Meeting in the Shadows
Time passed as heavily as lead. Outside, the sound of ramming against the door and rocks hitting metal continued unabated, like a relentless mental torture. Inside, the atmosphere in the "Night Shadow" base grew increasingly suffocating.
Black Shadow paced back and forth in the command room, his expression growing darker by the minute. He couldn't just sit here and wait to die. The steel door, though sturdy, would sooner or later be breached under the constant assault of two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment monsters and hundreds of others.
"We can't just defend forever," he said, his voice hoarse. "This situation is too abnormal. There must be someone behind this. I have to know what's happening outside."
He looked at his remaining subordinates. After the first wave of attacks, his forces were reduced to only about ten Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators. Each one was an elite and could not be sacrificed carelessly.
After a moment of hesitation, he made a decision.
"Black Fang, Black Ape," he called the names of two of his best subordinates. "You two, go out through the secret exit on the east side. Your mission is not to fight. Under no circumstances are you to reveal your identities. Just investigate secretly, find out why these monsters are attacking us, and find the whereabouts of that 'human swordsman.' He is surely somewhere nearby, observing everything. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the two assassins replied in unison.
Black Fang specialized in stealth and tracking. Black Ape, on the other hand, was extremely agile and skilled at climbing. They were a perfect pair for a reconnaissance mission.
They quickly received their orders and disappeared into a dark tunnel.
Black Shadow watched them go, his heart still uneasy. He felt as if he had just moved a piece onto a chessboard shrouded in fog, with no idea what the outcome would be. He could only hope that these two pieces could bring him some light.
About a kilometer east of the base. From a well-camouflaged rock crevice, two black figures slipped out silently, without making a sound.
Black Fang and Black Ape were out of the base.
They didn't act immediately. They hid in place, carefully observing their surroundings, listening to every movement. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual did they begin to move.
They didn't head towards the noisy battlefield. They circled around to the back, climbed a high cliff, and found a vantage point from which they could observe the entire scene.
From above, they saw the chaotic scene in front of the base. The two monster herds were still furiously attacking each other and the steel door.
"This is madness," Black Ape whispered. "I've never seen anything like this."
"Quiet," Black Fang signaled. "Observe carefully. Look for any trace of the human. He must be here."
The two assassins used all of their reconnaissance skills. Their eyes scanned every bush, every boulder, searching for the smallest sign.
They were very professional. But they didn't know that another pair of eyes was also watching them from a place even higher and farther away.
Atop the highest peak in the area, Lam Minh sat leisurely, occasionally putting a piece of dried meat into his mouth.
His spiritual sense covered the entire area. The moment Black Fang and Black Ape had crawled out of the secret exit, he had already detected them.
"Finally decided to stick your heads out, have you?" he sneered. "Let's see... what can these two little mice find?"
He didn't make a move in a hurry. He wanted to see how good the reconnaissance skills of the top "Night Shadow" assassins were. He also wanted to see what they would do next after observing the situation.
This was a battle of wits and patience.
Black Fang and Black Ape observed for a long time but didn't find anything suspicious. No human footprints, no strange auras, no signs of an ambush. Everything seemed to be just a random conflict between wild beasts.
"There's nothing," Black Ape said, a little disappointed. "Could we have been wrong? That 'swordsman' isn't here?"
"Impossible," Black Fang shook his head, his intuition still telling him something was wrong. "This coincidence is too absurd. He must be using an extremely advanced stealth method to evade us. We need to get closer."
He decided to take a risk. "I'll go down and check the area near the battlefield. You stay here, provide cover and observe. If anything happens, signal me immediately."
"Be careful," Black Ape warned.
Black Fang nodded, and then his body seemed to merge with the shadow of the cliff as he slowly moved down. He moved with extreme skill, using the terrain and the chaos of the battle to conceal his figure.
Lam Minh, high above, narrowed his eyes.
"Oh? Splitting up? That's a rather foolish decision, my friend."
He knew his opportunity had arrived.
A prey had voluntarily separated itself from the protection of its teammate. And in a hunter's game, that was a fatal mistake.
He stood up and stretched. The wait was over.
"Time to go say 'hello'," he murmured, and his figure also vanished from the mountaintop.
...
Black Fang moved like a snake, slithering through the rocks and bushes. The chaos of the battle between the two monster herds was the perfect camouflage for him. The roars drowned out all other sounds, and their frenzy meant that no one noticed a black shadow silently approaching.
He got close to the edge of the battlefield, hid behind a large boulder, and observed carefully. He wanted to find the cause of this conflict. Perhaps it was a strange fruit, a water source, or something of value that both herds wanted to fight over.
He meticulously examined every detail, from the attack directions of the two alphas to the corpses lying on the ground. He was a top assassin; his observation and analysis skills were incredibly sharp.
After a while, he noticed something strange. The general direction of movement of both herds, even as they slaughtered each other, had an unbelievable consistency. They seemed to be guided by something invisible, converging towards his base.
"This isn't a territorial dispute," he thought to himself. "This is... being lured!"
This discovery sent a chill down his spine. Someone had manipulated these two Foundation Establishment-level monster herds. What kind of masterful method must that person possess?
He hurriedly backed away, intending to return and inform Black Ape and Black Shadow of this terrifying discovery.
But just as he turned, a calm voice sounded right behind him, so close it was like a whisper in his ear.
"Find anything interesting, my friend?"
Black Fang jumped, his entire body freezing. The hair on his body stood on end. When had this person gotten behind him without him knowing? Even his assassin's intuition hadn't given him a single warning.
He didn't dare to turn his head. He used all his strength, his spiritual energy exploding, and lunged forward, simultaneously throwing out a ball of thick black smoke to blind his opponent. This was the survival reflex of an assassin.
But that action was too late.
A hand gently rested on his shoulder.
It was just a hand on his shoulder, but Black Fang felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him. His exploding spiritual energy was immediately suppressed. He couldn't move, couldn't twitch.
The difference in strength was absolute.
"Where are you rushing off to?" that voice sounded again.
Lam Minh slowly stepped out from behind, his hand still on Black Fang's shoulder. He looked at the trembling assassin and smiled.
"I've been waiting for you for quite some time."
Black Fang couldn't see Lam Minh's face, but he felt a suffocating pressure. He knew he had encountered an unbeatable existence.
"Are... are you that 'swordsman'?" he asked with difficulty.
"Bingo," Lam Minh replied. "The prize for the correct answer is... a quick death. Congratulations."
With that, Lam Minh gave him no further chance. A powerful stream of Dragon qi flowed from his palm, destroying all of Black Fang's meridians and internal organs from the inside.
Black Fang only had time to let out a gasp before his body went limp and he collapsed.
[Eliminated a Peak Foundation Establishment Madakaros. Received 8,100 Immortality Points.]
Lam Minh dusted off his hands and looked at the corpse without any emotion.
He didn't absorb this one's memories. He wanted to maintain the mystery, to let the enemy keep guessing.
He looked towards the cliff where Black Ape was hiding. He knew that from that position, Black Ape couldn't have seen clearly what had just happened, only that Black Fang's aura had suddenly disappeared.
Now, the second prey must be confused and afraid.
Lam Minh didn't rush to find Black Ape. He did something else.
He dragged Black Fang's corpse and placed it in a rather conspicuous position. Then, he used Black Fang's own dagger to carve a symbol on the adjacent rock.
A very simple symbol: a smiley face :).
An act of ultimate provocation. A message for Black Shadow and the entire "Night Shadow" unit.
With his work done, he once again vanished into the darkness, as if he had never been there. He returned to his original observation point, continuing his role as a spectator.
He wanted to see how Black Ape would react when his comrade didn't return. And what would he report back to Black Shadow?
The psychological game had now truly begun. Lam Minh didn't just want to kill them; he wanted to play with their fear, to make them slowly crumble from the inside.