Chapter 1745 - 896: You Set the Bait, I Take the Stage (Part 3)

"Mr. Han, wise as always."

Meng Fengzuo bowed deeply. "I'll be on my way."

Han Hui gave his shoulder a final pat and told him, "Inside the Federation, a thousand tangled threads, a mess beyond sorting. I really don't have the bandwidth. The situation in the West Sea—leaving it to you."

"Yes, sir!"

In the shattered mirror's Illusion Light, Meng Fengzuo vanished.

In the silent tearoom, Han Hui lifted his teacup, eyes lowered, gazing down at the ripples in the cup. In the reflection of his eyes, there wasn't the slightest glimmer of life.

Only a darkness like something on fire.

Beneath that warm, respectable exterior, the beast's ferocious malice had already burst free, blotting out the sky as it swept toward Hai Province, thousands of miles away.

To devour everything.

.

.

BOOM!!!

With a deafening crash, a rolling car flew off the elevated highway, slammed into a concrete pier, and threw off a streak of sparks.

In the shrill blare of horns, thick smoke billowed across the whole overpass. Under the chain collision, chaos reigned. In the smoke and gloom, a shadow writhed, then suddenly leaped toward a silent sedan.

A bizarre short knife, hovering between existence and nonexistence, had already left its wielder's hand.

Strangely, in the instant before the blade was thrown, it was as if something else had already split the air ahead of it!

Crack!

A long spear, more than several meters, shot out of the sedan like a Dragon, shearing the Shadow Poison Knife in two, knocking it aside. The shattered fragments spun up, then dropped.

Before they could touch the ground, the Cliff Horn Spear drove forward, vicious and unrelenting.

A stooped old man gripped the spear and lunged at the writhing shadow. Ling Li killing intent flashed again and again as the point ripped through the air, hounding its target, tearing the viscous shadow completely apart. An elderly man in a strange black-feathered cloak fell out of it, forced into a hard, direct clash.

A narrow loss, by half a step.

He stared coldly at the old man in front of him.

"Pretty damn close, old friend. You almost pulled it off."

Cliff Corner Old Deng shook his head, sighing. "Tsk, tsk. I thought it was embarrassing enough that an old fossil like me had to drag myself out to carry the banner. Didn't think your Ying Lin lot would climb onto the stage to hawk yourselves too."

"Kids back home don't know better, eat too much, end up owing favors. So us old relics have to run around paying off the debt." Ying Lin let out a rueful sigh. "Only, since you know it's me, you should also understand…"

He said, "I never leave loose ends."

Before the words finished, Blood sprayed out from the overturned sedan.

The figure on the back seat hadn't even managed to climb up before some unseen Shadow Blade nailed him to the car door. Immediately after, another crow-like shadow surfaced out of the darkness from nowhere. With a decisive swing, one stroke, it lopped off Chen Xingzhou's head.

The head landed in his hand.

The man in the same black-feathered cloak frowned slightly and turned to look at his teacher, who was facing off against Cliff Corner:

"Fake!"

As the Blood flowed, it slowly washed off the false phenomena covering the face, revealing a completely different visage.

With the severing of life, the false record—built and maintained all this time by ether disguise and substitution—dispersed without a trace.

The meticulous scheming and repeated testing by the two Ying Lin assassins over the past few days, the many plans and hits they'd burned through, all collapsed here.

A total waste.

"..."

Ying Lin fell silent for a beat, then sighed in helpless frustration.

A lifetime of killing, and in his old age he got fooled by a cheap knockoff.

And he didn't even know when the guy in the car had been swapped out for a fake!

"Since when…"

"No idea."

The old man from Cliff Corner shook his head, feigning regret, gloating. "Maybe from the start. Hell, maybe it's been years… That bastard—he's terrified of dying. If there's even a hint of risk, he'll never show his face. Now more than ever, who knows where he's holed up.

Even I don't know.

No point beating around the bush, old friend. Best turn around and head home early."

He paused, then added with a mocking drawl, "If you really can't let it go, I'd suggest you go after his little brother. That bastard's only shred of human feeling in this life is tied to his brother…"

The old man said nothing, expression blank.

Of course he knew this Cliff Corner geezer was Yin Yang–ing him.

"Ying Lin may be ruthless, but we never drag family into it."

The old man stepped back, melting into the shadows as he tossed out one last warning mixed with scorn. "But those young idiots desperate for fame and promotion—no telling what they'll do…"

"Yeah. No telling at all."

Cliff Corner's old man chuckled softly around his spear, glancing toward Chen Yubo's home.

Watching that thin trace of Smoke slowly rise.

Relishing the chaos.

As if Chen Xingzhou would ever leave his weakness that blatantly exposed.

That place now—that's a proper Dragon's den and tiger's lair...

.

.

"Meow meow meooow~"

Over the sound of the waves, Chen Yubo sat in a deck chair, cradling his cat, admiring those sapphire eyes with a grin spread from brow to cheek.

The cat, being manhandled, struggled hard, twisting its body. It suddenly sprang up, tore free of his hands, and dove straight into the cat carrier.

No matter how Chen Xingzhou tempted it with cans.

Down the bamboo-lined path, an elderly man with a cane slowly came into view, quietly watching.

Only when Chen Yubo snapped out of it and noticed him did he stand at once and greet politely, "Out for a walk, Uncle?"

"Yes, just stretching my legs."

The old man dipped his head, smiling faintly. "Life on the island can be rather inconvenient. If there's anything lacking in our hospitality, I must ask your understanding."

"Ah, it's fine. As long as I've got food and drinks, I'm good. I brought loads of canned food!"

Chen Yubo waved it off, completely unconcerned, then suddenly sneezed. That jogged his memory, and he asked cautiously, "By the way, do you have a lint roller here?"

"..."

In the brief silence, the old man looked like he wanted to say something but held it back. In the end he could only nod, resigned. "I'll have someone send one to your room later."

"Ah, that's perfect, thanks so much."

Chen Yubo immediately broke into a goofy grin, shaking the cat's paw. "Chief, hurry up and thank Uncle!"

The Chief let out a hopeless little meow, shut his eyes, and rolled over.

Couldn't be bothered.

And "Uncle" clearly wasn't expecting gratitude from a cat. He only watched in silence as Chen Yubo, mumbling away to the cat in his arms, walked off into the distance.

Between the ocean and the bamboo grove, he let out a quiet sigh.

Fine. It's just a lint roller—send someone to buy one and be done with it.

But that bastard Chen Xingzhou… what does he think Hermit's Yingtai Mountain is supposed to be?

A daycare center?!