The explosion was not far from Tarrust, which severely injured him again. However, out of his survival instinct, Tarrust did not stop at all, because he could vaguely see a small oasis in front of him, and wisps of smoke were rising from the oasis, so there must be people living there!
Tarrust was more desperate than ever to capture a living person and drink their blood. He was already covered in wounds and had lost a claw. To escape, he ignored the pain of the broken claw and ran as fast as he could on all fours, hoping to have another chance to drink blood and unleash the last bit of violent power within him. He believed that under that violent power, even a true god would perish. Although the price of unleashing that power might be his own life, he was willing to pay it.
Wolfish nature is tenacious and ferocious. If there is still a sliver of hope for escape, Tarustov will never give up. However, he had already seen from Zhou Ziwei's eyes that he was doomed to die this time. Since that was the case, what was there for Tarustov to hesitate about? If he could have an entire city die with him, he would appreciate it even more.
Wolfish nature makes one more prone to holding grudges. Tarustev didn't know if the Black God would avenge him after his death, nor did he know if the Black God had the ability to do so. Therefore... he hoped that this hatred could be resolved forever at the moment of his death...
Tarrust began to rush desperately toward the oasis at breakneck speed. Zhou Ziwei was no fool either. Although he didn't quite understand Tarrust's intentions, he didn't want the two of them to be seen by the people in the oasis. Zhou Ziwei was even more unwilling to be forced to kill someone to cover it up because of these things.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei increased the frequency of his attacks, determined to prevent Tarrust from ever entering the oasis.
During this time, Tarrustf began to suffer repeated heavy blows. When Zhou Ziwei used two Soul Beads to attack from both sides, he finally succeeded in turning one of Tarrustf's hind legs and half of his buttocks into ashes. Only then did the severely injured werewolf lose his balance and fall heavily into the sand less than two kilometers away from the oasis.
"Woo—" Tarustev let out a desperate, unwilling howl, then raised his head and stared fiercely at Zhou Ziwei, who was hovering in mid-air, for a moment. Then, using his remaining two claws to support his body, he used his last bit of strength to leap up and lunge at Zhou Ziwei with bared teeth and claws...
Unfortunately, Zhou Ziwei was flying more than 20 meters in the air. Even when Tarrust was in good health, he couldn't have jumped that height in one go. Now that he was seriously injured, it was even more impossible. He only jumped less than three meters before falling heavily back down. However, Tarrust deliberately landed headfirst on the sand with a "thud," standing there like a tree, and then remained motionless.
Zhou Ziwei sneered. He didn't care whether Tarstov was really dead or just pretending. He wouldn't let Tarstov's body stay there. He fired another Soul Bead, which struck Tarstov's waist. Instantly, countless death decomposition rays completely decomposed Tarstov from head to toe into ashes.
In this way, the guy was finally dead beyond any doubt.
The Soul Bead's decomposing rays could decompose almost all tangible matter, but they couldn't decompose Tarustev's soul. Watching Tarustev's soul return to its normal human form and then bar its fangs and claws as it attacked him, Zhou Ziwei frowned slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately decided not to recite the Six-Syllable Mantra.
Although Tarrust's werewolf skills were quite unique, Zhou Ziwei had no desire to inherit his skill after seeing the guy's fierce and disgusting appearance. If he really received Tarrust's memories and accidentally turned into a hairy creature again, Zhou Ziwei would definitely go crazy.
Moreover, the ferocity and bloodlust emanating from Tarrust were too overwhelming, leading Zhou Ziwei to estimate that this guy probably wouldn't be using any effective methods to maintain his werewolf transformation. Therefore, he was even unwilling to let Lawyer Ye and his brothers learn this skill, so he simply decided not to absorb his soul, but instead to refine Tarrust's soul into a soul bead.
Then Zhou Ziwei released a powerful soul force, which transformed into a giant hand like that of a giant spirit god, directly grabbing Tarustev's soul and beginning to refine it.
However, to Zhou Ziwei's great surprise, the refining process was far more difficult than refining an ordinary soul. In one breath, Zhou Ziwei consumed more than 500 units of soul power before he finally succeeded in completely refining Tarustev's soul into a soul bead. This was something that Zhou Ziwei had never experienced before.
Generally speaking, the amount of soul power required to refine a soul into a soul bead is directly proportional to the amount of soul energy possessed by that soul. Could it be that Tarustev's soul actually has more than five hundred units of soul power? This is an astonishing and novel thing... Zhou Ziwei had only ever seen so much soul power in ghosts over a hundred years old before, and this was the first time he had ever seen a living person possess so much soul power... No wonder ordinary hypnosis couldn't penetrate this guy's mind at all, and no wonder this guy was so sensitive to attacks like soul roars; it turns out he also has such an advantage in terms of soul energy.
What surprised Zhou Ziwei the most was that... after Tarustev's soul was refined into a soul bead, it was not an ordinary black soul bead, but turned into a strange earthy yellow, round and plump, just like a pearl.
Zhou Ziwei stared at it for a long time, but still couldn't figure out why the soul bead had turned this color. However, after carefully sensing it, he found no independent consciousness within the soul bead, so Zhou Ziwei was relieved. He simply put the soul bead in a small pocket he had carved out of his alloy suit and carefully stored it away, planning to study it slowly when he had time in the future.
Now that it was completely dark, Zhou Ziwei was no longer afraid of satellites taking pictures. He immediately activated the vortex beneath his feet and flew like the wind towards the hill where Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were.
Having been away for so long, Zhou Ziwei was genuinely worried. Although he had left a dozen or so Kun pets to protect the two women, the fact that the Black God had guessed they had just come from the pilot plane made Zhou Ziwei extra cautious.
Zhou Ziwei's priority now is to bring the two women back to China as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the Black God reveals the importance of the items they are carrying, the three of them will become enemies of the world and will be relentlessly hunted down by all ambitious countries and individuals around the world.
In addition, Zhou Ziwei must deal with the chip in his head as soon as possible. Otherwise, killing Tarustov now is practically the same as turning against the black market assassin network, and they could detonate the chip in his head at any time.
Of course... for the time being, Black God might not act against him immediately in order to obtain what he has, because as long as he has that chip, no matter where Zhou Ziwei goes on Earth, he can accurately find Zhou Ziwei's whereabouts.
However, if that chip is detonated... then if anyone disturbs Zhou Ziwei's body, they will be completely unable to find him. Therefore, he should still be safe until a second assassin comes looking for him.
However, once another assassin pinpoints Zhou Ziwei's exact location and begins close surveillance, the black market assassin network might detonate the chip at any moment if they don't want any more capable agents to be eliminated by Zhou Ziwei.
When they returned to the cave on the mountain, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were unharmed, which reassured Zhou Ziwei. Without further delay, Zhou Ziwei released an even larger vortex of energy, lifting the two women and flying straight into the distance... However, this time Zhou Ziwei did not head back to China, but instead flew towards the highest peak of the Hindu Kush Mountains.
Zhou Ziwei planned to capture the chip in the brain from the highest peak of the Hindu Kush Mountains. He knew the black market assassin network might send people again during this process, so he intended to hide in this place for a while. Because the mountains were high and difficult to traverse, if the black market assassin network didn't arrive by helicopter, they would have to climb the mountain on foot to find the three of them. This would delay the time it would take for them to find Zhou Ziwei, and that time should be enough for Zhou Ziwei to completely capture the chip in the brain.
As for deploying helicopters... that's unlikely. After all, this is AFH, where the situation is extremely tense. Even if Old M sends troops, he'll need some plausible excuse. And no matter how powerful the black market assassin network is, it's just an underground assassin organization. They probably wouldn't dare to do this openly!
Riding a hurricane, Zhou Ziwei led the two women up the towering mountain peak in the dark. During this time, Zhou Ziwei told the two women that their return from the pilot plane might have been discovered by foreign organizations, who might have intended to seize their belongings. As for the fact that it was likely three years after they entered the black hole space on Mount Kashgar, Zhou Ziwei temporarily kept that a secret, fearing that the two women would not be able to accept it if he told them. Zhou Ziwei also did not have time to explain so much to them at the moment.
Zhou Ziwei then carved out a small cave on the mountaintop. He also hunted two rabbits and a few wild birds on the mountain, letting the two women make a fire and prepare food. He then went into the cave and told the two women not to disturb him, because he was about to start capturing the chip.
Zhou Ziwei first sat quietly in the cave for a while. After feeling that he was in good condition, he began to draw a drop of liquid soul power from his sea of souls. He slowly stretched it into a thin thread with his soul consciousness, and then slowly poured it into the small chip inserted in his brain...
Because the chip is so small, and it is an extremely complex and sensitive instrument, Zhou Ziwei absolutely dared not pour a massive amount of soul power into it all at once, and could only proceed slowly and tentatively.
After the wisp of soul power was injected into a central point chosen by Zhou Ziwei on the chip, Zhou Ziwei then slowly increased the injection speed, allowing the wisp of liquid soul power to flow continuously and steadily into the central point, quickly forming a deep energy vortex there...
Just as Zhou Ziwei had predicted, this chip, despite its small size, was a bottomless pit that could never be filled. He had already experienced this feeling once when he captured the alloy suit on his body in the pilot plane, and now, capturing this chip in his head, the feeling was even more intense.
In the blink of an eye, all 20,000 units of soul power had been poured into that bottomless pit, exceeding the record consumed when capturing the alloy suit. However, the chip still showed no reaction, and Zhou Ziwei could only smile helplessly and grit his teeth to continue.
Soon, 50,000 units of soul power were consumed, but the chip remained unmoved, causing Zhou Ziwei's mind to fluctuate slightly.
However, he quickly forced himself to calm down. He still had 350,000 units of soul power, and he refused to believe that so much soul power would not be enough to fill this small chip.
Time passed slowly, and Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were enjoying the roasted rabbit and wild birds that Zhou Ziwei had just caught when they suddenly heard a series of rumbling sounds coming from the sky above the mountains.
The two women were startled by the sound and looked up at the sky. They immediately saw a point of light flashing in the night sky, rapidly approaching their direction at an extremely fast speed.
Helicopter.
The two women's hearts sank upon seeing this. It seemed that Zhou Ziwei had underestimated the allure of what they carried to the Black God...
Volume 2, The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 422: The Insect King and the Beautiful Snake
Previously, Zhou Ziwei had not told Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang about the chip in his head; he only said that he needed to solve a physical problem immediately.
Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang knew that Zhou Ziwei had a frighteningly fierce aura about him some time ago, and they thought he just wanted to continue to get rid of that aura, so they didn't take it to heart.
However, for some reason, as soon as they returned to Earth, they were pursued by others one after another. Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were naturally puzzled. How could these people who were pursuing them seem to know everything about them? How could they so easily determine their location in this desolate mountain?
The roar of the helicopter grew louder and closer, gradually reaching the summit of the small hill where they were.
Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang quickly retreated into the cave, only sticking their heads out to cautiously observe the movements above.
As the helicopter descended, Chu Qiutang realized that it was an M-type military helicopter, and a relatively large one at that, capable of carrying more than twenty people at a time.
After the helicopter descended to a certain altitude, several ropes were lowered down, and then more than a dozen figures were seen quickly sliding down those ropes.
"Oh no, this trouble must be caused by Director Zhou killing so many US special forces soldiers. The people who have come now are definitely more powerful than ordinary special forces soldiers. What should we do? Director Zhou hasn't woken up yet. Sister Xuewei, should we... should we wake Director Zhou up?" Chu Qiutang was extremely anxious and couldn't help but touch Wang Xuewei's arm and ask quietly.
“Absolutely not.” Wang Xuewei said firmly, “Ziwei specifically told us that we must not disturb him under any circumstances. Let’s wait and see! This mountain is so big, it shouldn’t be easy to find him. Besides, the hole Ziwei dug is quite well hidden. Maybe by the time they find us, Ziwei will already be awake… Even if… even if Ziwei hasn’t woken up by then, we shouldn’t disturb him. As long as I have a breath left, I will never let them harm a single hair on Ziwei’s head.”
Chu Qiutang remained silent for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and gently grasped Wang Xuewei's slender hand. Although she didn't say anything grand, her resolute eyes revealed her determination without reservation.
Fortunately, they had already eaten and put out the fire used for barbecuing, otherwise the other side would probably have been able to see their location from a great distance.
However, Wang Xuewei was still a little worried, so she quickly took out the dagger from her equipment and dug some soil from the outside to completely cover up the pile of charcoal they had just started. She also buried the half roasted rabbit that they had left over, which they had originally planned to leave for Zhou Ziwei, in the soil to prevent the aroma of the roasted rabbit from attracting those people.
As Wang Xuewei had predicted, it seemed that those people had only roughly detected that they were hiding on this mountain peak through some means, but they did not know the exact location. Therefore, the dozen or so people were just searching around the mountain, but did not head straight for the cave where they were.
The location Zhou Ziwei chose for digging the cave was quite special. Although it was very hidden, the view was excellent. So, even though Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were hiding in the shadows inside the cave entrance, they could monitor almost half of this hillside.
Chu Qiutang quickly exclaimed in surprise, pointing to a figure on a distant hillside who was wandering around with a four-shaped object, saying, "They seem... they seem to be using a life detector to locate us. What are we going to do? With such advanced equipment, they'll probably find us very soon."
Seeing this, Wang Xuewei could only shake her head helplessly and said, "There's nothing we can do but stay here. But don't worry too much. Even if they have life detectors, so what? You heard it just now, there are animal calls coming from the mountain from time to time. There must be quite a few creatures on this mountain. Even if their life detectors are advanced, can they distinguish whether the detected life belongs to humans or animals? Even if they can check them one by one, it will take a while! Hmm... let's wait!"
Hearing this, Chu Qiutang felt slightly relieved, but she still placed her hand on the dagger at her waist, nervously staring at the outside of the cave, maintaining a posture as if she were ready to fight to the death at any moment.
The dozen or so people moved very quickly. Although the life detectors on their hands could not detect whether the creatures with signs of life were human or animal, they could distinguish whether the aura belonged to a large creature or a small animal.
In this way, the speed of the investigation will not be hindered too much.
About twenty minutes later, a person dressed in all black, with his head covered by a mask and only his eyes showing, walked quickly toward them, holding a square device in his hand.
"Quick...backstep back a bit. We mustn't let him see us from outside the cave." Seeing this, Wang Xuewei immediately pulled Chu Qiutang's sweaty little hand and whispered in her ear, "We'll hide inside the cave and ambush him as soon as he comes in. We'll try our best to prevent him from making any sound or sending any signal in any other way. As long as we can kill him silently, we'll definitely buy Ziwei more time."
Chu Qiutang understood Wang Xuewei's meaning and immediately nodded. Then, the two of them carefully retreated a few steps, hiding on either side of the cave. They both drew their daggers, ready to fight with all their might to kill the person who came to them.
The man initially moved very fast, but when he discovered a small cave hidden in the mountain wall, he immediately became alert.
He looked down at the three red dots displayed on the life detector, confirming that the three medium to large-sized creatures with life should indeed be in the cave in front of him, and a look of excitement immediately appeared in his eyes.
As the man in black slowly approached to within five or six meters of the cave, he gradually stopped. Then, he suddenly took out what looked like a grenade from his body and threw it forcefully into the cave.
"No—" Wang Xuewei was terrified at the sight. Since this was just a temporary shelter, Zhou Ziwei hadn't wasted too many soul beads digging the cave. The cave was only five meters deep. If the person had thrown in a powerful bomb, even Zhou Ziwei, who was sitting with his eyes closed in the innermost corner of the cave, probably wouldn't have much of a chance of survival.
We absolutely cannot let him die in this state of confusion.
That was Wang Xuewei's only thought when she saw the grenade thrown in. So, as soon as the grenade landed on the ground in the center of the cave, Wang Xuewei screamed and rushed forward, using her own body to pin the grenade down... She believed that with her body blocking the impact, even if the grenade was powerful, it shouldn't cause Zhou Ziwei inside too much harm. And if the explosion woke Zhou Ziwei and allowed him to wake up from his slumber, then... he would definitely avenge her.
However, to Wang Xuewei's surprise, Chu Qiutang seemed to have the same idea. Just as Wang Xuewei lay down on the grenade, a soft body immediately pressed down on top of her, and the two of them were like a human pyramid, firmly pressing the grenade down underneath.
A bittersweet smile appeared on Wang Xuewei's lips. At that moment, she felt an unprecedented peace in her heart.
From the moment she returned to Earth, she had been vaguely regretting how she could have acted so impulsively in the Gobi Desert of the pilot dimension, suggesting that Zhou Ziwei should also take Chu Qiutang…
Human nature is selfish, especially in matters of the heart. No woman is without selfishness, and Wang Xuewei is no exception. She also does not want to share her man with other women.
However, the situation was somewhat special at the time. Wang Xuewei thought they were all doomed and only had a few minutes left to live. She was truly unwilling to accept that she had a marriage that others envied, but when she died, she was still a virgin.
So at that moment, she was like a fanatic, with only one thought in her mind: to completely hand over her body to Zhou Ziwei before she died.
However, Zhou Ziwei clearly showed great interest in her body and had an obvious physiological reaction, but no matter what, he refused to go all out with her at the moment when his life was about to end. At the time, she thought that Zhou Ziwei might be embarrassed because Chu Qiutang was there. In fact, she herself felt very uncomfortable about having an audience member next to her when she was doing that kind of intimate thing with her beloved.
So she made a tough decision and simply told Zhou Ziwei to take Chu Qiutang as well, so that everyone could go crazy together and naturally there would be no more psychological burden.
In fact, it was precisely because of that conversation that Chu Qiutang's secret feelings for Zhou Ziwei were revealed. So later, when she finally managed to have a romantic relationship with Zhou Ziwei, she had no choice but to include Chu Qiutang in the mix.
Although she always seemed to have no problem with Zhou Ziwei liking another woman, how could she not have some resentment in her heart?
However, when Chu Qiutang actually sacrificed her life to protect Zhou Ziwei by using her body to suppress the grenade at this critical moment, the little knot in her heart completely disappeared, and she truly and completely accepted Chu Qiutang into her private life...
With a loud "bang," just as Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were both pressed down on the grenade, Wang Xuewei suddenly felt the hard object under her stomach explode, releasing a burst of scorching heat. Then, beams of bright white light shone through the gap between their bodies, illuminating the small cave in a pure white light...
"Huh... the grenade exploded, but I don't seem to be dead?" Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang couldn't help but feel puzzled. How could the grenade be so weak? It didn't even seem to tear their combat uniforms... And apart from feeling a little heat and the blinding light of the explosion, they didn't feel any pain.
"Ah...this...it seems to be just a flashbang!" Chu Qiutang was, after all, a soldier. Although she was mostly involved in battlefield first aid and medical care, a soldier is a soldier. She had received a certain level of special forces training and had some understanding of the characteristics of these conventional weapons. She hadn't noticed what the grenade was because of her nervousness, but now she finally understood.
"Huh... two women, and a man... Haha, it's them, I found them, I found them..." Although Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang had covered the flashbang with their bodies, so the light it emitted wasn't too strong, the man in black standing outside the cave still recognized it at a glance. He couldn't help but laugh with great joy, then raised his hand to turn on the walkie-talkie on his watch. Just as he was about to report to his superiors, he suddenly saw a dark red light flash out from the cave. Then he felt a burning pain in his chest and abdomen, and before he could react, he immediately lost consciousness...
"Ah... Director Zhou, you're awake?" Chu Qiutang was overjoyed when she saw a dark red beam of light shoot out from Zhou Ziwei's body and then easily burn the man in black to ashes. She jumped up and couldn't help but rush into Zhou Ziwei's arms.
"Don't touch him..." Wang Xuewei was startled and hurriedly turned over, hugging Chu Qiutang's waist. She said with a wry smile, "He shouldn't be awake yet... Have you forgotten? Ziwei's clothes seem a bit strange; they can protect Ziwei on their own."
"Oh... I see." Chu Qiutang then remembered what had happened in the pilot dimension and couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. She said, "What should we do? The light that came out here earlier, and that guy's laughter, must have already spread. It won't be long before someone comes looking for us again. We... should we move Director Zhou to another place to hide him? It's not safe here anymore."
Wang Xuewei hesitated slightly upon hearing this, unsure of what to do. Zhou Ziwei had only instructed her not to wake him, but had not said that she should not move her body.
Staying in this cave any longer would be very unsafe, but if the two of them moved Zhou Ziwei's body without permission and something happened to him, it would be even worse. Wang Xuewei was caught in a dilemma.
However, just as Wang Xuewei was still debating whether or not to follow Chu Qiutang's advice, she suddenly heard two people laughing loudly and unrestrainedly not far away.
A man with a strange voice chuckled coldly, saying in a sinister tone, "Dead Ash... As expected of someone Black God has valued for the first time in so many years, hahaha... Indeed, you're quite skilled... You've only been in the business for a few years, yet you've already taken down three of the world's top ten assassins... tsk tsk tsk... But your good luck will come to an end tonight, because... my great Insect King has arrived... hahaha..."
Before the man's voice had even finished, a soft, alluring female voice whined, "You nasty bug! I hate you the most, you wretched bug! And what I hate even more are those disgusting things on your body... Hmph... It's just dealing with a newbie, I really don't understand what got into Brother Black God, that he summoned both of us at the same time... Damn it, I think you could have handled this by yourself... Wait, that's not right... I didn't expect this dead ashes to be such a handsome young man... Hmm... Dealing with handsome young men has always been my specialty, you nasty bug, just watch from the sidelines and don't you dare disturb my fun, understand?"
"You beautiful snake, are you in heat again?" The sinister-looking man said, sounding somewhat exasperated. "This kid isn't some pretty but useless Hollywood action star. Don't think you can just show off your bedroom skills and play him for fools. This kid... he's got real skills... he even took down that ferocious werewolf. Do you think he's so easy to deal with? Hmph... Boss Black God specifically instructed that the two of us work together to bring him back alive. If you ruin Boss Black God's plans because of your heat, be careful, Boss Black God might turn you into a dead snake in a fit of rage."
The charming woman's voice then let out a sweet, coquettish hum, as if she were pleading, "Alright... Brother Insect King, you know all my skills are in this body, right? Anyway, Brother Black God didn't tell us to kill this handsome young man. Using your disgusting insects might just kill him, and Brother Black God would be angry then... Hmm, why don't you let me go up and try first, Brother Insect King? At most, you can release your insects to watch from the side. If I really can't do it, then you can step in, okay?"