Chapter 496

Pursuers

At this moment, the fatigue in Chen Ling's eyes was swept away, and his physical and mental state had both recovered to peak levels!

Although in the 【Timeline Save File】 he had only closed his eyes for less than two seconds, in reality, Chen Ling had already spent a month in the 【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】.

This month had been very fulfilling for Chen Ling. His main task every day was sparring with his 【First Senior Brother】, Ning Ruyu. Since stealing that 【Bone-Stripping Knife】, he found its weight and length to be very suitable, so under Ning Ruyu's bizarre gaze, he temporarily used it as his melee weapon.

Under the high-intensity combat load every day, Chen Ling's melee skills skyrocketed. If previously he couldn't last three moves under Ning Ruyu's spear, now, armed with the 【Bone-Stripping Knife】, he could fight back and forth with him for over twenty exchanges... Of course, this was under the condition that neither side used their mental energy.

This was undoubtedly a qualitative leap. One had to know that Ning Ruyu's 【Fighting】 skills were top-notch across all the 【Nine Great Realms】. The fact that Chen Ling could fight him back and forth in close combat meant his combat techniques had reached an extremely terrifying level, far surpassing 【Path of the Soldier】 practitioners of the same tier, or even the Fourth Order.

For the rest of the time, Chen Ling studied 【Singing】 with his senior brothers and 【Senior Sister】, and gathered intelligence related to the 【Path of the Sovereign】.

"You're already well-rested?" 【Yang Xiao】 asked in shock. "Didn't you just close your eyes for a second?"

"It's enough. I'm in very good shape right now... very good."

"...What a monster." The utterly exhausted 【Yang Xiao】 muttered to himself.

At the same time, 【Su Zhiwei】 turned to look at Chen Ling:

"【Director Chen】, can you explain things now?"

Chen Ling had taken 【Su Zhiwei】 away without fundamentally explaining any situation. Both sides relied purely on trust and the camaraderie of shared hardships. To be honest, 【Su Zhiwei】 was still very confused about all of this.

Chen Ling didn't answer, but instead looked towards 【Yao Qing】 in the driver's seat.

"【Yao Qing】 is one of us," 【Su Zhiwei】 said.

"I'm Sister Zhiwei's person!" 【Yao Qing】 immediately added, staring at Chen Ling through the rearview mirror. "My anti-fraud awareness is very strong! I want to see what kind of tricks you're playing... I'm warning you, as long as I'm here, don't even think about deceiving her."

Chen Ling directly ignored 【Yao Qing】's warning. After pondering for a moment, he slowly spoke:

"Doctor Su, recently... have you felt any kind of changes occurring in your body?"

【Su Zhiwei】 was taken aback.

"Changes?" 【Yao Qing】's heart skipped a beat. "Sister! You're not sick, are you..."

"Not an illness, it's something else... For example, being able to sense things? Being able to control certain things? Or feeling some kind of energy flowing through your body?" Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

Since leaving 【Shennongjia】, 【Yang Xiao】 had already been able to faintly sense the presence of magnetic fields. It was highly probable that 【Su Zhiwei】 would also perceive changes occurring in her body. Starting from this point should allow 【Su Zhiwei】 to trust him more.

"Hah, as expected of a swindler!" 【Yao Qing】 gritted his teeth.

"What era is it now, and you're still here using superpowers and special abilities to scam people? My sister is a scientific researcher! How could she possibly believe your nonsense??"

【Su Zhiwei】 frowned and thought for a long time, then nodded.

"I have."

This single word instantly made 【Yao Qing】, who had been firing on all cylinders, come to a screeching halt.

"No, Sister, you..."

"Since coming out of 【Shennongjia】, I've been able to faintly sense some things... It's everywhere, and vibrating at a certain frequency. I can clearly hear their 'sounds'." 【Su Zhiwei】 closed her eyes. "I thought I was having hallucinations after fainting in 【Shennongjia】, so I specifically took a leave of absence to rest at home... But no matter how much I tried to clear my mind, there was no sign of it disappearing. In fact, the sound has been getting louder."

【Su Zhiwei】's answer was pretty much what Chen Ling had guessed. He spoke in a deep voice, "You should be able to guess what it is that you're hearing... right?"

【Su Zhiwei】 opened her mouth, seeming to struggle for a long time before tentatively giving her hypothesized answer:

"Is it... '【String】'?"

"The theory you've been researching is currently becoming your power... Doctor 【Yang Xiao】 should also have a profound understanding of this." Chen Ling glanced at 【Yang Xiao】, who was also nodding. Chen Ling continued, "The changes happening to your bodies will trigger a series of events in the future, and perhaps even change the world... And right now, someone wants to eliminate you."

"Didn't you also enter 【Shennongjia】, 【Director Chen】? Did you undergo changes too?"

"No, I'm different from you... What I possess is a '【Divine Path】', a concrete manifestation of spiritual civilization. Your 'theories' can actually also be considered spiritual civilization, but there should only be nine of you in the world with this kind of authority."

"No, this is getting more and more ridiculous!!" 【Yao Qing】 couldn't help but interrupt their conversation. He asked 【Su Zhiwei】 while driving, "Sister Zhiwei, you don't actually believe his nonsense, do you?! Doesn't this sound exactly like those evil cults?"

"【Yao Qing】, this world is not as simple as you see..."

As a member of the exploration team, 【Su Zhiwei】 had witnessed a series of supernatural phenomena with her own eyes and walked the line between life and death. She was well aware that Chen Ling's words were not baseless.

But from 【Yao Qing】's perspective, as a materialistic college student, he fundamentally couldn't accept it for a while. He only felt that Chen Ling was deceiving 【Su Zhiwei】, trying to make her join some evil cult resembling a pyramid scheme. In light cases, she would be swindled out of money and virtue; in severe cases, she would be brainwashed into committing suicide... He had seen too much news of this kind.

【Yao Qing】 became anxious. He unconsciously stepped hard on the accelerator. The vehicle shot through the heavy traffic on the main road and sped straight down another path.

"Sister, think about this carefully. I really feel like this whole thing is wrong..."

While 【Yao Qing】 was still attempting to awaken 【Su Zhiwei】's rationality, Chen Ling frowned. His gaze locked onto several vehicles trailing closely behind them through the rearview mirror.

[【Audience Expectation Value】 +3]

Seeing this prompt, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly...

"Keep driving, head towards a place with fewer people," Chen Ling suddenly ordered.

"What's wrong?"

"Those cars have been following us ever since we left the 【Su Estate】." Chen Ling said in a deep voice. "The traffic on the main road was heavy, so I didn't pay much attention... but looking at it now, they're most likely coming for us."

"Are they 【Nie Yu】's men?" 【Yang Xiao】's expression darkened instantly.

"Probably. Since he knows he can't get here in a short time, he sent other people? It seems... he's dead set on killing Doctor Su."

Hearing these words, 【Yao Qing】's heart skipped a beat. He also looked behind them. There were indeed several cars following, but he had no impression of them... After all, there were too many cars on the main road earlier, and they were all blocking each other. Who could remember the make or license plate of every single car?

"Are you sure? A lot of cars usually take this road, aren't you overthinking it?" he asked doubtfully.

"They're hiding well enough, but they can't hide from my eyes." A faint glint flashed in Chen Ling's pupils. "【Yao Qing】, was it? If you don't want your Sister Zhiwei dragged into danger, floor the gas pedal and keep driving. Don't worry about the traffic cameras, they won't catch you."

Although 【Yao Qing】 couldn't tell if Chen Ling was telling the truth or not, since it involved 【Su Zhiwei】's safety, he gritted his teeth and stepped on the accelerator. The vehicle instantly sped up and roared forward, running five or six red lights in a row!

At the same time, the several cars behind them also abruptly accelerated, tailing them closely.

"They're really chasing us?!" 【Yao Qing】 exclaimed in shock.

"What do we do now? It's practically impossible to lose them on this kind of city road network." 【Yang Xiao】 asked in a deep voice as he watched the cars biting tightly onto their tail.

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. He glanced at his remaining 【Audience Expectation Value】. After a moment of hesitation, a 【Bone-Stripping Knife】 slid out from his sleeve...

The mirror-like sharp blade reflected his face and his cold, flashing pupils as he spoke unhurriedly,

"Just keep driving... Leave the rest to me."