CHAPTER 139: CHAPTER 140: INFILTRATION (3000 WORDS)

Yan Zhenghua was silent, the current era is different from the past, in a society with great material abundance, many people are discouraged by the hardships of the martial path.

But given the population numbers, no matter how few, one can still find tens of thousands practicing fist techniques and martial arts.

It’s just that those deeply proficient are rare.

Moreover, now the popular approach is elite soldier policy; those who can practice fist techniques and martial arts, aside from actively seeking a master for learning, many who can inherit fist technique schools are exceptionally gifted.

And the Buddhist Path is even more so.

A Great Perfectionist of Fist Technique at the age of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, is unheard of and unseen.

"So..." Lu Ren stared deeply at Yan Zhenghua: "Boss Yan, what brings you here late at night for no reason?"

Yan Zhenghua remained silent for a long time, waiting until Lu Ren was about to impatiently draw his sword to thrust at him, before finally speaking: "I am one of the external consultants for the Security Department, some people above just asked me to remind you not to make things too intense.

Of course, I am only representing some people."

The implication was, he only came because he couldn’t refuse a favor.

Seeing Yan Zhenghua step aside to let him through, Lu Ren walked past him expressionlessly, moving forward.

Yan Zhenghua’s low voice slowly came from behind: "Have you noticed the significant change in your personality compared to when you came to find me three years ago?"

Lu Ren kept walking, gradually disappearing into the darkness, leaving behind a single sentence.

"It’s just that I’ve experienced more; besides, people always grow. Furthermore, bearing a sharp blade, how can one tolerate humiliation? A martial arts family is not like that."

Yan Zhenghua quietly watched Lu Ren’s gradually disappearing back, finally slowly withdrawing his gaze, pressing the earpiece in his ear, and said.

"Preliminary emotion assessment is normal."

...

...

Three o’clock in the morning.

Shu Capital, Shaye Villa District, in the most luxurious riverside mansion.

Qianyin Group Chairman Zeng Li was pacing back and forth anxiously in a smoke-filled study, his face full of impatience and agitation.

"What’s going on, why can’t I reach Zhang Qingzhong and Yang Zan, what kind of nonsense is this!"

He furrowed his brow, asking Pengdi, who was fiddling with the tea set on the side.

He is purely a businessman, although he has practiced martial arts, he doesn’t get involved in matters within the Assassination Swordsmanship circles.

Pengdi, sitting slumped beside the tea table, said calmly: "Maybe they’re doing something, you know Yang Zan is old, there are many things he no longer cares about, as for Zhang Qingzhong, you know his nature, obsessed with lust, nothing much to say."

"But how dare they neglect such major matters!" Zeng Li was visibly displeased, because the situation increasingly targets their existence in the shadows.

They have been planning to transfer domestic funds abroad, and tonight is especially crucial.

Pengdi’s hand paused, the calm expression disappeared, quickly becoming serious.

"Something’s not right!"

Zeng Li hurriedly asked: "What’s not right?"

With nearly fifty years in the assassination career, Pengdi possesses an extremely sharp instinct, had it not been for his physical limitations, he would have long reached Bright Awakening, becoming part of the Extraordinary Martial Taoist Family.

But though his body is decayed, he hasn’t given up on the spiritual practice and the honing of sword techniques.

Thus, the long-term martial path cultivation has allowed his spirit to reach the limits achievable by ordinary people, possessing some Divine and Clear senses.

Lu Ren stood afar on the hill, almost three hundred meters away, his eyesight extremely sharp, squinting as he stood in the shadows observing Zeng Li and Pengdi inside the second-floor study.

After confirming their positions, he carefully examined the villa layout.

To his surprise, the defense of the entire villa was not as stringent as he imagined, thinking back, it made sense; if it really had guards every few steps, he wouldn’t need to do anything personally, such blatant mob behavior would provide the Security Department with an excuse to cooperate with the police and take them down.

This Assassination Swordsmanship school is akin to the Listening Wind and Rain Tower, Shuiyun Inn in novels, engaging in the business of killing.

Ordinary people are also seen as targets in their eyes, and though they have restrained a lot by now, such unstable factors are indeed most unwelcome.

It’s just that, despite being under official scrutiny, they haven’t exposed any flaws.

Lu Ren wants to act, the Security Bureau overall is still overwhelmingly supportive.

After all, a large organization will always have some discordant voices.

This is unavoidable.

So once there’s any excuse caught by the Security Department, they would definitely strike hard.

Even saying so, there are still groups of two or three suited bodyguards patrolling according to predetermined routes.

These bodyguards’ physical build was somewhat similar to those who attacked him before, their shoulder and back muscles slightly raised, narrow at the waist, with almost no right-hand movement when stepping.

They seemed to be Soldier Path experts cultivated by Assassination Swordsmanship.

But Lu Ren could clearly see that these people were significantly inferior to the four who previously attacked him.

After quietly observing for a while, the patrolling frequency and number weren’t too high, even appearing quite random.

Speaking of which, it’s quite normal; generally speaking, ordinary people wouldn’t randomly end up in a place like this.

The only thing that caught Lu Ren’s attention was the installed cameras; this modern technology can prevent many martial arts techniques from being executed.

Moreover, the positioning of the cameras was quite clever, leaving no blind spots.

However, a Great Perfectionist of Fist Technique, whose body has reached the peak state of ordinary people’s limits, can release an incredibly unbelievable speed within ten meters.

Especially for agile masters like Lu Ren who practice Phoenix Falcon Fist.

In some corners with poor visibility, the cameras can only scan an area of three to four meters.

This distance.

Is enough.

After confirming that nothing was overlooked, Lu Ren quietly sneaked to the root of a corner wall outside the villa, the only place where he could temporarily stop without cameras.

Silently calculating in his mind, he quietly listened to a passing patrol of bodyguards, then Lu Ren’s gaze suddenly stiffened.

It’s now!

Wearing a close-fitting black combat suit, he almost blended into the shadows, his legs slightly bent. The muscles in his legs swiftly circulated his blood, his body temperature rose, and the muscles instantly swelled; then the legs bent to the extreme, thighs tightly pressed against the calves.

Then, the muscles released sharply, like a spring compressed to the limit suddenly unleashed.

Buzz!!

A muffled sound emanated from Lu Ren’s body.

Whiz!!!

His figure transformed into a lightning-like black shadow under the dim streetlights, instantly rushing towards the high wall, suddenly changing direction to run up against the wall at the last moment.

Just like the Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill in martial arts novels, Lu Ren stuck to the wall, leaping high like an arrow, only stopping when reaching about four and a half meters level with the high wall.

Suspended in air for a full second.

Lu Ren extended two fingers to gently brace against the top of the wall, his tall figure sliding inside as nimbly as a raccoon at that moment.

As soon as he landed, Lu Ren didn’t pause at all, his prepared prone posture explosively gaining power, under the cover of darkness, streaking like a black lightning towards a villa window and jumping inside.

In the villa’s monitoring room, a guard with a somewhat distracted gaze stared lifelessly at the surveillance screen, suddenly seeing a black shadow flicker past the top left corner camera.

Coming to his senses, he focused on looking but saw nothing, assuming it was the frequent summer occurrence of a moth fluttering its wings near the camera, covering it briefly due to it being summer, a common occurrence security staff were already accustomed to.

Landing silently inside the villa through the window, Lu Ren slightly relaxed his tension-filled muscles after confirming no one was around, slowly straightening his low crouched posture.

This seems to be a recreational room, with two billiard tables around, and some arcade and VR equipment nearby.

After glancing around, Lu Ren no longer paid extra attention.

"Third floor..."

Without hesitation, Lu Ren, having confirmed the villa’s structure during prior observation, burst upstairs from the kitchen door.

Less than three seconds after Lu Ren disappeared through the window, two black-suited bodyguards rounded the corner from the villa’s other side.

As if on a regular patrol, everything seemed ordinary without any anomalies.

Yet one of them suddenly stopped, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

"What’s wrong?"

The person beside him glanced at him questioningly.

"It feels like there’s something different from before."

He uncertainly scanned around, his pupils shrinking, finally realizing where the unsettling feeling in his heart came from.

On the grassy area by the wall yard, he saw an extremely deep footprint, the lawn sunken deeply; this kind of impact was caused only by someone fiercely exerting force.

Being able to do this silently indicates a true master.

Has a martial artist sneaked in stealthily?!

"Is it a footprint?!"

The other person followed his gaze, his face visibly changing; both being skilled swordsmen, adept at sharp perception in precarious weaponry, indeed possessed superior observational skills.

This caused a deep-rooted bad premonition; likely, the intruding martial artist has terrifying strength, otherwise, how could they infiltrate the villa within such a short window!

"Someone’s invaded!!"

Both immediately pressed their earpieces, loudly shouting.

In the study on the third floor, Zeng Li was about to ask Peng Di what was amiss when piercing alarm sounds suddenly rang beside him.

The villa’s alarm system kept emitting sharp ’beep~ beep~’ sounds, instantly causing Zeng Li and Peng Di to stand upright.

As the alarm went off, a violent blast suddenly sounded from the tightly shut solid wood door of the study. They saw the door shatter into pieces, a tall figure with bulging muscles alongside numerous shards of wood bursting directly into the study.

(Let’s allow the author’s liver almost broken today to rest a bit. Working overtime, poured out the last effort to draft this, extremely exhausted, thank you all for your support!)