/*unedited*/

Alchema City, midnight

A figure is running while staggering on its step as it tries its best to escape from something. The figure would turn its gaze behind it every now and then as I checking if it is being followed. And seeing that everything it saw was the darkness it heaves a sigh of relief.

It has been more than 5 minutes after the boss of the group escaped from the inn where his companions mysteriously died along with the inn proprietress. He was lucky that he is powerful enough to resist the mysterious poison that seems to have mysteriously invaded his body.

"I will go back and get revenge for my companions… I will kill that guy and get his women. I can't let this end like this…" he muttered as he tried to run faster.

However, he found himself catching his breath and would slow down. Right now, his back is already drenched in sweat as he forces himself to run back to their headquarters.

"Maybe I should ask the master for help. Although I will lose those women, I can still get my hands on some prize if the master is happy." He thought.

This idea seems to have given him an adrenaline boost as his figure suddenly speeds up. Not long later he was able to reach an abandoned house and saw some of their men patrolling outside.

When the people saw the figure in the shadows, they were all immediately on guard.

"Who goes there!" shouted one of the patrolling men.

"It's me!" the figure shouted while he suddenly staggered.

"Oh, you're the leader of the east gate group. Why are you here? I thought you and your group already have a target…"

"That's none of your business…" the boss of the east gate group shouted as he felt the man in patrol is being too nosy.

"Haha… Sorry about that. My good brother is part of your team, so he already boasted about it to me this morning." The man said while scratching his nose.

"Anyway, is the master inside?"

"Yes, he is talking with the other gates boss."

"That's good..." the east gate boss said as he walks inside.

The men patrolling saw his state and shook their heads, they already knew that this boss has encountered trouble and is going to ask for the master's help. Upon noticing this, the man who was talking with the eat gate boss suddenly had a bad feeling for his good brother's sake.

But he could not do anything. It was his duty to patrol the base, if he slacks off, he would die instead. He can just pray that his good brother was not hurt. In their line of job, their life is already uncertain, so they would always pray for their fate to be always good.

Entering the house, the east gate boss walked up the wooden stairs and then knocked at the closed door made of study dark gray wood with a rhythmic pattern.

Knock! Knock!

When the people heard the rhythmic knocking, their tense expression eases up, and one of them open the door. Then everyone saw the disheveled and sweaty figure of the east gate boss. As a part of a syndicate operating in Alchema city, everyone is sharp and aware that the east gate boss may have encountered trouble.

"Why are you here?" shouted the man sitting in the middle with a cold tone.

His annoyed expression is also reflected by anyone in the group. All of them are shrewd and crafty bosses of their own gate faction, hence they can tell if trouble is coming or not.

"Master! I… I lost my team." The east gate boss said with a dejected look on his face as his shoulder slump down.

When everyone heard this, their expression turned ugly and they immediately stood up from their seats. They knew that it would cause trouble now and their first priority is to escape the base just in case the east gate boss was followed by the enemy.

Even their master was quick to move and immediately turns and walked towards the door.

However, before anyone would approach the open door, they saw it closing with a creaking sound.

Creak! Bang!

The eerie noise it made felt like everything in the room suddenly turned cold and unnerving. Everyone can feel their spines tingling with fear.

Then something flew towards the ground and went under the table. This attracted everyone's attention and made them turn their guards up. Everyone draws their weapons.

"That… that's a formation plate."

"Oh, no! Stop it from activating!"

Panic shouts immediately broke through as two figures suddenly dashed towards the formation plate on the ground. However, their reaction, although fast, was still too late.

Silver light suddenly envelops the whole room.

"Trap! It's a trap formation!"

"d.a.m.n it!"

Bang! Bang! Boom!

The two people who wanted to stop the formation plate suddenly send their attacks towards the formation plate's location. But they felt their weapons. .h.i.tting a solid wall. They could not even break the energy coming from the formation plate.

Array formation plates are handy artifacts but have a limited range of use. And they consume a large number of materials to make, that's why s.h.i.+n Jiao can only make a few of them and would not usually use one.

But today is different.

When he secretly follows the boss of the group who saw him as easy prey and attacked him, he saw the old courtyard with a two-story building in the middle. The old courtyard looks dilapidated outside but he soon found that the inside is actually nice and clean.

Then he scanned the whole area and found that it has an array that prevents spiritual sense from scanning the place. And what he found next made him angry.

Inside the courtyard, there is a room where an underground room can be seen. In that underground room, many cages are kept and there are also many alchemists doing their experiments. Piles of spiritual herbs can be seen along with other materials for alchemical purposes.

And one of those materials made s.h.i.+n Jiao seethe in anger. In some of the cages, there are pregnant women. They didn't look disheveled; in fact, they look like they are well taken care of. But what he noticed is their state of mind. It's like they are just mindless people walking to and fro and sometimes would sit in a corner while mumbling something.

Then in another room, he can see some men having their way with some women whose state of mind is already not normal.

But what made him angry the most is the 'harvesting area'. They are actually harvesting the fetus inside the women's womb and then putting it in a jar. Then these jars are given to the alchemist for their experiments.

The inhumane and cruel treatment in this underground room made s.h.i.+n Jiao erupt in anger. Hence he decided to end burn this base to the ground.

And so he made his move and traps all the leaders while they are in a meeting. Unknown to the east gate boss, while entering the room, he has already been infected by another type of poison, a modified nerve gas.

With the poison essence in his dantian, s.h.i.+n Jiao is able to control the poison in his surroundings as long as he is within its range.

So when the boss of the east gate stopped, no one noticed that he is not moving and was busy finding their opponent inside the room.

Suddenly…

Thud!!!

The boss of the east gate fell lifelessly to the floor with a loud thud. With his fall comes an invisible particle that floats in the air.

When everyone was shocked by this even, they suck in a deep breath upon seeing that the east gate boss has suddenly died and they began to breathe in heavily as they look around the room trying to find the culprit.

These actions made s.h.i.+n Jiao sneer.

"These animals should not be kept alive…" he thought to himself as he took out a short blade.

It looks like a st.u.r.dy knife and it is one of the artifacts that Gubu has already crafted inside the ring. When the people saw this, they wanted to move and attack but then realized that their body is not moving.

They can actually feel that they cannot control their nerves anymore. However, since it is modified nerve gas, s.h.i.+n Jiao made it so that the person infected with this poison will not die too fast.

With a short blade in hand, he walks towards the leader of the group.

"So you are the leader, the mastermind of the kidnapping of women and the torture they suffered in this city…" s.h.i.+n Jiao said in a cold tone.

The leader is already having buckets of sweat pouring down his forehead as his eyes are locked on s.h.i.+n Jiao's dark figure.

"You… can't… hurt… me… the… city… will… make… you… pay…" the man they called master uttered these words forcefully.

Hearing his words, s.h.i.+n Jiao raised one of his eyebrows. But he didn't want to bother with other things. Planning and schemes are not his forte. He has always acted on something which he thinks is right, and now what he thinks to be the right thing to do it to finish this h.e.l.l hole.

And so without a word, he runs and sharp blade on the man's throat. And blood immediately came rus.h.i.+ng out.

The man had a look of desperation in his eyes as if pleading s.h.i.+n Jiao to spare his life.

"Before you die, you should know that the reason for your death is because of making others suffer… hopefully, in your next life, you'll live a good life."

After saying those words, he turns his attention towards the other bosses in the room and with the same action slit their throats.

s.h.i.+n Jiao didn't spare anyone inside the house and just burned everything. He didn't even save those women as he knew that their future is bleak. He just gave them a painless death and put their bodies in a single cage and put the cage outside of the courtyard.

"Tomorrow will be another chaotic day… Sigh…" s.h.i.+n Jiao said as he left the area.

As soon as he left, a shadow suddenly moved and began trailing after him.

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