"Jiang Chen, I admit — you are a genius!"
Out of the darkness came the assassin leader's bone-chilling, raspy voice once more. His tone was flat, devoid of emotion, as if the deaths of his three companions were nothing more than three ants being crushed — not a single ripple passing through his heart.
"You killed three True Qi Masters. Sure, it was a bit of a trick, but I have to admit — I underestimated you."
"However, you've been injured twice already. You're a spent arrow. This underground cavern is destined to become your grave. I swear on the name of the Chasing Fate Shadow Gate — I will hunt you down and torture you slowly. Before you die, you'll learn what true despair feels like!"
"Kill me?" Jiang Chen's voice rang coldly through the darkness. "There were four of you just now, and you still couldn't do it. Now it's just you, and you think you can kill me?"
"Four? One?" The assassin leader let out a derisive snort. "When an assassin kills, do you think it's a numbers game? More people can be a burden, not a help."
"Running your mouth? Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for a chat."
As he spoke, Jiang Chen lifted his foot to move again. Thanks to the powerful intuition granted by the Heart of Rock, he had already sensed that the assassin's bow was probably locked onto his position once again.
Fortunately, the area was littered with jagged rocks — sharp as fangs, overlapping like scales — which significantly hampered the assassin's pursuit.
Still, Jiang Chen didn't dare relax for even a moment.
The oppressive aura of an Eleven-Meridian True Qi Master hung over him like a razor's edge suspended above his head, ready to fall at any instant and cut him down!
Especially with his injuries still unhealed, he couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.
Twang!
The sound of a bowstring rang out.
Jiang Chen instinctively moved to dodge, but then froze in place.
Because the Heart of Rock's intuition, in that precise instant, had not detected the trajectory of any incoming powerful force.
"No arrow? He just pulled the string?" The thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind.
Twang!
Another bowstring sound.
Jiang Chen remained motionless as a mountain. The Heart of Rock had already reached the level of microscopic perception — it was as though the tiniest change in his surroundings could not escape the reach of his mental senses.
Jiang Chen recalled a story — the tale of a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.
"This assassin leader — is he treating me like a startled bird? Pulling the bow without shooting, just to wear down my resolve and test my nerves?"
Suddenly, understanding clicked into place, and a cold smirk crept across his lips. "If I hadn't cultivated the Heart of Rock, and my willpower weren't rock-solid, this little trick might have actually worked on me."
Twang, twang!
Two more bowstring sounds in quick succession!
This time, Jiang Chen moved!
The alternating false and real bowstring sounds — two feints, one real, with the genuine attack sandwiched between — carried an arrow hurtling toward him!
True and false, real and illusory.
He had to admit: this assassin leader truly understood the art of psychological warfare, the art of the hunt.
Unfortunately for him, he was up against Jiang Chen — an opponent with formidable mental strength.
Boom!
A section of rock wall was blasted to smithereens by the arrow's force.
"True Qi condensed into a stream, True Qi detonating on impact! An Eleven-Meridian True Qi Master for certain!" Seeing the arrow's power, Jiang Chen clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had to admit — his opponent was powerful.
Even if Jiang Chen weren't injured, facing this man head-on would likely mean nothing more than fleeing for his life.
The good news was that these seemingly endless underground caverns stretched in every direction — a vast subterranean world with countless routes.
"With my current strength, killing this man in return is extremely difficult — practically impossible. He's an assassin with plenty of time to waste on me. I have a mission to complete. I've only got a handful of Green Spirit Pearls left to collect, but a month is already more than half gone. If he stalls me and I fail to finish the task, that would be catastrophic."
Though Jiang Chen hated this man to the bone, reason told him that continuing this struggle would burn time and energy, multiply the danger, and yield nothing.
Of the thirty-six strategies, fleeing was the best.
"Breaking free of him won't be easy either. This third-level space has treacherous terrain and plenty of places to hide. But if I retreat to the second or first level, the landscape won't be nearly as complex — shaking him off there will be even harder."
Jiang Chen was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Stay, and he couldn't kill the opponent — he'd only remain prey.
Flee, and with the assassin's tracking abilities, once he'd locked on, escape would be nearly impossible. On top of that, Jiang Chen still needed to collect a portion of his remaining Green Spirit Pearls. The task seemed as difficult as reaching for the sky.
…
Two days later, Jiang Chen was hiding behind a dark wall, his breathing slightly labored. Two days of this cat-and-mouse chase had drained his physical and mental energy considerably.
This opponent was so powerful it felt like thorns digging into Jiang Chen's back.
Over those two days, Jiang Chen had employed numerous tactics and devised many strategies.
But this man was like a ghost — always managing to tail him, following at a distance that was neither too far nor too close.
Jiang Chen had tried counterattacking, but every counter always came a split second too late. The assassin's bow attacks were precise and cunning, always managing to shut down his retaliation with ease.
Trying to outrun him by speed was pointless — the assassin wasn't faster than him, but he certainly wasn't slower.
Trying to conceal himself, to hide in one spot after another, to alter his appearance and vary his footwork rhythm — none of it managed to fool the pursuer.
Jiang Chen suspected the man must have some special method that allowed him to track his target.
He couldn't escape, and he couldn't win in a fight.