Li Qiang knew that if he could not finish off the three soldiers before him quickly, he would be in serious trouble. Before they could raise their guns, the silver gleam of the little flying sword in his hand had already swept across one soldier's neck.
Drawing on his scant True Essence Power, he thrust his other hand like a longsword straight into the chest of the soldier beside him, a faint purple light flashing. A head flew off, and hot blood gushed wildly from the severed neck.
The other soldier clutched futilely at Li Qiang's shoulder, staring in disbelief at the arm that had passed through his body all the way to the elbow. Even his protective armor had failed to stop it.
One soldier remained, his eyes filled with utter disbelief and terror. His mouth opened, but he could not utter a word. Suddenly, agony struck his belly, and he was already flying through the air. The force of Li Qiang's kick had shattered his internal organs.
Gritting his teeth, Nashan landed squarely on the sleeping soldier with a thud, jolting him awake. The soldier flailed his arms, still not understanding what was happening. Straddling him, Nashan drove the triangular spike at his chest with all his strength. Who could have known that after piercing the armor and sinking three inches into flesh, the spike would jam in the armor? The pain made the soldier roar.
Panicking, Nashan tried to cover his mouth, only to have his hand bitten. The soldier stopped shouting, but Nashan began screaming instead.
Kankanqi had the easiest time. He landed right beside the soldier dozing against a pillar, raised his small Spine-Piercing Spear, and blasted his head to pieces with a single shot. Then he heard two screams, one unmistakably Nashan's. His scalp prickled. Snatching a Spine-Piercing Spear from the rack, he rushed toward the passage entrance.
Kankanqi had indeed been an officer. Rather than rescue Nashan, he charged toward the passage entrance because he knew that only by blocking the entrance could the few fight the many. Once a large number of soldiers rushed inside, none of them could hope to survive.
Zhao Zhi, however, had run into trouble. His opponent was a heavily bearded soldier with exceptionally keen vigilance. The instant he saw Zhao Zhi, he activated his armor and arm shield. He had just raised his Spine-Piercing Spear when Zhao Zhi kicked his wrist, knocking the white weapon to the ground. Zhao Zhi unleashed every skill he possessed in a flurry of blows, only to discover dejectedly that he could not hurt his opponent.
The bearded soldier could do nothing to Zhao Zhi either. Though his protective gear was excellent, his offensive weapon lay off to one side. He scrambled and rolled toward the Spine-Piercing Spear.
Zhao Zhi knew some decent martial arts, but against the bearded man in standard-issue protective gear, he was almost helpless. Stabbing him with the triangular spike accomplished nothing, leaving him to punch and kick in vain.
The bearded soldier was suffering too. The repeated heavy blows left him dizzy and dazed. Realizing he could not reach the Spine-Piercing Spear, he leaped aside with all his strength and drew a strange-looking short blade a foot long.
They faced each other like fighting cocks. Zhao Zhi did not dare charge in either, unable to make out what sort of weapon the man held. But he had achieved his aim of keeping the bearded soldier occupied.
Just as Li Qiang finished off the three soldiers, he heard Nashan's peculiar scream. He sprang sideways toward him, both annoyed and amused. While still airborne, he saw that the soldier had clamped his teeth onto the web of one of Nashan's hands. Nashan was pummeling his face like a madman with the other. The soldier's face was covered in blood, but he refused to let go.
Landing beside Nashan, Li Qiang raised a foot and stamped down. Crack! The triangular spike and armor caved in together. The soldier's mouth opened, spraying blood all over Nashan's head and face.
Clutching his hand, Nashan sprang up and spun in circles from the pain. Li Qiang had no time to bother with him and rushed toward Zhao Zhi.
Kankanqi groaned inwardly. They had alerted the soldiers outside, and countless soldiers were charging down the passage toward the hall. Lying at the entrance, he fired wildly at them. Silver balls of energy struck their shields with sharp clangs. After a moment of confusion, the soldiers raised their Spine-Piercing Spears and returned fire. Instantly, deafening blasts filled the air.
Hearing the commotion outside, the bearded soldier opened his mouth and shouted. Before he could shout again, Li Qiang arrived. Sweeping behind him like a whirlwind, Li Qiang seized his neck, his five fingers tightening like steel pincers. Foam spilled from the bearded man's mouth, and his eyes rolled upward.
"He's the only one left alive!" Zhao Zhi shouted. "Don't kill him!"
Li Qiang hastily loosened his grip. He realized that lately, whenever he fought, he went straight for the kill. He had no idea where such viciousness had come from.
"Nashan, get over here! Tie him up and wait beneath the opening. Brother Zhao, come with me to the passage entrance." Before his words had faded, he had already darted away.
"Kankanqi, how is it? Can you hold them?" Li Qiang asked, suddenly appearing behind him.
Without looking back, Kankanqi fired another string of energy balls. Calm but helpless, he said, "Too many soldiers. If the narrow passage weren't restricting them, they'd have rushed through long ago. If they bring out a heavy assault shield, we're finished."
Holding two Spine-Piercing Spears, Zhao Zhi also lay down on the other side of the passage entrance, establishing a crossfire with Kankanqi.
Though Li Qiang did not know what a heavy assault shield was, he was certain the Spine-Piercing Spears could not penetrate it. As he hesitated, Nashan's voice rang out. "What's this thing? Can we use it?"
Li Qiang and Kankanqi turned together. Li Qiang could not help laughing as he scolded him. "I told you to wait beneath the opening! What did you come running over for? Trying to get yourself killed?"
Kankanqi, however, cried out in delight, "Quick, bring it here!"
Nashan wore a full suit of white armor. His arm shield glowed blue-green, as did the forehead guard on his bald head. Dragging a large crate neatly packed with oval red balls, he grinned at them, baring his teeth. He looked ridiculous.
Kankanqi picked up an oval red ball and squeezed it hard. It immediately turned round. He hurled it down the passage and shouted, "Everyone down!"
Boom! A muffled explosion came from the passage, and a wave of heat mixed with shattered stones rushed straight at them.
"Holy shit!" Nashan swore. "That powerful?" He picked one up and threw it as Kankanqi had, but forgot to duck. The blast sent him tumbling. Fortunately, his armor kept him from injury. He crawled back up, cursing.
Li Qiang glanced back at the armory and gritted his teeth. "You three, hold them off for a little while, no matter what!" Taking three red balls, he suddenly stepped into the middle of the passage entrance and hurled them out, then immediately leaped backward toward the armory.
It was a small armory without very much inside. Moving extremely fast, Li Qiang stripped it of all its weapons and equipment in moments. Kankanqi's position, however, was already about to collapse.
"Fall back beneath the opening!" Li Qiang shouted. "Hurry!"
Smoke billowed throughout the hall. Energy balls whistled strangely through the air, and fragments burst from the walls in a crackling shower. A choking stench of burning filled the air.
Fortunately, their protective jade talismans kept Zhao Zhi and Kankanqi from serious injury. The three retreated in disarray toward the opening through which they had entered. Nashan was actually still dragging the large crate. He simply loved those red balls too much.
Li Qiang grabbed Kankanqi and hurled him up into the opening overhead, then threw Zhao Zhi, Nashan, and the bearded prisoner inside in succession. The soldiers had already charged into the hall.
In an instant, guns fired together, reducing the entire hall to chaos. At least a dozen energy balls struck Li Qiang, immediately mangling his flesh. Fortunately, he could circulate a little True Essence Power, preserving his physical body.
Lying on the ground, Li Qiang now understood the power of the Spine-Piercing Spears. Suddenly, he caught sight of the large crate Nashan had left behind and could not help grinning wickedly.
Countless soldiers approached slowly with their Spine-Piercing Spears raised, their armor and arm shields glowing. They saw a bloodied, mangled man lying across a large crate, seemingly dead. Relieved, they lowered their guns. An officer in red armor prodded the corpse with his Spine-Piercing Spear, wanting to see what sort of person had managed to break into this most secret armory.
The Spine-Piercing Spear turned the man over, but his blood-covered face revealed nothing of his identity. The officer looked around, utterly baffled as to how he had entered. Suddenly, the man opened his eyes, which actually flashed with purple light. With a long laugh, he pressed both palms toward the crate without touching it, and his body was already flying into the air.
Some soldiers understood the words he left behind. "Hahaha, goodbye, you bunch of idiots!" Only then did the officer notice the crate full of terrifyingly powerful red explosive bombs. Every one had turned round. His heart nearly shattered with fright.
Li Qiang's meager True Essence Power was just enough to carry him into the opening at the top of the hall. As he swept inside, he saw that Kankanqi and the other two were actually still waiting for him. Without even time to curse, he exerted his strength and rolled down the passage with the three of them and their prisoner.
The passage suddenly began shaking, and muffled thunder rolled up in waves. The five tumbled to a bend. Still badly shaken, Nashan asked, "Boss, what did you do to make such a racket?"
Before his words had faded, the entire passage began rocking and trembling. Large stones and fragments broke from the walls and hurtled downward.
Zhao Zhi knocked aside two large stones with his Spine-Piercing Spear. "This won't do. There'll be more and more."
Nashan spat. "Nonsense! What do you mean, more and more? Don't jinx us!"
"Those treasures you left behind, what else?" Li Qiang laughed. "I set them all off. Hahaha!" After two laughs, he too sensed something wrong. "Nashan, is there another passage we can take? Damn it! I've really overdone it!" The faces of the three men and the prisoner all changed. Everyone heard the rumbling.
"Where can we crawl?" Nashan asked shakily. "Who can outcrawl lava? If I'd known, we might as well have stayed below and been shot to death." Everyone looked at Li Qiang with despair.
Waves of acrid smoke mingled with rolling heat surged up from the passage below.
"Even if we can't outcrawl it, we still have to crawl! Hurry!"
The five crawled upward for their lives, feeling the heat behind their backsides grow stronger. Li Qiang brought up the rear, giving anyone whose strength failed a push.
Gradually, smoke began filling the passage. Everyone except Li Qiang was gasping for breath. Kankanqi coughed. "N-no... no... I can't. It's too choking. I can't breathe."
Li Qiang swiftly took out four towels and tossed them to the others. "Piss on your towels and cover your mouths and noses. Hurry! Don't waste time."
Nashan obeyed most readily, grabbing a towel and stuffing it into his crotch. The others could only follow suit. Soon, everyone had covered their mouths and noses, except Nashan, who said miserably, "Boss, what if I can't piss?"
Li Qiang nearly slid down the passage when he heard that. "Damn it! Now I have to worry about you pissing too! Here, you do it."
After hearing Kankanqi's translation, the prisoner gave a bitter smile and stuffed Nashan's towel into his crotch.
They continued climbing. Holding the towel over his face, Nashan cursed indistinctly, "Motherfucker, this white devil's piss stinks! It's driving me mad." His gaze swept across the rock wall, and he suddenly cried out in delight, "Haha, look up there! Ptooey! Damn it! Squeezed too hard..." In his excitement, he had squeezed urine from the towel into his mouth. The rank stink shot straight into his head.
Li Qiang looked up. There was indeed another passage. Delighted, he slapped Nashan on the head and laughed. "Good! First credit goes to Nashan."
Nashan cursed inwardly. That slap had made him swallow another mouthful of urine. How am I supposed to eat after this? Rotten luck all the way!
They scrambled into the other passage in disarray. Lowering his towel, Nashan gulped the reasonably fresh air. Leaning against the rock wall, he burst out laughing. Gradually, his laughter turned to sobs, and then he began weeping aloud.
After this journey from life to death and back again, no one laughed at him. They all remained silent, listening to him cry.
"Much better. Sorry you had to see that." Nashan wiped his tears and forced a smile. "Damn it! Never thought I, Nashan, would cry too."
Zhao Zhi and Kankanqi patted his shoulders almost simultaneously to comfort him.
"We don't know where this passage leads," Li Qiang said. "Everyone needs to be careful." He glanced at Nashan. "Well? Can you manage?"
"Of course! Why couldn't I? I, Nashan, have crawled out of a heap of corpses. From now on, I'll cut a mighty figure wherever I go." He puffed out his chest as he spoke. A thunk sounded, and Nashan cried out in pain. "Ow! Hit my head." Everyone laughed, and the mood immediately lightened.
They had no idea how long they crawled. They only felt that they were getting farther and farther away.
Reaching another fork, Nashan said dispiritedly, "Motherfucker, my head's spinning. Which passage do we take?"
The bearded prisoner suddenly rolled down a passage to the side. Kankanqi missed his grab and shouted furiously, "Quick, follow him!" He slid down right after him.
The other three were caught off guard. "Fuck...!" Li Qiang cursed, charging after them.
Like a giant spider, Li Qiang clung to the rock walls with his hands and feet, pursuing at tremendous speed.
"Ah..." A piercing scream rang out. It was the bearded man.
Kankanqi shuddered with fright, but his body slid downward uncontrollably. Suddenly, he felt empty space beneath him and could not help screaming too.
In that lightning instant, Li Qiang caught him. His grip seized skin and flesh together. Searing pain tore through Kankanqi's shoulder, and he howled again.
Li Qiang was extremely tense. He heard Zhao Zhi and Nashan rushing down behind him. Everything around him was pitch-black. Relying on the exceptionally keen eyesight and senses he had gained through cultivation, he flipped backward and used a martial arts move he had learned, Thousand-Jin Plummet, anchoring himself firmly to the sloping passage.
"Grab me! There's nothing below..."
"Got you, Boss." Zhao Zhi was highly skilled. He had already slowed upon hearing the warning. When he slid beside Li Qiang, he merely caught his arm lightly and came to a stop.
Nashan was not so fortunate. Almost headfirst, he came thundering down amid loose stones and dust, still shouting, "Boss, watch out..."
Thud!
"Ow, Boss..." Nashan cried miserably. "Your head... oww, your head... harder than rock... hurts..."
For the moment, Li Qiang could not move. Nashan was pressed against his head, his right hand held Kankanqi, and his left arm supported Zhao Zhi.
"Brother Zhao, we don't know what's down there. Go take a look. Hold the rope, and I'll support you."
Nashan took out a long crystal rod and gave it a gentle twist. Soft, pale green light shone out. Reaching his hand backward, he said, "Careful. Take this."
Holding the crystal rod between his teeth, Zhao Zhi gripped the rope and slid down.
After a long while, Zhao Zhi's voice drifted faintly up from below. "Boss, what's he saying?" Nashan asked. "I can't hear him clearly."
Li Qiang let out a long breath. "It's all right now. Kankanqi, you go down too. Nashan, get ready."
Soon, all three had reached the bottom. The bearded prisoner lay dead on a protruding rock, his skull smashed and his brains spilled out. "Run, would you?" Kankanqi cursed. "Now you're dead."
Li Qiang surveyed their surroundings. It was a vast, funnel-shaped cavity littered with boulders and broken rocks, looking extremely eerie in the crystal rod's light. Many glittering crystals also lay scattered across the ground.
Nashan had already begun picking up the larger crystals. "Does anyone hear anything?" Li Qiang asked.
"No. I only feel it's too quiet," Zhao Zhi said after listening for a while.
"I hear dripping water. Follow me." Li Qiang led the way, feeling his way forward, with the three close behind.
Rounding a gigantic rock, they saw a large fissure. The sound of dripping water was clearly audible.
Holding up the crystal rod, they followed the fissure toward the sound. Soon, a large pool appeared before them. Cheering, they gulped down water.
Zhao Zhi quickly searched the surroundings and gave a bitter smile. "There's no other passage here. We have to turn back."
Nashan plopped onto the ground and said dejectedly, "Turn back? How? Ah! Boss, what do you think we should do?"
Squatting beside the pool, Li Qiang scooped up water to wash his face. "I want to go underwater."
"Boss," Nashan exclaimed, "you're not thinking of taking a bath at a time like this, are you?"
Li Qiang laughed and scolded him. "Nashan, I've noticed you love talking nonsense. Careful, or your boss will give you a beating. I'm thinking there might be a passage underwater. I'll check first. Wait here and don't wander off, understand?"
Splash!
Li Qiang jumped into the water. Watching the ripples on the surface, Nashan and the other two fell silent. Only the drip, drip of falling water remained, sounding especially eerie.