Urban Martial Saint

The group dashed along the stone corridor, but now it was evidently a bit too late. The corridor was filled with laughing gas, and after inhaling it, everyone couldn’t help but start laughing uncontrollably.

Initially, it wasn’t too bad, with just the occasional chuckle. However, as they progressed, things became more troublesome. The occasional chuckles turned into light bursts of laughter, which gradually escalated into full-blown laughter. In the end, everyone was laughing so hard they leaned forward and backward, supporting themselves against the wall, unable to keep a straight posture. Despite the constant laughter, their faces were contorted into grimaces. The relentless laughter caused intense pain in their chest and abdomen, as everyone struggled to endure.

”Hahaha, damn... hahaha******, if we’re going to laugh ourselves to death, I’d rather... rather hahaha go back and fight tooth and nail with that gang of vipers...” Handsome Fatty Wang’s face twisted from laughing, yet he couldn’t stop, his face turned bright red, showing how much he was suffering.

The situation of the others was even worse than his, each one laughing desperately. Honestly, this kind of suffering was truly unbearable, as constant laughter was even more painful than being stabbed a few times.

”He’s... he’s not... hahaha not laughing at all...” One of Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s men pointed at Ye Qing and asked, as Ye Qing hadn’t laughed since entering the stone corridor.

”He... he hahaha... his inner strength is profound, that’s why... he can resist the laughing gas,” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong replied gloomily, also struggling with laughter. However, he managed to suppress the laughter better than others, though the effort was still quite agonizing, and he was close to his limit.

”Damn it, martial arts... martial arts skills are great, hahaha, once Fat Lord... Fat Lord hahahaha gets out, must learn martial arts...” Handsome Fatty Wang said while leaning against the wall, his body shivering with laughter.

This fatty was indeed amusing, thinking about learning martial arts at a time like this, as if trying to seek salvation at the last moment. But by now, it’s too late to learn anything.

Standing aside, Ye Qing didn’t laugh hysterically like the others, but he furrowed his brows tightly. The situation was dire; if they continued laughing like this, they might actually laugh themselves to death here. However, despite having walked such a long distance, they hadn’t exited this passage yet, which was particularly odd.

By logic, they should have already walked out of the mountain range’s scope. Yet, the stone corridor continued to extend seemingly endlessly. At this rate, when would they reach the end?

”Mr. Wu, don’t you find this stone corridor strange?” Ye Qing looked around and whispered, ”It seems like there’s no end to this stone corridor.”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong slowly sat against the stone wall, whispering, ”I... I realized it long ago; this stone corridor is basically hahaha... essentially a looping circle, no... there will never be an end.”

”A circle?” Handsome Fatty Wang looked around in astonishment while continuing to laugh, his expression appearing very peculiar.

Actually, everyone else shared the same expression, as a man asked Nine-Finger Wu bit by bit: ”Ninth Master, how... hahaha how do you know...”

”Look over here.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s voice was slow, trying hard to suppress the urge to laugh while pointing at the nearby wall, ”Look at this wall.”

Ye Qing walked over and followed Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s direction, noticing two scratches on the stone wall. The markings extended in both directions along the stone wall, but their full length remained uncertain.

”Are these marks left by someone?” Ye Qing furrowed his brows and asked, ”Could they have been left by the previous invading army?”

”Regardless of who left them, have you considered why there are two scratches?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong uttered slowly, resisting the urge to laugh.

”Could they be left by two different groups?” Handsome Fatty Wang tried to suppress his laughter like Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, but his face reddened even more in an attempt not to laugh.

”It’s not likely.” Ye Qing shook his head, closely examining the two scratches, ”These two scratches appear to have been made with the same implement. Although they look slightly different, clearly, the same group left both marks.”

”Ye Qing is right.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong nodded slowly, ”Indeed, the same group left these two scratches.”

”The same group left two scratches, were they out of their mind?” Handsome Fatty Wang shouted, unable to hold back laughter for a while, bursting into a fit of hearty laughter.

”It’s not that they were out of their minds, but that this stone corridor is a circular loop.” Ye Qing furrowed his brows, comprehending Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s meaning, ”These marks were likely left by the invading army. Soldiers are usually disciplined; in such situations, they would leave scratches to locate themselves. If lost, they could find their way out.”

Ye Qing paused, gazing at the stone corridor before explaining, ”These two scratches were left by the same group, indicating that they retraced their steps. Conversely, with such a corridor, no normal person would backtrack unless faced with a loop, circling back to the starting point, thus leaving two such scratches.”

Upon Ye Qing’s explanation, everyone was momentarily enlightened but their expressions grew increasingly anxious.

”According to you... hahaha this stone corridor never ends, doesn’t that mean we’ll die here...” a man asked tremblingly.

Upon hearing this, everyone grew more restless; initially close to breaking down, the circumstances now led them toward despair.

”I don’t want to die...”

”I hahaha... I have a wife and kids at home...”

”Who doesn’t have goddamn hahaha a wife and kids...”

The group started making a ruckus, mingling laughter with curses, spiraling into chaos.

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong furrowed his brows, suppressing the urge to laugh, and roared fiercely: ”Shut up, damn it!”

Immediately, everyone fell silent, turning apprehensively toward Nine-Fingers Wu Yong. Although close to breaking, his long-standing authority sparked fear among the group.

”You fools, having followed me into graveyards for years, haven’t you faced peril before? Are you panicking over this small matter?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong bit his lip, halting his urge to laugh, exclaiming sternly: ”Whoever built this corridor must have an exit. Walking along this corridor was a mistake. Now that we know the corridor is a loop, there are likely hidden passages in the side walls allowing us to leave. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, so search these walls thoroughly to find the way out!”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s words wielded some authority, prompting everyone to begin exploring the side walls of the stone corridor.

Ye Qing continued frowning; the corridor wasn’t short, and finding an exit would be difficult for the group. Given their conditions, they risked laughing themselves to death before even finding an exit.

Regardless, there were no other options but for the group to walk along the corridor, tapping the stone walls with small hammers to listen for hollow sounds. Finding moving mechanisms wasn’t feasible, so determining hollow sections by sound was a more practical approach.

After approximately five minutes of exploration, their laughter grew increasingly desperate, slowing their pace. The laughing gas had infiltrated their bodies, rendering it unbearable. Though still able to walk, they were nearing their limit.

”Are we... we going to laugh... laugh ourselves to death here?” Handsome Fatty Wang clutched his stomach, unable to stand straight, expressing his dissatisfaction: ”Fat Lord I hahahaha... don’t... don’t want to die like this...”

”Who the hell wants hahaha to die like this hahahaha...” someone replied angrily, as everyone was in a foul mood.

The only one remaining calm was Ye Qing, as the gas didn’t affect him. Still, he felt a deep sense of crisis; if everyone died there, it would be troublesome. Especially for Handsome Fatty Wang, though unreliable, he was still Ye Qing’s friend, and Ye Qing couldn’t bear to let him die there.

Ye Qing held Mu Ling, uncertain of its effect on the laughing gas, but kept it concealed. Due to his suspicion of Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, he hadn’t revealed his trump card. However, Ye Qing hesitated, considering whether to use Mu Ling to stabilize the current situation.

”Ninth Master!” Following this, a man ahead suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention.

”What’s the matter?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong asked curiously.

The man gazed with astonishment at the wall, stammering: ”The... the scratches here, have broken... broken off...”