Despicable Shadow

With only the final afternoon remaining, Ye Chen had to reach level 17.

Otherwise, it would delay quite a few things for tomorrow's great battle.

No sooner said than done, Ye Chen and his group of five headed straight for the location of the nearest Elder.

According to the information, there was an Elder at the largest massage parlor nearby.

This Elder was named Black Shadow, and he was level 15.

Ye Chen and his group made haste and arrived in front of the massage parlor.

They gazed at the eye-catching characters on the sign—Orange Dragon.

Orange Dragon Health used to be the largest massage and wellness parlor in Qing County. Although it was a massage parlor, it was not what one might imagine; this Orange Dragon Health was actually quite legitimate.

Its scale was not small; just in Qing County, it had eleven branches, and it also had branches in several surrounding areas like the Aggregation Zone.

Its owner had gone missing, and it was now occupied by Black Shadow of the Azure Alliance.

The information showed: Black Shadow, twenty-six years old this year, was a frail man.

A former member of the Azure Alliance, he was insidious, cunning, and extremely lecherous.

He had a record of going to prostitutes 28 days out of a month, and all of them were overnight stays.

Once, because of a young woman, he got into a dispute and insisted on molesting her, which led to him being beaten by the Orange Dragon owner, forming a significant grudge.

Later, harboring hatred, he set fire to the Orange Dragon owner's car, and in the end, had one of his legs broken by the Orange Dragon owner.

But Black Shadow did not let it go; he played dirty in the shadows and cruelly murdered the Orange Dragon owner's twelve-year-old child.

This was an extremely petty, insidious, and cunning person.

Ye Chen said to Yu Nian, "This Black Shadow is a bit insidious, be careful later."

Yu Nian and the others nodded, but Zhu Qiang said dismissively, "What is there to fear? All insidiousness and cunning are futile in the face of absolute strength!"

After speaking, Zhu Qiang pushed open the door to Orange Dragon Health and shouted loudly, "Black Shadow, my good son, your daddy Zhu is here!"

Ye Chen and the others also followed.

The first-floor lobby seemed to have no one; it was incredibly quiet, without even a single guard.

This made Ye Chen feel a bit strange. Previously, no matter which place they went to, there were at least guards stationed there, but here, there was not even a shadow of a person.

Ye Chen felt something was wrong, but before he could speak to warn him, Zhu Qiang had already walked to the center of the lobby.

Click, hiss!

Zhu Qiang froze in place instantly, not daring to move a muscle.

He stammered, "Brother... Brother Chen, this is bad, I... I think I stepped on a landmine."

Following a clicking sound, a puff of thick smoke rose from under Zhu Qiang's feet.

The scene before them was very much like a scene from a movie where someone steps on a landmine.

This caused the five of them to instantly heighten their vigilance.

Zhu Qiang was so scared that cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and he didn't dare to move at all.

Ye Chen sighed helplessly, frowned, and said to the King Kong Ape, "King Kong Ape, immediately take Zhu Qiang and leave at top speed."

The King Kong Ape nodded and rushed forward quickly.

Ye Chen and the others also found a safe place to hide.

The King Kong Ape arrived beside Zhu Qiang, scooped him up, and ran forward rapidly.

But the explosion they imagined did not come, just as the few were feeling strange.

Suddenly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four explosions rang out instantly, and the location of the explosions was exactly where the King Kong Ape was holding Zhu Qiang.

For a moment, the lobby was filled with smoke, and the huge explosion created a large crater where the King Kong Ape and the other were.

Ye Chen knew clearly in his heart that this was an ambush.

The thick smoke was green, which was obviously poisonous.

Ye Chen shouted loudly, "Zhu Qiang, King Kong Ape, are you guys okay!"

Two figures slowly ran out from the green smoke; the King Kong Ape and Zhu Qiang ran out while covering their noses.

At this moment, the fur on the King Kong Ape's body had withered significantly, and Zhu Qiang was lying in the King Kong Ape's arms, having fainted, and blood was flowing from his seven orifices.

The King Kong Ape carried Zhu Qiang to Ye Chen, and after putting Zhu Qiang down, he couldn't help but cough.

With this cough, he coughed up a pool of fresh blood.

Ye Chen's pupils constricted, and his brows furrowed tightly; it seemed that both the King Kong Ape and Zhu Qiang had suffered internal organ damage.

That poisonous smoke had the effect of damaging a person's internal organs.

Ye Chen hurriedly purchased healing and detoxifying potions from the points mall and gave them to the two to consume.

Their bleeding finally stopped.

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

Fortunately, he had the System mall; the monster mall definitely didn't have this stuff.

If an ordinary person encountered this, they would likely only be waiting for death.

It seems this Black Shadow is truly incomparably insidious.

The first mine was just a lure; the mines behind were the real ambush.

With a pet, even if one stepped on the first mine, they would be able to escape safely with the pet's help.

But burying a few more mines behind it was different; it could catch people off guard.

After a burst of rapid breathing, Zhu Qiang gradually woke up.

Just at this moment, a cold snort came.

"Hmph, you few really are lucky, and you have quite a few treasures, to be able to even resolve this level 20 Bone-Eroding Poison; you really have some means."

More than forty figures walked down from the stairs.

The person in the lead was wearing black armor and looked somewhat sturdy, but his face looked incomparably gaunt.

That set of armor was likely something Black Shadow wore on purpose, just to keep people from seeing his gaunt body.

Black Shadow looked at Ye Chen and said calmly, "You came after all."

Ye Chen chuckled and said, "Oh, you knew we would come?"

"Haha!" Black Shadow laughed loudly, "Of course, don't you know who I am? How could I not know about your little schemes? Tell me, do you have an inside man in our Alliance!"

Black Shadow's words left Ye Chen and the group of five stunned. Could it be that Black Shadow had guessed it?

But the next sentence put Ye Chen's mind at ease.

Black Shadow continued, "From your expressions, I know now; did you bribe some of our underlings in the Azure Alliance, or did you interrogate them? Otherwise, you wouldn't know so much about us. It seems you've put in quite a bit of effort. How is it? Are you impressed by my intelligence!"

Black Shadow laughed extremely arrogantly, and his laughter was filled with confidence.

Ye Chen and the group of five looked at each other and couldn't help but find it funny.

This Black Shadow's imagination and associative ability were truly rich.

Zhu Qiang recovered and cursed, "You bastard, you really know how to play dirty. Later, I'm going to rub your face in a cesspit!"

Black Shadow smacked his lips and said, "Young man, speak more civilly. What era is this? You're still so crude in your speech. That's called a toilet, a restroom, not a cesspit. Besides, this is a high-end wellness club, and everything is a toilet; where would there be a cesspit? I'm afraid your wish cannot be fulfilled. I'm truly sorry!"

The surrounding underlings, upon hearing this, also burst into laughter.

This Black Shadow's way of speaking was truly full of Yin and Yang.

Zhu Qiang grabbed a handful of something and threw it directly onto Black Shadow's face. He cursed, "If you don't have one, I'll just take a dump right now for you. You can taste this and see how it is!"

A dark, gooey mass smeared across Black Shadow's face. Black Shadow touched a bit of it, smelled it, and immediately gagged.