A Complete Failure

A Complete Failure

"Could that wanted criminal named Wang Kui be in this building?"

By then, Li Yi had already slipped silently into the old residential building.

The building stood directly across from his home. Although he couldn't see into his own house from its windows, he could take in everything happening inside the residential compound. He could also observe anyone entering or leaving the compound or the residential buildings, making it an excellent vantage point.

Naturally, it was also an excellent sniping position.

As long as Li Yi entered and left normally, he would definitely be spotted by Wang Kui, who was hiding somewhere nearby.

However, Li Yi deliberately refused to take the usual route. Relying on his familiarity with the terrain around his home, he avoided every observation point along the way.

"My home is on the third floor. If he really wants to snipe me, he'll definitely choose a position higher than my floor. This residential building is only seven stories tall, so he's very likely to be hiding on the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh floor."

"Considering the line of sight, 402, 502, 602, and 702—the eastern-end units—can be ruled out."

Li Yi cautiously and swiftly crept up the stairs, analyzing the situation in his mind.

He had learned this trick from Brother Tao in the Danger Zone.

"Kong Sheng said earlier that Wang Kui is a wanted criminal who can't afford to show his face. He also killed an investigator, so he must have chosen an escape route in advance. Among those floors, which unit would be the most convenient for escaping?"

Li Yi began recalling the layout in his mind.

He had lived here for many years and knew the residential buildings in the area like the back of his hand.

Soon.

Li Yi narrowed it down to two floors.

601 and 701.

These two floors were nearly perfect. They offered convenient observation points and an easy escape route from the rooftop.

As for which unit Wang Kui was hiding in, Li Yi didn't know.

He figured he could try his luck.

But he was extremely cautious.

Li Yi remembered very clearly that his opponent had a gun designed to deal with Extraordinary Creatures. Its power was astonishing—any cultivator hit by it would certainly die from a single shot.

At the same time.

Inside a dim, dilapidated room.

A tall man crouched by the window, gripping a special-model Sniper Rifle. His breathing was steady, and his gaze was razor-sharp as he watched every movement outside through the scope.

He had seen Ning Wu appear on the third floor of the building opposite.

A violent struggle had taken place there earlier, followed by complete silence. Only Kong Sheng had entered and left the place. Apart from him, no one knew what had happened inside.

The mission target, Li Yi, had not appeared in his field of vision either.

"Ning Wu, I'll say it again: you came to me for this. Whether I fire this shot or not, the price is the same. If you're thinking of welching on the payment, I'll blow your brains out right now." Wang Kui's hoarse voice came through the radio, warning Ning Wu not to suddenly disappear.

"I know. I won't short you. Keep a close eye outside. The moment Li Yi appears, kill him immediately. If you let him escape, I won't let you off either." Ning Wu's icy voice sounded through the radio.

Wang Kui said, "Relax. The moment that Li Yi dares show his face, I'll fire. But you should worry about yourself instead. Your people seem to have suffered heavy losses."

At that point, he suddenly stopped.

Then Wang Kui seemed to notice something. He spun around at once, aiming the Sniper Rifle in his hands straight at the entrance door behind him.

The surroundings instantly fell silent. Not the slightest sound could be heard.

"Was that just an illusion?" Wang Kui frowned slightly.

Just now, he had instinctively sensed a trace of unease and danger.

Although he was not in the Spirit Medium Realm and couldn't sense everything around him with his eyes closed, as a wanted criminal who had hidden in the Ruined City, he possessed an innate, keen instinct for danger.

And Wang Kui had always trusted that instinct.

As time passed, bit by bit.

Wang Kui maintained the same posture. His muzzle remained trained on the doorway, and he did not relax simply because everything seemed normal. He knew all too well that he had many enemies. Entering the Old Town District this time was not merely a matter of taking on a mission—old enemies might also use the opportunity to come after him.

Suddenly.

The shadow beneath the crack of the door shifted slightly, as if someone had just passed outside.

The instant he caught that change.

Wang Kui pulled the trigger without hesitation.

He had more than a dozen lives on his back and didn't care in the slightest whether he might accidentally injure an ordinary resident in the building.

"Boom!"

The gunshot roared like an explosion, deafening everyone nearby. Even a cultivator who had entered the Spirit Medium Realm, like Wang Kui, couldn't withstand the tremendous recoil. His body jolted violently, and he was forced to stagger one step backward.

A firearm like this was simply not something ordinary people could use. Faced with such recoil, an ordinary person would suffer broken bones on the spot. Only cultivators whose bodies had undergone evolution could endure it.

Yet that terrifying recoil also granted the weapon terrifying power.

In an instant.

The entrance door shattered completely. The wall opposite exploded open, leaving a huge breach, while the bullet pierced through who-knew-how-many walls before finally vanishing from sight.

Screams and cries of alarm erupted inside the residential building. Many people hiding in their homes were frightened out of their wits by this sudden calamity that had fallen from nowhere.

"No one?"

Wang Kui stared at the empty space beyond the shattered doorway, his expression darkening.

Could he really have been imagining things?

"Wang Kui, what happened over there? Why did you suddenly fire? Did you kill Li Yi?" Ning Wu's voice came through the radio.

The gunshot had been so loud that it could be heard even from several kilometers away. Ning Wu, in the opposite building, couldn't help wanting to curse.

"No. That shot wasn't aimed at Li Yi. Something might be going on here, but it has nothing to do with you." Wang Kui answered.

"Nothing to do with me?" Ning Wu immediately began cursing. "The moment that gun went off, the Investigation Bureau will come rushing over. Your identity has also been exposed, and Li Yi probably heard that gunshot and has been alerted. You call that nothing to do with me? Bastard!"

She was furious—so furious she wished she could kill Wang Kui right then and there.

After all, this matter concerned a supernatural item.

She had paid such a heavy price. If the operation failed, she would truly go mad.

"My task was only to keep watch on Li Yi here. Whether you succeed or fail has nothing to do with me. Don't get so full of yourself. But you're right—the moment that gun went off, this place became unsafe. I'm heading back to the Ruined City. You'd better send someone to deliver the money before midnight tonight. Otherwise, I won't let you off."

With that, Wang Kui tossed aside the radio, slung the Sniper Rifle over his back, and prepared to leave.

However, just as Wang Kui finished gathering his things.

Suddenly.

A figure appeared inside the room.

Huh?

Wang Kui reacted instantly. He turned and drew his gun, his movements practiced and clean.

But he was too slow.

All he heard was a crisp explosive crack by his ear. In an instant, the figure had closed the distance and appeared right before him.

Only then did Wang Kui get a clear look at the person's appearance.

It was a young man, around twenty years old. His entire body was spattered with blood, his eyes glowing faintly, and a terrifying killing intent radiating from him.

"Li Yi." Information about Li Yi instantly surfaced in his mind.

"Damn it, there's no time."

Wang Kui's pupils abruptly contracted. He saw a fist hurtling toward him. He had been a step too slow, and there was no time to adjust the muzzle, but with his wealth of experience, he immediately raised the gun in his hands to block in front of him.

"Bang!"

The punch exploded with force, and energy erupted.

Wang Kui felt a tremendous power strike his chest. That force passed through the firearm before him and penetrated deep into his bones, sending piercing pain through his body.

He staggered backward again and again, but at least he had blocked that fatal blow.

"Seeking death!" Wang Kui roared. The muzzle had finished adjusting and was already aimed forward.

But Li Yi had no intention of dodging. His first punch had missed, yet he pressed in close again and threw another punch.

At a distance of three steps, a fist was faster than a gun.

The Punch Force of the second strike erupted, heading straight for Wang Kui's face.

"Bang!"

Li Yi's fist landed.

Wang Kui's body instantly froze in place, utterly motionless. The finger resting on the trigger could no longer pull it.

Li Yi's fist had already punched into his head.

Blood sprayed, and shattered bone flew everywhere.

"Although you were vigilant enough, you still gave me an opening in the end." Li Yi's gaze was cold. He slowly withdrew his fist, seized the deadly Sniper Rifle, and then gave Wang Kui a shove.

Wang Kui, his head shattered, crashed heavily to the floor and never breathed again.

Only after removing the final hidden threat did Li Yi finally let out a slight breath of relief.

Then he examined the body of the gun.

He didn't know what metal it had been forged from. His full-strength punch had not left the slightest mark on it; instead, the impact had cracked the bones in his fingers, which now throbbed with pain.

If the weapon had not blocked him, his first punch would already have finished Wang Kui.

"Still, that shot was truly terrifying. Anyone hit by it would undoubtedly die—there wouldn't be the slightest chance of surviving. No wonder this thing was developed specifically to hunt Extraordinary Creatures. Fortunately, Kong Sheng gave me the intelligence, allowing me to prepare in advance and deliberately lure him into firing."

Li Yi stared at the firearm for a long while. His eyes shifted slightly. The first thought that occurred to him was that he could use the gun to kill Ning Wu, but he abandoned the idea as soon as it arose.

The reason was simple: he was a novice, and this was his first time handling a gun. If he tried to shoot Ning Wu and missed, she would likely hide inside the building and refuse to come out. Moreover, his parents were still sleeping inside the building. If Ning Wu took them hostage, things would become troublesome.

Besides, killing someone with a gun would bring a great deal of trouble.

He simply found a place nearby and hid the gun there.

If everything ended smoothly, he might be able to use it someday.

Of course, the investigators who came rushing over afterward might discover it, but that didn't matter. Li Yi had only been trying his luck.

However, while hiding the gun, Li Yi realized something. He also found a place to hide the supernatural item he was carrying, lest it be exposed during the coming fight and bring unnecessary trouble.

At the same time, Ning Wu, inside another building, had already sensed that something was wrong.

She had seen the corpses covering the floor of Li Yi's home. They were all cultivators she had hired. Two of them were even her relatives. Even Old Crow's corpse was among them.

But among all those corpses, the only one missing was Li Yi's.

"Damn it, how did things turn out like this?"

Ning Wu was about to go mad.

Everyone was dead, the target had escaped, she hadn't obtained the supernatural item, and Wang Kui had run into trouble at this exact moment, firing a shot for no reason. Before long, the Investigation Bureau would arrive.

It could be said that this operation had been a complete and utter failure.

But why? Why had it failed?

Seven cultivators in the Spirit Medium Realm had surrounded and killed Li Yi, with her guarding the operation and a Sniper Rifle lying in wait outside the building.

That kind of lineup would have been enough to hunt an ordinary Extraordinary Creature in the Danger Zone. There was no way Li Yi could have survived.

And yet, somehow, everything had gone wrong.