Weapons

The gruesome slaughter playing out on the walkway immediately caught the eyes of Wei Jun and the others. After a brief bout of stunned shock, several members of the Mutual Aid Society wore expressions of utter terror. The scene was simply too horrific, and it was happening so close to them. It would not be long before their turn came. Aside from the rolling shutter at the front, this factory workshop had two obvious side exits. On one side, fighting still raged because of the combat spider, so they all ran toward the opposite side without a second thought. These people were Wuyi students after all, and they moved fast. Not one took the stairs; every single one vaulted down from above and bolted toward the side door, closing in on the exit in no time at all. Yet at that very moment, a massive tremor shook the rafters above. A figure leaped down, landing with a loud thud right in front of them and cutting off their way forward. Chen Chuan flicked the long blade in his hand and slowly raised his gaze to look at them. Every one of them instantly skidded to a halt and began retreating step by step. "Chen Chuan, if you dare kill us, you'll die too!" a member of the Mutual Aid Society blustered, trying to sound fierce while trembling inside. Chen Chuan said calmly, "When you were killing other people, did you ever consider that you might die too?" He slowly brought his saber up, holding it horizontally before him as a chill light seemed to ripple along the steel edge. The next instant, frantic shifts in perspective, hurtling surroundings, and vicious flashes of blade-light reflected in his eyes. When everything abruptly ground to a halt, he had already appeared behind the group—and behind him, not a single person remained in one piece. Beneath the high platform, Wei Jun had not chosen to run downstairs with the rest. As the organizer of this trap, he knew every entrance and exit in the facility. There was another corridor behind the workshop that led straight outside, but the problem was that they might not be faster than Chen Chuan. Out of options, he had no choice but to retreat toward a safe room not far behind him. At the same time, he snarled viciously at the two black-robed figures trailing beside him, "Your ritual didn't do a thing! You're going to take responsibility for this, or you know the consequences!" The two black-robed figures glanced at each other, pulled curved daggers from their waists, and walked outward. Wei Jun immediately called the remaining Mutual Aid Society members at his side into the safe room and slammed the specially reinforced steel door shut. The moment the door sealed, the gunshots and agonizing screams outside vanished entirely. One person was shaking all over, stammering in terror, "That kid has lost his mind! He's insane! How dare he lay a hand on us..." Wei Jun's hair was in complete disarray. He had no time to ponder whether Chen Chuan had lost his mind or not; right now, he needed to save his own life! He urged, "Where's that thing? Bring it out, now!" Several security guards who had followed them inside scrambled to haul two large cases out of a wall cabinet, setting them down in the center of the room. Wei Jun said anxiously, "Jiang Wei, how do we work this?" Jiang Wei was the calmest among them. He walked forward and crouched down, first flicking the latches open with both hands, then yanking the locking clasp loose as he said, "This thing came from the Molan Company. I only—" Another person nearby urged him, "We know, we know! Now's not the time for this! Quick, hurry up!" They had no idea how long the people outside could hold out. Just moments ago, Chen Chuan had brought his saber across in a single slash and left behind a floor strewn with mangled limbs and shattered corpses; the sight had terrified them out of their wits. Jiang Wei dialed through the combination, and with a click, he lifted the lid. Revealed underneath was a thick white vacuum-sealed pack about half a meter square, looking as though it wrapped around something solid. He picked up a vial of high-energy nutrient solution embedded into the inner rim of the case and stabbed the needle straight into the contents. After pushing the entire dose of nutrient fluid in, he felt the mass shudder faintly. He scrambled to his feet and backed away. A sharp rip tore through the air as two razor-edged raptorial legs thrust out from within, shredding the thick packaging. The creature inside stretched its limbs and slowly stood upright. The moment they saw it, everyone in the room instinctively backed toward the walls. It was a giant mantis of a dull, metallic blue-gray, looking almost as if it had been cast from steel. Its powerful mandibles flexed and contracted rhythmically. As the spiracles along its abdomen opened, modified tracheal tubes pumped ample oxygen to every part of its frame. With its vigor restored, its bulging compound eyes locked onto everyone inside the room, and its front scythes shifted slowly, radiating an immediate sense of mortal danger. Jiang Wei said, "A combat mantis. A biological combat weapon Molan Company bought from another enterprise. This thing ought to tie him down for a while." "Wait, there's another case! Hurry, let the other one out too!" someone urged from behind. Jiang Wei ignored him. He made several commanding hand signs toward the combat mantis, waiting until it gradually drew back from its aggressive stance before walking forward to crouch down and work on the second case. "It won't take long." Out in the open area of the workshop, Chen Chuan had just finished clearing another group of people when his senses prickled. He turned to look and saw two black-robed figures walking toward him. The two seemed like mirror images of each other, perfectly symmetrical. Each bore half a face printed on their robes, and when placed side by side, the two halves formed a relatively complete face. It looked somewhat like an abstract representation of the urban legend he had encountered earlier. It seemed these two were tied to the surrounding esoteric cult ritual. The pair suddenly split left and right, charging at him from two directions. Their footwork and rhythm were entirely synchronized, their coordination seamless. And yet... they were too slow. Chen Chuan lightly raised the long blade in his hand. With a quick slash to either side, both heads flew off their necks. The two bodies hit the floor almost simultaneously. Except for the directions they faced, even the postures of their fall and the arcs of spraying blood were nearly identical—not through any intention of their own, but thanks to his precise control of force and angle. With a flick of his blade to shed the blood, he looked up toward the other side of the workshop. Shouts and agonizing screams had been coming from that direction just moments ago, but now everything had gone quiet. In this central expanse of the workshop, he had eliminated everyone within line of sight. But he knew that another group had retreated into the room above right at the start. Still, whether they ran or stayed made no difference. Unless someone arrived who could match his speed and hold him back, it did not matter how far they ran in this brief window; he could overtake them in moments without wasting any real time. He gave it some thought and made a hand sign. The combat spider perched high in the workshop immediately scuttled off at top speed, heading for the opposite exit to lay down silk. Though the super-high tensile strength of the silk lasted at most ten minutes before degrading to the point where a gust of wind could blow it apart, that would be more than enough time. Holding the Xuejun Saber, he stepped onto the nearby metal stairs and followed the catwalk, advancing step by step toward the room where Wei Jun and the others were hiding. Yet as he drew near, he suddenly sensed something. He brought the Xuejun Saber up to parry. Two sharp clangs rang out, followed by the blur of a silhouette darting away. He turned his gaze. The creature had come to rest atop a metal railing. It was over half a meter long, with a triangular head, an elongated neck, and a flat body. A pair of massive, blade-like raptorial forelegs were aimed straight at him. The sharp tips of the hooks beneath its abdomen scraped against the steel beam, letting out an abrasive, metallic rasp. Chen Chuan's eyes shifted slightly. "A mantis?" Given such a massive size and the speed it had just displayed, it was plainly another biological combat weapon. And there was more than one... He could feel another mantis shifting in the shadows, waiting for an opening. Inside the safe room, Wei Jun received word from a returning guard that Chen Chuan had been tied down by the combat mantises. He immediately bolted for the door. "While the kid is stalled, let's get out of here!" The crowd surged out, frantically scrambling after him. As Jiang Wei walked out, he thought for a moment, then threw an unused vial of high-energy nutrients onto the floor in the distance. It shattered with a sharp crack, spilling the rich fluid across the concrete. The others did not understand what he was doing, and he had no time to explain. Chen Chuan had not seemed to come alone; he appeared to have brought something similar to the combat mantises. Creatures of this sort all ran on high-energy nutrients. While it was not guaranteed to take the bait, it cost nothing to try. The group moved swiftly, soon reaching a long, narrow corridor. At the far end stood a steel door coated in red paint—the exit! One Mutual Aid Society member could not contain his impatience and sprinted ahead. But after barely taking a few steps, his head and torso silently sheared into several clean segments, tumbling in pieces onto the floor ahead. "What is that..." Those behind froze in horror, hastily halting their stride. Jiang Wei examined the severed cuts and looked around. Taking a blade from a guard beside him, he reached out to prod and sweep through the air ahead. Gritting his teeth, he said, "There are gaps. We can crawl through." The others looked at one another. Jiang Wei glanced at them, pushed his glasses up firmly, and said, "I'll go first. Follow behind me." He lifted one foot, stepping carefully across, then bent his torso down and slowly wriggled through before bringing his other foot past. Probing again with the blade, he found more threads ahead, though there seemed to be clearance only near the ground. He dropped onto his stomach and crawled forward, soon making progress down the corridor. Seeing that he had made it, the others followed suit, shedding their weapons and gear one by one to crawl forward after him. Out in the workshop, two combat mantises were eyeing Chen Chuan. They had their own fighting habits: they would not charge in recklessly, retreating the instant Chen Chuan turned his focus on them, yet trailing close and hunting for an opening the moment he moved to leave. Chen Chuan's eyes flickered. These two mantises were indeed a nuisance. While they posed no true threat to him, dispatching them was not something he could finish in an instant. They were not as fast as he was, but they could fly, ignore terrain, and coordinate with each other. Still, they were merely biological weapons after all. Without anyone directing them, they adhered strictly to rigid attack patterns. He slowly raised his saber, and then... closed his eyes. Following their programmed attack instincts, the very instant his eyes shut, both mantises sprang simultaneously into the air, their scythe-like forelegs slicing down at him from both flanks! Chen Chuan drew a sudden, deep breath. The Furnace Breathing Technique engaged for a fleeting fraction of an instant, a surge of power roaring through his body. He spun into a sweeping slash, and a line of blade-light flashed and vanished! The two mantises sailed past him on either side. Still in midair, their bodies began to slide apart as two clean diagonal incisions sheared them through from top to bottom. The bisected halves thudded to the floor one after another, their internal fluids spilling outward as their segmented limbs and torsos continued to twitch uncontrollably.