Chapter 1 The Deep Cave

In the deep, secluded cave, torches burned on the walls, their flickering light illuminating the way to the depths.

The sprawling tunnels converged into a massive hall, lined with torches. Nearly a hundred men and women knelt on the cold ground, their faces filled with pious devotion.

At the front, a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes, exuding an air of composure, stood on a stone platform. Her voice was calm as she spoke, "We do not need anyone's assistance. We can control our own destiny."

"Yes!"

"Right! Exactly!"

"That's it!" The crowd of nearly a hundred people shouted, their emotions surging, faces flushed red, a stark contrast to the composed woman on the platform.

The woman's voice was steady yet piercing, "Some are still blindfolded. It's been almost thirty years. Has our life improved in the slightest?"

"No!"

"Those good-for-nothing parasites!" Another wave of fervent excitement swept through the crowd.

The woman gently pressed her hand down, and the noisy hall instantly fell silent. "They cannot see the future of this nation. We all have ordinary relatives, our families, our children.

But they are powerless to protect themselves. The incompetent defense forces cannot provide our families with stability. Our families, all ordinary people, will be pierced by the golden-red poisonous insects, their bodies corroded by venom! Their existence in this world is nothing but torment!

Their corpses are exposed in the wilderness, torn apart by Crimson Walkers, their bodies pecked at by crows. This is heaven's punishment for this ignorant nation, and it is our final warning!"

From the crowd below, faint sobs could be heard. It was not difficult to imagine that most of the Star Warriors present had lost relatives. Besides the weeping, there were also faces contorted with anger.

The woman said softly, "People think we are killing our companions, but only we know that this is a sinful world, plagued by hunger, famine, and rampant alien beasts. This world, for ordinary people, is nothing but endless suffering and torment. We cannot bear to see such people continue to suffer, so we help them, allowing them to go to a better place. It is not us who kill them, but this cruel world!!!"

The woman's voice gradually grew louder, "Remember! Our relatives and friends who have been redeemed are watching us from heaven! Their deaths allow us to be reborn! Grief will transform into a force within us, and they will accompany us..."

Suddenly, a man bowed and stepped onto the platform, approaching the woman and whispering something in her ear.

The woman's expression was well-controlled, but her pupils contracted violently.

After a few seconds, the woman said softly, "Dark Hall Third Team, do what they should do."

The man bowed slightly and retreated.

The woman turned her head, looking at the various faces below - sad, sorrowful, indignant, fanatical... she abandoned her previous rhetoric and simply uttered a phrase: "Dark Hall!"

Instantly, the suppressed crowd below seemed to find an outlet, roaring loudly:

"Dark Hall!!!"

"Dark Hall!!!"

"Dark Hall!!!"

At some point, the organization's name "Dark Hall" transformed into "Kang Ke Jin De."

"Kang Ke Jin De!"

"Kang Ke Jin De!!!"

Of course, no one thought they were shouting the name of the country. Everyone looked at the woman leader above, as if seeing a true savior through these shouts.

The woman nodded in acknowledgment, but her eyes were slightly empty, as if her mind was elsewhere.

At the same time, under the dark night, in an empty village.

A dark figure, carrying a giant blade on his back, stood before the burning wooden houses.

The vast village was silent, with only the crackling of the blazing flames. Occasionally, the sounds of houses being burned and collapsing could be heard. It seemed as if he was the only one in this deserted village.

"They're here, four, no, six..." Er Wei's voice suddenly rang in the invisible earpiece, so abruptly that she didn't even have time to give a specific number, "Underground!"

Clearly, if they had approached from the ground, she would have noticed the anomaly long ago. Only when they were deeply hidden underground, as the enemies surfaced and approached a certain distance from the ground, would Er Wei discover their tracks.

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly. The houses hadn't even burned halfway, and they were already here?

What did this represent? It meant that the boy had sent out the information, and it also meant that the so-called Dark Hall organization was operating nearby.

Bang!

A large hand suddenly shot out from the earth, grabbing Jiang Xiao's left ankle. Immediately afterward, a tremendous force came, as if trying to drag Jiang Xiao into the ground.

Jiang Xiao stomped his right foot fiercely, Bang!

Mud flew, rocks shattered, and golden-quality Qing Mang (green light) directly blasted a deep pit in the ground.

"Come out, you!" Jiang Xiao's body fell into the pit along with the flying mud. A long-faced man in black martial attire was also revealed.

Jiang Xiao didn't even have time to draw his blade, and struck out with an elbow.

Diamond Qing Mang!

The man's expression changed in shock, as if he was still adapting to the sudden situation. He hurriedly raised his hands to block, but Jiang Xiao's elbow struck him heavily.

Crack!

A crisp sound of bones breaking came from the man's blocking elbow. The whole person was blasted away like a cannonball!

The man in martial attire crashed heavily into the east side of the pit. The force was still undiminished, and he was even blasted into the pit wall.

If there were no obstacles to block it, the maximum knockback effect of Diamond Qing Mang was about 50 meters. So, what if there were obstacles to block it?

Jiang Xiao wasn't sure for the moment, because the pit wall only had a human-shaped outline left. The man in martial attire had actually been blasted away by his elbow...

No, don't disappear!

I was too excited just now, I'll be gentler next time...

Jiang Xiao hurriedly charged forward, waving his fists, instantly transforming into a digging machine, banging and smashing the mud, advancing rapidly.

Jiang Xiao seemed to have become the bugle call for the start of the battle. All of a sudden, shouts of fighting rang out all around!

Flap flap flap...

A group of one-eyed crows directly surrounded a bald enemy, pecking wildly with their sharp beaks, tearing at the man's flesh. But the man suddenly covered his whole body with mud, and the earth began to tremble.

The crow swarm rapidly weaved, instantly piecing together a human figure. Looking at the enemy covered in mud in front of them, the Shadow Crow unsheathed his Tang blade, the crackling sound of electricity, with its dazzling light, illuminating the night sky.

A figure flickered, blade rising and falling!

The Shadow Crow, surrounded by electricity, slashed horizontally, shattering the mud man in front of him. Still unwilling to let go, he stabbed downwards, Bang!

This Shadow Crow also had the potential to be a digging machine!

This slash directly pierced through the "golden cicada shedding its shell" enemy, who was directly pinned to the ground, the explosive electricity not only blasting open a mud pit, but even shattering the enemy's head.

Flap flap flap...

The Shadow Crow instantly transformed, the Tang blade disappeared, the electricity dissipated, leaving only a flock of black crows, flying towards the houses on the side.

Bang!

A figure was blasted out of a house, rapidly passing below the flock of one-eyed crows. At the same time, a huge figure charged out of the house.

Er Wei, wielding a dark silver giant blade, was incredibly fast, directly approaching the face of the figure flying backwards.

"Ah ah ah!" A handful of scarlet glass beads suddenly appeared in the hands of the figure flying backwards. His eyes were about to split, and he roared as he smashed them towards Er Wei.

Er Wei's figure suddenly turned into mist, and the scarlet glass beads passed through her body, shooting towards the houses behind her, rumble...

The small scarlet beads were like high-explosive grenades with tremendous power. The houses behind Er Wei instantly burst into flames, and the shockwaves spread in all directions, utterly destroying them.

The rapidly weaving, mist-like Er Wei quickly pieced herself back together, and the dark silver giant blade instantly stabbed into the man's chest. She even carried the man as she continued to fly backwards, eventually crashing heavily into another house. The giant blade pierced through the enemy's body, deeply embedded in the stone wall behind him.

"Cough, cough..." The man coughed up blood, his voice trembling and weak, but as sharp as Er Wei was, she clearly heard the enemy's last words, "Kang Ke Jin De forever!"

Er Wei's face showed disdain, she snorted, and stepped on the enemy's abdomen, pulling out the giant blade.

"Roar!!!" Er Wei's eyes narrowed slightly, and she turned her head. On another street in the distance, a giant let out a beast-like roar.

The giant's Star Chart was actually a mask, a black and red Tengu mask.

Long nose, bloody fangs.

27 star slots, 24 brilliant stars inlaid within.

The Tengu mask Star Chart on the giant's chest transformed into countless stars, gathering towards the giant's face, rapidly piecing together in front of him.

Turning stars into martial power!

The real Tengu appeared in this moonless night.

The four enemies surrounding the Tengu, seeing that things were not going well, all transformed into crows and flew away, or turned into mud and merged into the ground.

The Tengu roared to the sky, and the next moment, an even larger figure emerged from the Tengu's body!

The five-meter-tall giant figure, with a terrifyingly large Tengu mask on his face, was like the only god in the dark night, with sharp teeth below his long nose craving the nourishment of blood.

The Tengu slammed his hand fiercely on the ground, and at the same time, the giant Tengu that emerged behind him also slammed his hand on the ground.

Rumble...

Er Wei couldn't help but reach out to cover her eyes, her body leaning back slightly, retreating several steps under the impact of the churning shockwaves.

In the midst of the chaos, Er Wei's ears twitched slightly, hearing the sound of fierce fighting in the place she was most concerned about.

Er Wei quickly turned and ran off.

Under the night, a figure surrounded by a golden halo was wrestling frantically with another figure in the mud, discussing philosophy.

The style had completely changed...

Er Wei seemed to have come from one world to another.

The bizarre Shadow Crows, the domineering Tengu, and... Jiang Xiao, frolicking and rolling in the mud?

Whoosh!

Jiang Xiao's figure flickered rapidly, but not to create distance, but to adjust his posture, his body lying on top of the man in martial attire.

The man in martial attire originally tried to strike upwards with an elbow, but failed to hit anyone, instead smashing out a small pit in the ground.

Bang!

Silence followed the flash, seamlessly connecting.

This Silence, once again, left the man in black martial attire with nowhere to escape. He was covered in mud, his right arm and left calf had already been fractured in the previous battle, interfering with his normal movements.

The man in martial attire wanted to merge into the ground, but was unable to use any Star Techniques at all. And this damned black camouflage youth was unbelievably skilled in ground techniques!

Jiang Xiao directly lay on the man in martial attire's back. When he reappeared after the flash, his left arm had already wrapped around the man's neck.

Jiang Xiao lifted his left arm fiercely, grabbing his own right upper arm. His right hand quickly pressed on the back of the man's head, his arms quickly tightening, and his legs also locked around the man's waist.

This was a relatively standard rear-naked choke, completed using cheat-like flashes and skillful experience.

The most hateful thing was that the black camouflage youth was actually singing a lullaby under such intense combat:

"Sleep, sleep, my dear baby..."

After the Silence ended, Jiang Xiao even threw another Silence. His right hand, pressed on the back of the man's head, lifted his forearm sharply upwards, and then quickly pressed it back on the back of the man's head.

The time for the two Silences was a full twenty seconds. Jiang Xiao formed the rear-naked choke in less than a second, and during these two Silences, it was unknown in which specific second the enemy fainted.

This was only when dealing with Star Warriors with strong physical qualities. If it were an ordinary person, the problem could be solved in a few seconds. Jiang Xiao was a relatively steady fighter, and only stopped after a full two Silences.

Er Wei listened to the reports in her earpiece, walked to the edge of the big pit, looked at the two people in strange positions below, and said, "Kang Ke Jin De didn't come personally, this is her Third Combat Team."

Jiang Xiao loosened his grip on the man in martial attire and stood up, and the man in martial attire had really turned into a puddle of mud, slumped in the pit.

Er Wei slowly squatted down, lowered her head to look at Jiang Xiao in the pit, and said, "What is this?"

Jiang Xiao panted heavily, seemingly very intense. He said, "Since the protagonist didn't come, we need...need a live one...a prisoner, to get information, right?"

Er Wei silently nodded, knowing that Jiang Xiao had misunderstood her meaning, so she further asked, "I'm asking you, what is this?"

Jiang Xiao wiped a handful of dirty mud from his face.

He gasped for a long time, and blurted out, "Huh? Gensokyo?"
Hu Die Lan