"I..."
The Eastern Islander warrior spoke, blood continuously pouring from his mouth.
Under Igegawa Yutaro's shocked gaze, he fell into the snow, becoming a corpse.
Igegawa Yutaro shifted his gaze from the corpse and suddenly looked at Chen Jinzhao, who stood not far away. He felt immense relief that his two companions, not him, were the ones who died.
"Are you S-class?" Igegawa Yutaro asked, frowning.
Chen Jinzhao did not answer.
This filled Igegawa Yutaro with a strong sense of unease.
No!
He seemed to no longer sense his left arm.
As Igegawa Yutaro attempted to lift his left arm, it was severed at the shoulder and fell into the snow.
So.
He had already been 'hit', his body just hadn't reacted yet.
Igegawa Yutaro was not Chen Jinzhao's match to begin with, and after losing an arm, he was even less likely to be Chen Jinzhao's opponent.
He threw away the knife in his right palm and drew a handgun from his waist. "Your knife is fast, but is it faster than my gun?"
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out.
Igegawa Yutaro's right arm exploded, rendering both his arms severed.
Li Xiaoning walked out from behind a rock. The shot fired just now was hers, hitting Igegawa Yutaro's arm with perfect accuracy.
It also crippled his ability to move.
Li Xiaoning took deep breaths of fresh air and said to Chen Jinzhao, "How was it? Am I still a little bit useful?"
"Your action was very timely," Chen Jinzhao praised.
Li Xiaoning was secretly delighted.
After several days of getting along, she could finally be of help to Chen Jinzhao.
If things continued at this pace, she might become a remarkable woman in the future.
Igegawa Yutaro was utterly defeated. His knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, saying, "I lost. Please spare my life. I can serve you like an ox or a horse."
Chen Jinzhao walked up to Igegawa Yutaro and looked down at the Eastern Islander warrior. "Are you taking orders from Matsui Kazuo?"
Igegawa Yutaro dared not conceal anything and told the truth.
They were indeed under Matsui Kazuo's command. Matsui Kazuo had even instructed them that if they encountered a strong enemy, they could contact him at any time, allowing that S-class Eastern Islander warrior to intervene. However, by the time Igegawa Yutaro was disabled, he hadn't even had a chance to react.
Let alone contacting that S-class Eastern Islander warrior.
Chen Jinzhao and Li Xiaoning exchanged glances. They found that what Igegawa Yutaro and Miyagi Chiya had said was largely similar, likely close to the truth.
"You've been wandering in the woods for so long, have you noticed anything unusual?" Chen Jinzhao asked.
Igegawa Yutaro thought carefully and then nodded. "Yes!"
"As we ventured deeper into the woods, we found many dead bodies. They all died from a single stab."
Chen Jinzhao remained vigilant.
It seemed many people had died. So, who could have done it?
The Heavenly Mountain Snow Fox?
That's not right either.
The snow fox's weapons were neither long knives nor swords.
This was all Igegawa Yutaro knew; anything deeper was beyond his level of access.
Igegawa Yutaro hastily pleaded, "Please, I beg you, let me go."
Chen Jinzhao withdrew his thoughts and said gravely, "You've come to our territory and expect to leave alive? There's no such easy thing."
"You can be on your way now."
As his words fell,
Before Igegawa Yutaro could utter another plea, Chen Jinzhao punched his skull, shattering his brains.
Igegawa Yutaro fell to the snow, becoming a corpse.
Li Xiaoning was accustomed to this, even somewhat numb to it. Chen Jinzhao said in a low voice, "It seems there are still unknown dangers in the forest. If we continue to venture deeper, disaster may befall us. This is your last chance to choose freely."
"I won't turn back," Li Xiaoning said.
Chen Jinzhao no longer tried to persuade her.
Life and death are fated, wealth and status are determined by heaven.
"Before it gets dark, let's climb another mountain," Chen Jinzhao suggested.
Li Xiaoning had no objections.
Night fell.
The two successfully crossed a mountain peak and set up camp to rest.
The deeper they went into the dense forest, the more Chen Jinzhao dared not close his eyes, fearing that danger might suddenly strike while he was unprepared.
Coupled with the long journey of the past few days, even Chen Jinzhao, a man of iron, was exhausted.
"Why don't you rest? If I remember correctly, you haven't slept for several days. This won't do. If you encounter a powerful enemy next, with your mental state, you might not be a match for them," Li Xiaoning advised.
"Don't worry."
"My rest level has been good these past few days. Staying awake for one night is nothing."
Chen Jinzhao felt her words were reasonable.
However, this was a deep mountain forest, and it was indeed somewhat unsafe for Li Xiaoning, a woman, to stay outside the tent. He thought for a moment and said, "I'll rest for two hours. After two hours, I'll take over from you."
Li Xiaoning wanted to say more, but Chen Jinzhao said, "No need to refuse. Two hours is enough for me."
"Alright then..."
Chen Jinzhao returned to the tent and lay down.
While serving in the army, Chen Jinzhao had learned a method of rapid sleep, allowing him to fall asleep within half a minute of closing his eyes.
Chen Jinzhao's eyelids grew heavy, and he closed them, his consciousness sinking into a void of darkness.
After an unknown amount of time.
A gunshot startled Chen Jinzhao awake.
Chen Jinzhao opened his eyes and immediately walked out of the tent, scanning the surroundings, trying to find Li Xiaoning.
"Huh?"
"There are more companions? What a coincidence. Let's kill this man first to fill our stomachs." The speaker was a group of seven burly men from Russia. Judging by their physique, they were likely former mercenaries, standing like small mountains.
The seven men had surrounded Li Xiaoning.
The gunshot was fired by Li Xiaoning.
However, these Russian mercenaries were experienced fighters. As soon as Li Xiaoning fired, they had already disarmed her.
This caused Li Xiaoning's handgun to fly out of her hand, and she was surrounded by the seven Russian mercenaries.
"Scram!"
Chen Jinzhao spat out a single word.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but as Chen Jinzhao spoke, the surrounding temperature plummeted.
Even Li Xiaoning felt a bone-chilling cold.
The leader of the Russian mercenaries laughed mockingly, "Did you hear that? This Chinese monkey is telling us to scram. I really don't know where they get their courage."
The men burst into laughter.
Chen Jinzhao walked slowly to Li Xiaoning's side. The seven Russian mercenaries immediately surrounded them. The leader, Tulavsky, walked up to Chen Jinzhao and squinted, saying, "Foolish Chinese, you are courting death."
"You are the ones courting death," Chen Jinzhao said, word by word.
"I like quiet when I sleep, and I hate it when people disturb my peace while I'm sleeping."
"You all deserve to die."
As his words fell,
The Tai Sui sword unsheathed, as if letting out a dragon's roar.
Li Xiaoning and Chen Jinzhao's coordination was impeccable. The moment Chen Jinzhao made his move, Li Xiaoning had already retreated from the battlefield.
A small-scale war erupted instantly.
The seven Russian mercenaries were not Chen Jinzhao's match to begin with, and with Chen Jinzhao truly enraged, he aimed to kill.
This one-sided massacre took only two minutes.
Six Russian mercenaries were beheaded, leaving only the leader, Tulavsky, gazing at Chen Jinzhao with a look of horror.
As if seeing Satan!