Chapter 358 - 267: Fangs in the Shadows
In an abyss at the bottom of the sea, atop an altar piled high with ghastly white bones.
The Blood Slaughter Guardian toyed with a dark red bone whistle, his narrow, triangular eyes filled with cold calculation.
After a moment, he turned his head to look down and called out softly.
"Blood Shadow."
The shadows in a corner of the altar writhed, and a man walked out from within.
He was small and thin, with a face so ordinary that if you tossed him into a crowd, he’d be forgotten in three seconds.
Without sensing carefully, you wouldn’t even be able to find a trace of a Martial Artist’s aura on him. He was like a dock laborer who had spent his entire life hauling sacks.
But this was precisely what made Blood Shadow so terrifying.
He was the top assassin of the Blood Feeding Sect’s younger generation. His Cultivation had already reached the Tier Three Peak, yet he could restrain his abundant Qi Blood until it was as still as a stagnant pond.
"Guardian."
Blood Shadow’s voice was hoarse and grating, as if his vocal cords had been sanded down with sandpaper.
"Go to Dragon’s Fang Port."
Blood Slaughter threw a defensive layout map of Dragon’s Fang Port over to him.
"There’s a kid there named Han Feng. He has a strange ability to see through Energy fluctuations.
I will give you some Treasures to conceal your aura.
But to be safe, you’d best wait until that kid flies his fighter jet out of the base before you find a way to infiltrate."
Blood Shadow took the map, glanced at it, and the corners of his mouth twitched stiffly.
"Understood. I will personally watch the fighter jet take off before infiltrating. I will do my best to avoid encountering him."
Blood Slaughter nodded in satisfaction, then pulled several transparent, fleshy balls from his robes and tossed them down to Blood Shadow.
Then, still not entirely at ease, he added a warning.
"Remember, your mission is not slaughter. Do not go head-to-head with that kid."
Blood Slaughter’s voice was sinister.
"Your mission is to create panic. I want Dragon’s Fang Island to descend into chaos. I want everyone to flee that place."
"Understand?"
Blood Shadow put away the fleshy balls, and his figure slowly retreated, melting back into the darkness.
"I understand."
"Within a week, I will turn Dragon’s Fang Port into a madhouse filled with nothing but screams."
...
「Two days later, at the outer checkpoint of Dragon’s Fang Port.」
Ever since Han Feng took over the port, the security level here had been cranked to the maximum.
A dozen or so military Martial Artists, all at least in the Meridian Passage Realm, stood guard at the checkpoint, holding Tier Two Spiritual Energy Firearms.
Even a fly would have to be checked to see if it was male or female before it could get in.
The line was very long, mostly filled with Scavengers who had heard the news and traveling merchants looking to try their luck.
"Name, origin, occupation."
The officer in charge of registration had a stern expression as he swept an Energy Detector over a middle-aged man who looked simple and honest.
"Sir, my name is Mo the Third. I’m a refugee from over in Jiangbei."
The middle-aged man was hunched over, his face plastered with an eager-to-please smile. In his hand, he carried two dried wild rabbits.
"I’m just a Second Level Martial Disciple, looking to make a living in the port, do some odd repair jobs for people, that sort of thing."
The officer glanced at the reading on the instrument.
The Energy reaction was faint. He was indeed a Low Tier martial disciple with only a few hundred pounds of strength, posing no threat whatsoever.
"Stay out of trouble once you’re inside."
The officer waved his hand.
"If you dare cause any trouble, you see that plane up there? That man’s temper isn’t what you’d call good."
Mo the Third followed the officer’s finger with his eyes.
Ten thousand meters up in the sky, a streak of black light was weaving through the clouds. Muffled sonic booms echoed from time to time, like a Divine being patrolling its domain.
"Got it, got it! I’m just a shoe mender. How would I dare to provoke an Immortal like him?"
Mo the Third bowed and scraped as he took the pass, then, carrying his rabbits, he blended into the bustling crowd.
No one noticed that in the instant he lowered his head, a nearly imperceptible glint of blood-red light flashed deep within his eyes and vanished.
He was Blood Shadow.
His immense Tier Three Peak Qi Blood was sealed tight by a special "Turtle Breath Blood Pill" inside his body, reduced to a mere trickle.
As long as he didn’t use his core power, not even the most precise instrument could detect that he was an Evil Ghost in human skin.
Behind him, another eleven men and women, all appearing just as ordinary, passed through the strict inspection.
Among them were traveling doctors selling herbal medicines, an old veteran with a missing arm, and even a widow with a child.
The infiltration team codenamed "Blood Fox" was now fully in place.
...
For the next five days, Dragon’s Fang Port was almost unnaturally calm.
Han Feng’s life was extremely disciplined.
At six in the morning, he would take off on schedule to clear out the Demon Beasts roaming the sea, and while he was at it, he would max out his Skill Proficiency in the Sword Control Technique.
He would return at noon, then spend the afternoon holed up in a warehouse, performing "Artifact Refining on the company dime."
In the evening, he would be in his Quiet Chamber, using the newly acquired Void Soul Crystal to refine the Red Gold Acupoint he had just opened.
This monotonous yet fulfilling, grind-like lifestyle had him completely immersed in the pleasure of his rapidly increasing power.
He failed to notice that right under his nose, several rats were frantically digging tunnels, preparing to gnaw away at the dam.
「Zone C of the port, the slums.」
Mo the Third, also known as Blood Shadow, was currently sitting on a broken stool. With a needle and thread in hand, he was skillfully mending a torn tactical vest for a patrol guard.
"Old Mo, your handiwork is pretty good."
The young guard looked at the fine, dense stitches and said with admiration, "Much better than that bunch of old geezers in the logistics department."
"Just making a living, just making a living."
Mo the Third smiled honestly, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "In these chaotic times of war, it’s not easy to find a place to settle down."
He glanced up at the guard, seemingly unintentionally.
For the instant their eyes met, a blood-red vortex seemed to flash and disappear deep within Mo the Third’s pupils.
The guard’s eyes went vacant for a moment before returning to normal, but his mouth had inexplicably started running.