Swallowing the Stars: Starting with Panlong

Chapter 54: The Oriole in the Crow's Nest

The female ape's gaping maw was less than half a meter from the black man's head. He could clearly see the blood and bits of flesh clinging to its two rows of serrated teeth, and smell the stench rising from deep within its throat. His battle axe was still stuck in the ape's shoulder blade, unable to be pulled out; his body had been sent flying, the wound on his back deep enough to expose bone, blood staining his entire back crimson. He had no way to escape, and could only watch helplessly as death descended.

"No—" the black man screamed in despair.

Just at this critical moment, a figure rushed in from outside the cave.

Smith's sword flashed like a silver lightning bolt, striking the female ape's neck with pinpoint accuracy. The blade sliced ​​into flesh, severing half of her cervical vertebrae. The female ape's head snapped to the side, her massive jaws missing the black man's ear before striking the stone wall, shattering a large section of rock.

"You..." The black man stared wide-eyed at Smith in disbelief.

"Shut up! Run!" Smith roared, grabbing the black man by the collar and throwing him toward the hole.

The thirty-second time limit had long passed. Smith could have abandoned this burden and escaped alone. But after the two high-level lords were both severely injured and on the verge of death, he changed his mind. The Mighty Demon Ape and the Seven-Colored Poisonous Python were both incapacitated, and the two low-level lord demon apes guarding the gate were no longer a threat—he had just used all his strength to kill the last two low-level lords at top speed. With no worries about his rear, he had the strength to rescue his companion.

It wasn't because he was kind-hearted, but because the Black man knew too much. If he were killed by the demonic ape or fell into the hands of the Chinese, he might leak a lot of information that shouldn't be revealed. He knew Senator Clement's methods better than anyone else.

The female ape had half her cervical vertebrae severed, but her vitality was incredibly tenacious, and she still did not fall. She let out an even more frenzied roar, ignoring the wound on her neck, and lunged at Smith with her jaws wide open. Blood gushed from her wound, staining the entire stone chamber red.

Smith dodged to the side, simultaneously slashing his blade and cutting a long gash in the female ape's abdomen. Internal organs spilled from the wound, and the female ape finally collapsed, unable to hold on any longer. But she didn't give up; using her still-functioning forelimbs to support herself, she crawled towards Smith.

"Die!" Smith swung his sword down, severing the female demon ape's head.

The stone chamber finally fell silent. The air was thick with the stench of blood, and the ground was littered with blood and bits of flesh. The female demon ape's corpse lay in a corner, its cub curled up beside it, whimpering softly and nuzzling its mother's body with its head, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

Smith, panting heavily, glanced around the stone chamber. The items on the stone platform were gone—the Black man had put them in his backpack. His gaze fell on the Black man, who was leaning against the stone wall, pale-faced, blood still seeping from the wound on his back.

"Did you get the stuff?" Smith asked.

"Got it." The Black man nodded, patting the backpack in his arms. "The combat suit, knife, and box are all here."

"Then let's go." Smith turned and walked towards the cave entrance.

Just then, he suddenly stopped.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the passageway.

He was a masked figure, only his eyes visible, obscuring his true appearance. He wore a black combat uniform without any markings, making it impossible to discern which faction he belonged to. Twelve silver throwing knives hovered slowly around him, emitting a soft buzzing sound, like twelve silver bees poised to devour their prey.

Smith's heart sank. He had been observing the surrounding area, but he hadn't sensed the man's presence at all. The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, silently and without warning.

"Who are you?" Smith's right hand was already gripping the battle knife, and he crouched slightly, entering a fighting stance.

Lin Yun did not answer. His gaze swept over Smith and the black man, landing on the backpack in the black man's arms.

"Leave your things behind," Lin Yun said, his voice as calm as if he were commenting on the nice weather.

Smith's face turned extremely pale. He glanced at the throwing knife beside Lin Yun, then at his own wounds. After fighting continuously for so long, his stamina was mostly depleted, and he bore several injuries. The black man was even more severely wounded and essentially incapacitated.

But they had no way out. Those things were specifically requested by Senator Clement; if they lost them, going back might be worse than death.

"Do you know who we are?" Smith said through gritted teeth. "We are from the HR Alliance. If you take our stuff, you are making an enemy of the entire HR Alliance."

"The HR Alliance?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone completely flat. "So what?"

Smith's pupils contracted slightly. He had met many people, and when they heard the name HR Alliance, some felt fear, some awe, and some fawning. But he had never encountered anyone as indifferent as this young man.

"Young man, I advise you to think carefully." Smith's tone turned cold. "This congressman is not someone you can afford to mess with. His position in the HR Alliance and his influence throughout Europe far exceed your imagination. You've taken our things today, and tomorrow someone will come knocking on your door. Your family, your friends, your martial arts school—no one can protect you."

Lin Yun listened quietly to him finish speaking, then smiled faintly.

"Are you done talking?" he asked.

Smith's face darkened completely. He knew that this matter could not be resolved peacefully today.

"Then die!" Smith swung his knife fiercely, unleashing a sharp blade of energy towards Lin Yun.

At the same time, his body moved like lightning, following closely behind the sword energy as he rushed towards Lin Yun. This was his most proficient tactic—first forcing the opponent to defend or dodge with the sword energy, then seizing the moment the opponent revealed an opening to launch a fatal blow at top speed. He had practiced this move for over a decade, and countless monsters and enemies had died by its hand.

But Lin Yun neither defended nor dodged.

Twelve throwing knives flew out simultaneously: three met the blade energy head-on, three shot directly at Smith's front, three circled around to his sides, and three swooped down from above his head. Twelve knives, twelve angles, each carrying the force of a full-force strike no less than that of a high-level War God; twelve silver arcs of death, completely sealing off all of Smith's escape routes.

Smith's pupils dilated suddenly. He had seen psychics before, but never one who could control so many throwing knives simultaneously, with each knife's trajectory so precise. These knives weren't flying around randomly; rather, they were like a well-trained army, each knife fulfilling its specific role and cooperating with the others, calculating every possible direction he could dodge.

"Damn it!" Smith abruptly changed direction, abruptly halting his charge. He swung his sword, creating a silver shield that blocked six throwing knives in front of him. However, three knives were already falling from above, forcing him to roll and dodge, leaving him in a sorry state.

A throwing knife grazed his cheek, leaving a shallow bloodstain. Another knife sliced ​​across his shoulder, tearing a gash in his combat uniform. Had he not reacted quickly enough, those two blows would have been fatal.

"Advanced War God Spiritual Master!" Cold sweat beaded on Smith's forehead.

He was a peak-level advanced war god martial artist, confident he could defeat most opponents of the same level within ten moves in close combat. But against a mentalist of the same level, he had no chance. The throwing knives were too fast, the angles too tricky, and there were simply too many of them. The twelve throwing knives were like twelve independent warriors, attacking relentlessly from all directions, leaving him only able to run for his life, unable to even find a chance to counterattack.

"What are you all standing there for? Help!" Smith roared.

The Black man leaning against the stone wall gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, gripped his battle axe, and charged towards Lin Yun. He knew he was no match for the young man, but if Smith died, he wouldn't survive either. Rather than wait to die, he might as well fight.

Lin Yun didn't even glance at him. A throwing knife flew past him, heading straight for the black man's face. The black man swung his axe to block, deflecting the knife, but the impact sent him staggering back several steps. Immediately afterward, a second and a third throwing knife came flying in quick succession. Before he could react, one of them pierced his right shoulder.

"Ah—" the black man screamed, the tomahawk slipped from his hand, and he fell to the ground.

Taking advantage of Lin Yun's distraction while dealing with the black man, Smith suddenly unleashed his power, a dazzling blue light erupting from his battle blade as he slashed at Lin Yun. He used all his strength in this strike, pushing the power of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade technique to its limit, with four layers of force combined, making its power even surpass the full-force attack of a peak War God.

Lin Yun didn't take the blow head-on. He dodged to the side, simultaneously recalling all the throwing knives, forming a silver barrier in front of him. Smith's battle knife struck the barrier, producing a piercing metallic clang and sparks flying. Lin Yun was jolted back a few steps, but the barrier didn't disintegrate, and he wasn't injured.

Smith's heart sank to the bottom.

His full-force attack couldn't even break through this person's defenses. This mysterious man, who sounded quite young, was far stronger than he had imagined.

"Who...who exactly are you?" Smith's voice trembled slightly. There were only so many mentalists on Earth, and those who reached the level of a war god were even rarer. He knew almost every one of them, but this person seemed to have appeared out of nowhere!

Lin Yun still didn't answer. He raised his hand, and the twelve throwing knives scattered again, forming an arc in the air, surrounding Smith and the black man.

"I'll say it one last time, leave your things behind," Lin Yun said. "Or, leave your life behind."

A flicker of despair crossed Smith's face. He knew he couldn't defeat this mysterious man, but he couldn't surrender either. Senator Clement's punishment was worse than death.

"You'll regret this." A glint of madness flashed in Smith's eyes. "Congressman Clement won't let you go. No matter where you run, he'll find you, kill you, kill your family, kill everyone connected to you."

Lin Yun's expression remained unchanged.

"Congressman Clement..." he repeated the name softly, then said calmly, "If he wants to come to me, let him."

His tone was as calm as if he were talking about something trivial. This calmness wasn't feigned; it stemmed from absolute confidence. He was about to enter the War God Training Camp—one of the safest places in the world, personally overseen by the world's strongest man, "Hong." Not even a member of the HR Alliance, let alone its president, would dare to make a move within the War God Training Camp.

Moreover, even without the protection of the training camp, he wasn't afraid. His strength was increasing every day, and it wouldn't be long before he surpassed the God of War level. If Councilor Clement dared to come looking for him, he wouldn't mind letting that person taste the power of throwing knives.

"You can die now," Lin Yun said.

Twelve throwing knives shot out simultaneously.

Smith frantically swung his sword to parry, but there were too many knives, and they were too fast. He blocked six, but the seventh pierced his left shoulder, the eighth grazed his right leg, and the ninth pierced his abdomen. Blood gushed from the wounds, his body swayed, and then he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

His eyes were still open, staring at Lin Yun, his lips trembling slightly as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. Life slipped from his eyes, and his body became completely still.

The Black man was so terrified that he collapsed to the ground, too weak to even run away. He looked at Lin Yun, his eyes filled with fear.

"Please...don't kill me..." his voice was hoarse. "I don't know anything...I was just following orders..."

Lin Yun looked at him and remained silent for a second. Then a throwing knife flew past and pierced his throat.

The stone chamber fell completely silent.

Lin Yun stood rooted to the spot, twelve throwing knives slowly circling around him, their blades still dripping blood. He glanced at the two corpses lying on the ground, his expression unchanging. These two had lured monsters to create chaos, intending to steal treasures from Chinese territory; their deaths here were well-deserved.

He walked over to the Black man, bent down, and picked up the backpack. Inside, he found a combat uniform, a combat knife, and a small box. Besides these, there were only some basic supplies.

The combat suit was black, and the material felt very soft to the touch, but the quality was excellent. Lin Yun could feel the high technology contained within it—this was a combat suit specially made by the HR Alliance, and its defensive power should not be weaker than the SS series of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall. The sword was a battle sword shaped like a Han sword, with faint blue patterns on the blade, and it did not look like an ordinary item.

There was also a small box, about the size of a palm, which Lin Yun didn't open yet, putting it into his backpack. Now wasn't the time to study it; he'd open it when they were back in a safe place.

He took one last look at the stone chamber, then turned and walked out.