Absolute darkness.
You could not see your fingers even with your hand outstretched.
Inside the cave, the air seemed to have solidified. Only the heavy, suppressed breathing of One-Eyed Boss and Black Bear remained.
"Boss... we're sealed in!" Black Bear's voice trembled uncontrollably.
Fear was magnified without limit in the darkness.
The unknown enemy, the deadly trap, and the despair of being buried alive were like an invisible hand, tightly clutching his heart.
"Shut up!"
One-Eyed Boss barked sharply, forcefully suppressing the shock in his heart.
He was far calmer than Black Bear.
As a mercenary leader who had licked blood from the edge of a blade for years, he had faced far more life-and-death crises than this.
He knew all too well that at a time like this, the more he must not throw himself into disarray.
"Light a fire!" he ordered.
Black Bear tremblingly pulled out a flint from his clothes, but his hands shook so badly from nervousness that he failed several times to strike a spark.
"Useless trash!"
One-Eyed Boss snatched the flint away and struck it hard.
Screech!
A weak flame sprang up, barely illuminating a small patch of space around them.
In the firelight, both their faces looked ugly beyond measure.
The cave entrance was completely blocked by a huge boulder, sealed tight without the slightest gap. Half of their other companion's body was crushed beneath it, mangled into a bloody mess too horrible to look at.
Monkey's corpse lay quietly not far away, a bloody hole in his chest where his heart had been. He had long since stopped breathing.
"Something... is in here." Black Bear's voice was dry as he gripped his saber tightly, warily sweeping his gaze over the dark corners.
"Not something. A person."
One-Eyed Boss's eyes were cold and sinister. He wedged the firestarter into a crack in the rocks, holding the huge Mountain-Cleaving Axe across his chest.
"A hunter who knows how to use his surroundings and plans every move with meticulous care."
He could not understand how the heavily injured, dying wastrel young master described by the Wang Family had become such a terrifying opponent.
The intelligence had been wildly wrong!
Just then, whoosh!
A faint sound of something slicing through the air came from the darkness.
A fist-sized pebble shot toward the firestarter in the crack, carrying a sharp gust of wind with it.
Smack!
The fire went out at once.
The cave was swallowed by endless darkness again.
"Ah!"
Black Bear let out a terrified scream and instinctively swung the saber in his hand.
"Calm down!" One-Eyed Boss roared, but cold sweat instantly soaked his back as well.
The enemy was right beside them!
And they had become blind men with their eyes open!
Chen Chen moved like a ghost, silently keeping close to the cave wall.
After breaking through to the Body Tempering First Layer, he still could not see as clearly at night as in broad daylight. Yet in this dimly lit environment, he could barely make out the outlines of the two enemies.
His opponents, however, could see nothing.
That was his greatest advantage.
He did not rush to attack.
One-Eyed Boss was a Body Tempering Second Layer martial artist. His blood and qi were more abundant, and he was stronger as well. Once Chen Chen was tangled up by him, defeat would be inevitable.
What Chen Chen needed to do was keep harassing them, keep pressuring them, and wear down their stamina and minds.
He would make them collapse on their own amid fear and suspicion.
Whoosh!
Another pebble shot out from a different direction, grazing past Black Bear's ear before smashing into the rock wall with a dull thud.
"Ah! Over there!"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Black Bear wildly slashed toward where the sound had come from.
Clang!
His saber struck the hard rock, scattering sparks and numbing the web between his thumb and forefinger.
Yet there was no one there.
"Don't move around! Save your strength!" One-Eyed Boss growled. He could feel that the enemy hidden in the darkness was like a venomous snake, patiently waiting for them to reveal a weakness.
The feeling made him feel incomparably stifled.
He had strength throughout his body, yet nowhere to use it.
Time passed second by second.
To the two men in the cave, every second was as long as a year.
Chen Chen was like the most experienced hunter, using pebbles to harass them now and then but never showing himself.
Every sound cutting through the air was like Death's scythe brushing over their taut nerves.
Black Bear's mind was the first to reach the brink of collapse.
"Come out! Get the hell out here!"
He roared madly, wildly swinging his saber and stirring gust after gust of wind through the cave.
"If you've got the guts, fight me blade against blade! What kind of hero hides and skulks around!"
One-Eyed Boss's face turned ashen. He knew Black Bear was finished.
A martial artist who had lost his mind was no different from a wild beast.
And Chen Chen had been waiting for precisely this chance.
At the instant Black Bear swung his saber madly, when his old strength was spent and his new strength had yet to arise—
A black shadow burst from the shadows behind and to the side of him!
Fast! Fast beyond all measure!
Chen Chen brought the strength and speed of the Body Tempering First Layer to their fullest.
The steel blade in his hand traced an icy path through the darkness. It did not strike at Black Bear's vital points, but slashed precisely at the wrist holding the saber!
Slash!
Black Bear only felt a chill at his wrist, followed by a burst of searing pain.
His right hand, which gripped the saber, had been severed cleanly at the wrist!
"Ah—!"
His shrill scream echoed through the entire cave.
The saber fell to the ground with a clang.
Clutching his gushing wrist, Black Bear dropped to his knees in agony.
"Black Bear!"
One-Eyed Boss was shocked and furious. Following the sound, without a second thought, he swept the Mountain-Cleaving Axe in his hand toward the source of the scream with the force of ten thousand pounds!
This strike was heavy and powerful, and the gale it whipped up even made the air let out a mournful howl.
But after landing his blow, Chen Chen immediately retreated far away. He had no intention of meeting him head-on.
The axe missed again.
Deathly silence returned to the darkness. Only Black Bear's agonized groans and One-Eyed Boss's heavy breathing remained.
"Boss... my hand... my hand is gone..." Black Bear's voice was filled with despair.
One-Eyed Boss's heart sank bit by bit.
He knew the next one would be him.
Only now did he understand what kind of monster they had provoked.
This monster was calm, cruel, intelligent, and possessed an extraordinary command of darkness.
"Friend, we're from the Black Wind Mercenary Group!" One-Eyed Boss suddenly said in a hoarse voice. "We had no intention of becoming your enemy. We were only taking someone's money and helping them deal with their trouble! Let us leave, and we won't take a single coin of the reward the Wang Family gave us—we'll give it all to you! We can even help you deal with the Wang Family!"
He was trying to negotiate.
Or rather, he was stalling for time.
As he spoke, he quietly felt around inside his clothes for something.
It was a small bamboo tube.
As long as he pulled out the stopper, it would release a special smoke. It could not hurt anyone, but it would cling to surfaces and emit a faint glow in the dark.
This was his last-ditch means of saving his life.
As long as he could mark the enemy's location, he was confident he could finish this skulking bastard with a single swing of his axe!
From the darkness, Chen Chen's voice sounded for the first time, cold and indifferent.
"How much did the Wang Family pay you?"
There was a response!
Joy rose in One-Eyed Boss's heart as he hurriedly said, "Fifty taels of silver! If you let us go, these fifty taels, along with all the savings our brothers have, will all be yours!"
"Fifty taels?"
A trace of mockery entered Chen Chen's voice.
"The lives of all three hundred and sixteen members of my Chen Family are worth only fifty taels of silver in your eyes?"
One-Eyed Boss's pupils suddenly contracted.
The Chen Family... boy!
He really was that rumored Chen Family Remnant!
Hadn't he been heavily injured and on the verge of death?
How could he...
Countless questions exploded in his mind.
But the next second, a deadly sense of danger came from behind him!
Not good! A feint to strike elsewhere!
One-Eyed Boss reacted quickly. Without thinking, he spun around and swung his axe!
At the same time, his other hand violently pulled the stopper from the bamboo tube.
Yet he was still one step too slow.
Chen Chen's voice seemed to sound from directly behind him, pressed against his ear.
"I'll take your life too."
The instant he turned, an icy blade silently pierced into his lower back.
His kidney was pierced through in an instant!
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