At nine in the morning, Zhao Qian was permitted to leave the Disposal Bureau, though he would still have to report here for questioning over the next few days.
Such handling did little actual harm to him personally, but it was enough to strike a blow against his prestige within the company, especially coming right on the heels of the previous incident.
With a sullen face, he exited the Disposal Bureau and walked toward his armored car. His assistant had already stepped ahead to open the door. Once Zhao Qian sat inside, the door was pulled shut, and the assistant settled into the front seat.
The vehicle started smoothly. As it drove out of the plaza, accompanying security personnel in protective escort vehicles took positions in front and behind, flanking his car in the middle.
Inside the apartment, Wu Bei sat within the resonance nest, using a boundary point to keep tabs on the convoy.
Lianwei Heavy Control Company undoubtedly possessed resonators equipped with resonance nests, but individuals of that caliber were tasked with the company’s field defense and would not accompany Zhao Qian on ordinary trips.
That did not mean Zhao Qian lacked protection, however. A resonator could be seen following by his side on standby, meaning today’s operation had to account for that resonator as well.
Wu Bei noted that the convoy’s route was carefully chosen. Instead of taking the shortest direct path back and forth, it took a detour through the busiest commercial streets of Center City. Municipal security forces in prosperous districts were plentiful, providing maximum assurance against trouble.
Fortunately, he had factored all of this in beforehand. Speaking to Chen Chuan, he said, "Brother Chen, I'm ready to begin here. I'll transmit the field signal to you shortly. We start in about two minutes."
On the other end of the boundary credential, Chen Chuan said, "Understood. I'm waiting."
Two minutes later, Zhao Qian's vehicle reached an intersection. Just after the lead security vehicle passed through, the traffic signal flickered to red, bringing his car to a gradual halt.
While waiting, Zhao Qian glanced across the intersection. It was merely a casual look, yet in that instant, his gaze froze.
There on the sidewalk, a tall, well-built young man with a bright, sunny air was walking out of an upscale clothing boutique. He carried a bag in hand that appeared to hold clothes, and as he stepped outside, he politely nodded to the attendant holding the door.
Although the young man was not dressed in martial training robes and looked several years older—differing slightly from the past—Zhao Qian knew that presence and bearing all too well.
*How is that possible?*
He involuntarily sat upright. But just as he tried to get a clearer look, the young man turned and walked toward the other side of the street. At the same moment, the traffic light turned green, the car accelerated forward, and several vehicles turning into traffic blocked his view. By the time they passed, turning around revealed that the street corner was already behind them.
Zhao Qian pulled back his gaze and sat in silence, deeply unsettled, his face clouded with gloom.
Back then, he had watched that person die with his own eyes. There could be no mistake about it. He repeatedly told himself it was impossible for the man to still be alive, yet...
An irrepressible urge surged within him, driving him to confirm it.
After driving for a short distance, he ordered, "Make a U-turn up ahead. Head back to that intersection."
As he spoke, he marked the location on his boundary credential.
The driver checked the display and complied without question. Upon reaching the next intersection, he swung the car around. Seven or eight minutes later, they had looped back to the original junction and pulled up across from the upscale boutique.
Zhao Qian looked out from the car, but the figure was nowhere to be seen. He did not speak, and none of the others dared utter a word.
After a moment, he instructed the assistant up front, "Go inside and check. Find out who was buying clothes there just now, and ask what kind of person he was."
"Understood."
The assistant pushed the door open and stepped out.
Zhao Qian then used his boundary credential to instruct the resonator in the other vehicle: "Pull the shop's field records from just now for me."
The resonator replied, "Zhuoke Company takes privacy very seriously, and their field signal is heavily secured. Give me five minutes."
Zhao Qian leaned back against the seat. The April weather was not warm, yet he felt stifled and irritable inside the cabin. Sliding open the storage compartment, he retrieved a bottle of Mellow Blood and poured a glass. Just as he brought it to his lips, his gaze casually drifted to the rearview mirror—and his hand froze.
A young man was striding toward him from the far end of the street.
Zhao Qian's hand began to tremble slightly. It was a face he knew intimately and hated with a passion. He would never forget the multiple public bouts back at Wuyi Academy, every single one of which had ended in his defeat, without offering even a glimmer of hope.
Even though he had reached the third limit and believed that person's death had long freed him from the psychological shadow, the moment he saw him reappear in the flesh, his eyes instantly flushed red with blood.
Even as reason told him the man was dead and could not possibly stand before him again, uncontrollable fury and hatred instantly flooded his chest the moment he beheld that silhouette.
*You're not dead? How could you not be dead? Why aren't you dead?!*
As the figure drew closer, he unfastened his upper garment, stripped it off, and tossed it aside. Zhao Qian could clearly see delicate strands of patterns unfurling across one fist and forearm, spreading toward the neck and cheek. With each approaching step, his hair whipped in the wind, and the patterns grew increasingly distinct.
Zhao Qian's pupils contracted sharply.
*Xuanxiang Jin!*
When the figure was still several dozen meters away, his pace abruptly accelerated into a sprint. Leaping into the air, he plunged down toward the armored vehicle from above.
Zhao Qian stared fixedly. There was no mistake—that stance, that striking posture was identical to that silhouette from back then, only faster and far more ferocious!
*You think I'm still the same as I was back then?!*
A low roar tore from Zhao Qian's chest. He thrust the door open and burst outside. Facing the silhouette descending against the light, he kicked violently straight up toward the sky!
The two figures converged at blinding speed. As fist and foot were about to collide, it felt as though two crossing points in time had slammed together.
Yet in the very next instant, Zhao Qian's foot passed straight through the other man's body. A strike unleashed with full power met only thin air. Finding nothing to bear against, his center of gravity was momentarily thrown off balance.
Still, his fundamentals were exceptionally solid. The instant he sensed something was wrong, the mutated tissue in his body twitched and pulled, arresting his momentum at once.
Inside Gao Ming's apartment building, Chen Chuan opened his eyes.
*Success!*
His hand remained held in a punching posture; that very blow had been delivered by him.
Although Shen Zheng's photographs could simulate his appearance, a mere shadow could never fool Zhao Qian. That was why the photographs sent over had included drawings depicting Shen Zheng's various combat stances.
It was clearly Chang Ba's handiwork, completed under He Xiaoxing's guidance, ensuring an authentic recreation of Shen Zheng's actual manner.
Yet that alone was not enough. Wu Bei was not a fighter and did not know how fighters engaged in combat. Therefore, from the very beginning, Chen Chuan's boundary credential had been linked with Wu Bei's resonance nest field, leaving the execution of the actual attack to him.
In this way, through a single move, they had flawlessly recreated a Shen Zheng who had grown over several years and ostensibly entered the third limit!
Chen Chuan slowly lowered his fist.
Zhao Qian had attacked his field, which was deemed equivalent to attacking him directly. The first condition of the ritual had been met. All that remained was finding an opportune moment and securing a suitable sacrifice to trigger the urban legend.
On the other side, Wu Bei breathed a similar sigh of relief.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he reflected on how smoothly the process had gone. Zhao Qian had not turned off his boundary credential from start to finish.
An implanted boundary credential was already difficult to breach and manipulate. Had Zhao Qian attempted to shut it down, Wu Bei would have been forced to deploy an interference technique that only a resonance nest could support, buying a delay of merely one to two seconds.
Though Chen Chuan had told him a delay of even a second or two would suffice, the instantaneous surge in resonance could very well have knocked Wu Bei unconscious. That would have prevented him from assisting further, and despite prior preparations, unforeseen complications might have arisen. The current outcome was ideal.
Zhao Qian stood on the empty street. Security personnel gathered around him, their expressions rigid and eyes fixed straight ahead, though their glances carried subtle undertones.
After all, they had just watched Zhao Qian inexplicably burst out of the vehicle and kick violently at the empty sky. Had they not known he had virtually no implants, they might have suspected he was suffering from functional disorder syndrome.
Zhao Qian surveyed his surroundings with a grim face. He could now be certain that someone had targeted him with an illusion field.
Yet the encounter had felt so real, as if Shen Zheng had truly materialized before him. In particular, that bearing and the manifestation of the jin technique could never have been reproduced by anyone lacking intimate familiarity with Shen Zheng and deep knowledge of Xuanxiang Jin.
*If not Shen Zheng, then who?*
*No, there is one other person.*
A person who posed an immense threat, one Zhao Qian remained wary of to this day.
Yet if that person truly wanted to move against him, he would never resort to an empty scare that served no practical purpose, let alone alert his target beforehand.
"Supervisor?"
The assistant emerged from the clothing store, glancing around at the street on either side with an expression of complete bewilderment.
Without a word, Zhao Qian turned and walked back to the car. Seeing this, the assistant hurried forward to hold open the door for him.
Bending down to climb inside and taking his seat, Zhao Qian asked, "Did you find out?"
The assistant bent low toward the cabin and said hastily, "I asked. The clerk was unwilling to talk at first, but I bought a garment and tipped generously. I learned that a tall, sturdy young man did visit the shop earlier, bought an article of clothing, and left. Where he went afterward is unknown."
At that moment, the resonator's voice came through: "Supervisor, the shop's field records from just now have already been wiped."
Zhao Qian's eyes grew cold. Saying nothing more, he merely waved his hand. The assistant quickly slid into the front passenger seat, the security guards returned to their vehicles, and the convoy slowly set off once more.
Zhao Qian then reached out to contact someone via his boundary credential. "Take a trip back to Yangzhi City for me. Look into something..."
Chapter 303