The 26th Chapter

Relying on his powerful lung capacity and the strength in his limbs gained from cultivating the Golden Bell Shield, Bai Lang moved quickly underwater. However, the Mekong River had a strong current and many hidden undertows. Bai Lang wasn't yet an expert swimmer, so it took him a little longer than he expected to swim under the ship's hull to the other side.

The enemy's speedboat was also moving, not stationary. What Bai Lang saw when he surfaced was that the speedboat was already five or six meters away. If they had continued at that speed, Bai Lang's swimming speed wouldn't have been enough to catch up. But due to the river's flow and poor visibility, the armed personnel didn't notice Bai Lang approaching.

This was normal. Even fishermen fishing on the river might not notice an approaching tiger and be attacked by it, let alone these men whose attention was focused on the cargo ship, their gunfire drowning out any other sounds. They were now preparing to board the ship under the cover of gunfire, so they had slowed down.

Bai Lang half-submerged and approached the speedboat. He paused for a breath, then his legs suddenly exerted force, and his entire upper body shot out of the water. He used his left hand to push off the boat's side, while his right hand, the Tiger Claw, grabbed the back of the nearest armed personnel. With the internal energy unleashed, the bulletproof vest the man wore was useless. Bai Lang's hand dug into his back, and using that momentum, he pulled himself onto the speedboat while simultaneously tearing downwards.

The scene was incredibly bloody. The Tiger Claw dug into the man's body, tearing his spine from his body. As Bai Lang's feet landed on the deck, he immediately engaged in close-quarters combat. The speedboat could only hold seven or eight people, and with the driver gone, there were only three armed personnel left. As the other two turned their guns, they were more likely to shoot each other than Bai Lang, especially if they kept their fingers on the triggers.

Once they stopped firing, it would take Bai Lang less than a second to deal with them. And indeed, it only took Bai Lang one second to kill all three of them. Including the one he killed when boarding, all four were dead. Bai Lang shouted to the cargo ship above, "We're leaving, it's safe. We'll part ways here."

He threw the three dead bodies into the water – the one whose spine had been torn out had already fallen in. He rinsed the deck with a bucket, collected the weapons, and drove the speedboat away. "After I leave, these people should finally have the courage to call the police."

That's exactly what happened. It had been over half an hour since Bai Lang left when the crew of Yuhua 3 finally dared to emerge from their hiding places. After inspecting the ship, they found they were lucky. Apart from holes in the hull and walls from gunshots, there was no further damage, and everyone was unharmed – except for two people who had minor cuts from shattered glass.

So, they quickly called the police. Just as Bai Lang had said, they were actually more experienced with these matters than Bai Lang. They had no trust in the Myanmar police, so they called the Yunnan police in China directly to report the incident. The ship then sped up, heading towards China as quickly as possible.

This was essentially an international case, and the Chinese police had to cooperate. After accepting the case, they naturally notified the Myanmar police immediately – though it was largely useless, as these areas were beyond the control of the central Myanmar government. Due to pressure from China, even though the incident occurred within Myanmar, the investigation was primarily led by the Chinese police.

People from both the Myanmar and Thai police arrived – there were casualties from both countries, and the case was quite clear. There were many witnesses, and they were all alive. Basically, the conclusions of the Myanmar and Thai police were similar: "We can't catch him, because we don't know where he went." As for the Chinese police, they simply added a lot of information to someone's file.

The deceased were all foreigners and criminals involved in trafficking addictive drugs. Frankly, the investigating officers also said, "Good riddance!" However, the perpetrator was also a troublemaker. This person had committed murder in China, though he also killed bad people. They had initially thought that since he had fled the country, as long as he didn't return, it would be the end of it. They hadn't expected him to cause such a major incident abroad.

"The noble warrior breaks the law; the ancients did not deceive me," sighed the expert from the Ministry of Public Security in charge. Half of the bodies were recovered, while the other half were missing and unrecoverable. The autopsy results confirmed the witnesses' accounts. This man named Bai Lang was truly as ferocious as a tiger, and he possessed martial arts that could only be described as miraculous.

Where in reality could one find martial artists who could tear people apart like paper, as in the movies? Anyone who could do that could no longer be called human, but rather a bipedal great cat. The situation was similar. The traces on the sunken and cargo ships proved this point. This person's strength had truly surpassed human limits.

The speedboat that was stolen was eventually found on a river on the border between China and Myanmar. The person on board, of course, had disappeared. A search spanning hundreds of kilometers around the location where the speedboat was found, after expending a large amount of manpower, was also declared a failure. Ultimately, the case could only be left unresolved – the only result was the dismantling of an armed gang trafficking illegal drugs within Myanmar.

Where did Bai Lang go? This would be a mystery that many would never solve.

After abandoning the boat, Bai Lang disguised himself and climbed onto another cargo ship to hide – with his skills, it was easy to avoid detection by the crew. Traveling downstream by ship, he switched vessels several times stealthily at night. While the police of the three countries were searching along the Mekong River, he had swaggered into Cambodia.

This was also a relatively chaotic country, but Bai Lang focused on his cultivation and didn't find it too troublesome.

A fortunate event occurred. The year after his escape, the Jade Fish transmitted a voice, "Charging complete, preparing to return!" Bai Lang was resting in his rented bamboo house when he heard this and cursed, "Didn't you say it would take ten years? It's only been the third year! And it's not even over yet! What's going on?"

Of course, the Jade Fish wouldn't answer. With Bai Lang's current martial arts prowess, he naturally didn't know what was happening. The Jade Fish's feeling was, "Are you bragging about me?" He was helpless against the Jade Fish. "Should I just throw this thing away after I transmigrate?" Bai Lang was seriously considering this.

As if alive, the Jade Fish leaped again, flicked its tail, and then, along with Bai Lang, vanished.