Chapter 438: Chapter 415: Who is Whose Prey?
"It’s a pair, a woman controlling poisons and a man using Gu techniques." Xiao Lin flexed his fingers without the slightest awkwardness. Looking back now, those two weren’t there to kill him, but merely to test him.
"Leave those two to me!" A look of pain flashed across Miao Shaoqing’s face, and Xiao Lin stared silently at him.
"Alright!"
Xiao Lin believed that Miao Shaoqing had an absolute reason to do so, or rather, he trusted that he knew more about these two’s identities than he did.
Miao Shaoqing, brought back from Miao Family Village, was someone he never bothered to understand deeply. Even in the Middle East, his presence was merely that of a partner, a trustworthy one at that. As for how someone from a mountain village could learn such professionally trained knowledge, he wasn’t interested.
"There’s a Master in the Liger Gang named Xu Ce." Lian leaned against the second-floor staircase, lazily fresh from a bath: "Leave this person to me."
Xiao Lin habitually raised his left eyebrow, staring displeased at Lian, who merely returned his gaze with a firm and uncompromising defiance. Finally, his gaze landed on Hua Qingyi: "Which one will you choose?"
"They’ve all been taken, only the main character is left. Would you let me have it?" Hua Qingyi took a sip of wine, evasively avoiding Xiao Lin’s anger.
"I’ll stay around the sister-in-law, acting as a guardian and chauffeur." After finding his place, Hua Qingyi’s mournful expression gave everyone goosebumps, as he knew this was a fight he couldn’t join.
"Action in three days!" As Lian said, these people wouldn’t just stop following because he said not to, so he couldn’t be bothered to say more.
Xu Ce sat uneasily, silently enduring Lion’s restless nature. Like him, the Duan siblings endured in silence as well.
Thud! Another person collapsed at their post. Lion strode forward, checking the man’s breath. He was dead. Lion winked excitedly at Duan Wen: "Your poison is indeed powerful, why are we unharmed?"
"The antidote was already placed in the boss’s tea." Duan Wen frowned again. At this rate, the entire building’s security would be dead by their own hands before the enemy even arrived.
"Is there an antidote to this poison?" Hearing the explanation, Lion clicked his tongue, holding the oil lamp in his hand. Smokeless, odorless, with such low heat but immense power, he couldn’t help but wonder if this woman’s heart was as black as these poisons.
"It’s only interesting if there’s no cure."
"It’s not an antidote specific to this poison, but a defensive medicine to prevent our own people from getting poisoned." Duan Wen explained. In the consensus privately reached by the three of them, they silently agreed that, as they said, surviving was most important.
"Hmm!" Lion nodded: "Check your emails in an hour."
"Brother!" Xu Ce called out, moving his lips several times before swallowing his words.
"You have one hour to leave. The people picking you up won’t wait a second longer. It’s up to you." Lion gave them a sinister smile. He crossed his legs, placing them on the coffee table. This was the thirty-third floor of the Liger Tower, one of Lion’s favorite spots. Most of the office time was spent here, accompanied by the aroma of tea.
"Do we need to prepare weapons?"
"This is what you came up with after thinking for so long?" This Xu Ce is quite interesting. Lion toyed with a small file on his nails, lifting his gaze, letting an expression uncharacteristic of a seventy-year-old fall on Xu Ce: "I don’t like firearms."
The thirty-third floor displayed a collection of Lion’s weapons, but unfortunately, they were mostly replicas. He didn’t know if they would be functional when needed. Lion drew a sword, it sang a clear note, well-crafted mimicry down to the whistling sound, no wonder ordinary people couldn’t tell the difference.
"The person has arrived at the street corner, your time is running out." Lion replaced the sword back to its place, sat back on the couch where Lion often lingered: "If you survive to the rendezvous point, I’d be happy to take you along."
"Can you tell us who you really are?" That’s what Xu Ce truly wanted to ask, though knowing or not knowing made no difference.
Lion pulled the corners of his mouth in what was unreadable as a smile or a cry. His eerie eyes were irreplaceable phantoms. Xu Ce lowered his head. To describe him was impossible; he didn’t even think this person was human. He withdrew his gaze before getting lost in the mesmerizing stretch, reining in his mind. Compared to Duan Li’s Gu techniques, this person was the true bewitchment.
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This will be your last battlefield. Standing on the top floor of the Liger Building, it’s not the tallest building in the Western Suburb, but the surrounding skyscrapers rise grandly. The Lion looks down at his feet, spreading his arms and raising his head for a moment to feel the raindrops falling from the sky, a cold smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
The looming sense of murder in the air slowly approaches him from the distant end of the street that stretches as far as the eye can see. Through his spread fingers, the gaps reveal the towering buildings and windblown rain shrinking into insignificance. The fugitives are bound to meet their deaths at the hunter’s muzzle. He pities those who wish to escape, struggling only to be ultimately buried beneath the earth.
He sincerely anticipates the expression of those fugitives when they open their emails in an hour, wondering how amusing it will be, foolishly outsmarted intellectuals.
This is the first rain of spring. Winter hasn’t completely retreated, the coldness still biting to the marrow, but it doesn’t compare to the thorough chill of this rain. Walking with an umbrella under this spring downpour.
A place in the Western Suburb that arouses envy!
Prosperous, dreamy, mysterious—this is the vista Lion created for the Western Suburb. Yet, behind it all are blackened dealings, filled with drugs, arms, and vice. Those who love it appreciate its convenience, while those who despise it loathe its concentration of depravity.
Under the umbrella, a black silhouette stands in the middle of the street. Raising his head, raindrops slide off the umbrella’s fabric onto his strands of hair, his pitch-black eyes fixated on the square building surrounded by skyscrapers in front.
He walked straightforwardly along the pavement, resolutely, without hesitation. The distance remained merely a fraction. He walked with a relaxed yet elegant grace—like a panther roaming the cliffs, proudly examining his prey before exposing his sharp claws, taunting before the chase.
Not all battles need a sensational opening act. He prefers the anxious patience and calm of waiting. It’s like a tug-of-war on a taut wire, testing endurance. A slight distraction, and one risks falling into the opponent’s rhythm, marking the beginning of total defeat.
Xiao Lin slows his pace even more. As the distance closes, he lowers his presence to the minimum. From the moment he entered the Western Suburb’s sphere of influence, this pace was subject to constant change. A terrifying dark aura envelops the city. It’s not his oversensitivity but a tangible realization of the ominous atmosphere.
Xiao Lin didn’t have the luxury to worry about others. Dividing his attention would only lead him into the opponent’s control. Such dominance and ruthlessness don’t belong to the Lion; he lacks the power to dictate Xiao Lin’s pace. The Liger Gang is indeed a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, huh!
Standing just a road away from the Liger Building, he waited at the traffic lights. The red light flashed, turning from yellow to green, then changing back to red.
The rain pattered densely on the umbrella. Xiao Lin mused sentimentally, perhaps the heavens didn’t want this battle to unfold—they wept for the moment.
Once again, the light turned green. Xiao Lin discarded his umbrella. After flipping over a couple of times, it hit the ground while his figure vanished through the revolving door of the Liger Building.
An empty reception, an empty hall, an empty revolving escalator! The spotless glass below was wiped clean by the cleaners; here stood a ghost town of utter desolation.
Quietly and silently, he passed the reception. He stared at the monitor for a long time, confirmed that it was no longer operating, then without hesitation entered the elevator to reach the twenty-fourth floor.
Security guards lay lifeless on the ground, appearing at intervals of every five steps. He crouched beside them, flipping their bodies. Dark red blood oozed from their seven orifices, already coagulated.
Xiao Lin stood up. The security guards had been dead for some time. He walked through the office area, finally taking the bottom elevator up to the topmost floor.
The sound of the elevator doors opening and closing is easily discernible in the silence. The Lion reclines on the sofa, puffing on tobacco, with freshly brewed strong tea in front of him. He waits for his guest, who, although slightly delayed, will inevitably reach his destination. Patiently, the Lion waits for this guest.
His tightly closed eyes opened before the elevator doors fully closed. Without those bothersome individuals, his speed increased significantly, though it lacked the fun of an opening act.
His ears subtly shifted with the faint sounds his feet made on the carpet, nearly inaudible. Almost undetectable, yet he could pick out some faint noise. He placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it, and pushed it in—all his actions carried out leisurely, with elegance that tempted him to scream.
How long had it been since he encountered such a worthy opponent? His entire being was electrified by the moment of entry, feeling his eyes filling with blood, the vision before him turning a shocking crimson—a flavor of blood. Rising from the couch, he reclined back again.
In just that brief moment, he nearly lost his rhythm, almost getting caught up in the rhythm of the man outside. Heh heh heh, a chilly laugh slipped past his lips and teeth.
Ka-da! The door handle turned, a crack, a gap, a distance, a silhouette!
A shadow not belonging to the blood-red hue stood silently outside the door. The blood ignited under that ghostly gaze remained a boundless red, reveling in this moment. As his prey entered his line of sight, the taut lines, the indifferent expression, and the eyes that merged with his own. (To be continued... If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)