The arena's office building.
A dark gun barrel fitted with a suppressor was aimed at Qin Xun's head.
The distance from the door to the desk was so short that there was hardly any need to aim.
"Now, are you ready to hand over the special medicine?"
A sinister smile curled at the corners of Lin Cheng's mouth. His voice was slightly magnetic, as if he were the victor.
He did admire Qin Xun.
But admiration didn't mean sympathy.
After living in the Fallen Zone for twenty-three years, he had learned one thing: to survive in these chaotic times, he had to look after himself first!
He owed a huge gambling debt at the casino, one he could never pay off even if he worked for He Laowu for the rest of his life.
Only this bag of gold coins and that bottle of special medicine could ensure he survived after escaping Zone 108 and reaching somewhere else.
Qin Xun turned to glance at the security bars, then looked through the window at the night sky.
He unhurriedly took the special medicine from his pocket. "If you want it, you can have it."
He tossed the special medicine to Lin Cheng.
Lin Cheng let go of the bag of gold coins and reached out to catch the special medicine.
As he looked at the valuable medicine in his hand, the room suddenly went dark before he could even smile. Everything before his eyes turned black.
A drifting cloud had covered the moon!
When he saw Qin Xun move, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Just as he was about to pull it a fourth time, a sudden, piercing pain shot through his wrist. He grunted, and the pistol dropped from his hand to the floor!
By the time the cloud drifted away, a gleaming dagger was already pressed against the artery in his neck.
Another dagger was embedded in the wrist of the hand that had just held the gun!
Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead.
The terrible pain in his wrist made him tremble all over, but he didn't dare cry out. That would bring the security guards downstairs up here.
"This kid... how is this possible!"
Lin Cheng's expression was full of shock!
He knew Qin Xun was strong. To win ninety-nine consecutive matches in the Killing Arena, his fighting skills, movements, and speed could all be considered first-rate, far beyond those of an ordinary person!
But he had never imagined that Qin Xun could fucking dodge bullets!
He was filled with hatred and fear!
He hated himself for being so useless that he couldn't beat Qin Xun even with a gun!
He feared that Qin Xun would kill him the next second!
"Your aim is a little bad... no, it's terrible!"
This time, it was Lin Cheng's turn to be nervous. "I underestimated you. I admit defeat. Take the gold coins and the special medicine."
Qin Xun shook his head slightly. "If you'd succeeded in getting the gold coins and the special medicine, would you have let me go before you left?"
"Yes, of course!"
"Assistant Lin, you've lived in the Fallen Zone for twenty-three years. Do you believe that yourself?"
Feeling a trace of warmth run down his neck and onto his chest, Lin Cheng panicked completely.
He was just an ordinary man, not a Psionic Power user, and he had never fought in the Killing Arena.
He didn't think he was faster than Qin Xun or could counter him before the blade cut through his artery.
"Wait, let me go, and I'll tell you something!"
"Talk first. What is it?"
"He Laowu was behind your sister's poisoning!"
Qin Xun's expression froze. "Go on!"
"He Laowu needed people willing to make money for him, so he ordered me to look specifically for suitable candidates in Zone 108. Most of those candidates were youngsters like you, who cared deeply about their loved ones!"
The terrible pain in his wrist made Lin Cheng pause in agony for three seconds, but afraid of being killed, he immediately continued.
"Once he found suitable people, he'd secretly arrange for their loved ones to be poisoned!"
"Then he'd come forward and persuade them, offering the special medicine as payment to get them to willingly fight in the arena and make money for him!"
"He Laowu sent someone to poison your sister!"
"Oh, and in tomorrow's match, he'll make you lose! He also said that after you die, he'll send your sister to join you!"
To save his life, Lin Cheng blurted out everything he knew.
Qin Xun's gaze trembled.
He was furious!
Extremely furious!
But for now, all he could do was force his anger down!
"What else haven't you told me? Keep talking!"
"Nothing! I've told you everything I know!"
Shing!
Qin Xun pressed down, and the sharp blade cleanly severed Lin Cheng's artery, cutting halfway through his windpipe as well.
Lin Cheng's body went rigid. Both hands clutched his bleeding throat, his eyes bulging like a goldfish's as he stared fixedly at Qin Xun's face.
"If I don't kill you, my sister and I can't leave."
Looking at Lin Cheng lying in a pool of blood, Qin Xun's face tightened in pain, and he clutched his wounded left arm!
That was right. He had been shot.
Lin Cheng had thought he hadn't been hit because he had been enduring the pain all along.
Over the past two years, whenever Qin Xun returned home after being seriously injured in the arena, he would put on a brave face in front of his sister.
He had trained himself to endure pain that many people could not!
Even the pain of a gunshot wound was something he could bear!
He took a small medicine bottle from his pocket and poured the powder inside onto his wound.
It was excellent hemostatic medicine, something ordinary civilians could never afford.
But because he made money for He Laowu, he received a bottle every time he was injured. He had a whole pile of it at home.
It had to be said, Lin Cheng's aim was pretty good.
Besides his arm, Qin Xun had also been shot in the chest.
Fortunately, a steel plate had blocked the bullet.
He took the steel plate from his chest and examined it in the faint moonlight.
The bullet had pierced the steel plate and lodged in it!
If the pistol had been thirty percent more powerful, Lin Cheng could have won.
Qin Xun endured the pain as he poured the powder onto his chest.
Besides stopping bleeding, the powder was also very effective at relieving pain.
Soon, the pain sweeping through his body eased, and Qin Xun no longer had to grit his teeth and force himself to suppress it.
After quickly treating his wounds, he picked up the black bag of gold coins from the floor and put it in the backpack on his back along with the special medicine.
He also stuffed Lin Cheng's pistol into the backpack. It still had three bullets in it.
He had to take his sister out of Zone 108 before dawn, or before Lin Cheng's body was discovered.
He had a way out of the city.
He just didn't know how to deal with the ferocious monsters in the Misty Forest.
Even though he had fought in the Killing Arena ninety-nine times, he was still only a frail human before those monsters.
But he had to leave anyway!
Staying in the zone meant certain death. If they escaped outside, there might still be a sliver of hope!
As for He Laowu, Qin Xun swore that one day, he would come back and kill him!
After coming downstairs, Qin Xun used the same method as before, crouching low and slipping out of the office building while the three young men in the guard booth weren't looking.
As when he had come, he avoided the main roads and took the side streets, evading the cameras and street patrols as he hurried home, not daring to stop for a moment.
Only a little moonlight filtered down from the sky.
Just as he was about to enter an alley, Qin Xun suddenly stopped.
A black dog stood in the alley directly ahead, blocking his path.
The dog was different from an ordinary one. Its eyes glowed blue, and streaks resembling markings ran along its body, shining with a deep blue light.
Low growls rumbled from the dog's throat.
"A monster?"
Qin Xun's heart jolted!
This dog really did look like a monster!
After all, how could an ordinary dog's eyes glow blue?
Even if its eyes glowed, how could its skin also have streaks of light?
Had it run in from the Misty Forest?
How had he managed to run into it of all times?
Qin Xun drew the dagger from his waist, raised it in front of his chest, and warily took a step back.
He wasn't confident he could deal with a monster, even if it was only a dog.
Besides, he had gunshot wounds.
"Don't be nervous. It won't bite you."
A man's voice came from deep in the alley.
Qin Xun didn't run.
The dog was staring fixedly at him.
He was certain that if he ran, the dog would bite him.
And even if he did run, he didn't think he could outrun the dog!
Damn it!
Could I have run into a patrol team!?
Is this dog a pet kept by the patrol team?
The next second, a blinding light shone in Qin Xun's face.
By its light, Qin Xun also got a clear look at the person who had appeared.
He was a young man in a black coat, around twenty-four or twenty-five, with side-swept bangs and a somewhat roguish handsomeness.
The young man held a flashlight in one hand and pulled out a photo with the other. He looked at the photo, then at Qin Xun's face.
"Hmm, you do look a little alike... are you Qin Xun?"