Chapter 307

Chapter 307: The Killer

Shen Yan raised an eyebrow. He twisted his sword and stabbed it into the ground.

In the next instant, extreme cold erupted outward. Wang Jie’s punch-force couldn’t break through at all. Nan Zhi lifted her hands to counter—and the cold swept over her. Confusion flickered across her eyes.

Mo Wan Yin snapped, “Careful. He cultivates a strange Starforce called True Words of Thought. Combined with Starforce, it can freeze the mind.”

Wang Jie’s eyes widened. “That strong?”

“We can’t win,” Nan Zhi said, retreating beside him. “What do we do?”

Wang Jie had thought three against one would be enough. Now he saw it clearly: it wasn’t. The biggest problem was Nan Zhi’s injuries. At her peak, she could have matched Shen Yan directly. With him and Mo Wan Yin supporting, they might’ve dragged it into a workable fight.

But not like this.

“Retreat,” Wang Jie said sharply.

Shen Yan frowned. “You think you can retreat just because you say so—in front of me?”

He loosened his grip.

The frost in the void transformed into countless swords, hanging upside down in the air, all pointing at them.

All three faces changed.

“Run!”

The swords fell like rain.

Mo Wan Yin defended with lightning. Nan Zhi forced her opposing Starforce to collide, building a barrier—only for the swords to pierce through again and again. Their defenses buckled.

Wang Jie yanked out his boat and sprinted to Mo Wan Yin, dragging her under its cover.

Swords stabbed and scraped across the boat, but its defense was terrifying. None of them could pierce it.

Mo Wan Yin stared up at it, shocked. “What is this?”

Wang Jie hauled her to the edge of the zone, right against the formation barrier. “Senior Sister, go. I’ll get her.”

Mo Wan Yin didn’t hesitate. Staying would only weigh him down. “Be careful, Junior Brother.”

She slipped out.

Wang Jie turned back for Nan Zhi.

Shen Yan looked genuinely stunned, watching Wang Jie sprint through the sword rain with a boat overhead as if nothing could touch him. “What kind of Chen artifact is that?”

Nan Zhi was at the brink of collapse when Wang Jie reached her. He yanked her under the boat’s cover.

She gasped, chest heaving, eyes lifting to the boat. She’d seen it once before—when Wang Jie blocked her Red Moon’s sideways slash. She never imagined it would save her.

Shen Yan’s expression darkened. He seized the sword hilt.

All the inverted swords vanished at once.

He sprang forward, slashing toward Wang Jie and Nan Zhi beneath the boat.

Wang Jie’s gaze sharpened. “Rain Sword Art.”

Raindrops fell—each drop turning into sword qi that cut through the air. Shen Yan’s Starforce shielded him, so the blades couldn’t break his defense, but they slowed his charge.

It was enough.

Wang Jie dismissed the boat, grabbed Nan Zhi, and fled.

When the Rain Sword Art faded, Shen Yan was left standing where they’d just been.

Gone.

Trapped in the formation for days, Shen Yan knew better than to chase blindly. Even if they ran in one direction, pursuing could land you somewhere else entirely. This maze warped spatial perception.

He didn’t dare shift routes at random. He stopped.

Wang Jie and Nan Zhi crossed several zones before he finally halted.

The Star Compass showed no qi nearby. Safe.

Nan Zhi’s face was paper-white. She swallowed another Revival Pill, voice ragged. “Shen Yan is one of the top three disciples in Sword Court. Even at my peak, I couldn’t beat him. You should’ve told me who he was so I could at least brace myself.”

“I didn’t know the one chasing Senior Sister Mo was Shen Yan,” Wang Jie said flatly.

Nan Zhi glared, then fell silent.

Wang Jie checked the Star Compass again. “Move. We’re wasting time.”

Nan Zhi’s jaw clenched. Who was wasting time?

They pushed onward.

Then both of them stopped, staring.

A corpse lay ahead.

They’d seen corpses before. Too many. They should’ve been numb to it by now.

But this one—

Su Ji Kong.

Xu Huang Club’s Hundred-Star Realm leader. The only Hundred-Star Realm man in Singing Phoenix Hall.

He was dead.

They rushed over, checking.

A Hundred-Star Realm had died.

Who did it?

There were no disturbances, no signs of struggle, no traces.

Someone with the status to lead Xu Huang Club wasn’t weak. Killing him should have left scars—yet there was nothing.

They examined the wounds.

And fell into silence.

Sword technique.

And the killing intent behind it… felt terrifyingly similar to the sword that had slaughtered the Nan family. A clean, razor-edged strike that didn’t waste effort. One slash, one death.

Wang Jie felt cold creep up his spine. He looked at Nan Zhi. She looked back, unease mirrored in her eyes.

Had the killer never left?

Nan Zhi’s face turned even paler as she checked the body again, each new angle making the resemblance more certain.

“The killer didn’t leave?” she whispered.

“No.” She shook her head hard, as if trying to shake off the thought. “Impossible. It’s been years. Why would the killer stay here? Someone who could destroy the Nan family would be a World Realm powerhouse. They wouldn’t waste time in a place like this.”

Wang Jie agreed. It didn’t make sense.

And why would a World Realm powerhouse kill Su Ji Kong?

It didn’t add up.

“Move,” Wang Jie said. “Now.”

Nan Zhi swallowed hard and forced herself back into motion. She began searching for the route to the exit, but a prickling chill crawled over her skin, as if something unseen were watching.

Not long after, they found another corpse.

Same sword.

Yan Long—Xuan Gate’s leading disciple, someone said to rival a Six-Path Roamer.

After Su Ji Kong, it should have been shocking. It wasn’t. The dread had already settled.

Then more bodies.

And then a familiar one.

Huai Si.

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t expected Huai Si to die here.

A terrifying realization surfaced.

“The killer is moving the same direction we are,” he said.

Nan Zhi blurted, “Same route.”

Wang Jie nodded. They hadn’t seen these bodies earlier. The closer they got to the exit, the more corpses appeared. That meant the killer was heading the same way—maybe not the exact same path through the maze, but the same destination.

They stopped again, tension coiling tight.

Wang Jie stared at the Star Compass, face grim.

Keep going, and they might run into death.

Stay, and they might never leave the formation.

He closed his eyes and replayed the wounds. Same sword technique, different kill points—neck, heart, vital lines. His bracer could only shield one spot, and even then it wouldn’t matter.

He wasn’t that opponent’s match.

Then the Star Compass shifted.

A nearby trace of qi moved—toward them.

Wang Jie looked up.

A figure burst into view, face twisted in panic.

Luo Kingdom.

Bao Lei—the Bao family Young Lord, also a member of Xuan Gate Club.

The moment he saw Wang Jie and Nan Zhi, Bao Lei’s expression changed violently. He spun and tried to flee.

Wang Jie flashed in front of him with Sword Steps. “Don’t.”

Bao Lei snarled, “Get out of my way!”

He lunged forward, his body moving in a strange, explosive burst as he tried to slip past Wang Jie.

Power-Storing Method.

Wang Jie saw through it. His hand shot out, caught Bao Lei by the head, and slammed him down.

Bang.

Bao Lei’s skull struck the ground with a dull, brutal crack.

Nan Zhi watched from a distance, scalp tingling. That was savage.

Bao Lei went limp.

He was Luo Kingdom—thick-skinned, resilient—and he’d even used Power-Storing Method. Still, he’d been knocked out in a single hit. Another bit of force and his head would’ve split.

Wang Jie released him and stared at the Star Compass.

Nothing.

He exhaled.

He’d struck Bao Lei because a new trace of qi had appeared on the Star Compass without warning—no preceding route, no approach. That kind of sudden presence was wrong.

The only explanation was a qi-concealment method.

How many people in these clubs could hide their qi?

Wang Jie could only think of one possibility.

The killer.

Bao Lei had been fleeing straight toward the spot where that qi had appeared. If Bao Lei ran, he might bring the killer straight to them.

If that happened, they were finished.

So Wang Jie had hit him—hard—before he could lead anyone.

Nan Zhi approached slowly.

Even if she could break away from Wang Jie now, she didn’t want to.

With something like that hidden in the formation, Wang Jie’s Star Compass was the only thing that felt reliable. It could warn them.

Wang Jie watched the compass for a long moment until his expression eased.

Nan Zhi swallowed. “What happened?”

“Someone appeared suddenly,” Wang Jie said. “No trace beforehand.”

“That’s impossible. The formation covers the whole train. There’s always a trail.”

“The Star Compass locks onto qi. Whoever that was knows how to conceal it.”

Nan Zhi’s eyes flickered. “You think it’s them?”

“I don’t know.”

Wang Jie looked up at the formation lines that laced the void. If the formation broke, they could unite all the clubs and hunt the killer together.

He didn’t believe the one who destroyed the Nan family and the one killing people now were the same. A World Realm powerhouse wouldn’t bother with this.

More likely it was the killer’s inheritor—someone strong enough to kill Hundred-Star Realm experts. Maybe they’d come because the clubs’ rumors had reached them.

If they could unite the strongest—especially Shao Ling Er—they might have a chance.

But the formation split everyone apart. The killer could pick them off one by one.

That was the real terror.

Wang Jie said, “What if they understand the formation and are waiting at the exit? Anyone who approaches—dies.”

Nan Zhi’s face tightened, fear flickering in her eyes. “They must understand the formation at least somewhat, or they wouldn’t be heading in the same direction. But waiting at the exit… I don’t think so. If they were, there’d be no need to kill people here. We’re still a distance from the exit.”

“Then maybe they haven’t found it,” Wang Jie said. “Maybe they only know enough to grope forward.”

He nodded once. “Either way, we go.”

Nan Zhi looked at his back. “That’s just a guess.”

“Everything is a guess,” Wang Jie said without turning. “We still have to leave this formation. All we can do is hope they haven’t found the exit—and that the Star Compass lets us avoid them long enough to get out first.”

“That’s our only way to live.”

Nan Zhi’s lips pressed thin. “Then watch it closely.”

“Of course.”

Wang Jie checked the Star Compass again. He didn’t want to die.

They moved.

Bao Lei stayed unconscious where he’d fallen. Neither of them spared him another glance.

Another day passed. They entered the next zone.

Half a day from the exit. Almost out.

Then both of them froze.

And turned to run.

Someone was ahead—alive.

But the Star Compass hadn’t detected them.

Because the person was concealing their qi.

The killer.

A mirror appeared out of nowhere, blocking their retreat. A face surfaced in the glass, watching them calmly.

“Why are you running?” the voice asked. “Stop.”