The shelf began to shake under the immense force, and then with a loud crash, it collapsed. Although it did not knock down the adjacent shelves, the items on it poured down like a waterfall, slamming heavily onto Zhui Ming.
Taking advantage of this opening, Sister Hua suddenly shouted in a certain direction, "Make your move!"
The woman's voice echoed in the basement.
Immediately afterwards, the basement exit door slammed shut from above, accompanied by a heavy click of a latch, as if someone had locked it from the inside, and the already faint light went out instantly.
In the darkness, Zhuiming and Chuanliu could only hear the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, as if someone had jumped down from above.
The entire basement was plunged into complete darkness.
Besides the two tinderboxes still emitting light in Chuanliu and Zhuiming's hands.
In such an environment, two glowing people are no different from moving targets.
Zhuiming keenly detected the subtle changes in the airflow—the delicate air currents created by the woman's rapid movement. A strong sense of crisis enveloped him, as if the surrounding air had solidified, awaiting the moment of explosion.
In the blink of an eye, the woman's figure approached like a ghost. She stepped onto the overturned shelf, and in just a few steps, she had closed the distance between herself and Zhui Ming.
In the firelight, the dagger in the woman's hand gleamed, like a venomous snake poised to deliver a fatal blow. She swung it suddenly, the blade slicing through the air, hurtling towards Zhui Ming through the shelves.
Zhui Ming reacted instantly, turning his body to the side and cleverly using the angle between the two shelves as cover to quickly dodge the deadly thrust.
The dagger did not stop, continuing to stab at him, but missed repeatedly as he dodged desperately, slashing hard at the shelf two or three times, sparks flying and making a screeching sound.
The shelves creaked and groaned under the woman's weight, and as she launched her fierce attacks, two figures grappled together in the dim firelight.
For a time, Zhui Ming could only rely on his agility to dodge, while Hua Jie, who held an absolute positional advantage, temporarily had the upper hand.
Under Sister Hua's attack again, Zhui Ming did a forward roll to create distance from her, grabbed the shelf with both hands, and straightened up through the gap in the shelf, finally jumping out of the overturned shelf.
At this moment, apart from the firelight in his hand, Zhui Ming seemed to merge into the darkness, as if darkness was the only place that truly belonged to him. His deep eyes revealed a chilling killing intent, devoid of any emotion other than the desire to eliminate his target.
Sister Hua looked at the young man, snorted coldly, and said in a hoarse voice, "I didn't expect you to be a martial arts expert."
Zhuiming didn't speak, but only glanced in the direction of Chuanliu.
The person who just jumped in must be Sister Hua's accomplice. Sister Hua is stalling him to buy time for her accomplice. Protecting Chuanliu is the purpose of this order; he can't let them succeed.
Sister Hua shouted triumphantly into the darkness, "Leave this man to me, you go and deal with Chuanliu!"
Chuanliu was still quite a distance from Zhuiming, and he couldn't help but worry.
However, at that very moment, Chuanliu in the darkness suddenly made a move that the assassin never expected.
She raised the tinderbox high in her hand. The flame was tiny in the darkness, but it could vaguely illuminate the figure of a fourth person.
A fourth person appeared, crept stealthily towards Chuanliu. The firelight reflected off the dagger in his hand, making it particularly glaring.
After spotting the direction of the fourth person, Chuanliu did not let the light last long, but decisively put the lid of the tinderbox back on.
As the fire died down, the direction of the stream was plunged into complete darkness.
Her last glance was at Zhuiming, her eyes shining with unwavering determination, as if to say, "Trust me."
Zhuiming's heart skipped a beat. In such a critical moment, he had no choice but to trust. He no longer cared about Chuanliu and extinguished the flame in his hand as well. The surrounding world was instantly swallowed by darkness.
The entire basement was completely dark; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Everyone breathed softly, and only the occasional dripping sound was particularly clear in the silence.
Suddenly, a faint rustling sound broke the deathly silence. It came from the direction of Zhui Ming and Sister Hua; someone was moving their feet, the soles of their shoes scraping against the sand. This tiny movement was amplified instantly in the silent basement, like a flash of lightning in the darkness, revealing someone's presence.
Immediately afterwards, the sounds of fierce fighting swept in from the front like a storm.
In the darkness, Sister Hua tried her best to remain calm, still wielding the dagger with considerable skill. Sensing the continuous attacks from her opponent, she used her petite body to constantly dodge fatal blows by weaving through the bottom of the shelves.
As a seasoned assassin, Zhui Ming had never fought in such darkness before, but his intuition and experience allowed him to move with ease. He deduced Hua Jie's intentions from her every dodge and attack; he listened to subtle changes in wind direction and sound to predict the enemy's next move.
For a time, the two fought back and forth, neither able to gain the upper hand.
It's much quieter on this side of the river.
She moved silently, like a ghost, using the terrain information she had just quickly surveyed to flexibly change her position.
She heard the man's footsteps approaching her original spot, but clearly he hadn't noticed her. So, the man began to check each location one by one, carefully searching row by row.
Chuanliu quietly moved to the middle passage, using the obstacles on both sides of the passage as cover so she could easily move to any safe location.
But soon the man realized that his footsteps had given Chuanliu too many "cues," so he changed his pace, and the sound of his feet rubbing against the ground gradually diminished until it disappeared.
Chuanliu immediately sensed something was wrong. She couldn't predict the person's route, and if the person changed their pattern, her previous predictions would become invalid, and she would be put in a passive position.
Chuanliu hid in the corner, his right hand tightly gripping the dagger he carried, calculating all possible scenarios in his mind.
After a long while, as if she had made up her mind, she suddenly opened the lid of the tinderbox again.
Without the slightest hesitation, she tossed the tinder into the air.
As soon as the tinder touched the air, it immediately ignited, forming a swirling flame.
The flame streaked across the aisle like a shooting star, illuminating each row of shelves in turn, and revealing the figure of the fourth person.
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