In the dimly lit forest, tinged with the color of blood, two figures swiftly flew past the treetops, one after the other, stirring up gusts of wind, startling unknown birds into the sky.
Rustling—
Bang!!
Xia Feng flew backward after another hit on his back, breaking several thick branches before crashing into a large pit formed by uprooted trees.
Thump thump thump—During the tumbling impact, the Crystal Pocket Watch hanging from his chest flew up and shattered, scattering crystal fragments as an old, yellowed photograph gently floated down.
"Ptui, ptui, ptui!" Xia Feng struggled to stand and spat out the mud in his mouth, catching the photograph carefully and tucking it inside his jacket, then squinting up.
The bald strong man stood on the edge of the pit, looking down from above.
"Heh heh~ Kid, behind you is the heavy evil area. Where else can you flee?"
The sight of the grinning, arrogant bald man made Xia Feng think of Han Xin, who frantically danced back to the base surrounding Lu Ban—yes, he once enjoyed using this tactic like Han Xin, so unapologetically despicable.
"Fine, Baldy, I won't run anymore." Xia Feng tossed his long knife and gestured to the bald man with a flick of his finger, "Come on."
"Court death!!" The bald man's expression turned icy, and as soon as he spoke, he was already near Xia Feng, clang—a piercing clang of metal striking metal and an explosion of firewaves forming layers of scorching shockwaves sent Xia Feng flying.
"Phew—" Blood sprayed from his mouth high into the air, but Xia Feng, spinning in the air, grimaced and struck the ground with Triple Waves, Bang!!
The recoil sent him soaring even higher, towards a shrinking black hole that was losing its swallowing gravitation—the same black hole that had previously sucked him into the Evil Dragon restricted area!
Before entering the black hole, Xia Feng casually flipped a "friendly gesture" middle finger back.
The bald man smiled faintly, stepped forward, and flew directly toward the black hole—it was just a Black Hole Disaster, after all. Did this kid really think he could escape by running in here? Naïve.
In the blink of an eye, they entered a world blanketed with heavy snowfall; it was already night, and the sky was thick with mist, obscuring the distant scenery.
But the bald man instantly felt the exceptionally high concentration of evil power in the area, guessing that he had run into the heavy evil area.
He glanced around and spotted a black-haired young man in the distant snow. Seeing that he had also followed, the man seemed to panic, then turned and continued to flee—stumbling a bit and nearly falling face-first.
The bald strong man mockingly chuckled and decided to make it quick, "Can't stay here long, kid, I'm not playing with you anymore!"
With that, he unleashed a powerful move, creating waves of white air from his feet, his eyes shrouded in deep blood-red, whoosh—
The falling snow instantly cleared, forming a clear division between the upper and lower layers. Clad in a fur, the strong man shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, reaching the panic-stricken and scrambling black-haired young man in an instant—ten meters...
Xia Feng noticed the noise and slowly rolled over. The soulless body of the strong man, due to inertia, faced down and whooshed past him, plowing through nearly a hundred meters of snow like a dragged mop.
Seeing this, Xia Feng calmly stood up and dusted off his hands, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, "Finally lured you in, really had to act my heart out."
He carefully recalled his performance moments ago—panic, terror, despair facing death, and cluelessness driving him to run blindly into the snow, rolling and crawling, and only managing five meters in the last five seconds.
Such exquisite acting skills, an Oscar wouldn't be too much, right?
"Help—save me!"
Suddenly, a hoarse, weak cry for help came from above. Xia Feng looked up to see countless terrifying black mists gathering around a twisted Spiritual Body, like wolves tearing apart a young rabbit.
The Spiritual Body, with a ferocious and pained expression, reached out desperately towards Xia Feng, "Save me!!"
"Indeed, a Second Order fighter, I can actually hear him speak in his Spiritual Body state." Xia Feng pondered.
"It's the Black Moon Church! The one who sent me to kill you is from the Black Moon Church!"
As the black mist swallowed his neck, only his head protruded, reaching towards Xia Feng with frantic misty hands, screaming urgently, "Save me! I can help you kill them!"
At this moment, the bald strong man felt both frightened and furious. To think that he, a mighty Second Order Spirit Master capable of engaging with Third Rank Spirit Masters, was fooled by a mere young brat!
He couldn't understand what this bizarre place was all about or how that young man named Xia survived unscathed?!
But no matter what, since Xia Feng could survive in this hellish place, there might be a way to save him.
First, give in, then kill that son of a bitch!
"Did you say you were sent by the Black Moon Church?" Xia Feng looked puzzled, "Who from the Black Moon Church?"
Who knows... The bald strongman was anxious; the mysterious person was wearing a mask, making it impossible to ascertain their identity. His guess about their affiliation with the Black Moon Church was based on years of experience, but that was all.
"Save me first, and after I'm saved, I'll tell you, really! I swear by the Star God!" The black mist spread over the tip of his nose as he spoke unclearly, his voice growing weaker, "Xia Feng, save..."
Xia Feng looked up at his desperate gaze and nodded thoughtfully, "I see, you don't even know who it is exactly."
"I... know..." The bald man widened his eyes, mouth open.
"No, I'm telling you you don't know, so you don't know."
"!!! Xia—" The last eye exposed outside was full of anger and regret for ever taking this shitty assignment, as the black mist swallowed his eye, "No!!!"
Rip—
The black mist completely devoured the spiritual body, leaving nothing behind.
*
"Ten hours."
Wei Shutong checked his watch, expressionless, "It's the longest time ever, President Zhao Dai, aren't you going to send someone in to check it out?"
"No need." Zhao Jie waved his martial arts robe sleeve dismissively, coldly stating, "I know my disciple well, and he won't easily come out of the Evil Dragon Forest once he's in."
"He's probably wandering around looking for treasure by now, and he'll come out naturally when he can no longer endure the invasion of the Evil Power."
As they were talking, a faint rustling noise could be heard in the distance.
Both men looked up simultaneously, Zhao Jie grinned, "Wei, it's time for you to transfer the money."
Wei Shutong, leaning on his crutch with a straightforward posture and slightly downcast eyes, was about to say something when he suddenly paused, staring in astonishment at the black-haired figure emerging from the jungle.
He struggled to suppress his twitching lips and said indifferently, "Really? Maybe President Zhao Dai should take a closer look."
"..."
Wei Shutong didn't have to say it; Zhao Jie's mocking smile had just begun to curl when it froze—the figure emerging was not what he expected at all.
Wrapped in a ragged trench coat, with a blood-stained face and a wide, white-toothed grin, the black-haired young man carrying a knife came into his vision.
"Xia—Feng?"
Zhao Jie's eyes, marked by fierce scars, flashed with surprise and suspicion as he squinted; he was very puzzled—how could this be possible?
Wei Shutong stepped forward, leaning on his cane, and casually patted Zhao Jie on the shoulder as he passed, "President Zhao Dai, if your eyesight is bad, you could go to the hospital to register. Of course, if you are seeing things, you could directly seek help from me for free treatment."
Zhao Jie: "..."
"Senior Masters, this is the Life Fruit you wanted."
Xia Feng tossed over the fruit, "Is this competition over now?"
Zhao Jie caught the Life Fruit and looked up: "Where's Qi Xiao? Did you kill him?"
"Yeah, or what else?" Xia Feng shrugged and casually responded.
Impossible! Zhao Jie's eyes turned cold, the terrifying pressure of a Third Rank Spirit Master instantly crashing towards Xia Feng, "Speak! How did you kill him?!"
Thunk—
The dragon-head crutch hit the ground, the middle-aged man in a suit and oiled hair turned to stand in front of Xia Feng, his eyes indifferent: "President Zhao Dai, are you about to openly breach the Six-tailed Society's rules?"