CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 120: COURTING DEATH

At eleven o’clock in the evening, the bedroom’s landline suddenly rang.

After the phone rang three times, Chen Shouyi, who was practicing the Thirty-Six Techniques for Body Conditioning, stopped and glanced at Shell Lady who was watching cartoons without blinking, walked over, picked up the phone, and said in a deep voice: "It’s Chen Shouyi!"

"Come quickly and save me." The call was from Lu Weifeng.

Chen Shouyi’s heart sank: "Where are you?"

"I’m in the lower district on Shouming Street... Number 29, beside the public phone booth, I can’t hold on much longer... Remember, do not call the police, I don’t trust anyone right now." He coughed a few times suddenly, seeming to have been injured.

Chen Shouyi hesitated for a few seconds, then said: "Wait, find somewhere to hide first, I’ll be right there!"

Then he hung up the phone.

Lu Weifeng was a martial artist from the same class as him and was considered his closest martial artist friend; Chen Shouyi couldn’t let him die, and with his temperament, he couldn’t do such a thing.

Damn, is the Pantheon targeting Lu Weifeng this time?

He stood for a while, a trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes, picked up his sword, and quickly left.

He walked quickly out of the community, flagged down a taxi, and as soon as he sat in the car: "Go to Shouming Street, Number 29."

The driver glanced at the sword in Chen Shouyi’s hand, made no comment, and soon started the car.

Chen Shouyi’s expression was as calm as water, watching the lights outside the window rapidly recede; inside the car was silent.

Gradually, he calmed himself down, held the sword, and began to close his eyes to rest. About half an hour later, he opened his eyes and found the car seemed to be straying off course. He asked: "Driver, you took the wrong road, haven’t we arrived yet?"

"I’ve been driving taxis for ten years, Hedong’s streets—I could navigate them with my eyes closed; Shouming Street is in the suburbs!" the driver smiled and said.

"Then drive fast, I’m in a hurry." Chen Shouyi nodded, not suspecting anything, he hadn’t heard of Shouming Street before moving to Hedong.

"Alright!" The driver suddenly slammed the accelerator.

Time was approaching twelve o’clock, and there weren’t many vehicles on the road.

The taxi sped along, slowly revealing large areas of unfinished buildings on either side. Before long, the driver suddenly turned the steering wheel, heading toward a construction site!

"Driver, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake." Chen Shouyi finally felt something was wrong and said coldly.

"Sorry, drank too much water and need to relieve myself, found a place, need to go first."

At this moment, Chen Shouyi keenly noticed, although the driver looked apologetic, there was a trace of a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

An idea flashed like lightning through his mind, in an instant he understood everything.

This was a conspiracy, a plot targeting him.

From Lu Weifeng’s plea for help to the conveniently passing taxi driver to the dark construction site ahead, it was all a trap.

A strong anger rose from his heart.

Lu Weifeng, damn it, you’re asking for death!

Without a second thought, Chen Shouyi smashed the taxi’s driver’s seat railing with a hand, grabbing the driver’s neck, the driver suddenly let go of the steering wheel, clutching Chen Shouyi’s hand with one hand.

But that hand was like cast iron, completely unmovable.

"What a grand setup, excellently disguised, you’ve even deceived me." Chen Shouyi sneered.

Judging by his struggling strength, he turned out to be a martial artist in disguise.

"Don’t... don’t kill me, I’m forced." A long cut made by a steel pipe appeared on his face, the flesh rolling open, blood gushing.

Full of fear, one hand desperately reached under the seat, where there was his protective short sword.

But before he could reach it, the next moment, an irresistible force came over, the driver’s seat railing instantly broke, his body like a broken sack hit the windshield, rolling over a dozen times, until the back of his head hit the wall with a thud, finally stopping.

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his mind blank.

"Bang!" With a loud noise, the passenger door was kicked flying over ten meters.

Chen Shouyi with the Long Sword walked out.

That "driver", standing up with effort, swaying: "I...I was forced."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt something flash before his eyes, with a boom, his chest was kicked seven to eight meters away, a crisp sound of bones cracking, countless ribs were broken, he lay on the ground like a corpse, blood flowing continuously from his mouth, body twitching.

Watching Chen Shouyi walking quickly over, his eyes full of fear and despair.

Chen Shouyi stepped on his chest, applying slight force: "How many people inside?"

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, perhaps sensing death approaching, he glared fiercely: "You’re doomed!"

Chen Shouyi’s expression turned cold, he suddenly stepped hard.

With a crunch, his chest collapsed instantly, blood and flesh splattered like mud.

Chen Shouyi glanced at that stretch of dark construction site ahead, then turned around to head back.

He was confident in his own strength, yet wasn’t a fool; such a blatant trap meant for him, he’d be mad to walk right into.

"Clap clap clap!"

At that moment, a burst of applause suddenly echoed.

Chen Shouyi paused, looking toward the sound.

On the opposite side of the street stood a handsome young man in a black leather jacket, clapping his hands and walking briskly toward him:

"Truly unexpected, if I hadn’t been outside monitoring the situation, today’s mission would have failed."

No cars had passed on this street for some time, clearly, this spot was carefully chosen.

Chen Shouyi said nothing, slowly drawing his sword, stepping toward him with no expression on his face.

"Boy, all struggles are futile!" He shrugged, smiling gently, completely at ease.

As if he would not face any opponent, but rather a leisurely outing, he didn’t even carry any weapons, apparently intending to capture him alive.

A glint of coldness flashed in Chen Shouyi’s eyes as the distance between them quickly closed.

Twenty meters, fifteen meters, ten meters...

In an instant, Chen Shouyi moved, his attack reminiscent of a thunderclap, the piercing sound reverberating painfully through the ears.

Feeling the fierce wind against his face and the swiftly magnifying blurred sword tip, the young man’s smile had yet to fade completely before his expression shifted drastically.

At the critical moment, he sharply dodged to the side, and the leather jacket on his body was instantly torn by the violent airflow, a searing pain coursing through his chest.

Ignoring his fear, he quickly retreated, stepping swiftly backward.

However, it was already too late. Chen Shouyi switched moves swiftly, his sword slicing towards the chest and abdomen like a startling swan, passing in a flash.

The handsome young man instinctively tried to raise his hands to block the sword’s edge, but caught nothing but air.

Inserting the sword back into its scabbard, Chen Shouyi walked ahead without even glancing back, taking several strides and quickly vanishing into the darkness.

The young man stood rooted to the spot, motionless, cold sweat dripping profusely from his forehead.

Soon, three people slowly emerged from the construction site.

The bald man glanced at the corpse, furrowing his brow, he called out to the distant, rigid young man: "Eric, where is he?"

The young man said nothing.

There were no streetlights, and the dim light left no one aware of the young man’s odd behavior.

The square-faced man glanced at the brutally killed driver, his temples throbbing, a flicker of anger crossing his face. This was a trusted aide he had painstakingly cultivated, now dead, he averted his gaze, speaking solemnly:

"Perhaps he used the opportunity to escape? This was someone Fang Shengjie vouched for, who would have thought he was this strong!"

"After this, the other side will probably be on alert, next time we change targets!" the bald man said.

"Eric, what’s wrong with you, stop standing there, let’s go."

The young man remained unmoved.

The Southeast Asian finally sensed something was wrong, walked over, and discovered the other was covered in blood, face pale, eyes full of terror.

"What’s wrong with you? Are you hurt?" he turned to the bald man and shouted: "Captain, Eric seems off."

After saying this, he prepared to go support him.

The young man hurriedly stared at him in panic, signaling desperately with his eyes.

The Southeast Asian didn’t understand, thinking the other was about to collapse, he quickened his steps.

"No..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the young man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying slightly, on the verge of collapse.

Seeing this, the Southeast Asian hurriedly supported him strongly, then strangely felt the other’s body was a bit light. He glanced down instinctively, and his hands loosened involuntarily.

Half of the body fell to the ground with a thud, the lower half had collapsed, and the ruptured liver and lungs had fallen out.

The Southeast Asian squatted down quickly, apologetically saying: "Brother, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know, you won’t blame me, right?"

"I... I... FU... CK!" he struggled to extend a hand, giving the Southeast Asian the finger.

The bald man was already rushing over, and upon seeing this, his face changed dramatically, asking in a deep voice: "Who did it?"

"This time... the target was very strong, I was careless... Captain... you must... avenge me... kill him!" he stared wide-eyed, black blood gushing incessantly from his mouth, whispered intermittently.

"Alright!" the bald man nodded gravely.

"Tha-thank you, give me... a quick one!"

"Bear with it!"

Then, he reluctantly turned his head, gritting his teeth before delivering a sharp strike to the young man’s forehead.

With a crack, the skull shattered.

...

In the dark corner, Chen Shouyi averted his gaze, eyes lowered, his hand feeling the rough sword hilt: "So it was him!"