Siege

The Black Market wasn't exactly empty.

Ji Xun stepped out of the shop and onto the street, his pace unhurried.

He knew his opponents didn't know his appearance. Even if a Mystic Type spell had pinpointed his location, they likely wouldn't be able to immediately identify him in the crowd!

Scanning his surroundings, Ji Xun quickly spotted several men in suits hurrying through the street, their eyes darting around the crowd.

They were positioned at both ends of the street.

Judging by their demeanor, an ambush had already been prepared.

"They're probably staking out every crowded place in the city."

Ji Xun realized that being discovered was only part of it; the main reason was that the enemy had cast a wide net.

It wasn't surprising that the Governor's Cao Family had this capability.

At the same time, he immediately deduced something: "So, that Mystic Type spell earlier must have had a range."

His visit to the Dark Rain Street Black Market today was purely spontaneous, and he hadn't been here long.

But given that these people had formed a cordon in such a short time, it was clear they had been lying in wait.

In other words, he was the rabbit that had run straight into a tree stump.

And since he hadn't been caught elsewhere, it was highly probable that the Mystic Type spell had a casting range.

Therefore, as long as he left Dark Rain Street, he should be able to escape pursuit.

But now, that seemed unlikely.

A multitude of thoughts flashed through Ji Xun's mind. Instead of heading towards the main road leading out of the street, he turned towards the dark alleyways.

Just as he expected, the men in suits didn't know which one was their target and were still looking around the crowd for suspicious individuals.

Ji Xun's calm demeanor as he walked didn't attract anyone's attention.

If he had just walked into the darkness and used Shadow Dive, he would have had a high chance of escaping.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly.

Amidst the crowd, Ji Xun saw an old woman with white hair, dressed in a black robe.

This person's aura was clearly different from everyone else's, like a superstitious shaman, as if she were casting some secret technique.

In the brief moment her gaze swept over him, the old woman also saw him, and her expression changed instantly.

"Discovered!"

Ji Xun keenly caught the detail of the old woman's pupils shrinking and immediately knew he had been found.

Without giving her time to react, he decisively struck first.

Ji Xun's hands moved to his waist, and almost as he drew his gun, he heard the shots.

The speed was as swift as lightning!

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

As the two shots rang out simultaneously, the old woman had just raised a finger to point: "It's him!"

But in that same instant, two mercenaries with bullet holes in their foreheads in the crowd fell to the ground.

While ordinary armor-piercing rounds were unlikely to be fatal to Spell Card Masters, they were still deadly if they hit the head for Card Master Apprentices!

These two shots were so precise that the two mercenaries didn't even know where the bullets came from before they died.

Ji Xun's two accurate shots eliminated two of the encircling mercenaries, immediately creating a gap in the cordon.

But at the same time, the four Spell Card Masters beside the old woman reacted instantly.

The red-haired woman reacted extremely quickly, raising her hand and firing several cards, "whoosh," "whoosh," which sliced through the crowd and landed on the ground in front of Ji Xun in an instant.

He felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly soften, as if he had stepped into quicksand, and his body instantly lost its balance.

"[Quicksand Technique]!"

Seeing this, Ji Xun's expression turned stern, and a cold smile curled his lips: these guys were clearly ordered to keep him alive.

This method was only to trap him, not kill him.

This was the biggest advantage!

Unable to gain footing, and on the verge of being trapped.

But he was also prepared.

Ji Xun raised his hand and activated the Mechanical Sleeve Dart hidden in his arm towards the iron railings on the second floor not far away.

With a "whoosh," an extremely thin steel wire shot out, instantly latching onto the iron railing. With another pull of the trigger, the mechanical device in his sleeve quickly retracted, and a pulling force yanked Ji Xun violently, pulling him away from the ground that had already turned into quicksand.

Ever since he had watched Chu Jiu escape using that kind of Mechanical Sleeve Dart last time, Ji Xun had equipped himself with one.

This thing, when used well, was an absolute life-saving tool.

In mid-air, Ji Xun wasn't idle either. He turned and fired a shot back.

With a "bang," a bullet sprayed from the muzzle.

In that instant, time seemed to slow tenfold. The bullet created a string of airwaves in the air, heading straight for the red-haired woman's head.

How fast was the bullet?

Without foresight, this was simply not something a physically weak Mystic Spell Card Master could dodge.

But the red-haired woman had no intention of dodging. Her crystal eyes held only indifference, because bullets posed very limited threat to a formal Spell Card Master.

She instantly surged with Curse Power and watched as the bullet stopped in mid-air about a foot in front of her.

Upon closer inspection, a pale yellow Curse Power shield was blocking the bullet.

However, the red-haired woman's expression immediately changed drastically. She saw a second bullet in her line of sight and her heart went cold: "[Annihilation Magic-Breaking Bullet]!"

Only then did she realize that the guy hadn't fired just one shot, but two!

Only a gunman with extremely high marksmanship could convert the recoil of the first shot into the momentum for a second shot, firing twice in a very short period.

Moreover, the firing speed was so fast that it sounded like only one shot was fired.

This was Advanced Firearms Specialization!

The bullets were clearly faster than the senses. Both bullets hit the magic shield at the same point.

The incantations on the black bullet head instantly corroded the shield, and with a "swoosh," it penetrated.

Although the Curse Power shield was strong, it was like human breathing; it wasn't always at its strongest defense. Instead, the Spell Card Master needed to actively condense and gather Curse Power in a certain direction to achieve the strongest defensive effect.

After one hit, the vibration caused by the impact would greatly reduce the shield's stability.

Another point was that an actively released Curse Power shield was directly related to the user's subjective consciousness. The subjective force of catching cotton and catching a lump of iron was completely different.

These two shots were also very deceptive.

One shot to distract, the second shot concealed the killing intent!

As expected, the [Annihilation Bullet] easily broke through the shield and, with a "clang," hit the red-haired woman's forehead.

Blood flowed.

However, it did not penetrate.

The red-haired woman's face darkened: she was actually injured? Injured by an apprentice?

A shield card in her hand simultaneously shattered.

In just one exchange, the people from the Blackwater Mercenary Group immediately realized how troublesome their target was.

"As expected, it wasn't that easy to kill..."

Ji Xun looked at the red-haired woman standing in place. Although her head was bleeding, she was not dead.

He inwardly lamented the pity.

To be precise, Mystic Spell Card Masters were the most troublesome. He had wanted to see if he could take advantage of the enemy not knowing his marksmanship level and achieve a surprise attack.

And the facts proved that in the face of absolute strength, skills and equipment could only make up for a small gap.

But it wasn't entirely useless.

At the very least, it stopped this woman from drawing more cards to fight.

That was enough.

The shooting was only an instant, but the enemies were clearly experienced mercenaries.

Ji Xun's shot was decisive, giving him only a slight advantage.

But he wasn't facing just one person!

The moment he fired, the man dressed as a ranger also drew his gun and fired.

When Ji Xun saw it, his body was being pulled through the air by a steel cable, and he couldn't dodge.

Seeing that his landing trajectory and the gun's trajectory were about to overlap, he seemed to have anticipated it. He decisively cut the steel cable, and his body instantly stopped its forward pull, beginning to fall!

And almost at the same time as he began to fall, with a "clang" and a burst of sparks, a bullet hit a railing about two feet away.

If he hadn't decisively abandoned the steel cable just now, this shot would have hit his thigh.

Although firearms were convenient and their power was not small.

Their biggest drawback was the high probability of being predictable.

Within a short distance, the bullet's trajectory was almost a straight line, and it could only be fired from the muzzle.

Therefore, from the moment the target drew their gun to pulling the trigger, as long as they had enough experience, there were many opportunities for prediction.

Advanced Firearms Specialization didn't just refer to shooting skills, but also the understanding of marksmanship!

He could even guess the trajectory's landing point just from the intent in the enemy's eyes.

When Ji Xun fired just now, his peripheral vision had already captured the ranger drawing his gun. At that time, he had already predicted that the guy's trajectory would land on his thigh.

The opponent's marksmanship was not bad either; it was at least at an intermediate specialization level.

If it wasn't for his prediction, Ji Xun would have definitely been shot based on sheer reflexes alone.

"Missed?"

Seeing this, the Ranger who fired was also somewhat incredulous.

He never imagined that a Card Master Apprentice could dodge his shot.

What exquisite marksmanship!

Even as an enemy, the Ranger silently marveled.

This precise prediction alone made him lose any trace of underestimation.

A Card Master Apprentice had managed to injure one of their members and dodge his shot in the face of their team's pincer tactics.

This was the first in many years.

And the only one.

However, what surprised them even more was yet to come!

The moment Ji Xun landed, without any hesitation, he leaped off the broken platform behind him.

He jumped off the cliff!

The buildings in Sinless City were very tall, built along the mountains themselves, so there were high cliffs everywhere in the city.

And the Black Market's presence in Dark Rain Street wasn't just because the location was remote. It was precisely because the terrain here was special and extremely complex. If any accidents occurred, the merchants and customers in the Black Market would have no chance of being surrounded.

One side of Dark Rain Street was a building cliff dozens of meters high.

Ji Xun's original intention in choosing to break through in this direction was exactly this.

He knew very well that several of the enemies were formal Spell Card Masters, and this was a premeditated ambush.

Let alone fighting them, even a normal escape would be impossible.

That's why he decisively leaped off this cliff.

Seeing this, the four members of the Blackwater Mercenary Group's squad were stunned.

This guy jumped off a cliff without any hesitation?

Normally, humans would instinctively pause to observe a cliff, confirming how to exert force and where to land.

But this guy just jumped without even looking?

Was he driven to desperation?

But how could they know that Ji Xun had carefully observed the surrounding terrain and environment before entering Dark Rain Street?

He had even planned out several escape routes.

At this moment, his mind held the entire complex streetscape like a 3D blueprint; even without looking, he knew exactly where he would land after jumping.

This jump wasn't a blind leap, but a prepared one.

Seeing this, the Warrior captain urgently shouted, "Third, stick to that guy, don't let him escape!"

The target they had finally found was right before their eyes; how could they let him get away?

The Ranger, having missed his shot, reacted extremely quickly. Without needing any verbal cues, their years of teamwork made him know what to do. He slammed his foot onto the ground, moving with ghost-like speed, and also charged towards the cliff, jumping down.

If a Card Master Apprentice dared to jump, how could he not?

His Ranger profession was precisely the most skilled in tracking!

Even if the enemy jumped off a cliff, they couldn't escape!

However, the moment he jumped off the cliff, he suddenly saw the rapidly descending figure turn around, raise his gun, and aim the dark muzzle directly at him.

Almost the instant he revealed himself, flames erupted.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Two more shots.

So decisive!

The Ranger was still flying through the air, propelled by the momentum of his charge, with nowhere to brace himself; he was practically a sitting duck.

Damn it, how does a Card Master Apprentice have such proficient marksmanship!

The Ranger cursed inwardly.

The previous two shots could have been luck, but these two shots tested true skill.

Firing directly without any aiming preparation meant that the guy had predicted the exact spot where he would jump off the cliff.

The Ranger himself was also a Firearms Master nearing the advanced level, and he understood the basis of prediction very well. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line; the closest point for him to pursue and jump from his previous position was this one. While predicting this point wasn't difficult, the challenge was that in such a situation, the guy wasn't flustered at all, predicting and firing at the precise moment?

This level of awareness was comparable to that of a firearms master!

He thought he had already overestimated him, but he hadn't expected to still underestimate him.

As a formal Spell Card Master's Ranger, his thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Curse spirits surged within him, and he stomped hard on the air beneath his feet. He actually used the air to propel himself, narrowly dodging those two shots.

The Ranger flipped in mid-air, his gaze fixed on the target that was about to land, a chilling sensation washing over him.

"Such high Agility stats."

Ji Xun's expression remained unchanged as he watched his two shots miss.

He hadn't been able to kill that Mystic Type Spell Card Master before, so he didn't expect his gun to kill this Assassin Type Spell Card Master with extremely high physical Agility growth.

The bullets were enough to hold the enemy back for a moment.

After all, if he hadn't fired, the Ranger could have simply leaped down from that twenty-meter height and grabbed him in mid-air.

Even though his own stats had surged, the gap between him and an Assassin Type Spell Card Master was still very large.

Moreover, if Ji Xun didn't want to break his legs, he needed to cushion his landing. He shot out a steel wire from his sleeve again, pulling it in the air to slow his descent.

This bit of time was enough for a master to make up for the slight time difference from jumping off the cliff and catch up, but it was precisely those two shots that had widened the gap again.

And in Ji Xun's vision, behind that Ranger, the Warrior Captain and over a dozen mercenaries also leaped down from the cliff.

Seeing this, he decisively threw a few grenades at his landing spot, then turned and ran.

Below the platform he landed on was another pitch-black cliff. Ji Xun once again leaped down without hesitation.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Three grenades exploded on the platform, and the flames instantly illuminated the dark surroundings.

Several figures were blown away, but the Captain and a few other mercenaries charged out of the flames.

They also didn't hesitate and leaped down, chasing Ji Xun.

If everyone was falling at freefall speed, Ji Xun wouldn't have been afraid.

But those guys behind him clearly had the ability to accelerate their descent in mid-air, which was very troublesome.

It was only two to three breaths after this second jump off the cliff, and that Ranger was as fast as a ghost, appearing almost face-to-face in an instant!

There was no way to gain leverage in mid-air, not even a point to grip with the steel cable.

Ji Xun could already see the coldness in the enemy's eyes a few meters away, as if saying: I've got you!

However, to the Ranger's surprise, just as he was about to grab him, their eyes met, and he didn't see even a trace of panic in the target's eyes?

In that moment of confusion, a sinister grin flashed across Ji Xun's eyes, and he fiercely pulled a lanyard on his chest.

Seeing this, the Ranger's pupils constricted: "Flashbang Grenade!"

He never expected this guy to detonate a flashbang directly on his own body.

Did this guy not want to live?!

Even though flashbangs weren't usually fatal, at such close range, wasn't an apprentice seeking death?

"Boom!"

The visible overpressure air exploded between the two of them. Although Ji Xun was wearing a bulletproof vest, even so, the close-range explosion felt like a head-on collision with a train, causing his blood and qi to surge, and he instantly fainted.

But with that force, his entire body shot down into the darkness like a cannonball.

Seeing the explosion approach, the Ranger instinctively adopted a defensive posture, but he was also blown backward by the flashbang.

Seeing the target getting further away, the Assassin, who was being thrown backward, could do nothing to stop it. He could only aim the launch device at the figure being thrown back, and with a "poof," a metal net was fired towards the figure in the explosion.

A "splash~" sound of water was heard.

The target fell into the underground dark river and disappeared without a trace.

Everyone then realized that from the beginning, the reason the guy chose to jump off the cliff wasn't a desperate attempt, but rather to leap into the dark, murky river.

This was the only way they could think of for a Card Master Apprentice to escape the heavy encirclement.

The Warrior Captain looked at the underground dark river shrouded in thick fog with a grim expression.

He had thought that as long as a mere Card Master Apprentice dared to appear on Dark Rain Street again, he would absolutely not be able to escape from their team.

But the facts were right before their eyes.

Not only did he escape.

He had also slapped them hard in the face.

Recalling now, these mercenaries realized.

From the very beginning, the guy had displayed almost inhuman calmness and accurate judgment.

In this fierce pursuit that lasted only a minute, every shot he fired was perfectly timed, buying him precious time to escape. Every subsequent step he took to escape seemed meticulously calculated, landing him in the only position that might offer a sliver of hope for escape.

Only at the very end, seeing the guy pull the trigger of the flashbang at point-blank range, did the members of the Blackwater Mercenary Group realize that this was not only a meticulous planner but also someone with a level of madness uncommon in ordinary people.

Even if the flashbang didn't kill him, it would likely render him unconscious. Now, bound by the metal net and falling into the water, could he even survive? Was he betting that the river water would jolt him awake?

Did this guy have any hesitation at all in seeking a sliver of life through death?

If there had been the slightest hesitation or a single mistake during the entire escape, he would have been caught!

But that guy didn't hesitate!

Not even once!

He shot, jumped off the cliff, used a flashbang grenade, and landed precisely in the water.

Not a single wasted movement throughout the entire process, absolutely flawless!

The mist had settled on the river's surface, reducing visibility to less than two meters. Even flares could only illuminate a patch of thick fog on the water.

The captain's face had turned an extreme shade of dark. With a roar, he yelled, "Get in the water! We have to find him, no matter what!"

As he spoke, he took off his mechanical equipment and was the first to leap in.

They could already imagine their own fates if that target managed to escape.

Thanks to 'Yong Ye' for 1000, 'Krell' for 500, 'Qian Mo' for 500, and 'Nan Shan Nan 04' for their generous support. Thank you very much.