Chapter 146: The Master of the South Gate

At this moment, any sense of security came entirely from the weapon in one's hand. Six gun barrels were now pointed at the little monster. To be honest, I was not all that worried anymore; after all, with six guns trained on it, even a bear would likely be blasted to pieces, let alone a creature this small.

For now, we paid no mind to the person who had just fled, keeping our eyes fixed squarely on the thing before us. After staring at us for a moment, the creature suddenly lunged forward at blinding speed, appearing almost like a dark shadow. However, apart from Sanbiangua and myself, the rest of the group were hardened desperadoes. Especially Zhang Feng and Guo Fan, who had lived on the edge of a blade for years and were exceptionally proficient with firearms. Almost instantly, tongues of fire spat from their barrels, striking the dark shadow dead on.

The creature seemed to feel pain. Pelted by a volley of gunfire, it changed direction and let out a shrill, piercing shriek that sounded capable of shattering one's eardrums.

Looking much like a black human infant, the creature let out a "whoosh" as it darted out of the burial chamber and promptly vanished from sight. I let out a long breath, deeply puzzled. What on earth was this thing? I could not recall ever hearing of such a creature.

Right at that moment, the sound of gunfire echoed from another direction. After the recent tension, instead of taking a moment to catch their breath, everyone actually grew somewhat excited. This was a psychological reaction: when tension reaches a certain threshold, it transforms into excitement, and the same goes for fright. When fear hits its absolute limit, one either collapses or turns frantically fearless.

The rest of us pulled back our bolt handles and marched briskly toward the source of the gunfire. Before long, we reached the lowest level. This was a rather spacious underground platform, bearing some resemblance to a massive mausoleum. At the center of the platform right now, five or six people were standing, nervously scanning their surroundings. Upon seeing our arrival, they initially looked excited, but a split second later, after taking in our appearance, their expressions shifted to utter bewilderment.

"Who are you people!"

One of the younger men raised a pistol at us and demanded in a stern voice.

Yet, how could we be intimidated by the likes of him? We raised our own weapons in response, training them right back. The platform was not actually all that large. The surroundings were cluttered with various furnishings and numerous small sacrificial burial pits, which, according to my deduction, likely held the wives or concubines of the tomb's occupant from their lifetime.

The distance between us was not very great, roughly forty or fifty meters. At that moment, I took a quick look at the opposing group. Apart from the young man who had just spoken, the rest were mostly in their thirties or forties. One middle-aged man wearing glasses was around fifty and looked older than the rest, yet they all seemed to take their cues from the young man.

I remained silent, casting my gaze around the surroundings. To my disappointment, I saw no sign of Li Ling. Raising my gun, I called out, "Where is Li Ling?"

The five people on the opposite side were clearly stunned, falling silent for a moment. Soon, the young man spoke up, "What do you want?!"

Judging by his tone, I knew we were on the right track. It seemed all my deductions had been correct. Initially, I had harbored doubts—if my reasoning was wrong, everything from the start would be ruined, and Li Ling wouldn't be here at all. But judging by the young man's reaction, he knew who Li Ling was. In other words, Li Ling was indeed here; we simply didn't know her exact whereabouts at the moment.

Fueled by a mixture of excitement and urgency, I spoke up again, "I am only here for Li Ling. What you do is none of my concern!"

The group opposite visibly relaxed. The older man among them asked how we had managed to get in, what we wanted with Dr. Li, and how we knew she was here, rattling off a string of questions.

To be frank, the current setting was hardly an appropriate place to sit down for a chat. Besides, I had no patience to idle away time talking with them.

Although I had already crossed paths and fallen out with the other two sects in their trade, I preferred to avoid making enemies if possible. Yet, turning that thought around, so what if I made an enemy of them? I didn't have much time left to live anyway, and there was no telling which day I might drop dead. What was there to fear? This mindset made me feel as though I could turn unhinged at any second; after all, once a person has no fear left, they become utterly reckless.

Thus, my emotions grew volatile once more. While the middle-aged man was still droning on incessantly, I directly pulled the trigger. The gunshot exploded violently in the quiet underground space, and everyone stared at me in shock.

I was far too lazy to waste any more breath on them. Addressing the group, I said, "I'll say this one more time: I am here for Li Ling, so cut the nonsense. If you utter another damn word of crap, I'll start shooting!"

Their condition was clearly less than ideal. They looked as though they had just fought an encounter, and they probably didn't want to run into us like this. After all, our numbers were comparable, but their physical stamina and weaponry were vastly inferior to ours. Naturally, they had no desire to engage in a firefight with us, nor was there any necessity for it.

Consequently, the young man lowered his gun, took a dozen steps forward, nervously glanced around the surroundings, and then let out a sigh of relief before speaking to me: "I am the vice president of the Nanjin Group. You gentlemen certainly do not look like ordinary people, so you must have heard of the Southern Gate. Allow me to introduce my other identity: the second son of the current head of the Southern Gate, Shen Mingyu."

I told him coldly, "I don't have time to listen to your introduction. You are testing my patience."

To my surprise, this fellow named Shen Mingyu seemed to possess a rather decent temper, lacking the arrogant airs of a wealthy young master. Instead, he maintained a placid expression and said, "The situation is somewhat complicated. I surmise that you must be friends of Dr. Li or something similar. The fact that you managed to make it all the way here proves you are extraordinary individuals. I will be entirely frank: we harbor no malicious intent toward Dr. Li. We brought her here merely to assist with our research, only..."

As he spoke, he suddenly hesitated, which annoyed me to no end. I genuinely felt the urge to put a bullet through him. Shortly after, Shen Mingyu briefly explained everything that had happened.

It turned out that Longtou Mountain was indeed a massive tomb, specifically a mausoleum connected to the ancient Li tribe. However, Shen Mingyu did not elaborate further, as the matter clearly involved deep secrets. I refrained from showing too much curiosity; I could save all my questions for when I finally saw Li Ling.