99: Chapter 99: Severing Karma and Drawing Blood – Who Gave You the Audacity to Split Up and Run?

The two assassins ran extremely fast.

One of them dove into the withered woods on the left, while the other sprinted toward the pile of rocks on the right.

In their logic, as long as they widened the distance, Lin Qi's heavy, door-sized greatsword would become a mere decoration.

Lin Qi stood where he was, not moving a step.

He watched the distorted air silhouettes in both directions and let out a soft chuckle.

"Zhang Wei, watch closely."

"Hidden weapons in Ancient Martial Arts aren't aimed using System corrections."

Zhang Wei, hiding in the distance, poked half his head out, his voice trembling.

"Brother Seven, they've already run fifty meters away, how are you supposed to hit them?"

Lin Qi did not answer.

His hanging hands gave a slight twitch.

Two bone-piercing nails, shimmering with a dark silver light, slid from his cuffs and landed precisely between his fingers.

These were treasures forged from deep-sea sunken silver; they were extremely heavy and carried no magical fluctuations.

Lin Qi closed his eyes, his ears twitching slightly.

To the left, thirty-five meters away, the sound of withered leaves being crushed.

The frequency was fast, with a stride of about 1.2 meters.

"Listening Strength, full-map positioning."

Lin Qi whispered softly.

The True Qi seed within his body spun wildly, surging along his Meridians into his right arm.

The muscles on his arm twisted together like steel bars, and the surface of his skin emitted a luster like cold jade.

He took a sudden step forward, exerting force from his waist, which drove his shoulder to swing.

"Go."

He flicked his fingertips.

The bone-piercing nail flew out of his hand.

It didn't bring up any light effects, but it left a ripple in the air that was hard to discern with the naked eye.

That was the shockwave created after its speed exceeded the speed of sound.

Bang!

A dull thud came from the withered woods in the distance.

Immediately following it was a scream of extreme agony.

"Ah! My leg!"

The assassin who had been fleeing to the left revealed his figure.

His left calf had been completely pierced by the bone-piercing nail, and his entire body was carried away by the immense kinetic energy, pinned firmly to a withered tree that would take two people to wrap their arms around.

Blood dripped down the trunk; the assassin was convulsing in pain, but he couldn't pull out the nail no matter what.

The assassin on the right heard the scream, stumbled, and nearly fell into the pile of rocks.

He ran even more frantically, even activating an explosive skill that overtaxed his stamina.

Lin Qi walked unhurriedly toward the pinned assassin.

The heavy sword dragged along the ground, making a harsh, grating sound.

"Where is Ghost Hand?"

Lin Qi stood before the assassin, looking down at him from above.

The assassin gritted his teeth, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Lin Qi... you monster... the Guild won't let you go..."

"It seems you still haven't figured out the situation."

Lin Qi raised his foot and stepped on the assassin's uninjured leg.

He didn't use force, just watched the other person quietly.

"I'll ask one more time, where is Ghost Hand?"

"I don't know! We're just doing a job for money!"

The assassin roared hysterically.

Lin Qi shook his head.

"I am not satisfied with this answer."

Crack.

The sound of breaking bone was exceptionally clear in the quiet graveyard.

The assassin's right leg assumed a grotesque angle; he opened his mouth wide but couldn't make a sound due to the excruciating pain.

"Please... give me a quick death..."

The assassin caught his breath, his eyes full of pleading.

"A quick death is for the dead; you aren't dead yet."

Lin Qi lifted the zhan ye heavy sword with one hand.

He didn't use the blade, but instead aimed the broad body of the sword at the assassin's left hand, which was resting on the ground.

"Since you refuse to talk, this hand is useless too."

The heavy sword was raised an inch, then dropped freely.

Thud.

That was the sound of a heavy object smashing into mud.

The assassin's left hand instantly turned into a pulp of flesh; not even bone fragments could be found.

"Ah—!"

The scream rang out again, startling a flock of crows resting in the distance.

Lin Qi turned his head and looked to the right.

That assassin had already run over a hundred meters and was about to disappear into the depths of the fog.

"Ran quite far."

Lin Qi bent down and picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground.

He weighed it in his hand, seemingly searching for the right feel.

"Brother Seven, that's too far, you can't hit him with a hidden weapon, right?"

Zhang Wei couldn't help but shout.

Lin Qi didn't speak.

He turned sideways, leaned back, his whole body like a fully drawn bow.

True Qi was channeled into his fingertips; a faint cyan light actually shimmered on the surface of the stone.

"Inch Power, stone-tossing path-finding."

He swung his arm violently.

The stone tore through the sky with a sharp whistling sound.

That wasn't a throw; that was artillery fire.

In the fog a hundred meters away, the assassin was celebrating his narrow escape.

He looked back and saw that Lin Qi was still standing in the same spot, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The next second, a black dot rapidly enlarged in his vision.

He didn't even have time to make any evasive maneuvers.

Bang!

The stone smashed precisely into the back of his head.

The assassin's helmet shattered instantly, and he fell forward stiffly, like a puppet struck by a heavy hammer.

System determination: Target has fallen into a deep coma.

Lin Qi brushed the dust off his hands, as if he had done something trivial.

He looked back at the assassin in front of him who was about to faint from the pain.

"See, running in different directions is truly meaningless."

"If your master doesn't come out soon, I'll smash that remaining leg of yours too."

The assassin had completely broken down; his face was covered in snot and tears.

"He is... he is at the entrance of the underground palace... please, kill me..."

Lin Qi nodded.

"Where is the entrance to the underground palace?"

"It's at... it's under that largest nameless stele..."

Lin Qi got the answer he wanted, turned his wrist, and the hilt of the heavy sword struck the assassin's neck heavily.

The assassin's eyes rolled back, and he went completely still.

Lin Qi turned around and looked toward the deepest part of the graveyard.

The fog there seemed to have become thicker, and a huge stone stele could be vaguely seen standing in the wild grass.

"The small fry are all cleared out."

Lin Qi shouldered the zhan ye heavy sword and shouted loudly toward the thick fog.

"The old one still not coming out to greet the guest?"

"A gold-medal Deacon of the Shadow Guild, and this is all the guts you have?"

The surrounding air suddenly became somewhat viscous.

An uncomfortable malice surged in from all directions.

Zhang Wei was so scared he quickly shrank back behind the tree, not daring to breathe.

Lin Qi, however, smiled happily.

He could feel the True Qi seed in his Dantian beating with excitement.

That was an instinctive reaction when encountering a strong enemy.

"Lin Qi, you have truly surprised me."

A hoarse, unpleasant voice came from the fog.

Immediately after, a faint green flame lit up beside the stone stele.

A figure wearing a black robe and a skull mask walked out slowly.

His hands hung at his sides, and faint blue flames flickered constantly at his fingertips.

"To be able to slaughter my elite squad like pigs, your Ancient Martial Arts certainly has some merit."