"Spring Breeze?" Sun Hang was somewhat impressed by the name, "The Spring Breeze that doesn't pass the Yumen Pass?"

"Bingo!" Ya Qiaoxi nodded, "This is considered one of the few 'semi-permanent' strongholds in Yumen, and it's the place I frequent the most... I'm quite familiar with the people managing things here at Spring Breeze, and I can be regarded as their semi-special supplier."

The four of them walked in about fifty meters more when Sun Hang suddenly stopped.

"A smell of blood."

"A smell of blood?" Ya Qiaoxi also stopped, a hint of doubt in her eyes, "No way... Could it be left by an injured Hunter returning to the stronghold?"

"It's possible, the scent is rather faint... No, it's getting stronger, it's now approaching us," Sun Hang said.

"You better not be joking with me; this isn't funny!" Despite having washed his hands of it, Ya Qiaoxi's skill from her days as a mercenary remained; she quickly drew the pistol from the holster strapped to her back, using the cart piled high with cargo as cover, hiding completely behind it.

Candle Dragon, too, took on a posture ready for combat, and said in a deep voice, "Two significant presences are approaching, not weak."

Xue Yue inconspicuously took shelter behind Sun Hang. Sun Hang—the first to notice the anomaly—didn't hide or avoid it, standing squarely in the middle of the tunnel, calmly gazing toward the crossroads ahead.

The sound of footsteps drew closer, accompanied by intermittent moans and the noise of something scraping against the ground.

"Here they come." Candle Dragon no longer hid the chilling aura he emitted, a thin layer of frost spreading across the floor, centered on him.

Ya Qiaoxi produced a small mirror from somewhere, using its reflection to observe the movements around the corner.

Two well-built men clad in black clothing and armor emerged from the corner, dragging behind them a man dressed in tattered clothes, covered in blood.

When they saw Sun Hang and the others in the tunnel, they were startled but quickly recognized the cart. One of them tentatively asked, "Are you Mr. Ya's people?"

"Hei?" Ya Qiaoxi poked half of her head out from behind the cart, "What are you doing?"

"This guy broke Spring Breeze's rules." The burly man, known as Hei, kicked the Hunter they were dragging, "He lost a huge amount of money at the gambling table, harbored resentment afterward, and poisoned the winner's drink, only to be caught red-handed."

"Seems like a misunderstanding." Ya Qiaoxi breathed a sigh of relief, returning her handgun to its holster.

"Spring Breeze rules?" Sun Hang asked instinctively.

"Once you're in Spring Breeze, whoever you are, you're our guest; we have a responsibility to ensure guest safety," Hei said, "If you have grievances, settle them outside, but anyone who dares to act within the stronghold will end up like this guy."

"This guy looks like he's been beaten up pretty badly." Sun Hang glanced at the hunter, his injuries so severe that without timely treatment, he likely wouldn't make it through the night, "What will be done with him?"

"Thrown outside, to feed the creatures," Hei said, "If his friends manage to pick him up and save him, that's good luck... But in Yumen, friends are... well."

"Is your boss here?" Ya Qiaoxi suddenly asked.

"He is, the boss has been holed up in the secret room these days, seems to be researching something..." Hei nodded repeatedly, "Mr. Ya, you've finally come; the supplies in the stronghold are nearly depleted."

"Nonsense, you've enough stockpiled food for at least one hundred people for a year, how could you be running low?" Ya Qiaoxi said.

"Food and fresh water are not lacking, but good stuff like cigarettes and liquor consume quickly... You wouldn't know, today a single fortune cat has been priced up to three hundred bucks, and even with money, you may not be able to buy it."

"Three hundred for one?" Candle Dragon was taken aback, "That's just too..."

Fortune Cat is a cigarette brand produced in Chang'an, with an official price of eighteen yuan for a pack of twenty, in Dragon City, where supplies are relatively scarce, it's gone up to thirty to forty yuan a pack... Whereas in Yumen, a single Fortune Cat can buy you ten packs, totaling two hundred cigarettes, back in Dragon City.

"Oh right, almost forgot the main thing!" Hei slapped his forehead, switching to a formal tone when speaking to Ya Qiaoxi, "Mr. Ya, don't go in yet; I'll tell the brothers to sell off the last few cigarettes stockpiled... Otherwise, once you release your batch, the price would drop significantly."

"You really have a business mind," Ya Qiaoxi said with a smile.

"Please, brothers, keep an eye on this guy; I'll be right back!" Hei left the half-dead Hunter behind and ran into the depths of the tunnel.

"Under normal circumstances, how much is Fortune Cat sold here per piece?" Sun Hang couldn't help but ask.

"The lowest price should be seventy to eighty per cigarette; it's a scarce item." Ya Qiaoxi replied.

"Looks like there's real money in this trade." Sun Hang tapped the cargo boxes on the cart, "With all these boxes, you could conservatively make tens of thousands in net profit, I suppose?"

"This money isn't easy to make." Ya Qiaoxi exhaled, "A single mistake, and you could lose your life in the Gobi Desert."

"Indeed." Sun Hang nodded.

He was about to say something more when a faint sense of crisis suddenly swept over him.

In the next second, the dying Hunter suddenly sprang into action, a sharp bone shard tore through the skin below his wrist—he grabbed the remaining guard with his hand, and the shard pierced right through the guard's throat.