blueteamnovel Chapter 15 Clash
Chapter 15 Clash
Shi Jian's old house appeared even more dilapidated and lonely under the gloomy sky.
Zhao Kun stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his eagle eyes like lightning, slowly scanning every inch of land and every earthen wall.
He didn't need to enter the house; the keen senses of a martial artist had already spread out like invisible tentacles.
The faint traces of grass powder and earthy smell in the air might fool the likes of Ma Liu, but they couldn't fool him.
"As expected, someone skilled at concealing the traces has done so."
Zhao Kun sneered inwardly, his gaze finally settling on the tightly closed, seemingly ordinary wooden door.
The cellar entrance is right behind it.
He gestured for Ma Liu to come forward and open the door.
The interior was simple, but Zhao Kun's gaze fell directly on the old wooden cabinet in the corner.
Without being told, two thugs stepped forward and moved the heavy wooden cabinet, revealing the stone slab underneath.
The stone slab was lifted.
A cold, damp smell, mixed with the scent of herbs and old dust, wafted out.
Zhao Kun walked to the cave entrance, but did not go down immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and twitched his nostrils slightly, as if trying to detect every unusual fluctuation in the air.
At the same time, his blood and qi circulated slightly, and a faint light seemed to flash beneath his skin. An invisible probing aura spread downwards like ripples.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, a hint of understanding and a deeper chill flashing in them.
"No one has been living here for long, but... there is a very faint trace of 'life force' that doesn't belong here, and it has been moved more than once," Zhao Kun said slowly. "More importantly, the earthy smell of this cellar... is faintly connected to a certain 'hollow' feeling deep in the mountain behind."
He turned to Ma Liu, whose expression was shifting: "When you came last time, did you thoroughly examine the walls of this cellar?"
Ma Liu stammered, "Well... it was dark down there, so I just glanced at it, I didn't... I didn't examine it closely."
"waste."
Zhao Kun uttered two words and stopped looking at him.
He walked to the entrance of the cellar, went down the stone steps, bent down and carefully felt the earthen wall inside the edge of the cave entrance.
Soon, his finger stopped at a spot that was slightly darker in color and seemed to have a slightly different texture.
"Hmph, what a little trick."
Zhao Kun snorted coldly, exerted a little force with his five fingers, and a faint white light appeared on his fingertips (a sign of the manifestation of the blood and qi of the Flesh Refining Realm). With a soft "plop", he directly inserted his fingers into the seemingly hard earthen wall!
Earth and rocks fell down, revealing a narrow, sloping passage that was roughly covered up behind it!
The inner walls of the passage were smooth, with obvious traces of biological digging and traversing, and a faint, indescribable mixture of fishy and mineral odor remained.
"This is……"
Sun Mancang and the others gathered around, staring in disbelief.
"Traversing the ground, not by human means. It seems more like... the tunnels of some kind of subterranean insect... and there's the smell of herbs and blood..."
Zhao Kun's eyes were sharp as knives. "That Yang Jin, he really isn't dead! He's hiding inside!"
Upon hearing this, the Sun family father and son were both shocked and furious, and Ma Liu was so frightened that his face turned pale—if this were true, wouldn't he have been on the verge of death during his last search?
"Instructor Zhao, what should we do now?" Sun Mancang asked anxiously.
"Of course we'll go down and drag him out," Zhao Kun said grimly. "However, the mine is a complex and dark place; going down there would only be suicide for ordinary people. I'll go down myself. You guard this entrance, and immediately send men to find the main entrance to that abandoned mine and set up a perimeter to prevent him from escaping through other exits."
"Instructor Zhao is personally taking on this dangerous task? This..." Sun Mancang was somewhat worried.
Zhao Kun waved his hand: "It's alright. What trouble can a mere country bumpkin who survived by sheer luck cause, even if he's a bit strange? Besides, there might be other 'things' down there..."
He thought of possible clues about the mineral vein.
At that moment, Zhao Kun took a specially made tallow torch with a longer burning time, checked the knife at his waist and his personal belongings, and without hesitation, he moved like a wisp of smoke, lightly slipping into the narrow passage and quickly disappearing into the darkness inside.
Seeing Zhao Kun leave, Sun Mancang turned to Ma Liu and roared, "Go! Grab that old bastard! I want him dead!"
Like a frightened bird, Ma Liu replied, "I understand!"
……
Deep in the mine tunnels, beside the den of the stone badger.
Yang Jin had just finished binding the heavy badger skin with tough vines and collected some high-quality ores that A Tu had recently mined. He was preparing to plan his next move—whether to continue hunting deeper or try to send the hide and some ores to Shi Gong for processing.
Suddenly, Atu, who was lying in ambush at a crossroads some distance away, received a strong wave of shock and warning through their mental connection!
"A powerful life form! It's coming from...from the direction leading to the cellar! It's moving very fast! Its aura...is terrifying! Much, much stronger than the Stone Badger!"
Yang Jin was shocked and tensed up instantly!
The direction leading to the cellar? Were they martial artists hired by the Sun family? They actually found that passage? And they came down directly?
He immediately inquired about the details via the link: "What was it like? How many people?"
"One! Bipedal, its breath burning like a torch, its movement almost silent, yet incredibly oppressive... It paused in the passage, as if probing... It spotted the warning point! It's coming this way!"
Atu's thoughts were filled with panic.
Only one person?
But someone who can make Atu feel "terrified" must be a true martial artist, and most likely someone at the Body Refinement Realm!
Is it Zhao Kun?
The crisis came so quickly and so directly!
Escape? Although the mine tunnels are complex, since the other party was able to find this place with such precision, they must have tracking methods. Blindly running around might be more dangerous.
Moreover, carrying animal hides and ores limits speed.
Fight? Facing a martial arts instructor whose skill level and experience surpass his own?
The chances of winning are slim.
In a flash, Yang Jin's mind raced.
Fear was like ice water poured over his head, but it also sharpened his thinking to an unusually clear level.
We cannot fight head-on, nor can we simply flee.
"A-Tu, come back! Come to my side! We'll use this terrain!"
He quickly gave the order.
The rock cavity where the stone badger's den is located has a relatively complex terrain, with a narrow entrance, piles of rocks and several small side passages inside, making it a suitable place for maneuvering and ambushes.
Atu quickly crawled back.
Yang Jin then extinguished the torch, plunging the mine tunnel into absolute darkness.
However, now that his stone skin is beginning to take shape, his perception has improved, especially since the earth-walking marmoset is more adaptable to darkness and vibrations and can sense its surrounding environment.
He held his breath, conserving his energy to a minimum, like a dormant rock, gripping a short axe tightly in one hand and quietly picking up a few sharp-edged pebbles with the other.
The footsteps were extremely faint, but in the deathly silent mine tunnel and in Yang Jin's enhanced perception, they were as clear as drumbeats.
coming!
A steady glimmer of light first emanated from the corner of the passage, followed by a figure as steady as a mountain appearing at the entrance of the cavern.
Illuminated by the firelight, it was Zhao Kun!
Holding a torch in one hand and letting the other hang casually at his side, his eagle eyes, sharp as lightning, instantly locked onto the approximate location of Yang Jin and A Tu inside the rock cavity.
"As expected, it was hidden here."
Zhao Kun's voice echoed through the mine tunnel, carrying a chilling killing intent and a hint of mocking schadenfreude, "Playing tricks... kid, you do have some skill. Too bad, it ends here."
His gaze fell on Yang Jin, lingering for a moment on Yang Jin's unusually dark yellow complexion and steady physique. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "Oh? You've actually entered the Skin Refining Realm? It seems you're more than just lucky. However, you've only just begun the Skin Refining Realm, your aura is weak, yet you dare to oppose me?"
Before he finished speaking, Zhao Kun made his move!
Without warning, he hurled the torch at a cluster of stalactites at the top of the cavern, his figure flashing forward like a ghost, so fast that he almost left a trail of afterimages in the darkness!
He charged straight at Yang Jin! The explosive power of a martial artist in the Body Refining Realm was on full display!
Yang Jin's pupils shrank sharply. At this critical moment, his suppressed ferocity was completely ignited!
"A-Tu, you've knocked over the pile of rocks!"
He roared in his heart, but did not back down. He visualized the demonic ape, and his blood and qi burst out from under the stone skin. Instead of retreating, he advanced and threw several sharp stones in his hand with all his might in the direction where Zhao Kun was rushing!
The goal is not to injure the enemy, but simply to disrupt their line of sight!
Chi Chi Chi!
The rubble shattered the air.
Zhao Kun snorted coldly, waved his sleeve, and a strong wind blew, easily sweeping away the broken stones.
Just then, Atu's burly body slammed into the pile of rubble on one side of the entrance to the cave!
Rumble!
The rocks of varying sizes collapsed and rolled down, which, although not completely blocking the entrance, successfully created an obstacle and dust, and slightly slowed Zhao Kun's movements.
It's this very moment!
Yang Jin made a move!
Instead of confronting him head-on, he used his familiarity with the terrain and the darkness to his advantage, like a raccoon in the ground, and suddenly rolled to the side and back, narrowly avoiding Zhao Kun's sure-fire grappling move. At the same time, he used the momentum of the roll to slash his short axe upwards towards Zhao Kun's knee!
The tricky angle is precisely the kind of variation inherent in the "splitting the mountain" style!
A fierce glint flashed in Zhao Kun's eyes, seemingly surprised by Yang Jin's swift reaction and shrewd handling of the situation.
He shifted his feet, easily dodging the axe blade, and struck Yang Jin's shoulder with a backhand palm strike. The palm wind howled, and even carried the sound of wind and thunder!
Yang Jin felt an overwhelming pressure coming down on him. He dared not take it head-on. Relying on the toughness and flexibility of the stone skin, he lowered his body and rolled on the spot. At the same time, he kicked a piece of gravel off the ground and kicked it toward Zhao Kun's face!
Bang bang bang!
In just a few breaths, the two had exchanged several blows in the narrow, dimly lit rock cavity.
Yang Jin was completely at a disadvantage and was in grave danger. He only managed to hold on and not be taken down immediately because of Shi Pi's strong defense, his use of the terrain, his fearless strategy of trading blows for position, and A Tu's constant harassment from the side.
He had been struck on the shoulder and back with a palm strike each. Although the stone skin had absorbed most of the force, his blood and qi were still churning and his internal organs were shaking.
However, Zhao Kun was not entirely unharmed.
Atu's harassment also annoyed him greatly, as the acid could even slightly corrode his protective qi and blood.
What alarmed him even more was that the boy's fighting spirit and ruthlessness far exceeded what his age and level should be at!
"We can't delay! This kid is strange, and this mine tunnel is eerie!"
Unable to break through Zhao Kun's defenses, a surge of anger rose within him.
He took a deep breath, his chest bulged slightly, and the sound of his blood and qi flowing through his body could be faintly heard. A layer of solid, pale white qi light faintly appeared on his right fist!
"Boy, it's your good fortune to die under my Iron Bone Fist!" He shouted, no longer holding back. The true strength of a flesh-refining realm martial artist was unleashed. He threw a punch, the wind of which pushed away the surrounding dust, and aimed straight for Yang Jin's chest!
This punch is enough to shatter monuments and split rocks!