Five Way Heaven

Previous Chapter | Project Page | Next Chapter

Chapter 6: Success

Unlike others who felt constrained, Ai Hui was like a fish back in water.

In the Savage Territories, darkness was the true dictator. Countless slaughters and raids quietly blossomed within the darkness, s.n.a.t.c.hing away lives and temperatures. Even if they were even more powerful, elementalists who were incapable of adapting to the darkness were also incapable of surviving in the Savage Territories.

Ai Hui immediately sensed someone nearby, someone who was really close to him, who was about to pa.s.s by him.

He originally did not have any intention of doing anything. As long as he quietly concealed himself in a corner somewhere and persevere for five minutes, he could leave with the award money, because in accordance with the regulations, as long as he could hold out for five minutes without being defeated, it would be counted as his win.

However, in the Savage Territories, there were no rules, only life or death.

But Ai Hui soon discovered that the situation at hand was different from his expectations and immediately reacted based on his instincts. The other party’s was too close to him, so close that if the other party were to attack him, it was extremely likely that he would be land in a pa.s.sive state. Ai Hui, who had entered into this predicament, believed that the normal criteria for danger was when one was exposed to those terrifying savage beasts which lived in the Savage Territories, so he absolutely wouldn’t have the silly way of thinking the people around him who were not accustomed to the dark would have.

Countless near death experiences told his body that when he encountered such a situation, the first one to attack had a more dominant advantage.

His footsteps were ever so light. Like a cat at night, his steps were absolutely noiseless.

His movements were slow, so slow that there wasn’t even the sound of wind. This was an area Ai Hui had plenty of experience in. In this completely dark environment, the air current and wind sounds were as dazzling as rays of light. To be good at hunting wild animals, before attack, one must be as quiet as the pitch-black night.

The quiet and the dark were the best of companions.

Ai Hui vaguely sensed the other party’s position, and his movements lightly approached.

His nerves were stretched taut as something bizarre happened to the muscles in his entire body; it was as though he was approaching a volcano’s boundary point. Just a little spark would be enough to cause him to burn. However, on the surface, such a state could not be seen.

Suddenly, he stopped, and held his breath.

Like a seasoned hunter, he sensed that his prey had somewhat detected him.

He wasn’t sure how to describe this kind of vague sensation, and also wasn’t sure where this guess was founded upon, but in the Savage Territories, there was no need for any basis. There was only victory or defeat, survival or death.

He stood in place, as motionless as a statue.

Shi Xueman faintly smelled a trace of a dangerous aura. Even though she wasn’t all that certain, it still made her go on the alert. She heightened her attention and concentration, and her ears used all her might to seize any sound that would come from her surroundings.

The surroundings were extremely quiet, as if nothing was there.

Yet she could hear the breathing of a few people from an area somewhat a bit more distant from her location. Even though they tried their best to control their breathing, it was nevertheless heard by her. She had even heard someone quietly tiptoeing on her left.

She couldn’t help but secretly shake her head. At the moment, any sorts of movements would be the target of everyone’s attack.

Right at this time, a sudden cry of surprise and stifled groan sounded from beyond ten meters from her, along with the additional sounds of an intense hand to hand combat. Very quickly, that area suddenly became a field of chaos.

Shi Xueman’s mind let out a slight sigh. Looks like it was her own misconception before. Within three meters of range around her, there wasn’t any other people.

As expected, the sensations that a blind compet.i.tion gave was not the same.

Shi Xueman grew a little excited. She had never experienced this kind of battle before. She felt that that her own nerves had been unprecedentedly stretched taut, and her sensing of her surroundings had never before been this sharp. If she was capable of maintaining this kind of sharpness through this entire battle, then her fighting strength would surely take a qualitative leap.

She saw an unprecedented road before her.

She felt like she was like a hunter who hid in the shadows, who waited for the most optimum moment to hunt. Her heart brimmed with confidence. Under her heightened concentration, even the slightest change in her surroundings would be finely felt.

This kind of sensation was so new to her that it made her infatuated.

Suddenly, she felt that her shoulder had come into contact with something.

She immediately came out of her daze as all the hairs on her body stood erect. She herself had not even moved, so how could she even come into contact with something?

Someone was close to her! She didn’t detect anything, didn’t heart any sounds, and the surrounding air current also had not changed. Cold air blew from her tailbone, and spreaded along her spine.

However, her reaction was half a clap too slow. Before she had even realized it, she had already landed in a dangerous predicament.

When Shi Xueman relaxed just a bit, the statue-like Ai Hui suddenly moved. He moved extremely slowly, even slower than a ninety year old lady’s movements. He extended out all five of his fingers and little by little, explored forward.

He slightly leaned his body forward, with all the muscles in his body on standby with acc.u.mulated energy.

Ai Hui’s heightened focus tuned out the fighting noises which came from somewhere in the distance, not influenced by them in the slightest. All his attention centralized onto his own fingertips. He knew that if he made contact with his target, the battle would be instantly over in a flash. Victory or defeat would be decided in a split second.

The instant his fingertips came into contact with an obstacle, Ai Hui unhesitatingly started to attack.

Slightly bending his knee, his tendons suddenly exploded forcefully. Like a nimble and shrewd cheetah, he quickly pounced forward lightning fast, without needed to adjust his body that was leaning forward. The sensation on his fingertips became even stronger, and the experienced Ai Hui immediately determined that he had made contact with the other party’s shoulder!

Before Shi Xueman had time to react, the quick aggressive pounce was like being suppressed by Mt. Tai. She immediately lost her balance and fell. Her left hand that had been preparing a counterattack had also lost its intent as she subconsciously extended her palm towards the ground with the intent to stabilize her equilibrium.

But once her arm paused, it was twisted backwards by the other party. The other party’s hand was unusually cruel, and she felt that her right arm had already become numb.

Before the suffocating attack had even finished, what shocked Shi Xueman was that the other party’s body coiled around hers like a snake. The other party pressed up against her back, and rode on top of her lower back like an eight clawed octopus. Both legs were like thick and solid steel wires that stretched forward, immobilizing her legs. The tip of their feet curved in like a iron lock, and firmly locked onto her calves.

Since she was a child, Shi Xueman had never been in such close contact with a man before. But at this moment, she did not feel the least bit romantic. She only felt fear, a very deep fear.

The rough deadlock made her feel as though she was a netted fish. As she powerlessly struggled, she wanted to remove the suppression bracelet, but all four of her limbs were locked tight, unable to make the slightest of movements.She didn’t hear the other party gasping for breath behind her, nor did she hear the other party’s breathing fluctuate. The ice cold quiet scared her, because it seemed like what attacked her was a nonliving machine, and what wrapped around her body were steel ropes. What made her even more terrified was that the other party was little by little, tightening even more.

She smelled the dense aura of death.

The intense fear made her struggle with all her might. Her survival instincts allowed her to explode with an unprecedented force.

Her hair unceasingly swept across the mask on her face as the closed eyes behind her mask grew ever so grim. This was typical; any wild animal would struggle their fiercest when facing death, let alone people.

The battle wasn’t over yet, what came next was a match of intelligence and tenacity.

He gently loosened a bit.

As expected, as soon as she felt that her struggle seemed be somewhat effective, Shi Xueman twisted and turned her body even more ferociously.

Like an ice cold hunter, Ai Hui clutched onto the other party’s joints like a steady boulder. The other party’s continuous struggle would only use up their physical energy, and when they exhausted all their strength, that was when the prey would die.

Shi Xueman heavily panted, dripping with sweat. She could feel her energy quickly being consumed. While she became more and more weary, the other party had actually tightened even tighter.

It was only up until this moment that she finally awakened from within her fear.

Recovering some of her cool, the results of Shi Xueman’s long and arduous training immediately came out. She was from a large clan with broad horizons. From the very beginning, she sank into a brief period of panic due to confusion, which caused her to be caught off guard for a while. Now that she had regained her cool, she immediately sought out a method to get out of her predicament.

Her beautiful eyes flashed with an odd light. As the elemental energy within her body activated, her body that was firmly locked in place suddenly began to slightly shake.

This shaking was completely different from the intense struggling she had been exhibiting earlier. However, the power that burst forth exceeded every one of her previous struggles.

Ai Hui only felt a shocking power penetrate his body. All four of his limbs were numb, and he almost released his lock.

Danger!

The prey’s strength had far surpa.s.sed his expectations. A danger signal was birthed in his mind just a moment ago, and his body had already made the most immediate of reactions. Without the slightest of hesitation, he suddenly lifted his snakelike arm that was originally coiled around his target’s left arm and opened all five fingers, clutching towards the target in his bosom’s throat lightning quick.

Unlike the previous noiseless hunting of the deep sea dive that he had executed earlier, the sound of this grab was sharp, and was as fast as lightning.

Shi Xueman’s heart trembled as all the soft hairs on her stood on end once more. She was undoubtedly sure that if this grab at her throat were to be carried out, it would certainly leave behind five b.l.o.o.d.y holes.

But fortunately, when the other party let go of her arm, it gave her the chance to resist. Her weak, boneless, snowy arm swung out like a pendulum, extending outwards, blocking her own throat without any flashiness.

“Pff!”

The enormous strength made her an acute pain shoot through her wrist. She hurriedly leaned back but she still didn’t completely dodge the attack. As her throat constricted, her eyes went dark, and she nearly fainted. But she also knew that this moment was the only time that she could counterattack. She fiercely contained her pain, and unceasingly attacked the other party with the only wrist she could use move while ignoring the extremely painful searing heat on her neck.

This was one of her most practiced defenses. Even though the other party’s attack was sharp, she had still obstructed it.

Not only that, she quickly realized that the other party could possibly have one weak point. It was only a possibility, not something she was certain of.

Up until now, the other party had never used elemental energy. Were they reserving it, or was their elemental level low? She wasn’t sure.

Shi Xueman’s tenacity intensely increased the danger Ai Hui felt in his heart. Perhaps it due to instinct, he suddenly launched another attack with a greater killing intent.

The heart!

No matter the enemy, if their heart were to receive an attack, they would lose the ability to resist.

But he had to first dispose of the other party’s armor. To him, this wasn’t some kind of big problem. Peeling off and loosening armor was one of his most proficient skills in the Savage Territories. The barbarian tribe’s armor were thick and rough, and very rarely did swords injure them. The only useful technique was to undo their study knots. Peeling off dead barbarians’ armor was one of his most important jobs.

Raising his left hand, he noiselessly untied the tight knots on the other party’s armor lightning quick. Even if someone were to see it happen, it would still be hard for them to detect any pause in his fingers.

Like a slippery mud fish, his right hand explored outwards and came across a tight knot in the armor. Without even thinking, he seized the opportunity to untie it, and nothing could obstruct his movements.

The instant he touched the other party’s flesh, cold light flashed in his eyes, and he burned with bloodl.u.s.t. Forming a claw, all five of his fingers suddenly grabbed at the other party’s heart. But right at the last moment, he suddenly remembered that this fight was not in the Savage Territories, and was rather for the purpose of getting the 50,000 yuan award money. Mn, he’ll suppress the other party’s vitals first and then think about it. If there was still resistance, then they shouldn’t blame him for being ruthless. Ai Hui’s killing intent was firm.

“Pff!”

Dead on target!

All of a sudden, he clearly felt the resisting target in his embrace go rigid.

Eh?

The darkness allowed Ai Hui’s sense of touch to become even more sharper than usual, and he was a bit puzzled.

This sensation… doesn’t really… feel… quite right…