novelraw Chapter 54 Have you not heard the saying, "Heaven never seals off all paths"? As long as I
Chapter 54 Have you not heard the saying, "Heaven never seals off all paths"? As long as I
Li Fulan hadn't gone far from the auction house when she paused slightly.
Immediately afterwards, Li Fulan took out two silver suitcases from her storage belt.
The suitcase was made of a special alloy, its surface reflecting a cold metallic luster. He placed the suitcase on the ground, his fingertips rapidly pressing the combination lock, and with a soft "click," the lid popped open.
Six slightly larger drones flew out of the box, their rotors humming softly in the air, a low, rapid sound like the flapping of the wings of some dangerous insect.
These drones are much larger than the reconnaissance drones, with cylindrical devices mounted under their bellies that gleam faintly with a cold metallic sheen in the moonlight.
Two messengers, four martyrs.
Each one carries enough high explosives to reduce an armored vehicle to scrap metal, making it one of the strongest firepower Li Fulan can currently mobilize.
Li Fulan deftly inserted a single, concealed tactical earpiece into her right ear. The earpiece conformed perfectly to the curve of her ear, almost blending into her skin tone; it was virtually undetectable without close inspection.
"Buzz—Connection normal."
Lin An's calm, almost mechanical voice came through the earphones. His voice was devoid of any emotion, as if he were just a precision instrument reporting data.
"Comrade Pioneer, it is now 11:17 PM. The cloud cover is 73%, the moonlight is insufficient, and the visual capture system is limited. We suggest switching to other detection modes."
"It's nothing." Li Fulan put his hands in his pockets and strolled leisurely towards the city outskirts, as if he were just taking an after-dinner walk. "Activate infrared thermal imaging mode."
"Command confirmed. Thermal imaging mode activated." Lin An's voice paused for a moment. "Full-band scanning in progress... Alert! An abnormally high heat source detected 120 meters behind, in the shadowed area of a rooftop. Target's body temperature is 37.2 degrees Celsius, heart rate is stable, respiratory rate is low, indicating a deliberate concealment of presence. Target is moving at high speed, and its movement trajectory closely matches that of our pioneer comrades. Confirmed as a tracker, threat level assessed as medium to high."
Li Fulan's lips curled up slightly, and a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
Someone was actually following him!
Unfortunately, he was no ordinary person.
Li Fulan didn't stop; instead, he quickened his pace. He walked straight through the bustling streets, his steps light as if he were going to a long-awaited date. Passersby turned to look, wondering why this young man would be heading towards that desolate place outside the city so late at night.
Three miles outside the city, there is an abandoned construction site.
It was originally a luxurious estate planned by an ambitious businessman, but the project was abandoned halfway through due to a broken funding chain. Now, only ruins remain, overgrown with weeds, and rarely visited by people.
There were no magical streetlights or patrolling guards there; it was one of the worst areas in Nottingham City.
It is also an ideal place for murder, robbery, and disposing of bodies.
Old Wang behind him was like a leech, concealing his aura and leaping silently in the shadows of the rooftop.
His movements were as light as a ghost, each step landing precisely on the joints of the tiles without making a sound. His soul power flowed slowly within his body, suppressing all fluctuations of his aura to a minimum. This was a unique skill he had honed over decades of assassination, and countless soul masters stronger than him had died at his hands, not even knowing which direction the assassin had come from before they died.
Watching the unsuspecting "fat sheep" stray further and further off course, a cruel smile appeared on Old Wang's wrinkled face.
He's courting death.
He licked his chapped lips, his eyes blazing with greed and murderous intent. Since this reckless brat had so readily chosen his burial site, he would grant his wish. That Sumeru storage ring, that piece of millennium whale glue, and the countless gold soul coins left—they would all soon be his.
Finally, Li Fulan stopped in front of a pile of broken walls and ruins.
The surrounding area was a scene of chaotic ruins, with collapsed stone pillars leaning precariously and rotten wooden beams scattered haphazardly on the ground. Weeds grew wildly from the cracks in the stones, some already waist-high, rustling in the night wind. A damp, musty smell permeated the air, mixed with the stench of some unidentified animal.
Li Fulan turned around.
His gaze wasn't fixed on the stone pillar where Old Wang was hiding, but rather slightly averted, fixed on a point in the void. His gaze was as calm as a stagnant pool, devoid of any fear or panic, as if he were facing not an assassin who could take his life at any moment, but an insignificant passerby.
"Aren't you tired of following me all this way?"
His voice was calm, yet exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
"Come out, I've seen you."
Old Wang, hiding behind the stone pillar, was startled and instinctively held his breath.
Are you trying to scam me?
His first reaction was disbelief. This kid was just a useless Great Soul Master, who hadn't even awakened his Martial Soul. How could he have discovered his whereabouts? He was a level 58 Soul King, and his skill in concealing his aura had reached a level of perfection. Let alone a lowly commoner without a Martial Soul, even a Soul King of the same level would need to search with full concentration to detect his presence.
This must be a scam!
Unconvinced, Old Wang used his soul power to instantly teleport more than ten meters to hide behind another half-collapsed wall. His movements were so fast that they were almost impossible to see with the naked eye; he leaped from one shadow to another without making a sound.
However, the next second, his heart almost stopped beating.
Li Fulan slowly turned his head, and his deep black eyes once again accurately landed on his new hiding place.
There was a hint of mockery in his eyes, as if he were watching a poorly performing monkey.
"Are you still going to hide?"
Li Fulan's voice carried a hint of sarcasm.
"The way you're crouching behind that wall on the left isn't very elegant. Don't kneel on the ground; there's a puddle of some kind of animal droppings there."
Old Wang was shocked, and his face turned ashen instantly.
One time might be a coincidence, but two times is absolutely impossible!
This kid's perception is terrifyingly powerful? No, that's not right. This isn't normal perception at all. Even a Title Douluo couldn't pinpoint the location of a Soul King who's deliberately concealing their aura with such precision. There must be something fishy going on here, some secret he doesn't know.
But so what?
Now that we've been discovered, there's no need to hide it anymore.
"snort!"
With a cold snort, Old Wang slowly stepped out of the shadows.
His emaciated figure cast a long, twisted, and sinister shadow in the moonlight, like some kind of giant serpent from the abyss.
Five spirit rings appeared beneath his feet—white, yellow, purple, black, arranged in order of age from lowest to highest, each radiating its unique light in the darkness.
The overwhelming pressure belonging to the Soul King erupted instantly.
It was an invisible yet real pressure, as if a mountain had suddenly appeared and pressed down on the area. The surrounding weeds were bent low to the ground by that oppressive force, and even the night breeze seemed frozen in place. The air became thick and heavy, and each breath felt like swallowing thin mud.
"Boy, I don't know what kind of wicked tricks you used to find this old man," Old Wang chuckled sinisterly, a dagger appearing in his hand seemingly out of nowhere. The blade gleamed with a ghostly green glint in the moonlight, proof that it had been coated with snake venom. "But so what?"
He took a step forward, and the ground beneath his feet made a soft "crack" sound as a stone slab shattered from his soul power.
"Faced with absolute power, all struggles are futile. I am a level 58 Battle Soul King, and I have killed more people than you have ever seen. Do you think a soul master like you can escape?"
Despite the Soul King's oppressive aura, Li Fulan's smile remained unchanged.
"run?"
Li Fulan raised her eyebrows slightly, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards a little more.
"Do you think you can keep me here?"
Through his headset, Lin An was giving a real-time report on the positioning of the six Martyr drones. The mechanical Grim Reapers had silently surrounded the area, waiting for his command.
"Have you not heard that there is always a way out? As long as I want to go, the road is right under my feet?"
Li Fulan's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable confidence.
"As for you... now that you're here, don't leave."
Before he could finish speaking, the tip of his tongue touched the small capsule in his back molar.
That's a veterinary sleeping pill; it only takes three seconds to take effect.
Old Wang frowned, sensing something was off. This kid was too calm, more like a confident hunter than a prey about to be killed.
But he quickly suppressed his unease. What could a lowly commoner without a martial spirit possibly do? Even if he had some trump card, what waves could he possibly make?
"court death!"
With a roar, Old Wang transformed into a blur, lunging towards Li Fulan. His speed was astonishing, covering more than ten meters in the blink of an eye. The poisoned dagger, gleaming with an eerie green light, pierced straight for Li Fulan's heart, its angle cunning and its force precise—clearly a deadly move honed through countless trials.
The bitter medicine spread in his mouth, and an intense drowsiness almost instantly overwhelmed him. His eyes began to grow heavy, and his consciousness began to blur, but a strange smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
The next moment, his figure seemed to distort in the moonlight.
The distortion was indescribable, like a crack appearing in a scene of reality, with Li Fulan's body sliding along that crack into some unknown realm. Then, as if merging into thin air, she vanished from Old Wang's sight.
This is true disappearance, a complete erasure from the world of any trace of existence. Because the moment the drug takes effect and consciousness falls into a state of sleep, Li Fulan will automatically travel back to the modern world, spend a short period of sleep there, and then return to this world.
On the Douluo Continent side, he only "disappeared" for a moment.
"What?!"
Old Wang's poisoned dagger only pierced the air.
His pupils contracted sharply, and with his extensive combat experience, he immediately assumed a defensive stance, rapidly retreating while simultaneously unleashing his full mental power to scan his surroundings. His perception spread out in all directions like a spiderweb, leaving no corner unchecked.
It's a trick! It must be some kind of profound concealment technique! A mere trifle!
He reassured himself, his poisoned dagger flashing in front of him, forming an impenetrable defensive circle. If that kid dared to show himself, he could kill him instantly.
However, just as he was concentrating on searching for Li Fulan's aura, a rapid and sharp sound of air being torn apart suddenly came from above.
It was the sound of some unfamiliar object flying at extremely high speed cutting through the air.
The sound was sharp and piercing, carrying a metallic chill, unlike any other hidden weapon he had ever seen. Hidden weapons would fluctuate with soul power when they flew, but the source of this sound was clean and pure, without a trace of soul power.
Old Wang suddenly looked up.
Under the moonlight, several small black dots flashing red light swooped down towards him like shooting stars. These things were not large, not much bigger than a pigeon, but their flight speed was astonishing, and their trajectories were unpredictable, making it impossible to predict where they would fly next.
"What kind of hidden weapon is this?!"
Old Wang instinctively swung his dagger to parry. His reaction was incredibly fast; the poisoned dagger drew a perfect arc in the air, precisely slashing at the nearest black dot.
With his level 58 Soul King strength, a few unidentified flying objects were nothing to fear.
However, just as the dagger was about to touch its target, the black dot suddenly rose rapidly, dodging his attack at an angle that completely defied the laws of physics. At the same time, the other black dots also began to perform complex evasive maneuvers, as if they possessed their own will, nimbly avoiding all of Wang Lao's attacks.
This is not a hidden weapon!
Was this some kind of living thing he had never seen before? No, it didn't seem like a living thing either. The way those things moved was too mechanical, too precise, unlike any kind of creature he knew.
"Martyr drone, suicide attack mode activated."
A cold, emotionless voice echoed from the void. Its origin was unknown; it seemed like some kind of judgment reverberating throughout the heavens and earth.
"Countdown, three... two... one."
"Target locked, detonate."
Old Wang's pupils suddenly contracted to their maximum size.
He finally realized the true purpose of those flying objects—they weren't hidden weapons for attack, but bombs for suicide!
Unfortunately, it's too late.
"boom--!!!"
The violent explosion instantly shattered the tranquility of the night.
Several Martyr drones carrying high explosives detonated simultaneously two meters in front of Old Wang. There were no mushroom clouds, no flames flying everywhere, only a pure and violent shockwave, and a terrifying force capable of tearing steel apart.
The temperature at the center of the explosion soared to thousands of degrees in an instant, igniting the air itself. The intense flames tore through the surrounding darkness, their light even more dazzling than the midday sun.
The shockwave spread outwards at a visible speed, cracking stone pillars, collapsing walls, and even lifting a layer of the ground in its path.
"Aaaaaahh ...