CHAPTER 176: TO TAKE HIM OUT

It was 8 p.m., and Chen Chuan was at Cheng Zitong’s private martial arts center in the south of the city.

Gao Ming arrived before their agreed-upon time and met him upstairs. Once they sat down, he told Chen Chuan his analysis. “Cuz, I’ve been reading up on the Mutual Aid Group, and I’ve gained some understanding of them.

“When they encounter students like you, they first try to recruit or placate them. If it doesn’t work, they start playing dirty. You’ve already rejected them a few times, so now, you’re a threat to them. They won’t try to recruit you anymore and will jump straight to attacking you. The easiest way to do that is to frame you for a crime or something similar.

“But you rarely work with others and you’re related to a constable, so they can’t use such a method to get rid of you. As for fabricating a fake crime and suing you, that takes a lot of time and effort. Not only will it cause a huge fuss, but it’ll also be far too easy for things to go wrong. If I were them, I wouldn’t do that.”

At that point, he nudged his glasses up and looked at Chen Chuan. “This leaves only one other method, and it’s also the one that costs the least amount of money—killing you.”

Chen Chuan agreed with that. Instead of calling upon those in power to crush him, killing him was much simpler and less costly.

After all, once a person was dead, they would no longer cause any more problems. The masterminds would also get away scot-free even if there was some scrutiny. Most importantly, however, they would achieve their goal without much trouble.

“You have to be careful from now on. It’s the summer holidays, so you’re outside the campus. If they want to attack you, this is the best time.”

Chen Chuan’s eyes lit up, but he spoke in a steady voice. “Then, I’ll wait for them right here.”

After the meeting with Gao Ming, Chen Chuan didn’t go home anymore. He stayed at the martial arts training center and trained every day with the medicine he got from Feng’s Pharmacy.

But Chen Chuan believed that if he were ambushed at the martial arts training center, he might get innocent people involved, so he decided to create an opportunity for his would-be ambushers.

Aside from doing the necessary training inside the martial arts training center, he went to a lakeside park in the evening to practice Principal Sanshou and his saber techniques every day.

The lake was quite populated during the day, but after 5 p.m., few people remained, since the conflict between the gangs had gotten worse. Even the south of the city was no longer safe, so no one wanted to come out for a stroll at a place that was deserted even during better days.

If someone wanted to kill, they would prefer to do so in this sort of deserted area. Chen Chuan also thought that it was the perfect location. If they started fighting, it wouldn’t create much of a commotion.

Over the next few days, Chen Chuan came to the park like clockwork. He faced no attacks for six days straight, but there was no way they would make him wait much longer. After all, the summer holidays were the perfect chance to act. Once the holidays were over and he returned to the campus, it would be much more difficult to kill him.

One day, when it was almost time for him to go to the park, he received a call from Lei Guangcheng.

“Liu Zhan told me that a subordinate of his has leaked the fact that you received evaluation points from them. He apologized for not keeping a tighter leash on them.”

“Did he orchestrate this?” Chen Chuan asked.

“No. I asked around, and one of his secretaries took the file detailing your evaluation points. That secretary has been transferred out of the department, so this is really just an accident.

“Of course, he’s not apologizing out of the kindness of his heart. He could have made use of this himself, but the secret got out, so it’s no longer of any value. Instead, to certain people, he’s now unreliable. Since he can’t get any benefits from that group, it’s better for him to do us a favor. That way, we’ll be in his debt.

“Be careful, Xiao Chuan. If you run into any trouble, come to me. He Nan and I will get you somewhere safe.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lei, but I don’t need it just yet,” Chen Chuan said sincerely.

“Alright. Just call me if you ever need me,” Lei Guangcheng insisted.

After the call, Chen Chuan looked out and left the martial arts training center with his saber in hand. The security guard asked, “You’re going to the park to train again?”

“Yup,” Chen Chuan answered with a nod and a smile.

The security guard watched him leave. They could understand Chen Chuan insisting on going outside to train even though he could do so at the martial arts training center. Some people just didn’t like being cooped up in a room 24/7. Besides, the air outside was much better. While the park was in a rather secluded place, its scenery was great.

Chen Chuan passed three streets to reach the park. The thirty-minute walk led him to a lake situated in a wetland. It was covered in reeds that swayed in the wind.

Chen Chuan gazed at the water. Its sparkling ripples bathed in the dying glow of the sun. A few egrets occasionally flew past like white dots across the water surface.

No one else was around. Chen Chuan stood alone in the park.

He brought his arms up a little and plunged the Frost King Saber’s sheath into the ground. Then, he grabbed the hilt and drew the saber out slowly. As the light reflected off the blade, the saber came out with a whistle. Chen Chuan proceeded to practice his techniques with his back to the setting sun.

The night breeze blew at him, and the green reeds bowed uniformly before they started swaying like waves.

More than ten people squatted behind the trees and bushes in the forest to the southeast as they observed Chen Chuan’s every move.

They were all well-built and had cold, ruthless faces. They were all experienced killers and knew that martial artists were particularly sensitive to people staring at them, which was why most of them looked away after a glance instead of staring for prolonged periods of time.

“That kid’s really good with the saber. He’s going to be a tough one.”

“Martial Valor University students are all good at this sort of thing. They make it look like they know what they’re doing, but it’s useless. With a single bullet, their parents would have raised them for nothing. His saber can’t possibly be faster than our guns.”

They had done this many times before, but their targets had always been the rich and powerful. This was the first they were tasked to kill a Martial Valor University student.

“The kid picked a good spot for himself. Saves us the time to dig a grave for him.”

“Enough. Stop talking. The sun’s almost down. Once we kill him, we have to leave. It hasn’t been peaceful in Yangzhi City lately.”

The leader of the assassins was a man with a flattop. His eyes were ruthless and cold. When he spoke, there was practically no emotion in his voice. At that moment, he turned around and said to a man leaning against a tree, “Lao Ma, keep an eye on him.”

Lao Ma wore a black hood, which left only his eyes visible. Everyone else avoided him. A flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes at the mention of his name, and he nodded.

The leader relaxed. Lao Ma was at the Second Limit. With him around, it didn’t matter what kind of trouble they ran into. He could take care of it.

He turned to another direction and said to a thin man in his twenties, “Get ready, Skin.”

Skin responded with a grunt and propped up his rifle before carefully making sure that Chen Chuan was within the scope. Slowly, he placed his finger on the trigger. Since Chen Chuan’s back was against the setting sun, he squinted.

It was a terrible angle, but they were in the only suitable place for hiding. He was someone who fired according to instinct, so he didn’t mind much not having his eyes on his target.

When he was about to pull the trigger, a brilliant saber glare flashed, and he instinctively blinked. Once his eyesight returned, Chen Chuan had vanished from the lake. Stunned, he shut his eyes, shook his head, and started looking around.

Just then, he heard enraged shouts, along with gunshots. It was followed by a loud roar of the wind. The grass danced, and he felt something warm land on his face.

Skin turned around and found that one of his companions’ heads was gone. He was just a few paces away from the man and the blood that gushed out. He looked further away and found that many of the others lying in ambush were missing limbs. Their blood colored the ground all the way to the back.

One person at the back, however, saw everything clearly. When they were about to shoot Chen Chuan, he had stopped moving and charged at them without warning.

Even though he was around fifty meters away from them, he managed to make it to them in the blink of an eye. Wherever he went, severed limbs and heads flew.

The man brought his gun up in a panic and fired at Chen Chuan, but he couldn’t catch up to his speed. All his shots missed.

Chen Chuan had already made it to the rear at this point. He had not used any techniques, but only positioned his saber horizontally. With his speed, he charged past these people and swiped them with his saber. That was enough to cut them all down.

When he saw one of them firing at him, he cast a cursory glance at the person. He was still far away from him, but with a twist of his foot, he appeared right in front of the man.

Chen Chuan swung his saber sideways, and the man’s arm came right off. His waist then caved in while his head and feet stayed in place, making it look as if he had been folded in half. Then, he fell apart.

Right then, a hooded man came charging out of the shadows like a venomous snake hiding in the dark. He had seized the moment Chen Chuan finished his swing.

But Chen Chuan just tapped against the ground and shot to the side. He stretched his arms up, as if waiting for the man to come to him. Once the man charged past him, he brought his arms down and wrapped them around the man’s ribs before squeezing.

Crack crack crack...

The broken pieces instantly pressed inward. The man’s eyes bulged, and blood oozed out from beneath his hood.

Chen Chuan let go, and the man slumped on the ground in a boneless heap. He looked over and let his gaze rest on the remaining people.

The leader saw the entire process clearly and cried out in despair and rage, “Fuck! He’s in the Third fucking Limit! They gave us the wrong info!”

Chen Chuan flipped his saber over and walked toward them. The leader roared, “Fire! Don’t you dare run away, any of you! You won’t make it!”

Chen Chuan ducked down. The moment his feet moved, he arrived in front of the leader. He brought an arm up and shoved at his chin, and the sound that came out was similar to bamboo snapping. The man’s head snapped backward.

Then, Chen Chuan turned to the other side. The gunshots lasted for a few moments before stopping. The quiet of the evening was only interrupted by the startled birds flying into the setting sun.

Chen Chuan surveyed the area and got rid of those who were still alive. Then, he planted his feet on the ground and instantly came to a stop, even though he had been moving really quickly before. His shirt fluttered violently because of the abrupt pause. The grass and leaves around him flew and twirled in the air for a while before landing. Then, wisps of steam came out of his body.

Chen Chuan didn’t spare the corpses on the ground a glance. He flicked the blood from his saber and returned to the lake to put his saber back into its sheath before picking it up and leaving the place at a relaxed pace.