Shards of rocks flying towards San Zhenghe suddenly increased from one to dozens, with over ten headsized chunks mixed in.
Li Changan followed the thrown rocks and leapt down from above, completely hiding himself behind the shards as if he were a limbless sphere. He rarely grabbed the dagger in his hand.
This dagger bought from a roadside stall for fifteen yuan was mostly just a kitchen utensil, now making a cameo appearance as a "weapon."
Like before, the shards were still unable to get close to San Zhenghe before being pulverized, then Li Changan behind the rocks was revealed.
Before the dagger in his hand could be extended, Li Changan felt cold sweat soak his back. The long-absent sense of impending death weighed down on his heart. Disregarding further attack, he forcibly twisted his waist at the risk of snapping it, and shifted his landing spot.
As soon as his foot touched the ground, Li Changan rolled over without hesitation. His ankle made a spine-chilling tearing sound.
San Zhenghe did not immediately pursue. As she said, she did not intend to kill Li Changan immediately. She just casually held her knife and frowned, "You're like a beast, without a shred of a warrior's elegance, only the pure instinct to hunt."
Li Changan calmly stood up. Since the other party did not immediately make a move, he also had no need to further damage his own body. He should take this time she wasted on talking to recover a bit more.
Before blood could spill out, he already knew what he had suffered in that instant. It was as if he had been sliced by a thin sheet of A4 paper. When he stood up, wounds all over his body split open, and blood instantly soaked his tattered clothes.
Pain was surging up from his ankle as Li Changan slowly retreated. Or rather, not quite accurate, but he had made a judgment.
It wasn't a knife. No matter how fast a knife was, there would definitely be a trace of swinging, but just now in that instant, it was as if he had bumped into the blade himself. So...
"Is your superpower to leave blade aura when you swing your knife?" Li Changan finally spoke, but his posture of vigilance did not change.
San Zhenghe was somewhat surprised. "You really aren't human. After getting injured just once, you could guess part of it."
Guessed part of it? So I haven't completely guessed it yet... Li Changan gently twisted his ankle to make sure he could still move. Then he quickly leapt back.
San Zhenghe's knife arrived before she did, brushing past Li Changan's chest. His already tattered clothes were completely ruined. Her knife wind blew past Li Changan's chest, and his heart chilled slightly.
Out of San Zhenghe's attack range, Li Changan darted into the ruins next door and, after several jumps, climbed in through a window that had long lost its glass. He stood against the wall and waited.
He could confirm that his path of movement had cut in from the other party's blind spot, so it was impossible to be directly chased up.
A few seconds later, San Zhenghe's figure leapt in through the window. Seeing Li Changan standing in the room, she was visibly surprised, but soon revealed a smile again. "Are you testing me?"
"Yes." Li Changan smashed his elbow into the wall behind him and retreated two steps. "You can see the traces I left when I exited, right? You followed my footsteps to find me."
"Including the injuries I suffered, they were also traces left when you swung your knife. Not only can you see the traces, you can also turn the traces you left into harm. So no matter how I escape, you can find me."
San Zhenghe nodded. The admiration in her eyes grew thicker. She said solemnly, "In such a short time you could see through my superpower. You're more excellent than I imagined. I won't hold back anymore. A strong person should receive an honorable death."
Slightly crouching, like a spring pushed to its limit, San Zhenghe shot out like an arrow. Her straight stabbing strike pierced the concrete wall as easily as tofu. Only when the knife tip pierced through the wall did the gale follow her footsteps, stirring up dust.
But Li Changan's figure was already gone from behind the wall.
"He actually crawled away using the wall." San Zhenghe frowned. There were traces only she could see on the wall.
Li Changan crawled up the exterior wall toward the roof. He couldn't win this fight!
In the narrow space, the traces left by swinging the knife would limit his range of movement. San Zhenghe didn't need to move at all. The traces alone could steadily force Li Changan to his death.
Not to mention long range attacks. Unless he had a decisive weapon...like that 20mm anti-materiel sniper rifle, maybe he could kill San Zhenghe.
"Is running away all you can do?" San Zhenghe's voice came from behind.
Li Changan didn't look back. That's right, he could only run. A fight without a chance of winning was a joke.
Bang!
Although he sensed the danger approaching, Li Changan could only twist his body. A bullet still passed through his shoulder.
San Zhenghe held a knife in one hand and a large caliber pistol in the other, looking coldly at Li Changan ahead. "You forced me to."
"I..." Li Changan cursed. He never imagined San Zhenghe could also pull out a gun. Aside from long range anti-materiel sniper rifles, other firearms would hardly affect him.
Also, firearms were still under the Empire's control. Purchasing firearms required extremely tedious procedures, and every bullet used had to be registered. Black market firearms were prohibitively expensive, unaffordable to just anyone.
But the trial was a one in ten chance of survival. Some people would gamble everything, so the appearance of guns wasn't strange.
It was just that even with so many years of fighting experience, Li Changan never imagined San Zhenghe would pull out a gun...
"As long as you don't run, I can promise not to use the gun. This is an external force. I actually don't like it." To show sincerity, San Zhenghe put away the gun. "I underwent seven years of firearm training. At this distance, you can't escape."
Li Changan clutched his wound and laughed coldly. "Actually, I've always been very curious whether gifted people like you are all so naive."
"No. It's because we're gifted and have strength, so we're allowed to be naive." San Zhenghe grasped the knife with both hands and raised it to head level. It was apparently some sect's ready stance.
"Cough cough." Li Changan snorted, then suddenly charged at San Zhenghe, sticking close to the ground. He threw the dagger in his hand backwards.
San Zhenghe slashed the dagger away with her knife, then reversed her blade to slash at an angle. The originally ground-hugging Li Changan leapt up to evade this strike. In midair, he caught the deflected dagger, now gripping it correctly with his right hand.
San Zhenghe's momentum did not stop. Her knives came faster and faster. This was true close-quarters mortal combat. With her superpower, every knife San Zhenghe swung, she would retreat half a step. Every trace left by her knife would seal off the opponent's path of retreat.
No one could evade her blade, whether advancing or retreating. This was her domain.
Li Changan slashed down with his dagger against San Zhenghe's upward sweep. The dagger immediately gained a sizable gash, but he also borrowed the rebound force to hover in the air for half a breath.
"Got you." Li Changan suddenly blurted out this sentence for no reason. He kicked off San Zhenghe's blade and rapidly retreated.
San Zhenghe retreated one step to stabilize herself, then rushed forward with her knife again. Behind Li Changan was the knife trace she left. Li Changan had no path left to retreat - either collide with the knife trace or directly face her blade!
"What!" San Zhenghe was shocked. Li Changan actually chose to collide with the knife trace behind him. Flesh and blood on his shoulder instantly separated.
Are you planning to be heavily injured just to escape?
No! San Zhenghe's eyes turned red. She twisted her body and fiercely slashed down behind her. An arrow flying swiftly at her was split in two, cutting past her cheek. But a second arrow closely followed behind the first.
She could no longer swing her knife. She could only tilt her head to evade. The arrowhead pierced her earlobe, tearing off half her ear as it shot past.
A coordinated attack? No, he used himself as bait, gambling I would first attack the one with the lower chance of success!
You beast, I will kill you!