Chapter 154 Exchange of Fire

At this moment, Lu Ming and his group had already resumed their journey.

Sheng Guo'an was clearing the path ahead, with special forces guards protecting the flanks.

Xia Yuanfei and Shi Jidong were holding a map, pointing and gesturing at it as they walked. Their faces were full of excitement, and even their stamina seemed to have recovered somewhat as their pace quickened.

Meanwhile, Xia Xuanxuan glanced at Lu Ming from time to time, her face filled with utter disgust.

In her eyes, this detestable fellow Lu Ming was completely incompetent and uneducated. He had talked back to her grandfather on the train and had somehow managed to sneak into their relic-hunting expedition.

This expedition was the painstaking effort of her grandfather over several years. Not knowing what kind of hidden agenda Lu Ming had in sneaking in, Xia Xuanxuan instinctively felt a strong aversion toward him.

Combined with his cowardly behavior from the previous night, all of these factors made Xia Xuanxuan's impression of him drop to an irredeemable low.

Lu Ming merely followed at the back of the group, walking silently as if he were still deep in thought.

However, while Xia Xuanxuan was glaring at Lu Ming, she also noticed a strange phenomenon.

No matter how far they walked, this guy always maintained an expression of absolute calm and composure. He was never once seen panting or showing any signs of fatigue.

Furthermore, she noticed that Lu Ming walked completely without looking at the ground beneath his feet, yet whenever there were any obstacles in his path, he would step over them as fluidly as flowing water.

A growing sense of strangeness could not help but well up in Xia Xuanxuan's heart.

As the procession advanced, however, Lu Ming grew increasingly worried.

They were about to enter the enemy's firepower coverage zone. If the adversaries harbored any hostility, their own side would be completely unprepared, resulting in heavy casualties in the very first wave.

Yet, if he were to charge ahead and slaughter everyone there, it would not be appropriate either.

Firstly, the enemy and friendly forces were not yet clearly distinguished, so they could not strike blindly. Secondly, if he rushed forward, these people would be placed in danger, and bullets do not have eyes.

Unable to think of a good solution for the moment, Lu Ming felt a mild headache coming on.

Just then, Lu Ming realized they were already approaching the edge of the enemy's firepower range. Proceeding any further would be extremely dangerous.

With no other choice, the time had come to make a decision.

Lu Ming abruptly came to a halt and said in a loud voice, "We cannot go any further."

Everyone was taken aback, looking at Lu Ming with incomprehension.

Xia Xuanxuan, in particular, stepped forward and said, "This team isn't yours to command! We are almost there, why shouldn't we keep going?"

Suddenly, Lu Ming let out a booming shout, "Friends on the mountain, won't you come out? We harbor no malice."

Lu Ming's voice echoed through the mountain forest, yet it elicited no response whatsoever.

Xia Xuanxuan shook her head and said, "I think you've lost your mind. Grandfather, we don't need to pay attention to him. Let's keep moving; we're almost there."

Xia Yuanfei cast a glance at Lu Ming, shook his head, and continued forward.

At this moment, Sheng Guo'an spoke up, "Little brother, stop spouting nonsense. It is not your place to call the shots here. If you keep this up, I won't be polite with you anymore."

Sheng Guo'an's words carried a blatant threat.

He knew that Lu Ming had been arranged to join the team by Yun Shengguo, but hailing from a prominent martial arts family in Beijing, he held little fear of Yun Shengguo. Highly dissatisfied with Lu Ming's repeated alarmist talk, he finally could not resist reprimanding him.

Hearing this, Lu Ming furrowed his brows deeply.

Xia Xuanxuan sneered mockingly, "Why aren't you speaking now? Afraid of getting beaten up, are you? People like you, tsk tsk, simply need someone like Mr. Sheng to put you in your place."

Lu Ming took a deep breath, suppressing the rising anger in his chest.

If this bunch of people were determined to court their own death, they could not blame him.

The destination had already been reached anyway. If a real fight broke out, the worst-case scenario would be wiping out the opponents and then exploring the ruins by himself. As for Xia Yuanfei and the others, well, he was sorry, but their survival would depend on their own fate.

Seeing that Lu Ming remained silent, the look of contempt on Xia Xuanxuan's face grew even thicker.

The procession resumed its advance.

After walking for about ten minutes, Lu Ming's eyebrows suddenly twitched.

At that instant, two dull, heavy explosions rang out: *Bang! Bang!*

Sheng Guo'an, who was leading the way, changed expression drastically and immediately leaped sideways.

Accompanied by a fleeting, piercing whistle, the spot where Sheng Guo'an had been standing was struck by a massive bullet, blasting out a deep crater.

While still mid-air, though he had evaded the first projectile, he was struck in the abdomen by the second.

The moment the bullet hit Sheng Guo'an's stomach, he channeled all his inner Qi in sheer panic, forming a protective Qi barrier around his body.

However, the firearm used by the enemy was immensely powerful; it shattered his protective inner Qi with a single shot and exploded against his abdomen.

With a deafening blast, Sheng Guo'an let out a cry, flew backward through the air, and crashed heavily to the ground.

A large, bleeding hole had been blown into his abdomen, and he lay pale on the ground, gasping violently. It appeared he had completely lost his combat capability.

Panic instantly swept through the crowd.

The special forces captain, Chang Xianming, roared, "Ambush!"

He and two of his subordinates immediately took cover and unleashed a volley of gunfire in the direction from which the shots had originated.

This volley was not intended to hit the enemy, but rather to provide cover for the people behind them.

Meanwhile, the other three special forces soldiers lunged toward Shi Jidong, Xia Yuanfei, and Xia Xuanxuan, tackling them to the ground and rolling several times to relocate to a relatively safe position.

Among this group, those three were the primary targets for protection, and the soldiers had received prior instructions. Therefore, the moment trouble struck, their priority actions targeted those three individuals, leaving no room to care for anyone else.

At this moment, the three assistants of Xia Yuanfei and Shi Jidong were still standing foolishly in place, looking completely bewildered.

As research personnel who spent their days confined to offices, they had never experienced such a situation and were completely at a loss as to what to do.

Upon seeing this, Lu Ming immediately shouted, "Get under cover!"

Infused with a trace of spiritual awareness, the shout jolted the three assistants back to their senses, and they scrambled frantically to find shelter.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming glanced at Sheng Guo'an's injuries and shook his head inwardly.

"Spiral armor-piercing rounds!"

This was the masterpiece weapon utilized by mercenaries to deal with martial arts masters. Even a Xiantian-realm master would lose their life if struck at close range, or suffer severe injuries if hit from a medium to long distance.

Furthermore, these two snipers were clearly experts. Having deduced that Sheng Guo'an was the most dangerous individual in the group, they had sought to eliminate him first. As for Lu Ming, they could not read him at all; he looked completely ordinary, no different from an everyday person.

Indeed, the two snipers were formidable. With precise marksmanship and careful calculation, a single strike had severely wounded Sheng Guo'an and stripped him of his fighting ability.

Standing isolated in the open area, Lu Ming furrowed his brow as he gazed at the two mountain peaks not far away.

"Are you insane? Why aren't you taking cover?!"

Shi Jidong cried out in panic.

"Have you been scared out of your mind, you idiot?"

Xia Xuanxuan also shouted angrily and incomprehensibly.

Just then, two more heavy explosions—*bang, bang*—sounded, accompanied by piercing whistles as projectiles arrived in the blink of an eye.

Shock rippled across everyone's faces.

Given that the previous two gunshots had severely injured a master of Sheng Guo'an's caliber, this Lu Ming was undoubtedly doomed to die.

A wave of panic gripped everyone's hearts.

Facing an unknown enemy, their strongest martial artist, Sheng Guo'an, had been heavily wounded upon first contact and incapacitated. Their sense of safety plummeted to the absolute minimum, filled instead with a deep sense of crisis and terror.

Yet at that very moment, Lu Ming stood motionless, merely reaching out his hand to gently scoop through the air. Two bullets were caught right in his palm.

The high-speed spinning projectiles were firmly grasped in his hand, instantly losing all their kinetic energy.

Lu Ming relaxed his grip, looking down at the two bullets in his hand, which were comparable in size to miniature artillery shells.

"Just as expected."

Lu Ming muttered to himself.

They were indeed spiral armor-piercing rounds—the ultimate weapons designed to deal with martial arts experts.

Lu Ming furrowed his brow once more. Possessing such equipment meant this was definitely not an ordinary team, indicating that the adversaries were exceptionally well-prepared.

Lu Ming once again dismissed the notion of charging forward rashly.

At that instant, Xia Xuanxuan and the others stared in utter disbelief at the bullets in Lu Ming's hand.

"What is going on here? How could anyone catch bullets with their bare hands? Wasn't Sheng Guo'an severely wounded by a single hit just moments ago?"

While everyone was still reeling in shock, a burst of intense gunfire erupted, sending countless bullets raining down like a fierce tempest, blanketing the area.

Instantly, the tree trunks and boulders shielding Xia Xuanxuan and the others were riddled with countless holes.

Paralyzed with terror, Xia Xuanxuan and her companions buried their heads and shivered violently. The six special forces soldiers were completely suppressed by the sheer volume of fire, unable to lift their heads, let alone retaliate.

In front of Lu Ming, however, a dark golden barrier had manifested. The bullets striking its surface produced a flurry of metallic clangs before dropping uselessly to the ground.

Lu Ming took a deep breath and thought to himself, "Since I can't keep a low profile anymore, I have no other choice."

With a flick of his wrist, a dark golden spear of flame condensed within his hand.