Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

Batel said no more, and shouted to his two men, "Carry the stretcher, follow along!"

Watching Batel and his group disappear into the darkness on the west side of the mine, Lin Feng took a deep breath of the cold air and said to Bai Xiaohe, "Let's head east."

The alleyway to the east was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways. Cold groundwater seeped from the rock walls, its dripping sound particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

Lin Feng walked ahead, holding the dagger in reverse, and could feel Bai Xiaohe's breathing right behind his ear, light and steady.

After walking about a hundred paces, the space suddenly opened up, revealing a huge domed grotto. In the center of the grotto was a bottomless, icy pool, its water as black as ink.

"Right here." Lin Feng stopped and whispered to Bai Xiaohe, "After Ling Aoyun catches up, you go and guard the west side. Once he enters this cave, don't let him leave."

Bai Xiaohe's cool eyes gleamed in the darkness: "And you?"

"I'll take him into the water." Lin Feng looked at the icy pool, its surface still but exuding a bone-chilling cold. "The fragments are more important to him than life itself. As long as he thinks I have even the slightest chance of bringing the fragments out of the cave, he'll cling to them like a hyena."

Before he could finish speaking, chaotic footsteps and Ling Aoyun's furious roar came from the direction of the mine entrance: "Search it! I want to find them alive or dead, or at least the fragments!"

Lin Feng and Bai Xiaohe exchanged a glance, then flashed away and disappeared into the shadows of the rocks on either side of the cave.

"Over there!" A sharp-eyed assassin spotted the outline of the empty box on the bluestone.

Ling Aoyun rushed over, grabbed the empty box, opened it, and found it completely empty. He trembled with rage and slammed the box to the ground: "Lin Feng! You get out here! Hand over the stuff!"

"Ling Aoyun! Want the fragments? Come and get them!" Lin Feng's voice echoed in the cave, laced with sarcasm.

"Over there! Chase them!" Ling Aoyun led his assassins frantically eastward.

The torchlight dispelled a small patch of darkness, revealing the deep pool in the center.

"Ling Aoyun, there's a dry air chamber at the bottom of this icy pool. I hid the fragment there. If you're so capable, come down and get it."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud "plop" was heard, and Lin Feng burst out of the shadow of the rock and actually jumped into the bottomless cold pool!

"Chase it! Chase it!" Ling Aoyun had completely lost his mind. He valued the fragment as much as his own life, and at this moment he couldn't care less about anything else. "Whoever gets the fragment first will receive a reward of a thousand taels of silver!"

With such a generous reward, brave men are bound to appear. Two assassins jumped into the icy pool one after the other. Several more followed suit.

Ling Aoyun stood by the pool, staring intently at the ripples on the water's surface. None of the dozen or so assassins he had brought resurfaced.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the water and grabbed the rock on the edge of the pool! Ling Aoyun was overjoyed and was about to lean down to look when the owner of the hand suddenly exerted force, pulling Ling Aoyun forward!

"Ah—!" Ling Aoyun cried out in surprise, half of her body falling into the water.

Just then, a cold light shot out from the water, aiming straight for Ling Aoyun's face!

Ling Aoyun was terrified and, in a panic, slashed out with his sword. The cold light was deflected, revealing only a withered branch. The real killing intent, however, came from underwater!

Lin Feng, soaking wet, burst out of the water, his dagger stabbing towards Ling Aoyun's back like a venomous snake!

"Pfft!"

The dagger pierced through flesh, but missed by a fraction, only piercing Ling Aoyun's shoulder. In excruciating pain, Ling Aoyun kicked Lin Feng in the chest, using the force to flip backward and crash into the rock wall.

"Good lad...impressive skills..." Ling Aoyun clutched his bleeding shoulder, his face contorted with rage. "But don't forget, I still have men in this cave!"

Before the words were finished, the dull thud of Bai Xiaohe's short sword piercing flesh was heard, followed by the screams of the remaining assassins before their deaths.

Lin Feng wiped the water from his face and said coldly, "Most of your men are already dead."

Ling Aoyun looked around. The assassins he brought either died in the water or by Bai Xiaohe's sword. Now, only he, Lin Feng, and the elusive Bai Xiaohe remained in the cave.

"Lin Feng...you won." Ling Aoyun suddenly softened and knelt down with a thud.

"I don't want the fragments! Please spare me! My Ling family is richer than a country; I can give you all my treasures! Just spare my life!"

Lin Feng approached step by step, water droplets from his dagger dripping onto the ground with a monotonous sound. He looked at Ling Aoyun, who was kneeling and trembling before him, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Patriarch Ling," Lin Feng's voice was terrifyingly calm, "you never intended to let me go from the very beginning."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Feng thrust out his dagger!

"puff--"

This stab precisely pierced Ling Aoyun's throat.

Ling Aoyun's eyes widened, as if he wanted to say something, but he could only let out a wheezing sound. He collapsed heavily by the pool, his eyes filled with resentment and disbelief, and then he died.

The grotto fell silent once more. Only the sound of dripping water and Lin Feng's heavy breathing could be heard.

Bai Xiaohe emerged from the darkness, blood dripping from her short sword.

Her cold eyes swept across the cave, confirming there were no survivors, before she whispered, "The Ling family's assassins have all been wiped out. But the Shadowless Pavilion will not give up."

Lin Feng crouched down and rummaged through Ling Aoyun's arms. Aside from a few loose silver notes and a few bottles of wound medicine, there was nothing else.

"There's nothing of value here." Lin Feng stood up. "Ling Aoyun is inherently suspicious; he would never carry a real token or map with him."

"We already have two fragments. So how do we find the third fragment..." Bai Xiaohe frowned.

"Why do you think the people from the Shadowless Pavilion got involved? Besides the fact that they also want to seize Ling Aoyun's second fragment, there's another possibility: the third fragment is also in Ling Aoyun's hands!" Lin Feng put forward a shocking possibility.

"Before his death, Ling Aoyun said that he was richer than a country. This 'richness' probably didn't just refer to gold and silver, but also included those shady businesses, such as the mines controlled by the Ling family and the clandestine workshops that privately forged weapons."

He gazed into the dark depths of the alleyway: "This means that deep within the mine must lie his final hiding place or secret vault."

"You mean, the third fragment might be hidden in a secret chamber deep inside the mine?" Bai Xiaohe asked.

"This is an abandoned mine that has no one guarding it, and it may really be abandoned. But Black Wind Cave has always been guarded, and I suspect there's something fishy about it."

"Shall we go to Black Wind Cave now?" Bai Xiaohe asked.