And so, Han Chen took the Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades in hand and activated the Earth Shield Talisman on himself.
He had barely finished when a figure charged toward him from the other end of the corridor. It was Jia Lie Bi, looking even more battered than Xiao Yan.
Seeing Jia Lie Bi's condition, Han Chen's mouth twitched. He decided to keep his distance from Xiao Xun'er in the future. That woman simply couldn't tell friend from foe.
Jia Lie Bi took one look at Han Chen's getup-clearly a thief-and the veins on his forehead bulged.
"Well, well! Another fucking thief! What evil has descended on my Jia Lie Family today? One after another! Not a single one of you is getting away!"
As his words fell, powerful streams of Dou Qi surged around Jia Lie Bi, forming a suit of armor over his body. Once the armor took shape, he raised his hand, gathered several wind blades, and charged at Han Chen.
A vicious gleam flashed through Jia Lie Bi's eyes. He had already marked Han Chen for death. Liu Xi was dead, and before long, his master, a fourth-tier alchemist, would find out. The Jia Lie Family's disaster was inescapable.
The only way to salvage the situation now was to find a scapegoat. Whether Han Chen had anything to do with this or not, he had to die here.
And he absolutely had to be dead! Only the dead could keep secrets. Only then could Jia Lie Bi bluff his way through the matter of Liu Xi's death.
Watching Jia Lie Bi charge toward him, Han Chen chose not to meet him head-on. A Dou Zhe had no hope of beating a Da Dou Shi in a frontal clash. He could only find a chance to catch him off guard.
So Han Chen first led Jia Lie Bi in circles around the estate, seizing a chance to discreetly set down the Puppet.
Intent on killing Han Chen, Jia Lie Bi noticed nothing. As the two rounded a corner, one after the other, Jia Lie Bi seized his opening, raised his hand, and roared.
"Rending Wind Fist!"
After unleashing his Dou Technique, Jia Lie Bi's speed doubled outright. Even Han Chen, who had specifically cultivated the Great Evolution Art, failed to react. One punch sent him straight through the wall and tumbling into the courtyard.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Han Chen climbed out of the pile of broken bricks, brushed off the dust, and coughed twice.
"You're not dead? That was my full-strength strike! Even a Da Dou Shi caught off guard would have died on the spot.
"This... how is this possible? Could the Dou Technique be fake?"
Seeing Han Chen still alive and kicking, Jia Lie Bi's first thought wasn't that he possessed some life-saving secret technique. Instead, he suspected the Dou Technique he had bought was fake.
Han Chen looked at the transparent cracks before him and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he turned toward Jia Lie Bi, who was still questioning everything he knew, raised the Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades, and shouted at him.
"Get out here and help me!"
At that shout, Jia Lie Bi narrowed his eyes. Dou Qi gathered around his foot, and he kicked straight behind him.
"Trying to ambush me? Get out here!"
But aside from knocking down a wall, his kick revealed not a single soul.
Only then did Jia Lie Bi realize he had been tricked. He hurriedly turned back and raised both arms in front of himself to defend.
But Han Chen was already right in front of him. The Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades shot free, attacking Jia Lie Bi from different directions.
Wrapped in blue-green Dou Qi, the Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades actually sliced through Jia Lie Bi's Dou Qi Armor with ease.
"What?!"
At the sight, Jia Lie Bi was utterly horrified and dared not keep taking the attacks head-on. The main blade in Han Chen's hand was aimed straight at his forehead. If that slash landed, who knew whether anything would be left?
He stepped back, used the force of the attack to shed its momentum, and twisted aside to dodge Han Chen's lethal slash.
"What treasure is that? How can it be so sharp that it cuts straight through a Da Dou Shi's Dou Qi Armor?"
Jia Lie Bi re-formed the Dou Qi Armor over his chest, then looked at the Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades in Han Chen's hand, clicking his tongue in wonder.
His strike had failed, but Han Chen wasn't discouraged. Instead, he put some distance between them and began chatting with Jia Lie Bi.
"A treasure, right? This is something worth passing down through the generations. You should burn incense in thanks for the privilege of dying by it."
"Hahahaha! Boy, are you still half asleep?"
Hearing Han Chen's words, Jia Lie Bi threw back his head and laughed, as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world.
"I admit, that precious blade is a rare find. But thinking you can kill me with it is nothing but a fool's dream!
"If you were even a Dou Shi, I'd have to be a little wary. But with your mere Dou Zhe cultivation? Hmph.
"A wise man knows which way the wind blows. I advise you to surrender before the others arrive. Otherwise, soon you'll be begging for death and unable to find it."
Han Chen picked at his ear as he listened, giving the smug Jia Lie Bi an odd look.
"Haven't you noticed? We've been running around for so long and making such a racket. Why hasn't anyone come over?"
At Han Chen's words, Jia Lie Bi's expression changed at once. He stared fixedly at Han Chen and asked in an icy voice.
"What did you do to them?"
Seeing this, Han Chen tipped his chin, signaling for Jia Lie Bi to look behind him.
"Why not look for yourself? Freeze him!"
Jia Lie Bi abruptly whipped his head around again, warily looking behind him. Yet once more, there wasn't so much as a hair in sight.
Meanwhile, Han Chen charged right up to Jia Lie Bi again, raised the Golden Aphid Mother-and-Son Blades, and unleashed a flurry of attacks.
Realizing Han Chen had fooled him again, Jia Lie Bi's entire face flushed red, his eyes bulging like bronze bells. He turned to block Han Chen's attacks and laughed through gritted teeth.
"You crafty brat. You really must be tired of living."
After his attacks were blocked again, Han Chen still pulled away, giving Jia Lie Bi no chance to unleash a Dou Technique.
Jia Lie Bi had a wind affinity and was extremely fast in close combat. Once he got close, Han Chen simply couldn't react quickly enough. The best approach was therefore to keep his distance and leave himself enough room to respond.
Although widening the gap gave Jia Lie Bi opportunities to attack from afar, that was still better than letting him get close.
After being toyed with repeatedly by Han Chen, Jia Lie Bi finally lost patience. He released two enormous wind blades to restrict Han Chen's room to maneuver, then unleashed his Dou Qi and charged at him, intending to finish him in one go before further delay brought unexpected trouble.
After dodging the wind blades, Han Chen saw Jia Lie Bi bearing down on him. He drew a deep breath, mobilized all the Dou Qi in his body, and charged to meet him.
As the howling force of the wind closed to within arm's reach, the earthen-yellow barrier in front of Han Chen blazed with light.
Only then did Jia Lie Bi see clearly that Han Chen had been protected by a shield all along. No wonder his earlier full-strength strike hadn't killed him.
"Hmph. So what if you have a shield? It protected you once, but can it protect you a second time?
"Let's see how long you can hold out! Rending Wind Hand!"
While resisting with all his strength, Han Chen looked behind Jia Lie Bi and shouted.
"Now!"
"Haha! Still trying to fool me? Do you think I'm an idiot who'd fall for your tricks three times in a row?
"You crafty brat, put away those pathetic little tricks and wait quietly for death."
Seeing that Jia Lie Bi hadn't turned around, Han Chen lowered his head, as though his scheme had failed. But where Jia Lie Bi couldn't see, the corners of his mouth curved upward.
"Is that so..."
Before you continue