As these people approached, Yang Che recognized the elderly man leading them as Jia Yunzhi at a glance.

Jia Yunzhi’s gaze was icy. He was in the midst of handling Wei Yongzheng’s funeral when he suddenly received news that Zhao Min had been killed by a young man. He initially didn’t dare to believe it, but seeing that the young man was actually Yang Che, the poison-tester who had always followed Wei Yongzheng, he couldn’t help but believe it a little.

“Did you kill Zhao Min?”

Jia Yunzhi stared at Yang Che, his aged eyes filled with a sinister look.

Yang Che had already made up his mind when he first acted, so he didn't want to waste words at this moment. He directly flung out his Flying Fire Needles.

Jia Yunzhi and the several middle-aged men were all greatly startled, not expecting the young man before them to be so decisive.

With a crisp ‘ding’, Jia Yunzhi’s figure flickered. After drawing his longsword to block a Flying Needle, a small hole was left on the sword’s blade.

Yang Che’s heart tightened, and he immediately understood that Jia Yunzhi was not easy to deal with.

Jia Yunzhi was also startled by the incredibly fast Flying Needle just now, his old face flushed red as he roared, “How dare you! Wei Yongzheng actually privately taught you the inner sect’s hidden weapon techniques. He truly deserved to die!”

With that, he swung his longsword, striking towards Yang Che with lightning speed.

At the same time, the several middle-aged men quickly spread out, forming a circle to surround Yang Che.

Yang Che’s heart rate quickened a little. Facing such a situation for the first time, he had no experience, and his palms were subtly sweating.

Seeing Jia Yunzhi’s longsword strike, he instinctively jumped backward, but suddenly felt a chill behind him. Without time to think, he immediately ducked and rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging a back attack from a long blade.

Fortunately, Old Wei had taught him some ordinary boxing and footwork techniques, as well as movement skills. Coupled with his special Divine Sense to perceive his surroundings, otherwise, he would have been pierced through by that long blade just now.

All thoughts flashed in an instant. After recovering from his shock, Yang Che immediately took out his Meteor Box, retrieved several Flying Fire Needles, injected them with his magical power, and flung them out in all directions.

Immediately after, several more Flying Fire Needles were flung out again.

‘Ah… ah…’

A series of miserable screams echoed. Several middle-aged men dodged the first wave of Flying Fire Needles but were struck by the second wave, each crying out in agony.

Not far away, the miners were all stunned.

None of them had expected that the normally harmless-looking, thin young man, Yang Che, could actually fight against these Wu Gate outer sect experts without being at a disadvantage.

Jia Yunzhi was enraged. He couldn't discern the ‘hidden weapons’ in Yang Che’s hand, only feeling that these hidden weapons were extremely bizarre and their speed was simply too fast. He couldn't imagine how a teenager in his teens could have such abundant ‘True Qi’ in his body?

‘Ah!’ Just then, one of the middle-aged men had already been pierced through the brow by Yang Che’s Flying Fire Needles, falling to the ground dead.

Yang Che’s consumption was also considerable. He knew very well that he didn't have much magical power in his body, and using it so hastily, he feared that even if he exhausted it, he wouldn’t be able to kill Jia Yunzhi.

He gradually calmed down, his eyes, like a hawk’s, coldly fixed on Jia Yunzhi, while his Divine Sense perceived any disturbance within a three-zhang radius around him.

No longer overusing his magical power, but relying solely on the hidden weapon techniques he had secretly learned from Old Wei, he once again raised his hand and shot out Flying Fire Needles, aiming directly for the brows of the people opposite him.

Jia Yunzhi’s temples bulged high. With a furious roar, his longsword suddenly flew from his hand, striking towards Yang Che’s heart with extreme speed.

Yang Che could only dodge again, but this time the longsword's speed was too fast. As he turned, the longsword grazed his chest, leaving a trail of blood, and flew into the distance.

A burning pain spread across his chest. Yang Che narrowed his eyes, a cold glint appearing, and directly took out eleven Flying Fire Needles, injecting all his magical power into them.

After calming down, he once again used the hidden weapon technique to fling out the Flying Fire Needles, clearly with more method than before.

Yang Che controlled these Flying Fire Needles, with five of them following one after another, shooting out one by one towards Jia Yunzhi.

The other five were shot towards the several middle-aged men who had just dodged a wave of Flying Fire Needles. The last Flying Fire Needle waited for an opportunity to strike.

The cultivation of the several middle-aged men was clearly inferior to Jia Yunzhi’s. They were the first to be struck in the brow by the faster Flying Fire Needles, dying almost simultaneously.

Jia Yunzhi retreated again and again, almost forcing out all his cultivation and trump cards, barely managing to dodge four Flying Fire Needles.

Just as he narrowly and with great difficulty avoided the fifth Flying Fire Needle, his vision suddenly blurred, and another Flying Fire Needle appeared from nowhere, instantly piercing his brow. A strange Qi current, completely unfamiliar to him, immediately destroyed his vitality.

Jia Yunzhi’s face froze, fixed with complex emotions of shock, fear, disbelief, anger, and unwillingness. Then, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

Yang Che looked at the bodies lying around, his head feeling a little dizzy. He quickly picked up Jia Yunzhi’s longsword, then used the Meteor Box to collect all the Flying Fire Needles. Just as he was about to rush into the mountain forest to hide, he suddenly saw two ragged figures walking towards him.

It was Hu Lai and Meng Ran.

“Yang Che, thank you. We misunderstood you earlier,” Hu Lai said softly, a hint of shame in his eyes.

Meng Ran opened his mouth but didn’t say a single word.

Yang Che looked at the two and suddenly asked, “Where are Zhang Gu and Liu Song?”

“Liu Song ran away, Zhang Gu… was beaten to death,” Hu Lai said, suddenly gritting his teeth in anger.

Yang Che’s expression was quite calm upon hearing this, but he was rather surprised about Liu Song running away.

At least six or seven Wu Gate experts were still guarding the only exit of Xingshan Mine. How did Liu Song manage to escape?

He took out some silver from a leather pouch at his waist, which he had previously found on Zhao Min, and distributed it to Hu Lai and Meng Ran, saying, “The people guarding the mine exit will likely be here soon. Hurry and find a way to escape.”

Just then, the miners, especially the mine slaves who had been tricked here, suddenly became emotional and surged towards the mine exit in a mighty stream.

…

Yang Che, who was about to dive into the dense forest, couldn't help but his eyes light up. He suddenly said to Hu Lai and Meng Ran, “Hurry, follow them and break out together.”

Yang Che had originally planned to hide in the mountain forest and wait for his magical power to recover before breaking out of Xingshan Mine. However, seeing so many miners surging towards the mine exit, and looking up at the darkening sky, he knew this was an excellent opportunity.

Without hesitation, Yang Che blended into the crowd, almost being pushed forward by the people.

“Stop, what are you doing? What do you all want? Get back, all of you!”

At the mine exit, a one-eyed man held a crossbow, aimed at the crowd, and shouted sternly.

Upon hearing the one-eyed man’s curses, the highly emotional miners became even more incensed. With the exit right before their eyes, they no longer cared. The crowd showed no hesitation, surging even more frantically towards the exit.

“You bastards, if you want to die, I’ll grant your wish.”

The one-eyed man directly fired his crossbow. Arrows flew out consecutively, and the first few miners in the crowd fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

“He alone can’t kill all of us! Charge out!” someone in the crowd shouted.

Yang Che had already pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Taking advantage of the chaos, he directly flung a Flying Fire Needle at the one-eyed man.

The one-eyed man’s remaining good eye suddenly felt a sharp pain. He dropped his repeating crossbow, covered his eye with both hands, and screamed in agony.

The miners were invigorated and continued forward, quickly breaking through the exit fence and reaching the main road.

Yang Che, however, became even more cautious. He knew that there were still six or seven outer sect experts hidden in the shadows along this path.

This next stretch of road would be the real test.