One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 274 Fierce Battle in the Mine

Wang Ye's figure, like the wind blending into the night, was silent yet carried an undeniable, resolute determination that tore through all obstacles, shooting towards the largest mine entrance, sealed by a heavy iron gate, thirty meters away! Nie Lingfeng, pulling Chen Duo along, followed closely behind, the three forming an unstoppable arrowhead!

"Who goes there?!" "Stop!" "Fire!!"

Near the mine entrance, the "Blood Buddha" militants, who had just been alerted from the machine gun shed and nearby sentries and rushed out with their guns at the ready, only saw three blurry figures suddenly emerge from behind the dark pile of rocks, moving faster than their reaction time could keep up! In shock, they instinctively roared, raised their automatic rifles, and pulled the triggers!

"Da da da da—!!!"

The piercing gunfire shattered the oppressive atmosphere over the mine once more! Several tongues of fire spat out, bullets weaving into a chaotic web of fire that swept towards Wang Ye, Nie Lingfeng, and Chen Duo's path! However, Wang Ye was at the forefront. His speed was incredible, his movements unpredictable and elusive, as if he could predict the bullet trajectories. In the blink of an eye, his body swayed and twisted slightly, and the bullets grazed his clothes and hair, whistling as they pierced the soil and rocks behind him, leaving behind smoking bullet holes, but none of them actually touched him!

"The character '巽' (xùn) represents a wind wall!"

Just as he was about to rush into the enemy's effective firing range and where the firepower was even more concentrated, Wang Ye finally pulled his right hand out of his pocket, spread his five fingers, and gently pushed towards the void in front of him!

"call--!!!"

A condensed, swift, yet powerfully repulsive aura of cyan energy rose from the ground several meters in front of him like an invisible wall! The energy swirled and roared, forming an arc-shaped, semi-transparent wind barrier!

"Puff puff puff puff—!!!"

The bullets that followed crashed into the "wind wall" as if they had been shot into sticky glue. Their speed dropped sharply, their trajectories were deflected, and their kinetic energy was rapidly consumed! The vast majority of the bullets were deflected by the wind wall and shot off to the sides at an angle. Only a few bullets penetrated the wind wall, but they were already at their last gasp and were easily deflected or evaporated by the dark golden flames that Nie Lingfeng casually flicked!

Taking advantage of the momentary delay and chaos gained by the "wind wall," Wang Ye's figure had already rushed to the entrance of the mine like a ghost, less than ten meters away from the heavy iron gate!

"Stop him! Close the gate!!" A militant who seemed to be the leader roared in terror, lunging at a rusty control lever next to the iron gate, trying to pull it down and lower the second barrier or the dragon-slaying stone that might be inside the gate!

However, it was too late.

"The character 'Kun'—a dragon soaring on the earth!"

Wang Ye casually stomped his left toe lightly on the ground covered with gravel and dirt!

"BOOM—!!!"

Centered on his toes, the hard ground in front of him suddenly rose up as if by an invisible giant python! A thick, twisted dragon of earth and stone, covered with sharp spikes, burst out of the ground with tremendous force, crashing into the heavy iron gate and the armed men who were trying to stop it!

"Bang--!!!"

A deafening roar! The seemingly heavy iron gate, struck by the "earth dragon" formed purely of the earth's power, crumbled and twisted like paper, emitting a teeth-grinding metallic tearing sound, and crashed open! The mechanisms and locks behind the gate were instantly destroyed! The armed men in front of the iron gate were the first to be hit, slammed away like flies by the impact of the "earth dragon" and its attached sharp stone spikes, their bones broken and their bodies shattered. They screamed as they crashed against the wall of the shack in the distance, their fate unknown!

The mine entrance was wide open! A stronger, more nauseating wind, mixed with the stench of blood, sulfur, decay, and that bone-deep filth and madness, rushed out of the cave like the panting of a demon that had been suppressed for countless years, blowing people's hair and clothes wildly!

"Go!" Wang Ye shouted, charging ahead into the dark, deep mine entrance, which resembled the throat of a giant beast! Without the slightest hesitation!

Nie Lingfeng pulled Chen Duo along and followed her in! The moment they rushed into the cave, Nie Lingfeng swung his hand back, and a condensed dark golden flame slashed at the rock wall on one side of the cave entrance, knocking down a large amount of rubble, temporarily blocking and burying part of the cave entrance. This was both to block possible pursuers and to create chaos, delaying the enemy outside from figuring out the situation.

Inside the mine, it was even darker than outside. Only a few dim, flickering miner's lamps, connected by tattered wires, hung sporadically from the ceiling, providing extremely limited illumination. These lamps cast shadowy shadows on the jagged rock walls, rusted tracks, and the scattered, indescribable filth and bloodstains on the ground, adding to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere. The air was suffocatingly foul; the intense, malevolent aura almost tangible, constantly assaulting the three men's senses and minds.

"Stay close to me! Watch your step and your head!" Nie Lingfeng pushed his senses to the limit, wary of possible attacks from the darkness while quickly observing the mine's structure. The main mine shaft was very wide, large enough for trucks to drive side by side, but after a short distance into the depths, many branching passages appeared, like a spider web, leading in all directions. On the cave walls, besides the traces of excavation, there were many twisted and bizarre symbols and patterns painted with dark red pigment (most likely blood), consistent with the blasphemous runes in "Nammu Cave" and the altar, but even more chaotic, bloody, and filled with the meaning of destruction and sacrifice.

"This godforsaken place isn't digging up jade, it's digging up the evil in people's hearts, isn't it?" Wang Ye frowned. He had clearly also seen the symbols, and his eyes became more serious. He stopped, listened intently, and then calculated with his fingers, pointing to a relatively narrow fork in the road on the left, where the evil aura seemed to be the strongest, and faint energy fluctuations could be heard: "This way, the energy reaction and the smell of 'dirty stuff' are the strongest. That 'Blood Buddha' and those 'goods' are probably inside."

"Let's go this way!" Nie Lingfeng said without hesitation. The three of them turned to the fork in the road and quickly ventured deeper.

The side passage became narrower and more winding, and the light was even dimmer. The ground beneath their feet was slippery and muddy, mixed with an unknown viscous liquid and fragments of bone. In addition to the evil aura, a faint, sweet, and strangely alluring fragrance began to permeate the air, mingling with the stench of blood and decay to create an even more eerie and dangerous atmosphere.

"Be careful, this scent is strange. It has hallucinogenic or mental-corrupting effects." Nie Lingfeng immediately held his breath and simultaneously channeled a gentle Qilin power into Chen Duo's body to help her resist it. He himself possessed the life force of phoenix blood, giving him strong resistance to such negative mental influences. Wang Ye, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected, maintaining his lazy demeanor, only his eyes were more vigilant.

Just then—

"Shhh..." "Hehe..." "Ugh..."

From the darkness of the fork in the road ahead came a dense, chilling rustling sound, hoarse breathing, and inhuman whimpers! Then, in the flickering light of the dim miner's lamp, dozens of twisted, deformed shadows, exuding a thick filth and deathly aura, like hungry ghosts crawling out of the deepest hell, writhed, climbed, and leaped forth from the depths of the fork, from the cracks in the rock walls on either side, and even from the tunnel overhead, densely packed, almost completely filling the passage ahead!

These "things" are completely different from the low-level polluted creatures encountered in the border town last night and sensed in the surrounding mountains and forests! Their forms are far more bizarre and twisted. Some barely retain a human shape, but their limbs are contorted and deformed, their skin festering and oozing pus, and their eyes burn with a frenzied red light; others have completely detached themselves from biological forms, writhing chunks of flesh forcibly sewn together from the flesh of several different creatures, covered with eyes and mouths, emitting chaotic howls; still others are simply pure, rolling shadows, radiating a cold, desperate, all-consuming aura! The evil energy emanating from them far surpasses that of those encountered before, carrying a more ordered, cruel will to hunt and destroy! Clearly, they are high-level monsters created through some kind of artificial cultivation, preparation, or sacrifice! They are the true henchmen and guards raised by the "Council" or the "Blood Buddha" deep within this mine!

"Ah... fresh flesh and blood... pure souls..." "Buddha's... offerings... have arrived..." "Eat...eat them..."

Chaotic, overlapping, and insane whispers of greed and madness crashed into the three's minds like a tidal wave! Chen Duo groaned, her face instantly turning pale, the golden-red flames in her emerald eyes flickering violently—clearly, she had suffered a severe mental shock! Nie Lingfeng immediately pulled her behind him, using his mental power and the majesty of the Qilin to create a barrier for her. Wang Ye also frowned, seemingly annoyed by this pervasive mental pollution.

"Tsk, quite a few tricks up their sleeves." Wang Ye curled his lip, looking at the horde of monsters surging towards them like a tidal wave, a sight that sent his sanity soaring. His face showed no fear, only a hint of impatience, a sense of "more work to do." "Old Nie, Little Chen Duo, looks like we need to stretch our muscles and clear out this roadblock. Are you two okay?"

"No problem!" Nie Lingfeng's eyes were icy cold, and the power within his body began to surge and roar. The "Suppressing Mountain" scepter on his chest trembled heavily, yearning for battle! Dark golden flames silently ignited on his body, radiating a magnificent majesty that purified everything! "Duoduo, stay close to me. Use your fire to burn away the smelliest and weakest-looking ones! Don't let them get close!"

"Yes!" Chen Duo nodded vigorously. Although her face was still a little pale, her eyes had regained their firmness, even carrying a hint of anger at being offended. She disliked these "stinking things," and even more so, she disliked the "voices" trying to burrow into her mind! In her emerald eyes, golden-red flames roared to life, more intense and pure than ever before! She formed hand seals, and a warm and bright golden-red aura of flames spread out around her petite body once more, repelling and purifying the uncomfortable chill and evil aura around her!

"Then—let's do it!"

With a low shout from Wang Ye, the three of them moved at the same time!