Black Crow turned around, released the woman in his grasp, and looked in puzzlement at the dark figure with a cigarette between his lips in the pouring rain.
The rain falling from the sky could have put out a blazing fire, but it couldn't extinguish the cigarette between the dark figure's lips.
"You can still smoke in rain this heavy. I reckon you're the only one who can, Smoker!"
"Black Crow, we meet again!"
Black Crow looked at Old Crab lying on the ground, then turned to Smoker. "When we met two years ago, weren't you the security captain for a caravan? How come you're meddling in Hunter's affairs now? Don't tell me you've joined them!"
Smoker approached Black Crow one step at a time, stopping three meters away.
"That caravan pretended to transport everyday goods, but behind the scenes, it was taking Great Xia's women and children overseas to sell for high prices. Your Dark Pavilion wouldn't do anything about it, so I had no choice but to wipe out the whole caravan!"
"So? Did you join Hunter?"
"Hunter's work is to make sure women and children are never treated as merchandise in this world again. I spent the first thirty years of my life in a daze. I kept thinking that one day I'd die, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, but how could I die so that my death would have a little more value?"
"Joining Hunter means your death will have value?"
"I don't know whether my death will have value, but being alive now, I feel like my life has value."
Black Crow smiled. It was hard to tell what he was smiling about.
"Come on, let me see just how formidable you are, Smoker!"
Black Crow roused the Spirit within him, and wisps of black qi rose from his body.
The black qi quickly gathered around him, forming black feathers.
Smoker took a deep drag on his cigarette and removed it from his lips. He opened his mouth and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, which quickly formed a giant hand and grabbed at Black Crow!
District Administration Building, surveillance room.
An elegant, richly dressed noblewoman sat in front of the monitors, wrapped in a wool blanket and drinking warm milk.
"Commander Bai, are you sure we don't need to send reinforcements?"
Bai Ming, bare-chested with bandages wrapped around his waist, shook his head. "No!"
The noblewoman turned to look at him. "What if something happens?"
Bai Ming forced down the grief in his heart and said, "Our orders were only to help them apprehend Li Xie. Now that Li Xie is dead, we don't need to help them anymore. The main reason is that those people are too strong. We'd better keep all the Guard Team's forces in the noble district. Ensuring the nobles' safety is what matters!"
The noblewoman looked back at the monitors. On the screen, feathers filled the air, and smoke formed a giant sword.
"But there are rules, aren't there? When the Dark Pavilion handles affairs, all our districts have to cooperate."
"We did cooperate. We helped them apprehend Li Xie, but now that he's dead, there's no need to cooperate anymore."
"It won't do us any good to stand by and do nothing. The noble district is important, certainly, but the Dark Pavilion's people can't die in our district either! Or rather, they can die, but absolutely not because we deliberately withheld support! Send three hundred members of the Guard Team to reinforce them, and make it quick!"
"District Chief, I still think the nobles' safety is more important. There are several strong fighters among those people. At a time like this, we need to look after ourselves first," Bai Ming said in a low voice.
He didn't care about the nobles' safety.
What he cared about was Old Crab's wife and daughter!
Old Crab was already dead. If he sent the Guard Team over there, Old Crab's wife and daughter would be certain to die too!
"The chief commander of Zone 96's Guard Team fought the enemy while trying to apprehend a suspect, lost, and was knocked unconscious. Aside from sword wounds, he didn't have a single other injury." The woman looked at Bai Ming, her voice suddenly turning cold. "Next time you do something like this, give yourself a few punches in the face too. It won't take much time."
Panic flashed in Bai Ming's eyes, and that very flash convinced the woman that her guess was right.
"District Chief, I..."
"Enough. You don't need to say anything. You and Li Xie are good friends, and doing this shows your loyalty. Given how diligently you've worked for me all these years, I can overlook this. Now send people to support them immediately. Don't make me say it a third time!"
Bai Ming's gaze grew grave. In the end, he bowed his head deeply. "All right... I'll go now!"
The heavy rain continued for a whole night and didn't stop until the next morning.
Glasses walked in from outside the cave, carrying a large leaf in each hand, both filled with clear rainwater.
Qin Xun took the leaves.
Qin Ling had been awake all night and had only just fallen asleep, so he didn't wake her. He drank the water from one of the leaves himself.
Song Jie drank the water from the other leaf, wiped her mouth, and asked, "How does it look?"
Glasses crouched halfway down as he answered, "I just went to look at the city gate. There are more guards there now, and anyone leaving the city has to go through a very strict inspection!"
"Smoker said that if he hadn't come out by daybreak, we should leave without him," Song Jie murmured.
"Then where do we go?" Glasses asked.
"Do you think we can just leave them behind and go?" Song Jie looked serious.
Glasses nodded. "You're right. They might be trapped inside, or they might already have been captured. If we leave, their chances of getting out safely will be even slimmer."
Song Jie said, "Here's what we'll do. I'll go into the city and take a look. You take the two of them and leave first. Do your best to keep them safe!"
"There's no need for special treatment at a time like this," Qin Xun said calmly. "We're with you now. I'll stay too. There's strength in numbers. Even if we're just trying to think of a way, more people can come up with more ideas."
"You really are very likable. All right, you stay with Glasses. I'll go in and see what's happening, whether they've been captured or trapped."
Song Jie got up to leave, but Glasses grabbed her. "Leave something this dangerous to a man. You stay here; I'll go."
Song Jie thought it over and agreed. "All right, we'll wait for you here. Be careful."
"I'll go with you. With two of us, we can look out for each other," Qin Xun said.
"No, you can't go!" Song Jie said immediately.
"We agreed there'd be no special treatment. I'm a Psionic Power user now too. I'm not very strong, but I should be able to help a little. Don't worry, I won't be a burden."
Song Jie shook her head. "It's not special treatment. That's just our rule. We have to protect our companions' families and can't let them take risks. Do you know why Brother Shui gave up resisting and let himself be captured? That's why!"
Qin Xun fell silent for a few seconds, then raised his head as though he had made up his mind. His expression was serious. "What if I join you?"
Song Jie laughed. "Are you really so unafraid of death that you have to go in?"
Qin Xun let out a long breath and looked outside the cave.
"I don't want to die, but I'm not afraid to die! A man with a dog risked his life to get me out of Zone 108. Now he and his dog are trapped in Zone 96, and I want to do my part. Besides, I owe every one of you two lives!"