Chapter 084: Ten Minutes

"Palm technique?" Hu Zonghan's pupils contracted and then dilated again. He let out a low chuckle. "So what you want is my martial art?"

"You could say that," Tang Mubai replied, nodding with frankness. "Your palm technique is quite powerful, and I’m interested. If you’re willing to hand over the manual, I’ll give you a quick end."

Hu Zonghan let out a grim laugh. "You’re going to kill me, and you still expect me to give you the manual? Do you really think I’d cooperate in something so humiliating and fatal?"

"Well then—"

"I know! I know!" Suddenly, not far away, a man in his thirties who was lying on the ground shouted at the top of his lungs. "Master, I know where the captain keeps his manual!"

"Li Xingchang!" Hu Zonghan’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot as he stared murderously at the man, his voice a low growl. "You damned bastard, you’d betray me?"

"Betrayal?" Li Xingchang let out a bitter laugh. "Hu Zonghan, Captain Hu, if it hadn’t been for your suggestion to shift the blame, would so many of our brothers have died or been wounded?"

"You—"

"No need to say anything else. Just answer this: was it your idea to put the King Raptor’s egg in the truck bed of this Master’s mercenary team?" Li Xingchang gave Hu Zonghan no chance to refute, pressing him again. "Was it? Answer me—was it or wasn’t it?"

"So what if it—"

"That’s all I needed!" Li Xingchang roared, cutting him off. "Since it started with you and so many have died because of you, what’s wrong with you giving up your martial art for the sake of those of us still alive?"

"In the end, it’s you who owe us—not the other way around! You, Hu Zonghan, may value your martial art over your life, but we still want to live!"

His eyes were red, and his presence was as forceful as Hu Zonghan’s as he shouted these words.

Hu Zonghan trembled from head to toe in rage. Tang Mubai cast a surprised glance at Li Xingchang.

This Li Xingchang was quite shrewd—just a few words, and he had drawn all the injured to his side, setting them against Hu Zonghan.

Perhaps the idea to shift the blame had indeed originated with Hu Zonghan. Yet who would believe that Li Xingchang and the others hadn’t agreed to it? Now, this man was just reversing the accusation to buy himself a chance—a chance to survive!

After berating Hu Zonghan, he turned to Tang Mubai, his tone somewhere between bargaining and pleading. "Master, I know where Hu Zonghan’s manuals and treasures are hidden. If you promise to let us go, I’ll tell you their location."

"Don’t you dare!" Hu Zonghan, upon hearing this, roared hysterically. "Li Xingchang, do you really think he’ll let you go if you tell him? No! I’m telling you, he’ll—"

A strange, abrupt sound cut him off. Tang Mubai had driven his blade straight through Hu Zonghan’s chest, piercing his heart.

If not for his desire to obtain the martial art, Tang Mubai would never have wasted so many words. Since Hu Zonghan had tried to bargain with his martial art, and Li Xingchang happened to know the location of the manual, Tang Mubai had no further scruples and sent Hu Zonghan to meet his ancestors on the spot.

Hu Zonghan, for his part, had never dreamed that Tang Mubai would kill him so decisively. He was the one who practiced martial arts, and yet Tang Mubai had chosen to trust Li Xingchang instead. That damned traitor—so cunning!

Hu Zonghan died, filled with bitter resentment.

[Vitality +85]

A notification flashed through Tang Mubai’s mind. He sheathed his alloy saber, not sparing a glance at Hu Zonghan’s lifeless, unseeing eyes, and turned to fix his gaze on Li Xingchang and the others.

"I agree to your terms," Tang Mubai smiled slightly. "Tell me the location, and I’ll let you go."

"Well, haha, it’s not that I don’t trust you, Master," Li Xingchang said, forcing a smile, "but while we’re still here, if I tell you now, and you decide to kill us after, we’d have no chance to escape."

The others squeezed out strained smiles as well.

Tang Mubai laughed too. "Cautious, aren’t you? Afraid I’ll go back on my word?"

"No, no," Li Xingchang waved his hands hurriedly. "It’s just that we lack a sense of security. Of course, we trust your word, Master. It’s just, it’s just—"

"Enough, spare me the justs," Tang Mubai interrupted. "Say what you want directly. Afraid I’ll renege? Hah, maybe my word isn’t trustworthy, but who can vouch for yours? What if I let you go and the location you give me is a fake?"

"Simple," Li Xingchang said, sensing hope and barely containing his excitement. "I’ll give you a phone with the location on it, but it’ll be password-locked for a set period—enough for us to leave. Once we’re gone and the time’s up, the phone unlocks automatically, and you’ll have the location."

This trick again?

He’d played this timed password game once before. Tang Mubai mused inwardly, but kept his expression calm.

"Fine," Tang Mubai bared his teeth in a faint smile. "Ten minutes, then. Give me the phone with the location. I’ll let you go. Ten minutes later, if the location is real, you’ll be safe. But if it’s a trick—well!"

"Rest assured, Master, we would never deceive you!" Li Xingchang said, delighted, "Given your abilities, even if you had to hunt us down, it would be easy for you."

"Let’s begin, then," Tang Mubai said, withdrawing his oppressive aura and granting Li Xingchang and his group their freedom.

They scrambled to their feet at once. The poisonous gas in the air had long since dissipated—most of it inhaled by the victims, whose deaths had come all the quicker for it. Nearly a hundred people had died rapidly from the poison; now the hillside was safe.

Not entirely, though. Li Xingchang and his companions still had traces of poison in their systems—their faces pale, bodies swaying.

Supported by the others, Li Xingchang took out a phone and, while keeping a wary eye on Tang Mubai, entered something on the new smartphone.

A moment later, he stepped forward and handed the device to Tang Mubai. "Master, it’s done."

"Good. You may go," Tang Mubai replied, glancing at the phone and nodding.

Li Xingchang and his companions immediately began supporting one another as they rushed down the mountainside. A few, unable to stay upright, simply rolled down.

Tang Mubai made no move to stop them, watching as their figures vanished from sight.

There were cars parked at the foot of the hill—Tang Mubai knew this. But he had never intended to wait the full ten minutes.

A timed password could be paused.

And Yang Kai could crack the code.

These people were from the Red Lake Group and had seen his face—how could he truly let them go?