Chapter 9 Lambs To The Slaughter

As the stone door crashed open, flying into a nearby wall everyone was dumbfounded. From Wave who was just inches away from the door, to Liu Zhen, Wolf and Ron who were bloody and bruised, and lastly four people Xiao Chen had never seen before.

"What did I miss?" He asked, his skinny frame exiting the room as his eyes adjusted to the light. A brief moment later, he turned towards the four sizing them up, before a large smile emerged on his face. 'I can test my power now.'

--

Turning the clock back a bit, Xiao Chen was still in the stone room practicing his Qi, while Wave and the rest were doing their own thing. "So what now we just wait to die?" Ron asked looking towards Wolf and Liu Zhen.

"HMPH! I didn't volunteer just to simply die, this is my chance to gain some cultivation!" Wolf snorted, to which Ron and Liu Zhen eyed him weirdly. They all had their reasons for volunteering but Wolf's seemed the weirdest of the bunch.

He wasn't particularly strong, and his age was clearly getting up there but despite all this he volunteered to increase his cultivation. Naturally this made sense, if one ignored the fact that even if he did somehow succeed his death was all but guaranteed.

"Fools don't look at me like that! You want to live longer no? The only way we can survive is if we gain more strength. You think that giant is going to protect us at every turn? And what are we going to do if he decides to kill us?" Wolf ranted and raved, but it was not for naught.

They both wanted to live longer, and while they held no hope for truly making it out alive, another day was another day after all. 'If only I hadn't gambled all my money away.' Ron sighed regretfully, on the other hand Liu Zhen simply stared at the ceiling lost in thought.

"All right, but how do you suppose we beat people who by now have entered the Qi Gathering Realm?" Liu Zhen replied his eyes never never leaving the ceiling above. While they had armed themselves with some knives that didn't mean shit if their opponents had Qi.

"That's why we have to wait for the right opportunity, see that door over there? Unlike the other doors its thick and metallic, similar to the door that trapped us in the first hallway. So if I am right, our next opponents will come through there and when they least expect i-"

"CLINK!"

Before Wolf could even finish his speech the metal door made a small noise, before rising into the ceiling disappearing. Immediately Liu Zhen lowered his gaze and looked towards the new passageway.

There 4 men stood, their bodies rippling with muscle, each of them held bloody blades their eyes glinting viciously as they eyed their prey. 'We're so fucked.' Wolf thought before immediately turning tail and running. Liu Zhen and Ron weren't far behind as they immediately ran away as well, using whatever footwork they could to escape.

"How laughable, the rabbits want to get away!" One of the men roared, blood red Qi wrapping round his feet. But before he could chase after them, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait a moment, its much more fun to let them flail around for now." A bald man commanded, seemingly the leader of the group. His expression was one of pure joy as he watched Wolf and the rest fleeing for their lives. Awkwardly they stood their for 5 minutes as they let their leader countdown the time.

"Hmm, that should be enough time, don't kill them immediately its better if we give them a glimmer of hope." The bald man declared before letting go of his comrade. They then began their hunt, their speed enhanced by their Qi as they shuttled through the halls.

On the other hand, Wolf, Liu Zhen and Ron desperately ran away faster than they ever ran before. "Where's Xiao Chen? In the cafeteria?" Ron asked nervously, believing that that hulking figure was their only hope.

"Obviously! If you have time to ask stupid questions you can run faster!" Wolf sneered before speeding up. He'd lived a long life and had learnt a valuable lesson, he didn't need to be faster than his enemies just faster than his slowest ally.

Unfortunately for Wolf, common sense wasn't applicable to every situation. In less than a minute their enemies had caught up to them, their blades swinging towards them. But rather aim for their vitals, or make deep wounds, they simply made light cuts on their arms and legs.

"AHH!"

"ARGH!"

"GAH!"

They groaned in pain. Liu Zhen almost drew his blade their and then to fight them, but Wolf signaled him not to. 'For fucks sake, they're toying with us...but at least we have a chance, hopefully that giant ate his fill.' Wolf cursed inwardly.

"Hahaha, this is too fun!" The baldy laughed as they just about made it to the part overlooking the cafeteria. Wave who had just come back from drawing his map looked at them in shock and immediately ran towards the room Xiao Chen was in, but before he could even reach the room the door flew off its hinges crashing into the wall opposite it.

--

Bringing us back to the present situation, Xiao Chen wasn't all that clear on what was going on, but he was sure of one thing four lambs had lined up to be slaughtered. "So is that why you were running here so desperately?" The bald man cackled his blade inching ever so closer to Ron's neck.

Seeing this Xiao Chen merely raised a brow, but he wasn't all that bothered. He wouldn't kill his teammates, and would even save them if needed but that didn't mean he'd go out of his way to protect their lives. Back then no one had saved him, so he was already being more than kind towards them.

"If you come any closer I'll kill your comrades." He declared his blade mere millimeters away from slicing into Ron's neck. But Xiao Chen continued moving forward.

"P-Please Xiao Chen don't leave me to die!" Ron pleaded tears streaming down his face, his back pressed to the floor by the man's foot, while the blade hung ominously above him.

"Hmm? What do you want me to do? Kill myself for you? Then you'll die anyway. Not to mention I don't owe you anything. If that egg head there kills you, that's simply your bad luck." Xiao Chen scoffed.

"Egg head!? You dare!?" The egg head roared lifting his blade and pointing it towards Xiao Chen. Without a second thought, Xiao Chen shot forward his fist coated in a dense blood red Qi before slamming it into the wall with all his might.

'If you die now that's merely your bad luck.' Xiao Chen thought as the ground under Ron, Wolf and Liu Zhen collapsed. He had purposefully pissed off the baldy, so he could dash forward and destroy the wall.

As the ground collapsed beneath them, they were still in shock after witnessing Xiao Chen's raw speed and strength, and in his rage the leader was about to behead Ron but before his blade could meet its target a large hand grabbed his face.

"CRACK!"

"Just like an egg."