Chapter 46: The Hunt

A maiden suddenly emerged from the bushes, her face ordinary, but her figure was slender and graceful, with two braids hanging in front of her chest. She looked up and saw Qianye, and instantly jumped in fright. Upon recognizing Qianye’s face, her expression became complex, and she called out softly, “Qianye!”

“Mi Mi!” The name immediately surfaced in Qianye’s mind.

At that moment, Qianye held a dagger in his hand, crude yet sharp, with blood grooves as its only decoration—it was the only weapon available. He was still a youth, participating in a life-and-death exam, where the rules were simple and cruel: the test would end only when one candidate killed another.

Mi Mi hesitated for a moment before walking towards Qianye. Everywhere, an unknown mist spread, dispersing and converging with her steps, rippling in the cold, frosty moonlight like flowing water.

She said softly, “I’m so scared! Will you kill me?”

“No!” Qianye replied firmly.

Relieved by Qianye’s answer, Mi Mi quickened her pace to his side, whispering, “If we work together to deal with the others, our chances of passing will be much greater.”

Qianye was still hesitating when he suddenly felt a chill at his waist! His years of rigorous training had honed his combat instincts, and he immediately threw himself forward, rolling several times to distance himself from the attacker. When he turned to look, he saw the girl’s hand and dagger covered in blood!

Qianye, shocked and enraged, pressed his wounded waist and exclaimed, “Why?!”

The girl’s expression was emotionless, her voice mechanical, “Because I want to pass the exam, because I want the reward!”

Facing the relentless advance of the girl, Qianye could only retreat, the blood seeping through his fingers, unable to be stopped.

Mi Mi lunged at him, ruthlessly slashing with her dagger, creating a blur of shadows, each strike aimed at Qianye’s vital points. Qianye’s expression turned cold, and he tightened his grip on the dagger. Suddenly, ignoring her flying blade, he thrust his dagger directly at Mi Mi’s heart!

This blow missed, and the thick fog suddenly surged like a retreating tide. Qianye found himself on a cliff suspended in mid-air, looking down at the valley floor from a height of thousands of feet. Rows of black lines moved like snakes below. He could clearly identify the instructors, such as Long Hai, Zhang Jing, Shadow, and Shenting.

Another person stood on the cliff, dressed in a deep robe with wide sleeves, a retro attire of the imperial upper nobility. He stood at the very edge, his clothes fluttering upward as if he would take off with the wind any moment.

Song Zining turned around, his smile still gentle, “Qianye, see, that is my path.”

At this moment, all the images twisted, and the entire world fissured into countless fragments. Qianye woke up, the dream still vivid in his mind, incredibly real.

There was a slight movement outside the cave, almost indiscernible amidst the wailing night wind of the wasteland. This sound had woken Qianye; a resonator he had set up was triggered by a living being, but the sound was distant, indicating the intruder was still some way off.

Qianye silently crept out of the cave, climbed to the top of a crashed airship wreckage, and cautiously surveyed the surroundings. The night on the wasteland was both quiet and restless, and a small, unremarkable dot caught Qianye’s attention. It was a slowly moving object, appearing like a peculiar beast, using the terrain to approach steadily.

Qianye immediately recognized it as a hunter, an exceptionally skilled one at disguise. He nearly blended seamlessly with the environment. The only flaw was that the hunter was a bit impatient, perhaps because it was the darkest hour before dawn, when most creatures are abnormally tired. As a result, his movements were slightly too quick, making him noticeable under Qianye’s dark vision.

Encountering strangers in the wilderness was always dangerous. Not only was the hunter’s identity possibly a ruse, but even hunters rarely worked together. Most preferred to act alone, not just for freedom but also out of fear of betrayal. If teamwork was required for large missions, they seldom let strangers with unknown backgrounds join. Captains like Yu Yingnan were rare.

Realizing it was a hunter, Qianye became even more vigilant. Watching the hunter’s path, a murderous aura appeared on Qianye’s face.

Connecting the hunter’s movement points, a familiar route map emerged—this was what Qianye had deliberately left behind the previous night, originally for birds. Now, it seemed the lone hunter was following Qianye’s trail.

Qianye slowly descended from the airship wreckage and then stealthily made his way to his designated position.

Soon, the lone hunter reached the entrance of the cave where Qianye was hiding, demonstrating his exceptional tracking skills. The hunter moved more carefully, inching toward the cave without a sound.

Just then, a stone under the hunter’s foot snapped with a sharp crack. The hunter immediately froze.

This was a warning trap, skillfully disguised by Qianye, which even an experienced hunter fell for. However, he was not unjustly defeated; if the hunter could see through all the arrangements, he would have discovered a semicircular alert network protecting the cave, with only three or four meters between each trap.

At that moment, Qianye’s voice came from the cave, “Who’s there?”

The hunter’s body trembled slightly, then he decisively stood up, saying in a normal tone, “It’s me, Li Renzhe. We once worked together on a mission. You are, Qianye?”

Qianye’s voice inside the cave relaxed, “Oh, it’s you. Why are you here?”

“I’m on a mission, just happened to pass by and saw some traces you left. So, I came to check. By the way, Qianye, I might need your help with this mission. The payment can be discussed…” As Li Renzhe spoke, he lowered the muzzle of his origin gun and walked casually towards the cave.

At that moment, Li Renzhe’s left hand, hanging by his side, flung three grenades into the cave!

A blinding flash lit up inside the cave, the light spilling out a few meters, followed by a deafening boom. The ground shook, and a thick cloud of smoke billowed out.

Flashbang, concussion grenade, and tear gas—the three surprise attacks, tightly connected, would temporarily incapacitate anyone lying in wait inside the cave.

Li Renzhe pounced on the cave like a hunting leopard, the patterns on his origin gun fully illuminated, charged and ready. Without looking, he fired a shot into the cave, then pulled out three more grenades!

This shot was not for precision but to suppress. If Qianye somehow withstood the initial assault and attempted to counter, he would meet this barrage head-on. Li Renzhe’s attack was meticulously linked, extremely ruthless, and had a touch of the Yellow Springs Training Camp’s style.

Three more grenades were tossed into the cave, but suddenly, Li Renzhe was hit by a heavy blow on his right rear, flying out uncontrollably. He saw his right arm detach from his body, flailing in the air.

What was happening? Li Renzhe, shocked and furious, then plunged into darkness.

Qianye stood up from the side of the cave, lowering the hot muzzle of the Butcher, dragging the unconscious Li Renzhe into the cave. As a level-three firearm, the Butcher’s power was four times that of an ordinary level-one firearm, and with the heavy bullet, it severely injured the level-four warrior Li Renzhe at close range.

After a while, having cleaned up the traces of the battle, Qianye returned to the cave, took a sip from a copper flask, and then sprayed the alcohol onto Li Renzhe’s severed arm. Li Renzhe screamed, waking up immediately.

Li Renzhe struggled, screaming again. His wrists and ankles were pierced and nailed to the cave wall. The struggle caused excruciating pain.

“It seems your mission is related to me,” Qianye said calmly.

“You… how did you…” Li Renzhe, in mid-sentence, saw Qianye’s thumb point to the left cave wall. There, a bent copper pipe protruded, its mouth split into thin, outward-facing flaps, the other end deeply embedded in the cave wall, leading to an unknown place.

Li Renzhe realized Qianye used the pipe to transmit his voice, tricking him into thinking he was still inside the cave.

Li Renzhe’s face turned pale, “My hand is severed. Even if it’s reattached, my combat ability will be greatly reduced, and I can’t afford such expensive treatment. I don’t think you’ll let me go, so don’t expect me to tell you anything. Just kill me and get it over with!”

“I won’t let you go, but I’m in no hurry to kill you. I believe, in a while, you’ll tell me everything.”

In front of Li Renzhe, Qianye took a small leather bag from his backpack, opened it, revealing a row of precise tools—curved needles, hooks, and oddly shaped knives, made of various metals, handcrafted rather than industrial products.

But Li Renzhe’s face turned deathly pale; he recognized these items at a glance.

Torture instruments! A complete set of torture instruments!

The more intricate and numerous the torture instruments, the more potent they were. Qianye’s set consisted of dozens, all homemade, indicating he was an expert in interrogation!

With a hint of regret, Qianye looked at Li Renzhe, “These were meant for the Heavenly Snake Gang, but I didn’t expect to use them on you first.”

In an instant, Li Renzhe’s agonized screams echoed throughout the cave.

Li Renzhe had underestimated Qianye, who had surpassed the expert level in torture and entered the realm of a master!

The Yellow Springs Training Camp had a specialized interrogation course. On one hand, it trained the students’ endurance and response to torture, on the other, it taught them various torture techniques and interrogation methods. In reality, most of the time, the instructors practiced these tortures on the students, as experiencing them firsthand was the only way to understand the specificity and pros and cons of each method. Of course, this also strengthened their willpower and pain tolerance.

Initially, the classroom was chaotic, with many students passing out, then being revived, and tortured again. After a year, the class became quiet, with only occasional muffled groans, no more fainting, and even some students chatting while enduring the torture. Thus, every graduate of the Yellow Springs Training Camp was an expert in interrogation.

Entering the Red Scorpion, Qianye further mastered elite corps-level interrogation techniques, advancing his skills even further.

Li Renzhe only lasted three minutes before confessing everything.

Qianye changed the angle of his questions, repeatedly going over them until he was convinced of the truth, then sighed, “Sister Nian was actually good to you, but you weren’t suitable for her.”

“If it weren’t for you, she would have been mine long ago! If I can’t have her, no one can!” Li Renzhe, hysterical, screamed.

Qianye shook his head, pointing the Butcher at Li Renzhe’s forehead, “Out of respect for you as a warrior, I’ll let you die by the origin gun.”

A loud boom resounded in the cave.