Chapter 983: Encirclement and Suppression Begins

Encirclement and Suppression Begins

Hearing this, a flash of astonishment passed through Chen Ling's eyes...

It had only been about a dozen hours since he laid his cards on the table with Hong Xiu. Before this, Hong Xiu had been in a state of confusion and wavering. Why was she suddenly so determined?

What exactly happened during this one night?

Chen Ling didn't ask further. Regardless of what Hong Xiu had experienced, as long as she ultimately made this choice, it was enough.

"Tell me, what should I do," Hong Xiu spoke again.

While driving, Chen Ling lowered his voice and replied, "The reason we ended up in our current situation is because the Silver King used the power of [Borrowing the Moon] to replace our pasts respectively with another person... The one replaced with me should be an Ordinary Person, and the one replaced with you should be the original protective Knight."

"Exchanged pasts... then why weren't the names in our memories replaced?"

Hong Xiu had Tan Xin in her memories, and there was also Tan Xin in the [Rotten Tongue]. The same name, yet representing different people, gave her a sense of disconnect.

Chen Ling also exactly utilized this point to fabricate the "Chi Tong" persona, forcing him to have to act with him... But in reality, Chi Tong was simply not some friend in Chen Ling's memory, just a popcorn vendor across from his old factory.

"Then how can we exchange our memories back?"

Chen Ling pondered for a moment. "The simplest method: whoever tied the bell must untie it. As long as the Silver King makes a move, our memories will naturally come back... Of course, this is impossible."

Before Hong Xiu could feel disappointed, Chen Ling spoke again:

"But besides him, I know a person. He can dislocate the memories between different people through the method of a Curse... This might be the only way for us to retrieve our memories."

"Where is he??" Hong Xiu's eyes lit up.

"Right now, he should be in the Tianshu Domain."

Hong Xiu frowned slightly.

She pondered for a moment, and answered seriously, "Since the Silver King isn't here now, I can take you to fight our way out of the Wuji Domain and head straight for Tianshu."

Hong Xiu's tone was very calm, but it contained a powerful confidence, as if regardless of what Thief Saint, Adjudication Proxy, or Lord of Wuji it was, she simply didn't take them seriously.

"I don't doubt your strength, Miss Hong Xiu." Chen Ling let out a long sigh. "But to exchange memories, we have to first bring the people holding our memories with us... Otherwise, who do we exchange with?"

"Then where are the people who possess our memories?"

"I don't know." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "They... should have been hidden by the Fire-Stealers."

Hong Xiu's gaze fell on the rearview mirror. Black cars followed behind them, driving slowly in the pre-dawn gloom...

"You should already have a plan, right?" Hong Xiu asked.

"Yes." Chen Ling nodded slightly,

"And this plan requires your cooperation."

...

The vehicles slowly stopped in the Wilderness.

Numerous figures converged on one place. Huang He's gaze swept over the surroundings and quickly locked onto an inconspicuous manhole cover.

"It's here." Huang He lowered his eyelids. "Going down from here is the complex drainage system. After previous investigations, we've basically locked onto an area... The Rat Party is right there."

"Then wouldn't it be fine if we just go down directly and catch them all in one fell swoop." Lan Yu spoke casually. "Among this group of Rat Party members, there should only be one Seventh-Order. With so many of us, they wouldn't be able to escape even if they had wings."

"Not necessarily. Many of the drainage pipes down here aren't recorded on the blueprints. The possibility of them escaping in the chaos cannot be ruled out."

Huang He's gaze looked towards Chen Ling,

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have invited Mister Chen to take this trip... Does Mister Chen have any thoughts?"

"You are correct. The Rat Party is a group of sinister and cautious guys."

Chen Ling spoke in a deep voice, "Based on my understanding of them, they definitely have more concealed escape methods prepared outside of the regular routes, and even mechanism traps prepared to deceive the eyes and ears."

"Oh?"

Huang He raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you think we should do?"

"We absolutely cannot spread all our manpower in one place. We must split up and act, and the more scattered we are, the better." Chen Ling pointed at the sewer and said,

"When the encirclement and suppression begins, everyone should be like a large net, slowly gathering towards the Rat Party's direction bit by bit, but don't completely seal it dead... Leave them a path of survival, let them flee in that direction. Miss Hong Xiu and I will be responsible for intercepting and killing them. That way, we can catch them all in one net."

"The risk of this is too great. We only have this many people. If we spread out too much, there will only be one or two people left in each place. What if we encounter the Rat Party when closing the net but can't hold them off?" Lan Yu subconsciously retorted.

"That's still better than letting them escape without anyone knowing."

"But..."

Actually, Chen Ling didn't understand the Rat Party at all. In his replaced Ordinary Person memories, he didn't even know what the Rat Party was... But this group of Fire-Stealers seemed to firmly believe that he had some kind of relationship with the Rat Party and understood them very well.

Since that was the case, Chen Ling simply borrowed strength to strike back, pretending to be in a posture of understanding the Rat Party very well and offering advice.

Actually, Chen Ling proposing this plan was purely hoping to create opportunities to act alone. After all, he and Hong Xiu were now on a united front, but if there were other people around, their actions would also be restricted.

"If you don't trust me, then there's nothing I can do. After all, I'm just a Guide... Do as you please."

Chen Ling put on a look of having nothing to do with this.

Huang He stared at Chen Ling for a long time, and finally made up his mind,

"Let's do as he says..."

After all, he was the person Chi Tong personally chose. And looking at this kid's posture, he really seemed to understand the Rat Party very well. Rather than acting on their own and taking the responsibility themselves, it was better to trust Chen Ling once.

Soon, the crowd was divided into pairs, forming more than ten groups, and rapidly entered the underground.

And Chen Ling and Hong Xiu naturally became a group without any suspense. Moreover, due to Hong Xiu's own super high Combat Power, they were directly assigned to the deepest place underground, waiting to intercept the Rat Party crowd.

"Would people really hide in this kind of place?" Hong Xiu felt the dark and damp environment around them, her eyebrows slightly furrowing.

"Let alone the light and smell, the underground drainage system of the Wuji Domain is filled with various bacteria and Poisonous Insects... Living here long term, one's body will definitely have problems."

"Who knows... but to be able to make the determination to establish a stronghold here, the Leader of this Rat Party is indeed impressive."

Just as Chen Ling was about to say something more, the roar of an explosion came from above!

Boom——!!

"...It's begun." Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.