"Old Feng, Little Xixi, where are you?"

Ning Chen called out as he walked on.

Suddenly he stopped short, as if he'd stepped on something.

He looked down and froze... Under his foot lay two bullet casings.

What???

Ning Chen stared in shock. These were casings from a Type 88 sniper rifle, not the crude makeshift kind Ye Xingjue had cobbled together himself.

How can these be here?

Besides Kang Baobao and Ye Xingjue, could someone else have crossed over?

Someone who could build a high-precision Type 88 sniper rifle... That was terrifying. It was hard even to imagine.

Ning Chen looked up into the trees.

The sniper must have been hiding up there, and the spent casings had been thrown down to the ground.

Normally a sniper changed position after one shot.

This one had fired twice before moving, which meant he was a good shot. His first shot had killed his target, so he hadn't been in a hurry to move.

Ning Chen crouched and studied the ground.

From the tracks, the sniper had headed off ahead of him and to his left.

Without thinking, Ning Chen reached for his sword and grabbed empty air. His Broken Dream Sword and his dagger were both gone.

Fuck!!!

Ning Chen swore under his breath. He picked up a few twigs, snapped them into pieces a dozen-odd centimeters long and gripped them tight.

The knife-throwing technique Pan Yucheng had taught him would come in handy now.

Ning Chen followed the trail, creeping forward with care.

He had no choice but to be careful. He might be a master above the ranks altogether, but the other man had a sniper rifle and was a crack shot, and all he had was a few miserable twigs.

Against the great equalizer, no master was worth anything, so long as he was a carbon-based life form.

Suddenly Ning Chen's eyes narrowed.

He stopped, crouched and picked up a dead leaf. There was blood on it... and the blood hadn't congealed yet, which meant it hadn't been there long.

Is the sniper hurt, or is the…