Under attack

That evening, Chen Hao took a taxi to the location Chu Mengling had sent him.

When he arrived, he found himself on a winding mountain road in a fairly remote area.

Chen Hao lit a cigarette, still wondering why Chu Mengling had asked him to come here so late at night.

Just then, the roar of an engine rang out along the mountain road.

He raised an eyebrow and looked up to see a Porsche sports car speeding toward him.

"Chen Hao!" The car had barely stopped before Chu Mengling's distinctively sweet voice reached his ears.

Chen Hao walked over with a smile. "So, beautiful Miss Chu, what's this all about? Why ask me out here so late?"

Chu Mengling got out and answered with a smile, "Because I missed you, of course."

Chen Hao didn't take her seriously. He teased, "This damn charm of mine. No woman can resist it."

"Stop flattering yourself." Laughing, Chu Mengling led him to a slab of blue-gray stone beside the road.

They sat down and gazed at the nightscape below the mountain road, feeling the chilly breeze brush their faces. Suddenly, neither had anything to say.

"This was where I first discovered racing. I fell in love with it from then on. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I often come here too." Chu Mengling looked into the distance, her eyes suddenly growing moist.

Noticing something was wrong, Chen Hao asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Chu Mengling pressed her lips into a brave smile and looked at him. "Chen Hao, I'm leaving Zhonghai City."

Chen Hao froze for a moment. After a long silence, he asked, "Where are you going?"

"To Capital City."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow!"

Chen Hao raised his eyebrows slightly, then nodded. "Well, have a safe trip."

At his reaction, tears spilled from Chu Mengling's eyes. "Don't you... have anything else to say to me?"

Chen Hao wasn't oblivious to what her reaction meant. He knew he had saved her life and healed the injuries on her face. To Chu Mengling, he meant a great deal.

But what could he do about it?

What Chen Hao felt for Chu Mengling was more like an older brother's affection for his younger sister. That was all.

Seeing Chu Mengling crying so sadly, Chen Hao couldn't bear it. He was just reaching out to wipe her tears when she suddenly threw herself into his arms.

"Chen Hao, I like you."

The sudden confession left Chen Hao completely stunned. He wanted to push her away, but as he felt her sobbing in his arms, his outstretched hands remained still.

After a long while, Chu Mengling released him. Her face streaked with tears, she gazed at him affectionately. "Chen Hao, will you come with me? I'll support you."

Holy crap, does she want me to live off her? I'm a grown man. I can't sink that low.

Just as he was about to answer, Chen Hao felt a sudden chill behind him. His eyes narrowed, and his right hand shot out like lightning.

An instant later, searing pain tore through his right hand. "Aah!"

Startled by the sudden turn of events, Chu Mengling hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Chen Hao?"

There was no time to explain. Chen Hao scooped her up and ran toward her car.

They had barely left the stone when two more projectiles whistled through the air and struck where they had been sitting, kicking up dust.

As soon as he carried Chu Mengling behind the car, Chen Hao opened his right hand. His palm had already swollen, and the pain made him tremble uncontrollably.

A pebble lay in the center of his palm.

The sight of it sent a chill through him.

With his current defenses, a pebble thrown by an ordinary person could never have hurt him so badly.

Had it struck an ordinary person, it would have been fatal.

As Chen Hao pondered this, three more projectiles whistled through the air and shattered the car's windshield.

Chu Mengling was already terrified out of her wits. Covering her ears, she buried herself in Chen Hao's arms and trembled.

"It's a Qi Refiner!"

The female ghost's voice sounded in Chen Hao's mind again.

"What? A Qi Refiner!" Chen Hao was astonished. Had he already attracted these people's attention?

He cautiously peeked out, but there were no lights around. Everything was pitch-black, and he couldn't see where his attacker was hiding.

"Let me out. I can help you find him," the female ghost said again.

Chen Hao's eyes lit up. With a thought, he was about to unseal the Crescent Pendant when another concern struck him. "Horse Face told me you're a very powerful ghost. If I let you out, you won't hurt me, will you?"

The female ghost laughed. "The living and the dead belong to separate worlds. I'm a ghost. I can't interfere with the world of the living, much less hurt anyone. Besides, Horse Face's Soul-Locking Chain injured me. I've lost all my powers. Staying inside your Crescent Pendant nourishes my soul. Why would I ever want to hurt you?"

Chen Hao murmured uncertainly. Three more projectiles came whistling toward them, making the car shudder.

"I can't worry about that now." Steeling himself, Chen Hao released the seal on the Crescent Pendant.

An icy wind stirred around him. A spectral mass of cold white light burst from the Crescent Pendant and drifted into the darkness ahead.

The instant the figure emerged, Chen Hao stared, dumbstruck.

Perhaps because she had been bound by Horse Face's Soul-Locking Chain earlier, he hadn't gotten a clear look at her. Now that he could see her properly, her beauty utterly stunned him.

Her looks were every bit as striking as Liu Yan's. With her long, flowing hair and ancient robes, she looked so much like a fairy descending from the Moon Palace that Chen Hao almost mistook her for one as she flew away.

After staring blankly for a moment, Chen Hao realized something was wrong. How could he see her?

Before, he had needed the Demon-Detecting Mirror to see things invisible to ordinary people. What was going on?

Deep in the darkness, a lean man dressed entirely in black stealth clothing hid behind a rock, with only his cold, gleaming eyes exposed.

A dozen or so pebbles moved nimbly between his five fingers. He was clearly an expert at handling stones.

Just as the man prepared to throw a few more, he shuddered and involuntarily shivered. "Damn it, why does my back suddenly feel so cold? Is this place haunted?"

At the same time, the female ghost's voice sounded beside Chen Hao's ear again. "I've attached myself to him."

Chen Hao cautiously poked his head out and spotted the ghost's cold glow less than fifty meters away.

"Found you."

Chen Hao narrowed his eyes and patted Chu Mengling's head. "Stay right here. Don't come out."

With that, he shot toward the female ghost like lightning.

The black-clad man behind the rock froze. He hadn't expected Chen Hao to dare come out. With a flick of his hand, he sent three more stones shooting like bullets toward the running man.

Chen Hao moved extremely fast. Sensing the incoming attack, he stopped, changed direction, and darted aside, dodging all three stones.

The instant he landed from his twisting leap, he sprang forward again.

The man's heart tightened. He had never expected Chen Hao to move so quickly. Even more shocking, how had Chen Hao found his hiding place?

"Are you just going to hide like a coward? Get out here!"

With Chen Hao's current speed, he covered the few dozen meters in the blink of an eye.

"Hmph. My only target was that woman. But if you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."

Provoked by Chen Hao, the black-clad man gave up hiding and leaped out from behind the rock.

As the man showed himself, Chen Hao clenched his teeth and jumped high into the air.

"Idiot. You dare jump like that in front of me?" The black-clad man swung his arm as he spoke, sending every remaining pebble in his hand hurtling toward Chen Hao.

Almost the instant his opponent attacked, Chen Hao whipped his left hand forward. Several stones whistled back at the man with no less force or speed.

"What? That's impossible!"

The black-clad man had never imagined Chen Hao would retaliate with the same attack.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In an instant, stones collided in midair with a series of sharp impacts, even throwing off sparks.

Realizing something was wrong, the black-clad man was about to dodge when another chill washed over him. His nose tickled, and just as he tried to move, a sudden sneeze delayed him.

It was only a brief instant, but in a fight between experts, that was enough to be fatal.

The moment he finished sneezing, heavy blows struck his head, chest, and arms. The tremendous force sent him flying backward.

Though Chen Hao had been prepared when he leaped into the air, he still couldn't dodge everything. A stone slammed into his thigh, and the agonizing pain nearly made him pass out.

As he hit the ground, Chen Hao tried to push himself up, but the pain in his leg left him unable to stand.

The black-clad man was in bad shape too. Clutching his chest, he grunted several times before finally recovering.

He glanced toward Chen Hao. Seeing that Chen Hao still hadn't moved, he forced himself to his feet through the pain. "You little bastard, you've got some skill. You actually managed to hurt me. I'm going to kill you today."

"Chen Hao, run! He's going to kill you!"

Seeing the dagger suddenly appear in the black-clad man's hand, Chen Hao knew he was in trouble. But his wounded thigh had left almost his entire lower body numb. How could he possibly run?

As the man limped toward Chen Hao with the dagger, the roar of engines approached from the distance.

Then beams of light swept toward Chen Hao, instantly illuminating the area as brightly as day.

The moment he saw the lights, the black-clad man cursed under his breath and hurled his dagger straight at Chen Hao's heart.

Although Chen Hao couldn't move his lower body, his upper body could still react.

He thrust his right hand out, blocking the dagger's deadly flight with his bare palm.

"Aah!"

Chen Hao screamed in pain again, but his gaze remained locked on his attacker.

In the cars' headlights, Chen Hao finally got a clear look at the man's eyes.

They were filled with a murderous intent no ordinary person could possess. At the outer corner of his right eye was a lightning-bolt tattoo.

"You got lucky, you little bastard. Keep your life for a few more days. I'll come back to collect it."

With that, the black-clad man vanished into the darkness.

After being so tightly wound, Chen Hao relaxed, and the world began spinning before his eyes. The voices reaching his ears grew fainter and fainter.

"Miss Chu, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Commander Qiao. Hurry and save Chen Hao! He's over there!"

"Hurry, hurry! Find him!"

"Chen Hao, Chen Hao..."