Lao Ye had thought that strike would sever Lin Shen's arm, but when the blade landed on it, it was as though he had chopped into an incomparably tough steel cable. Not only had he failed to cut through it, the recoil left his wrist aching.
Just as Lao Ye sensed something was wrong and tried to pull back, a dark-red shadow tore through Lin Shen's sleeve and coiled around Lao Ye's arm like a snake.
That strike had hit the Dead Powder wrapped around Lin Shen's arm. Lin Shen had long known that his finger could never be faster than Lao Ye.
Lao Ye reacted with incredible speed. The instant Dead Powder wrapped around his hand, his other hand shot out like lightning and grabbed Dead Powder by the head, trying to tear it away.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated Dead Powder. The instant he seized its head, its tail lashed out like a scorpion's sting and instantly pierced his palm. At the same time, it coiled upward, binding both his arms in an instant.
"What the hell is this thing?!" Lao Ye's expression changed slightly. In such circumstances, he suddenly launched himself at Lin Shen, ignoring the Dead Powder wound around his hands. Using one leg as a pivot, he sent his other leg whipping toward Lin Shen's head like a phantom.
As long as he kicked Lin Shen to death and obtained the key to this strange pet, he could immediately turn the tables.
Lin Shen had anticipated this move long ago. Before Lao Ye even raised his leg, he had already begun retreating, while ordering the Superspeed Gunslinger to fire almost at the same time.
As Lao Ye kicked, Lin Shen's speed had already surpassed that of a bullet. By the skin of his teeth, he retreated and dodged the kick, the wind from the leg scattering his hair in every direction.
The Superspeed Gunslinger's bullets also struck Lao Ye. Although the Superspeed Gunslinger's hardness was somewhat lacking, it was still Alloy Grade. Yet when the bullets hit Lao Ye's strange scaled carapace, they merely burst out a few sparks before the rounds ricocheted away.
Both Lao Ye and Lin Shen were startled. Lao Ye was shocked that Lin Shen could still use that kind of speed. He had thought such a life-saving method could not be used too many times; being able to use it twice would already have been heaven-defying. Yet Lin Shen seemed able to use it continuously.
Lin Shen, meanwhile, was shocked that Lao Ye was not only fast, but that even the hardness of his Alloy Carapace was so high. The Superspeed Gunslinger's bullets were almost useless against him.
Lao Ye exerted himself and chased after Lin Shen, intending to raise his leg again, but before he could lift it, Dead Powder had already coiled around it.
Lao Ye tried to lift his other leg, but when it was only halfway up, Dead Powder wrapped around that one as well. At once, his whole body toppled straight backward like a mummy.
At the same time Lao Ye fell, another gunshot rang out. As Lao Ye hit the ground, he saw Lin Shen's finger press against a spot just below his throat.
A flash of delight passed through Lao Ye's eyes. Even if Lin Shen had some life-saving method, how much force could he possibly have? There was no way he could break through his Alloy Carapace.
Yet Lin Shen's bold approach gave him a chance to kill Lin Shen directly.
Just as Lao Ye expected, Lin Shen's finger landed on him without causing any damage to his metal carapace. It only felt like the jolt of being poked by a wooden stick.
Lao Ye wanted to open his mouth and use his trump card, but he suddenly discovered that he could not move his mouth at all.
In fact, it was not just his mouth. He could not move his entire body.
Lao Ye stared at Lin Shen in horror, his eyes wide. At last, he understood the true reason why the Superspeed Gunslinger had been subdued by Lin Shen's single finger earlier.
He had originally thought the Superspeed Gunslinger had been unable to move because some vital point had been struck. Now, it seemed that was not the case.
"Pry open his mouth." Lin Shen gave Dead Powder the order.
Dead Powder's tail suddenly thrust into Lao Ye's mouth, directly shattering his teeth. Then it forced his mouth open and curled out a long, thin sliver shaped like a willow leaf.
The sliver was transparent like a green phantom, clearly forged from crystal gene material. It was even thinner than a razor blade.
Lin Shen took the Green Leaf Blade and reached out to tap Lao Ye once more.
With several teeth shattered and his mouth full of blood, Lao Ye immediately regained the ability to speak. "Fifth Brother... no... Little Fifth Master... I shouldn't have underestimated you... shouldn't have underestimated you, a member of the Lin Family..."
"Lao Ye, what has my Lin Family ever done to wrong you?" Lin Shen asked coldly.
"Nothing. The Lin Family has never wronged me." Lao Ye gave a miserable laugh.
"Since the Lin Family has never wronged you, and you're already so old, what use would the things inside Gourd Mountain be to you even if you got them? How many more years can you live?" Lin Shen wanted to draw some information about Gourd Mountain from Lao Ye. Lao Ye had fought so desperately; he had to know something.
"Precisely because I don't have many years left to live, I have to enter Gourd Mountain. Only by entering Gourd Mountain can I continue living. I haven't lived enough yet. I don't want to die yet," Lao Ye said.
"What do you mean?" Lin Shen narrowed his eyes. The information revealed in Lao Ye's words surprised him somewhat.
"Fifth Brother, I can tell you everything I know. I only beg you to spare my life," Lao Ye pleaded.
"Speak." Lin Shen looked at Lao Ye expressionlessly.
"I only learned some of Gourd Mountain's secrets by chance, after overhearing a conversation between Third Master and Fourth Master. At the time, Third Master and Fourth Master were talking about Second Master. They said that long ago, Second Master once went out for a very long time. When he returned, he was extremely excited and told them there was something in Gourd Mountain that could grant immortality. Once their strength was sufficient, he would take his brothers and Eldest Sister into Gourd Mountain, so that the siblings could all become immortal and remain forever young..." Lao Ye recalled.
"Do you truly believe there's something in this world that can grant immortality?" Lin Shen frowned.
"Second Master would never lie. If Second Master said it exists, then it definitely exists." Lao Ye's eyes were filled with desire.
"Just for those words, you were willing to stop at nothing to enter Gourd Mountain?" Lin Shen asked thoughtfully.
"The older a person gets, the more they fear death. I truly just don't want to die. From now on, I'll serve you with all my heart and never harbor the slightest ulterior thought again," Lao Ye said.
"You have no future." Lin Shen spoke flatly.
Lao Ye's expression changed drastically at once. Struggling, he cried, "Little Fifth Master... you're a member of the Lin Family... you can't go back on your word..."
Before he could finish, Dead Powder's tail suddenly stabbed toward his forehead, piercing straight through his skull.
He died in a single strike. Lao Ye's eyes were stretched wider than any living person could imagine, and he died with his eyes still open.
Lao Ye had never imagined that Lin Shen, who usually laughed and joked, spending every day eating, drinking, and having fun, could be so ruthless. Nor had he imagined that the Lin Family would go back on their word.
"I never promised not to kill you. Even if I had, I still wouldn't have let you live. You were far too great a threat to me. If I hadn't caught you off guard, I would have had no confidence in defeating you at all. Giving you a chance would have been sending myself to my death. I don't want to die either." Lin Shen bent down and searched Lao Ye's corpse, taking everything from him.
He felt utterly sick inside, but at a time like this, surviving mattered more than anything.
Before long, Lin Shen had taken everything from Lao Ye's body.
There was an alloy short blade, a Crystal Gene Green Leaf Blade, two alloy Pet Capsules, and three capsule keys.
Two of the keys were clearly paired with those two Pet Capsules. The remaining key was unexpectedly Crystal Gene Level, glittering and translucent like yellow crystal, with a heart-shaped key handle.
"Strange. Why is there only a key and no capsule?" Lin Shen wondered inwardly as he examined Lao Ye's corpse once more.
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