"The feathered arrows are poisoned!"
His expression was icy cold. In just this short period, based on the detection, they hadn't even made it one-third of the way through the mechanisms, yet they had already lost five subordinates in succession!
"Shichirou, this place is too dangerous," Kameda Hachiro said with deep concern.
Kameda Hachiro gave him a nasty look.
Kameda Hachiro was the Great Elder's own grandson and held a high position within the family. His cultivation was largely thanks to frequently drinking the family's rare Divine Water and the intermittent guidance of several elders, giving him his current strength.
But this guy was more timid, never liking to go on missions alone, always relying on Kameda Shichirou to lead him. Hence, even though Shichirou's status in the family was average, his words carried weight with Hachiro, who would rarely talk back, at most retorting on purpose.
Seeing Kameda Shichirou's gaze, Kameda Hachiro instantly bowed his head, but the corners of his mouth twitched, revealing his discontent.
"Huaya warriors value etiquette, they believe in leaving a line of grace to ensure future encounters, so they generally do not deliver fatal blows. The family sent people to accompany me on missions in Huaya to toughen up your courage!" said Kameda Shichirou.
"The mission today is extremely important. If we succeed, we will definitely receive a lot of rewards. Whether I can advance to the middle stage Jonin depends entirely on the success of this mission! I snatched this opportunity right from the jaws of Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother, not an easy feat. If you mess this up for me, be careful or I'll flay you!"
Kameda Hachiro did not dare to say another word. Having worked together for so long, he knew Kameda Shichirou's temper all too well—if he dared to continue making pointless remarks, Shichirou would definitely beat him.
Although his strength was not below Shichirou's, in the end, it was achieved through reliance on medicine; he was thoroughly outmatched in a fight.
Kameda Shichirou said coldly, "Everyone, be on your utmost guard. If you don't want to die, proceed carefully and cease all slackness!"
Yet, even as vigilant as they were, there were still consecutive deaths.
When they reached a huge stone blocking the entire cave, of the twelve people who had arrived, only four remained.
The stone was over three meters tall and completely obstructed the cave.
Kameda Shichirou turned his head to look at the path they had come from and sighed, "If we can open this stone door, we should be able to reach the deepest part of the cave."
Kameda Hachiro said, "There should be a mechanism here, right? Otherwise, such a big stone would surely be impossible to move by manpower alone."
Kameda Shichirou nodded slightly. The stone was so massive, weighing at least tens of thousands of pounds, to move it here would also require tremendous manpower and resources.
However, even after searching everywhere, they could not find any mechanism.
Time passed, another half-hour went by, but they still had nothing to show for it.
Finally, Kameda Shichirou said, "We've come all this way, and so many have died. We're only one step away, we absolutely can't give up! Smash it. This stone door isn't made of steel; it's bound to break under our blows!"
The others exchanged looks, but had no choice but to follow Kameda Shichirou's orders. They picked up tools from their climbing packs and began to smash the stone door.
To ordinary people, such a stone would surely be daunting, but they were ninjas, powerful ones. Although breaking the huge stone would take a considerable amount of time, it was still achievable for them.
Xu Hao and Anna were quietly watching these people smash the stone from the top of the cave.
Watching the scene unfold, Anna felt bored and said, "These people are so dumb. Why don't they just blow it up?"
Xu Hao smiled, "That definitely won't work. Nobody knows if the thing inside can withstand an explosion, and besides, explosive materials are hard to come by. Let's just watch the show and let them break the stone door."
"Yeah! These bad guys are following us, hoping to reap the benefits and kill us, but little do they know we're right above their heads. Hehe, brother, you're really clever."
"They want to catch the mantis, but they should consider if there's a sparrow lurking. These Islanders daring to be so bold on our Huaya turf, not teaching them a lesson would probably make them think Huaya people are easy to bully," Xu Hao said mildly as he looked at Kameda Shichirou and the others below working hard to smash the stone.
At that moment, Anna said, "Brother, I married you, and according to Huaya tradition of following husband's household, I should be a Huaya person now, right?"
Xu Hao patted her little head, smiling, "Anna is right, but following me always comes with danger, and one could lose their life at any moment."
"I'm not afraid!" Anna clung tightly to Xu Hao's waist, looking up at him and said, "I want to learn martial arts, I want to be strong and then protect you!" Alwаys rеаd аt thе sоurсе—МV@LЕМР@YR.
"Alright, when I have some free time, I will teach you martial arts."
Xu Hao nodded slightly, agreeing with Anna. If she learned martial arts, at the very least she would have some ability to protect herself, which could be considered suitable.
Meanwhile, at the mountaintop.
Wearing black, an elderly man sat leisurely on a boulder, taking a sip of alcohol and smacking his lips, "The kid's pretty smart, those Island Nation fools are just a bunch of iron ding-dongs."