Book 1: Chapter 149


    I was stunned for a few seconds and then the overwhelming smell of blood instantly made my blood pressure soar to the highest point. My instincts that had been honed after countless dangerous situations were immediately turned on and the chaotic environment in front of me quieted down.


    I immediately discovered that those people werent panicking because of the smoke. Instead, they had gathered together to form a defensive circle. As the figures of these people moved in the smoke, I could see that they had long weapons.


    They were all experts who had attacked by default. In this situation, they wouldnt hesitate to kill people.


    My hands were shaking as I realized that my people were blindly walking in the smoke and could get close to this circle at any time. I knew how people with long weapons tended to fight. If they started something here, at the very least my people would be disabled. Moreover, people who had a lot of experience fighting could see others without even looking. They could follow up on their attacks as long as there was airflow.


    I didn''t expect Xiao Hua to use such a team. The rescue team didn''t need to fight, so how could they kill people so casually? And why were they using long weapons when they were trying to save people? Either the situation here waspletely different from what Uncle Two had said, or these people werent working for Xiao Hua.


    But there was no time to think right now, so I shouted, "Blow them up!" I rushed into the smoke, grabbed a man, and pushed him into the calling spring. It was Xiang Dun. He didn''t know what had happened to Jia Kezi or why I suddenly wanted to blow things up. After pushing him, I rushed in, grabbed You Erque (1), and also pushed him into the entrance of the calling spring. Then, the opponents knife arrived.


    At this time, an entrenching tool (2) stretched out from the smoke on the other side and blocked the knife that was going for the back of my neck. Fatty rushed out of the smoke and shouted, "Well all die if we set off explosives now!"


    As soon as he said that, two more knives came out of the smoke. Fatty pped one away while I dodged the other one and pulled a machete from Fatty''s bag. The two of us had a tacit understanding and went directly to the calling spring. I pulled out Fatty''s explosives, cut off two thirds with my knife, and lit them.


    As soon as the sparks appeared, everyone in the smoke retreated wildly. I threw out the explosives. At the exact moment they went off, the two of us retreated into the calling springs entrance.


    Since the hole waspletely irregr and there were broken stones everywhere, we could only squat. Wires had been strung up along the hole, with small lights ced at certain intervals. It turned out to be a mountain passage. After entering, I found that the ground under my feet felt wrong. I kept walking until I got to a ce where there wasn''t any smoke and looked down. I saw the pale face of a dead man.


    There were dead bodies spread out all along this rocky mountain passage. I instantly recognized several familiar faces, all of whom were Xiao Hua''s people. Their throats had been slit. I looked ahead and found that the whole passage was full of dead people. They had been neatly stacked in the gaps of this passage to create a smooth path.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and my hands and feet started trembling.


    This was Xiao Hua''s rescue team. They were all dead.


    Hundreds of people were dead.


    Almost every single one of them had been killed by a single knife blow. Their eyes were murky, the blood had long dried, and many of the corpses were starting to rot.


    Fatty kept crawling forward and started to curse. My eyes became blurred as I also continued crawling forward.


    What was going on with the fifth floor?


    We crawled along until we finally saw Xiang Dun and You Erque, who had both copsed. I stopped and looked behind me. Someone was chasing us.


    The passage was very narrow, so we couldnt change positions. Fatty looked at me as I took the explosives off his waist. Both of our bodies were already covered in blood. "Keep moving forward."


    "What the fuck are you trying to do?" Fatty asked me. "Half of the best experts in Beijing have died here!"


    I have to see who they are, I said. Xiao Hua''s people are all dead. If we didn''te here, no one would ever know what happened to them. Dont worry, I won''t die with them. Ill blow up the tunnel and buy us some time. Theres no time to hesitate."


    Fatty cursed, pped Xiang Dun and You Erque back to their senses, and then the three of them continued crawling forward. I put the explosives in a nearby gap, flicked my lighter on, and looked at the person who was chasing us.


    This person was dressed in ck and had very long fingers. After so many years, I knew his identity as soon as I looked into his eyes and saw his clothes.


    This was a member of the Wang family.


    When he saw me, he froze for a moment, "Sasha?"


    I only now remembered that I still had a mask on my face.


    If he knew Sasha I broke out in a cold sweat as I realized that this man was from the fourth floor!


    I may have judged all the circumstances correctly, but I misjudged the timing. The people on the fourth floor had already discovered the calling spring and were using the fifth floor as a cover. By the time I had arrived, so many people had already died here!


    Sasha definitely wasnt the nave boy I thought he was. Bai Haotian was in danger!


    My makeshift mask was airtight, so the sweat began to gather at the edges. There was a war between man and nature going on in my mind, but I was very calm on the outside. This person was still a long way from me. If I set off the explosives, Fatty and I would be safe for the time being, but Bai Haotian would almost certainly die. There was no way she could cope with the next situation.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The raw said long chopsticks which didnt make sense to me so I think he means You Erque (the one who sells fried dough sticks and is like never mentioned). If thats wrong, Ill definitely fix it.


    (2) Also called a military engineer shovel. Its a small, foldable shovel that can be used for digging, shoveling, and chopping. More info here.