Chapter 69: Chase to Kill (2)

“Two to follow, one to keep watch? They’re going to continue monitoring my residence?” Xu Yangyi laughed grimly. Since the enemy was relying on scent to track and initialize target verification, they had already stopped thinking about things like the position of hunter and prey.

The strength of such people was pretty good, but more important was that their escape was extraordinarily swift! Like an aborigine in a tropical forest blowing a poisonous dart at you, the farther your eye traversed, you simply wouldn’t know where they were. This was considering that the other party had already hid in some other camouflage at the present.

Mumbling to himself for a bit, he walked towards the enemy’s concealment on the commercial building. On the building, the two men who were half-lying down, theirs hands seemingly equipped with suctions, came to sudden stop. 

The duo glanced at each other, looking at the shock in each other’s eyes. Their target was actually walking over? Like so… step by step, unhurriedly strolling over? Had they been discovered? Or was their target taking a walk? Or perhaps this was purely a coincidence? 

“There’s a chance our cover’s been blown.” The slim man snarled lowly, “Heaven Listener!” In a twinkling, his ear began to swiftly expand. In the end, it surprisingly became a pointed ear like a bat’s.

“No change in heart rate, no change in blood, no change in body temperature, body surface devoid of sweat, no change in pulse, as well… damn it…” The slim man cursed inwardly, and his brows began to furrow for the first time.

On top of the building, the woman was like a statue. Her eyes suddenly expanded, and the bird on her screeched and flew away. Likewise, she looked down below incredulously.

“He’s walking over? Have we been discovered?”

“T-That can’t be. The ancient times are done for. Any cultivator that wants to cultivate can’t possibly conceal it from the government. Even nationless persons in the mortal world have detailed background records. This person has never been seen. He can’t be a fiend, and it’s an even greater impossibility that he’s discovered us!”

Xu Yangyi lit a cigarette and a lonely trail of smoke rose up to follow the night wind. He was neither hurried nor slow, leisurely walking forward.

He knew that at this moment, the other party was terribly surprised. He needed them to make judgement time. Once they entered his range… not a single one of them would leave!

Spiritual sense more formidable than a Qi Condensation cultivator’s spread forth like a tentacle, judging the distance bit by bit.

The night was absent of wind, sound, or light. There only existed a surging battle intent, secretly rising. An unseen battle of wits, a struggle between courage and intelligence, had already been exposed in the curtain of night.

This was a contest of the hunter and the hunted.

“800 meters…” The slim man’s gaze was like electricity and he grinded his teeth. “He went to the side shop to buy a drink. Afterwards, he went to the garbage can at the side to toss his cigarette butt… damn it…”

Xu Yangyi unhurriedly walked for 200 meters, yet he was still unable to judge the other party’s intent. Were they coming straight at him? Or was this a coincidence? 

“Tiger King-03, have you contacted the branch master?”

“I’m dialing right now.” The woman’s voice could be heard from the transceiver. “But it’s weird… it keeps falling through on me!”

“I suspect there’s someone here interfering with the signal.”

700 meters!

“Withdraw!” Without hardly any hesitation, the slim man growled with sharp decision.

Something was off! This was too fishy! This person… was problematic!

His long-term nerves from living on the edge of life and death were warning him. He felt a sensation of dark crisis: the only thing here if he continued to stay was a path to calamity!

No one responded. In this instant, the three of them openly darted away towards three directions in haste. They were true elites. Even as they left, they also left behind a probe.

If the other party was without intent, no one would give chase upon suddenly seeing cultivators disperse. However, if their opponent had truly discovered them, what followed next was the discard of the map and the reveal of the dagger, the plot was afoot! It was also to force Xu Yangyi into laying down his cards! At least so they were capable of reversing a situation that was already beginning to tilt by a sliver. Although it was now unlikely to go so far to the cutting of flesh with a blunt blade. [1] 

At that time, one of them at the very least would be able to escape. 

Xu Yangyi’s gaze looked clearly several hundred meters away at the people high in the air who had split apart into three paths of retreat. 

There weren’t any unnecessary words. In the next second, he suddenly leapt no less than ten-odd meters and immediately fell on top of a short building on the side. Soon after… all his spiritual force exploded, and with a standard running stance, he used his fastest speed to chase after the direction he believed to be the slowest!

An all-out pursuit! Of the hunter and the hunted, beneath this moonlit night, who was the hunter? Who was the hunted?

Thud! Thud! Thud! The sound of heavy footsteps rang out out from the rooftop, each stomp causing minute spider-web cracks. The entire sole of his foot never touched the ground, always just the front part, and his two hands evenly swung back and forth as if they had become the raised sail of a boat. The wisp of battle, separated from him for three years, released a joyous shout within his heart. He was like a tremendous elephant stampeding inside a building complex, charging towards the three people while carrying a bold killing aura!

“We were discovered!” At this moment, the trio had come to completely realize this in their hearts. 

The target had found them early on. Likewise, as elite scouts, they thought back and immediately understood why the other hadn’t budged a move before! 

Probing, and counter-probing, in addition to consuming their physical strength!

“This is a real fucking soldier!” Tiger King-03 gritted her teeth. She could clearly see Xu Yangyi charging towards her!

“Not just that, his real battle power… far exceeds the surface!” The slim man was deathly frightened. How was it possible that they couldn’t see their opponent’s full-force sprinting speed?! 

The camouflaged man clenched his teeth and said nothing. He faced towards a different direction and ran off with maximum power!

“Life Sacrification… Flying Star… Starfire…” Xu Yangyi’s gaze flashed explosively and he chained three moves together, yet he was still unable to display Starfire. Nonetheless, even like this, his speed had already arrived at an outrageous swiftness! In the air, as he jumped from building to building, all that could be seen was a black afterimage!

“Fuck!” Tiger King-03 could no longer restrain herself. In these several seconds, the distance between them and their opponent… was no more than 400 meters! A truly dangerous distance!

In particular, the other’s charging might and full-body spiritual pressure surprisingly caused her to feel herself shivering all over! Taking out a talisman without a moment’s delay, she clenched her teeth, stuck it to her leg, and her speed soared again in a flash!

However, she promptly discovered in the next second… her speed was no faster than her opponent’s! The speed of both sides had approached the pinnacle, yet there was still a gap! Being overtaken was only a question of time! Perhaps it wouldn’t even take five seconds!

“Escape!” Her heart sank, and she yelled at full strength to allow her other two compatriots to hear her.

There was no response. The other two moreover understood when it was necessary to abort. Exhausting their maximum strength, they dashed off in different directions.

On the building, two afterimages leapt on the rooftop, and the distance between them became progressively closer!

Within his body, the sound of the unbearably heavy load on his skeleton could be heard. Without the added support of the mysterious chest, Xu Yangyi was still unable to use Starfire. And yet, regarding these sounds, it was as if he didn’t hear them.

Tiger King-03 simply dared not look behind. Her hand grabbed inside her pocket, and in the next second, a small bamboo bird slowly fluttered out. 

Swish! Just as the small bird flew out, it soon bore a scarlet radiance, and the bamboo joints of its whole body surprisingly recombined. Less than a second later, the bird transformed into a light-green bamboo sword, sparkling with several runes. It sped up in a flash, violently piercing towards Xu Yangyi!

“Tortoise Burdens.” Xu Yangyi didn’t dodge whatsoever. Even if he recognized the bird to be a low-grade magik artifact, he wouldn’t be any more knowledgeable why this unknown group was monitoring him if he let them obstruct him now!

To be set upon the chopping block was to be at another’s mercy. After he came out from the Unrivaled Beneath the Heavens Arena, he wished to never feel that way again. Especially… in a situation that he was able to control. 

“That’s…” At this moment, Tiger King-03 turned her head back for the first time. This magik artifact was her life-preserving trump card. She was terribly reluctant to part with it, but she just happened to see Xu Yangyi’s move!

“Heavens Law! He’s from Heavens Law!” Her harsh shout ripped across the sky, and the ears of her other two compatriots only shook as they kept with their tireless escape. 

A wisp of killing intent flashed within Xu Yangyi’s eyes, and he licked his lips. “This is why… I loathe so-called elites. Even at a disadvantage, they’ll pass on information.”

“Then if that’s the case, don’t you think about running!”

Squelch! The sound of a bamboo sword sinking into flesh was heard in an instant. Xu Yangyi’s facial muscles faintly twitched, and in the next second he immediately clamped down on his muscle, not allowing the bamboo sword to fly out again!

His hand was already gripped firmly onto the hilt of the bamboo sword that was embedded in his shoulder. His feet simply didn’t stop.

“Damn!” Tiger King-03’s heart was filled with great anxiety. This bamboo sword wasn’t just a one-use attack. As long as her spiritual force was uninterrupted, it was capable of acting as a butterfly flitting through flowers, attacking non-stop! Until her opponent was pierced through into a sieve!

But now… she seemed to be caught in the grasp of Juling Shen. No matter how she moved, she couldn’t budge an inch! [2]

The opponent’s spiritual force and spiritual sense were completely levels above her own!

“Where the fuck did this monster come from!” Her face had already blanched. The other was no more than thirty meters away from her!

Swish! A minute later, Tiger King-03 looked at the man stopped in front of her, with a pale face, not uttering a word. All she did was calmly adopt a welcoming battle stance. 

To her surprise, the bamboo sword clasped in Xu Yangyi’s hand only trembled a faint bit. With her cultivation and spiritual sense, it was unable to struggle free at such a close distance!

“We’re…” No matter how, she had to clearly explain herself. Otherwise, the result would be too terrible to imagine! She didn’t finish her words because in the next moment, Xu Yangyi’s slipper-clad foot had already swept forward into a whip, kicking towards her! The air surprisingly rang out with the faint sound of breaking wind!

In Tiger King-03’s pupils, the kick became increasingly larger. A heavy thud traveled through the air, and she flew away in the next second like a morning star, without the slightest concern! She quickly tumbled on the ground and the surface trembled twice!

“Urk!” Simply unable to be repressed, a mouthful of blood sprayed out from her mouth! At the same time, terribly fright had already took over her face! A kick! Surprisingly a mere single kick!

This was no way the strength of an ordinary cultivator! Even the normal elites of Heavens Law’s graduates couldn’t send her flying with a kick! In her heart, an inconceivable thought came to head, and she immediately affirmed it!

This was the strength of a paragon! Only a paragon could make her collapse with a kick! As she thought of this point, regret had already filled her heart, without limit. She’d still wanted to probe Xu Yangyi before, but who knew that there wouldn’t be an opportunity to do so!

Crash! Following the tremendous strength of Xu Yangyi’s kick, she flew straight back by over a dozen meters!

“You don’t have the right to explain.” Xu Yangyi cracked his knuckles and the sound of popping rang out. He smiled as he walked over. “These preparations were made as you were monitoring me.”

Bang! A punch struck towards Tiger King-03 whose eyes were filled with fright. She screeched miserably, only able to use both of her hands to protect her sweat-covered forehead.

“Puh!” A piercing pain spread through her stomach, and her spittle came spraying out half a meter high into the air. She was sapped of all her fighting strength. 

Couldn’t handle the blow, huh… Xu Yangyi pulled his fist back somewhat regretfully. This was only thirty percent of his strength. When he had originally kicked Luo Sanfeng, he had used eighty percent. 

Tiger King-03 was convulsing intensely on the ground. It wasn’t from fear, but rather pain. A single kick and a lone fist were practically like the strike of a tremendous elephant. After an unknown passage of time, she coughed and smiled bitterly. “Fuck… T-This is a paragon… It has to be, it’s a… para… gon’s strength… fuck… fuck…”

1. Two things to explain in this paragraph. The first being: The discarding of the map and the reveal of the dagger. This is an idiom that refers to the failed assassination of the first emperor of China. The assassin, Jing Ke, and his partner, Qin Wuyang, attempted to kill the emperor with a hidden dagger in a map. Qin Wuyang was said to be useless in the attempt and Jing Ke was ultimately killed, unable to catch the emperor, hence “the map discarded and dagger revealed” means “to show clear and open intent.” The second phrase “cutting flesh with a blunt blade” is something along the ideas of “pulling teeth”. Somewhat of a pain to accomplish.

2. Juling Shen is a character featured in one of the earlier tales of Journey to the West He is one of Heaven’s generals. He wields a broad axe and is said to be incomparably fast with it, like a phoenix dancing. Battles against Sun Wukong in the story Monkey Wreaks Havoc in Heaven. Name literally translates to “Giant Spirit God”.