Chapter 57: Bloody Handprint

The steward's pupils abruptly shrank!

Right at the moment when Chen Ling's Short Blade was about to slice open his throat, a flash of gray crossed, and his palm was instantly empty.

The wind from Chen Ling's palm brushed past the steward's neck, scaring the latter into a cold sweat. He fiercely took half a step back and thrust the Short Blade back at Chen Ling with a backhand!

'I forgot he could steal weapons...'

With empty hands, Chen Ling could only helplessly dodge. This brief opening allowed the steward to distance himself and barely steady his footing on the roof of the car.

"This speed... how is it possible?" The steward looked at Chen Ling in astonishment. "Have you also grasped a Divine Path?"

He seemed to think of something, his expression changing repeatedly,

"No, you're not an ordinary Law Enforcer rookie... Who are you? A Scarlet Heaven Cultist? Or a member of the Dusk Society?"

Seeing his identity called out, Chen Ling stopped pretending. He had to finish off this guy as quickly as possible... the other party knew too much.

Chen Ling shifted his footwork and closed in on the steward at extreme speed. The latter, having suffered a loss once, seemed somewhat wary of Chen Ling getting into close quarters and continuously used the Handgun and Short Blade to pull open the distance between them.

With Chen Ling's gradual approach, the steward could only continuously retreat. Very soon, he arrived at the end of the last train car, with almost nowhere left to retreat.

The dark brown overcoat fluttered at the top of the train, and the steam mixed with the wind and snow gradually submerged the figures of the two.

At the same time, in the direction the train was advancing, a narrow tunnel approached at extreme speed!

The size of this tunnel was extremely narrow, with a difference of less than a head compared to the height of the train. The two who were locked in mortal combat caught sight of the wall hurtling toward them from the corner of their eyes, and their hearts simultaneously jolted!

In the instant they were about to crash into the tunnel, Chen Ling reached out to touch his chin and tore hard!

A piece of facial skin flew into the air.

Whoosh——!!

The train shot through the tunnel like a cannonball, the compressed air letting out a low, rumbling roar.

Disordered light and shadows flashed indistinctly. Dozens of seconds later, light enveloped the roof of the car once more. On the caved-in freight car, the steward crawled up in a sorry state...

"Damn it, I almost got hit."

Right when he almost crashed into the tunnel, he activated his skill to 'steal' the sand and soil loaded within the freight car, causing the tarpaulin below to abruptly collapse. He narrowly escaped by hiding within it.

He barely steadied his body, only to see a blood-colored cheetah crouching just a few steps away, staring fixedly at him with a pair of crimson eyes.

'A cheetah??'

The moment he saw this thing, his pupils abruptly shrank.

Before he had time to react as to why a cheetah had appeared out of thin air on this train, he was about to raise his gun to shoot. But right at this moment, that crimson afterimage swept across the roof like lightning!

Sharp claws sliced open his wrist, and the gun, along with the wrist, rolled off the car.

Immediately after, the cheetah tore madly at his neck and face. Mournful, tragic screams echoed amidst the wind and snow, and were soon drowned out by the roaring train without a trace.

Clang-clang—Clang-clang—Clang-clang...

An unknown amount of time passed before the cheetah finally slowly stopped... It stood up, transforming into a human silhouette.

He raised his hand and gently wiped the scalding blood off his cheek. Behind the crimson was Chen Ling's calm yet suppressed-with-madness face.

Fresh blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. He casually picked up a handful of accumulated snow from the roof, stuffed it into his mouth, rinsed for a moment, and spat it out in one mouthful.

"This skill... is unexpectedly useful," he muttered to himself.

This was his first time facing an opponent with a Divine Path skill. Although he ultimately won, the other party's bizarre ability still left a profound impression on him... However, he inferred that this man before him possessed at most Second-Tier strength.

The First-Tier skill was stealing items, and the Second-Tier skill was Theft of Face... but strictly speaking, neither of these two skills possessed much offensive capability.

A thief was just a thief; in terms of direct combat power, they were still inferior to a 'Soldier'.

Chen Ling looked at that mutilated corpse, hesitated for a moment, then bent down and stripped all its clothes off. With a kick, he sent the naked corpse into the bottom of the train, where it was quickly crushed into minced meat by the steel wheels.

Immediately after, he bundled up the Train Stewardess uniform and tossed it off into the cliff aside, where it vanished.

"Sorry, but the Dao Foundation of the Martial God Path... cannot just be given to you like this."

Both the Fire-Stealers and his target were the Ancient Vault of the Military Path. Although he was only First-Tier and entirely alone, Chen Ling didn't intend to just give up like this... He planned on Taking a Desperate Risk this once.

The Fire-Stealers were enemies, but as long as he made good use of them, perhaps they could become his own weapon.

Chen Ling glanced at the location of the passenger car. A plan surged into his mind, and madness flickered in his eyes once more!

At this moment, Chen Ling could clearly feel that his twisted Divine Path was cheering, his hollow chest was beating, and every single cell in his body was waiting for him to dance between life and death.

He knew that this was the twisted Divine Path changing his personality again...

But this feeling really wasn't bad!

【Audience Expectation Value +12】

【Current Expectation Value: 61%】

...

"Who do you guys think will come back first, Number 13 or Number 8?"

Inside the passenger car, Zhong Yaoguang and another peer student sat shoulder-to-shoulder in their original seats, talking while cracking Sunflower Seeds.

"It should be Number 13. After all, that Law Enforcer leading the team from District Three looks like he can really run."

"I think I heard gunshots just now, right towards the tail of the train. Someone should have finished..."

"I feel it's Number 8. After all, Number 8 is Third Tier and has learned that skill. Killing a person is not a difficult task for him."

"Makes sense..."

Right as everyone was talking, a figure draped in a dark brown overcoat landed lightly by the door of the train car, stepping inside with broken snow.

"So Number 13 came back first." Zhong Yaoguang laughed. "Why did you take so long?"

"That kid pretended to escape outside, but actually secretly hid on the roof. He made me run a whole lap before I found him. Exhausted me to death." Chen Ling cursed while casually walking over to his seat and sitting down.

"Pretty smart..."

"It's obvious; after all, he was the first one to notice us," the other Law Enforcer replied.

"Here, have some Sunflower Seeds."

Chen Ling picked up two Sunflower Seeds, cracking them while looking around inside the car.

"The other one hasn't been brought back yet?" he asked casually.

Jiang Qin ran at the same time he did. If he chose the right path, there was actually hope for him to escape...

Chen Ling didn't care if the others died, but he hoped Jiang Qin could live.

Chen Ling looked at the thick dark brown overcoat on his body and felt somewhat worried in his heart.

"Not yet, I don't know what the situation is."

"...Forget it, I'll go over and check." A faint light flashed in Chen Ling's eyes, and he got up to walk toward the car door.

"No need."

Right at this moment, a figure walked into the train car, facing him and slowly walking over...

The moment he saw that person, Chen Ling's pupils contracted slightly.

He saw 'Jiang Qin', covered entirely in blood, dragging a corpse through the car and stopping in front of Chen Ling... The corpse in his hands was another Jiang Qin.

'Jiang Qin' raised a palm completely stained with blood and patted Chen Ling's shoulder.

"The theft of faces for all members was successful. Good job."

After speaking, he brushed past Chen Ling.

Chen Ling stood frozen for a long time, slightly lowering his head.

On the dark brown overcoat, a crimson bloody handprint was startling to the eye.