Chapter 339: Arriving Just in Time

The moment Lu Yu stepped into Yongan City, he keenly sensed an unusual, tense atmosphere permeating the air.

In the past, the city was always bustling with crowds, and the streets were lined with all sorts of stalls.

But at this moment, these people seemed to have evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Even the occasional pedestrian kept their head down, walking with hurried steps and a panicked expression, as if a single slow step would bring disaster upon them.

"Brother Lu!"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the front right. A man who looked to be in his thirties walked over with hurried steps.

"Who are you?" Lu Yu looked the person in front of him over with a puzzled expression.

"The Association President asked me to wait here for you," the man said with a face full of respect.

"Something huge happened in the city. The President wanted to call you, but was worried about disturbing you, so he sent you several messages. When he didn't receive a reply, he arranged for me to keep watch here. If I saw you, I was to tell you not to run around and to return to the Base first."

"I understand." Lu Yu nodded slightly, already having some guesses in his heart, but still asked: "What exactly is the big deal?"

The man looked around vigilantly, then lowered his voice and said: "Something happened at the Merchant Guild. I heard a Vein Refining Realm expert who uses a saber broke in, killed several Martial Artists of the Transformation Strength level, and even kidnapped the supervisor, Sheng Yuan."

"What?" Lu Yu feigned shock, widening his eyes.

"Yeah!" The man nodded heavily and continued, "The City Lord's Mansion is behind the Merchant Guild. It's said that someone has already gone to notify the City Lord. In my opinion, a storm is likely brewing beneath this calm facade."

He sighed softly and then urged: "Brother Lu, there's no time to lose, let's head back quickly."

"Mm, you go back to the Base first. I still have some Fierce Beast materials on me, so I need to go find Brother Liu first," Lu Yu said with a slight smile and a calm tone.

"Alright, then take care of yourself." After hearing this, the man breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and walked toward the city gate.

"Moving quite fast," Lu Yu thought to himself.

In fact, when he was acting, he had already anticipated that such a situation would arise.

After the man entered the city, Lu Yu then stepped into the city. His gaze first swept over the Martial Arts Association, then slowly moved upward, finally landing on that cluster of villas at the highest point.

That was the residence of several C-Class Awakened, and also the destination of his trip.

However, before heading to the villa cluster, Lu Yu had one more thing to do.

He found a deserted corner, and accompanied by a slight crack-crack sound, the burly man who had previously broken into the Merchant Guild slowly walked out from the shadows, holding a long saber.

Killing a C-Class Awakened in public within the city was no small matter.

If this matter were to spread and someone really investigated it, even with the protection of the Martial Arts Association, it would be hard to guarantee he wouldn't get into big trouble.

Even if the Association could protect him, this favor would be no small amount; he might even have to refine pills for the Association in the future to pay it back.

Since that was the case, it was better to nip the hidden danger in the bud from the very beginning.

Not only could he not use his bow and arrow, but even a mental Secret Technique like the Soul Extinguishing Finger had to be used with caution, otherwise, it would be easy for someone with a motive to trace his identity based on clues.

Fortunately, besides being proficient in archery and mental Secret Techniques, Lu Yu was also quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat and a certain saber technique.

Even if he killed those C-Class Awakened in public, he could turn around and vanish without a trace, with no need to worry about anyone seeking revenge after the matter spread.

Lu Yu took a deep breath and directly activated Heaven-Human Induction.

In an instant, his massive Mental Power surged out like a tide, covering the entire Yongan City.

Under the perception of this Mental Power, hundreds of thousands of auras clearly emerged.

The vast majority of these auras were extremely weak, clearly belonging to ordinary citizens.

Over ten thousand auras were relatively stronger, most likely Martial Artists at the Body Tempering or Refining Flesh Realm; of course, the existence of Awakened among them could not be ruled out.

And among them, dozens of auras were exceptionally strong and conspicuous. A few auras felt quite familiar to him; they were exactly Song Tian, Jiang Yao, and the others.

There were at least twenty people whose auras were even stronger than Song Tian and the others.

Especially the five auras located at the top of the mountain, which were particularly prominent.

If the auras of Song Tian and the others were like fireflies in the night, then these five auras were like candles in the night; it would be difficult for them not to attract Lu Yu's attention.

"It seems Yongan City has gained another C-Class Awakened in these two years," Lu Yu's gaze locked onto the villa at the highest point, his brows slightly furrowed.

There was a relatively strong aura there, but it was surrounded by several extremely weak auras.

He cast his gaze toward another direction, where there was also a relatively strong aura, but the surrounding auras were different from the former, as if the owner were alone.

Then, his gaze moved again, landing on the third villa.

The auras in this villa were the most complex, with over thirty in total, most of which were at the Entry Strength level.

Besides that, there were four auras that were particularly eye-catching: one aura was powerful, two others were slightly weaker, and the fourth was even weaker still.

In the place where these four auras were located, there was another aura, so weak it was not even as strong as the ordinary citizens in the city, giving one the feeling of a flickering candle in the wind, precarious and unstable.

Lu Yu slowly withdrew his Mental Power, his gaze fixed on the third villa.

He was certain in his heart that the extremely weak aura must be Ji Wanqing.

The reason was simple: he had killed people from the Merchant Guild, so the news would inevitably be reported layer by layer to those C-Class Awakened.

The other party's first reaction would definitely be to go find Ji Wanqing and force her to reveal the whereabouts of the killer.

That was why this villa had gathered so many powerful auras.

And the thirty-plus guards around it confirmed this from the side; after all, the other villas did not have such tight security.

"It seems my previous actions really did bring trouble to Ji Wanqing. I hope I haven't arrived too late."

Lu Yu muttered to himself. Before the words had even faded, his figure flashed, like a streak of lightning, and shot rapidly toward his destination.

On the only path to the mountain top, dozens of armed guards were vigilantly staring downward. Suddenly, a gust of wind whistled past.

"Where did that strange wind come from?" Someone reached up to adjust the hat on their head, muttering to themselves.

"Yeah, it really is quite strange." The few people next to them holding guns looked back and forth, left and right, but didn't find anything unusual. It was probably just their imagination.

The few people shook their heads and continued their patrol.

However, the very next moment, a figure appeared without warning in front of a heavily guarded villa.

"Who goes there!"

The several squads of guards who were patrolling were instantly shocked and terrified, and they all aimed their guns at the burly man who had suddenly appeared.

"Who are you?"

"How did you get up here?"

"What do you want to do! Quickly drop the weapon in your hand, put your hands on your head, and squat down!"

Several shouts rang out one after another.

But Lu Yu turned a deaf ear to this, his gaze looking straight toward the balcony on the second floor.

There, several figures were watching him through the window.

Among those figures, one had a full head of white hair, a face covered in wrinkles, and a flash of excitement crossed his eyes as he looked at Lu Yu.

"It seems I found the right place," Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief to himself.

"Didn't you hear me talking to you?" A middle-aged man nearby roared and said, "I'll count to three; if you still don't put down your weapon, we will execute you on the spot!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Lu Yu remained like a statue, his gaze locked with the gazes from the second floor, as if he hadn't heard the middle-aged man's shouting at all.

"Open fire!" the middle-aged man bellowed.

Cheng Zhu was watching from the second floor right now; if he let this person of unknown origin break in, he would have no choice but to apologize with his death!

In an instant, gunfire erupted. Dozens of light and heavy Machine Guns spat tongues of fire simultaneously, and bullets poured toward Lu Yu like a torrential downpour.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang! Clang, clang, clang, clang!"

Crisp impact sounds rang out in succession. The bullets were like they had hit a hard iron wall, all being deflected away.

Even some of the surrounding guards were struck in the head by the ricocheting stray bullets, falling to the ground with expressions of terror.