You Can't Outrun Me

What is going on?

Is this a coincidence or...

No, there aren't that many coincidences. This is definitely aimed at me!

Li Jinshui's expression tightened. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Yao Xiaona hadn't even found him, so who was Liu Daqiang to have such sharp intelligence?

The next moment, a thought struck him, making his scalp tingle. He whipped his head around to look at the security guard sitting behind the reception desk at the apartment entrance.

The man was looking down at his phone, but as if sensing Li Jinshui's gaze, he slowly looked up, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

"Damn it!"

Li Jinshui cursed under his breath.

I was even wearing a mask when I entered the apartment; how could I have been recognized?

"Li Jinshui, is it? Why are you leaving so soon after arriving? Captain Liu wanted to have a chat with you." The security guard stood up from his chair unhurriedly, his smile mocking.

"Cut the crap, what's your cultivation level?" Li Jinshui retreated calmly. The guy looked quite young, likely having graduated not long ago, so his strength shouldn't be anything extraordinary.

"Heh, a piece of trash who has only just entered the threshold of Stake Standing asking others about their strength—that's the real joke."

The security guard sneered and whipped out the riot control fork in his hand, his blood energy already surging. "My Stake Standing is nearing proficiency, and my Basic Staff Technique has long since entered the threshold. I am practically a half-step second-rate expert. What do you have to..."

"Oh, then you can't outrun me." Li Jinshui interrupted his posturing without hesitation and bolted.

Like an arrow released from a bow, he darted out the entrance, leaped down the steps, and dove into the intricate maze of small alleys behind the apartment building.

At that moment, Liu Daqiang, who had just crossed the street, saw Li Jinshui fleeing and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He roared, "That's the brat! Don't let him get away, chase him!"

The group immediately picked up speed and sprinted forward.

The young security guard from the apartment building also happened to chase out and saw Liu Daqiang. "Brother Liu, that kid is too alert; he spotted me."

"It's fine. We have the numbers. Split up and chase him; we'll corner him inside."

Liu Daqiang waved his hand, and the men immediately scattered, flanking from all directions of the alleyway.

Deep within the alley district, the paths became increasingly narrow.

There was no surveillance here, and the alleys were interconnected; one wrong move could lead to an ambush around any corner.

Li Jinshui didn't run aimlessly; he locked onto one direction and ran for his life.

Thanks to using the medicinal power in the training room earlier to familiarize himself with the tricks of lightness skills, his success rate in executing them had improved slightly.

Mastering these martial arts was like a right-handed person being forced to use their left; it was bound to be clumsy. Furthermore, he had to maintain complex breathing patterns while moving at high speeds, making it even easier to make mistakes.

Li Jinshui was in exactly that state. His Basic Lightness Skill hadn't reached the entry level yet, so he ran like a game character with lag—sometimes darting forward seven or eight meters with fluid grace, other times tripping over his own feet and slamming into a wall.

However, his overall speed was already faster than a normal sprint.

Although this consumed a significant amount of blood energy and stamina, the good news was that Heaven Rewards Diligence was responding.

<strong>[Persisting in training while escaping a dangerous situation, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Lightness Skill +2]</strong>

Almost every few minutes, Heaven Rewards Diligence provided feedback.

What a great environment for training!

It almost made Li Jinshui reluctant to leave, but the situation was dire; if he didn't run, he would die.

That old bastard Liu Daqiang was too petty. If he got cornered in these alleys, there would be no way out.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, as Li Jinshui rushed out of an alleyway, a figure happened to dart past the end of another alley ahead.

Li Jinshui slammed on the brakes, and the figure retreated back, their gaze instantly locking onto him.

"Found him! He's here, come quickly!" the person shouted at the top of their lungs.

It was the young security guard from the apartment building.

He worked here year-round and knew the local terrain like the back of his hand; he had taken a shortcut to get ahead of Li Jinshui.

"Li Jinshui, stop running. You can't escape."

In the narrow alley, the security guard grinned hideously. He rotated his hands, the riot control fork gleaming with a cold, lethal light as it pointed directly at Li Jinshui.

"Screw your mother!"

Li Jinshui's chest heaved violently as he gasped for air and charged toward an alley on the other side.

The situation was much worse than he had anticipated; he had to break out of the encirclement immediately, or he would surely die.

But the security guard clearly knew the terrain well. If he kept running like this, it was only a matter of time before they surrounded him. He needed to find a way to break the deadlock.

There was no panic on Li Jinshui's face. As he ran at top speed, he occasionally looked up at the tops of the alleys, a look of extreme, cold calm flashing in his eyes.

He glanced back; the security guard wasn't chasing from behind, clearly taking another shortcut to intercept him.

If he turned back now...

No! This is exactly what they want.

Liu Daqiang and his lackeys must be closing in from behind right now. If I run back, the apartment security guard will also circle around, effectively tightening the encirclement.

"Heh, you have the advantage of knowing the terrain, but I have an information advantage too!"

Li Jinshui did not retreat; he accelerated and charged forward.

At the same time, outside the exit at the end of the alley, the apartment security guard had already silently circled around from another path.

"Heh, the cat-and-mouse game can end now!"

A flash of contempt crossed his eyes as he stood against the wall in the blind spot at the alley entrance, keeping out of sight.

Listening to the hurried footsteps echoing in the alley, he slowly raised the riot control fork in his hands, waiting like a rabbit for the snare.

Soon, the footsteps grew closer.

The young security guard held his breath, judging the distance by the sound.

"Now!"

The footsteps were right upon him. He lunged forward, flashing to the alley entrance. The power of his blood and qi surged into the riot control fork, which he raised high and brought down with a whistling sound that tore through the air.

"What? Where is he?"

The fork missed, slamming heavily into the empty ground and sending a shower of sparks flying.

The expression on the guard's face froze instantly; the alley before him was completely empty!

Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, a faint sound of air being pierced came from directly above!

The guard suddenly realized what was happening, his face changing drastically. It was too late to react; his eyes could only roll upward in instinctive terror.

In his line of sight, Li Jinshui was descending from mid-air like a flapping wild goose.

"Can you block this straight punch of mine, which rivals a second-rate expert, you bastard?"

Li Jinshui's blood and qi surged and boiled, his Small Heavenly Circuit pushed to the limit. The massive power of his blood and qi instantly condensed into his right arm, and he smashed his fist down with all his might!

No technique, no frills—just pure, blood-and-qi-enhanced, extreme, violent force!

"Bang—!"

A dull, heavy thud echoed through the alley.

The fist, like a heavy hammer, slammed into the top of the young security guard's head. His skull collapsed visibly in an instant.

The expression on the guard's face shifted from dullness to terror, and finally, his eyes quickly lost their luster. Crimson blood flowed from his nose and mouth as he fell straight backward, dying on the spot!

Those eyes, wide open in death, seemed to hold lingering confusion. Wasn't it said that his Stake Standing was only just at the entry level? Why did the blood and qi power of that punch truly rival a second-rate martial artist!

"I told you, if you can't outrun me, you can't outrun me. Because Lightness Skill isn't just for running—it's for flying, you idiot!"

Li Jinshui panted, shaking his wrist and taking deep, slow breaths. "What a hearty, exhilarating alley fight!"

He immediately crouched down and began searching the guard's corpse.

Mobile phone, wallet, necklace—he took it all.

The riot control fork... forget it, it's too conspicuous and hard to sell.

The security uniform was worth a few hundred, but time was tight; there was no time to strip it off.

"Retreat!"

Li Jinshui's movements were clean and efficient. Once he had the items, he took off running.

In his mind, the feedback from Heaven Rewards Diligence was still flickering with light.

[Killed an enemy with Lightness Skill while fleeing, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Lightness Skill +30]

[Killed an enemy with a single punch while fleeing, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Fist Technique +30 (Technique not yet learned)]