The City of Terror

Forests were much more lively in the night than in the day, particularly so when they were older forests.

The scuttling sounds and cries of various insects formed a natural symphony in the forest. The greedy field mice hunted for nocturnal bugs and fruits that had fallen to the ground, while owls, snakes and other predators waited for the mice to appear.

Wei Xiao Bei activated his [Response Search] while advancing through the forest, constantly combing through everything in the forest.

This was a truly eye-opening experience. He saw a reticulated python successfully capture a lost fawn, tightening its body to kill the fawn in a matter of seconds.

With [Response Search] fully activated, Wei Xiao Bei quickly found the faint traces that Leng Xin Xing"s party had left behind when they walked through here.

Still, it was worth mentioning how experienced these armed forces were at traversing the forest. They even left behind two individuals to clean up the tracks they had left behind.

If it wasn"t for Wei Xiao Bei occasionally activating [Precise Calculation] to a.n.a.lyze the direction the traces pointed toward while keeping his [Response Search] activated, even he would have been tricked by these carefully hidden and erased marks.

Wei Xiao Bei had found over ten surveillance cameras hidden in various spots after just five kilometers of travel into the forest. Fortunately, with [Response Search] activated, Wei Xiao Bei easily discovered and avoided these cameras.

After another five kilometers into the forest, Wei Xiao Bei quickly discovered a hidden enemy in the trees.

The enemy had an SVD sniper rifle made by the Russians. Disregarding its performance, this sniper rifle was one of the most accessible sniper rifles in the world. One could very easily purchase this military-grade sniper rifle in the arms black market as long as they had money.

It was because of this that the SVD sniper rifle had become one of the favorite weapons of armed forces across the world.

Since the enemy was holding an SVD sniper rifle just like the sniper in the mangrove forest, they were also clearly a member of the secret organization. A single mountain could not be home to two tigers. Wei Xiao Bei understood this logic very well.

However, the secret organization wasn"t very well-staffed either, as this location should be pretty close to its base. Otherwise, there was no way they would a.s.sign a covert lookout and have them personally guard the area.

The place where the enemy had chosen to hide was very ingenious. It was slightly behind a clearing in the woods, where multiple small paths met up. These paths might still be difficult to walk upon, but they were much better when compared to the bushes and vines of the untamed forest.

If anyone were to enter the forest, they would eventually end up in this clearing as long as they proceeded in this general direction.

Wei Xiao Bei did not choose to wrap around the clearing. Apart from the paths that had naturally formed and those that had been created by humans walking through the area, the other places in the primal forest were very hard to travel across. Wei Xiao Bei could choose to travel through those places, but it would be very difficult to remain absolutely silent while doing so.

The shrubbery, the vines, the withered branches and leaves on the ground. All of these things would create noise when he made contact with them as he pa.s.sed through the forest.

This was especially the case in this area. Perhaps it was due to the presence of the hidden enemy, but even the cries of insects were much fewer here. This made it such that any noise in this area could be easily heard.

This also meant that Wei Xiao Bei would definitely be discovered by the enemy unless he could fly.

If this was the case, Wei Xiao Bei had no need to hide any longer. He picked up a bunch of pebbles from the ground and charged toward the clearing.

There was no doubt that the noise that Wei Xiao Bei was causing would attract the enemy"s attention, regardless of how fast he was moving.

The barrel of the rifle instantly turned and shots could be heard in the night. Fire spat out of the barrel and a sniper bullet arrived before Wei Xiao Bei"s chest in the blink of an eye.

One had to admit the strength of this secret organization. The skill that this enemy had with guns was no less inferior when compared to the mangrove sniper he fought prior.

Wei Xiao Bei extended his right hand and the storage bag he wore like a watch around his wrist sucked the bullet into itself.

Naturally, due to the darkness of night, the enemy wasn"t able to see what had happened to his bullet as the mangrove sniper had managed to. However, he still knew that his opponent was unharmed.

Gunshots rang out in the night. The enemy fired as many as six shots while Wei Xiao Bei charged across the distance of several dozens of meters.

He was practically using the sniper rifle like a submachine gun.

Even so, Wei Xiao Bei was unhurt. He arrived before the tree in a matter of moments and without any hesitation, tackled the three-meter thick banyan tree with an Iron Mountain Lean.

The saying "one tree makes a forest" was used to describe the banyan.

The banyan tree might have trouble forming an entire forest by itself in a temperate zone, but it could truly be called a single tree that makes a forest in a tropical place like this.

This main banyan tree whose diameter was over three meters in length had a canopy that took up over thirteen thousand square meters. Aerial roots of various thickness hung from the trunk, growing into additional new trunks when they took root in the ground.

With all these trunks stabilizing the ma.s.sive tree, even the impact of an elephant could hardly shake it, let alone a human.

Well, that was what the hidden enemy was thinking.

He was even wondering if his opponent had been scared out of his wits. Of course, if the kid smashed his head open on the banyan tree, it would save him a lot of effort.

However, the enemy knew he was wrong in the very next moment.

The banyan tree beneath him was actually shaking intensely.

Knocking the banyan tree over was impossible for Wei Xiao Bei to do without activating [Intermediate Power Burst]. However, he had no problem causing the banyan tree to shake.

The tremendous shaking of the tree almost threw the enemy to the ground. Fortunately, he grabbed onto a branch and managed to hold on.

However, a gust of wind blew over and a silhouette appeared before him.

After his experience in the mangrove forest, Wei Xiao Bei had absolutely no intention of obtaining information from this enemy. He reached out and grabbed the enemy"s neck.

However, what Wei Xiao Bei never expected was for the opponent to speak just as he was about to snap his neck: “Mercy! ”

It was Chinese.

Wei Xiao Bei hesitated slightly. With the gunshot from earlier, there was no doubt that members of the secret organization would hurry over to investigate soon. If he didn"t finish the fight as soon as possible and charge into the base, he might just let Leng Xin Xing escape.

After all, the small pig"s vital signs were already very weak.

These creatures that had been created from the Fledgling Life Altar did not have a strong life force. In fact, they didn"t even possess the instinct to feed themselves. As such, they would weaken with the pa.s.sing of time and eventually die.

Of course, this situation might change after the Fledging Life Altar was improved, but as it stands, the small pig would only have less than two hours to live.

Once the small pig died, it would become incredibly difficult for Wei Xiao Bei to find Leng Xin Xing, even if he simply chose to hide in the forest instead of running away.

After a moment of hesitation, Wei Xiao Bei decided to give this enemy a chance.

He took off the mask on his face. As expected, he was a Chinese man.

In truth, Chinese people might still look similar to other Asians. However, Wei Xiao Bei could easily ascertain their nationality once they spoke.

“Where"s your hometown? ”

Wei Xiao Bei casually threw out this line.

The enemy"s reply gave Wei Xiao Bei a shock: “Zhangjiagou of Cui Hu. ”

“Cui Hu City? Then do you know about…”

After a series of questions, Wei Xiao Bei confirmed that this guy was truly from Cui Hu and not someone who was trying to stall for time using his understanding of Wei Xiao Bei"s personal details.

“Tell me all you know…hang on! ”

Wei Xiao Bei was about to ask about the secret organization but he suddenly extended a hand and pressed a point on the sniper"s body. The sniper felt a shocking sensation spread from that point on his body. In the blink of an eye, his entire body had turned numb, making it difficult for him to even move his pinky finger.

This move, simply put, was the pressure point strike so often seen in wuxia novels.

Most people might have experienced getting hit in the funny bone. The spot at the elbow or behind the knees would create an unbearable numbness throughout the arm or leg, making it impossible to move.

In truth, this was the origin of the effect of pressure points.

Of course, the actual pressure point striking wasn"t as simple. It required one to deduce the flow of vigor through a person"s body given the time of the day and to choose the corresponding meridian and pressure points to strike based on that. This would cut off the vital energy and blood, creating the effect of numbness and paralysis.

In all honesty, pressure point striking had much to do with acupuncture. The only difference being that acupuncture was used for medical treatment while pressure point striking was used to control the enemy.

It would be impossible to be adept at the art of striking pressure points without several decades of practice. Just the ability to recognize pressure points in the heat of battle would take years of training.

Moreover, the pressure points were extremely small. In certain positions, it was very easy for the finger to press the wrong spot, causing the technique to fail.

What was even worse than that was if an enemy was wearing clothes, as that would make distinguis.h.i.+ng the corresponding pressure points even more difficult.

Even Wei Xiao Bei had trouble precisely striking pressure points in a fight. This was an issue of probability at the very core.

As such, Wei Xiao Bei wasn"t simply just striking pressure points, but also making use of his ability to discharge electricity on the foundation of striking pressure points.

If he could strike the opponent"s pressure point and add a little shock to the strike, then most people would be unable to avoid the fate of being paralyzed.

Wei Xiao Bei shut up after striking the sniper"s pressure point.

Soon, a series of footsteps could be heard from the forest and a crackly sound came from the sniper"s intercom: “Black Panther, Black Panther, what happened? ”

There was no doubt that members of the secret organization had hurried over after hearing the gunshots.