Martial Arts Master

The frigid wind whistled through the tropical rainforest, marking the trees with frost and icicles and covering the ground in a thick layer of ice. All sorts of fauna were frozen in their tracks.

The large creatures like snakes and spiders weren’t frozen completely and easily broke free. However, fearing the cold, they fled after their recovery like an ebbing tide. The surrounding thirty-meter radius went completely silent.

Sensing his surroundings, Lou Cheng turned to the Shadow Hunter, Cheng An.

“Request for…Get in touch with the Allied HQ and inform them that there might be Physical Invulnerability experts aiding the Ta Gu gang. Ask them for the next instruction.”

Initially, he wanted to request air support and bring reconnaissance aircraft and airstrikes into the picture. However, he changed his mind when he saw the dense canopy and scattered twilight.

“Got it.” Cheng An produced a satellite phone from his bag and put them in touch with Allied HQ.

After a short discussion, a new order was issued: continue tracking the enemy. If they encountered danger, they could retreat. The main objective had switched from capturing the Ta Gu gang to determining the identity of the Physical Invulnerability expert and which faction he belonged to.

“Let’s keep going then,” said Lou Cheng as he inhaled a breath of air that smelled like rotten leaves. He had yet to sense strong danger.

Keep going…? Smith gave a helpless smile. Spider silk shot out from his palms, coiling themselves around the branch of a great tree.

Pulling on those, Smith left the ground, flew into the air, and landed on a branch high up. Through the gaps between leaves, he scanned the passageway before them like a dutiful scout.

“No enemies within 300 meters…” announced Smith.

Within the jungle, even from a high point, his vision only allowed him to scout this far.

Lou Cheng watched Spidey get into role with amusement. Under Cheng An’s lead, they continued their pursuit at great speed.

…

At some distance away, the gloomy Ta Gu and yellow-complected elderly wearing a black vest were on the run. They shuffled between running straight and zigzagging.

The entourage of non-combat personnel, despite being piggybacked by his trusted subordinates, severely hampered their marching speed. This made Ta Gu nervous.

A malevolent look came into his eyes as he scanned his wives and young children.

The elderly with scarce, silver hair suddenly came to a stop. He turned back with astonishment.

“What is it, Mr. Talin?” blurted Ta Gu, alarmed.

The elderly Talin’s stiff face grew more solemn.

“The traps I placed were dealt with in less than five seconds,” he rasped. “We’re in trouble…”

Ta Gu swallowed some saliva.

“Is it Physical Invulnerability level?” he asked nervously. His entourage of trusty subordinates was visibly shaken.

His territory operated near China, so he was used to their evaluation jargon.

Talin drew a sharp breath.

“Most likely.”

“To think China and America took you seriously enough to send out Physical Invulnerability experts.”

This was completely unexpected!

Clearing out a small faction like Ta Gu should have been a simple task for America and China. Why would they use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?

If they have to deploy Physical Invulnerability experts for such trivial missions, the military is clearly wasting their budget!

To conceal their clandestine cooperation, Ta Gu was the only one in charge of the first part of the mission.

“Shit…” Ta Gu’s expression darkened. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t wrap his head around why China and America took him this seriously, nor why they took such disgustingly cautious measures.

I’m not at all worthy for a Physical Invulnerability expert, am I?

“What do we do, Mr. Talin?” Ta Gu stopped thinking about the cause. It wouldn’t help the current situation.

Talin pondered for a moment.

“Let’s try throwing them off the scent. When we’re out of the jungle, reinforcements will be waiting for us at the border.”

Hairy worms, green and milky, crawled out from the ground beneath his feet, blending into the stream of eccentric-looking spiders and colorful snakes coming from all directions.

The creatures crawled onto Ta Gu, his family, and his subordinates.

Chills went down their spines. Instinctively, they began to resist.

“Don’t worry, they won’t harm you,” said Talin authoritatively.

Smothering fear and ignoring goosebumps, they let the insects crawl all over them. When the insects had collected their pheromones, they spread away in all directions.

“Let’s get a move on,” said Talin. He touched his withered white hair and set off in the southeast direction.

Suppressing impetuous thoughts, Ta Gu decided to go along with the plan.

If things went south, he would abandon all of them.

As long as he was alive, he could have everything again.

…

After a lengthy pursuit, Cheng An came to a sudden stop.

“Found something?” Peering into the distance, Lou Cheng saw several trails that seemed to lead in different directions.

“It seems like Ta Gu split from the others?” mused Cheng An, using his supernatural ability to investigate the shadows.

The same scent had split up into many directions. Something smelled fishy.

Smith slid down the tree and sniffed the air.

Frowning, he said,

“I smell spiders here, here, and…”

He was very sensitive to such things, thanks to his instincts.

“Looks like they used insects,” said the Storm Giant, Dwyane. He had seen this before.

He had participated in a few jungle warfares, so he joined the squad and provided his insight.

With the help of Smith and the others, Cheng An finally determined the real scent. He led the members of his team on another round of hot pursuit.

…

Ta Gu and his gang zoomed through the jungle. No one spoke. The atmosphere was tense, as though they were waiting for the last straw that would break the camel’s back.

A few minutes later, Talin halted again. The escapees could feel their hearts in their throats.

Ta Gu guessed for the worst outcome. “They caught up?”

“They probably have top-notch tracers,” Talin’s stiffened face twitched. “They’re close!”

Ta Gu scanned his wife and subordinates.

“Any other plans?” he rasped.

Can we escape if you bring just me along?

For a moment, Talin was silent. Then, solemnly, he said,

“We fight back with an ambush. Things will be easy if we manage to wound them.”

Given their disadvantage in speed, they might not be able to shake off their pursuers if they focused just on fleeing. Especially if their tracers could sniff out the good trails while tracking.

They might as well go all out while they had Ta Gu’s subordinates!

“You sure about this?” Ta Gu narrowed his eyes. By now, he had dropped any formality he previously retained for the Physical Invulnerability expert.

Talin turned back and gazed into the distance. There was a sinister iciness to his hoarse voice.

“Traps and ambushes are my forte. As to their effectiveness, that will depend on your performance in battle.”

“Perfect, because that’s my forte!” said Ta Gu gnashing his teeth.

…

Unique sceneries passed behind them as they dashed through the forest.

Smith was starting to get comfortable with the environment. Suddenly, Lou Cheng stopped, barring the others with a halting arm.

“Something’s not right ahead of us,” said Lou Cheng, looking at the jungle before him that appeared completely normal.

Ba-dump! Smith could hear his heartbeat. It took all he had to not turn and run.

“What’s the matter?” asked Cheng An, peering puzzledly.

He didn’t sense any danger. The insects and birds were in the midst of their activities, and there wasn’t anything strange about the shadows there.

“I smell danger…” Lou Cheng smiled faintly.

He didn’t attempt to search for the enemy, look for traps, or make precise calculations. Instead, he formed a brutal scarlet fireball around him.

Others turned the faint-purple, light blue, dazzling white, and golden. The deity-like symbols began orbiting him.

Swish, swish, swish!

Without speaking, he blasted the Five Flames in succession, one after the other, covering the entire area in a concentrated fire.

He controlled his frequency so that the speed of fireballs forming matched his rate of fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black clouds rose one after another as trees snapped and fell. Deep ditches appeared in succession as colored fireworks bloomed.

In less than ten seconds, the patch of forest was reduced to nothing.

As for traps, do they even matter?

“Cough, cough!” Talin and Ta Gu came scampering out, revealing their hiding spots.

They felt as if they had been bombarded by an artillery unit.