The Killing Begins

The moment Lu Yan's name was spoken, Li Zhaoheng immediately felt the icy chill in the room vanish, warmth spreading through his entire body.

Thinking he had escaped disaster, Li Zhaoheng was about to speak when he suddenly saw the silent Vengeful Soul extend a nearly transparent hand toward him.

Without any obstruction, the hand passed through his body and seized Li Zhaoheng's beating heart.

The Vengeful Soul clenched its five fingers fiercely. Li Zhaoheng felt his mind tremble as his heart stopped beating in that instant, the vitality throughout his body rapidly draining away.

"You... you..."

The light in his eyes went out. Li Zhaoheng collapsed onto the bed, his life completely extinguished.

In a restaurant three hundred meters from Li Zhaoheng's home, Lu Yan was eating dinner.

It was already past nine at night. There were not many customers in the restaurant, which was about to close, and naturally no one noticed Lu Yan's dark, unfathomable eyes.

After confirming Li Zhaoheng's home address, Lu Yan had waited in this restaurant for him to return home, intending to use the Vengeful Soul to threaten him for information about the person behind it all.

At first, Lu Yan had not intended to kill Li Zhaoheng. After all, the man was a Police Station chief, and killing him rashly would drag in even more trouble.

As long as he got Gongyang Xuanming's information and address, the task would be complete.

Even if Lu Yan later controlled the Vengeful Soul to kill Gongyang Xuanming, Li Zhaoheng would only believe it was the Vengeful Soul taking revenge and would never dare make a fuss.

But Lu Yan had never expected Gongyang Xuanming to have set his sights on him, or to want to use Li Zhaoheng's position as chief to investigate his information.

Li Zhaoheng knowing about the Vengeful Soul did not matter to Lu Yan, but once Lu Yan himself was implicated, he would become a suspect the moment Gongyang Xuanming died. After returning to the Xianxia Version, he would inevitably face enormous trouble.

So Lu Yan decisively ordered the Vengeful Soul to silence Li Zhaoheng.

Beneath the night sky, no one could see a Vengeful Soul pass through the walls and enter the restaurant, a struggling soul clutched in its hand.

Lu Yan expressionlessly glanced at the soul. Just then, a Little Golden Retriever ran up to his table, constantly wagging its tail at Lu Yan's feet.

Lu Yan picked up a piece of meat and offered it to the Little Golden Retriever.

"Eat!"

The Little Golden Retriever happily swallowed it in one bite, while beside Lu Yan, the Vengeful Soul eagerly swallowed Li Zhaoheng's soul as well.

After doing all that, Lu Yan set down his bowl and chopsticks, paid the bill, and left the restaurant.

He clearly realized that Gongyang Xuanming had begun targeting him. Revenge could no longer be delayed.

The longer he waited, the more likely others would learn of his existence.

He waved down a taxi.

"Maple Orchid Grand Hotel."

Maple Orchid Grand Hotel was one of Luo City's two most famous five-star hotels, located in the city's most prosperous district.

Outside the hotel entrance, Lu Yan stepped out of the taxi but did not head into the hotel immediately.

He merely cast a sidelong glance at the magnificent building before turning toward the large shopping mall beside it.

No one knew that, during Lu Yan's brief pause, three Vengeful Souls silently flew toward the hotel.

According to Li Zhaoheng, Gongyang Xuanming was no ordinary man. The three Vengeful Souls flew directly toward the presidential suite on the highest floor.

Lu Yan casually bought and put on a pair of sunglasses in the mall. Then his deep eyes shifted into the Vengeful Souls' perspective.

The presidential suite of Blue Maple Grand Hotel occupied the entire top floor, its corridors lined with bodyguards dressed in black suits.

Inside the room, Gongyang Xuanming was reclining on the sofa.

Gongyang Xuanming looked no older than his twenties. Dressed in a white suit, he was handsome and carried an extraordinary air.

The instant Lu Yan saw Gongyang Xuanming, he confirmed that the Demonic Path Cultivator behind Steward Chu was this young man before him.

Because he had seen Gongyang Xuanming at the Spirit Talisman Shop before!

Not long after Lu Yan had entered the Spirit Talisman Shop, Gongyang Xuanming had claimed to be a Rogue Cultivator seeking to discuss a major deal with Steward Chu.

It was the first time Lu Yan had seen the arrogant Steward Chu reveal such humility, personally inviting Gongyang Xuanming into the back courtyard.

Thinking about it now, Gongyang Xuanming had gone to the Spirit Talisman Shop to personally inspect the Soul Banner's progress.

Gongyang Xuanming lounged lazily on the sofa while a middle-aged man before him reported on the deal involving Li Zhaoheng.

Gongyang Xuanming waved a hand, interrupting the middle-aged man's report. In a casual tone, he said:

"Li Zhaoheng is nothing more than a minor character. If we can find that fellow named Lu Yan, it would not hurt to invest in him.

"But if we cannot find him, deal with him as soon as possible!"

"Compared to him, I am more curious about that fellow named Lu Yan."

"We carefully examined those corpses and confirmed that Lu Yan's body was not among them. He must have been the one who set the Underground Factory ablaze.

"We thought he would report the matter to the authorities, but instead he took the initiative to burn down the Underground Factory, saving us a great deal of trouble. What an incurable fool."

The middle-aged man also furrowed his brow, his expression puzzled. "With Chu Hao's skills, ordinary people would not have been his match.

"Not to mention that those sent to the Underground Factory had all been secretly injected with the drug. They should have had no chance to resist at all."

"But judging by the marks on the charred corpse, Chu Hao's head had been smashed apart by someone's fists. It is difficult to imagine Lu Yan being capable of that."

Gongyang Xuanming sneered. "No matter how well he can fight, he is ultimately just an ordinary person.

"Once we find his trail, a single gun will be enough to deal with him easily. We can interrogate him afterward."

At that moment, the lights in the presidential suite suddenly went out.

Gongyang Xuanming immediately frowned and demanded in a low voice:

"Send someone to ask the hotel."

"Yes!"

Using the light outside, the middle-aged man walked toward the door. Just as he reached out to open it, a heavy object crashed hard onto the ground.

Bang!

As the heavy object fell, an icy aura began to spread, instantly shrouding the presidential suite.

"What is this?"

The middle-aged man's pupils suddenly contracted. As the door opened, he could clearly see that the person lying on the floor was a powerfully built bodyguard.

"Danger—"

The middle-aged man was about to speak when he felt an invisible, icy hand clamp tightly around his throat, lifting him inch by inch from the ground. He tried to struggle, yet there was nothing before his eyes.

The middle-aged man felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. The freezing aura spread through his body, stripping vitality from his flesh bit by bit.

In only an instant, his struggling hands fell limp, and all life utterly dissipated.

In the corridor outside the presidential suite, more than ten bodyguards had already fallen to the ground, their lives extinguished. Many had immediately reached for the guns at their waists, yet did not even get the chance to draw them.

The middle-aged man's suspended body slammed heavily onto the floor. In the darkness, three invisible Vengeful Souls revealed humanoid outlines, all staring at the trembling Gongyang Xuanming on the sofa.

"Your turn!"