Chapter 56: Believer of Black Buddha? Forced Advancement! |
"You want to kill me?!" Pan Yu's face contorted. "You're dead!"
Hu Xiang's expression hardened. He'd aimed for the heart, but at the last possible instant, Pan Yu had shifted just enough to deflect the killing blow.
Hu Xiang tried to rip the spear back out — it wouldn't budge. Pan Yu had seized the shaft with his left hand and used the leverage to lunge in close.
Blood seeped from Pan Yu's lips. His left hand clamped the spear embedded in his body while his right flashed with dark light, driving a dagger toward Hu Xiang.
But in that fraction of a second, his vision swam. A momentary daze.
That split-second delay was all Hu Xiang needed. He seized the fleeting opening, channeling fire like a blazing dragon through the spear. Flames surged along the shaft and erupted across Pan Yu's body in an instant.
BOOM!
Fire engulfed him. Pan Yu became a living torch. Pain hammered every inch of his body, scattering his thoughts. 'Who is trying to kill me?'
'Even if my cover's blown, this isn't how they'd do it — a premeditated ambush?!'
The primal will to survive squeezed every last drop of power from his body. Adrenaline spiked. Under the blinding lights surrounding him, his body emitted a gray, mist-like glow.
He shot forward like an arrow from a bow, aiming for the nearest cluster of glaring lights.
He could hide within shadows. If those lights died, this man would never catch him.
'Just one — if I can destroy just one, that's enough!'
The living room wasn't large. Pan Yu's desperate burst of speed was blinding; in the blink of an eye, he reached a standing lamp and flicked his dagger.
Pop. The light snuffed out.
"Damn!" Hu Xiang's expression tightened. He excelled in head-on combat, but speed was another matter entirely.
If Pan Yu escaped, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Hope blazed in Pan Yu's eyes — but the next instant, a howling gale filled the room. An icy dread crawled up from the base of his spine, so visceral he didn't dare look back. He lunged for the nearest shadow.
Too late. Su Chen's Azure Cable flared with brilliant light, compressed wind-elemental force sheathing its length, its destructive power terrifying.
CRACK!
The cable's tip detonated against Pan Yu's spine. He felt a flash of searing agony, and then — nothing below the waist.
"There's... another one?!"
His body swayed and crumpled. Hope drained from Pan Yu's eyes, replaced by raw frustration. With the last of his strength, he wrenched his head around.
Against the light, he could make out only a blurred silhouette — one that seemed to be massaging its temples.
But even without seeing the face, the faintly familiar outline was enough to make Pan Yu forget his agony.
Su Chen!
'I hadn't even made my move yet, and he came to kill ME?!'
In Pan Yu's fading pupils, he watched Su Chen bend down to pick up the fallen dagger, studying it with interest. Then everything went dark.
[Path of the Hunt target completed: 1]
[Shadow Dagger (2nd-tier): Forged from gray gold, possesses exceptional concealment properties.]
Hu Xiang was still frozen mid-charge, his throat bobbing. "A 2nd-tier... professional?"
Su Chen had already reached 2nd-tier — no wonder something had felt off.
"2nd-tier professionals are hard to kill." Su Chen couldn't help but sigh.
"Hard to kill? This was hard?" Hu Xiang stared at him as if he'd seen a ghost, then at the corpse on the floor. A gaping wound had been blasted through the center of Pan Yu's back. The sight sent a chill down his spine.
This had been his easiest same-tier kill ever. Su Chen had prepared high-powered lights in advance, mapped out the target's weaknesses precisely.
Working in tandem, they'd barely broken a sweat. They'd scarcely even made noise.
Hu Xiang suspected that the sheer force of Su Chen's final blow alone could have beaten Pan Yu to death without any help.
Still, Su Chen had let him strike first — ensuring a flawless kill. Or rather, delivering Pan Yu the deepest possible despair.
Hu Xiang was increasingly certain: his instinct hadn't been wrong. This man was a monster.
"What now?" Hu Xiang looked at the body on the floor, automatically deferring to Su Chen.
"Head out first. Leave this to me." Su Chen waved him off, then paused. "Actually — can you burn him to ash?"
"He was a 2nd-tier professional. My temperature isn't high enough for complete incineration — I can manage about down to a skeleton." Hu Xiang shook his head.
"A skeleton will do." Su Chen nodded, watching Hu Xiang slowly burn away Pan Yu's flesh. As Hu Xiang made ready to leave, he hesitated. "Can I ask you for something?"
"Go ahead." Su Chen's gaze swept over, expression neutral.
"You'll be heading to Yingfeng eventually. If possible... could you keep an eye out for any leads on a Mist Nightmare Bead?"
Hu Xiang's voice carried the cautious weight of a carefully measured plea.
Su Chen was quiet for a moment, then his lips curved. "No problem."
It might prove to be a promise without a payoff, but Hu Xiang exhaled with relief nonetheless and left with a glimmer of hope.
By now, only an hour or two remained until dawn.
"Plenty of time." Su Chen began disassembling the skeleton, placing each bone into his Storage Space one by one.
He hauled the compact safe from upstairs and shoved it in too, filling the dimensional pocket nearly to capacity.
Before Pan Yu's return, they'd already searched the entire house. Anything of value was likely inside this safe.
As for evidence linking Pan Yu to the Evil God cults — nothing had turned up.
'Hard to say how long this stays hidden... Hu Xiang has his wife's situation and Old Yuan's name keeping him in line. He shouldn't leak.'
By the first gray light of dawn, Su Chen was back at the Supervision Department.
'The Evil God cults can't operate in Nanfeng City forever. Besides, Yingfeng has already sent people. Something about this whole situation feels off — hopefully they'll stamp out these cults soon.'
'Pan Yu got too comfortable. His background had been investigated thoroughly, and with targeted preparation, he couldn't even put up a fight.' Su Chen reflected, growing more convinced that keeping a few cards hidden was critical for survival.
'Nice dagger. A 2nd-tier weapon paired with the Azure Cable could blindside enemies.'
Su Chen extended his hand. The dagger materialized. Blue wire tendrils crept from his sleeve, coiling around the hilt and animating the weapon like an extension of his own arm, spiraling around him.
With Pan Yu eliminated, the Evil God cult wouldn't confirm his death for a while. That should buy some breathing room.
'2nd-tier professionals are the backbone of Nanfeng City. Zhou Xian is under tight watch — he probably wouldn't dare act personally. I'm considerably safer now.'
"As for this safe..." Su Chen retrieved the elegant black-and-gold safe from his Storage Space. The material was sturdy, but no match for a 2nd-tier dagger. A little pressure was all it took to force it open.
"This is..." Su Chen's breath caught. The first things to greet his eyes were three vials of pink potion — Glazed Blood.
"This bastard had the premium stuff." Su Chen was genuinely surprised.
On second thought, Pan Yu had led a double life and operated in Nanfeng City for years. Getting his hands on two or three vials wasn't so outlandish.
"Much obliged for the donation." Su Chen pocketed them without a shred of guilt.
There were also ten crystals of white metal. Su Chen opened his wristband and spent a while searching through the database before confirming their identity.
"...Vault Brilliance Stone... repels fog even more effectively than Morning Star Stone... a commonly traded precious metal..." Su Chen weighed one in his palm. "Each piece is probably worth about five thousand gold."
"This guy must have been ready to bolt at any moment — converted all his savings into portable bullion." Su Chen was in a fine mood. This worked out perfectly; registered savings cards would have been useless to him.
"Murder and plunder — truly the fastest path to fortune." Su Chen stored everything away, marveling at the yield.
At the very bottom lay a sheaf of paper documents. Su Chen opened them and barely glanced down before his expression shifted:
[Special profession discovered — Believer of Black Buddha. Complete requirements to advance.]
[Believer of Black Buddha advancement requirement: harbor genuine reverence toward Black Buddha.]
[Believer of Black Buddha detects that the host holds no reverence for Black Buddha whatsoever. Enraged, it is attempting a Forced Advancement!]
"It's trying to force an advancement." Su Chen's face darkened. The panel had reacted too quickly — he'd barely scanned the document and it had already been registered.
But moments later, his expression relaxed.
[Sensing the Believer of Black Buddha's hostile intentions, the other professions have gathered around, eager to welcome this new friend with a thorough exchange of ideas — to help it see the error of its ways and turn over a new leaf...]
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