"Scared?"
The man smiled.
"You'll die if you run. Taking the institute's research files will get you killed too."
"But here's the thing."
"In the first case, you're the only one who dies."
"In the second, everyone who's seen the files—or might have seen them—will die."
"The institute never bothers with evidence."
"Of course... stay here and you'll die too. Sooner or later."
"So."
"You're dead either way."
"What's there to fear?"
The man clearly wasn't very good at comforting people, but his words were brutally honest.
That's right.
I'm dead either way.
Stick my neck out and get it chopped off. Keep it tucked in and get it chopped off anyway.
What's there to be afraid of?
"Your only chance is to take those files to a Top Faction. Even a first-rate faction won't be able to protect you."
"Of course."
"A Top Faction might not care whether you live or die either."
"They could take the files and leave you to fend for yourself."
"But still."
"You have to take a gamble."
"A few factions do keep their word, especially Tianyu Ancient Village, which has a keen interest in the underworld."
The man smiled as he spoke.
That's exactly where I was planning to go, Xu Yanxing thought.
But aloud, he said:
"What if the ancient village is involved with this institute too? Wouldn't going to them be walking straight into a trap? Besides, you said only a Top Faction could protect me."
"Tianyu is powerful, but it can't compare to Taoqiu or the Guangming Society, can it?"
A faction qualified as a Top Faction in one of two ways.
It either had a Half-God, making it one of the most terrifying factions—the true pinnacle of the entire supernatural hierarchy.
Or it possessed a taboo weapon and several