He should be completely dead, right?
Zhang Ping watched the masked man's battered corpse from afar and muttered to himself.
He was genuinely afraid.
The masked man's attack had nearly cost him his life.
In truth, the Electric Eel Snake Venom the masked man had placed such high hopes on had been utterly ineffective against him. Although water itself was an electrolyte, electrolysis was slow, and the current had done relatively limited damage to him. What had truly threatened him was the high temperature caused by the dagger shorting out and heating up.
The massive amount of steam that had risen from his body at the time was the best proof.
Fortunately, the Changsha River lay east of Mingzhu City, so the air was quite humid at night. In addition, the water vapor evaporating from his own body increased the humidity in the air. Between the two, he had been injured, but not completely injured.
At that moment, he glanced at the masked man and confirmed that he was not moving. He quickly took out a bucket of water from the Golden Treasury and poured it over his head. The Pure Water Body, which had been reduced to only a small lump, rapidly absorbed the water and gradually swelled until it returned to its original size.
He put away the bucket, skirted widely around the masked man, then bent down and picked up the Fear War Scythe from the ground.
"Is he really dead?"
Holding the war scythe, Zhang Ping looked at the masked man again and wondered uncertainly.
He deliberately exposed two openings, but the masked man still lay face-down on the ground without moving.
Even so, he did not dare approach the masked man. Instead, he cautiously condensed a Nethermist Flying Knife and shot it over.
Pfft!
The masked man was struck by another knife, yet he still lay motionless on the ground.
This man seemed to know no fear. From beginning to end, he had not revealed the slightest trace of fear.
Zhang Ping could not determine whether he was still alive through his emotions, so after considering it, he threw another Nethermist Flying Knife from afar. This knife landed right on the masked man's butt.
"Enough... kill me. Give me a quick death," the masked man said with difficulty, his body trembling slightly.
Zhang Ping was genuinely startled. "Holy shit, you're still alive!"
He was merely cautious. Deep down, he had not believed the masked man could survive injuries like these.
Yet the masked man really was still alive. It was terrifying.
The vitality of an Awakened was too tenacious.
At that moment, Zhang Ping gained a new understanding of Awakened. He could not treat them like ordinary people. Whether in terms of superpowers or lifeforms, Awakened were beings beyond everything he had previously known.
He returned to his flesh-and-blood form, and a ball of flame appeared in his hand. As he consumed the flame to restore his strength, he observed the masked man's condition.
In fact, the masked man's body was already like a tattered sack. He was covered in wounds from head to toe, and blood had spilled all over the ground. A normal person could never have survived in his condition.
"Hmph. I never thought I'd fall into the hands of a coward like you," the masked man said disdainfully as he struggled to open his eyes and look at Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping had no intention of talking to the masked man. He knew perfectly well that he would not be able to get any information out of him.
Not only did he not move forward, he took several more steps back before condensing a Nethermist Flying Knife and shooting it toward the masked man's vital point.
The masked man laboriously raised a hand to block the flying knife, then let out a deep sigh.
"You're really cautious. You look like a rookie, yet you just won't fall for the bait."
The masked man gave a bitter smile. The next moment, he smashed the ring on his index finger with all his strength.
Danger!
In an instant, Zhang Ping's hair stood on end. He rapidly retreated as Nether Mist completely enveloped him.
Most of the time, he relied on the Pure Water Body's ability to ignore most attacks, so he never used up Nether Mist for defense. In his view, using Nether Mist defensively was a waste.
But now, he did not care whether it was wasteful. He needed to withstand this attack first.
Boom!
A thunderous roar rang out.
A dazzling bolt of lightning descended from the sky, and the entire street began to shake violently.
The masked man was at the center of the lightning strike. His body rapidly turned to ash within the lightning, while the surrounding houses were also affected. Every window shattered, and many sleeping residents woke with terrified screams.
The temperature along the entire street rapidly rose. Zhang Ping frantically retreated as the mist enveloping his body was continuously consumed.
Ten seconds later, the lightning vanished. The entire alley had collapsed into a massive pit, obvious cracks had appeared in the walls of the surrounding houses, and the air was filled with the scent of ozone.
The Nether Mist instantly transformed into a black cloak. Zhang Ping hovered uncertainly over the roof of a house, staring at the lightning-struck street as his heart pounded violently.
[So that's how it is. Rather than acting on the target, it changes the surrounding environment and obscures the vision of my Moonfolk. What a clever idea.]
Not good.
His ears twitched slightly, and he immediately looked toward the City Lord's Manor. The commotion was too great. The Heavenly Fox had been alerted.
"Sisi, retreat now! The Heavenly Fox is coming out!" He quickly took out his badge and contacted Liu Sishan.
Without waiting for Liu Sishan's response, he put away the badge, turned around, and fled.
Ten seconds earlier, City Lord's Manor.
Prince Yue leaped out of a window and stared in the direction where the lightning had fallen. Even with the light barrier obstructing it, he could still sense the fluctuations of that lightning.
"So that's how it is. Rather than acting on the target, it changes the surrounding environment and obscures the vision of my Moonfolk. What a clever idea," Prince Yue said slowly, narrowing his long, narrow fox eyes.
The next moment, his eyes widened sharply. The tails behind him rapidly grew longer, then branched and branched again. Countless tails spread throughout the city like an impenetrable net.
Those tails slowly drooped down, and crimson eyes opened one by one upon them.
Cleanup Team headquarters,
Inside the barrier room, a girl dressed in camouflage sat in a recliner, controlling the Black Curtain with both hands. She suddenly frowned. "Not good. The Heavenly Fox is making a move, but I don't know what happened."
Another girl beside her had her eyes closed, with flowing radiance swirling around her. Upon hearing this, she quickly said, "Xu Jie, contact Sisi."
"No, Manny, bring Sisi away directly," said a swimsuit-clad woman bathed in light from nearby.
The camouflage-clad girl, Manny, hesitated for a second. The next moment, she decisively activated her ability.
In Mingzhu City, Liu Sishan, who had been fighting the crimson-eyed man, was instantly wrapped in the Black Curtain. The next moment, she was teleported into the secret chamber. After briefly freezing, she took out her badge and contacted Manny. "Manny, what are you doing?"
"The Heavenly Fox is acting strangely. I can't let you keep risking yourself, Sisi!" Manny said seriously.
"He has already escaped into a drainage channel. Safety won't be a problem," Manny replied.
Although Mingzhu City had no Sewer, it had many drainage channels. Mingzhu City had just experienced heavy rain the day before yesterday, so most of the channels contained standing water. Zhang Ping had transformed into his Pure Water Body and mixed into the pooled water, making him extremely difficult to discover.
He was still carefully listening for sounds, hoping the Wind Whisperer would bring the latest news.
Elsewhere, the crimson-eyed man had not expected his troublesome opponent to suddenly leave. After staring blankly for a moment, he immediately hoisted Chen Juntaing over his shoulder and turned to run. But after only a few steps, he abruptly stopped. Ahead of him, a beautiful woman was looking at him with a sweet smile.
"Luo... Luo Shiyu!" The crimson-eyed man recognized this girl.
What he knew even more clearly was that this girl had long since died, and the one who had replaced her was... Prince Yue!
"You know me?" Prince Yue looked down at the crimson-eyed man. After narrowing his eyes, he asked.
As the crimson-eyed man backed away, he gritted his teeth and said, "Of course I know you. You're the most dazzling genius of this generation at Pearl Ability Academy. How could I not know you? What do you want?"
"Wrong answer."
Prince Yue suddenly wrapped his tail around the crimson-eyed man and pulled him in front of himself.
He stared at the crimson-eyed man's sweat-covered face and asked, "You are not with those people. A battle just happened here, and the other person who acted was the one allied with those who killed my people. So you fought here... to seize her?"
As he spoke, he walked to a wall and gently ran a hand over the cutting marks on it. He had seen this kind of mark on a Moonfolk member.
He leaned closer and sniffed it, then continued, "The other party was a woman. I'll remember this scent. Tell me, why were you fighting over this woman?"
"Luo Shiyu, I don't understand what you're saying. Let me go now, or else... you'll die terribly," the crimson-eyed man said. His whole body was trembling, but he was unexpectedly tough.
Prince Yue grinned viciously. "Interesting. Very interesting."
Suddenly, a tail pierced through the crimson-eyed man's brain, sending blood and brain matter splattering everywhere.
Prince Yue grabbed Chen Juntaing with one hand, then casually grabbed the crimson-eyed man's Headless Corpse and tossed it aside. "Moon Shadow, you're responsible for eating him. Don't waste him."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
A silver-furred fox slowly emerged from his shadow.
Prince Yue looked at Chen Juntaing and muttered to himself, "Since both sides are trying to take this woman, tell me... if I eat her, wouldn't things become very interesting?"
But no fox answered him. Only Moon Shadow's terrifying chewing sounds remained on the street.
At that moment, Chen Juntaing in Prince Yue's hand let out a soft groan and gradually woke from her unconsciousness. When she opened her azure-blue eyes, Prince Yue seemed to have been struck by a petrification spell and instantly forgot what he had been about to do.
"Why am I not at home? Big sister, you're so pretty." Chen Juntaing first wondered why she was on the street, then saw Prince Yue and gave him a sweet smile.
Prince Yue gritted his teeth and raised a hand, but he could not bring himself to harm the girl before him.
"Moon Shadow, kill... kill... kill her!"
He set Chen Juntaing down, rapidly turned away, and roared hoarsely.
Moon Shadow, who had been crouched to the side eating someone, immediately leaped up. But the next moment, he saw Chen Juntaing's eyes, and his outstretched right claw instead plunged into his own left shoulder.
"Your Highness, I can't do it!"
He landed on the ground, covered his wound with his claw, and lowered his head, not daring to look at Chen Juntaing.
With his back to Chen Juntaing, Prince Yue gritted his teeth and controlled his tail to stab toward her. But at the final moment, he abruptly stopped, overwhelmed by an intense sense of guilt.
He panted heavily, staring at Chen Juntaing in disbelief.
"Big sister, what's wrong?"
Chen Juntaing tilted her head and looked at Prince Yue in confusion.
In her eyes, Moon Shadow did not exist. Meanwhile, "Luo Shiyu" kept spacing out, then turning away from her and panting heavily. It was a little strange.
Prince Yue's expression constantly changed. At times, he wanted to kill Chen Juntaing; at others, he felt ashamed.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and decided to take Chen Juntaing back to the City Lord's Manor first, then make arrangements.