Chapter 9: Evil Arises (Part 2)

Surrounded by dense mountains and forests, the area around York County allows hunting every winter. As the most important assistants to hunters, once hunting dogs are trained and have tasted the blood of prey, they become "wolves," guarding homes and compounds with a ferocity that far surpasses any security guard. These dogs have an acute sense of smell and hearing far superior to humans, and even the slightest rustle in the night will alert them, making it impossible for ordinary people to get close.

Therefore, Wang Yue didn't bother to hide himself from the two hunting dogs and simply walked out of the darkness without hesitation. Without any hesitation, a heavy breathing sound instantly rose beside him. A massive black shadow reared up and lunged at Wang Yue's throat, but at the last moment, Wang Yue's left arm, raised in time, was forced into the dog's mouth. The thick, coiled iron chain was like a piece of fat meat that it could never bite through...

In the next moment, a dagger was thrust straight into the dog's neck, severing the major artery. The smell of blood spread instantly. When hunting, dogs have the habit of not letting go once they bite their prey. Based on this habit, Wang Yue killed the dog without wasting any extra effort.

Who knows what else might happen next. With just a human body, no matter how skilled one is, there is a limit to the strength one can exert. Therefore, precisely controlling the expenditure of physical energy became Wang Yue's top priority.

Avoiding the dirty water on the ground, he continued inward to the true back door of the bar, a fully enclosed large iron door embedded in the wall. Apart from a small door about half a foot long and three inches wide that allowed people to look out, there was not a single gap. It seemed to have borrowed some design elements from the county prison, with no handles on the outside. Once a metal bar was inserted from the inside, no one could enter.

Wang Yue dragged the convulsing hunting dog and pressed his ear against the door, listening carefully for a while. Inside, two people's voices could be heard faintly, as if they were drinking. They were probably the guards at the back door. With such a large iron door, the two guards were just for show, not fearing anyone could get in.

Wang Yue crouched into a ball, tightly pressing against the wall, then kicked the dog on the ground hard. The dog's body, under the force, hit the door, making a loud thud, immediately alarming the two people inside.

"Who's there?"

A hoarse voice came, followed by the sound of the dog's dying struggles and whimpers. "What's going on? It's so late, why is Brut howling like that? Did you forget to feed him beef tonight?" Through the door, the man clearly didn't hear any difference in the dog's barks from usual. After asking his companion, he grumbled and opened the door from inside.

As soon as the door opened, the man's face appeared, and Wang Yue leaped up, thrusting a knife that instantly pierced his neck. A muffled thud, like a bag of water suddenly bursting, the sound of water gushing out was particularly piercing in the silent darkness.

A moment later, the man's hands clutched his neck, and his body slowly fell to one side. Wang Yue quickly stepped inside and saw a man sitting behind a table, looking up. Perhaps due to drinking too much, his eyes were still dazed. Before he could understand what was happening, Wang Yue took two steps and slashed his throat. The body fell backward, and blood spurted onto the wall like a fountain, splashing a few times before it was clear he was dead.

From the moment he opened the back door, Wang Yue had only made three precise cuts, killing two people and a dog with a chillingly skilled and precise movement.

Once again, he saw the transparent spheres coalesce from the corpses, but this time he didn't touch them with his hands. He simply watched the changes, and with a thought, the two light spheres seemed to be drawn by a powerful force, transforming into a faint stream of light that disappeared into his body.

"They're all scum. Kill them all, and it will be cleaner!"

Although these mental energies could only be absorbed because of the sword in his body and not directly utilized by him, he had spent his life studying mental techniques and had a profound understanding of mental consciousness. These two people had just died, and as their spirits coalesced, they also gathered fragments of their former consciousness. As the mental energy entered his body, he could consciously see some of the things he wanted to know.

These were just two ordinary henchmen under Salon-Jaspe, but they were true thugs and ruffians. They had been involved in the death of the old Tom's family. The scenes of their atrocities, replayed in his mind, only intensified Wang Yue's desire to kill.

He no longer had any tolerance.

Then, he found two antique-looking revolvers and a dagger on the two bodies before turning to leave. Not far ahead, after a turn, was a barbed wire fence. The steel bars, as thick as little fingers, were intertwined into a dense grid, standing two to three meters high, with sharp, multi-pointed barbs. Apart from a small locked door at the bottom, there was no place to climb. Fortunately, Wang Yue's lock-picking skills were excellent. With a few careful movements of a rusty wire, the door opened silently. The Wildfire Bar covered a large area, and with so many people in front, once something happened, someone might recognize him. Therefore, he had to keep this door open as a pre-prepared escape route.

Wang Yue was meticulous. Since he dared to come here alone, he was certainly not a rash person.

After passing through the barbed wire, he reached the staff entrance of the old cinema. A long corridor wound out, with high walls on both sides. This place, not being a legitimate business, had a dark and hidden side. Since Salon-Jaspe took over, almost everyone who entered the back part of the bar was either his trusted subordinate or someone who would never leave again.

The hanging lamps in the corridor were barely lit, and looking ahead, one could only see vague outlines. Occasionally, a cool breeze would blow from somewhere, wandering through the corridor, creating lonely echoes.

By this time in the evening, even if the front was still lively, the back had become quiet. This old building, with its outdated structure and numerous rooms, was always the source of many eerie stories. Even Salon-Jaspe's subordinates were reluctant to walk around here often.

At the end of the long corridor was a transfer space with doors on all four sides. The door facing the corridor was hung with a translucent curtain, which allowed ventilation and kept out insects, and also transmitted the music from the bar. The closer one got, the louder the music became.

From a distance, the light from the room spilled out, and there were clearly many people inside. If Wang Yue's guess was correct, this place was where Salon-Jaspe's henchmen gathered. One of the four passages led to where he had come from, another to the front of the bar, and one of the remaining two must lead to the underground.

Salon-Jaspe had spent a fortune renovating this dilapidated cinema, largely because of the underground space. Over a hundred years ago, before people knew what movies were, this place was York County's opera house, a place of great splendor and power.

Wang Yue slowly approached, using the light to familiarize himself with the terrain.

The loud music from the bar, amplified by the corridor, became even more intense and deafening. Through the gaps in the curtain, he saw several sofas arranged haphazardly inside. Seven or eight people were all sitting on the sofas, drinking and chatting. However, these people were clearly different from the two dead at the back door. Even though it was late and they were relaxed, each one still maintained a habitual vigilance.

At least, Wang Yue saw guns on or near each of them. Especially the two people at the left door, holding shotguns, were particularly noticeable.

Although shotguns have no rifling and are smoothbore, with an effective range of only a few dozen meters, their large caliber and the large amount of steel shot or iron sand in the ammunition make them extremely lethal at close range. Every winter in York County, these guns are the hunters' favorite, but they are also terrifying when used to kill people, capable of bringing down even a thousand-pound brown bear.

He observed for a long time, hiding outside the door. Seeing that the people inside remained seated for a long time without changing, Wang Yue was about to act when he suddenly saw one of the henchmen near the door stagger to his feet and walk toward the door.

Perhaps because of an urgent need or some other reason, the henchman lifted the curtain at the door and was immediately stunned. Wang Yue stood on the steps at the door, almost face-to-face with him, and their breaths were clearly audible.

"Who... who are you?"

They were not professional soldiers, and although Salon-Jaspe's subordinates were ruthless, their reaction to sudden situations was clearly slow. Although he knew that a stranger appearing here at this time was suspicious, the henchman's first reaction was not to draw his gun but to instinctively ask a question.

The henchmen inside the room heard the voice and immediately sat up straight on the sofas, shouting, "Al, what's going on? Who's outside?"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, a muffled thud was heard, and Al, who was blocking the door, suddenly flew up a couple of feet, his body and limbs stretching out, almost folding into a bow shape, and he tumbled back.

Al fell to the ground with a thud, using all his strength to prop himself up, pointing at the door, trying to say something, but large amounts of blood had already flooded his mouth and throat, and he could only make gurgling sounds. His chest was a mess of blood and flesh, and the corresponding part of his spine was completely broken, with white bone fragments piercing through his back. It was clear he was dead.

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