Chapter 3: The Duel

  Just as the four hostages crossed paths, Eagle's eyes rapidly turned silver-white, and another inch-long flying knife shot out from his body, drawing a silver light that quickly shot towards Wu Fang's neck.

  The flying dagger was about to pierce Wu Fang's throat when it suddenly stopped in mid-air. Wu Fang, who had almost been frightened into tears by the sudden attack, managed to hold back her tears and stood still, not daring to move.

  Yang Xiang saw her sister being controlled by the enemy again and stood still, she refused to abandon her sister and escape alone.

  Eagle Brother let out a cold laugh and pulled Zhu Jianjun behind Yang Xiang and Wu Fang, "Kid, you're still too tender!"

  Cao Sen's face showed no emotion, and he replied flatly: "Are you excited too early? Look at what's in front of the flying knife."

  Eagle Brother looked puzzled and slightly poked his head out, only to find that the tip of the flying knife he controlled was being pressed against by another identical flying knife. That flying knife was flat against Wu Fang's neck, so even if Eagle Brother really wanted to kill Wu Fang, the knife couldn't penetrate.

  Cao Sen had long been prepared for the enemy's trickery. Earlier, when he was standing in the center of the backyard, he secretly slid the flying knife from his sleeve down to the ground along his pant leg. Neither side noticed this movement. When Eagle Brother activated his ability, Cao Sen immediately discovered the strange energy flow on his body and quickly controlled the flying knife on the ground to react. Even if Eagle Brother wanted to kill Wu Fang on the spot, Cao Sen had confidence in blocking his attack.

  Two flying knives of the same size and style, with a cold light flashing in mid-air, were suspended under Wu Fang's neck. Everyone in the yard who could see this strange scene was shocked, temporarily forgetting their respective positions, opening their eyes wide to watch this rare sight. Only Teng Fei's attention was not attracted, he quietly gave a series of orders, and his team members acted silently under his command.

  Eagle Brother saw that Wu Fang was not threatened, so he controlled the flying knife to stab Yang Xin. Cao Sen parried it again. Eagle Brother simply let the flying knife shoot towards Cao Sen. Cao Sen would not let him have his way. With a loud "ding", the two flying knives collided in mid-air for the third time.

  Cao Sen counterattacked, and the flying knife shot towards Eagle Brother's eyes with a whoosh. Eagle Brother also parried it, and the two of them went back and forth. The two flying knives were like two silver butterflies fluttering in mid-air, emitting a series of crisp clinking sounds.

  The two of them had the ability to control objects, but Cao Sen controlled force, converting gravity into the power of flying knives. At this time, the only force that the flying knife needed to overcome was air friction, which could be ignored. On the other hand, Eagle Brother controlled the flying knife itself and needed to overcome its own weight before letting it fly, so he had to expend more energy than Cao Sen. Furthermore, Guo Jingting Haitao and Sima De stabbed him with a knife each, causing massive blood loss that left Eagle Brother feeling even more exhausted. After several rounds, Eagle Brother was already exhausted, and in the end, Cao Sen knocked his flying knife away and pressed the blade to Eagle Brother's neck.

  Guo Jing and Ding Haotian saw Cao Sen win, they hurriedly walked over to welcome Wu Fang and Yang Xin back, using their bodies to protect them as they sent them into the house.

  "Eagle Brother, I respect you as a man, this knife I'll let you have once." Cao Sen said.

  "Hmph!" The front yard suddenly echoed with a cold snort, "A minor skill, and you dare to show off in front of me."

  With a sound, a peach-wood sword about one foot long suddenly flew out from the front yard and blocked Cao Sen's flying knife with a loud "ding".

  Cao Sen concentrated his gaze and saw that the hilt of the peach wood sword had a stream of energy, like a long silk ribbon, one end tied to the hilt and the other end crossing over the courtyard wall and disappearing into the front yard. Another super ability user? His flying knife lost control due to his shifted gaze and fell to the ground. The black gang members on top of the wall cheered in celebration of Cao Sen's failure. A few people jumped down from the wall and helped Zhu Jianjun and Eagle Brother back to their own side.

  "Don't any of you move," a dull and obviously foreign-accented voice said, "let me have a word with this young man."

  "Brother Sen, everything is fine, you can go back inside." Cao Sen heard Teng Fei's voice coming from his earpiece.

  Caosen made a gesture that only his brothers could understand, indicating that he knew. However, he didn't move his feet and remained standing still, allowing the enemy to aim their guns at him. At such a short distance, Caosen's bulletproof vest was no match for the automatic rifle fire, but he seemed to be so engrossed in the supernatural duel that he had forgotten about the threat of bullets. He swept his gaze around the courtyard and found a smooth tree branch, tested whether he could control it, and then made the branch fly up to block the peach wood sword.

  "Young man, this peach wood sword can not only slay demons and evil spirits, but also kill people. Today, you will leave your life here!" The outsider made the wooden sword fly up and stabbed towards Cao Sen's throat with a "whoosh" sound.

  Cao Sen didn't dodge or evade, using the branch to block, but unexpectedly the power of the Peach Wood Sword was too great, the branch couldn't withstand it, and the sword tip continued to pierce towards his throat. Cao Sen hastily turned his head to avoid it, the Peach Wood Sword whizzing past one side of his neck, the hilt scraping against his skin, leaving a red blood mark, a burning pain.

  Cao Sen knew he had encountered a true master and summoned all his spirit to increase his control over the branch, constantly blocking the peach wood sword's attacks.

  The peach wood sword was like being held in the hand of an invisible Wulin master, flying up and down in a stormy wind and rain, launching wave after wave of attacks on Cao Sen, one sword followed by another, not giving Cao Sen a chance to breathe.

  The branches under Cao Sen's control came to life, agile and nimble, left and right blocking, protecting Cao Sen's vital points tightly, completely repelling the opponent's offensive.

  Wu Fang and Yang Xin were lying on the windowsill, with only a pair of eyes exposed, staring blankly at the battle in the courtyard. They both had similar thoughts in their minds: just how powerful was this Cao Sen? In their opinion, the current battle shouldn't exist in the mortal world, but rather in mythological legends. The swords and tree branches seemed to have taken on lives of their own, dancing together in a tangled mess, colliding with each other in a cacophony of sounds that were even denser than the firecrackers lit on New Year's Eve, almost forming a continuous hum.

  The gangster's eyes on the wall had been staring straight for a long time, and even Zhu Jianjun and several special soldiers were attracted to him. The leading special soldier was not afraid of Cao Sen's tricks, holding his rifle at the gate of the courtyard. If the opponent made any unusual movements, he could shoot Cao Sen with one shot, it can be said that Cao Sen in the yard was his hostage, such a short distance, Cao Sen couldn't escape from his gun control.

  Cao Sen seemed to have no extra energy to consider the threat of the enemy's muzzle, Taomu Sword's offensive drained all his energy, Taomu Sword under the control of outsiders, sword after sword stabbed at Cao Sen's throat, as long as Cao Sen made a slight mistake, the sharp sword tip would definitely pierce his neck.

  The outsider seemed to have grown impatient, strengthening his control over the Taomu sword. The sword body slightly trembled, emitting a low hum, its power and speed suddenly surging. To onlookers, the swiftly dancing wooden sword had already produced afterimages in mid-air, as if countless wooden swords were surrounding Cao Sen and launching an attack.

  But Cao Sen noticed that the energy flow connecting the hilt of the sword split into three, and the three energy flows controlled three wooden swords respectively. Each sword was a real threat, but he only had one branch, how could he defend against the three wooden swords? Cao Sen didn't have time to think about why one sword turned into three, he could only try his best to speed up the branch and desperately resist the attack of the wooden swords.

  Pak pak pak, three consecutive attacks passed by, Cao Sen retreated one step and barely dodged a sword. The wooden sword's offensive became even more fierce, Cao Sen could only continuously retreat, slowly retreating to the door of the house, and when he retreated again, his foot was blocked by the threshold, Cao Sen lost his balance and fell into the house.

  Wu Fang let out a sharp cry, while Zhu Jianjun and the special soldier standing at the gate secretly rejoiced. Now where can Cao Sen escape to?

  Three wooden swords flew in the air, dividing into three directions of left, middle and right, with a faint sound of wind and thunder, swooping down fiercely towards Cao Sen's neck.

  Suddenly, the surface of a wooden table appeared above Cao Sen's head. Three wooden swords were thrust into the tabletop, piercing through to the hilt. At the same time, Cao Sen drew out the Desert Eagle from his waist and fired a shot with a swing of his hand.

  Bang! The special forces soldier standing at the gate had half his head blown off in an instant, his helmet flying high into the air. Red and white matter splattered everywhere, while Zhu Jianjun, who was standing next to him, had his eyes blinded by blood and brains.

  Intensive gunfire came from all directions, the enemy in the front yard was hit and screamed constantly, the black gang members who were hiding on the wall were shot dead by the team members in the house without any evasive action.

  Cao Sen lifted the tabletop, took over the shotgun handed by Ding Haitao, and the two brothers led the team members in the house to kill out. The enemy was stunned by the sudden attack, and the battle became a one-sided slaughter.

  Just as Cao Sen was competing with the opponent's heterodyne, Teng Fei commanded the A and C team members to silently open a hole in the back wall of the house, bypassing the front yard to occupy each high point. Several team members holding sniper rifles aimed at the special forces among the enemy, and there was also a person sitting cross-legged on the ground. Guo Jing, the leader of Team C, speculated that this was the superpower controller of the flying sword, so he decided to take care of him personally. After Cao Sen's gunshot in the backyard, Guo Jing held the Desert Eagle with both hands and fired two shots at the man, opening two bowl-sized holes in his body, before going on to shoot and kill other enemies.

  The raid was beautifully done and the battle was over in less than three minutes.

  "Sweep the battlefield and search all rooms. Guo Jing, take your team to gather up the vehicles driven by the enemy. If you see a fire in the yard, set it ablaze and burn all the vehicles."

  "Yes."

  "Evacuate completely in 10 minutes." Cao Sen gave the final time limit.

  The team members were busy, Cao Sen first went to see the injured team member. The wounded had undergone basic battlefield bandaging and should be able to recover after treatment. He then inspected the corpses on the ground, carefully counting them. There were four special forces soldiers from the other side, including Zhu Jianjun and Eagle Brother, who were all shot down by the team members. He sighed, not knowing whether tonight's massacre was right or wrong, and whether they would be able to escape the police investigation in the future.

  In addition, the four killers encountered in the teaching building that night were not Zhu Jianjun's men, nor were they the special soldiers who were killed. All of this remained unanswered due to Zhu Jianjun's death. Cao Sen vaguely felt that things had not come to an end, but he couldn't find any basis for this judgment. He shook his head and looked up at the drizzling rain in the sky, feeling no joy after victory, only a heavy heart.

  Several team members swept the battlefield, wanting to collect all undamaged firearms and ammunition.

  "Tell everyone," Cao Sen stopped them, "to throw all our weapons here and burn them in a while. We can't take them away. The used firearms will bring us big trouble."

  The team members were reluctant, but they still followed Cao Sen's orders.

  Cao Sen looked at these good brothers busy, and his heart felt much better. With these brothers around, what problem couldn't be solved? Why bother making things unpleasant for himself?

  "Brother Sen, we've struck it rich!" Ding Haitao walked over with a silver-gray cash box, grinning from ear to ear, and patted the box, saying, "We found three of these boxes, all filled to the brim with large bills. I estimate there's at least tens of millions."

  Cao Sen smiled and patted his brother's shoulder, "These are not important, what's important is to handle the corpse well. Let Guo Jing get some gasoline, burn this place thoroughly."

  "Yes, sir!" Ding Haitao happily performed a standard salute and then went back to being busy.

  Cao Sen walked back to the backyard, found that peach wood sword, strangely, just now there were three swords, and there were also three holes on the table, but now only one was left. Cao Sen asked the team members beside him, replied that no one had touched it. What is the reason? Unfortunately, the man was killed, otherwise he could ask about the reason, which would definitely be of great help to his own abilities.

  Looking back at the battle just now, it was extremely dangerous. If Ding Haitao hadn't helped block that last blow with the desktop, Cao Sen knew he couldn't have dodged it. It seemed that on this path of special abilities, he still had a long way to go. He tried to pull the peach wood sword out from the desktop, but the sword was stuck very tightly. Cao Sen didn't dare use too much force, so he could only use his combat knife to split open the desktop and retrieve the sword. Holding it in his hand and examining it carefully, the blackened sword looked ordinary, except for its age.

  "Brother Sen."

  Cao Sen.

  Wu Fang and Yang Xin came over calling Cao Sen.

  "Are you all right?" Cao Sen asked.

  "It's nothing..." Facing the boy she had a crush on, who had just gone through a life-or-death test, Wu Fang couldn't say anything.

  "Sorry, Cao Sen. I thought Sima De was going out to play a special forces game again at midnight, so I secretly followed him with my sister. On the mountain road, I drove slowly behind them and got caught by them, causing you all so much trouble and danger. Cao Sen, I'm really sorry." Yang Xiang said frankly and apologized sincerely.

  "Sister, it's our fault that you're in danger, not yours." Cao Sen shook his head. He saw Yang Xiang wrapping a large combat uniform around her tattered top, while Wu Fang's top was still in shreds. He then told a passing team member, "Find some clothes for Wu Fang to wear."

  "Yes!" The team member came back with a piece of clothing after a moment and wanted to put it on Wu Fang, but Wu Fang twisted her shoulder to avoid it. The team member looked at Cao Sen in embarrassment.

  Cao Sen handed over the clothes and helped Wu Fang put them on. Wu Fang stood still obediently.

  Cao Sen smiled to himself, but his face remained expressionless. "Sister, let Sima De escort you and Wu Fang down the mountain. The bloody atmosphere here is too heavy." Cao Sen instructed Sima De to escort them down the mountain, then walked away to attend to other matters.

  Wu Fang unhappily shrugged her shoulders, "Sister, look at him, he doesn't even know to take off his own clothes and give them to me."

  "Sister, be content, your brother-in-law didn't scold us with a straight face, that's already giving us face." Yang Xiang comforted her younger sister.

  "My brother-in-law didn't even mention us, what right does he have to talk about us?" The girl always had to pick on the boy she liked in front of others.

  "What's the big deal? Just because he wanted to use himself as a hostage for us two, you silly girl." Yang Xiang shook her head, "Fortunately, nothing happened because of us, otherwise... Alas, I was reckless tonight."

  The two sisters were whispering to each other, when Sima De came over with two team members. Sima De picked up his wife and another team member picked up Wu Fang. Sima De warned them: "You close your eyes, don't open them in the front yard."

  When they arrived at the front yard, Wu Fang insisted on opening her eyes to take a peek. The bizarre and grotesque corpses on the ground made her let out a scream, tightly hugging the neck of a team member, her eyes shut tight and refusing to open again.

  Simida and two team members all burst out laughing.

  Zhu Jianjun's body was pressed under several corpses, covered in bloodstains. After Sima De and the others walked by, his body moved slightly, but this subtle abnormality did not attract anyone's attention in the dark of night.

  Under the efforts of all team members, everything in the courtyard was searched and inspected, and the bodies were piled up on the woodpile made from the splintered doors, windows, tables, and chairs. A large amount of gasoline was poured over them. Cao Sen took a last look, waved his hand, and several team members threw torches into the courtyard, where flames burst forth and quickly spread to the entire compound. Soon, a big fire also broke out at the foot of the mountain - that was Guo Jing burning the enemy's vehicles.

  A bloody night finally passed in the midst of raging flames, but can things end there? Cao Sen didn't know if he could escape the police's surveillance in the future, nor did he know how Zhu Jianjun's father would react. No matter what kind of person his father was, he was a general, a military man, and his own son had been killed - he absolutely wouldn't let it go unpunished.