The pickup rattled along a gravel road for thirty minutes before finally stopping in front of a factory building that had partially collapsed.
Zhao Hu killed the engine, pulled two backpacks from the back seat, tossed one to Shen Wei, and put the other on his own back.
"Earth-Toothed Rats usually nest deep in mine caves. They aren't very active during the day, but vibrations will drive them out." Zhao Hu walked along with a Long-handled Battle Axe in his hand. "I'll take point, Shen Wei will cover the rear, and you'll stay in the middle."
The middle.
Li Zhengyang said nothing and followed them toward the mine cave.
It was called a mine cave, but really, it was just a huge hole dug into the mountainside.
It was dark inside. Zhao Hu rummaged through his backpack and took out two headlamps, putting one on himself and giving the other to Shen Wei.
He didn't give one to Li Zhengyang.
"Stay close and don't fall behind," Zhao Hu said without turning around.
Li Zhengyang nodded, gripping the Mountain-Cleaving Blade in his right hand.
Once they entered the cave, the light quickly faded.
The headlamps illuminated only a limited area. The rock walls on either side were slick with moisture, and the ground was covered with gravel and puddles that crunched and squelched underfoot.
Zhao Hu moved steadily, clearly an experienced hand. Every few steps, he stopped to listen.
Shen Wei brought up the rear, her short blade already drawn and held with practiced ease.
After about a hundred meters, the mine passage split into two paths, one to the left and one to the right.
Zhao Hu crouched and examined the ground, then smeared the dirt with a finger. "There are digging marks on the left. Their nest is this way."
The three of them turned into the left passage.
After another hundred meters or so, Zhao Hu suddenly stopped.
"The nest is just ahead," he said in a low voice. "Earth-Toothed Rats are sensitive to vibrations. As soon as something steps into their territory, they'll burrow up from underground. Here's my plan..."
He glanced at Li Zhengyang.
"You go ahead to that open area and draw them out. Shen Wei and I will back you up from behind. As soon as they surface, we'll attack."
Li Zhengyang said nothing.
Shen Wei added, "Earth-Toothed Rats are fast but fragile. Once they're out in the open, they're easy to deal with. One person will make less noise than three, so you're less likely to bring them all swarming out. That'll make it easier for us to pick them off one by one."
It sounded reasonable enough.
But Li Zhengyang looked at the narrow passage, then at the Battle Axe in Zhao Hu's hands.
A narrow passage, an open area ahead, drawing them out.
They wanted him to be bait.
Look at it optimistically, and it was a sensible division of labor.
Look at it pessimistically, and he was an uncertified temporary team member. If something happened to him, the office wouldn't even have a record of his registration.
If he died in the mine cave, they could blame the Earth-Toothed Rats and get away clean.
Zhao Hu might not actually intend to kill him, but he was perfectly willing to make him take the biggest risk while he reaped the benefits.
Li Zhengyang looked down at the Mountain-Cleaving Blade in his hand.
"Fine."
The next second, he turned around.
He moved so fast that Zhao Hu and Shen Wei didn't even have time to understand why he was turning.
Then he swung the blade.
Not toward the front, but toward Shen Wei.
The Mountain-Cleaving Blade swept from left to right, heading for Shen Wei's neck.
The passage was narrow. Shen Wei was standing close to the right wall, with Zhao Hu on her left. She had almost no room to dodge.
There was no way she could avoid the blow.
She'd barely raised her short blade when the edge was already there.
The Mountain-Cleaving Blade struck the left side of her neck and sank three inches into the flesh.
As blood gushed out, Shen Wei's eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Li Zhengyang pulled out the blade and quickly struck again.
The second blow landed in the same spot, this time cutting all the way through her neck.
Shen Wei collapsed. Her short blade fell to the ground with two metallic clinks.
It had taken less than two seconds.
Zhao Hu froze for a beat.
In his six or seven years in this line of work, he'd seen people turn on each other, backstab one another, and kill for loot—but he'd never seen anyone so decisive, so ruthless.
"You motherf—"
Zhao Hu raised his Battle Axe.
Li Zhengyang didn't give him time to finish swearing. He stepped over Shen Wei's corpse and charged.
The passage was just wide enough for one person. There was no room to maneuver, so a fight meant a head-on clash.
Zhao Hu brought his axe down with tremendous force—a First-Grade Martial Master's full-power strike. The blade whistled through the air.
Li Zhengyang twisted aside. The axe scraped past his shoulder and struck the rock wall, sending sparks flying. Shards of stone pelted his face.
He didn't retreat. Instead, he thrust back with his blade.
Zhao Hu hauled his axe back to block. The axe haft caught the blade, and their strength collided. Zhao Hu took half a step backward.
Zhao Hu was a First-Grade Martial Master.
Li Zhengyang was Rank-Two, a full rank higher.
After Zhao Hu took that half-step back, his expression changed.
It wasn't anger over his teammate's death. It was the difference in strength he'd just felt.
This kid had claimed to be a Rank-Eight Martial Warrior? What a load of bullshit.
"You..."
Li Zhengyang didn't let him finish.
He swept the blade upward. Zhao Hu blocked it with the axe haft.
But Li Zhengyang's left hand had already clenched into a fist. He slammed it into Zhao Hu's ribs.
A dull thud.
Zhao Hu was a beat too slow to turn aside. He took the punch squarely, and two ribs snapped. He heard the sound of his own bones breaking.
Grimacing, Zhao Hu backed away, trying to put some distance between them. But the passage was too narrow, and the rock wall was right behind him.
"I'll throw in another ten thousand!" Zhao Hu shouted. "You can have the entire mission bonus!"
Li Zhengyang's blade didn't stop.
"Twenty thousand! I've still got money in my account!"
The second blow came down. Zhao Hu caught it with his axe held crosswise. His arms went numb, and the web between his thumb and forefinger split open.
"What the hell do you want?"
Li Zhengyang finally spoke.
"Kill you, and all your money will be mine."
The third blow knocked Zhao Hu's axe flying.
The gap in Blood Qi between a First-Grade Martial Master and a Rank-Two Martial Master became enormous in close combat.
Zhao Hu's Body-Protecting Astral Energy was a level weaker than Li Zhengyang's. Every clash put him at a disadvantage.
As his axe flew away, Zhao Hu tried to run.
He headed deeper into the mine passage.
But the moment he turned, a blade struck his back.
The Mountain-Cleaving Blade hit his left shoulder blade. It didn't break the bone, but it split the flesh.
Zhao Hu stumbled twice, then braced himself against the rock wall, barely staying upright.
The second blow struck his waist.
The third hit the back of his neck.
By then, the blade had already curled.
The Mountain-Cleaving Blade weighed over ten pounds. After seven or eight swings, its edge had chipped in several places.
Zhao Hu lay facedown on the ground, lifeless.
Blood spread across the gravel, and the stench of it filled the air.
Li Zhengyang stood where he was and took a few breaths. He felt no guilt whatsoever.
They wanted to use him as bait? They could go to hell!
Besides, judging by how practiced the two of them were, they'd probably screwed over plenty of newcomers. They weren't good people, so killing them was no great loss.
He looked down at the Mountain-Cleaving Blade in his hand.
The edge was curled beyond recognition, and the blade was smeared with blood and bits of flesh. It was poor quality and awkward to use against people.
He tossed it aside.
Li Zhengyang flexed his wrist. He'd been gripping the blade too tightly, and his hand was a little sore.
He rummaged through Zhao Hu's backpack, found a headlamp, and put it on.
Rustling sounds came from deep in the mine passage.
The Earth-Toothed Rats.
The vibrations from the fight had driven them out.
Li Zhengyang picked up Shen Wei's short blade from beside her corpse. It wasn't great quality either, but it was better than fighting barehanded.
When the first Earth-Toothed Rat burrowed out of the ground, Li Zhengyang finally saw what the creature looked like.
It was grayish-brown, about the size of a house cat, with especially muscular forelegs and dirt-covered claws. Two front teeth jutted from its mouth.
A First-Rank Demonic Beast.
Its combat strength was equivalent to a Martial Warrior's.
Li Zhengyang was now a Rank-Two Martial Master.
He was an entire major realm above it.
By the time the short blade stabbed down, the Earth-Toothed Rat hadn't even finished trying to dodge.
The blade pierced its head and pinned it to the ground.
He pulled the blade free. A second rat burrowed out from beneath the rock wall on his right.
One strike.
The third and fourth emerged almost simultaneously, one on each side, moving fast.
Two strikes.
The fifth burrowed up right under his feet. The ground bulged, then burst apart, sending gravel flying.
Li Zhengyang stepped to the side, waited for it to surface, then pinned it underfoot and bent down to finish it with a stab.
Five rats, in less than two minutes.
He cut off the tails of all five Earth-Toothed Rats. The office needed proof to settle the mission, and their tails served as proof.
He stuffed the five tails into his backpack.
Li Zhengyang casually pocketed the two people's cash and bank cards. He glanced over the rest of their belongings, found nothing useful, and tossed them aside.
As for the two corpses, he didn't look at them again.
Two Martial Warriors dying during a Demonic Beast extermination mission was nothing unusual.
Every year, a long list of names went up on the office's Casualty Bulletin Board. Two more names wouldn't make a difference.
When Li Zhengyang emerged from the mine cave, the sunlight outside was a little too bright.
He squinted, took off the headlamp, and threw it away.
The pickup was still parked in front of the factory building.
The keys were in his pocket, but he hadn't learned to drive, so he didn't dare get behind the wheel.
He took out his phone and called a car through a ride-hailing app.
Ten minutes later, the car arrived.
The driver was a talkative middle-aged man. Seeing him emerge alone from the mining area with a large backpack, the driver couldn't help asking, "Young man, what are you doing out here? Exploring?"
"Work."
"There's work to be done in the mining area?"
"Temporary job."
The driver didn't ask any more questions.
Li Zhengyang returned to the East City Office at two in the afternoon.
He went to the front desk, where the same young woman, Liu Ting, was on duty.
"Mission's done. I'm here to settle up." He took the five Earth-Toothed Rat tails out of his backpack and set them on the counter.
Liu Ting looked at the tails, then at him, and checked the record in the system.
"There were three people on your team. How come you're the only one back?"
"Oh, gas was leaking at their place, so they went home to shut it off and asked me to turn these in."
Liu Ting looked at him and paused for two seconds.
"The bonus will be paid into the team leader Zhao Hu's account. The team leader will distribute it."
"Zhao Hu said to send it straight to my card."
"All right."
After leaving the office, Li Zhengyang glanced down at his phone.
The ten-thousand-yuan mission bonus had arrived. Combined with the bank cards he'd taken from the two of them, he had forty thousand yuan in hand.
Just as he was basking in the joy of making money,
his phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He answered.
"Li Zhengyang? This is Speedy Loan Treasure reminding you that your loan is three days overdue. Please repay it as soon as possible, or additional interest and late fees will be charged..."
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