Volume 2, Chapter 35: Fangs (Part 1)

As night fell, the forest became as dark and silent as death. Feeling her way along the tree trunks, she ran forward with the last of her strength.

Faint voices drifted from far away. They must be chasing that boy, but she knew that demon would stick to her like glue, never letting her go easily.

Every step sent a wave of pain through her body, yet she had to be careful, gritting her teeth, lifting and placing her feet lightly. She had to maintain speed and move with grace, her hands hidden in her wide sleeves because her fingernails had been broken. She couldn't let blood stain the ground.

For a ninja, any clue could be fatal.

The rigorous training she had endured was of limited use now. The torment, exhaustion, and hunger of the past few days surged forward during these few minutes of intense activity. Her head swam, and she could see nothing, indicating her vision was also impaired. In the past, she would have been able to see clearly in a forest like this.

Occasionally, her foot would slip, sending her stumbling towards the ground. At those moments, she could only lightly touch the ground with her sleeve, and then a bone-deep pain would shoot through her fingers.

And in reality, she was still just a child…

She wanted to sleep, to rest. Closing her eyes would lessen the pain, but no matter how desperately she yearned to sleep, she couldn't. Even though her vision was darkness…

Finally, at one moment, a faint light appeared ahead. She emerged from the edge of the forest, only to freeze in shock. Before her lay the vast, flowing expanse of a wide river. The great river flowed from here, through Jianghai City, and then rushed into the sea. With such a wide river, even in perfect health, she could never have crossed it.

Behind her, the forest remained. Standing there, she suddenly felt lost. Where… should she go?

If she entered the water now, her current condition would be agonizing, but after that, everything would be over. Her training had taught her that she couldn't give up her life as long as there was even a sliver of hope. But turning back… she knew she couldn't escape for long…

Staggering, she turned around twice, still undecided. Suddenly, a figure darted out from the nearby woods, holding that samurai sword. It was the person she was hiding from.

Abruptly, she ran towards the riverbank with all her might.

With the last of her life's strength—

With a snap, the old man caught up. The back of the samurai sword struck her left calf with force. She stumbled, about to fall onto the pebble-strewn riverbank. The old man's heart tightened, but he saw that Yuechi Xun still had some strength left. She pushed off with her right leg, staggering a few more steps forward, and then her right leg was struck again. Finally, she fell onto the riverbank.

"It's no use, Kaoru," the old man said softly, looking at the girl struggling to crawl on the riverbank. "Tell me the secret of Chiying Qianhuan, and I'll help you heal and let you go."

The girl didn't answer, stubbornly crawling forward.

"Don't you realize? The Yuechi family is in great crisis!" the old man said sternly. "The Yuechi clan has provoked Peiluojia. I know you've sought help from Takama-ga-hara, but what is Takama-ga-hara now? They call themselves Japan's oldest Evolved Ones alliance, but how many powerful Evolved Ones do they have now? They're not even as good as China's Yanhuang Awakening! Peiluojia is not like ordinary organizations. If they need to, they can mobilize half of the world's assassin forces. Just their Evolved Ones alone are far more numerous than Takama-ga-hara's. With those ill-mannered juniors like Ten'u Masanori, do you think you can counter Mishou Tsuka's ambition? At this time, only Europe's You'an Tianqin can help."

As he spoke, he seemed to become a bit neurotic. "I am right. Only I can save the Yuechi family, but you must first help me regain the position of family head… That was mine originally!"

If Jiaming had heard this conversation at this moment, he might have said that the old man's judgment was correct. Because in his original life, he met Yuechi Xun because he was undercover in the Yuechi family at the time. A few days after Yuechi Xun's suicide, Peiluojia began hunting the Yuechi clan. Later, most of Takama-ga-hara's members were wiped out by Peiluojia's esper team. At that time, if the Yuechi family had allied with Takama-ga-hara and also sought help from Europe's largest dark organization, You'an Tianqin, they could indeed have held out for a while.

As for the later battle between Peiluojia and You'an Tianqin, and the fact that when Jiaming encountered the Fire Phoenix, Peiluojia was fiercely fighting with China's Yanhuang Awakening, these… are not even considered later events, so there's no need to elaborate further.

The old man's roar seemed to startle Yuechi Xun. Then, she suddenly turned and threw a pebble at him. The old man dodged it, and the back of his sword struck the girl's carotid artery. Instantly, the girl's body went limp, and she fainted.

"I am right, I am right…" Facing the wide river, the old man muttered this phrase. After a long while, he grabbed the girl's body, slung it over his shoulder, and slowly walked back.

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As winter had essentially arrived, the sky quickly darkened after sunset. Lights came on in the small square. On the second floor of the two-story building, Cao Jinghao was making a phone call in a room.

"…I'm telling you, sign him quickly! Okay, okay, if he doesn't want that place, fine. Damn it, Monkey and the others haven't returned. That little boy must have been caught, but Liu Huaisha is in trouble. She's been practicing martial arts since she was a child, with good physical fitness, and she ran for ten more minutes. She might have already escaped."

"But there are hardly any cars passing by here at night, and no phones. It will probably take her one or two hours to get to the city to report it. Hurry up and finalize the deal. Tell them his daughter here ate something bad and has a terrible stomachache, but we can't do anything about it. I'm a gangster, how dare I go to the hospital… Once he's signed, he's ours. Anything else, like arguing or fighting, we'll deal with it tomorrow! Done!"

He hung up the phone and paced the room. Monkey's work was too sloppy. Even if they didn't catch the girl, they should have at least caught the boy and rescued Dongfeng. He should have called back. It's not like I didn't give him a mobile phone; he's always reluctant to use it…

Annoyed, he walked out of the room and stood on the second-floor balcony, looking down. Although most of the men were out searching, there should still be some people below. He turned to look at the room next door, where a few of his subordinates were playing cards.

"Erzi, where are A'ming and the others?"

"Oh, boss." A thug put down his cards. "A'ming and A'cheng are guarding the main gate. Aren't A'jian and A'chuan right below?"

"Below?" Cao Jinghao looked at the square, a bad premonition dawning in his heart. He said, "There's no one below. Something's not right. You guys look for A'jian and A'chuan. I'll call Monkey to check the situation."

He returned to his room and quickly dialed the phone number. Just as he pressed the last digit, several loud explosions echoed. He was startled, took a handgun from the drawer, and put it on him. Holding the phone, he quickly walked out. "What's going on? What's going on?"

At this moment, his subordinates hadn't come downstairs yet; they were all frozen on the balcony. Looking over, a small shed in the square had been completely destroyed, flames burning fiercely in the autumn night wind.

"Damn it, it's the garage. All our cars were blown up."

"I don't know how many people Liu Zheng sent. A'ming and A'cheng didn't even send a warning."

"Get your weapons…"

"Boss, quickly tell Monkey and the others to come back."

Chaos erupted. Four or five people rushed back into their rooms to get knives. Just then, the phone connected. Cao Jinghao spoke into it, "Monkey, what the hell is going on? It's fine if you couldn't catch that little girl, but hurry back. Liu Zheng is here…" As he said this, he froze on the spot.

A bloody head rolled out from a corner of the small square. In the dim light, a blurry figure held a mobile phone, facing them.

"Hmm, is the original owner of this brick called Monkey? I'm afraid he can't speak to you anymore. Although, at the moment of his death, he did seem to want to make a phone call to you."

"Who… are you…"

After asking this, a chill ran through Cao Jinghao's heart because he recognized the voice on the phone belonging to that child named Gu Jiaming.

"Who am I… Heh heh, to be precise, it's the meaning behind my current actions. That's the style of a very famous killer in the underworld – to lop off the heads of enemies and instill the greatest fear in them. Of course, you probably don't know who he is… Actually, it doesn't matter anymore…"