Chapter 73: Dead End

The one who had come to chase Shen Chen was naturally the old ghost from the Outer Sect of the Netherworld Palace, Youfeng. At this moment, Youfeng had already regrouped with a group of subordinates. With a wave of his sleeve, he shattered the two elders of the Flowing Cloud Sect, and was now coldly scanning the surroundings.

Around Youfeng, the scene was in chaos, with bodies strewn everywhere and blood splattered everywhere. These were clearly the disciples of the Netherworld Palace who had been killed by Shen Chen and his group. At a glance, there were at least thirty mutilated corpses!

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Seeing this, the old ghost Youfeng's eyes flared with anger. With a wave of his sleeve, he sent a subordinate with the cultivation of the Twelfth Level of Blood Fusion flying, crashing through several trees before lying there, coughing up blood.

"Calmer, Ninth Elder, it's our incompetence!" The eagle-eyed man who had previously shot an arrow through Shen Chen's ribcage hurriedly stepped forward to plead guilty, kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear, completely losing the sharpness and coldness he had shown when chasing Shen Chen, like a wild wolf trembling before a lion.

In an instant, dozens of subordinates and servants fell to their knees, their faces pale, trembling with fear. When an Outer Sect elder was angry, it was not just the lowly servants who would be killed; even the disciples of the Outer Sect could be killed at will, their heads falling at the elder's whim, and crushing them was like stepping on an ant, with no one to question it!

This was the law of the Netherworld Palace. There, reason was a joke, and the will of the rulers was the way of the king, ruthlessly controlling the life and death of all their disciples!

"Hmph! I'll deal with you useless trash when we get back. Hurry up and chase after that little thief. If he escapes, not only will you die, but even your families living in the territory of the Netherworld Palace will not be spared!" Youfeng coldly shouted, his dark old eyes sweeping over everyone on the ground.

"Yes!"

The group of subordinates and servants felt as if they had been pardoned, quickly getting up and rushing eastward...

...

A short distance ahead, Shen Chen had already emerged from the forest and was running back on the dry riverbed. Every time he ran a bit, he would take out a handful of green, round pills from his bag and swallow them, his face twisted and haggard.

The old ghost was already in pursuit, and Shen Chen was now fighting for his life. During his run, as soon as his blood energy slightly recovered, he would immediately use the Shadow Fox Steps, not daring to hesitate for a moment.

"No, I need to be even faster!" Shen Chen gritted his teeth, his eyes red like the evening sky. His body was covered in large wounds, and he had no idea how much blood had already flowed. His stomach churned violently, and the various aftereffects of the Body Tempering Pills were almost driving him to the brink of death.

This time was truly too terrible. In both his past and present life, Shen Chen had never been so miserable. Even when he escaped from the clutches of the old ghost Youquan last time, it was not as dire as now.

Last time, when the old ghost Youquan wanted to probe his soul and use him as a human cauldron, the mysterious mirror in his mind suddenly exerted its power, seizing the old ghost's soul and trapping it in the mirror when he was unprepared.

However, this time, Shen Chen was not so lucky. He had nearly been killed several times, and the mysterious mirror showed no reaction at all.

Shen Chen was no longer surprised by this phenomenon. After repairing a crack last time, the ancient mirror had not shown any activity for a long time, not even absorbing the spiritual energy in his body, as if it had fallen into some kind of deep sleep...

Unable to rely on the ancient mirror in his mind, Shen Chen could only rely on himself. His senses were sharp, and he had already heard the faint sound of water. For that glimmer of hope, Shen Chen was rushing forward with all his might, almost reaching the point of escape...

"The little thief, you think you can escape under my nose? What a delusion!"

Behind him, the old ghost Youfeng was also rapidly approaching. The old ghost could remain airborne for a long time, leaping hundreds of feet with each jump, far outpacing the group of subordinates and servants.

Not only that, the old ghost's height in the air far exceeded that of Blood Fusion cultivators, reaching dozens of feet high, and he had already caught sight of Shen Chen, laughing triumphantly.

Shen Chen was secretly alarmed. He had long heard that Condensation Realm experts could remain airborne for a long time, but he never thought that the rumor would be verified by the old ghost behind him. At this moment, the old ghost's abilities were beyond his reach, and even with the Shadow Fox Steps, he could not shake him off, and being caught was only a matter of time!

There was no way around it. No matter how strong the martial technique, the cultivation gap was too great, and some things could not be compensated for...

However, this did not mean that Shen Chen was going to sit and wait for death. He did not give up but instead increased the speed at which he consumed the Body Tempering Pills, and his Shadow Fox Steps were almost at the limit of the martial technique. Even if Sima Ya were here, she would not be much faster!

"Rushing water..."

Finally, in Shen Chen's desperate struggle, the faint sounds in his ears became clearer. A moment later, he could hear the sound of rushing water.

"That's... the sound of water!" Shen Chen was overjoyed. It was definitely the sound of water, though it did not sound like a major river. But Shen Chen could not afford to be picky and immediately suppressed his excitement, heading in the direction of the water sound.

Soon, a fork in the road appeared ahead. The main path continued into a deep, dark canyon, and the sky was already dark. Shen Chen could not see what lay ahead in the canyon.

However, Shen Chen was certain that the water sound was not coming from the main path but from the right fork. The situation did not allow him to hesitate, so he took a deep breath and decisively turned right, plunging into the fork.

The main path might lead to a larger river, but Shen Chen could not wait. The old ghost was getting closer, and the Body Tempering Pills in his two bags were running out. If he continued to run along the dry riverbed, Shen Chen was afraid he would not make it to the river.

However, just a few moments later, Shen Chen regretted it, his regret so deep that his intestines turned blue!

"Damn it! You damn heavens, are you playing with me?!"

Standing at the end of a cliff with no way out, Shen Chen cursed the heavens for the first time, his voice hoarse, filled with unwillingness and frustration!

At this moment, there was no way forward. The canyon fork was not wide, about ten feet, with sheer cliffs on both sides. And right in front of him, there was... another sheer cliff!

This was a dead end. The canyon fork clearly had an entrance but no exit, and the end was just a few dozen feet away!

As for the water sound... Shen Chen was even more desperate. There was indeed an underground river flowing horizontally beneath the cliff, and the water was swift, but... damn it, the exposed part of the river was only about two feet wide, and the distance between the cliffs on both sides was only a dozen feet, with the water depth less than a foot. Could such a "river" provide a hiding place?!

Shen Chen's heart turned cold. There was no major river here. The water sound was just from a small waterfall on the north cliff, and the water flowed down the river for a dozen feet before directly entering the underground river beneath the south cliff.

"Am I going to die...?" Shen Chen's heart trembled, his face ashen. At this moment, it was too late to turn back. Trapped in this dead end, the enemy only needed to block the exit to trap him without even lifting a finger.

"Ha ha ha... Little thief, it seems even the heavens are against you!"

Soon, the old ghost Youfeng and his group of subordinates and servants caught up. Seeing no way forward, the old man stroked his beard and laughed wildly, his mocking gaze fixed on Shen Chen, as if watching a small wild animal struggling in a trap, and the small wild animal was now at the end of its rope.

"Ha ha ha, this kid can't run anymore!"

"Kneel and beg for mercy, little thief. Maybe your pitiful state will move Elder Youfeng, and he will grant you a full corpse!"

"I heard that several of Elder Youquan's personal disciples have already spoken, wanting to eat this little thief's organs. He won't have that luck, ha ha ha..."

The group of Netherworld Palace servants and subordinates also cruelly laughed at Shen Chen, their eyes filled with malice and schadenfreude. For those with dark hearts, watching someone struggle to death in despair was like a grand feast.

At this moment, they were clearly enjoying this feast, even reluctant to immediately capture and kill their target, wanting to prolong the feast to the end.

"Little thief, from the moment you dared to kill my brother Youquan, you should have known this day would come. You seem to have some backbone, so let's make a deal. If you cut off one of your fingers, I'll give you one more day to live. After that, cut off your toes, and your arms and legs can also count. In total, you can live for fourteen more days, hehe..."

The old man Youfeng stepped forward, cruelly laughing, as if toying with a captured prey, calm and ruthless.

"Ha, giving me fourteen more days to live, you old ghost are really generous... But I'm even more generous. I've decided to give you five more years to live. After five years, I'll come back to take your head, hehe..."

At this moment, Shen Chen calmly smiled, his tense nerves relaxed. His wounds were still bleeding, and his body was weak, but these things could not make him submit. This scene was so familiar. The first time he went out to fight, he was also cut down in a pool of blood, with no one to help him.

That time, he remembered every figure that passed by, and now, Shen Chen was carefully observing everyone present, as if trying to remember each of their faces, speaking as if in a dream.

This was a dead end, and no one could save him... But even if he died, Shen Chen would remember who had forced him to this dead end!

"Hmph! Little thief, at the end, you still dare to be defiant. Leng Ying, go and sever his tendons!" The old ghost Youfeng coldly snorted, instructing the eagle-eyed man.

"Yes!" The man called Leng Ying nodded respectfully, then threw down his longbow, drew a white dagger from his waist, and coldly smiled as he approached Shen Chen.

Shen Chen coldly glanced at the approaching man, then took out the two small jade bottles that Elder Xiao Zhenhai had given him, not caring what was inside, and poured the contents into his mouth.

"I said, you're not qualified to kill me!"

In the next moment, Shen Chen's Shadow Fox Steps moved again. Gripping his long sword, he sidestepped and suddenly leaped into the nearby river.

In the swift current, in the blink of an eye, Shen Chen was swept into the underground river beneath the cliff, and in an instant, his vision went dark, and a bone-chilling cold spread throughout his body...

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