Chapter 81: Spokesperson of Death

After days and nights of pursuit and slaughter, the hunt had turned into a counterstrike, and that only fueled the fire in Chen Erpao’s heart more fiercely. Not one of the men from the Hidden Hall inside the narcotics factory would leave the mountain alive.

After a brief rest beside a heap of corpses, he set off once more toward the factory.

There were fewer than ten black-clad men left near the narcotics factory, and they were still exultant, boasting loudly, utterly unaware that death was drawing closer with every step.

When Chen Erpao returned to the vicinity of the factory, what met his eyes drove him nearly mad. The brothers of the Righteous Brotherhood who had fled earlier were now lying motionless in the open ground before the factory, their bodies covered in wounds, some of them horribly mutilated, clearly having suffered terrible abuse even after death.

“Aaah—!”

A roar that seemed to shake the heavens poured out Chen Erpao’s fury and killing intent. The black-clad men were horrified, glancing uneasily about them. In that instant, they all felt a chill rise from the soles of their feet, a creeping terror.

“Die. Die. Die.”

Three thunderous shouts crashed into the hearts of the black-clad men like bolts from the sky, leaving their faces drained of color and their spirits trembling.

Chen Erpao’s black hair stood on end, his eyes blood-red. The moment they were distracted, he flashed forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, pouncing on the black-clad man at the outer edge. Under the other man’s terrified stare, a pair of large hands calmly and mercilessly twisted his neck until it broke.

By the time the others reacted, there was no sign of him anywhere in front of them, except for a blind spray of bullets.

“First one.”

Chen Erpao murmured the words with a trace of cruelty. At this moment he had become the very voice of death, pronouncing their sentence to hell. No one could stop it, not even the king of heaven himself. The blood of brothers could only be repaid with the lives of enemies.

He selected several thick trees from the forest and silently whittled them one by one to a sharp point. Eight enemies remained, and now there were eight sharpened wooden shafts, like spears.

“Kill.”

Once again Chen Erpao became death’s herald. As he approached the narcotics factory, the black-clad men had been thoroughly frightened into a cornered flock of birds; no one dared split off again. They gathered in a circle before the wooden huts, vigilantly watching everything around them.

Chen Erpao pressed himself behind a great tree, less than several dozen meters from them, his predatory, bloodthirsty eyes fixed on their bodies. Then one of the black-clad men’s gaze swept over and met his from afar. Chen Erpao gave a cold, sinister smile and suddenly hurled a spear-like shaft.

Fueled by the full force of his power, the improvised spear left only a streak of light in the air, crossing the several dozen meters in an instant.

Bang.

It pierced the black-clad man’s chest straight through, nailing him so hard he flew backward several meters before dropping still. The others were horrified. In that instant, a dense volley of gunfire erupted. The tree behind Chen Erpao was riddled with countless holes, but by the time he threw the spear, he had already dropped to the ground and used the low weeds to change position.

The seven black-clad men who remained all gripped pistols, weapons that would have been among the standard arms of the twenty-first century, yet at this moment they were utterly desolate, as though they themselves were prey before a mighty beast, unable to escape the hunt of a supreme predator.

“Go, hide in the wooden huts!”

No one knew who shouted it, but all at once the black-clad men rushed toward the huts. The world outside had become a place of terror to them.

Chen Erpao rose and once again poured his surging force into another spear. He hurled it toward the rear of the fleeing men. The black-clad man running last stared at the wooden hut inches ahead of him, yet forever beyond reach, and fell in unwilling despair at the doorway.

The huts were separated by less than a meter. Chen Erpao started with the outermost one. These huts were unlike the houses outside; they had all been built from materials gathered on the spot. Beneath them was a surprisingly spacious void, enough for a person to crawl inside and move around.

Chen Erpao crawled all the way beneath the hut where the black-clad men had taken refuge. Through the gaps in the planks, he could see the six men left alive huddled anxiously in different corners.

Carefully controlling his footsteps so that not the slightest sound escaped, he took out two more spear-like shafts.

Bang. Bang.

Two wooden planks shattered at once. Under Chen Erpao’s fierce strength, the two improvised spears pierced straight through the boards and into the bodies of two black-clad men. Blood trickled steadily down the shafts.

This was followed by a barrage of bullets, leaving holes everywhere. Chen Erpao used his astonishing speed, darted out from beneath the hut in a flash, and flattened himself at a window.

By then, four black-clad men were firing wildly down at their feet, and the floor of the entire hut had become a mess of holes.

Chen Erpao quickly pulled out another spear, aimed at two black-clad men standing side by side, and threw it. Again came two long, miserable screams that echoed endlessly through the forest.

The spear was unstoppable. It drove through the first man’s right side, then without pause surged out and stabbed into the abdomen of the man standing next to him, pinning the two of them tightly side by side against the wooden wall.

The remaining two black-clad men seemed on the verge of madness as they fired blindly in every direction. After several dozen shots, the two empty pistols were flung aside, and furious roars came from inside the hut.

“If you have the guts, come out! Give us a clean death face to face. What does hiding and skulking mean?”

Chen Erpao did not hesitate. He vaulted easily through the wooden window and appeared before the two men. At that moment, one of the black-clad men smiled smugly and actually drew another pistol. Unfortunately for him, Chen Erpao had long been prepared. The instant he noticed the change in the man’s expression, he kicked up a corpse of one of the black-clad men with great force.

The body flew across the air in front of him, blocking the first bullet, then smashed into the gunman himself.

Bang.

His companion’s corpse crashed him heavily to the ground, and the pistol flew from his hand.

At the same time, Chen Erpao moved like lightning, spinning through a three-hundred-sixty-degree killing kick. With a sharp crack, he shattered the throat bone of the other black-clad man just as that man was about to strike.

At this point, only one black-clad man remained, still sprawled on the ground and somewhat dazed.

“Now you can go pay with your life for my brothers!”

Chen Erpao raised the spear, ready to bring it down on him from above, when suddenly he noticed a fragment of lettering on the exposed side of the man’s shoulder, like the character for heaven. Chen Erpao hurriedly tore open the clothing. Sure enough, it was the character for heaven, followed by the character for alliance. Together, they formed Heavenly Alliance.

“Heavenly Alliance. So it is the Heavenly Alliance.”

The killing intent on Chen Erpao’s body suddenly rose instead of fading.

“Speak. What is going on here?”

He seized the black-clad man by the collar and demanded an answer.

Cold sweat poured down the man’s face; one could imagine how terrified he truly was.

“I can tell you, but you have to spare my life.”

Chen Erpao glared at him. “You have no right to bargain with me. Either die in agony now, or there may still be a sliver of hope.”

The black-clad man opened his mouth, and in the end, he spoke. “It was Lord Kominami who planned it. He used this narcotics factory of the Hidden Hall to lure you into the trap. He also ordered that after you were killed, your bones and ashes should be ground to dust before he would be satisfied.”

“What a fine little Japanese dog. Truly vicious.”

Chen Erpao gave a cold smile. “One day I’ll repay you properly. Chinese people are the most polite. We always return favors in kind. Grind bones to dust, is it?”

After a pause, the black-clad man spoke again. “As of today, the Hidden Hall has probably already launched its assault on the Righteous Brotherhood. Their purpose was to strike while you were away, catch them off guard, and wipe them out completely.”

Chen Erpao was startled. The strength of the Righteous Brotherhood was no longer what it once had been, but compared with a power like the Hidden Hall, which had taken root and grown in Tuen Mun for many years, it was still somewhat weaker. And with him having had no word from home for several days, morale inside the brotherhood was likely unstable. Under such a sudden and ferocious attack from the Hidden Hall...

The more Chen Erpao thought about it, the more worried he became. At this point, the only thing to do was hurry back to Hong Kong as fast as possible.

He gave the black-clad man a faint look. Under the man’s pleading gaze, he snapped his neck without hesitation, sending him to paradise in the West, where he could greet the Buddha on Chen Erpao’s behalf.