"How is it? Are they chasing us?"
Yan Xicai ran several kilometers away from the cliff before stopping, panting heavily.
At this moment, besides Pu Wen who had always been by his side, there were only eight law enforcers from Aurora City left. In their haste, everyone had almost scattered.
"No," one of the law enforcers glanced backward. "We should be safe here."
"Damn it... What are the law enforcers of Aurora City doing? How could they let an arsonist infiltrate?" Yan Xicai cursed. "We must hold them accountable! I want them to give me an explanation!"
Just as they were speaking, a figure hurried towards them.
"Is it an arsonist?" Seeing him approach, Yan Xicai immediately tensed up.
"No, it's Jian," one of the law enforcers said immediately after seeing the person's face. "His leg isn't good, so he's running a bit slow."
"He's been trailing behind the group... Could he have been replaced by an arsonist?" Someone in the crowd whispered.
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces changed immediately. They looked at Jian, who was sweating profusely, with caution, as if they were wary of something.
"Young Master Yan, wait for me..." Jian, limping and stumbling, ran from afar, his face somewhat pale.
However, before he could even approach them, Yan Xicai spoke coldly:
"Stop!"
Jian froze in place.
"Who are you?"
"I... I'm Jian," Jian was terrified and spoke incoherently. "My father is Jian Changlin, your family's gardener... I served you tea this morning. Don't you remember me?"
Yan Xicai squinted his eyes and gave a look to the law enforcer beside him, who immediately understood.
He pulled out a short knife from his waist and slowly walked towards Jian.
"Young Master Yan, what are you..."
"Verifying your identity," Yan Xicai said calmly. "You're walking too slow. It's not impossible that you've been replaced by an arsonist."
"I haven't! Young Master Yan! I really haven't!" Jian panicked. "I'm walking slow because my leg is crippled. I really haven't been replaced..."
"Whether you've been replaced or not, cutting your face will reveal the truth."
The law enforcer walked up to Jian, and the cold glint of the short knife reflected on his face. Jian's legs gave out, and he knelt down with a thud.
"Young Master Yan, please don't cut my face... I beg you. I'm already crippled. If you cut my face, how can I live in the future..."
Seeing this, the law enforcer holding the knife hesitated. He looked back at Yan Xicai, who waved his hand impatiently.
"Why are you looking at me? Cut."
"...Sorry, brother."
The law enforcer grabbed Jian's collar, and the sharp tip of the knife pierced into his cheek, then slowly sliced downward with force...
A piercing scream escaped from Jian's throat, his face扭曲 in pain, crimson blood seeped from his skin, and a gruesome incision ran across most of his cheek, revealing the flesh and blood beneath...
Beneath the flesh and blood, there was no another face.
The law enforcer sheathed his short knife, stood up, and nodded slightly to Yan Xicai and the others, "It's him."
Everyone finally relaxed.
"Alright, the crisis is over." Pu Wen glanced in the direction of the cliff, "Those arsonists didn't chase after us. They probably have other intentions..."
"As long as they don't mess with us, it doesn't matter what they want to do." Yan Xicai said in a deep voice, "As long as 24 hours pass, they will surely die... Before that, we have more important things to do.
This time, to bring you into the ancient treasure, I've used up all my connections and favors. If I can't set foot on the Path of the War God, I'll never be able to take charge of the Star Cluster Chamber of Commerce in my life."
"We agreed beforehand that I can only help you plunder murderous aura using the Path of the Book God. Whether you can set foot on the Path of the War God or not is none of my concern." Pu Wen glanced at him.
"I don't need you to remind me."
Yan Xicai's eyes flashed with cruelty, and he waved his hand, "Let's go, hurry up."
Everyone followed Yan Xicai and headed straight into the depths of the ancient treasure. In the vast wilderness, only a figure with a bloody face remained, lying on the ground like a corpse.
Jian struggled to get up, a shocking scar running across his cheek. He stared blankly at the departing group, his eyes filled with gloom.
After a moment, he finally came to his senses and gritted his teeth, following their footsteps step by step...
...
"Is this the interior of the ancient treasure of the Path of the War God..."
Under the gloomy sky, Chen Yifei, dressed in a bright red theatrical robe, stood alone in the wasteland, muttering to himself.
Chen Yifei didn't pursue any of the factions. There was still enough time before the ancient treasure of the Path of the War God opened again... During this time, it would be better to let the contradictions ferment on their own. He believed that this chaotic battle was far from over; it was just temporarily halted.
In other words, let the bullets fly for a while longer.
And Chen Yifei also needed some time to find a way to steal the foundation of the path.
He clearly remembered that before entering the ancient treasure, the lead law enforcer had said that when one found resonance in blood and fire and gathered enough murderous aura in slaughter, there would be a chance to attract the foundation of the Path of the War God...
How to do that specifically?
Chen Yifei pondered as he climbed over a small hill.
Just as he did, he saw that not far from the hill, a narrow gorge was embedded in the earth. Inside the gorge, there were ten armored figures standing together, holding weapons and seemingly conversing about something.
Looking at their attire and weapons, they didn't seem like people from this era... Were these the ancient murderous aura projections that the law enforcer had mentioned?
Chen Yifei hesitated for a moment, then walked straight down the hill towards the gorge.
As he stepped into the range of the gorge, the ten armored figures seemed to have sensed something and suddenly turned around.
They stared fixedly at Chen Yifei in red, as if he was their father's murderer, and roared,
"It's that Qin army henchman! Kill him!!"
The next moment, the ten of them charged towards Chen Yifei with their spears, emanating a murderous aura.
Chen Yifei was taken aback. He instinctively stepped backward, and his foot that had stepped into the gorge left the ground. Immediately after, the ten armored figures suddenly stopped, as if they had lost their target, and turned around to walk backward again.
They put down their weapons and gathered together, seemingly discussing something.
Chen Yifei: ...?
He thoughtfully stepped his right foot into the gorge again, and the ten of them immediately became enraged, grabbing their weapons and charging towards Chen Yifei to kill him!
"It's that Qin army henchman! Kill him!!"
Chen Yifei withdrew his foot, and they fell silent and turned around again... Chen Yifei took another step.
"It's that Qin army henchman! Kill him!!"
"..."
"It's that Qin army henchman! Kill him!!"
"..."
After repeating this several times, Chen Yifei looked at the ten figures in the gorge with a strange expression... Aren't they just NPCs?!