"Oh, so you want both the money and me, right?" I asked.
"Exactly."
"What use am I to you?" I asked, confused. "I'm just a nobody. Am I really more important than these eight million?"
The woman stepped forward, her voice cold, "You talk too much."
The closer she got, the closer my lighter got to the car. Startled, she quickly stepped back. "Calm down! The money is innocent!"
But I brought the lighter even closer. If there was gasoline, it would have ignited by now.
"Just answer my question, and you can have both me and the money. Take them," I issued an ultimatum. "Otherwise, I can't escape, and you won't get the money. Tell me quickly, my hand is getting tired, I can't hold on much longer. If I can't hold on, I'll drop the lighter, okay?"
This wasn't a disposable lighter; it was a Zippo I'd "borrowed" from Chen Lu. Once lit, it would keep burning. If I let go, the flame would fall onto the car.
The man reached out to stop my barbaric act and smiled. "It doesn't hurt to tell a cripple like you. You're not worth much, but the demons you're with are quite valuable."
So, demon hunters!
They wanted to use me as a hostage to hunt down the eight demons, take their demon cores, and ultimately, for money.
One demon core was worth 6 to 10 million yuan. Eight demon cores, plus 8 million in cash, was what drove these people to take such risks.
"Then I understand," I raised the lighter a few centimeters higher and let out a long breath. "Fine. I'm not giving myself to you. As for the money..."
With that, I tossed the lighter up. Before it could fall, I turned and ran in the opposite direction. Almost simultaneously, a black shadow swooped down from the top of the tunnel, passing over my head. With a whoosh, it flapped its wings three times towards the opposite side. I looked back and saw an astonishing scene!
The demon hunters were indeed skilled. That man actually lunged forward and caught my lighter in mid-air!
What surprised me even more was that the hawk demon could use "magic." It used the wind from its wings to fan the tiny flame of the lighter in the demon hunter's hand into a massive inferno, which surged towards the demon hunter. The man was burned, and the other demon hunters retreated to avoid the flames!
The hawk demon spun 180 degrees, turned, and flew towards me. Spreading its claws, it grabbed my shoulders and lifted me straight off the ground. It flew rapidly towards the tunnel entrance. Just three to five meters out, I heard the "swoosh-swoosh-swoosh" of something being released from behind me!
A hawk's eyes have 360-degree vision, allowing it to see the attack from behind. It grabbed me and dodged left and right. I saw several crossbow bolts graze various parts of my body, flying far ahead and landing on the ground.
After flying another few dozen meters, presumably out of their crossbow range, they stopped shooting.
When I was a child, I used to cry from the wind while riding a motorcycle. By the time we exited the tunnel, my eyes were streaming with tears!
Honestly, this process was a bit different from what I had imagined...
My original escape plan was like this: I'd drop the lighter, it would fall onto the car, and they would rush to put out the fire. While they were distracted by the lighter, I'd grab the hawk demon's claws and run. I thought that with my weight, she couldn't lift me, but if I held onto her claws, I'd be as fast as Bolt. By the time the enemies reacted and came after us in their Corolla, we would have already run far away.
I never expected that I had not only underestimated the demon hunters but also the hawk demon. They had added so much to this simple scene they designed for me.
Ultimately, it was my carelessness. I had seriously underestimated the danger of this situation. I couldn't just go in blindly like this again.
The hawk demon released its claws. I, carried by inertia, ran another dozen steps before stopping. At this moment, I heard the sound of an engine coming from the tunnel, approaching us. I had underestimated them again. I thought a Corolla weighing over a ton could block their path – even though I had the car keys, that car must have been pushed aside by the stronger demon hunters...