Zhou You was silently gathering his inner energy. There were twelve armed guards in total. If he acted swiftly, he could possibly take out half of them. He was confident in handling the rest, but Lao Qiao Tou was at risk, and who knew how many more men awaited them?

"You dare deceive me!" Realizing that they would have noticed any signal, the bearded man prepared to fire. But Zhou You made his move.

Clutched between his fingers were long pine needles, which he launched with his inner energy at the guards faster than they could fire.

While these pine needles weren't as sturdy as weapons, they were lethal enough. Six found their mark, piercing the guards' necks, while two missed their targets.

Simultaneously, Zhou You grabbed Lao Qiao Tou and sprinted towards the parked vehicles. If they could hijack an armored car, they wouldn't need to flee on foot.

Gunshots echoed from behind. Using his sharp hearing, Zhou You dodged the bullets, zigzagging with Lao Qiao Tou, quickly nearing the vehicles.

"Stop him!" The guards, taken aback by Zhou You's agility and prowess, realized that regular guns might not be effective against such a skilled fighter and switched weapons.

Glancing back, Zhou You saw guards wielding swords and knives chasing them. Ahead, another group emerged from behind the vehicles, weapons raised, blocking their path.

"Give up now, and maybe I'll leave you with a complete corpse," the bearded man, having narrowly evaded Zhou You's attack earlier and missing his shot, was fuming with frustration.

Upon seeing the road ahead blocked, Zhou You decisively dashed into the cave. He had no idea what dangers awaited him inside, but it was better than standing still, waiting for his demise.

"He's asking for trouble! Pursue him!" No one expected him to take that route. They hurriedly followed. The cave was still under construction, with only one exit. Those two daring to run inside were courting death!

Zhou You, with Lao Qiao Tou, entered the cave and heard construction noises below. It seemed they intended to hollow out the mountain. Apart from the illuminated entrance, the path inside was engulfed in darkness.

"Zhou... Young Zhou, what should we do now?" Lao Qiao Tou, hearing footsteps from behind and seeing the pitch-black cave ahead, would have faltered had Zhou You not held onto him.

"Let's find a hidden spot to hide inside. Given it's still a construction site, it should be messy..." Zhou You's sentence was cut short when he almost stepped into a void. He looked down to see a deep pit several meters below, momentarily stunned.

"This place... looks rather odd," Zhou You murmured to himself.

"Hurry, they're up ahead! No shooting! We can't fire guns in here!"

Dizzy, Lao Qiao Tou asked, "What is this place?" Instead of the expected messy construction site, there was only a vast pit, with cement being poured at the bottom and nine peculiar stone pillars. The walls around were smoothly dug out, offering no place to hide.

"Heh, where do you think you're going? Dare to jump down? You'd be the first offering for the master!"

"Offering?" Zhou You initially thought this might be a secret military base or a private treasure trove of some big shot. Now, it seemed more like a secret base of an evil organization.

"Enough talk! Capture them and toss them to the wild beasts in the back mountain!"

A dozen guards approached Zhou You, their weapons only traditional cold steel. Zhou You was relieved to see no guns pointed at him; it would be tough to dodge in such tight quarters.

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Chapter 025 - Caught Easily, Spared from Death.

Zhou You assumed a stance and beckoned them with his fingers, "Come on, all at once!"

"Arrogant!" The bearded man was the first to charge with a long, sharp blade in hand. As he swung it at Zhou You, a gust of wind grazed Zhou You's face, stinging it.

"Such immense power!" Zhou You was nimble, easily dodging his opponent's moves. While the man had great strength, his speed was a clear weakness, making him slightly inferior to Li Hongxi.

"Enough watching. Attack together. He's powerful, don't underestimate him!" The rest formed a formation and lunged at Zhou You.

Zhou You stepped back, took off his jacket and tossed it to Lao Qiao Tou, gearing up for a serious fight.

His sole martial art technique was military boxing, with a few combat moves. His line of work didn't require exceptional combat skills. He was more of a technical talent in his department. They wouldn't have deployed him had the mission not been urgent.

However, backed by potent internal energy, Zhou You's moves were extraordinary. His military boxing appeared like a martial arts masterpiece, at least in Lao Qiao Tou's eyes. Zhou You seemed far superior to Captain Li. It was no wonder Zhou You had no interest in joining the Dawn Exploration Team; he was a force to be reckoned with on his own.

"Bang..." Zhou You's palm collided with an opponent's fist. The man sneered, yelling, "Die!"

Zhou You raised an eyebrow, scoffing, "That's all?" With a slight push, a golden glow emanated from his palm, instantly propelling the man backward, causing him to crash into the wall, spewing blood.

"Next!" Zhou You rotated his palm, dissipating the golden glow, leaving all in fear.

"What... what martial art is this?" They had never seen anyone with such a frail frame perform such light movements to effortlessly defeat an opponent. He resembled an internal energy master from novels.

Zhou You moved with ease among the encircled enemies, toppling foes one after another. Those who tried to rise found themselves utterly drained, every inch of their bodies weak.

This was Zhou You's novel combat technique, channeling the inner energy from the "Taiyi Heart Sutra" into an opponent's meridians, inducing spasms. With sufficient inner strength, one could sever the opponent's meridians, ensuring they'd never practice martial arts again.