Chapter 282: Success

Cheng Feng let the Mechanical Dog hide in the shadows to find a good angle, while he himself swaggered forward and shouted triumphantly, "Buddy, I've finally found you!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Xu Tian was shaken to his core, and two thoughts surged in his mind. His first reaction was: How is this guy not dead?

His second reaction was: Oh no, that strange hidden weapon...

Just at the moment Xu Tian was truly shocked, the Mechanical Dog had already locked onto its target and poured out its firepower without hesitation.

This time, it did not strafe Xu Tian's lower body as it had before; instead, through intelligent analysis, it simulated Xu Tian's next trajectory and launched an all-encompassing, no-blind-spot barrage.

All of Xu Tian's possible landing spots—above and below, front and back, left and right—were covered by firepower, forming a dense curtain of bullets.

Facing the powerful suppression of firepower from the technological era, even though every hair on Xu Tian's body stood on end, he still could not dodge.

With no cover on the street, Xu Tian ultimately failed to escape as he had hoped; with the Mechanical Dog prepared, its intelligent analysis speed was a hundred times faster than the reaction speed of a Lianzhan Martial Artist.

Bang, bang, bang—after a round of machine-gun fire, the caught-off-guard Xu Tian had his legs snapped into two pieces directly by the machine-gun bullets.

In the cruel reality of the empty, exposed street, Xu Tian had ultimately underestimated the power of modern technology. The Mechanical Dog's unimaginable intelligent analysis speed caused him to lose the initiative in the rapidly changing battle situation.

Following a burst of dense machine-gun fire, it was as if invisible cracks were being torn into the air; the ruthless bullets, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, harvested lives without mercy.

Xu Tian only felt a blur before his eyes, followed immediately by a tearing, excruciating pain in his legs. He looked down and saw blood spurting out; his legs had been severed by the machine-gun bullets in that instant, separated from his body, and were hanging limply on the ground.

He endured the intense pain and gritted his teeth, yet there was not a hint of retreat in his eyes, only a more determined light flickering within.

"Damn it, even if I die, I'm taking you with me!" Xu Tian roared, using all his strength to hurl the short blade in his hand at Cheng Feng. This throw condensed all his hatred and unwillingness; the short blade carved a brilliant trajectory through the air, heading straight for Cheng Feng.

Unfortunately, Cheng Feng was no ordinary person after all; he reacted quickly, his figure flashed, and he dodged this fatal blow.

The short blade grazed his clothing and finally embedded itself deep into the wall nearby, emitting a soft "hum."

"Hmph, overestimating yourself." Cheng Feng sneered, looking at Xu Tian lying on the ground, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes. He did not rush to taunt him.

Instead, he quickly stepped forward to finish him off, decapitating Xu Tian with one strike, then immediately stored Xu Tian's head and his still-bleeding body directly into his Space Ring.

Just at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the other end of the street, breaking the momentary silence.

Cheng Feng's heart tightened; he quickly stored the Mechanical Dog into his Space Ring and immediately turned to dash into the dark alley.

A large group of gang disciples arrived quickly; seeing the two headless corpses of their own disciples on the ground, a portion of the men were consumed by rage.

The bearded man leading them was even more furious, shouting, "Damn it, two more dead! Including Fang Lian, the Hengshi Gang has already lost three people, and we haven't even gained a single hair! Fuck his grandmother's ancestors! Are you just picking on my Hengshi Gang to kill? I'll xxxx!"

Someone nearby cautiously reminded him, "Hall Master, people from other factions are watching!" The man stopped instantly and muttered, "I hope you bastards die too."

The surrounding factions ignored the cursing man, because everyone knew that Xu Laosi was not only formidable in his Horizontal Training, but his mouth was also incredibly tough.

If he could win an argument, he would curse; if he couldn't, he would beat the other person down before continuing to curse—his main style was never to stop talking.

Ying Zong went to investigate the traces as usual; he observed every detail carefully, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. This made everyone around him feel nervous, their hearts pounding. They were all wondering: had they really encountered something thorny this time?

"Old Ying, have you seen something?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Ying Zong pointed to the bloodstains on the ground and said, "Look, there are some bloodstains here; it's obvious someone vomited blood, and there are small pieces of viscera in the blood, which means this person was severely injured."

The crowd nodded one after another, agreeing with Ying Zong's judgment.

Ying Zong continued, "I suspect that after this person was injured, they were discovered by the two Hengshi Gang disciples who shouted, then they quickly killed the two of them and ran a short distance." After finishing, Ying Zong looked at the last spot of blood.

At this time, the disciples behind them caught up with torches, illuminating the surroundings. Ying Zong continued to explain, "Look, there are two large pools of blood not far apart here, as well as some holes around, and the short sword on the wall; these are all evidence."

The crowd suddenly realized—so that was it.

Ying Zong pointed again at the bloodstains on the ground and the surrounding environment, saying, "Later, this person was ambushed from behind with a hidden weapon; that should be the series of sounds we heard just now."

"And according to the situation at the scene, this person's legs should have been broken directly, and they even made a counterattack at the very end; this also explains why there are two pools of blood on the ground that are almost connected but still have a certain distance between them. And the short sword stuck in the wall in the distance."

"But what this old man cannot understand is that the traces of the corpse disappear right here, and there isn't the slightest bit of blood further away. Even if the blood from the severed legs and body was in the wrong direction, this old man could still see a thing or two, but there is simply no blood here at all, as if it vanished into thin air. This is what puzzles me; it is truly baffling!" Ying Zong said with a frown.

The people around heard this and looked around, but they couldn't see anything.

Xu Laosi said bluntly, "Old Ying, are you saying we've lost the trail? The clues end here?"

Ying Zong ignored the blunt Xu Laosi and instead said with a solemn expression, "The only thing I can think of is that only one type of person could do this."

The crowd perked up: "Who? What kind of person? Why don't so many of us just go and hack him to death and take back the Silk-Pulling Art?"

Ying Zong looked at the person who spoke as if they were an idiot: "What I can think of is a True Qi Martial Artist. Only that kind of martial artist can use True Qi to lift bloodstains off the ground so they don't fall, effectively changing the venue."

The mention of a True Qi Martial Artist left the surrounding gang members speechless. They were ruthless and greedy, but they weren't suicidal.

That was a True Qi Martial Artist!

Lianshan Prefecture City hadn't produced a single True Qi Martial Artist in thirty years!

What kind of concept was that? It meant this True Qi Martial Artist could sweep through all the factions in the entire Prefecture City!

Everyone present fell silent, their faces showing a grave expression.

Xu Laosi gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Old Ying, are you sure? If it really is a True Qi Martial Artist, what should we do?"

Ying Zong shook his head and said helplessly, "I don't know. Perhaps we can only wait for that True Qi Martial Artist to reveal himself. After all, if he doesn't want to be found, we have no way to track his trail."

The crowd was helpless; some gave up directly, not wanting to get involved in this mess.

Others still held a glimmer of hope and searched around again.

The true beneficiary, however, had long since run out of the area and returned to an inn.