The Silent Hunt

After those three sounds, there was no fourth.

The mine tunnels were deathly silent.

Lin Xiao's breathing was extremely low, the hilt of the dagger slightly slippery from the sweat on his palms. His tongue unconsciously licked his canine teeth, his vertical pupils contracting in the darkness, catching any unusual airflow or temperature.

Mo Chen's knuckles turned white as he gripped the detonator.

Lu Yuan stopped tapping with his index finger. He closed his eyes for half a second, and when he opened them again, the usual calmness in his eyes was replaced by something colder and harder. "Mo Chen, has the 'tripwire' in the third area been triggered?"

"No." Mo Chen's voice was dry.

"No," Lu Yuan said quickly and steadily, "They bypassed it. Lin Xiao, go thirty steps to your left and down the narrow path at the fork in the road to confirm the ' Water Mirror '."

Lin Xiao's figure flickered and disappeared into the darkness.

Almost simultaneously, on the rock wall of the core area, several extremely thin metal plates embedded at different angles reflected light slightly, projecting the distorted and blurry image of the distant passage onto a larger concave metal plate in front of Lu Yuan. This was a "mirror monitoring" that Mo Chen had hastily put together. The principle was crude and the field of vision was limited, but it was barely enough in the mine tunnel where Soul Power was scarce and could not support complex Soul Tool.

The image flickers on the metal plate.

Lin Xiao appeared at a fork in the road and crouched down to examine the ground. What appeared to be ordinary rock and soil was actually buried under a thin layer of special grease, sprinkled with extremely fine fluorescent mineral powder. At this moment, there were several almost indistinguishable, inhumanly shallow imprints on the surface of the grease—toe-treading marks, the spacing of which was frighteningly precise.

"Footprints." Lin Xiao's voice came through a hollow copper pipe embedded in the rock crevice, extremely low. "Three. They didn't touch the tripwire, they went around it from a high point on the rock face. They just left."

Lu Yuan stared at the metal plate. "They know most of our setup. Not just guessed, they saw right through us."

Shen Moxin, inside the core area, tightened her grip on the recording tablet. "What do we do?"

"According to the second contingency plan," Lu Yuan said. "Mo Chen, activate the ' Hive ' jamming. Lin Xiao, don't pursue, retreat to the ' Anvil ' position on the second line of defense and wait."

The command is brief.

A low, rumbling sound came from deep within the mine, like countless fine needles scraping against the rock wall. The sound was not loud, but it was penetrating. This was a Soul Power noise generator that Mo Chen had modified from several discarded Soul Tool cores. Its effect was only one thing—to make the Soul Power fluctuations in this area murky and indistinguishable.

The moment the buzzing sound rang out, the image in the upper left corner of the metal plate flashed!

A blurry black shadow skimmed almost past the top of the rock wall, moving so fast that it left only a trail. The shadow's original trajectory was straight towards the core area, but the "Hive" interference clearly disrupted its judgment. It made a strange turn in mid-air, crashing into the side rock wall, only to disappear into thin air before making contact.

Shadow Jump.

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"Lin Xiao!" he whispered into the microphone.

"I saw it!" Lin Xiao's voice was filled with suppressed excitement and tension. He didn't wait at the "Anvil" position at all. His beast-like intuition allowed him to predict the possible landing point of the opponent after being disturbed—a shadowy corner with a rock cone protruding above.

The shadowy figure indeed reformed there, its outline not yet fully clear, when Lin Xiao pounced from the blind spot below. There was no dazzling light from his Soul Skill, only the soft hiss of a dagger piercing the air, aimed straight for his throat.

Bite!

A soft yet piercing clang of metal rang out. A short blade appeared in the dark figure's hand, barely managing to parry the dagger. In the instant sparks flew, Lin Xiao saw his opponent clearly—his entire body was wrapped in dark gray, close-fitting clothing, even his hair was covered, revealing only a pair of emotionless eyes.

With a flick of his wrist, the opponent deflected the dagger with a short blade and swiftly slashed at Lin Xiao's wrist. The movement was concise and ruthless.

Lin Xiao leaned back, transferring the dagger to his left hand, and then swung it upwards. The two exchanged three or four blows in the narrow corner in an instant, the blades flashing so fast in the darkness that they left afterimages. There were no shouts, only the subtle sounds of clashing weapons and rubbing clothes.

On the other side, Su Yan and Li Wangye guarded the last fork in the main road leading to the core area. It was relatively wide, but also more dangerous. The two stood back to back. Su Yan held an iron cudgel with a sharp stone blade tied to the end, while Li Wangye held a thick-backed knife modified from a wood-chopping knife. The blade gleamed coldly in the dim Soul Guidance Lamp.

They were breathing heavily.

A faint, sweet, fishy smell drifted from the darkness ahead.

Li Wangye's nose twitched, and he suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his arm. "Su Yan... something's wrong..."

Su Yan also felt it; his hand gripping the iron rod was losing strength. He bit his tongue sharply, the stinging pain slightly easing the dizziness. "Hold your breath! It's poison!"

It's too late.

In the darkness, a tall, thin figure silently emerged, as if seeping from the rock wall. He wore a leather mask resembling a bird's beak, his hands hanging at his sides, his fingertips swirling with an almost invisible pale green mist. He didn't approach, but simply stood there, his eyes behind the holes in the mask coldly watching the two bodies begin to sway.

Paralyzing toxin, takes effect upon respiration.

Su Yan's legs went weak, and she knelt on one knee. Li Wangye roared and tried to charge forward with his knife, but his feet felt like they were stepping on cotton. He staggered two steps and barely managed to stand up by using the tip of his knife to support himself.

The man in the bird-beak mask then took a step, unhurried and deliberate. His goal was clear—to bypass the two incapacitated boys and head straight for the core area behind them.

Just as he passed by Su Yan, Su Yan, who was swaying precariously, suddenly sprang up!

The iron rod wasn't a thorn, but a sweeping blow that slammed into the side of the opponent's knee. This strike was devoid of any Soul Power, relying solely on the remaining strength of the body and a fierce determination.

The man in the bird-beak mask clearly hadn't expected the poisoned person to be able to fight back. He was a little slow to turn to the side, and the iron rod grazed his calf with a muffled thud and the sound of tearing fabric. He swayed.

Li Wangye pounced almost simultaneously, slashing horizontally across the waist with his thick-backed sword without regard for anything else! His eyes were bloodshot; he was fighting with his life on the line.

The man in the bird-beak mask snorted coldly, and with a wave of his left hand, an even denser cloud of pale green mist erupted, instantly enveloping the two men. Su Yan and Li Wangye were struck as if by a heavy blow, both groaning and collapsing completely, their weapons falling from their hands.

But this obstacle is enough.

At the entrance to the core area, Lu Yuan witnessed the entire process through the metal plates. His face remained expressionless, but his eyes grew even colder. Mo Chen, standing beside him, was sweating profusely, his fingers hovering over several detonation switches. "Mr. Lu, should we detonate the ' Caltrop ' area? Maybe we can buy some time!"

"No." Lu Yuan shook his head, "That's for the last one." His gaze locked onto the other corner of the metal plate, which remained dark and without any images. But his intuition told him that the greatest threat was there, motionless, as if observing or waiting for something.

The man in the bird-beak mask dealt with Su Yan and Li Wangye, and continued forward. He was less than twenty steps away from the entrance to the core area.

Lu Yuan breath and slowly raised his right hand. From his fingertips, a wisp of Blue Silver Soul Power, thinner than a hair, quietly seeped out and condensed into an almost transparent thread. He had very little Soul Power left, so this strike had to be precise and used on the blade.

The man in the bird-beak mask seemed to sense something, paused slightly, and turned towards the entrance of the core area.

Right now.

Lu Yuan flicked his finger.

The wisp of Soul Power shot out silently, as fast as lightning, but it wasn't aimed at the enemy. Instead, it precisely sank into the ground half a step in front of the bird-beaked masked man's feet—a spot that looked no different from the surrounding rock and soil.

The moment the Soul Power threads pierced through, it seemed to disrupt an extremely fragile balance.

Boom!

A muffled explosion, as if wrapped in a thick cloth, rang out. There were no bursts of fire or flying debris, only a chaotic, violent, and multicolored surge of Soul Power erupting from the ground like a fountain, instantly sweeping across an area several steps in radius!

Soul Crystal Dust Compression Ball. Mo Chen refined the soul crystal ore he had stolen into dust, mixed it with several low-level Soul Beast material powders with conflicting properties, and then wrapped and compressed it with special Soul Power to create an unstable contraption. The explosive power was not great, but the Soul Power released instantly was extremely mixed and violent, which was a disaster for the operation of Soul Power in a stable environment.

The person wearing the bird-beak mask was the first to be targeted.

The pale green poisonous mist surrounding him churned and dissipated violently like boiling water splashed on snow. A suppressed groan of pain came from beneath the mask. The connection between the Martial Soul poison he released and his own Soul Power was forcibly interfered with and torn apart by the violent turbulence. His Soul Power circulation instantly became disordered, his body stiffened, and his movements stopped.

This pause lasted less than half a breath.

But for those who have been waiting for a long time, that's enough.

From the shadows of the rock wall above and to the side, a figure swooped down like a true ghost. Lin Xiao had somehow escaped the Shadow Jump's clutches, or rather, he had taken advantage of the Shadow Jumper's eagerness to return to its companions, creating an opening, and risking a bloody gash on his left shoulder from a short blade, forcibly breaking free and sneaking to this spot.

The dagger flashed by in the shimmering light and shadow amidst the lingering turbulence of Soul Power.

It precisely smeared across the exposed neck of the person wearing the bird-beak mask.

There were no screams, only the sickeningly faint sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh and bone. The man in the bird-beak mask shuddered violently, his hands futilely clutching at his throat, where blood was gushing out, staining his dark gray collar. He staggered back two steps, his eyes behind the mask's holes widening in disbelief and astonishment, then the light quickly dimmed, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitching a few times before falling still.

The top-ranked Scavengers died.

An eerie silence suddenly fell over the mine shaft. Even the buzzing of the "Hive" seemed to have faded away.

Lin Xiao landed, panting heavily. Blood seeped from the wound on his left shoulder, but he didn't even look at it. His amber vertical pupils warily scanned the surrounding darkness. The Shadow Jump was gone, as if it had never existed.

At the entrance to the core area, Lu Yuan slowly lowered his hand, his face even paler than before. That strand of Soul Power had taken a considerable toll.

Mo Chen breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Take one down..."

Before he could finish speaking...

A cold, steady voice, devoid of any emotion, suddenly rang out from all directions of the mine tunnel. The voice was not loud, but it seemed to be speaking right into everyone's ears, penetrating the rock walls with terrifying clarity.

"A good trap. Crude, but effective."

He paused, as if savoring the moment.

"Utilizing the environment to create chaos, delivering a fatal blow. And then there's the tactic of observing the overall situation and calmly coordinating resources..."

"Found you."

The voice suddenly took on a very faint, almost pleasant chill.

"' Key '."

The moment the last two words were uttered, all the images on the metal monitoring panel in front of Lu Yuan went out simultaneously with a snap.

It's not a disruption of Soul Power.

It was a comprehensive and powerful interference with Soul Power perception, brutally crushing all the subtle Soul Power connections in this area.

The true hunter has finally locked onto its target.