Splash! Splash!

Splash! The distinct sound of flowing water reached us from afar, instantly galvanizing everyone.

It seemed the crucial moment had finally arrived. Whether this water source was an underground river or a stream leading out of the Stone Tomb would soon be determined.

All of us unconsciously quickened our pace. Before us lay a narrow river, perhaps six meters wide, with a surprisingly swift current.

“It’s an underground river!” the female warrior Yan Xi exclaimed happily. “Indeed!

If it were the Stone Tomb Stream, it would undoubtedly mean another fierce battle!” Yan Luo stated calmly. “After all, if Chi Jiao could conceive of tunnels and water sources, Chi Yan couldn't possibly have missed that possibility.” “Precisely!” Alliance Leader Lan Yu nodded slightly.

“Now, as long as we follow the current downstream, even the Sky-High Sighted Mad Dragon Gang won't know where the exit is.” Only then did everyone finally manage a small sigh of relief. Soon, Jin Niu and the others unbuckled their spatial packs and took out items that looked like interlocking building blocks.

It appeared these fellows were truly equipped for anything. I mused to myself that once I had money, I too would buy a complete set of spatial packs specifically for wilderness survival.

These packs cost more than double the price of ordinary spatial packs; not only was their capacity much larger, but they were fully stocked with complete tools for dealing with every kind of unforeseen event—things one wouldn't normally consider, like shovels, rafts, and so on, were all available in a survival spatial pack. In just a short while, everyone assembled ten rafts from the blocks taken out of their spatial packs.

These rafts were about two meters wide and thirteen meters long, looking both light and nimble. Each raft could accommodate about ten people.

Looking at the size, perhaps it was better if each raft held roughly ten people. Jin Bo, myself, and the rest of the people from the Twin Moon Palace boarded the same raft.

Everyone was handed a paddle. In reality, heading downstream meant there was no need to paddle at all; the paddles were merely for handling any unexpected accidents that might arise.

The underground passage was about two meters high, so even standing on the raft, we didn't have to worry about hitting our heads. However, I wasn't sure if the entire subterranean waterway maintained this height.

I secretly worried if the ceiling would press down on us if it became lower later on. “Rest assured, the height of these underground passages won't fluctuate much!” Jin Bi seemed to read my mind and explained.

“Actually, these tunnels have existed for a very, very long time; they already have a fixed shape. Coupled with the relatively flat terrain here and the uniform looseness of the soil, if the height is like this here, then other areas shouldn't be much different.” “Heh!” I sheepishly scratched my head; it seemed I had been worrying unnecessarily.

On the other side, Yan Luo and the others stared back the way they came with complex expressions. Their gazes were profound, seeming to pierce through the tunnel entrance toward some point much further away.

Perhaps due to lingering regret, the expressions on everyone's faces were terrifyingly grim. Consider the grandeur and momentum of the Divine Moon Palace and the Alliance back then; who would have thought they would end up in such a state now?

For the proud Yan Luo and the ambitious Lan Yu, this was surely a fatal blow. Although they appeared calm now, their tightly clenched fists and sharp eyes clearly betrayed the anger and unwillingness simmering inside them.

I thought that at this moment, both of them must be plotting how to launch a frantic retaliatory action against the Mad Dragon Gang. Perhaps Lan Yu’s Grand Alliance was no longer capable of fighting, but the Divine Moon Palace certainly still possessed the strength to annihilate the Mad Dragon Gang.

Jin Bo had once told me that the force dispatched by the Divine Moon Palace this time was merely the strength of a branch hall. And the Divine Moon Palace had twelve such branch halls.

This showed just how astonishing the Divine Moon Palace’s power was. Having provoked such a formidable enemy, the Mad Dragon Gang would certainly find no peace in the days to come.

But what would the reality be? I had a strange feeling.

Was the Mad Dragon Gang truly only as strong as it appeared on the surface? Judging by their nearly flawless ambush plan, this was a gang outstanding in both strategy and coordination.

To force the remnants of the Divine Moon Palace’s branch halls and the Grand Alliance masters into such a tight spot with an inferior force—this included far more than sheer luck. I always felt the Mad Dragon Gang was excessively arrogant, as if possessing some inherent confidence of inevitable victory.

Regarding this chaotic battle, Jin Niu and Jin Bo analyzed it as a mere probing action before the true confrontation between the Divine Moon Palace and the Mad Dragon Gang. Just like the Divine Moon Palace, the Mad Dragon Gang had not committed its full strength this time either.

Chi Jiao was merely a hall master of one of the Mad Dragon Gang’s branches, and the conflict between the Grand Alliance and the Mad Dragon Gang was merely the fuse that escalated the incident. It seemed a thrilling and desperate battle between the Divine Moon Palace and the Mad Dragon Gang was inevitable in the future.

Meanwhile, at the great stone door of the Death Coffin. Chi Kun stood quietly to the side, looking utterly dejected.

On the ground lay a corpse, stiff and cold. If it wasn't Chi Jiao, who else could it be?

“Impossible!” Chi Yan stared at Chi Jiao in disbelief. “How could Chi Jiao possibly be dead?

This isn't real.” “……………” Everyone else looked on with expressions of dread and anger. “What exactly happened here!” Chi Xiao glared at Chi Kun, his eyes practically spitting fire.

Perhaps he was intensely jealous and hated Chi Jiao to the core, but precisely because of that, he absolutely could not tolerate Chi Jiao dying by someone else’s hand before he himself had defeated him. No one doubted how furious and shocked Chi Xiao was at this moment.

Everyone in the Mad Dragon Gang knew the complex relationship between Chi Jiao and Chi Xiao. They were the best of brothers, yet simultaneously relentless, competing rivals.

“We pursued them into the tunnel!” Chi Kun said mournfully. “We finally caught up with the remnants of the Divine Moon Palace and the Grand Alliance, and a fight broke out!” Chi Kun continued.

“Everything was under our control. As long as we could hold off Yan Luo and the others, our follow-up reinforcements would arrive quickly.

The battle against the Divine Moon Palace and the Grand Alliance was evenly matched and deadlocked, but everything was ruined by the sudden appearance of the Twin Moon Palace. We don't know when the Twin Moon Palace produced a master swordsman named Chi Yue who used a fast sword.

He had been lying in ambush nearby and only struck when Hall Master Chi Jiao and Yan Luo were locked in a fierce struggle, piercing Hall Master Chi Jiao with a single sword strike.” “So, Chi Jiao died due to an ambush by that person!” Chi Yan said grimly. “With Chi Jiao’s strength, an ordinary Chi Yue master wouldn't be capable of successfully ambushing him.” “Unless this person’s sword was so fast that Chi Jiao didn't even have time to react,” Chi Xiao muttered to himself, then shuddered, as if suddenly recalling something.

“What did the person who killed Chi Jiao look like?” “He wore a Daoist helmet and was clad in blue light armor,” Chi Kun recalled. “What!” This time, Chi Xiao and Chi Yan exclaimed almost simultaneously.

“It was him.” “Was his sword long and round, like a small iron rod?” Chi Xiao ground his teeth. “Yes,” Chi Kun said, horrified.

“That sword was fast and accurate. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I truly wouldn’t have believed anyone’s sword could be that fast.” “If it was him, and he intended to ambush,” Chi Xiao’s expression was complicated.

He crouched down and lifted the hard leather armor around Chi Jiao’s throat, revealing the thumb-sized, dark-brown puncture hole. “Chi Jiao had no chance of survival.” Saying this, Chi Xiao clenched his fist again, filled with overwhelming pain.

“I killed Chi Jiao.” “……………” Chi Kun looked utterly bewildered. “He is not a member of the Twin Moon Palace!” Chi Yan said darkly.

“The Twin Moon Palace has nine Chi Yue masters, and none of them participated in this operation. Furthermore, none of the three warriors match this person’s description!” “But he did appear with the Twin Moon Palace people at the time,” Chi Kun murmured darkly.

“Have the Pigeon Group investigate this matter thoroughly,” Chi Yan’s voice remained as calm as ever, but everyone felt a bone-chilling cold, as if plunged into an ice cellar. “No matter what, you must find him, or Elder Brother Chi Jiao will not rest in peace.” “Start by investigating that bizarre, cylindrical sword!” Chi Xiao said deeply.

“Yes!” A tall, thin Chi Yue Mage standing nearby responded respectfully. “I didn't expect to lose Elder Brother Chi Jiao at the final moment!” Chi Yan murmured.

“Although we won this battle, it feels like a defeat.” “……………” Chi Xiao looked deeply guilty but could not utter a word. It could be said that the situation today was directly related to him.

“What do we do next?” Chi Kun asked. “Presumably, Yan Luo and the others have reached some exit by now, following the underground river!” Chi Yan stated calmly.

“En!” Chi Kun nodded slightly. “What did Yan Luo say when she left?” Chi Yan inquired.

“The main force of the Divine Moon Palace will arrive in three months,” Chi Kun said solemnly. “Three months?” Chi Yan gazed into the distance, murmuring to himself.

“Since Chi Jiao managed to make you retreat in defeat once, I, Chi Yan, will ensure you never return.” …………………… The Yun Jing River was the only river in the Grand Alliance Desert. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be hard to imagine such a clear, bottom-viewable river, winding like a jade belt, existing in the vast, sand-filled Grand Alliance Desert.

Lush trees shaded both banks, stretching for a thousand miles along the river, looking like a green ribbon splitting the parched, golden desert in two. On the bank, under the dense shade of the trees!

“Then we shall bid farewell here!” Yan Xi clasped his hands in a salute, looking around. “En!” Lan Yu nodded slightly, returning the clasping salute.

“The Mad Dragon Gang is left to you to deal with.” As Lan Yu spoke, he glanced at Yan Luo. “En!” Yan Luo merely gave a faint nod.

But there was a faint look of loss in Lan Yu’s eyes. “……” Jin Niu, myself, and the others also clasped our hands in return.

I hadn't expected Yan Luo and the others to be so eager to return to their main headquarters immediately upon reaching the shore. “You are not one of the Twin Moon Palace people, are you.” Yan Luo finally addressed me, speaking for the first time.

“En!” I nodded instinctively, not understanding Yan Luo’s meaning. “You killed Chi Jiao!

The Mad Dragon Gang will certainly not let you off.” Yan Luo looked at me with a complex expression. “If you don’t want to be recognized, you had better change your attire and weapon.” After speaking, Yan Luo turned and drifted away.

“………………” I stared blankly at the figure drifting away, yet I felt a strange sense of emptiness. “Kid, not bad!” Jin Niu looked at me with a knowing glint.

“Yan Luo is notoriously proud; few people ever earn her notice. I didn't expect her to remember your safety right before leaving.” “This!” I was bewildered.

“Did she?” But honestly, if Yan Luo hadn’t given the specific instruction, I might have used that easily identifiable weapon due to my inexperience. “Of course!” Jin Bi said excitedly.

“The fierce woman Yan Luo has always been incredibly arrogant; apart from facing enemies, she rarely wastes any extra words on anyone.” “What’s so strange about that?” Jin Bo was unimpressed. “This kid is, after all, a genius on the same level as Yan Luo.

It’s not surprising they appreciate similar types.” “But she never even asked my name from beginning to end,” I felt a little sour. Damn it, and here I was feeling quite pleased with myself.

“It’s for your own good!” Jin Sha said. “Since she doesn't want you to be recognized by the Mad Dragon Gang, the best method is for no one present to know who you are.” It sounded perfectly logical, yet I couldn't shake off the strange feeling.

“They are right,” Lan Yu affirmed. “Although I really want to know your name and appearance, just as Jin Sha said, only if no one recognizes you will you be truly safe.” With that, Lan Yu clasped his hands in farewell.

“Farewell, young brother. If you have time, come visit the Grand Alliance.” After speaking, he led his masters away in a graceful departure.

“They’re all gone!” Jin Niu sighed with emotion. He hadn't expected the once mighty two-gang alliance to end up like this.

“But, wasn't our Twin Moon Palace completely unscathed?” Jin Sha asked. “Unscathed my foot!” Jin Niu snapped.

“Don’t forget, Aunt Lan is still in a coma.” “We must hurry back to Earth City!” Jin Bo worried. “Aunt Lan only has two days left.” “En.” Jin Sha nodded solemnly, then looked at me.

“Although we are reluctant to part ways with you, for your own safety, it’s best you don’t travel with us.” …………… I looked at Jin Niu and the others with some confusion. “The Mad Dragon Gang’s Pigeon Group has astonishing intelligence analysis capabilities.

If you stay with us, your true identity will eventually be discovered. Therefore, for your safety, we have to separate now.” “Besides Jin Bo and me, no one else has seen your true face.

So, as long as you don't use that sword, no one will recognize you. But if you continue to stay with us, sooner or later the Mad Dragon Gang will find clues and uncover your identity.

I assume you don't want to bring such huge trouble upon yourself by provoking the Mad Dragon Gang, right?” Only then did I understand the intention behind Jin Niu and the others insisting on parting ways with me. To be honest, I was quite moved that they had considered so much for my safety.

“Then, let’s all take care of ourselves!” I could only clasp my hands in return. “Hey, kid, you’re really heartless, just leaving like that,” Jin Niu said, pulling out a small, shield-shaped token from his waist pouch.

“Meeting is fate, and besides, we’ve been through life-and-death together as sworn brothers.” Jin Niu handed the token to me. “This is the Life-Death Token of the Twin Moon Palace.

If you ever encounter a truly insurmountable problem, you must come find us.” “En!” I no longer stood on ceremony and carefully tucked the token away. “And this!” Jin Bo pulled out a miniature heavy armor set, a Frost Condensing Sword, and a black cloak from his spatial pack.

“You should change that outfit too. And use this Frost Condensing Sword as your weapon.

Combined with your previous two sets of high-level warrior gear, you should look like a standard high-level warrior,” Jin Bo instructed. “Whatever you do, don't wear light armor, especially the blue light armor!” “Sigh!

I hate this skull helmet and the green heavy armor the most! They are both ugly and cumbersome!” I muttered under my breath.

“I’m doing this for your own good!” Jin Bo retorted. “If your equipment shows even the slightest tendency toward being light and agile, the Mad Dragon Gang's Pigeon Group will easily figure you out.” …………… I could only nod slightly; what Jin Bo said made perfect sense.

“Originally, I was going to have you change your weapon to Inferno too!” Jin Niu looked at me with a strange expression. “But with your build, carrying an Inferno might draw even more attention.

So, we’ll skip that.” Sigh! I secretly imagined myself wearing heavy armor, a skull helmet, and wielding an Inferno.

The thought gave me the chills. Not because of anything else, but because the Inferno Battle Axe was simply a weapon disproportionate to my frame.

The two of them fussed over me for a while, and my new image was finally complete. The green heavy armor felt inexplicably awkward on me.

It wasn't that it was too heavy, but the entire green set reminded me of frogs. And then there was the extremely ugly skull helmet.

Just looking at my reflection in the river water gave me the urge to faint. Only the bright Frost Condensing Sword looked somewhat pleasing.

Of course, I couldn't wear my conspicuous Zuma set anymore. I switched to the Jade Necklace, Death God Gloves, Ring of Dragon, and Bronze Belt—the standard attire for a high-level Ranger.

“Alright, with this look, no one should recognize you!” Jin Bo examined me up and down, making sure nothing was missed, before continuing his instructions. “The Twin Moon Palace headquarters is the Twin Moon Fortress at the White Sun Gate.

You can enter and find us with this token.” “I remember,” I said. “Hehe, kid!

Stay alive!” Jin Niu said. “Once the Mad Dragon Gang is eliminated, we’ll find you for a proper fight.

But until then, don't get caught by those guys.” “Don’t worry, I might not have much else,” I patted my chest confidently, “but my skill at running away is definitely top-notch.” “Tsk, tsk.” Jin Niu looked at me with an expression of disappointment. “Look at your ambition—only boasting about running away.

It’s only skillful if others see you and are scared into fleeing!” “En! Hehe, well, that’s true too.” I said sheepishly.

“Kid, don’t listen to him,” Jin Bo said sharply. “What does that big blockhead know?

Keeping your life is the most important thing. Remember, if you can’t win, run.” ………… I hadn’t expected Jin Bo to share my view.

“Alright, take care of yourself! Now we really have to go our separate ways!” Jin Niu said reluctantly.

“En! Take care.” “Take care.” Watching the five figures rapidly disappear into the distance, I was filled with emotion.

I never imagined this trip to the Death Coffin would be so winding and bizarre. But I thought that among everyone, I was the biggest winner.

Not only did I snag several sets of Zuma equipment, but I also witnessed the most spectacular battles in this world. However, my greatest gain was meeting Jin Bo and Jin Niu.

Although I don’t know how long it will be until I can meet them again, I believe that day will eventually come. Parting is only for the sake of reunion!

At that moment, I couldn't help but recall that classic line from Gu Long’s The Parting Hook: I only hope the time until our reunion is not too long.