Playing a Part

Sun Shu's expression darkened. After thinking it over, he decided to let Chen Fei go for now. Pursuing him over such a long distance was too conspicuous, and with the Zhang Family's bounty on him now, he might end up getting caught.

But just as Sun Shu was about to stop, he suddenly noticed that Chen Fei, who was running ahead, had abruptly slowed down. Though he was still faster than ordinary Skin Tempering Realm, even Muscle Tempering Realm martial artists, his speed had entered a range Sun Shu could accept.

"Was that a secret technique just now?"

Sun Shu turned this over in his mind, feeling that this made much more sense. Otherwise, for a Skin Tempering Realm martial artist to possess movement technique speed that even a Bone Forging Realm martial artist like him lacked would have been utterly absurd.

"Kid, let's see where you can run to!"

Sun Shu sneered, his feet pounding the ground as he chased closely after him. In mere moments, the distance between them was cut in half. Only around twenty meters remained. At this rate, Sun Shu would catch Chen Fei within a few breaths.

As if he had sensed the pressure behind him, Chen Fei took the chance to glance back at Sun Shu. Seeing the gap between them constantly shrinking, his face turned pale with fright.

Seeing Chen Fei's expression, Sun Shu could not help revealing a vicious grin. He liked seeing others look like this, just like those lowly servants whose life and death lay entirely in his hands.

Seemingly driven by the pressure of death, when Sun Shu closed within a dozen meters, Chen Fei's movement technique actually grew a little faster, gradually widening the distance between them again.

"Struggling on the brink of death!"

Sun Shu sneered and flicked his right hand. A flash of cold light streaked out. Chen Fei's body swayed ahead as he dodged Sun Shu's hidden weapon, but his movement technique was affected, and the distance between them instantly narrowed back to a dozen meters.

Chen Fei ran with all his strength. His neck had turned bright red from the exertion, as though he would be exhausted and collapse by the roadside the very next moment.

Yet Chen Fei stubbornly held on. The distance between the two tugged back and forth between a dozen and twenty-odd meters. At their closest, they had nearly closed within ten meters.

But Chen Fei desperately pulled away every time, leaving Sun Shu unable to catch him.

Sun Shu gritted his teeth, the fury in his heart rising ever higher. In his eyes, killing Chen Fei should not have been much harder than killing a chick.

Yet Chen Fei's movement technique had startled Sun Shu somewhat. Later, he discovered it was a secret technique, and now only a tiny gap remained. But that tiny gap was like a heavenly chasm, impossible to cross.

How could Sun Shu not be burning with rage? He had even begun to lose his reason.

"No, this is too close to the Zhang Family!"

Sun Shu had been chasing Chen Fei to the point of frenzy. That tantalizing sensation of being on the verge of catching Chen Fei yet never quite reaching him had gone to his head. But upon noticing their surroundings, Sun Shu suddenly snapped awake.

A few hundred more meters, and they would reach the Zhang Family estate. Sun Shu might look high-spirited now, killing whoever he pleased. But if he truly entered the Zhang Family's territory, he would be the one to die.

He might not even be allowed to die easily. Being tortured first was inevitable.

Sun Shu abruptly stopped, casting Chen Fei a venomous glance as he prepared to withdraw. This place was too dangerous. No matter how badly he wanted to kill Chen Fei, he would not gamble with his own life.

"Hmm?"

Chen Fei, who was running ahead, noticed the lack of movement behind him and could not help looking back. He happened to see Sun Shu standing still, staring at him with a cold, sinister gaze.

Chen Fei twisted through the air and landed on an eave. With both hands braced against his knees, he bent over and panted heavily, as though he would faint from exhaustion at any moment.

"Consider yourself lucky. The next time we meet will be the day you die!"

Looking at Chen Fei's appearance, Sun Shu felt as though he could crush him to death with one hand, and he could not resist the urge to step forward. But after hesitating for a moment, Sun Shu turned and vanished into an alley.

Watching Sun Shu leave, Chen Fei's violent panting abruptly stopped, and he slowly straightened.

"Still fell a little short. Sun Shu is too cautious!"

His breathing was steady, and the skin that had reddened from intense exertion quickly returned to normal.

Yes, Chen Fei had faked all of it in order to lure Sun Shu to the Zhang Family estate. That was why he had acted the entire time, maintaining a certain distance from Sun Shu so that Sun Shu would get carried away and take the bait.

To make the act convincing, Chen Fei had even used the methods of the Disguise Technique to imitate it so realistically that he had fooled Sun Shu. But in the end, he had still come up a little short.

If they had gone another hundred meters or so, Chen Fei could have shouted, and Zhang Family guards would surely have rushed out. Then Sun Shu would have had no wings to fly away with. As things stood, it was somewhat regrettable.

In the end, Chen Fei's own strength was still lacking. Otherwise, he could have captured Sun Shu himself and claimed that hefty bounty.

"I'll go inform the Zhang Family. I should be able to get some reward silver."

After considering it, Chen Fei turned and continued running toward the Zhang Family estate.

A quarter of an hour later, several Zhang Family guards rushed out and pounced toward the place where Sun Shu had vanished. Chen Fei strolled out of the Zhang Family estate with a money pouch in hand.

The Zhang Family conducted themselves with dignity. A single piece of news about Sun Shu had earned him twenty taels of reward silver.

Chen Fei had originally wanted to find Zhang Sinan and ask about the Light Spirit Pill formula, but the sky was already dark. Going to find Zhang Sinan at this hour would likely get him thrown out.

Chen Fei circled through several alleys. When he emerged again, he had completely changed his appearance. A scar ran from the corner of his eye all the way to the corner of his mouth, making him look savage and sinister.

After putting on a face covering and a bamboo hat, Chen Fei appeared in the Dark market.

"These are this time's pills." Arriving at the stall, Chen Fei handed over the medicine bottle.

"The quality keeps getting better!"

The stall owner glanced at the pills in the bottle, and a smile appeared on his face. Although Chen Fei only came once every few days, he was reliably consistent, and his pills were of excellent quality, making them extremely easy to sell.

"Here is your money."

The stall owner counted out the silver and handed it to Chen Fei. With a smile, he said, "Our master is very satisfied with your pills and would like to make further arrangements with you."

"That can be discussed." Chen Fei nodded without refusing.

"Can you refine other kinds of pills? Revival Pills are quite good, but they are still rather cheap. If you can provide higher-grade pills, we can negotiate the price further."

"Light Spirit Pills?"

"Yes, Light Spirit Pills would be excellent. Even Floating Pills!" The stall owner fixed his gaze tightly on Chen Fei. "If you can provide either of these two kinds of pills, we can make further concessions on the price. You can even come to us if you have other troublesome matters!"

Chen Fei's brow twitched slightly. He rarely saw Floating Pills within the county, but there were still quite a few Light Spirit Pills. Why was the other party so eager for these two kinds of pills?

"I don't have the formula, and I've never refined them. If you can provide the formula, I can give it a try."

"You jest, sir. The Light Spirit Pill formula is manageable. Though it is not cheap, its price can be negotiated. But Floating Pills? In Pingyin County, who would ever put their formula up for sale?" The stall owner smiled and shook his head.