"Stop! Don't run!"
"Catch Liar Li!"
Suddenly, a clamor erupted outside the door! Curious, Scarface Chen turned to look. A youth raced past the entrance, with a noisy crowd chasing behind him.
"Well, well, it's that brat!" Delighted at the sight of the youth, Scarface Chen snatched up the long cloth bundle beside him and made to chase after him.
"Hey! Sir, you haven't paid yet!" Seeing this, the waiter hurried over to stop him.
"Get lost!" The waiter had barely reached him when Scarface Chen kicked him to the floor. In two swift strides, Scarface Chen reached the doorway and looked toward Li Xiaoya and the crowd. They were just about to turn onto another street. He stamped his foot and sprang upward, landing on the roof across the street, then bounded after them in a series of lightning-fast leaps.
Li Xiaoya was truly beginning to panic. Looking back, he saw that the crowd pursuing him had grown to nearly forty people. They were not all members of the Heavenly Money Gang; some were people he had swindled before, while farther back were a few spectators following the excitement. Suddenly, a figure blocked his path. A burly bald man lunged at him with a wild yell. Li Xiaoya hastily swerved left and ducked, dodging the man. Isn't that bald fellow Blacksmith Zhang? It was only a little iron sand. Does he really have to go this far? Having missed his target, Blacksmith Zhang spun around, grabbed a hammer nearby, and joined the army chasing Li Xiaoya down to beat him.
Now Li Xiaoya finally understood the saying, "When a rat crosses the street, everyone cries out to beat it." It seemed he really would have to leave Treasure Immortal Town, he thought, picking up his pace again.
"Look! A martial arts expert is flying over the rooftops!" someone suddenly shouted.
Li Xiaoya hurriedly looked up. A burly man was racing over the rooftops like lightning. His lightness skill was far superior to that of the Heavenly Money Gang's leader. An expert! Li Xiaoya exclaimed inwardly. Though he did not know whether the man was friend or foe, his approach hardly looked like that of someone coming to help him. He was probably just there to watch the fun! Keep pushing. I'm almost out of town. He could already see the end of the town's streets in the distance. With that thought, he abruptly accelerated. He could see that the people behind him were nearly spent, and their numbers had dwindled to a dozen or so. Yet the lightness expert kept drawing closer. He was already at the very front of the crowd.
Before long, the crowd had chased Li Xiaoya out of town. Xu Dagang dropped onto his backside, panting hard, and stammered, "Whew... I... I'm done chasing him! That brat... he... whew... how can he run so much!" Although he had practiced a little martial arts, even he could not take several laps around the town's streets. Seeing him give up, the others also sank onto their backsides one after another.
"I swear, if Liar Li ever dares show his face in Treasure Immortal Town again, I, Xu Dagang, will beat that bastard to death!" Having caught his breath a little, Xu Dagang spat out his threat.
"That's right! If he shows up again, we'll beat him to death!" the others chimed in.
Leaving aside the crowd's curses and oaths, Li Xiaoya did not stop running. The lightness expert was still pursuing him and closing in. Li Xiaoya was beginning to realize that this man was an enemy, not a friend. But he had never offended an expert like this. The man's build did not look familiar either. Could someone have hired him to help? Li Xiaoya was already running as fast as he could, but the burly Scarface Chen kept drawing closer.
A hundred feet!
Fifty feet!
"Sir! Why are you chasing me?" Unable to bear it any longer, Li Xiaoya turned his head and shouted.
"Heh heh! Stop and you'll find out! You can't get away!" Scarface Chen sneered as he ran.
"Sir! Your martial arts are truly incredible! May I ask how I've offended you? Please enlighten me!" Li Xiaoya poured on the flattery while running even faster.
A crafty gleam flashed through Scarface Chen's eyes at those words. Suddenly, he called out clearly, "I can see you have a fine root bone, lad. Would you be willing to take me as your master?"
"Take me as your disciple!" Li Xiaoya slowed a little at those words, genuinely tempted despite himself. His late master had claimed to be the greatest swindler in the martial world, but apart from a little skill at mimicry worth showing off, he knew nothing whatsoever about martial arts. Otherwise, he would not have ended up beaten to death. If I could learn martial arts like that... At this thought, Li Xiaoya could not help looking back, only to discover Scarface Chen reaching into his robes for something. By now, Scarface Chen was only thirty feet away, and Li Xiaoya could clearly see the sneer on his face...
Li Xiaoya's heart jolted. Oh no! I've been tricked!
Scarface Chen flicked his hand, sending a flash of cold light toward him. But at the very instant he released it, Li Xiaoya dropped into a roll, narrowly evading that cold gleam. He scrambled straight back up and kept running.
Scarface Chen was taken aback when Li Xiaoya dodged the throwing knife he had been certain would hit. He knew his ploy had been exposed, but the distance between them was now less than thirty feet, well within range of his throwing knives. He drew another knife from his robes, only to notice that their chase had brought them almost to a stretch of woods. Damn! This brat is slippery. If he gets into those woods, he'll be hard to deal with.
The sight of the woods, however, delighted Li Xiaoya. He was finally almost there. Although he could not match the burly man's speed, he knew these woods well. As long as he got inside, he could weave around and then slip into a secluded hiding place. He would surely escape this calamity, then run back to the cave he called home and hide for two or three days before packing up and leaving Treasure Immortal Town.
Scarface Chen reached into his robes again and drew two more throwing knives, then flicked his hand. Li Xiaoya, focused entirely on his movements, hastily rolled again, but saw no knives fly past. Clever as he was, he had never expected Scarface Chen to hold back the knives and merely bait him into dodging. Oh no! Li Xiaoya hurriedly curled his body inward, but it was already too late. Pain stabbed through his shoulder and thigh as two throwing knives struck him, while a third narrowly skimmed past his cheek. Had he not curled inward, his skull and heart would already have been pierced. The knife aimed at his thigh was clearly insurance against missing his vital points and letting him slip into the woods.
"Heh! Even if you're as cunning as a ghost, you'll still taste my throwing knives!" Scarface Chen sneered as he walked over.
Li Xiaoya lay facedown on the ground without moving, as though badly wounded.
With his arms folded, Scarface Chen walked up to Li Xiaoya and flipped him onto his back with the toe of his foot. Just then, something unexpected happened. Li Xiaoya flung up his hand, and a cloud of whitish powder flew toward Scarface Chen's face.
Damn! It's lime! Scarface Chen cried inwardly. He reacted swiftly, dropping into a clumsy donkey's roll to dodge most of the lime while shielding his eyes tightly with both hands.
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