CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 123: AMBUSH

A room on the seventh floor of a five-star hotel.

Chen Shouyi, having changed his clothes, quietly stood in front of the window with the curtain pulled open just a crack.

His room was located diagonally across from the Third Category Investigation Bureau, allowing him to clearly see the situation over there.

At this moment, three police cars were parked at the entrance of the bureau, and several officers were moving two bodies, already placed in body bags, into a police van from the parking lot. All around were martial artists with fearful expressions.

He wasn’t worried; not to mention he was already in disguise, he intentionally avoided surveillance. Even if there were suspicions, as a newly initiated martial artist, how could he possibly have the power to kill a major martial artist, even if the other was unarmed?

According to the records, he had only become a martial artist about a month ago.

In comparison, the rampant Pantheon recently was the biggest suspect.

Who knows, Cao Zhenhua might even receive a posthumous honor for dying in the line of duty.

Good for him!

This incident was unexpected; previously, Chen Shouyi had only intended to kill Lu Weifeng, and hadn’t thought he would encounter Cao Zhenhua, but since he did, he decided to solve it together.

But he didn’t care.

He only cared whether the enemy was still alive.

He watched expressionlessly for a while, then lowered the curtain and the room grew dim.

"Two more!" Chen Shouyi muttered to himself silently.

...

"Mom, you bought so many grapes today!" Song Tingting walked into the kitchen, looking at the bag of grapes on the counter, and asked.

"If I don’t buy more, what will your dad and I eat later?" A middle-aged woman dressed smartly rolled her eyes and said.

"So stingy!" Song Tingting said, then asked, "Did you buy the same grapes as yesterday?"

"All you care about is eating. They’re bought from the same supermarket. If you cared about your studies as much as eating, I’d be grateful," the middle-aged woman said irritably, "Look at your classmate Li Siyuan; not only did he get into Shangjing University and Shuimu effortlessly, he even passed the martial artist apprentice test."

"Why do you always compare me with others’ children? I’m in the top fifteen of my class, isn’t that good enough, Mom? Pack my share separately; I want to eat out." Song Tingting said.

...

After dinner, Song Tingting took a bath, changed into a ladylike skirt, grabbed the grapes, and said, "Mom, Dad, I’m going out."

"Come back early!"

"I know."

Song Tingting closed the door, skipped a few steps, and stood in front of Chen Shouyi’s house next door, gently pressing the doorbell.

However, after a full minute, no one answered.

Could it be that the senior went out tonight?

She thought to herself, her originally cheerful mood gradually faded.

Hmm, maybe he’ll be back later.

...

Her father found it strange that his daughter came back so soon with the grapes, and asked:

"Why did you come back so fast? Aren’t they good?"

"They’re very sweet, but I’m quite full from dinner. I want to rest a bit and go out later. I’ll do my homework first!" Song Tingting said with a smile.

...

That night, there was no mention of Cao Zhenhua’s death on Hedong City’s official news website. His death seemed like a drop in the ocean, without causing any ripples.

This isn’t surprising; martial artists and ordinary people are almost in two different worlds. The Third Category Investigation Bureau is quite famous among martial artists, but ordinary people might not even have heard of it.

Chen Shouyi closed the webpage, picked up the long sword, and began carefully honing the strength in his muscles, an invisible sharp force pulsating at the sword’s tip.

After two hours, he stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He opened the attribute panel.

He noticed that today both his will and perception had increased by 0.1, reaching 12.7 and 11.8 respectively. He was about to close it, but suddenly noticed the number after Energy Accumulation, and was a bit surprised.

When was the last optimization?

It seemed like only sixteen days ago.

But the Energy Accumulation had already reached 2.12, when normally it should be only about 1.6.

Since obtaining the Book of Knowledge, its energy accumulation had always remained extremely stable.

Secure in both prosperity and adversity, it never decreased, nor increased, with a fixed daily growth of about 0.1.

Initially, Chen Shouyi checked it several times a day, then only glanced at it every few days, and later, unless the energy was nearing three points, he couldn’t be bothered to look at it.

Now, he realized the Book of Knowledge seemed somewhat "abnormal".

"If there’s been a change, maybe it’s from absorbing the divinity that made the World Tree grow a bit!" Chen Shouyi thought.

Recalling the time, it was precisely ten days ago.

"Calculating this way, the daily energy growth has reached about 0.15 points, a fifty percent increase."

...

In a suburban villa.

A bald man sat on the sofa, his hand unconsciously tapping the armrest.

The Southeast Asian man nearby paced the living room in frustration, frequently glancing at the door, stopped, and spoke with a sinister look: "Captain, it’s already ten o’clock, could Cao Zhenhua be backing out? Over the years, he’s refused the organization’s tasks several times, likely having a tendency to leave."

"No rush, wait a bit longer, he’s a smart man, he knows the consequences of betraying the organization, maybe he’s been held up," the bald man said, looking at the time seriously.

Though he felt impatient too, Cao Zhenhua was a local player; without his cooperation, the organization would be blind in Hedong.

"How about we call?" The Southeast Asian man said impatiently.

"Do you want us exposed? With all the commotion, the phones of all major martial artists in Hedong are probably being monitored. Now we wait," the bald man glanced at him.

"By the way, is the body taken care of?"

"It’s already placed into the body-dissolving pool; poor Eric brother, he’s probably just a few bones now. We must avenge him, but that kid is probably hiding by now."

"Complete the organization’s task first, but since we promised Eric, this revenge must be taken unless he goes into hiding forever; otherwise, he’ll pay someday," the bald man said coldly.

......

The next morning at six-thirty, Chen Shouyi bought a large bag of breakfast from a place near the hotel.

He was stuffing buns into his mouth while continuing to monitor the activities at the Third Category Investigation Bureau diagonally across.

The room was playing cartoons, and the Shell Lady, who had slept for over twenty hours, had become energetic and lively again.

Chen Shouyi wasn’t bothering with her anymore; he couldn’t manage her anyway.

She had become incredibly lively now.

Even if she became near-sighted, she deserved it.

After ten minutes, fifty or so buns were stuffed into his stomach, he drank some milk, and glanced at a dark-skinned, fierce-looking young man pacing back and forth at the retractable gate in front of the investigation bureau.

Chen Shouyi’s eyes narrowed slightly.