Chapter 27: An Unexpected Encounter

The answer to the riddle was revealed soon enough. About a dozen people wearing gas masks entered, though their masks looked oddly old-fashioned, as if from another era.

When they saw the group collapsed in disarray, they swiftly began gathering supplies.

"Boss, there's one guy still on his feet."

"Ignore him. He’s just a cripple now after breathing my knockout incense. Take the stuff and let’s go!"

Shen Xin watched the group in confusion. They were dressed plainly, just like local villagers, and only took their backpacks and phones.

Could they have run into mountain bandits?

He considered continuing to feign unconsciousness, but when he saw them trying to tie up Chen Chunsheng, he knew he couldn't pretend any longer.

A throwing knife flashed through the air and in the blink of an eye, struck the legs of several of the intruders.

They froze for several seconds, and only when blood spurted out did they start screaming in panic.

Wails and howls rose in chorus.

Shen Xin kept his knife pressed to one man’s neck, demanding harshly, "Hand over the antidote and you can live!"

“There’s… there’s no antidote!”

“No antidote? Then you’ll all die with us!”

“No, it’s not like that! The incense wears off after a while—you’ll recover on your own!”

Shen Xin could see the man was truly terrified and not pretending, so he barked, “Get out of my sight!”

Wounded and frightened, clutching their bleeding legs, the group limped away as fast as they could.

Old Mo watched, saying nothing, just shaking his head slightly.

About half an hour later, Old Mo, Chen Jiawang, and Tang Ziran, having inhaled the least amount of incense and being gifted with extraordinary abilities, recovered faster. The others gradually regained consciousness, though they still felt weak and unable to move.

Old Mo walked over to Chen Chunsheng and said gruffly, “Boss Chen, you’d better give me a good explanation.”

Chen Chunsheng’s four bodyguards, all in excellent shape, stepped in front of him, staring Old Mo down.

“It wasn’t me. They’re probably local thugs who saw us coming and wanted to rob us.”

Old Mo considered this for a moment and then returned to Shen Xin’s side. He had to agree—those men hadn’t seemed like Chen Chunsheng’s hired killers; they’d been too amateurish. Real assassins would kill first and loot the bodies afterward.

After another hour, everyone felt well enough to stand and leave the cave.

But when they reached the edge of the cliff, they found that the rope ladder they’d set up earlier was gone.

Clearly, the same group had taken it.

Old Mo turned to Shen Xin. “See? You’re still too soft-hearted.”

Shen Xin smiled. “Uncle Mo, Brother Wang, this cliff isn’t much of a challenge for you two, right?”

Old Mo grunted, and he and Chen Jiawang began to climb bare-handed. Though the cliff was sheer, neither found it difficult. Old Mo was agile, Chen Jiawang immensely strong, and in about a minute they’d reached the top—only for two sharp gunshots to ring out the moment they poked their heads over the edge.

Old Mo dodged skillfully, but Chen Jiawang wasn’t so lucky—a bullet tore through his shoulder near his neck, leaving a bloody hole. He grunted, lost his grip, and fell.

Old Mo lunged, snatching Chen Jiawang’s arm and grabbing a dead tree root with his other hand.

They were both in a perilous situation.

“Ziran, release the lightning leopard!”

Tang Ziran instantly summoned the electric leopard, which crouched beside them. Then Shen Xin teleported himself midway up the cliff, grabbed Old Mo and Chen Jiawang, and teleported again, bringing them safely to the ground.

Shen Xin followed after.

“Quick, get behind the big tree!” Old Mo, still a little dazed, dragged Chen Jiawang to cover and pulled out a first aid kit to stop the bleeding.

Chen Jiawang grinned, “It’s just a scratch. Go help Shen Xin instead.”

“It can wait.” Old Mo quickly dressed the wound and sealed it with several large plasters.

Within minutes, the hum of engines approached—a fleet of drones swooped down, spraying bullets indiscriminately at their location.

But Shen Xin was not to be trifled with. He used his eye technique to teleport all the drones onto the cliff rocks above, smashing them to pieces.

Yet the effort left his mind throbbing with pain; he wouldn’t be able to use his power again for a while.

Old Mo, seeing Shen Xin’s state, clenched his teeth. “Ziran, bring the leopard and climb up with me! Jiawang, keep watch down here!”

“Got it!”

With the lightning leopard in tow, Old Mo climbed up once more. As soon as he poked his head over the edge, a hail of bullets greeted him.

But the bullets hardly bothered the leopard. In a flash, it struck like lightning, and the enemy was soon howling in agony.

Old Mo seized the chance to climb up and finish them off—though the leopard was fast, its attacks weren’t lethal. In just a dozen seconds, the black-clad assailants were all incapacitated, lying on the ground, missing limbs and gasping their last breaths.

Old Mo pressed his knife to one survivor’s neck. “Who sent you?”

The man, stubborn to the end, jerked his neck against the blade, spraying blood everywhere, and died instantly.

“Tough to the last,” Old Mo muttered.

He searched around, found the rope ladder, and tossed it down.

The others climbed up one after another.

Once everyone was up, Old Mo executed the remaining attackers in front of them, terrifying the group into utter silence.

Old Mo pointed his knife at Chen Chunsheng. “So, Mr. Chen, you really tried to have us all killed!”

Everyone turned to look at Chen Chunsheng—even his four bodyguards glared at him with anger in their eyes.

“Let me explain!” Chen Chunsheng was sweating profusely. “Gentlemen, I may not be much, but I’m worth several billion and own dozens of factories. Even without the gems, I have enough money for several lifetimes. Why would I need to kill anyone?”

Old Mo was silent for a while, then said, “My brother’s been shot. You need to pay extra!”

“Fine! I’ll double the reward!”

“Good. That makes it twenty million in total. If we’re ambushed again, the reward doubles each time.”

Outnumbered and outmatched, Chen Chunsheng had no choice but to agree.

After such an ordeal, no one felt like talking. They just pressed on in silence, heads down.

With the lightning leopard leading, Chen Chunsheng sandwiched between Old Mo and Chen Jiawang—ready to throw him forward as a shield if another ambush came—they made their way without further incident.

Soon, they reached the parking spot at Xiaowang Village.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into the cars, speeding away.

Once they reached the hotel in Snake City, Old Mo found Chen Chunsheng to settle the reward—twenty million in total.

To their surprise, Chen Chunsheng paid up without a word, not even deducting the previous deposit of over a million.

Old Mo split the money evenly.

Shen Xin received five million.

“Let’s go home tonight!”

The four of them didn’t even pause to rest, but drove their off-road vehicle straight out of Snake City.