The instant the gunshot echoed, Xiao Sheng shuddered violently. Then he saw Xian Quanfeng's ruined corpse collapse, and he instinctively stumbled back two steps.
Less than a minute had passed since they had charged up the high slope, yet three of their people were already down—half their squad wiped out.
He looked ahead. Chen Chuan stood there with blade in hand. The mask obscured his face, leaving his features indistinct, save for the vivid red vertical mark between his brows. Parts of his outer cloak seemed to blend into the mist, while the snow-bright blade slanting toward the ground gleamed with a bone-chilling sheen beneath the overhead light.
At this moment, an involuntary thought surfaced in his mind: abandon the mission.
Unfortunately, only the team leader had the authority to call a retreat.
His fleeting hesitation was immediately caught by Lao Han, standing not far away. A sinister, raspy voice came from that direction. "Keep going."
Xiao Sheng instantly banished the thought. He knew that if he really retreated, Lao Han would kill him without a second thought.
Drawing a breath, he said, "I'll lead."
There was no reply from beside him, a clear sign of Lao Han's tacit approval.
He drew two specially made batons from his lower back. To be frank, such weapons stood little chance against Chen Chuan's long sword, not to mention that direct combat was never his forte. Bullying opponents below the limit was easy enough, but against a skilled fighter of the same tier, he fell short. Still, he believed Lao Han would create an opening for him.
Besides, it wasn't as if he lacked life-saving tricks. Giving his batons a twirl, he fixed his eyes on Chen Chuan and cautiously edged toward him.
Seeing him advance, Chen Chuan raised his sword, just about to unleash a flurry of strikes, when Lao Han whipped his long arm and hurled three spikes. Two walled off Chen Chuan's movement before and behind, while the third flew straight for his face.
This was not only to disrupt his rhythm, but also to help Xiao Sheng determine whether he was truly where he appeared to be. Zhu Haiwu's earlier blunders had been bizarre—misjudging an enemy's position not once, but repeatedly, was something that should have been impossible for someone of his caliber.
Chen Chuan swept his blade around, deflecting the spikes with sharp clangs. Xiao Sheng didn't squander the opening Lao Han had made for him. Quickening his pace, he surged in close in an instant. One baton jabbed toward Chen Chuan's torso, while the other hung back slightly, angled toward his weapon arm.
It was already too late for Chen Chuan to draw his sword back to parry, but he had no intention of doing so anyway. Raising his free arm in a block, he deflected the baton with a loud crack, to Xiao Sheng's sheer astonishment. At the same time, his hand shot straight forward, clawing toward Xiao Sheng's face.
Midway through the move, however, Chen Chuan snapped his hand back and snatched a flying pebble aimed at his ear out of the air with a crisp slap. Even so, his blade below had already thrust forward.
Yet another high-speed stone struck the sword blade dead on. Packed with tremendous force, it knocked the blade off course with a ringing clang, giving Xiao Sheng just enough time to bring his baton around and narrowly deflect the steel.
Chen Chuan crushed the pebble in his hand and was about to press the attack, but no sooner had his foot lifted than he leaned back slightly, evading a curved throwing blade. The weapon circled through the air and returned into Lao Han's grasp.
Xiao Sheng scrambled back several paces, looking at Chen Chuan with lingering dread. External conditioning...? No wonder...
Chen Chuan glanced at Lao Han. The man's dossier had been incomplete, but based on his build and muscle layout, Chen Chuan had deduced that he specialized in ranged combat. It seemed that assessment had been spot on.
Lao Han maintained a measured distance, neither too close nor too far. This allowed him to check Chen Chuan, exerting pressure and presenting a threat, but more importantly, it positioned him for a quick escape. If he saw no opening, or if Xiao Sheng were killed, he would undoubtedly turn and flee without hesitation.
Chen Chuan intended to wipe out the raiding squad in one fell swoop to eliminate any lingering trouble. Originally, he had saved the civet stone plaque for Xu Xianwen, but now, it seemed wise to use it on this man first.
Once these two were dealt with, he would only have to face Xu Xianwen alone, greatly lowering the difficulty.
With this thought, he made a split-second decision and brushed the civet stone plaque. Ignoring Lao Han entirely, he lunged straight toward Xiao Sheng.
With throwing blades between his fingers, Lao Han saw Chen Chuan launch another attack and prepared to strike again. But suddenly, an excruciating tearing pain ripped through his chest and abdomen, as if something foreign had abruptly materialized inside him, clawing and chewing at his internal organs.
This sudden development shocked him to the core, and then realization dawned.
The Viper Team had splintered from the Secret Snake Cult. Although he didn't conduct religious ceremonies himself, he had heard of similar methods. Connecting this to the bizarre phenomena surrounding Chen Chuan earlier, he turned and fled without a moment's hesitation.
Xiao Sheng was fully focused on dealing with Chen Chuan and had no idea Lao Han was in trouble. Seeing the blade flash forward, he frantically swung his batons to parry. But as the jin in the sword permeated inward, he couldn't withstand the force at all. The dual batons were blasted outward, and his arms went numb and weak.
Although his speed could just barely keep up, the gulf in raw strength was too vast. When the disparity reached a certain point, no technique could bridge it.
At such a critical juncture, Lao Han should have pinned Chen Chuan down to give Xiao Sheng room to reset his offense. Yet nothing came. Sensing that something was wrong, Xiao Sheng shifted his frame, dodging backward in the nick of time, his speed almost leaving an afterimage where he had stood.
Yet Chen Chuan surged forward, sword thrusting. He moved so fast that he practically shadowed Xiao Sheng's retreat, likewise leaving an afterimage behind. The blade impaled Xiao Sheng directly through the heart. Before Xiao Sheng could even let out a shriek, Chen Chuan whipped a palm across his neck, striking and snapping back in an instant.
A dry rattle choked in Xiao Sheng's throat. His head slumped limply against his chest, and his entire body hung lifelessly on the blade.
With a casual flick of his sword, Chen Chuan flung Xiao Sheng's body onto the open ground more than ten meters away. It tumbled several times before falling completely still.
"Number four," Chen Chuan muttered. "And then..." His gaze shifted toward Lao Han, who was stumbling down the mountain. Pivoting on his heel, he gave chase.
As he fled, Lao Han desperately pushed his body's reserves to their limits, wringing out his vital essence in a bid to regenerate the mutated tissues and internal organs being torn and devoured within him.
It was entirely futile. However much regenerated was instantly consumed. Even downing potential-stimulating drugs did no good; the thing inside seemed ravenous, thrashing and tearing with ravenous fury.
Realizing he wouldn't make it far like this, he grabbed a tree for support and fished an injector out of his clothes, aiming to jab it into his neck. But just as he raised his hand, a pebble snapped through the air and shattered the vial with a sharp crack.
Still refusing to give up, he stumbled forward while scooping up the remaining liquid to shove into his mouth. Suddenly, a booming roar detonated beside his ear. The next moment, a gaping hole appeared in his chest. After stumbling forward a few more steps, he sank uncontrollably to his knees.
He heard footsteps slowly approaching from behind. Then, a hand came to rest atop his head, even casually adjusting its grip. Lao Han seemed to realize what was coming, sheer terror flashing in his bulging eyes.
Chen Chuan tightened his five fingers. With a sickening crack, the skull beneath his palm fractured completely, wisps of hot mist rising from his fingers.
"Number five..."
In just a short span, he had eliminated all five of them one by one.
Employing the urban legend, the esoteric ritual, and his own martial prowess all at once, he had dismantled a formidable group that was nearly impossible for a single person to handle in just a few short minutes.
Aside from them, only the team's leader remained: Xu Xianwen.
Meanwhile, inside the Disposal Bureau.
Just prior to the Viper Team's assault, the Ferris Wheel Company had made sudden moves, and several overseas fighters under tight surveillance had vanished from sight for a period. This forced the Disposal Bureau to divert a portion of its personnel to deal with the situation, as they couldn't rule out the possibility of those fighters deliberately stirring up trouble.
Captain Guan gazed at the light screen, where the area representing a certain sector of Mount Motie remained a blur. Pacing forward two steps, he asked several resonator team members, "Still not working?"
His urging was merely a habit; in truth, only three or four minutes had passed since the incident began, and based on his experience, restoration shouldn't be achieved so easily.
Yet the operative delivered a pleasant surprise: "Almost! We'll reestablish contact very soon!"
Captain Guan's spirits lifted, but he couldn't help asking in bewilderment, "Why so fast this time?"
"It's the resonator recommended by Enforcement Officer Chen. He had the resonator team inside the estate prepare independent field-amplifying biological entities in advance. While they can't dismantle the jamming entirely, we'll be able to establish a direct channel in three minutes at most."
"Good." Captain Guan breathed a sigh of relief. "That way, we can transmit a signal directly to Mount Motie's security system."
To ensure estate owners' privacy and avoid infringing upon regulatory restrictions, Mount Motie's security team could be exceedingly rigid. In theory, anything within the estate boundary was the owner's private domain.
As long as they received no notification from the owner, nor an indirect distress call or invitation, they would never step foot inside on their own initiative—no matter how loud the commotion was—provided other residents were unaffected.
With both the biological field blocked and radio frequencies jammed, security naturally remained idle. Even if brought before the Tribunal, they bore no legal liability.
At the foot of Mount Motie below the Meng estate, a squad of armed personnel waited alongside the armored convoy, mainly responsible for communications as well as providing backup and cover for the assault team.
At that moment, a man rushed over to the vehicle and said to the middle-aged man inside, "Boss, there seems to be an amplified field signal from within. Outside security might find out what's happening very soon, and there's still no word from Boss Han. What do we do now?"
The middle-aged man glanced at the thickening fog and the ceaseless gunfire from above. "Don't panic. Wait a little longer. I trust Lao Han and the others."
Right then, the men at the front of the convoy noticed a hazy figure emerging from the distant mist, walking toward them. Startled, a thought crossed their minds: Is it done already?
Chapter 383