You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Baili Jing stared at the withered old man in front of him, his gaze especially sweeping over the blood-red talismans covering his entire body.

That old man, Boss Ning, was already so troublesome just because he had a white cloth covered with runes over his eyes. But this old man in front of me has completely covered himself up!

How do we fight this?

Only a fool would fight him head-on!

Baili Jing's eyes darted around, and without the slightest hesitation, he pushed off with his feet and turned to run!

Although the twenty catties of demon beast meat had sustained them through the fierce battles and prevented them from becoming completely depleted of energy, the old man's condition was too strange. Before figuring out his true strength, they absolutely could not confront him head-on.

The most urgent task is to quickly find and eat the monster meat that Ding Yan hid to replenish our energy.

Baili Jing disappeared in a flash, leaving no trace, but Wei Zhaowu did not rush to chase after him.

The old man slowly lowered his head and glanced at Ning Ji, who was curled up in a pool of blood.

Ning Ji is not dead yet.

He curled up in agony on the ground, stretching out a trembling hand, his voice hoarse as he pleaded:

"Uncle Wei... help me... help me... kill me..."

A trace of sorrow flashed in Wei Zhaowu's eyes.

He sighed softly, turned to look at a Blackwater Hall disciple, and waved to him.

The disciple in black hurriedly stepped forward, bowing his head and saying in a trembling voice, "Uncle Wei."

"From now on, you won't need to participate in the hunt anymore."

Wei Zhaowu's voice was calm and even: "Regardless of the outcome of today's battle, this old man is doomed to die. Later, go to my house and take the third small wooden box from the left under my bed. The key is under my old woman's pillow... There's some gold and silver in the box. Take it and send it to your Boss Ning's wife and children. Tell them to move away from Shencheng and live in anonymity."

Upon hearing this, the black-clad disciple's eyes reddened: "Yes... Uncle Wei."

Ning Ji also heard these words. His body was still convulsing in pain, but his expression had calmed down considerably, and his voice weakened as he said, "Thank you, Uncle Wei... Thank you, Uncle Wei..."

Wei Zhaowu didn't say anything more, but slowly raised his foot.

boom.

With a single stomp, Ning Ji's head was crushed into a cloud of blood.

This bloody scene made Baili Jie on the high platform twitch.

Hua Xiangrong also sighed, feeling a sense of shared sorrow.

"Old Wei is one of the elders from the generation that founded the Blackwater Hall. He's old and his health is failing. He won't live for many more years. Ding Yan... he's trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of him before he dies."

Baili Jie murmured, "To risk their lives for the outcome of a duel... is it really worth it for them?"

"No one knows how much Ding Yan offered them. It might be unimaginable wealth and luxury, or it might be coercion they couldn't refuse," Hua Xiangrong said calmly.

Baili Jie's eyes flashed, and he said softly:

"It seems that what you need to do with my brother this time is of unimaginable value."

Hua Xiangrong didn't respond to that, but changed the subject:

"However, I'm starting to get a little curious... Since Ding Yan prepared so much, why didn't he just send out all three fifth-level forging experts from the beginning? If all three of them had come out together, your brother would probably have been torn to pieces right from the start. Why go through all this trouble?"

Baili Jie's eyes flashed, and he answered in a deep voice:

"Because... Ding Yan wants absolute certainty."

"How can we be absolutely sure of this?" Hua Xiangrong frowned slightly.

"That's what makes him so ruthless."

Baili Jie lowered his eyes slightly: "If the three of you attack together, my brother knows he is going to die, and he may go crazy and try to take everyone down with him. In the chaos, no one can guarantee that my brother's internal organs will not be damaged. Ding Yan doesn't want a rotten body; he wants my brother's healthy heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys."

"So, he used Ning Ji to block my brother's speed and see through my brother's movements; he used this old man Wei to wear down my brother's stamina and force out all of my brother's hidden trump cards."

"And that third expert... must be hiding somewhere in the shadows right now, observing my brother's every move. He'll wait until my brother has used up all his trump cards and his life force is exhausted before striking with lightning speed and killing him in one blow."

"What will my brother do then? In comparison, coming up in batches is the safest approach to have complete control over everything."

After listening to his analysis, Hua Xiangrong fell silent.

After a long pause, she sighed softly, "Little brother, are you really only fourteen years old?"

……

Deep inside the warehouse.

"Huff... huff..."

Baili Jing ran wildly through the gaps between the cargo containers.

His face turned somewhat grim, and he cursed under his breath:

"Damn it, you fatso! Are you kidding me? You said you'd put monster meat in the corner of the storeroom, but I've searched almost the whole place and haven't seen a single hair!"

Just then, another gust of evil wind came from behind!

Baili Jing was startled and suddenly lunged forward in a disheveled manner.

boom!!

A solid wood crate crashed down where he had just been standing, creating fine cracks in the ground and scattering wood chips everywhere.

Baili Jing turned his head and saw Wei Zhaowu standing like a ghost on top of a tall shelf a hundred paces away, holding another huge cargo box in his hand.

"Damn! Is this old man some kind of ghost?!"

Bai Lijing cursed under his breath, not daring to pause, and burrowed deeper into the shadows once more.

Next, he experienced what it meant to be followed like a shadow.

He kept changing direction, frantically dodging and hiding by taking advantage of blind spots, but Wei Zhaowu always kept a distance of about a hundred paces from him.

The old man wasn't in a hurry to engage in close combat. He simply stood on the high ground and followed closely. As soon as Baili Jing's figure was slightly exposed, one heavy cargo box after another would explode behind him.

Although Baili Jing dodged them all, the intense mental strain and constant dodging took a terrible toll on his stamina.

What's more, the aftershocks and shockwaves from the cargo boxes exploding around him were constantly tearing at the wound on his back, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

Baili Jing was furious after being hit so hard. During a moment of dodging, he finally couldn't help but roar and grab two huge scrap metal gears from the ground. He gritted his teeth and hurled them at Wei Zhaowu!

However, Wei Zhaowu simply raised his withered hand expressionlessly and clapped twice casually.

Clang! Clang!

Two crisp metallic clanging sounds rang out, and the cast iron gear, weighing tens of kilograms, was easily knocked away by the old man.

Baili Jing himself, on the other hand, suffered another violent shock due to the two heavy objects he threw, causing his already strained blood and qi to tremble violently once again, resulting in a great depletion of his energy.

"No way... if this drags on any longer, I'll be smashed to death by this old bastard before he even breaks down the door!"

Baili Jing gasped for breath and hurriedly squeezed into a gap in a cargo box.

"Meat, oh meat, where's the meat...?"

He desperately wanted to get even a pound of demon beast meat, otherwise he would become the one who was completely exhausted if things continued like this.

But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find the meat. Not only that, the old man was also gone, making Baili Jing very anxious, wondering which corner he might suddenly appear from.

Fortunately, he won't have to worry about it for long.

As Baili Jing passed a shelf, the crate next to him suddenly exploded from the inside!

A withered old hand covered in talismans, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, lunged straight at Baili Jing's neck!

"Holy crap?!"

He was terrified. At this distance, he didn't have time to use any moves. All he could do was roar and grab the wrist of the withered hand with both hands!

However, the force coming from that wrist was unimaginably great!

Even though Baili Jing had already grabbed the hand, he still couldn't stop it from moving forward!

Click!

Five withered, bony fingers gripped Baili Jing's neck tightly.

From the shadow of the shattered box, Wei Zhaowu's old face slowly emerged.

With a single effort, he lifted the burly Baili Jing off the ground!

Immediately afterwards, the old man swung his arm and flung it sharply downwards!

boom!!

Baili Jing was slammed against the wall, which instantly created a large dent.

His back slammed violently against the wall, reopening an old wound from the previous night, and a large amount of blood instantly soaked through his black clothes.

Baili Jing gripped the other's hand that was stuck in his throat. The lack of oxygen and the excruciating pain made his face turn red. His legs struggled wildly in the air, but he could not break free of the restraint.

Wei Zhaowu's fingers tightened like steel clamps, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever, and he said in a hoarse voice:

"Little mouse... don't run away, you can't escape..."

"Fuck you!!"

Baili Jing's eyes flashed with ferocity, and with the last bit of blood in his right leg, he kicked Wei Zhaowu hard in the chest!

boom! !

That kick was really heavy, so heavy that Baili Jing's leg went numb.

However, Wei Zhaowu remained as steady as Mount Tai, not retreating an inch!

Baili Jing was completely shocked.

What the hell are those runes on this guy's body?

Besides granting him immense strength, could he also be indestructible?!

How the hell are we supposed to play this?! It's an invincible cheat!

Wei Zhaowu shook his head slightly, his voice filled with desolation:

"It's all in vain... young man."

As he spoke, the old man's five fingers began to tighten little by little.

Baili Jing felt waves of dizziness and oxygen deprivation washing over him.

But he's not the kind of person who would obediently offer his neck for slaughter.

He desperately widened his eyes, gripped the other's hands behind his back, and kicked wildly with both legs. At the same time, he was squeezing out the last bit of blood and energy from his body, pressing it against his throat to resist the potentially fatal force.

Creak...creak...

The two men were locked in a frantic struggle, and the aftershocks of their force spread along the wall, causing the entire wall to tremble.

This intense vibration traveled along the walls all the way to the top of the warehouse ceiling.

Then, a crisp "bang" sound came from somewhere.

pat.

A piece of monster meat fell from the sky and landed on Baili Jing's face.

Baili Jing was stunned.

Wei Zhaowu was also stunned.

next second.

Baili Jing didn't bother to think about where the meat came from. Without the slightest hesitation, he tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and bit the large piece of monster meat into his mouth. Without even chewing, he swallowed it with a gulp!

The beast's flesh and blood were swallowed, and his energy was rekindled!

An endless stream of heat coursed wildly through his limbs and bones; the delicious power had returned to his mouth!

"Ptooey!! Cough cough!!"

Bai Lijing suppressed the feeling of something stuck in his throat, and then...

Swear loudly!

"Ding Yan!! You fat bastard who gave birth to a son without an anus!! You actually hung meat on the ceiling?! You son of a bitch! Trash!! You psychopath!!"

Despite his cursing, his hands didn't stop.

With the new vital energy and blood replenishing him, Baili Jing was finally able to break free.

Baili Jing twisted his hands violently in opposite directions, and a large amount of scalding white steam spewed out from the pores of his arms, finally twisting away Wei Zhaowu's fingers that were stuck in his throat!

Once he broke free, he didn't linger for long. He turned around, rolled over, and disappeared without a trace.

His mind was still perfectly clear. The old man in front of him was invincible, so he couldn't risk his life against him here. Now that he knew where the monster meat was, of course he had to go and collect its blood essence first.

It was all thanks to this piece of monster meat, otherwise... I would have had to use the trick Xiao Jie taught me earlier.

The third person hasn't shown up yet; it wouldn't be worthwhile to use them now.

Baili Jing fled, leaving only Wei Zhaowu in the narrow crevice.

The old man slowly withdrew his hand, raised his head somewhat blankly, and looked at the ceiling.

On the wall near the ceiling, neatly welded together were rows of upside-down iron hooks, on which hung the meat of demonic beasts.

Ding Yan did put the meat into the storeroom, but he also cleverly hung it in a high place.

But by sheer coincidence, their struggle and collision had created a violent tremor that, by sheer chance, caused a piece of meat to fall off and land precisely in Baili Jing's mouth.

Wei Zhaowu revealed a bitter smile:

"Heh... Is even God helping you...?"

"Cough...cough cough..."

The old man suddenly started coughing violently.

With each cough, one or two of the blood-red runes on his face would turn to ashes and disappear.

His time seems to be running out.

"But... it's my duty as an old man."

The sorrow in Wei Zhaowu's eyes vanished, replaced by a cold and resolute expression.

He strode off and slowly walked toward the direction where Baili Jing had disappeared.