Night without Borders

Chapter 44: Mutual Prey
Under the night sky, towering mountains stand tall. Many people have come into the dense forest, and the noise is a bit noisy.

The new students in each village were very angry. Going into the mountains today was bound to be full of danger. Once they entered the special nodes, their lives would be unpredictable.

"What are you arguing about? Let's see who dares to talk nonsense again." A Golden Rooster Knight appeared with an indifferent expression and swept his cold eyes over everyone.

The golden rooster he was sitting on was very fierce, and then let out a long, high-pitched crow.

The Golden Rooster Knight scolded, "You'd better behave yourself. I'm just asking you to explore for a mineral deposit. There's no need to talk so much nonsense. Just shut up and do what I tell you to do!"

The new students from various villages dared to be angry but not to speak. If they did not have their wives and children, they would have really wanted to fight him to the death, because what he said was really not like human language. Now ordinary people already know that at special times, the sunlight will seriously erode the body.

"Let's go. Let me be frank with you. If anyone dares to cause trouble for me, don't blame me for taking ruthless action!" the Golden Rooster Knight threatened.

Beside him, there was a large group of people armed to the teeth, all of them were freshmen from Jinjiling, and they were leading everyone on the road as if they were guarding prisoners.

They traveled silently all the way to the outside of the Great Rift Valley. There were still some villagers waiting there. They were brought here by the people of the Three-Eyed Cult. The two local organizations were indeed cooperating.

The Great Rift Valley is vast, covered with ground fissures, and in some places there are large amounts of rocks piled up. The vegetation here is sparse, and stone forest landscapes coexist with gullies.

Normally, few creatures appear here, because if they are not careful, they may fall into the cracks in the ground.

This time, a large number of people from Jinjiling and Sanyan Sect came and had been waiting here for a long time, so they did not go prospecting.

"Huh?" In the Great Rift Valley, another Golden Rooster Knight saw Qin Ming and a cold look flashed in his eyes.

He once brought people to Old Man Liu's house and tried to force him to buy the fiery red grass. Qin Ming later told Cao Long and Mu Qing about it, which resulted in him being slapped several times and losing several teeth on his right side.

"Take good care of that young man and encourage him to actively explore for minerals!"

He didn't dare to take action directly. After all, Cao Long and Mu Qing had both warned him and hadn't left yet.

But this time, it was the big bandits from Jinjiling and the local high-ranking officials of the Three-Eyed Sect who gave the order to let these villagers outside the mountain enter the node. He could "take advantage of the situation" and, with just a few orders, torture to death those who had only been reborn once.

A gray-haired old man among the villagers said worriedly, "We hope to find the so-called mysterious item as soon as possible. Otherwise, if time passes, even if we are newcomers, we will develop a disease and may not be able to leave this place!"

"Shut up, did I ask you to talk?"

With a snap, the Golden Rooster Knight swung his whip, causing the old freshman to stagger, his clothes on his chest torn, and his face to be scratched, leaving a bloody wound.

"Whoever finds the mysterious item can not only leave immediately, but also receive a large reward. Note that it is not night silver, but day gold!"

The people from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect did not completely push everyone into a desperate situation. At least they gave people hope and made promises.

An old man from Jinji Ridge came over and ordered, "Go underground. This area is occupied by us and the Three-Eyed Cult. Now every inch of land under the Great Rift Valley is worth a lot of money. Search carefully!"

The people from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect occupied an area near the entrance, which was not a very good location. After all, their strength was indeed not as good as those from Chixia City.

Qin Ming followed the other newborns into the underground. Everyone had a sunstone prepared in advance in their arms, otherwise it would be too dark in the crack.

This is an underground cave with many spider-web-like passages that spread in all directions. Some areas are filled with faint light, which makes people feel uncomfortable if they get close to it, while other areas are darker and you won't feel uncomfortable if you stay in such a place.

"Everyone, I don't think we need to hurt our bodies or even lose our lives. Even if we enter those glowing areas, it will be difficult to find mysterious items. It is better to find some safe roads underground in advance, enter those dark areas, and slowly bide our time..." suggested an old man.

In fact, many people have this idea.

A middle-aged man said, "We will split into two groups. One group will pretend to look for mysterious items, and the other group will quickly look for a way out, looking for those deep passages, preferably those leading to the outside of the Great Rift Valley. I think these people may end up fighting each other. Different forces will clash over special nodes and kill each other."

"That's right, we made preparations early!" Everyone nodded.

Qin Ming originally wanted to suggest that these people hide first, but now he finds that those who make a living in the dangerous mountains have a strong sense of self-preservation.

Afterwards, he began to act alone, wandering around the entire underground cave, looking for possible mysterious items.

An hour later, there was no conflict between the outsiders, but another powerful force intervened and bloodshed broke out on the ground.

On the ground of the Great Rift Valley, monkeys cried and tigers roared, all kinds of mutated creatures appeared one after another, and many birds of prey began to swoop down in the sky.

"The aliens are attacking!" shouted a Golden Rooster Knight guarding the entrance to the Great Rift Valley.

It’s not that there weren’t mutant creatures appearing and conflicts occurring in the past, but there weren’t so many of them and they weren’t organized. It’s completely different now.

The giant white bear that was leading the charge was about five or six meters tall. It seemed to have just woken up from hibernation, but it was extremely violent. It grabbed the two newborns and tore them to pieces.

On the other side, a giant golden bull was spewing flames from its mouth and nose. It rushed forward, piercing many members of the Three-Eyed Sect with its horns and sending them flying.

There were quite a few such aliens. Although they were of different species, they did not fight each other at all. They all came towards humans.

The mutated raptors in the sky were assisting, and a huge silver eagle swooped down and opened the skull of a second-time reborn on the spot.

"There were only a few aliens earlier, and they didn't appear on a large scale. They were waiting for us to enter the scene, and they wanted to hunt us down in a targeted manner."

An old man from Jinjiling spoke, jumped up, grabbed an eagle owl that had mutated twice in mid-air, and broke its neck.

"This is how to do?"

Many people were getting anxious because the entrance to the Great Rift Valley was blocked by a large number of alien creatures, which were rushing into the valley, and there were birds of prey watching from the sky.

……

"Something's not right. The ground is in chaos. Let's hide quickly and block those secret passages with rocks to hide all the ways of escape."

In the underground world, hunters from various villages heard the noise, were extremely sensitive, and acted quickly. Qin Ming noticed it at the first time. He was fearless and could retreat to the road where the skylight overflowed. Whether it was the people from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect, or the aliens, it was difficult to go deep into such a place for a long time.

On the ground, a large number of people from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect gathered together for defense. At this time, people were in panic because there were monsters everywhere.

"The higher-level creatures won't come here in person. After all, they have promised the higher-ups in Chixia City that they won't hunt in secret. But they can definitely let some of the lower-level creatures come over."

In this case, the problem is very serious. Everyone understands that the aliens have been wanting to make trouble for a long time and have been waiting for the opportunity.

The blood snakes, silver camels, fiery red grasses, etc. in the mountains are of incredible value to people outside the mountains and contain rich spiritual substances.

In the eyes of the aliens in the mountains, some of the two-legged beasts with deep roots will also make them jealous, as they are "herbs" that contain rich spirituality.

"So, a large group of aliens have come, not only are they after the mysterious items, but they also want to hunt us, considering us spiritual creatures?"

"That's right!"

In an instant, the faces of the newcomers from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect all looked extremely grim. The territory they occupied was at the mountain pass, so wouldn’t they be the first to be hit?
"The higher-level creatures deep in the mountains don't dare to let their aliens kill all the people who enter the mountains. That would completely anger City Lord Lingxu and others, and they would be retaliated against in cold blood. But reducing the number of newcomers here by one-fifth or one-quarter is probably not a big deal."

For a moment, everyone's face turned pale. If the situation continued to develop in this way, it would be extremely terrible and many people would not be able to leave the mountains alive.

"Let's retreat into the cave. We can't stay on the ground anymore. Our two families alone are no match for these monsters!" said an old man from the Three-Eyed Sect.

"Let's go, get underground!" These people took action immediately.

They used narrow passages for defense, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, making it difficult for those alien creatures to get through.

However, the underground passage is like a spider web. Some aliens that are adapted to underground combat are trying to find a way in, trying to bring other mutant creatures in to kill them.

For a moment, there was chaos both above and below ground.

Many of the new students from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect rushed to different passages, hoping to find a way out of the Great Rift Valley.

After all, this is the exit zone.

……

"What a coincidence?" Qin Ming saw an acquaintance at a glance, the Golden Rooster Knight who wanted to force Old Man Liu to buy his spiritual substance, and who had shown ill will towards him at the entrance of the valley before.

"Is it you?" The Golden Rooster Knight had already abandoned his mount and was wandering alone in the underground passage, looking for a way to escape.

"Come here!" He waved at Qin Ming and said, "Have you found any mysterious items? Also, you heard the noise up there, what's the terrain like here? Tell me in detail."

Qin Ming was too lazy to respond and walked over slowly.

"Are you looking for death? Why are you so slow? I'm asking you a question!" The Golden Rooster Knight's eyes were fierce.

His malicious intentions were obvious. He had wanted to find someone to arrange for Qin Ming to explore more, forcing him to be eroded by the skylight and die. Now he thought it would be okay to kill him here. Who would know? He would just put the blame on those aliens afterwards, and there would be no evidence.

Therefore, he did not hide it and even whipped him. He could guess that it must be this young man and Old Man Liu who complained to Cao Long and Mu Qing, because there were only these two parties involved.

Qin Ming naturally wouldn't let him hit him, so he blocked with his long-handled black gold hammer.

"You still dare to resist?" His eyes were cold and he was about to attack again.

Qin Ming was not used to being passive, so how could he tolerate him stepping on the "red line" again and again? He moved forward with the sledgehammer as fast as lightning.

With a bang, the Golden Rooster Knight saw stars and felt unbearable pain. The black gold hammer had a close contact with his mouth and nose. His front teeth fell out, his nose collapsed, and he felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry, my hand slipped and I couldn't hold the hammer handle." Qin Ming said.

"I... I'm in dirt!" The Golden Rooster Knight was leaking some air after his teeth fell out, and in his rage he couldn't pronounce his words clearly when he cursed.

He endured the pain on his face, tears streaming down his face, anger rising from his heart, and he was about to draw out his long sword to kill the young man.

He was a second-time reborn, so naturally he thought he could easily kill a kid who had just been reborn.

However, before he could swing his sword, he felt a tearing pain in his right hand as he was hit by the long-handled black gold hammer. His flesh and blood were blurred, and his sword fell directly to the ground. His entire right hand was spasming, and it was twisted after being broken, much like the claw of the golden rooster he was riding.

"You used this hand to give old man Liu a yellow mud palm, right? Then you should also try my black gold fist." Qin Ming did not waste any more time. He picked up the long-handled black gold hammer and hit him several times, all of which hit his face. His face was immediately turned into a meat pie, his frontal bone was smashed in, and his corpse fell to the ground.

Before he died, the Golden Rooster Knight couldn't believe it. How could it be so outrageous? He was a second-born, so how could he not be as strong or as fast as that boy? When his consciousness was dispersed, he realized that the other party had been reborn for the second time, and was much stronger than him!
Qin Ming dragged his body into a very open area, where there was sunlight flowing through and it was relatively safe.

"Huh?" He turned suddenly and saw an old man walking out of another passage and approaching him silently.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" the old man looked gloomy.

"I'm from the Three-Eyed Sect. I just saw this man being eroded by the light of heaven and fainting on the ground. I'm trying to save him." Qin Ming replied.

With a loud bang, the old man stepped on the hard ground and rushed over swiftly. There was a faint white light on his body, which was the human body's sky light. It was obvious that he was a three-time reborn person.

He was not so easily fooled. When he found out something was wrong, he took action immediately. Even if the person was just a teenager, he would kill him.

Qin Ming knew that he had met a formidable enemy, an unprecedentedly strong opponent. He had never fought against a thrice-reborn person before.

"Let's fight. If I kill a master like you who has been reborn three times, I might be able to wipe out all the people in Jinjiling!" Qin Ming became ruthless and decided to go all out to kill the old man.

(End of this chapter)