Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Charming Fox
Under Xue Long’s command, a Xue family expert with excellent water skills jumped into the lake with a rope tied around his waist. Soon after, someone gripped the end of the rope and pulled him up from the lake.
"Lord, there’s an entrance at the bottom of the lake, I don’t know where it leads.",
The Xue family expert announced loudly.
Buzzing discussions broke out; everyone admired Xue Long and was both curious and excited about the underwater passage.
In the martial world, this kind of situation usually means extraordinary opportunities.
Of course, it could also mean fatal danger, but living in the martial world is like keeping your head low, there are few who don’t want to take a gamble, who knows, maybe they’ll get lucky?
"Gentlemen, how about we all go in together?"
Xue Long looked at everyone’s expressions, and sneered secretly.
If there was no danger underwater, they wouldn’t dare to steal from the Xue family. If there was danger, he could use these fools as shields.
Under the leadership of the Xue family, one by one, the experts jumped into the whirlpool. And as more and more people gathered, this trend was further expanding.
Shi Xiaole was swept along by the current and involuntarily entered a passage. As he was about to run out of breath, he finally passed through the passage and emerged on the surface of the water.
A few yards south along the water’s surface, there was a three-tiered platform. Above it, stood a giant stone door over nine feet high.
"Third Eye Cave Residence!"
Looking at the four words on top of the stone door, Shi Xiaole had a feeling of achievement without effort. This time he had a narrow escape.
Without wasting any time, guessing the Xue family experts might also follow him,
he immediately swam up to the shore. Then, following the method described on the map, he pressed a specific spot on the stone door three times and the door opened with a rumble, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Shi Xiaole slipped through the gap.
About fifteen minutes later, the Xue family experts, along with high-ranking members from various factions in Moyun City, also arrived, all excitedly crossing the stone door.
Behind the stone door was a winding passage. The ceiling was full of small holes, leaking glimmers of light.
"Boy, you can’t escape, better stop now."
Shi Xiaole heard someone yelling behind him and couldn’t help but sigh.
He was a quarter of an hour ahead of them, but because of his internal power and flying skill, the distance was being closed, an inevitable circumstance.
After another several hundred meters, a figure was just two yards away from Shi Xiaole.
"Listen, boy, I am Xue family’s second master, if you don’t want to die, stop now, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life."
Xue Long sternly reprimanded in a commanding tone.
Shi Xiaole kept moving forward, ignoring him because speaking would deplete the remaining breath in his chest, making escape impossible.
"Overconfident."
Xue Long took a step forward and closed the distance down to one yard, then he swung his sword forward.
He had the cultivation of Hidden Qi Level 8, and had perfected a third-class medium sword technique known as Divine Harmony Perfection. When used together, the sword wind hissed violently.
With a ripping sound, Shi Xiaole’s green robe was torn, and fresh blood oozed out from his back.
"Stop now, or I’ll take your dog’s life!"
Xue Long coldly issued his final warning, his face displaying a smug grin like a cat playing with a mouse.
Unexpectedly, Shi Xiaole showed no sign of hearing him, he just kept running.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
Xue Long launched seven or eight quick attacks, leaving cross-like traces on Shi Xiaole’s back. He deliberately spaced each attack apart, not wanting to waste the intense pain each sword strike created.
Shi Xiaole felt a cold sweat breaking out, his face turning pale, his speed even slowing somewhat.
"I’ll cut off your dog’s legs."
Xue Long smiled faintly, swinging his sword towards Shi Xiaole’s legs.
Of course, he wouldn’t actually kill Shi Xiaole, after all, he’s still needed to solve the mechanisms within the cave residence. But once he gets his hands on the opportunities inside, he swore to make Shi Xiaole wish for death.
No one can disobey his orders and get away with it!
Just as his sword was about to cut down, Shi Xiaole suddenly stopped in his tracks and, while turning around, strongly slashed back with his sword.
It was the Draw Sword Skill he had been accumulating power for!
Initially, Xue Long didn’t pay much mind to it, but when the light of the sword slashed down, he finally felt something was wrong and had to block with his sword midway.
Clang!
Xue Long felt a colossal force strike him, his arm numbed instantly, he uncontrollably stepped back several yards, and exclaimed: "You bastard, don’t let me catch you!"
"Don’t let me get away."
Shi Xiaole’s face was cold, he was on equal footing.
"You still want to run?"
Xue Long sneered in disdain, about to make a move, but Shi Xiaole suddenly slapped a grid on the wall, a swooshing sound rang out, and over a dozen sharpened arrows shot out from the holes in the ceiling of the passage.
Shi Xiaole had been holding back until now, waiting for this moment. In his memory, from this point on, the following passages were packed with perilous traps, even he would have to tread carefully.
Xue Long dared to chase him up here, he made sure he wouldn’t leave. So what if he’s Xue family’s second master, there won’t be any mistake in killing him!
True enough, after experiencing several ambushes, Xue Long’s face darkened and he didn’t dare to recklessly pursue Shi Xiaole anymore. He waited until a large group from the back arrived.
"That kid knows the traps inside?"
Upon hearing Xue Long’s words, Xue Tianmu gritted his teeth fervently, appearing extremely savage.
"The traps here are not clever. We could try."
At this moment, a clear and melodious voice sounded. A beautiful woman with an oval face walked out of the crowd. If Shi Xiaole were here, he would have recognized the young woman who flirted with him on the road.
Xue Long’s eyes brightened, bursting into laughter: "Haha, always heard that Miss Charming Fox was skilled in traps and hidden weapons, it seems that we will have a demonstration tonight."
The others looked at him oddly.
Charming Fox was a well-known seductress in Moyun City, it was rumored that the main figures of the big and small gangs in the city all had a fleeting romance with her.
Although they despised her inwardly, her proficiency in traps was indeed remarkable. It looked like they would have to rely on her tonight.
"Gentlemen, follow me."
Charming Fox swayed her hips, her face becoming serious.
After the long hallway was a maze.
Shi Xiaole inwardly cursed; the blueprint didn’t contain this section. He guessed that it was due to the incompleteness of the blueprint.
It was now too late to back out. With clenched teeth, he had no choice but to choose a random entrance.
Not long after, Charming Fox led the experts of Moyun City there too.
"It’s a maze, what should we do?"
Xue Tianmu subtly glanced at Charming Fox’s large buttocks, asking.
"According to Lord Xue, the kid must have hidden in the maze. In this case, let’s split up and enter from different entrances. Not only can we corner the kid, but with some luck, we may also find the exit to the maze. The inheritance here should be extraordinary."
Charming Fox laughed.
Everyone was stirred by her words.
Even if they can’t get the inheritance, just capturing the injured kid would give them a big favor from the Xue family. The trip would not be wasted.
"I must disable that damn thief myself!"
The bearded man who had his arm chopped off before said viciously.
Without delay, hundreds of people in the field took action. More than a dozen people entered each entrance. The harshest part was that based on Shi Xiaole’s injuries, Xue Long arranged at least two Hidden Qi Sixth Stage experts in each group.
He wondered how Shi Xiaole could escape this time.
Within the maze, Shi Xiaole temporarily lost his way and spent half a 2-hour period walking in circles.
"This won’t work. I won’t be able to survive this way."
Shi Xiaole forced himself to calm down. At the threshold of life and death, opportunities often hid in the smallest, unnoticed details.
After some contemplation, he faintly came up with a method that might work.
"Look, the kid is over there."
Turning a corner, dozens of Moyun City’s experts, like hunters spotting their prey, rushed towards Shi Xiaole.
As Lord Xue explained, this kid was severely injured and only maintained 30% of his original strength. It was like heaven was on their side.
Before the thought had even fully formed, a hint of bloody knife light brought them back to harsh reality.
The Transformation Phase Perfected Battle Blade Skill was undoubtedly Shi Xiaole’s most potent attack, especially as this blade skill focuses on momentum. It was the best weapon in the narrow passages of this maze.
Shi, shi, shi.
Shi Xiaole held the knife with both hands. Under his horizontal and vertical slash, a Hidden Qi initial sixth stage expert was instantly killed. Another dropped his weapon, his right arm severed at the elbow.
"This kid’s strength..."
The remaining experts were dumbfounded, feeling a chill radiating from the top of their heads.
They were unaware of Xue Long’s cruel intentions. He deliberately lowered Shi Xiaole’s strength, intending to play a cat and mouse game.
In his view, after this battle, not only would Shi Xiaole be caught like a turtle in a jar, but they would also wear down the power of Moyun City’s gangs. Why wouldn’t he be delighted?
Seeing the others turn and flee, Shi Xiaole didn’t pursue. He left through another exit.
At this moment, he started to conscientiously keep track of the direction and approximate distance of the paths.
Though the maze seemed complicated, if one focuses on a direction and calculates the difference in vector displacement from mathematics, one can still find a way out.
However, to accomplish this, one needs to build a map of the maze, remember directions, and compare distances. It was a hair-raising demand on memory and focus.
Half a 2-hour period later, Shi Xiaole had faced seven or eight waves of attacks.
The wound on his back opened and closed repeatedly, worsening with each cycle. In addition to occasionally facing Hidden Qi Seventh Stage experts, Shi Xiaole was hanging by a thread.
After a 2-hour period, he was bloodied and as pale as paper, barely able to run.
At the worst time, he ran into another group of people.
The bearded man with the severed arm, was shockingly among them, and from their positioning, he wasn’t even the leader.
At this point, Shi Xiaole couldn’t even take on a Hidden Qi Third Stage martial artist. Against such a group, he was almost certain to die.
"Eh?"
A low exclamation came from Charming Fox’s mouth, quickly followed by silence.
"Kid, run, damn you, keep running."
The bearded man laughed wildly, his eyes full of brutal killing intent. He borrowed a knife from someone, and began to walk forward, intending to chop Shi Xiaole’s hand off first.
Shi.
But the next moment, the bearded man twitched suddenly and collapsed, his eyes rolling upward.
"Charming Fox, what are you doing?"
Someone in the back yelled.
However, Charming Fox was already prepared. She held a square box in her hand and shot wildly at the people next to her. The incident happened so suddenly, and since the distance between them was only a few feet, everyone around her had fallen dead in just a few moments.
Charming Fox let out a soft laugh and walked toward Shi Xiaole triumphantly.
