The pain center of the human brain was also in control of negative emotions such as fear, depression and sadness. Negative emotions could be considered a sort of mental pain. The principle of the Eyes of Yama was to stimulate the pain center of the brain and cause deep fear.

But the Tyrant Tiger couldn't feel pain, so he was missing those emotions as well. No wonder he was so ruthless.

The Wolf King froze, "What’re the Eyes of Yama?"

"Nothing,” I prevaricated.

Right then, a thud sounded, as if something had been thrown onto the floor. As soon as I turned around, I was greeted by a small metal can spewing out smoke that was stifling when inhaled. The Wolf King signalled us to the other side of the floor.

Right then, a flurry of footsteps came from within the smoke.

A tall, muscular man stood in the dense fumes, armed with a gas mask and a submachine gun. Upon noticing his presence, Song Xingchen pulled me behind a pile of cement bags.

Firing several shots into the smoke, the Wolf King barely managed to hold out against the Tyrant Tiger, finally bolting behind a pillar to take cover.

Bullets from the Tyrant Tiger blasted holes in one side of the pillar like a torrential storm. Then, the gunfire stopped and the smoke gradually dispersed. Out of the corner of my eye, I peeked at the Tyrant Tiger as he rubbed a magazine against his gun. It took me a moment to understand what he was doing.

The Wolf King saw this as an opportunity to attack.

"Stay where you are!" I shouted.

The Tyrant Tiger had deliberately rubbed the magazine against his gun to trick the Wolf King into thinking he was reloading. But in fact, he still had ammunition. Unfortunately, my warning came a little too late. At that exact moment, both parties fired their weapons, two bullets crossing each other through the blurry smoke.

The next second, the Wolf King suffered a heavy blow. Trembling, he fell to his knees and covered his bleeding throat with his hand. Across the room, the Tyrant Tiger bled as well, shoulder punctured by the Wolf King’s bullet. Though blood was pouring out of his wound, he didn’t seem to care.

The Wolf King struggled to stand up but the Tyrant Tiger nipped his efforts in the bud, aiming at his shoulder and knees. The impact sent the Wolf King crumbling on the ground. This time, the Tyrant Tiger put a bullet in the back of the Wolf King’s head.

Watching a good man like the Wolf King breathe his last shocked me to the core. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes!

Right then, Song Xingchen darted out from behind the cement bags, prompting several shots from the Tyrant Tiger. Quick as lightning, Song Xingchen jumped to the back of the pillar where the Wolf King previously took cover. A few seconds later, he emerged from the right, taking a few shots from the Tyrant Tiger.

To my utter surprise, someone else jumped out from the left side of the pillar. When I turned to check on “Song Xingchen,” I realized he had thrown out his windbreaker which was now riddled with bullet holes as it slowly drifted to the ground.

With this move, Song Xingchen quickly narrowed the distance between him and the Tyrant Tiger. Only when the Tyrant Tiger threw aside his submachine gun did I notice the detonator in his left hand. Thumb against the trigger button, he callously applied pressure.

A thunderous boom shook the whole building as if the ground had been shaken by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. It turned out that he had attached remote control bombs to pillars on the first floor. What a fearless criminal indeed!

The quaking floors had Song Xingchen wobbling unsteadily. Breaking out in cold sweat, I watched as the Tyrant Tiger swung his fist towards Song Xingchen’s face.

With Song Xingchen’s quick reaction, he easily swung his sword at the Tyrant Tiger. The latter dodged, grabbing a pair of karambits from his belt and countered with a vicious slash at Song Xingchen's torso.

Though Song Xingchen retreated a few steps, his arms never stopped moving, slicing left and right in a bid to kill the Tyrant Tiger. Sparks flashed in the air as metal clashed against metal. In the absence of pain, the Tyrant Tiger had the advantage without the need for defense. Song Xingchen was forced into a passive position.

What a desperate man!

The two exchanged more than a dozen blows when the entire floor shook violently and tilted southeast. Everything on the ground, including the Wolf King’s body, slid down the sloping floor. After that explosion, the pillars downstairs could no longer bear the pressure and collapsed...

After all, the Tyrant Tiger’s martial arts weren’t as profound as Song Xingchen’s. Upon losing balance, his steps sounded chaotic. However, Song Xingchen remained firmly rooted to the ground as his sword slit the Tyrant Tiger’s throat, blood gushing out like a fountain.

Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, the Tyrant Tiger wrapped his hand around the blade while pulling out another detonator from his belt. Hanging on to his last breath, the Tyrant Tiger hit the trigger without the slightest hesitation.

"Run!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Boom! An explosion tore through the Tyrant Tiger’s body, scattering flesh and blood all over the floor. I ran towards Song Xingchen who suffered from the impact of the explosion. His hands were still reflexively blocking the impact while his body was covered in blood.

"Wake up! Wake up!" I anxiously cried.

Song Xingchen coughed as he slowly got up, holding his head in confusion. Bits of shrapnel were embedded in his flesh. Fortunately, the bulletproof vest took most of the shrapnel, leaving his vital organs unharmed.

The impact seemed to have caused a concussion. A while later, he said, "I’m fine."

I heaved a sigh of relief, both grateful and guilty for all Song Xingchen had done for me. Patting him on the shoulder, I smiled, "Thank goodness you’re alright!"

We looked around the room and found the bloody lower half of the Tyrant Tiger’s body on the ground. This madman had actually attached a bomb to himself.

Feeling sorry for the Wolf King’s sacrifice, I walked over and shut his eyes, "Thank you for everything.”

Since the building was on the verge of collapse, I helped Song Xingchen down the stairs. The first floor was filled with dust from the explosion.

As soon as we left the building, several cars came speeding down the road and into the construction site. There was no way we could resist another attack.

However, I was delighted to find seven black armored vehicles and a team of heavily armed SWAT officers with QBZ-95s who quickly set up three defense positions nearby!

The captain of the team saluted me, "Mr. Song, we just got a call from the Nanjiang City Bureau so we’re here to protect you. The terrorists in the county have been eliminated."

"Thank you very much. Is there an ambulance?" I asked.

"Of course!" nodded the captain.

Although Song Xingchen was reluctant, I insisted he receive a proper examination. I climbed into the captain's vehicle and was handed a phone. Xiaotao’s excited voice came from the other end of the line, "I'm so glad you're alright. Thank goodness we’ve found you!"

"How are things on your end?"

"We’ve been investigating the gambling site. They’re using an overseas server so we can't shut it down,” replied Xiaotao. “But if it weren't for the live stream, we wouldn't be able to determine your specific location."

"I’ll be back soon!" I said, clenching my fist.

Upon hanging up, I felt weakness overtake me. With seven armored vehicles carefully escorting me the entire way, almost all the remaining criminals were eliminated. After that, it was a smooth trip and the end of my nightmarish adventure.

But the battle with the Infernal Bone Trader had just begun!