The two badge disciples lost their earlier confidence, their faces filled with disbelief.
King Lei’s strength was not beneath theirs, yet the person who couldn't even block a single punch wasn't the King of Darkness, but their own King Lei.
Thus, these two badge disciples dared not boast or utter any more foolish words about challenging Ning Beichen one-on-one. Instead, they drew their weapons, preparing for a fierce battle.
"Kill!"
The two badge disciples, mounted on their horses, brandished their long sabers, attacking Ning Beichen in a cross pattern.
Their sabers were unlike ordinary ones; each was over two meters long. As they swept towards Ning Beichen from both sides, rolling waves of air erupted from the ground, resembling a cross-shaped lightning chain.
Facing the pincer attack of the two sabers, Ning Beichen was too lazy to even dodge. He drew the bronze ancient sword from his back and slashed forward.
A white light, as if descending from the heavens, cleaved through the thorny bushes ahead. Before the saber light flashed, the bronze ancient sword was already sheathed.
The two badge disciples on horseback, not even seeing what had happened, were sliced in two by Ning Beichen's saber light, along with their black horses.
As their severed bodies fell, Ning Beichen had already passed them, walking about seven or eight meters before he heard the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground behind him.
Ning Beichen didn't even turn his head, continuing forward as if he hadn't just slain two badge disciples but two chickens.
"Enemy attack!"
"Stop him!"
"No, he's gotten in..."
Panicked shouts echoed throughout the badge disciples' stronghold. No one could halt Ning Beichen's advance.
"Speak, where is James?" Ning Beichen grabbed someone and interrogated him.
"I... I don't know." The other person replied fearfully, but his fate was a broken neck at Ning Beichen's hands.
"Where is James?"
"Don't... don't know."
*Crack!* Another person fell.
"Where is James being held?" Ning Beichen continued to question another person. This one, clearly terrified by Ning Beichen's ruthless methods, quickly revealed, "James is being held in the water prison."
"Take me to the water prison." Ning Beichen grabbed the guy by the neck, like dangling a monkey, giving him no chance to object or refuse.
Along the way, no one could withstand Ning Beichen's charge. Whether they were badge disciples or other individuals, anyone who attacked Ning Beichen immediately became a corpse.
Ning Beichen was in a killing frenzy, and the badge disciples were about to go mad. They had never encountered such a terrifying person, so terrifying that he seemed unkillable, filling them with despair like an abyss.
Before long, Ning Beichen arrived at the water prison. The guards inside only had time to ask, "Who are you?" before becoming corpses falling to the ground.
Upon entering, Ning Beichen indeed found James. However, the man was in a pitiful state, submerged in foul-smelling, stagnant water teeming with maggots.
"James, are you dead yet?" Ning Beichen called out. He could still sense James's life force and knew he wasn't in critical condition; he was just joking.
Hearing Ning Beichen's voice, James groggily opened his eyes. Upon seeing Ning Beichen, he instantly became alert.
"Ning Beichen, you've finally come to save me." James was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"Did I come too early?" Ning Beichen winked at him, teasing James.
"Not at all, not at all. If you hadn't come any sooner, I couldn't have held on any longer." James hastily cried out, fearing Ning Beichen would abandon him to continue suffering in this cesspool.
Ning Beichen extended his hand from a distance and pulled James out of the filth. However, the man reeked so terribly that even without being a germaphobe, Ning Beichen found it difficult to speak to him. Fortunately, there was a clean water hose nearby. Ning Beichen grabbed it and proceeded to give James a thorough washing. After more than half an hour of cleaning, the man was finally somewhat presentable, though a foul odor still lingered, likely to dissipate in a few days.
Cleaned up, James barely resembled a person. However, due to the torture he had endured from the badge disciples, his body was covered in whip marks and wounds, some of which had festered. Ning Beichen had to apply medicine and bandage his injuries. After another ordeal, James finally seemed to regain his senses. Unlike Ning Beichen, he was an ordinary person. If the badge disciples hadn't wanted him alive, he would have been dead long ago.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Ning Beichen said to him.
"Here?" James shivered and asked.
"I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?" Ning Beichen replied. Of the twelve badge disciples, Ning Beichen had only dealt with half. The other half had yet to appear, and Ning Beichen planned to lie in wait here to catch them all in one fell swoop, preventing future retaliation. He had stormed in and destroyed their base; if they didn't come, he would have looked down on them.
"A few months ago, I led a team into an ancient underground tomb and found a very strange key. This key was red, like blood, and it wriggled as if it were alive."
"At first, I didn't know what this key was for. But I was very curious, so I looked for clues everywhere, even asking on the internet. Unexpectedly..." James recounted the events to Ning Beichen in detail. The situation was not complicated; he had found the Blood Key, and that led to everything that followed.
"Did you give the Blood Key to them?" Ning Beichen asked James.
"No, because when I realized the key was unusual, I knew I would be in trouble. So, I hid the Blood Key immediately and called you. But as soon as I finished the call, I was captured." James said this with embarrassment, as the situation was truly humiliating.
"James, I think you understand the significance of the Blood Key. They won't let you go as long as you don't hand it over. What are your thoughts?" Ning Beichen said to James seriously. He could save James, but only temporarily, not permanently. This matter needed to be resolved.
"I don't know what to do, Ning Beichen. Can you help me?" James knew his situation and understood he lacked the strength to resolve it. Given the capabilities of those people, unless he found a place no one knew to hide forever, any appearance would lead to similar events.