die?

Qing Chen was uncertain.

Will I die?

He wasn't sure either.

After an unknown amount of time, Qing Chen gradually became overtaxed because he had to maintain the golden arc of electricity.

The wounds left on his body by the Overlord Salamander continued to ache, both new and old, flaring up all at once after the fierce battle.

Fortunately, the superhuman has a strong healing ability, and the wound has gradually stopped bleeding.

Suddenly, a light shone in from the end of the river, faint yet as bright as hope in the darkness.

The splashing water pushed Qing Chen out of the river.

This is a dark valley where the river splits into four or five tributaries, each flowing in a different direction.

Qing Chen, on the other hand, was pushed to the bank of the river by the river.

He lay there helplessly, unable to move even a finger, his eyelids too heavy to lift. He could only hear wild beasts slowly approaching the pool, their footsteps heavy and their numbers numerous.

"Damn it," Qing Chen thought to himself with a bitter smile. How did he manage to escape one danger only to fall into another?

They thought they had escaped death, but in the end, they still couldn't escape it.

Never mind.

I'm tired.

Destroy it.

Before the pack of wild beasts could get close, the sound of human footsteps could be heard. Stiff leather boots pounded on the soft pebbles by the pool, a sound only military boots with alloy steel plates could make.

Qing Chen was in a daze and unable to think any further. He didn't know who this person was, why he was here, or what he wanted to do.

All he knew was that Kamiyo Yunhe was not wearing these kinds of boots.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of cutting meat and the roars of wild beasts echoed through the valley.

The slicing sound of cutting flesh was like a tailor wielding scissors, cleanly and efficiently cutting through the thick leather.

Within a few breaths, the wild beasts were almost all dead or wounded.

The man squatted down beside Qing Chen and chuckled, "You're really badly injured. Luckily, I was here to guard you, or you would definitely be dead. Remember to show mercy if you recognize me in the future."

As he spoke, the man covered Qing Chen's eyes with a black cloth, seemingly to prevent Qing Chen from seeing his face.

Although Qing Chen's consciousness was somewhat blurred, he was still certain that he had never heard the other person's voice before.

This is a stranger.

Why would a stranger come to this remote and impoverished place to save him? And why was he wearing military boots?

Voices can be faked, and what the other person is saying now may not be true.

Moreover, the sound of the other party's footsteps always gave Qing Chen a strange feeling.

A rough estimate of his strength shows that, judging from the speed at which he kills wild beasts, he is definitely a master; at least Qing Chen couldn't do it that fast.

The man pulled a syringe from his pocket and plunged it into Qing Chen's neck, jokingly saying, "Now you're definitely not going to die. This life-saving potion, diluted with God's Blood, is actually quite pitiful to inject into you. I wonder if I'll get caught if I secretly inject myself with half of it... Never mind, never mind, let's not take the risk. You should lie down for a while longer. There aren't any wild animals around. I need to go and stake out that old bastard Kamiyo Yunhe and see if I can kill him."

After saying this, the man got up and left.

He left...

Qing Chen's doubts deepened. The other party came here, gave him a life-saving injection, and then left?!

What kind of operation is this?!

Soon, the sound of several people's footsteps echoed through the valley, dense and hurried.

Qing Chen had already drifted off to sleep when he heard someone say, "Reporting, sir, the target has been found, alive. However... we have not found any trace of Commander Kamiyo Yunhe."

"Okay, we'll head north with the target and rendezvous there within 20 minutes..."

A calm voice said over the communication channel, "We will set off immediately after rendezvous. An evacuation route has been opened in the north. We will take the target directly to the secret military base."

"Receive."

There will be another chapter before 11 PM.