"The one who used the hidden weapon just now is hiding here. You lot, search carefully. You must find him!"
In the dim night, more than a dozen figures armed with weapons searched all around the house where Chen Mu had just fired his gun.
Their leader was a burly man in black. His eyes shone brilliantly, and the blood Qi throughout his body was incomparably vigorous. Clearly, he was extremely powerful.
In a dark corner beneath the eaves, Chen Mu drew the short blade at his waist and moved about like a ghost.
Thud!
A figure fell without a sound.
"Who's there?"
Hearing the strange noise, the burly man in black rushed over at once.
The man lying on the ground had a huge gash across his throat. Blood flowed freely, and he was clearly beyond saving.
He looked around, but there was no one in sight. He frowned in frustration.
"Come out! Stop playing tricks!"
A short while later, he heard his subordinates, who had split up to search the area, falling to the ground one after another.
At last, he could stand it no longer.
"Everyone, regroup here! Quickly!"
But it was too late. His subordinates were falling even faster than before.
In a matter of moments, he was the only one left around the house.
He was an experienced fighter and knew that at a time like this, he had to stay calm above all else.
He took a deep breath, remained where he was, and waited with his full attention.
Suddenly, a sharp rush of air sounded behind him.
Rather than being alarmed, he was delighted. He lowered his body slightly, spun around, and swept his right foot across the ground toward the rear.
With a smack, the sweeping kick struck Chen Mu's lower leg. He stumbled and fell forward.
"Haha! Little thief, let's see where you can run this time!"
The burly man in black raised his elbow and drove it toward Chen Mu's head. With his strength as a Fourth Stage warrior, he could shatter even an iron plate. If the blow landed, Chen Mu's head would burst open like a watermelon.
At that critical moment, Chen Mu flung out the paper talisman in his other hand and roared:
"Freeze!"
The burly man in black suddenly stopped, as if a film had been frozen on a single frame, and stood completely motionless.
Chen Mu did not dare waste a moment. He sprang to his feet and slashed sharply upward with his short blade.
"You... you...!"
As soon as the short blade cut open the burly man's throat, he regained his ability to move.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Blood gushed from his throat like water from a spring. He desperately clutched his neck, but it did no good. After letting out a few feeble cries, he fell.
Chen Mu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his heart still racing from the ordeal.
Using the Concealment Rune on his clothes, he had easily killed the burly man's subordinates, so he had somewhat underestimated the man himself.
He had not expected that, when he launched his sneak attack, the burly man would avoid it so easily, as though he had anticipated it all along.
Apparently, this was combat instinct, honed through countless brushes with death. It was even faster than conscious thought.
When it came to fighting, Chen Mu was clearly still a long way from reaching that level.
But talisman masters had strange and unpredictable methods, and Chen Mu had made ample preparations. Only then had he achieved such a good outcome.
Originally, Chen Mu could have used the Rune Gun to deal with the burly man from a distance.
But the Rune Gun was too loud, and Chen Mu could not yet make a silencing device. To avoid alerting the others, he had no choice but to deal with them in close combat.
This time had still been too dangerous. Talisman masters were not good at close combat, after all, so it would be best to avoid it whenever possible in the future.
Chen Mu rested for a short while, allowing his spirit to recover somewhat, then climbed onto the roof of another nearby house.
"Tucha! Huyan Qing! You've lost so many men tonight that even if you wipe out Chen Village, the gains won't make up for the losses. Chen Village hasn't lost out! Haha!"
Chen Shanyu had suffered several fatal wounds, and his breath was failing. Clearly, he did not have long to live.
Several warriors' corpses lay beside him. One was Amuduo, the white-haired elder of the Black Water Tribe. The rest were also members of the White Rock Tribe and the Black Water Tribe.
"This old bastard is too hard to kill! Why isn't he dead yet?!"
Tucha was filled with regret. He had discovered that, besides Chen Shanyu and his treasure weapon, several other warriors from Chen Village had similar weapons. Though they were not as powerful as the one in Chen Shanyu's hands, their might was still formidable.
Half his men were already dead. Although Chen Village had lost more people, if they kept fighting like this, both sides would suffer grievous losses.
Now he was riding a tiger and could not get off. There had been some truth to Huyan Qing's words: Chen Village's methods emerged one after another without end. If he could not wipe them out tonight, he feared he would neither eat nor sleep in peace afterward.
"Huyan Qing, that old bastard Chen is nearly dead. I want the treasure weapon in his hands when he dies! You're not allowed to fight me for it!"
Huyan Qing narrowed his eyes and sneered. "Fine! It's yours!"
Both of them were covered in wounds, but they were in much better condition than Chen Shanyu.
"Chief! Hold on, I'm coming to help you!"
Chen Mu's third uncle, Chen Hongjie, was covered in wounds. Carrying an iron spear, he fought his way to Chen Shanyu's side.
A slightly stout old man followed him, holding a long bone saber as he stood in front of Tucha and Huyan Qing.
The stout old man was named Chen Jianfeng. He was a village elder, a generation senior even to Chief Chen Shanyu. His strength was incomparably formidable, in no way inferior to Chen Shanyu's.
"Hongjie, take this bone staff! From now on, you are the new chief of Chen Village!"
Chen Shanyu handed the bone staff to Chen Hongjie, his voice weak.
The succession of the chief was naturally not something decided on the spur of the moment. Chen Hongjie had already become a Fifth Stage warrior at a young age, and the village had long since chosen him as its next chief. That was why Chen Jianfeng had stayed by his side all along.
"Chief! You..."
Chen Hongjie took the bone staff with trembling hands, his eyes red and tears filling his tiger-like eyes.
"Promise me! You must keep everyone alive! You must!"
Chen Shanyu seized Chen Hongjie in agitation. After saying those words, he fell limply to the ground, all signs of life gone.
"Chief! Chief!"
Chen Hongjie cried out in grief, heartbroken.
"Hand over the bone staff!"
Seeing the cooked duck about to fly away, Tucha flew into a rage and madly swung his meteor hammer at Chen Hongjie.
"Hongjie! A great enemy is before us. Don't let your guard down!"
Chen Jianfeng shouted a warning and swung his bone saber from the side, using a deft application of force to push Tucha's meteor hammer aside.
Chen Hongjie forced down his grief, raised the bone staff, and blocked Huyan Qing, who came charging in behind Tucha.
Just then.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Deafening reports of gunfire began to ring out through the night once more.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out as Tucha was shot in the arm, blood spraying through the air.
"What's going on? Where's Wodage? Did he fail to kill the one using hidden weapons?"
This time, Huyan Qing truly panicked. He had deliberately sent a squad to hunt down Chen Mu earlier, and when no gunshots had sounded for so long, he had thought they had succeeded in dealing with him. He had not expected them to fail.
He looked around. Three more warriors had just died while they were surrounding and attacking Chen Shanyu. They now had only slightly more warriors than Chen Village, and under Chen Mu's hidden weapons, they had begun falling one after another once again.
"The hidden weapons are here! They're doomed! Kill them! Don't let them get away!"
As Chen Mu's gunshots rang out, the morale of the Chen Village villagers soared. Their exhausted bodies seemed to regain their strength all at once, and they began a furious counterattack against the invading tribesmen.
The Rune Gun's power and speed were both tremendous, and after the prolonged fighting, all the warriors present were already extremely exhausted. This time, it caused even more casualties than the previous round.
By the time the gunfire stopped, nearly every remaining warrior from the White Rock Tribe and the Black Water Tribe was seriously wounded.
Huyan Qing was also shot at, but his movements were so fast that he managed to dodge the bullet.