Chapter 129: A Single Killing in Nanjiang, Striking Terror into Foreign Lands

The night was deep, the moon hidden behind clouds. In truth, this mountain range was enveloped in thick fog at night, rendering even moonlight nearly useless for visibility.

In such a place, the rule was clear: no movement after dark.

Yet, at midnight, the alarm sounded.

Lin Ziyang sprang up from his meditative state and moved to the monitors, his expression shifting slightly as he stared at the screen. “Two locations?”

Deputy Captain Li Zhiwei replied, “Yes! Captain, shall we split up?”

“Alright, five men each. You take Lone Eagle Ridge, I’ll enter Dongjiang Valley,” Lin Xiaoyang ordered.

“No, Captain, you’re injured. You can’t go into Dongjiang Valley. You should take Lone Eagle Ridge,” Li Zhiwei insisted.

Dongjiang Valley was the most perilous area—nearly pathless, infested with venomous creatures and ferocious beasts. Entering it was almost a death sentence, even without enemy presence.

Installing the surveillance equipment there was a massive undertaking, and the outpost dreaded any alarm from that valley. Yet tonight, that dreaded alarm had come.

Lin Xiaoyang said firmly, “Enough talk. Who’s the captain here? I’m going into Dongjiang Valley. That’s an order!”

Everyone present was stunned.

The captain and deputy captain were now arguing, but both were vying to take on the more dangerous mission.

Suddenly, a voice broke the tension: “Brother, you take Lone Eagle Ridge. Dongjiang Valley is mine!”

Over a dozen soldiers turned sharply, eyes fixed on a shadow on the hillside behind them—Lin Xiaosu.

“Xiaosu, this…” Lin Xiaoyang was taken aback.

“Don’t forget, I’m a martial artist!” Lin Xiaosu sprang up, suddenly soaring into the night sky. Moments later, he appeared atop a large tree, his voice echoing down: “There are over twenty coming to Lone Eagle Ridge. Establish a defensive line on the summit and don’t take unnecessary risks. I’ll deal with the four in Dongjiang Valley and then regroup with you.”

His words still lingered in the air as he disappeared down into the abyss below.

The seventeen men at the outpost froze as if turned to stone.

This… was martial arts?

Soaring like a bird into the sky.

Diving like a dragon from a valley.

It completely overturned the conventional military tactics.

“Move out! Lone Eagle Ridge!” Lin Xiaoyang waved his hand and led his team up the ridge. Lin Xiaosu, in his astonishing way, took on the deadliest assignment of Dongjiang Valley. With both captains settled, there was no dispute. No need to split the team—just ten men up Lone Eagle Ridge.

In the darkness, they hurried onward.

Lin Xiaosu moved like a phantom of the night, gliding along treetops, quickly distancing himself from the outpost. The valley below was like an open road to him. Ahead lay a deep ravine with a swiftly flowing stream.

This was a tributary of the South River, and in fact, the border between two nations.

Normally, no one could cross that boundary—not even monkeys.

But the four men tonight were clearly no ordinary trespassers; they had advanced technology.

From across the fifty-meter-wide South River, they fired grappling guns. The hooks embedded in the rocks on this side, and using pulleys, they entered this rarely trodden mountain valley.

“There is a secret passage beneath this valley. Going around from here leads to the Eighteen Fortresses of Dongjiang. Once inside, you’re truly on Daxia territory,” explained a young man.

His Qingmian language was slightly awkward, as he was originally from Daxia.

“Good! Very good!” said a middle-aged man beside him. “If you can open this passage, I’ll pay you 300,000 Xia currency.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lan!” The young man’s face flushed with happiness.

“Keep your voice down! Watch out for the outpost above,” the middle-aged man warned.

A white man beside them gave a sinister smile. “Don’t worry; even if some come, we’ve got brothers here. Killing a few in their own backyard while crossing the border is even more satisfying.”

He was far more arrogant.

Because he was a Western mercenary with at least ten lives on his conscience.

His combat logic differed from the Easterners. While Easterners valued strategy, often intricate and winding, they preferred to speak with strength and sharp blades.

Suddenly, a voice came from above: “Is that so?”

It was spoken in Daxia’s language.

The four below were startled and looked up sharply.

On a treetop, a figure stood on a branch, his robe fluttering in the night wind.

With a swift motion, the mercenary suddenly threw a dagger aimed at the figure standing in the tree.

This dagger was the mercenary’s signature move. His flying knife skills had earned him the nickname "Flying Knife Assassin" in the mercenary group.

Flying knives were the best means of attack in covert missions—gunfire would alert the enemy, but knives would not.

Unfortunately for him, the knife was thrown at Lin Xiaosu.

Without a blink, Lin Xiaosu reached out and caught the flying knife. The next moment, with a flash, the assassin’s eyes widened in shock as the knife was embedded in his own throat.

Nearby, another mercenary raised his gun sharply.

The figure on the tree suddenly vanished.

With a light sound, the gunman’s head was severed mid-air.

The middle-aged man and the young man’s faces drained of color instantly, for the dagger that had just taken the mercenary’s head was now pressed against their throats, blood dripping from its tip.

The dagger wielder was none other than the young man who had just been on the five-meter-high tree—now appearing ghostlike right before them.

The two mercenaries assigned to guard them had already become ghosts.

“Which country are you from?”

“I... I... I’m from Daxia!” the young man stammered in Daxia’s tongue.

“A proud son of Daxia, choosing to be a dog for a speck of a country like this? Go ask your ancestors underground if you’re not ashamed!” Lin Xiaosu waved his hand, and the young man’s head flew off.

The middle-aged man broke out in cold sweat, retreating step by step until he tripped and fell backward.

“And you? You’re not from Daxia, are you?” Lin Xiaosu’s gaze shifted.

The man shook his head desperately. “No, I’m from Qingmian…”

“You’re from Qingmian and still dare to trespass into Daxia!” Lin Xiaosu waved again, and the man’s head flew off.

With a gentle flick of his hand, the bloodied dagger shot through the air and severed a nearly invisible steel cable fifty meters away spanning the South River.

The other end of that cable was Qingmian territory.

In the grass, two men simultaneously looked up, sweat beading their brows.

Their eyes were full of terror and disbelief.

A rope silently spanned the narrowest part of the South River, creating a high-tech bridge—undetectable, the most covert way they could think of to cross the border.

But then a ghostlike figure appeared and rewrote the script.

Anyone crossing the border would be beheaded outright.

No interrogation—instant death sentence.

This ruthless approach had a far greater deterrent effect on border crossers.

In modern society, laws deter lawbreakers. For those living comfortably, legal deterrence is significant—who would willingly trade a life of tea in the office and pleasure in their bedrooms for loss of freedom?

But for desperate outlaws who constantly dance on the edge of death, what deterrent is greater than the sword?

Lin Xiaosu had originally planned to interrogate tonight, but knowing he was being watched, he spared no mercy and beheaded them directly, sending a clear message to the Qingmian mercenaries: cross the border, and you die.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoyang and his ten-man squad had reached Lone Eagle Ridge.

Lone Eagle Ridge was a strategic vantage point—behind them lay the Eighteen Fortresses of Dongjiang; ahead sprawled a primeval forest.

Because the defensive line was long, it had always been a favored crossing point for enemy mercenaries.

Last time, Lin Xiaoyang had been wounded here.

Tonight, he was back.

Upon arrival, there were sounds from the dense forest ahead, and judging by the noise, the number was not small.

Zhijun leaned close to Lin Xiaoyang’s ear: “Captain, Xiaosu’s eyesight is amazing. He could see the approaching enemy from so far away. I just counted roughly—there are really more than twenty.”

Lin Xiaoyang showed no reaction, but Deputy Captain Li Zhiwei was stunned. “Zhijun, you can see the enemy clearly?”

In an instant, all eyes turned to Zhijun in surprise.

The most astonished was Chen Hua, the squad’s sniper. He had already set up on the hillside with his sniper rifle, using an infrared scope to spot a dozen or so figures, but that was only with infrared.

Could anyone see the enemy clearly with the naked eye?

It was night, foggy, and the starlight in this region was extremely faint. Seeing figures within a hundred meters was the limit, and the rustling branches from the forest indicated the enemy was still at least a thousand meters away.

Zhijun was surprised himself. “Yeah, why can I see clearly? Could it be the Rejuvenation Technique... improved my eyesight? Captain, can you see them clearly?”

Lin Xiaoyang nodded slightly. “I can roughly make them out. More than twenty is certain! My eyesight wasn’t this good before. Maybe it really is thanks to the Rejuvenation Technique.”

The other nine men’s hearts pounded wildly.

Rejuvenation Technique!

Not only did the captain’s brother have this miraculous skill, but the captain and Zhijun had practiced it too, and it had already shown incredible effects on the battlefield.

“Captain, the enemy is within sniper range. Shall we open fire?” Chen Hua’s voice came through.

“No! Let them come in,” Lin Xiaoyang ordered.

Letting them advance was a risky move—it could increase sniper lethality but also risk losing control at close range.

But the captain’s order was final.

The more than twenty men quickened their pace, beginning to infiltrate and stretch their line, the tension of impending battle reaching a fever pitch.

One thousand meters!

Eight hundred meters!

Five hundred meters!

They could even hear the snapping of branches from the enemy ahead.

No light—none at all.

The enemy’s vigilance was evidently at its peak here.